I

It was the fifth time Arthur received the answer of a default female voice explaining that the number he dialled was busy at the moment and told him to call later after several seconds of ringing. The Brit frowned and placed his phone back into his pocket. Where the hell was the bloody lad? It's not like Alfred to just abandon him in the airport waiting after he got the message that the Briton was coming over to his lands for vacation. For the past times that Arthur decided to go visit America, the boy was always open and cancelled plans just to welcome his boyfriend. But now Arthur found himself alone with his baggage in the airport wearing a green sweater and jeans, his patience getting trimmed off by every tick of a second on his watch.

He clicked his tongue and lifted the bag, giving up on any hope of Alfred showing up soon then walked out of the building to get on the first taxi he saw and gave the location of the American's house. The driver nodded and didn't ask anything else; since it seems that the Englishman knew his ways in the country. Arthur rested his head on the window, covering his mouth when he yawned then looked outside. He was going to demand a detailed explanation from him later after their first eye contact for this stay. As a gentleman, it was alright for him to wait; patience was a virtue of course. But to make a guest wait for more than an hour in the airport with no explanation at all was just plain ridiculous and rude.

Alfred's house was a fair twenty minute drive from the airport and was nicer to stay in than in a hotel. It was far from the city proper and was quiet, and one of the oldest of the American's houses. It was also fairly large, with many rooms to spare for guests and the young nation himself.

The taxi stopped in front of it and he paid the driver before getting off with his bag. He stared at the house for a second or so before walking up to the porch and knocked on the door. Alfred didn't bother to put a doorbell because he liked the sound of wood than the annoying ringing sound of a bell. That kind of stranger call was only present in his recent houses. Arthur had to agree with him, though there was a downside with it. If Alfred was busy inside either listening to something with headphones or loud music on, or either sleeping, you had to stand outside for several minutes and keep on knocking (perhaps also calling out his name with a threatening phrase or two) until the door is opened and a cheeky blonde American grinning sheepishly stood in front of you.

That happened one too many times that Alfred just decided to give Arthur a duplicate key to the house so he could just walk in without any five-minute wait at all. And he took that one out now after deciding the house was empty, and unlocked the door. Yes, it was definitely empty as of the moment. The lights were turned off and every electrical device was unplugged.

Arthur turned on the lights, making the living room vividly brighter and clearer with the sun setting outside. The bag landed on the ground with a thud and he scanned the place. It was the usual scene. The living room being the most welcoming place there, everything arranged and in order. The kitchen was the same, the signature unfinished meal sitting in the counter.

Nothing was wrong in any other places of the house in the first floor, so he just guessed that the boy was in a meeting of some sort. He lifted his baggage up the stairs and to his usual room that he always stayed in whenever he was in America. It was one of the largest bedrooms aside from Alfred's own, and his favourite, since the door outside led to the balcony with a view of the American's surprisingly well-kept garden. Arthur didn't waste any time pondering on that any longer though, and started unpacking. In the middle of the job he stopped and took out his phone, feeling luckier than earlier then dialled the same damn number that he did over an hour ago. The bloody git didn't answer but he left a voice message. That was better, since Arthur didn't like sending text messages as much as possible.

"You've reached the world's greatest and most handsome hero! Leave your message since I'm busy doing hero stuff here!"

"I'm already in your house after waiting over a bloody hour in the airport you twat." Arthur growled after the beep, and then paused for a moment to look at the time, "I'm going out so you'll probably come back to an empty house, just telling you in advance." He then pressed the end call button and slipped the phone into his pocket.

"Blimey." He cursed once more after finishing his work then changed his sweater into a red printed t-shirt and pulled his leather jacket out then slung it over his shoulder. The tapping of his footsteps echoed as he walked down the staircase, and was the only present sound in the place. It would have been eerie, but Arthur was already used to it.

After turning off the lights and locking the door, the Brit put on his jacket and started walking on the sidewalk. The city was a ten minute drive from here, but a longer travel by foot. It was long enough for the Brit to maybe get hungry and get some good grub that isn't fast food when he reaches the city. Usually, Alfred would just drive them to dinner and Arthur would half-pray that it wouldn't be McDonald's. But most of the time his prayers weren't answered the way he wanted.

And since the American git wasn't there, Arthur resorted to walking. Not many taxi cabs come in Alfred's street, and the Brit wasn't feeling patient right now. It's not that dark anyway; the sun just set not half an hour ago.

So it was a fairly uneventful twenty-minute walk to the city with Arthur still thinking of where the fuck Alfred was. Maybe he did go to a meeting and was so caught-up he didn't pay attention to the phone, but that was very unlikely. The boy would rather answer boring phone calls than sit down in a three hour meeting without anything to say or contribute and just listen. Unless it was urgent, but there was nothing critical in his economy right now at all so that was also bullshit.

