This chapter is way too long. It's by far the shittiest one too, I think. I'm sorry guys, I'm tired, and I just came home from a family trip to Quebec. I've been to Old Quebec before, but I have to say, Montreal's just as beautiful. This chapter is also unedited. I'm sorry.

EDIT: Aiden and Niles are not fraternal twins. They're identical twins. Sorry.

Hetalia (c) Himaruya

I found the walk on the way home rather peaceful, as I would always snap a glare at Alfred whenever he tried to strike a conversation, intimidating him. In response, he would look down and remain silent as though he were some kicked stray puppy. Did I find it adorable? No, in fact I found it quite pitiful that a grown man like Alfred was capable of making the expression. Did I feel terrible? He could drop dead at my feet right at that moment and I would most likely burst into a fit of laughter.

He must have found the silence maddening as he once again tried to create a small chat. "You've got an interesting brother. He's so badass and cool—"

I interrupted him with a glare—my worst one that day—which effectively silenced him and began walking faster.

"Dude, what's your problem? What's gotten you in such a sour mood? You're sister's here with your two other brothers, so you should be happy." Not quite, Jones. Kirklands lived in several countries for a reason and they would rarely come together unless there was a serious matter.

I hid my laughter as Alfred slipped again, revealing too much about what he knew. Strike one: Alfred knew about the information theft which occurred on my computer, under my control. Strike two: he knew that Morgan was indeed a girl, although the name was gender neutral and that it was more common a name for a male, rather than a female. Strike three: he's way too desperate and way too interested in my affairs. Three strikes, Alfred F. Jones, you're out.

"Oh believe me, Jones," I said dryly, "I'm ecstatic."

Knowing my siblings, they wouldn't have waited for us to arrive so we could all have dinner as a family, so on the way, we managed to get some food at a burger joint and eat it on the way home. Alastair wouldn't actually make everyone wait for dinner as he simply wasn't the type to force everyone into doing that. As long as there was food, everything was fine. Everyone would eat when they felt like it.

Upon arriving at the neighbourhood filled with gigantic mansions and manicured lawns, I noticed several vehicles parked in my large-enough driveway, making me groan as I placed a hand on my forehead. Of course they'd choose to bring such eye-catching vehicles with them. I forgot they all adored flaunting how much power they possessed.

"Dude," Alfred said, staring at the cars with wide eyes.

"Not a word, Jones," I sighed as we continued to approach the house.

The vibrant red paint of Aiden's 1964 DB5 was glinting in the afternoon sun, making me scowl as I brought a hand up to protect my eyes. Niles' green Morgan Aero was parked right beside Aiden's, and there was my Harley—safe, and scratch-free. Next was Alastair's Sesto Elemento and upon seeing that, it made me realize why he decided to use my Harley instead. My Harley paled in comparison to the other vehicles which made sense as to why Alastair used it, since it was the most conspicuous vehicle. I was surprised that Morgan's Lotus Elise was nowhere to be found, seeing an Iconoclast in its place.

"How much money does your family have?" Alfred asked once he finally remembered how to move.

"Enough," I replied as I tried to ignore Alfred's reaction to the cars. Staring at the roses in my garden, I clicked my tongue in annoyance as I pulled a dead leaf from one of the stems, dropping them to the ground. Stomping towards the front door, I pulled out my keys when it suddenly opened to reveal a smirking Aiden, wearing an expression which I've seen way too many times to know that he was planning something mischievous once again.

"Arthur," Aiden greeted; his Irish accent thick and his smile a little too wide for my liking. He wore my clothes, with black skinny jeans and a white, long-sleeved shirt underneath my Who shirt. In his hands, he held one of his several handheld gaming consoles as he leaned on the doorframe, giving Alfred a scrutinizing stare.

Before he could pull me in for a hug, I sidestepped and shoved him out of the doorway, pulling Alfred and taking him upstairs, holding a groan and a look of disgust until Aiden was out of sight. "Stay here," I ordered as I shoved him in my office, before dropping my satchel on my bed in my room and changing into a pair of skinny jeans and a plain black shirt. Normally, I'd wear a sweater vest and a pair of slacks, but my siblings adored picking on the way I dressed so I decided to go for a safe, generic look.

