Hello everybody! I added a lot of angst and drama last chapter, no? I would like to kill whoever made my Alfie give up his hero status, and rip out their large intestine, and strangle them with it.

I awoke when someone sat down onto the bed next to me. I opened my eyes. It was Confederacy. He looked exhausted. I turned. "You ok?" He looked surprised at the question. "Why the hell would you ask that?" I snorted. "Hypocrite." He laughed at that. "I guess you're right." He put his hand on my forehead. For once I didn't feel any energy loss when he touched me. It was nice, knowing that he didn't mean to hurt me. For once.

I was surprised when North didn't seem angry at me. Maybe he didn't have the strength. I was really tired. Taking on a lot of the US's duties was hard. I'd really been out of practice. I talked quietly, just to ease the silence. I could tell he was listening, even though I wasnt looking at him. I was reminded of a short time period, when North and I had been friends. As I talked, I was aware of Alfred struggling to sit up. Almost automatically, I helped him. But as much as the whole scenario was surprising, considering I had kidnapped him and was slowly killing him, what he did next surprised me even more. He sat up and slumped over, resting his head on my shoulder. I kept talking, afraid to disturb him. Eventually, I heard a slight change in his breathing. I looked over so see his face, inches from mine, asleep. Again, I was surprising myself more and more. I drew him into my arms, holding him. And I could tell, I wasn't drawing any strength. I ran my fingers through his hair, marveling at how soft it was. His whole body seemed frail, as though it might break any moment. I sighed, wondering what I was going to do.

I flopped down onto a bunk bed, sighing and wondering what I was going to do. Ginny entered, along with Rex. "Hey sis, what's up?" The thick Texan drawl always made me laugh. But I grew serious again. "Oh, just a normal Monday. My dad is kidnapped by my other dad, and I betray him. Then, he almost dies, and I can do nothing. Then, my annoying-as-f*ck brother comes in and asks me 'what's up' like it's perfectly normal. I'm doing great!" I threw my hands up at the last sentance, then dramatically fell back onto the bed, staring up at nothing. They laughed, and Ginny sat besides me. "This is all bull, ya know?" I cocked my head at her statement. "But…Dad is dying!" She smirked. "Don't be so sure about that. I saw them, back in the room, talking. Well, Dad was listening. And Confederacy was talking. Then, Dad sat up, and they hugged each other. Like, really hugging." I raised an eyebrow. "Really confusing is more like it." I shook my head. "What? What? That makes no sense whatsoever!" "I know. But I saw what I saw, and I believe it." Rex sat down next to me. "We need a plan."

I paced the room, thinking. Rex, Ginny and I had been throwing ideas back and forth for hours, and hadn't thought of anything. Ginny seemed convinced that Confederacy wouldn't kill Dad just yet, but I was…not a huge believer. I was shaken out of my thoughts by Rex and Ginny fighting over who-knows-what for the billionth time. "Will y'all just shut up!" I yelled, my normally hidden southern accent coming out in my anger. Most of the southern states have the accent, but hide them since Dad was scarred by the whole, my-evil-Southern-twin-wants-to-kill-me thing. But when I get angry, I can't help it. Rex was red in the face, and seemed pissed. Ginny looked smug, but also pissed, since she was winning the argument before I interrupted. "We're supposed to be finding ways to rescue Dad, remember?"

We called a meeting of the States. Last time we had called a meeting was WW2. This could be worse. The assembled States looked up at me, Ginny, Rex, and Del. Del was a northern state, and there was no reason not to council with the Northerns. (Oh yeah, I was waiting for this! Thanks Skyla!) Ginny spoke first. "As you all have probably heard from the others, Confederacy has captured…Dad…" Her voice was breaking, and her eyes were shining, not with joy, but with unshed tears. She cleared her throat and continued. "He has been using his weird connection to suck the energy and life out of him. He is slowly dying, and Confederacy is only getting stronger. We want-no. We need to save him!" I took it up there. "We know where Dad is being kept, and it shouldn't be hard getting to him. The only problem is…" I trailed off and looked helplessly at Rex. He glared, not at me, not at our brothers and sisters, but at Confederacy, wherever he was. "Him!" He spat. "The person who took our father away!" Rex had been one of the ones closest to Dad, and seeing him like that must have torn him apart. Some of the Southerns looked doubtful, but everyone else looked either excited or really, really pissed. I felt a surge of happiness. We could do this!

"God…I feel like hell…what happened?" I murmured blearily. I felt blankets around me, and I heard a voice. "Go back to sleep. There was a…problem. But it's fixed now." A calloused, but comforting hand rested on my forehead, relaxing me, and I relinquished myself to a deep sleep.

Another short as f*ck chapter! Sorry! But I'm happy with it, so yay! Confederacy is having conflicted feelings now, isn't he? And something tells me that Al is feeling like crap for new reasons…hm. Can't wait to see how this turns out. I'm as excited as you guys, and I'm the author! 3 furrfurr