Unless he was having sex with someone. That could be a valid reason for his absence.

"Tch." Arthur grunted again. Well then, if fucking a lass (or lad) is much more important than getting him from the airport before the Brit gives up after waiting for more than an hour, then who was he to blame him. After all, basking in the afterglow of sex is better than facing a grumpy Englishman.

A few minutes of walking passed by and he found himself inside the city already, surrounded by tall buildings and people who just came from work and were headed home. He looked at his watch; it was still 6:40. Maybe he could have some kind of light dinner right now. There was this restaurant he had taken a liking the last time he was there, but he barely remembered which part of the city it was. So he might just walk around to find it, or maybe stumble upon another restaurant like it.

He passed some tall business buildings, and stopped by some stores to look at their merchandise. There was a new bookstore at the corner of a block, but it didn't seem like it was open. Maybe their grand welcome to the city wasn't prepared yet; but it still looked pretty nice for the Brit. He should stop by there next time.

Then after turning a right from that corner, Arthur could remember some of the places. He remembered the Chinese restaurant just ahead, the large hotel on the very last lot on the block, the very large condominium building beside it and the bank next to it.

He stopped for a moment, furrowing his eyebrows, a bit alarmed when he noticed something. Okay, the last time he went here with Alfred, it was quiet and peaceful, not filled with screams and panicking citizens looking inside of the bank and some gunshots. No, there weren't two people in black and masks running out with large guns into a black van carrying a briefcase and jumping into a vehicle that soon hit the pedal and started speeding away. And nope, he didn't see any clean cut guys in fitting suits, guns and vests running out and into a bulky SUV last time.

And last time he was here, he was standing with Alfred, unlike right now where the younger blonde was also running with the second set of guys in his usual brown bomber jacket, carrying a gun on his own, pressing a device in his ear while talking and climbing into the car then popped his head out of the window with his weapon ready. Nope, not at all.

Well there goes his "basking in the afterglow of sex" theory.

"God blimey Alfred what shit did you get in now." The words came out in a fast mutter as he ran fast then spotted an empty Ford Ranger which was about to be occupied by its owner before he came up and smiled at him. The confused man looked at him with wide eyes and was slow to respond when Arthur took the keys from his hand, climbed into the driver's seat and started the engine after slamming the door closed. A concentrated look was on his face as he hit the accelerator while pulling and locked the seatbelt on him, the engine revving loudly when it sped off, leaving the poor human who owned it shouting in disbelief and unanswered demands.

Okay this was rather new to him. Damn Alfred in going against his "staying left" policy; driving on the left was fucking unusual. Nevertheless, Arthur drove past the traffic lights, quick hands spinning the steering wheel to avoid the cars going towards him and moved the truck to the right lane with some curses and honks from the annoyed drivers, "Forgot I was in the colonies again." He muttered again, still ignoring the brake pedal and using his other foot to hit the clutch as he turned up the gear. Thank the heavens he tried racing before, he felt so natural with the manual transmission vehicles even if he drove the automatic ones back home.

A series of gunshots perked his attention, making him lean back on the seat and shift to a higher drive while stepping on the accelerator hard again.

An unlucky red car that must have been the first victim of the chase was spinning out of control in an intersection, and the Brit leaned to the right as he swerved around it before it tumbled and landed upside down after it accidentally got hit by the front of the Ranger. It caused the truck to lose its direction before Arthur finally stepped on the brake then immediately returned on his route that he was sure that the two racing cars were driving in.

The said vehicles were in now in sight in when he reached large highway as he turned left on a red, with Alfred's head out of the driver's seat window as well as his arm that was busy holding and firing a gun at the van in front of him. Wait, what happened to the other blokes inside the van?

His question was left unanswered when Alfred withdrew into the car again then caught up with the van and started bumping it side by side, with the rival car returning it roughly in the same manner in the busy driveway with some very polite car drivers who were smart enough to get out of their way. But even still, two or three cars became a sad product of the rough driving as they suffered the same fate as the first one or lost control and hit into something like a lamp post or into a building. What alarmed the Brit though, were the gunshots that came from the black van. Oh Alfred, if you ever get injured seriously I will fucking murder you.

Then a large truck covered Arthur's view, making him hit the horn hard and growl in frustration, "Get the fuck out of my way you good for nothing wanker!" when it didn't seem to budge, he immediately swerved to the side, earning honks from the ones behind him but he didn't give any fucks about it. A large frown came to his face when he found out that he was several cars away from them when they turned to another corner.

Thankfully the large sidewalk wasn't filled with people yet and he wouldn't be arrested for any victims of a car accident. So he took the opportunity to use it to catch up on Alfred's ride, shouting out loud 'sorry's and 'pardon me's at the people who he almost hit.

