January

Washington D.C.

America - Alfred F. Jones

The rest of the afternoon couldn't have moved slower. Normally, America wouldn't just waltz through the front doors of the Capitol building, but risky decisions were becoming more and more common with him. There weren't many civilians inside the building today.

Sneaking in with a tour group, Alfred emptied his pockets to go through security. He took off his scarf, opened his jacket, and placed his phone, keys, and crumpled mcdonalds bag into a tray beside the metal detector. Walking through with ease, the nation decided to follow the tour group. From the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of ever-so-secret secret service members. With a heavy sight, he knew he had to go. Work was waiting for him. Falling to the back of the group, Alfred took off when the tour turned a corner.

"Mr. America, we've been searching for you for hours" one agent said as the others escorted America to the House Camber. How funny, I've been avoiding you for hours.

"tch- dudes, y'all gotta give me more credit! I was hungry!" America paused for a moment, "Yo, and you dudes know to call me Alfred". The others did not respond. America couldn't blame them. They were just following orders. Still, most political leaders and even some of his own congressmen did not know the secret of the Nations. Which was fine with America, the less people that know the better. Recently, it has been his boss throwing out his name all willy nilly against America's wishes. He sighed and walked into the Chamber. He had a few minutes to mingle and try to get caught up before Congress was supposed to be in session.

As the talks started, America took his normal seat in the balcony of the House Chamber. No outside visitors were watching congress meet today, so he had the balcony to himself. Propping up his feet on the railing and pulling out his phone, America droned out the hearings that were taking place. He just couldn't concentrate.

America scrolled through social media for no particular reason other than to pass time and take his mind off his ever growing headache. From there, he checked a few emails, responding to some and deleting others. Then the notifications started to pop up at the top of his screen. A few news notifications and text messages. Alfred stared at his phone for a moment before opening his messages. The first few messages were from England and France. Alfred's thumb hovered over "Iggy" before opening the message.

I sure hope you know what you're doing. Was what the cryptic message that England had sent. Further down in his messages he found one from his boss that was sent just a few minutes before England's. The message read, "White House. Now."

Sitting up and taking his feet off the railing, America realized that Congress had stopped their talks and were murmuring to themselves. Whispers about an Oval Office Address hit his ears and America froze.

You gotta be kidding me. No one tells me anything anymore

The ride to the White House was uneventful. He was surrounded by secret service men and couldn't seem to calm down. America shut his eyes to ease his aching head. The car came to an abrupt stop out of civilian view. Again, secret service men surrounded the nation till they knew he was safely inside the White house walls. Even then, the men only let up a little. They did not allow America into any of the main hallways and made him wait in the Cabinet Room without saying a word.

From the hallway, America could hear the footsteps and voices of reports and camera crew. An Oval Office Address is not very common and gave the President a way to speak directly to the American people. Alfred knew all eyes would be on his boss. No one seemed to be paying much attention to the nation in the room. So of course this meant that Alfred was searching for a way out. He needed to be there to witness the speech first hand.

Taking off his jacket and scarf, Alfred snuck out of the room while the service men were too busy being debriefed. Something America himself would loved to have been. Blending in with reporters and keeping his head down, he found himself in the Oval Office. His president was not at the desk, but Alfred noticed the speech layed out. He let out a sigh of relief and crossed his fingers that his boss stuck to the script in front of him.

As reporters were setting up cameras and lighting, America made him way to the back close to the door. He wouldn't be in anyone's way back here. Sometimes he wished he could be like Canada in these dire situations. Go anywhere without being noticed. Alfred's thoughts about his brother were interrupted by the doors opening again and his boss walking in. The older man took a seat at the desk and looked out at the reporters.

"My fellow Americans" the President said after a moment of silence, "Tonight I am speaking to you because there is a growing-" and America was bored. He knew what was going to be said. He had fought with his boss every day about the topics that would be brought up in this address. Rolling his eyes, Alfred scanned the reporters and other officials that were "lucky" enough to be at this address. He thought about who all would be watching. He knew England would be across the pond. After all, he was the one to send America a message. He then wondered if the other nations were watching the address.

So many thoughts were making their way into Americas head all at once. Everything was jumbled and nothing made sense to him as his temper started to grow. He scanned the room again and hadn't noticed that the reporters were all shouting demanding answers. As reporters got closer to the desk and his boss, other fights broke out between officials. This happened to often that America should not have been surprised. He couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't think. He needed out. He closed his eyes and didn't realize the words that left his mouth before it was too late.

"Oh come on!"

He opening his eyes again after a blessed moment of silence. All eyes and cameras were on him.