Just then, Niles barged into my room, tackling me to the ground. "Hey kid!" he greeted as I struggled to get him off me. He was laughing as he attempted to pin me to the ground until I pulled out a pocket knife which I hid underneath my bed and pointed it at his neck.

Since I was the only one who actually lived in the house, I'd decided to store weapons all over the house in addition to the weaponry room placed in the main hidden room in the basement. It was better to be safe than sorry after all.

"Uhm," Alfred's appeared in the hallway, staring at Niles and I with a confused expression, seeing as how Niles was straddling me with an amused expression and I held a knife to his throat.

"Did I not tell you to stay in the office?" I hissed.

"You're pointing a knife at your brother…"

"It's normal, kid," Niles replied with a chuckle.

"But…you're pointing a gun at Arthur…"

I realized that indeed he was as I felt something cold and metallic being pressed to my side. "It's a family greeting," I replied with a hint of sarcasm before I covered my knife and drove a punch towards Niles' cheek so he could get off me.

"Cute boyfriend," Niles muttered as he got up, now sporting a red, swelling cheek.

"But we're not—"

"I know, kid, I'm just fucking around," he chuckled, running a hand through his auburn hair.

"Where's Morgan?" I asked, hiding the excitement in my tone. Compared to the rest of them, I was able to get along with Morgan the best. Aiden always pulled pranks on me—god knows why he chose me as his favourite target—Niles adored attacking me from behind, challenging me for a fight. Niles was taller although not necessarily stronger and faster. His punches were strong, but his attacks weren't strategic. Alastair on the other hand, was a better fighter, although rather than fighting, he found better ways to piss me off.

Morgan was very supportive and it helped that we both had the same area of expertise. Growing up, we often had healthy competitions when performing missions. Naturally, Morgan had the most kills, although she also risked her cover in the process.

"Over here," Morgan smirked as she appeared behind Alfred, all but startling all of us; Niles and Alfred for quickly appearing without sound which everyone should be used to by now, and surprising me, for her changes in appearance. Her dirty blonde and ridiculously straight hair used to be long—long enough to be tied up high into a ponytail and still reach her waist; her current appearance gave me the impression that someone had taken a young woman of the 1920s and placed them in the current era of the 21st century. She looked absolutely stunning with her hair cut short and permed so it curled and framed her face and high cheekbones perfectly, and her hair had a lighter shade, which led me to believe that she had bleached it, although one would never guess what with the way her hair looked healthy as it shone even in the faintest light. She was dressed casually in a top that was tucked underneath her high-waisted peach skirt that reached her knees.

I was suddenly pulled out of my stunned state when Niles slapped my cheek, making me snap a glare at him. He simply gave an arrogant remark as to how I was 'salivating over my sister' which, I actually wasn't. Either way, even if I were, we technically weren't related by blood, however we've been around each other long enough to act as though we were actual siblings and that we were able to fool everyone into believing we were actual siblings. Only Niles and Aiden were actually related by blood and that was because they were identical twins.

"I was not drooling," I replied, shooting him a glare.

"Come here you little runt," Morgan said with a smile as she pulled me into a tight hug, ruffling my hair.

"Runt?" I repeated with disbelief in my voice. Surely I was the shortest of the Kirkland family, but it wasn't my fault they were all giants. My height was one that would be considered average.

After pulling away, Morgan introduced herself to Alfred with a certain distaste in her voice which mirrored mine when he first began talking to me. I smiled, glad that Morgan and I were agreeing on the same thing yet again.

Niles left as well, telling me to go downstairs for a meeting after I was finished dealing with Alfred.

"Y'know, if you and Morgan weren't siblings, I'd think you were crushing on her," Alfred nudged. There was a sudden tone in his voice which I couldn't describe that seemed different from his usual happy tone.

At Alfred's remark I scoffed, before bursting into a tiny fit of laughter. "Even if we weren't related by blood, why should my crushing on a girl be of any concern to you?" I asked.

Panic filled his eyes as he tried searching for an answer to my question until I waved him off dismissively.

"I suppose I should begin tutoring you, yes?" I sighed as I took my satchel and ushered him towards the office once again.

Several minutes into trying to teach Alfred the basics of his current assignment in Literature, I remained convinced that Alfred was merely playing dumb with me on the whole situation. He did not ask about the odd way us siblings greeted each other, and more importantly, I knew that he did not require secondary education due to the fact that his several masters proved his intelligence. He could be working as a high ranking employee of the government, so why was he in my school, purposely failing classes (Literature of all classes, which was actually rather painful on my part due to the mere fact that it was Literature) and pretending to be an average human being with an IQ a tad higher than 130?