He got back on the road, just behind Alfred who was again behind the vehicle, but was gaining enough speed in the emptier driveway to go side by side with the culprits, then successfully was ahead of them. Arthur sped up as well, only to widen his eyes at the intersection when the van forcefully did a U-turn then sped up into the opposite direction. Alfred's vehicle did the same and Arthur followed suit, clicking his tongue when he saw that the SUV's windshield was filled with bullet holes and the blonde American driving.

"Fucking make up your mind!" he couldn't help but complain, stepping on the accelerator. As much as he was filled with adrenaline rush that he hasn't felt for ages with the chase, he was already exhausted from the flight and waiting in the airport that he prayed so hard for this to end already and reprimand the bloody American for making him suffer this long for a proper greeting from him. Really, if Alfred was going to make him wait like this he could have at least left a fucking message saying he was going to be out doing a car chase with people handling really large guns. He would have understood that and maybe wait in a coffee shop for it to be over not join in the damn thing so he could make sure he could keep watch over the American who's probably going to get himself killed if he weren't a nation.

The cars continued to outrun each other, as usual the criminals being in the lead. They went back to the large highway, speeding through the traffic and going against the flow of the left lane when the one of their direction was filled with cars. Luckily, it was pretty empty since most of the folks were going out of the city proper to their homes.

They were heading to an overpass, still on the left lane trying to avoid some cars that had no brain drivers to see that there was a black van moving towards them. And this time, Arthur wasn't going to be relaxing on this one. He wanted this to end already and get an explanation from that damn Alfred then get some bloody rest.

He stepped on the gas, finally catching up on Alfred then took out his phone then speed dialled Alfred's number. For one second the hand left on the wheel pushed the horn making the truck honk out and catching the other's attention when they were side by side.

Alfred turned and looked at him with wide eyes and a dumbfounded expression on his face, then glanced back at the van then back at Arthur. When he noticed that the Brit was holding his phone, he looked down and get out his and hit the answer button, "Arthur?!"

"Oh you answer now." The older responded bitterly.

The American was caught in between making sure he was still on the trail of the van and looking at Arthur in disbelief, "What the fuck are you doing here?!"

"Trying to get an explanation from you!" Arthur raised an eyebrow while the other continued his shocked face.

"NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR THAT!"

"YOU COULD HAVE SAID THAT BEFORE MAKING ME WAIT FOR MORE THAN AN HOUR IN THE BLOODY FUCKING AIRPORT!"

"Can we just please discuss this later?!" Alfred pleaded, obviously running out of breath.

The Brit snorted, "No."

"What the fuck?!"

"You made me wait for an hour, you fucking git!"

"Look now is not the fucking time to reprimand me!"

"I don't need to find the right time to reprimand you."

"Sweet Jesus, Arthur!"

"Praying to the Lord Almighty won't fucking save you from me."

Alfred bit his lip in frustration and shook his head, "I don't have time for this." Abruptly ending the call, he went back to focusing on the chase, a large frown etched on his face, wondering why the fuck his lover didn't seem to be focusing on what was fucking important other than waiting for more than an hour in the airport.

Arthur narrowed his eyes in annoyance and snorted, then turned the gear up to the highest. He stepped on the accelerator, "Oh you did not just hang up on me, you bloody twat."

His eyebrows furrowed as he caught up with the black van, taking a look at the men inside who looked back at him in surprise. Then the one on passenger seat grabbed a gun and aimed at him, "Oh fuck." He ducked when the bullet showered in his direction, then stopped and he took advantage of it and hit the pedal, going further and in front of them.

They finally reached the overpass and Arthur swerved to get the car to spin and positioned it in horizontally across the road to block the van, only to widen his eyes when it suddenly went right, pushing through the small cars and then broke the barrier and into the traffic below, "God blimey is that even allowed?!" he looked at it in disbelief then watched as Alfred followed suit, jumping from the overpass to the cars below and using them as some kind of inclined plane to reach the damn concrete road.

Casually ignoring the honks at him Arthur shifted to reverse to move the car again, when he saw the van do another fancy U-turn down below and was going to the direction he was nearest in.

Oh well, this was only once. Just once, and soon this is over once they just stop the fucking van.

He faced the left barrier then hit accelerate, breaking through the cemented fence and thankfully landed on a large cargo truck then was even more thankful that he had his seatbelt on when he was jumping up and down as he drove on cars then just fucked everything when he stepped on the gas when he saw the van in his rear-view mirror, "Fucker." He growled, shifting the gear up and revved the engine as he sped, almost flying through some small cars then landed on the other lane with a large thump and hit his head hard on the ceiling, "FUCK!" for the uncountable time today he growled, then hit the pedal again when he heard sirens from the somewhere. Rubbing his head and glaring at the mirror, he saw the black striped vehicles from up the overpass.

