Warnings: Language but I don't think that's enough to up the rating. Tell me if you disagree. (It's 2Ps though, of course their's cursing.)


Trust is a fascinating enigma if ever there was one. To begin, how might one adequately provide a measurement for trust? Is it quantified in the time spent in incubation before being put to the test? In the tired and harried scars of experience and camaraderie built by continuing instances of well-placed belief? In the end, it does not truly matter how one measures trust. For trust, however strong, built upon foundations of stone and fortified by years of loyalty, can and will crumble upon the slightest infraction. The investment really, when taken into consideration, does not seem to outweigh the costs. The time it takes to build, when requiring but seconds to destroy and an eternity to mend. Yet we cling to that intangible wisp as if it is our only solace in a selfish world. Because that is what it is really. Selfish.

Considering the frailty of the subject, the solution appears to be one previously acknowledged from time to time. Trust but verify. How oxymoronic as well as hypocritical. Yet herein lies the secret to self-preservation. Advocation of trust warrants the exposure of vulnerability. To allow another being to witness and become the shoulder to support one's shortcomings. Verification, all the while, speaking of thorough scrutiny. The discovery of deceit before it can be acted upon. Even still, there runs the risk of deception and betrayal. Would it not be best to discard all manner of trust in favor of self-assurance? To rely on one's own abilities rather than place faith in the insubstantial shield of trust? But suspicion is tiring. That is the truth. Distrust inevitably leads to a path of solitude, and humans are social beings. And so we trust. Perhaps not in many, perhaps only in one. But always there is at least one. One to whom you choose to show your back and lower your guard.

But trust, by nature of of the self-serving world, was made to be betrayed. The foundation of society is a ladder and the top rung can only be inhabited by a populous of one. And so, even if trust is given to but a single individual who has sworn to the heavens and proved through time and tide their loyalty.

That trust will be broken.

Alex followed the Englishman out of the well-disguised compound and on to a nondescript black van. One of the large, sliding doors was opened upon their approach and they were greeted by a wide smile and a mop of garish pink hair.

"Hello loves! How'd it go!" The -some might say adoring, Alex preferred grating- cheerful voice of Oliver Kirkland greeted the group.

His counterpart in green rolled his eyes. "Just great. Mr. Massacre over there went ahead and left a trail of blood for the whole bloody world to follow!" England cast a harsh glare over his shoulder at the aforementioned otherworld inhabitant before moving to the front of the van.

His short outburst was for the most part ignored by the remaining pair. The small Englishman wearing a checkered sweater vest of alternating pastel pink and blue beckoned the much taller, much more annoyed American to set his counterpart on the floor. All while Arthur proceeded to climb into the driver's seat in the front. After, of course, a small entanglement with the passenger side door.

"Bloody Americans."

"What was that?" Alex and Oliver called up with mild curiosity. Having missed the utterance.

"Nothing."

The engine roared to life and within moments the group was off, turning down several side streets until arriving on the main highway. The trio in the back got themselves comfortable. The pinkette starting to fret over their unconscious charge while Alex kept watch out the back window for any signs of pursuit.

"Poor dear" the older man crooned as he checked the out cold blond for any injuries. A few moments of tense silence passed before a thought seemed to spark in the back of Oliver's blue eyes, which swirled with pink in response to his inner excitement. "Ooh Al!" the Brit clapped his hands excitedly and turned to face the other nation.

"What?" the American bit back, still keeping close watch on the road.

"Did you save any of the guards' blood for me?" the brightly-colored man asked in a deceptively innocent tone that would have others believe he were a child asking his mother for sweets.

Alex faced Oliver for a moment before grinning conspiratorially and rummaging through his bomber jacket to retrieve what looked like a small vial. Filled near to the brim with viscous red liquid. "Here ya go Ollie" he chucked the vial to the other who caught it in both hands and cradled the stolen blood like it was water from the fountain of youth.