"Arthur Kirkland! Get down here!"

"Quit snogging with your boyfriend!"

"For the last time, he's not my boyfriend, you arse!" I yelled back before sighing and gathering all the sheets of paper which were spread across the table. Picking out several worksheets (I picked out those which even I found rather tedious and time-consuming than difficult), I instructed a worn Alfred to 'make an attempt' to finish them before heading to the basement.

In the basement was a guest room with a closet wherein a hidden door was located. Of course, there were other ways to access the hidden room of the house and there were in fact more than one hidden rooms. One could easily access the main hidden room if they actually knew where they were located and how they could open them.

Pressing a tiny button by the side of a fake outlet, I took out the plastic cover and pulled out a tiny red dragon pendant. The dragon's tail was actually cut into a tiny key which I inserted in the keyhole, twisting it before pulling it up and pushing the wall gently. Walking inside, I noticed that I was the only one there. I headed to the area where a large number of computer screens were set up, giving me a view of the entire house, as well as the perimeters. My eyes switching from screen to screen, I found my siblings in the game room—one of the things I had placed there in order to seem like a family of normal teenagers and young adults—playing video games while Morgan sat on the couch, curled up under a blanket with a laptop in her hands.

The game room was located in the basement and could also be accessed through the hidden room. Heading to the opposite side of the room, I used my key to open another door, pushing a shelf filled with video games I never bothered playing with, I closed the door and pushed the shelf back before turning to face them.

"You called?" I said, clearing my throat as I watched Aiden and Niles shove each other while playing what I believed was Mario Kart.

"Yeah, pass me my drink, will ya?" Alastair hummed absentmindedly as he sat on the other side of the room with headphones in his ears, playing Assassin's Creed II on the Xbox, his tongue slightly sticking out in concentration as the character he controlled successfully evaded the soldiers with skill.

I stood in front of him, getting in the way of him and his game, causing a whirlwind of curses to escape his mouth which were directed towards me. "It's right beside you, now go get it yourself. Now why did you ask for me?"

"Get out of the fucking way you stupid, blithering cunt!" he exclaimed, causing everyone to stare at us with amusement in their eyes. I flipped them off, telling them to mind their own business before another plethora of curses was sent towards me.

"Alastair, I'm sure you're aware that I've left Alfred alone in the office upstairs. I'd rather not leave him for long, or I'm afraid he'll—"

"Arthur cock-sucking Kirkland—"

"Alright, listen here you shit, if you were actually doing your fucking job, then you'd know that Alfred fucking Jones is a genius capable of stealing our information and leaving him unattended in my office is rather dangerous. Now, get to the damn point, or I won't be able to see what Alfred wanted with me and why—I have a suspicion—that he's interested in our affairs," I snapped, glaring at Alastair with the same intensity as his green eyes bore holes through my head.

Morgan's applause could be heard in the distance as Alastair raised an eyebrow and paused the game, pressing a button on the remote to show surveillance displays such as those in the hidden room. The televisions in the game room were instantly split into different parts, displaying what areas with CCTV cameras were placed in looked like.

"Arthur you shit, I was winning that game," Aiden grumbled as he sat on the couch beside Alastair.

"A thousand apologies, your majesty," I said, smiling an extremely fake smile.

"Well, let's start talking business, shall we?" Morgan asked, leaning her head on the armrest so she could see everyone else.

Alastair's voice took on a clipped, professional tone as he ordered me to inform everyone of what I knew about Alfred. I did as I was told, only to find out that they knew most of the information I managed to gather hours ago. We still had no clue as to what Alfred wanted with us and we were also suspicious of the fact that he was already aware of who we really were. Morgan had passed her laptop to Aiden who began searching various information databanks for Alfred's information, going so far as to checking those that were uploaded and were deleted by the government. Aiden was unable to find any information past what we already knew which led us all to believe that the government stored it and never uploaded it online, aware of the fact that several people would be interested in him. Whatever we managed to gather was enough to earn millions if sold to the right clients, although it wasn't enough—not for us.