"Oh you finally arrived now."

The van was coming already and he was able to get ahead of it, noticing the flashy red and blue lights from the distance and then ducked again when he heard gunshots and glass breaking behind him. Then another set of gunshots farther than the other one made him look at his mirror again then saw Alfred out of his window and shooting a gun at the van. Well that's good now that the shooter's attention was on him.

Fuck. He needed something to stop the damn thing. The Brit looked at the drawer then opened it, green eyes widening in disbelief in what he saw. A gun. A motherfucking gun after all this time he could just have shot the fuckers from the start. He got and then readied it, then took a look if there were any cars in front of him then stretched his arm to the back and shot.

The police sirens were louder now and he could see the red and blue lights flashing nearby. It's time to finally end this fucking chase.

He hit the brakes, turning the steering wheel around and blocked the lane horizontally. The pickup was on a full stop and Arthur aimed at the lower part of the oncoming van then shot one, two, three times then one of the rubber wheels suddenly burst, making the vehicle swerve out of control until a loud screeching filled his ears and it was suddenly tumbling towards him.

Oh shit.

He widened his eyes and quickly opened the door then jumped out, landing hard and rolled on the road with a loud groan, just feet away from the pickup that was pushed away with the van that landed upside down.

His body was radiating in pain from the fall, shaking as he tried to get up and successfully stood, though losing some balance. He was suddenly surrounded by police cars and the said officers came out and ran to the toppled van with guns, shouting demands and threats.

"Arthur!" Alfred called out from behind him, running towards the exhausted Brit who was busy catching his breath, "Are you okay?"

The only response the American got was the finger and Arthur panting then looked at him in incredulously, "What the fuck was that?!"

Alfred opened his mouth to answer when he abruptly looked away and pressed on the earphone, "Yes sir, we've got them successfully, the police will be holding them for the meantime until you dispatch another team," he paused, frowning before sighing, "Well, um, shot dead by snipers... I'm sorry sir... okay, okay. They'll wait for them." Once the conversation seemed over, he sighed then turned to Arthur who raised an eyebrow.

"So what, you work for the CIA now?"

They both looked as the police pulled out the two criminals, and then opened the back of the van and recovered bags and boxes from inside.

"Illegal gun smuggling and almost stole something very important." The spectacled American started, "For the past few days I was a spy and went with the syndicate, finding out their secrets and-,"

"Wait, wait, wait." Arthur raised a hand up and turned to him with the same expression on his face, "You knew this days ago and you told me-,"

"I thought it'd be over early!"

The Brit only gave a tired look as the police cuffed the masked men, taking off the cloth and exposing their face. Both of them looked again and watched as they were pushed inside the police car, and the police officer saluted Alfred and he gave one back.

Slowly, the people and cars started dispersing, leaving the two standing by the side and looking at the poor vehicles in front of them. The area was fenced by yellow tape that said "Police: Do Not Cross" or something of the like, making sure that people who were smart enough to read it were able to avoid the said area in the future. And the sun finally set as the two were still in silence, with the older brushing off some dirt off his sleeves.

Alfred looked at the ground, then at Arthur then back at the ground, "...Sorry for dragging you into this."

"Wrong thing to apologize for."

He looked at the Brit who was looking away, before rolling his eyes and sighed, "...Sorry for making you wait for more than an hour at the airport."

"And?"

"And not telling you I was doing spy things in the recent days." Arthur was silent, and the younger one worried if he was really upset with him, "Arthur?" he looked at him, eyebrows slanting outward as he frowned, "Are you angry at me?" for some seconds more he frowned even more and looked down on the ground, "Look I'll make it up to you I promise."

When there was still silence, he opened his mouth to speak again when a squeak and yelp replaced his words as his rear was suddenly squeezed, "Arthur!"

The Brit looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "I saved your sorry arse earlier, so I get to fuck it tonight."

"But Arth-,"

"No buts, only yours."

Alfred couldn't help but blush at his words, pushing him aside as they started walking, "Can we just get some dinner first?"

BK123: Hey look another fic from this lazy ass fucker right here. And it's UKUS/USUK! Sorry for everyone who waited for me to update my fics but it's going to be a long while for me to catch up to them, my old laptop broke and all my fic files were there, and it was just a waste and damn was I mad :( but here you go, have some of my renewed love for the pairing.

And have I ever told you about how I hate England being portrayed as a weak little princess in this pairing? So have a badass UKUS here because I've been watching too much action movies, this is still the first chapter, there's still more to come if I ever feel responsible enough to write again.

Reviews are lovely by the way. And I apologize if the actions isn't that clear, though, I'll try harder in the coming chapters.

Rated M because of the next coming chapter, thank you.