Arthur, though was not so uninformed and momentarily forgot his current job in favor of turning his head away from the road to stare aghast at his fellow nations. "What? When the bloody hell did you have time for that!"

"Oh Alex, you're the best!"

"No prob dude" the American turned back to the rear window, trying to hide a proud grin as he watched Oliver eagerly scrutinize the blood. He then turned to the distraught blond. "And I sometimes get blood for Ollie 'cause he likes to use it in his cooking. Oh and Arthur, road" Alex reminded casually.

"Shit!" the van swerved as the Englishman turned his focus back on remaining on the right side of the road instead of the left where he had begun to stray.

Oliver tutted disapprovingly at the other's curse. "Artie swear jar!"

"Hell no!"

Alex frowned as he caught sight of several identical vehicles discretely trying to close the distance between them. "We've got company" he warned. Oliver gasped and put a hand to his mouth in shock and worry, blue eyes glistening slightly. Arthur on the other hand seemed to keep his composure, the only sign of unease being the slight tightening of his grip on the wheel.

"Relax, both of you. They don't know what car we're in."

Alex scoffed. "Yeah, a big black unlicensed and unmarked van. We're not suspicious at all" he muttered with obvious sarcasm. Still the van did not increase its speed. "Dude hurry the fuck up!" he finally shouted.

"Al watch your language! Artie's doing just fine, we're going the speed limit" Oliver defended whilst holding up a half empty mason jar filled with various bills of nearly every currency.

Alex groaned but dug out a five dollar bill and shoved it in the proffered jar before making for the front of the van. "Yeah and all the old ladies are passing us! Either hurry up or get out of the way old man!"

Arthur spared the teenage brunette an incensed glare. "I am not that old and sit your arse down!"

"Arthur!" the pinkette in back objected.

"Shut the hell up Oliver!" both Arthur and Alex shouted before the American finally appeared to get fed up. Alex reached over to heft the smaller Briton up by the collar of his uniform and practically tossed him into the back.

"Oi!"

Arthur made to try and reclaim the wheel but was instead thrown further back along with an unprepared Oliver as Alex suddenly floored the gas pedal. The van rocketed forward.

While the two Englishmen attempted to disentangle their limbs, the red-eyed American gave a wicked grin, glimpsing from the side view mirror at the collection of vehicles that were in hot pursuit of their own.

"Alright assholes. Let's burn some rubber."

~Two Months Earlier~

"Start talking." Luciano's tone left no room for refusal.

The muscles in the blond's jaw noticeably clenched at the order. Having thought back, it truly was amazing in Arthur's mind just how quickly the world seemed to have fallen apart around them. They, the ever-experienced and the immortal had been taken completely by surprise. If asked, not one of them would have been able to guess just how long ago the blueprints for their destruction had been conceived.

Perhaps they had no one but themselves to blame. So focused had they become in their own petty grievances with one another. The years of relative peace that surrounded them had in essence somehow lured them into the belief that they could forget their greater duties. Forget that first and foremost they were anthropomorphic manifestations of something greater than any single individual. Something greater than an Arthur, or a Kiku, or god forbid a Francis. Had they become selfish? If so then perhaps it really was their own fault that their people. Their children. Had given up on them. And they hadn't even noticed until it was too late.

These were the thoughts that passed through the mind of the island as he began to mentally recount the details of the events that had, in a matter of hours, lead him and his closest friends and allies seemingly to hell and back. From a simple G8 summit to a meeting with the inhabitants of a world they had thought complete chaos compared to their own. It would seem he needed to rethink that assumption. Arthur closed his eyes in a resigned fashion and took a long, deep breath before opening his mouth to begin.