My eyes wandered around the room, to the screen which showed where Alfred should have been, only to see that he had abandoned the work I'd assigned. My eyes quickly scanned each screen for Alfred, finding him hiding behind a bookshelf as he looked through binders of fake information.

"Well, at least now we're aware that he wants something from us," I huffed as I pointed at the screen.

Before I could warn Morgan and Niles that he wouldn't be able to find anything in the first place, they were already gone, their expressions murderous as they each held a pistol, their footsteps light and their movements quick as they headed up the stairs. Watching them from the screen, they opened the door and pointed a gun at Alfred's back.

What I saw in Alfred's eyes weren't fear; his eyes looked calm as he pretended to display an expression of horror on his face. He was dragged down the stairs, his footsteps heavy as he was shoved into the room, surveying it with large eyes. "Whoa, okay, Arthur, what is going on? Why are your siblings pointing pistols at me? Are those surveillance displays?"

"Quit the foolish act," Morgan hummed as she locked the door and guarded the exit, keeping her gun pointed at Alfred.

"If this is your government's way of getting our attention, then they did a hell of a job doing so. Now start talking before I blow your head off," Niles said with his voice coated in venom.

"I'm under strict orders to keep my mouth shut until my superiors give me the freedom to do as you say. Sorry about that," he sighed, flopping on the couch, and putting his feet on the table, flashing an arrogant smile.

"Were you the one who stole the information from Art's computer?" Aiden interrogated, his eyes glinting with fascination at Alfred's computer skills.

"I'm in no position to tell you that, but if you connect the dots and assume, you'll find out who stole your transaction files with Ms. Arlovskaya," which meant that he did steal information from me.

"That essay file you showed me…you wrote that, didn't you?" I asked. "The file was entitled 'presentation' and in that is a virus in which helped you steal the info, correct?"

"There is a possibility."

"You're basically dropping hints in order for us to put the pieces together—why is that?" Alastair asked, narrowing his eyes.

Alfred pursed his lips, pressing them into a thin line, his jaw clenching and his shoulders tensing in response to Alastair's question. He couldn't help us there.

Alastair nodded, acknowledging his answer before sitting across from him. "Okay, I respect your loyalty—"

"It's not loyalty," Alfred mumbled as he stared down, playing with his nails in an attempt to avoid eye contact. "It's a personal matter that I'm not comfortable talking about," he continued.

"And why is that?"

"I need your help, but I can't do that because I can't provide you the money in exchange for your services. The government needs your help too, and the case they're working on is related to my problem. I would talk about Ms. Arlovskaya's relation my problem, but like I said, I would only waste your time."

There was an awkward moment of silence until someone rang the doorbell, making us stare at the screen displaying the front porch where it displayed a short woman with long, black hair tied into a low ponytail, wearing a modest green shirt. "Special agent Lien Chung," she called out with a stern voice, pulling out her badge and showing it to the camera. "We require your full cooperation or a forced takeover of your facility will most likely take place. I demand you to open this door in 3..2.."

"You aren't really intimidating anyone," Alastair spoke into the intercom, his hand hovering over the button which unlocked the door. "Go to the basement and it's the first room to your left. We have one of your men with us."

Alfred remained silent, his posture seeming tense as he shot up to stare at the screen and watched Lien enter the game room.

Morgan opened the door for Lien before closing it and pointing a gun at her.

"That won't be necessary," Lien muttered, rolling her eyes. "I'm here with the agency's proposal, as well as an explanation and an apology regarding our dog's"—she sneered, glaring at Alfred—"idiotic behaviour."

"Ma'am, I was taught by my mother to respect my elders, but you're making that very difficult for me, as you're acting like a bitch," Alfred frowned.

"The mutt requires strict training and the agency is willing to pay a large amount in exchange for your services." Lien smirked, crossing her arms.

The agency – is that what they called their government nowadays?

"Why are you coming to us? The government is well aware that we also entertain clients in the underworld business, so why would the government require our assistance of all…organizations?" Alastair asked as he paused to search for the best word.

"Exactly for that reason, Mr. Kirkland," she replied with a sigh. "You have connections which would make it easier for the both of us. It would be a win-win situation, if you look at it. Just treat us like how you would treat any other client of yours."

"But your government is aware of our illegal activities, so why is it that you choose to buy our services instead of destroy us and force us into working for you?"