"I don't even know how to start" the blond admitted, glaring somewhere down and to the right and avoiding Luciano's gaze. "It was just a normal meeting. America- I mean our America was talking at the time and then suddenly-" at this point the Brit's eyes narrowed menacingly. "There was a bomb on the table. We all dove for cover and that idiot." Luciano unknowingly leaned forward in interest as the Englishman's body started to shake slightly with poorly restrained rage. "America was closest and he dove for the bomb. France and I- we were so focused on Canada because he was sitting between us- I didn't even think of stopping Alfred from trying to be the hero. He took the full blast."

Luciano's eyes widened at the revelation. Dropping his arms from their akimbo position to help prop himself against the side of his desk. He tried to let the information sink in. Tried to relate what he was being told to what he knew was going on with Alexander in his own world. "H-he, he's dead?" the Italian asked tentatively.

England perked up. "What? Oh- no! No of course not!" Arthur waved his hands in a negating fashion. "He's not dead. The bomb was filled with tranquilizers. Dozens of darts. America went unconscious in seconds. Then all hell broke loose. The windows were broken in and then American soldiers flooded the room. They started shooting at us. Italy, North Italy that is, took a hit but Germany was quick to get him out with the rest of us." From what Luciano could see not only Arthur, but the rest of the nations within view all had a faraway look in their eyes. "Japan… Japan was not so lucky. China tried to go back for him but Russia wouldn't let him. They have them both now."

"The United States government?" Luciano asked for clarification which was answered with a curt nod. "I still don't understand though. Why? Why would America's government want to capture you all?"

Arthur sighed and ran a hand through his hair tiredly. Luciano noticed for the first time the dark circles under his eyes likely from exhaustion and lack of sleep. The Italian could bet that the others were the same as well. "We don't know. God, we- we don't know anything about what's going on. Thinking back, it has been a while since any of us had direct contact with our bosses. Even now, they aren't answering us. We think they all had a hand in this. We've been completely isolated."

"Ve~. What about the other nations? The ones who weren't at the meeting?"

"They've gone into hiding. As soon as we escaped the attack we contacted the whole world. Told them to hide. We think they were able to disappear before anything happened. It's just us now. Russia, China, France, Canada, Germany, Prussia, North Italy, South Italy, Spain, and I."

"Spain?"

"Oh, yes. He tagged along with Romano and ended up getting caught in the mess."

Luciano hummed in thought and considered the situation. It sounded like the governments on Earth had decided to turn against their own personifications. But that didn't make sense. Earth's nations had always had close ties to their people. Not like in Otherworld where nations like himself tended to avoid contact with their main governments. Most of their influence was based in the underworld. They worked in the shadows. If what Arthur said was true and they were now on the run… well they really were out of their depth. But still, how was anything going on there affecting the nations in Otherworld? "Why are we being affected?" Luciano finally asked briskly.

"I'm not sure. But we think that whatever they're doing is meant to be permanent. They are trying to find a way to kill us without harming themselves. And since our worlds are linked. A threat to our existence, is just as much a threat to yours."

Luciano blanched, completely taken aback. "But that's… that's completely idiotic! Who do those humans think they are to make that kind of decision!" Luciano fumed with rage at the implication that humans, in any reality, would deem the existence of anthropomorphic nations obsolete or something to be gotten rid of. But then his anger turned on the blond nation across the mirror. "How could you fools let this happen!? Kuro is GONE! We have no idea where he is! Are you saying that the humans found a way to kill your Japan!?"

England sucked in a shocked breath and farther back Luciano could see his own counterpart break out into tears. They all looked several shades paler. "I- no. No that can't be. If that were true then America would be gone as well. Is your America-" Arthur trailed off. Unwilling perhaps to state the possibility. Luciano sighed.

"No. Alex is still fine."

"But you said-"

"I know what I said! Alex has been suffering from fainting spells recently. I heard it from Louis during our last meeting. No one knows the cause. But if your theory about our worlds being connected is true then I suppose it is possible that whatever the Americans are doing to Alfred is causing it." The otherworld nation held his chin contemplatively with one hand as he considered his options. He didn't want to help the nations from Earth. Why should they have to help those idiots out of whatever mess they had gotten themselves into? His own reflection was fine after all. He was in no danger. But Kuro was gone because of this. Maybe dead, maybe not. But definitely gone, with Alex possibly next on the chopping block. He knew that the other Germany would be sure to protect his counterpart but… If whatever happened to their Japan happened to Ludwig, then Siegfried… No, he wouldn't let that happen.

"Luciano?" the brunette hadn't even noticed how long he had been standing in silence until Arthur's voice broke him out of his moment of contemplation.

The Italian sighed. "I will have to speak with your counterparts. I'm sure Alexander will want whatever is going on settled, and Oliver will probably agree to help as well. No guarantees about Louis or Matthieu but, as for the Axis Powers of Otherworld." Luciano lifted his head to meet Arthur's gaze as well as the gazes of the other Earth nations that had gathered around the mirror to see what his answer would be. "You will have our support. Make sure that you have a gateway open by the time I get back."

Arthur nodded. "When will you be ready? Not to rush you or anything but my basement is probably not the most secure location at the moment. America's jet that we used to escape might have had a tracking device we weren't aware of. Either way I'm sure my government will be here within a matter of hours."

"Fanculo" Luciano cursed. "Give me twelve hours. I will have all the nations willing to get this taken care of here by then. Just make sure your gateway is open by the time we arrive capito?"

A nod. "We'll be ready."

"And make sure that idiota that calls himself my counterpart stays out of the line of fire!" With that the connection in the mirror flickered and then cut off. Leaving Luciano staring at himself.

"Luciano?" not a moment later Siegfried reentered the room. "Is everything alright I thought I heard voices?"

"Siegfried."

"Ja?"

"Get your things and prepare the private jet. I have a few calls to make."


Matthieu downed the last of his whiskey spiked with the best goddamn substance in all of creation, genuine Canadian-made maple syrup. Ah, hell yes. With a contented sigh, the large North American male let himself sink deeper into the plush folds of his couch. Deciding that he would take a nap instead of waiting any longer for his expected guest. No purpose in waiting for someone with no sense of punctuality after all. Just a few more seconds and then blissful-

Knock-knock!

"ALEX you son of a BITCH!" Matthieu jumped to his feet and stormed over to open the front door of his cabin before his southern brother could break it down. Making sure to glare at the brunette through the shades of his sunglasses.

Unfortunately, as it often occurred, Matt's glare had little impact on his overly-confident little brother. The red-eyed man just grinned. "Dude, you know that makes you a son of a bitch too right? And I don't think Native America would appreciate you calling her a bitch."

Matt's glare increased in intensity so much so that Kuma seemed to sense something wrong and ambled out from behind the house to stare up at the two bickering nations. The large polar bear growled at Alexander after realizing the brunette was the object of his master's ire. "Fuck you Al. Fuck you."

"He he. Gross."

"GAH!" Matt slammed the door on his brother's face. Fully intent on going back to his couch to sleep the winter away. He hadn't hibernated in a few years. True it was still early, barely even August, but who cared? Dealing with people was too troublesome anyway.

Alexander though, was not to be deterred. Matthieu called him up here for some good old fashioned hunting and there was no way he was going to let one of the Canadian's moods get in the way of that. Behind him, the large polar bear Kuma also padded up to the front door of the cabin and let out a low whine of complaint at having been locked out with the American. "What do you think Kuma? Should I break it down?" The polar bear looked up at Alex with a disapproving expression and growled. In response to which the American held his hands up in surrender. "Okay okay jeez." Then he turned back to the door. "Hey c'mon Matt, you were the one who called me up here remember? You said you wanted help with your moose problem?" The cabin remained silent for a moment, and Alex feared that the Canadian had already fallen asleep. That was, until he heard a groan and a bit of shuffling and the pale blond appeared yet again, this time decked out in a red plaid shirt rolled up to his elbows, his faded jeans, hiking boots, and of course a high powered Norinco M305 rifle.