"Surely, even the agency would be aware of the rumors regarding the Kirkland family. We know what you five siblings are capable of, so cooperation would be the preferred choice in this situation," she rolled her eyes at Alastair in response to his question.

I held back a laugh, as did Aiden, as we stared at each other, and then back towards Lien.

"So the government would also be aware of the fact that we do not want your money. Your government is scared of us and our power because we could easily turn your own people against you, leading to your failure. We don't want people's taxes as payment—we have a lot of money as you can see," Alastair chuckled, gesturing around us. He knew exactly what we were thinking and how we were viewing this issue and he also knew what our decision would be. "However, we'd still accept the money, only we're demanding for something more."

"And what might that be?" Lien frowned, staring at us with curiosity. "If it isn't money that you want—mainly, at the very least—then what is it?"

"Sometimes, people kill for the sake of killing, Ms. Chung. I thought that would be obvious as you're one of the best in doing your job," Alfred spoke in a hushed tone. He knew how our minds worked and his statement was a great example of how we think.

"Quiet, dog!" Lien growled as she walked over, her movements showing that she planned the use of disciplinary means that were used on me as a child.

I didn't really know what happened after that. Perhaps it was an instinct to which I saw myself in Alfred's position many years ago that made me grab Lien's wrist and twist it before disarming her completely and holding her hands behind her back before she could even lay a finger on Alfred. "Jones has a point. What we want is the government on their knees, their honour gone as they decide to turn to us—what they consider to be lowly—for help. Indeed, some of us might kill just because we're bored, and we want your government to know how shameful it is on your part for you to turn to us. This is the first time your agency is coming to us for help. It should be interesting."

No, I never did advocate murdering in vain. As I mentioned before, the skills an individual possessed were what made the person important and I'm sure that out of those lives, people could extract and expand their views based on the information and the skills each person had. Indeed people were dispensable, although in contrary to that ideology the information they carried with them weren't. If, however, the information they carried were something we carried as well, then I would find it tolerable if the person were killed. Should the person ever get in the way of our plans and compromise operations, I myself would be willing to kill them.

"Prior to hearing your demands, we have terms of our own to state for you to have the audacity to come here and assume that we would simply comply," Alastair said as he crouched on the ground, examining Lien's weapons.

The Kirkland family never fully cooperated with our clients especially when our clients involved those of the government. We always made sure that we had something to gain as payment and money didn't necessarily meet our demands most of the time.

"Go on," she nodded as she attempted to struggle out of my grip. In response, I kicked her knees, forcing her to fall to the ground as I kept my arms around her wrist.

"We still want your money," Aiden muttered as he began stating the terms.

"We want no government intervention now that you came to us for help," Niles spoke. "Instead of us cooperating with you, you'll have to cooperate with us. We want you to completely surrender the mission to us. Let us do our business and we'll come to you, should we need anything. It's only natural as us Kirklands hate it when outsiders are involved in our business."

"And now that we have you on a leash, that means we can kill and basically do what we want for the sake of this mission you require us of doing," Morgan added with a smile.

"That also means we want the government to admit how shameful it is that you turned to us for help. We want complete freedom over this mission and if we require something from you, we demand that you give it to us quickly, or we're compromising this mission and turning against you." Alastair said.

There was complete silence as everyone waited for me to make a demand. I swallowed, looking around as I thought of what I wanted. My eyes lingered on Jones as I blurted, "I want Jones."

Niles snickered as Alfred stared at me with wide eyes.

I kept myself calm, not a blush betraying my expression as I gave a smug smile. "He's very important to you, yes?" I asked, not requiring an answer before I continued. "He will be our living trophy; a sign of the government turning to us—mercenaries, informants, spies, assassins, and," I paused, raising an eyebrow at the rest of my siblings with an amused expression before continuing, "pathetic, pickpocketing children—for help. I want you to surrender the boy genius, weapons developer, and prized possession of the government to us completely, no questions asked. He's ours, and you can't do anything about it."

And there we go! That's the odd introduction of Arthur's family of misfits. ^^ Yeah, Arthur wants Alfred as his pretty little trophy to be placed on a shelf... Relationship development right there, you guys! ^^

I feel like everything escalated way too quickly in this chapter. Please let me know what you think! Your feedback is extremely important to me and I appreciate every single one of them! So please review~

- Reilley