Matt sighed at how Alex's grin returned with a vengeance. "Don't look smug eh. I've been meaning to deal with this for a while and you're the closest person I could call. Otherwise I would have gone to Nikolai." Alexander's smile turned to a frown at the mention of his Russian rival.

"Yeah whatever bro. Let's get going. Is Kuma coming with?"

"Oui, Kuma here" Matt pat the side of his thigh and immediately the white bear came lumbering over.

Alex snorted in amusement and slight envy. He kind of wished Eegs was big enough to tag along on stuff like this. Sure the little guy was tough but a rooster was still a rooster. "So, where we headed?"

"Some hoser set up a permanent deer stand a little ways from here" Matthieu grunted. "I'm going to deal with it."

"Couldn't you have just called your wildlife service?"

"Ha! Like I want anything to do with the government. When was the last time you were even in D.C. huh?"

Alex tilted his head to the side a bit as he thought. "19...90? No, '95. Yeah it was in '95. Bastards shot all the wolves in Yellowstone. The wolves dude! That shit's not okay. So I went down there and told them to fix their mistake or I would make sure to bury them all in a shallow grave so they could rot together. Then I left." Matthieu started laughing at that.

"Ha! Showed them eh?"

"Hell's yeah. The animals were here long before them. What right do those suits have to decide what creatures get to live or die? I was running with those wolves long before those stupid Europeans even looked west!"

Matt eyed his brother carefully, as the brunette's tone grew more angry. "I hear you. But don't let Oliver catch wind of that. The guy might get depressed."

Alex frowned. "Shit. I didn't mean it like that. I just hate the fact that they think its okay to do whatever they want with my animals."

"I know what you- wait." Matt held up his hand as the trio came into view of a wooden stand set up in a small clearing in the trees. "There it is." The North American brothers crouched down near a large pine and eyed the stand carefully. Kuma snorted and made a series of grunts and growls in the Canadian's direction. "Kuma says there's one in there and maybe two or three a little ways away. I'll deal with this one then meet up with you to take care of the rest okay?"

Al nodded and crawled off with his bat without another word. As soon as the American was out of sight, Matthieu got to his feet, walked up to the stand, and knocked on the door. There was some shuffling and finally, a man dressed in hunting gear opened up. "Can I help you with something kid?" he asked shortly.

Matthieu didn't feel like being diplomatic. "Get out."

"Huh?" So they guy was American. Well, that made this easier.

"Take your stand down. And get out."

"Look kid I don't think-"

Fed up, Matt stepped aside, allowing Kuma into view. The hunter immediately freaked, reaching for a rifle that was laying against the side of the stand but the polar bear was faster and pummeled the hunter to the ground before sinking his jaws into one of the man's legs and dragging him out kicking and screaming. Once the hunter was on the ground, Kuma placed one large paw on the man's chest and kept the quivering hunter pinned as Matthieu stalked closer. "According to the Canada Wildlife Act of 1973, this is a no hunting zone. But besides that, those are my moose you're hunting eh." The Canadian crouched down by the hunter's head, one hand stroking his polar bear's fur. "Maybe this will teach your friends to keep the fuck out." With a pat on his polar bear's head the tall blond got to his feet and ran a hand through his curly hair, retying it in its small pony-tail. "He's all yours Kuma."

Matthieu was already at the line of trees by the time the hunter started screaming. In a few minutes, he came across Alex who was having fun breaking another hunter's bones one at a time with his nail-spiked bat. "You done?" he asked tiredly.

Alex finished the man off with one more strike to the face and turned to the Canadian with a smile. "Nah, Thing One said Thing Two was somewhere checking wolf traps. We need to find him. By the way, dick move not telling me they were American. Stings you know."

Matt shrugged. "Didn't know."

"Hey Dad! Dad? Where are you?"

"Well speak of the devil. You got this bro?"

"Yeah I got this." Matthieu lifted his rifle and aimed it towards the unsuspecting hunter.

"Humans really are pathetic aren't they?" Alex mused as his brother took aim. "Physically they are one of the weakest and yet they waltz around like they're the apex predator of the world. Heh, they can't even tell when death is staring them in the face." Matthieu removed the safety.

"Dad? Seriously this isn't funny."

"That's why I hate dealing with them. Our people. The animals deserve more respect than them." A shot rang out and the unnamed hunter dropped to the ground while a flock of birds scattered into the distance. "Ha ha, nice shot bro-" Alex dropped his bat and his eyes widened slightly before rolling into the back of his head. The American collapsed.

"Alex!" Matt rushed to catch the nation before he could hit the ground and shook him hard. "Alex wake up!" This was the third time this happened in a week. Why was he collapsing? "KUMA!" The Canadian called out to his polar bear and within moments the hulking beast, now sporting a healthy coat of pink and red around his muzzle and paws, came barreling towards them. Matthieu flung his unconscious brother over the bear's back without a word and the two ran back to the safety of his cabin. Once there, Matt settled the unconscious brunette on the couch before beginning to pace back and forth, wondering what to do. Should I call someone? Papa? No, he wouldn't be of much help even if I could get him to fly over from France. Maybe Oliver. As long as I watch him as he cooks he might be able to make something to help him. As the blond remained focused on his thoughts he almost missed the sound of his landline ringing.

Shocked into awareness with a nudge from Kuma, Matthieu trudged over to the phone and picked it up. "WHAT!"

"Well that was an awfully rude greeting il mio amico deprimente" came a silky Italian voice.

Matt pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "Flavio~, what do you want I'm kind of busy here" growled the Canadian. He wasn't in the mood to deal with Luciano's flamboyant southern twin.

"Aw what's the matter? Louis and Oliver not paying any attention to you?" the man on the other end of the line cooed teasingly.

Matt felt his eyebrow twitch. "Don't be a douche. Alex collapsed again. Now tell me why the hell you're bothering me. I just want to deal with this and sleep."

Flavio actually made a sound of surprise at this. "Oh really? I thought that was you with the fainting problem. Huh, well that works out perfectly then! Luci called and said he found out what's going on. It would appear our less fun counterparts on earth are having a few difficulties with their governments. And somehow blah blah world connection blah it is effecting us. I agreed to call you boys and see if you're willing to help fix it."

Matt remained silent for a moment, thinking it over. He glanced at his unconscious twin. Was it worth it? "Matt? You still there? Hello~" Flavio called, obviously impatient and not receiving an immediate response.

"Shut up! I'm thinking you asshole." Alex started to stir. "Give me a minute." Letting the landline hang on its chord, Matt went up to his brother and punched him in the arm.

"Ow! The hell Matt!" Alex shot up and glared at his brother angrily.

"Quiet eh. Flavio called and he knows what's wrong with you."

"He does?"

"Yeah, something with our counterparts being in trouble."

"The Boy Scout?" Matt hummed in affirmation and Alex frowned. "So what's the plan?"

"They want our help."

"Shit."

"Uh-huh. You going to help them? It looks like the Axis jerks are on board." Alex grew quiet for a moment and then fell back on the coach before sighing.

"Fine, tell Flavio I'll help. I don't want to have to deal with this fainting thing forever. I feel like a teenage girl." Matt nodded and went over to the phone. "Are you coming?" Alex tried not to look hopeful, knowing full well the extent of his brother's apathy which was so very much like Louis'.

Matt considered for a while, then sighed. "Yeah, I'll come too. You might be a shit brother. But you're my shit brother so whatever those idiots are doing to screw things up I'll help fix." Matthieu turned to the phone. "Flavio."

"There you are Matt! So, what's it going to be?"

"We're in."


Thanks to those who reviewed and please keep letting me know what you think! TBC