AN: This will be the shortest chapter in the story and it was inspired by the USUK "Your Call" video on YouTube by clau68522.
Arthur Kirkland and the Job
Chapter Six
Even before his brother came in screaming about their British father figure being abducted by aliens Canada was having a bad day. When he'd woken up that morning he'd found Kumajiro had destroyed the pillows in his sleep again. Then he'd spent an hour searching for some documents he was supposed to send to fax to his Boss. And after he'd called in to tell his Boss that they'd be late, and gotten a sever chewing out because of it, he'd found them under the phone bill on the kitchen table.
But if Canada was being completely honest everyday for the past few weeks had been a bad one. Ever since, he still flinched at the ripping in his chest the memory caused, the ill-fated confession to his Prussian best friend. Prussia had tried to act like things were normal, but Canada could sense how uncomfortable he felt around him. And though it made him feel like he was dying, even though he'd spent countless nights sobbing into Kumajiro's fur, even if he suffered for the rest of eternity watching Gilbert from afar, Canada hadn't and wouldn't fight back as Prussia drifted off. He'd ruined everything on that stupid seemingly perfect day in the snow.
He would no longer even have the comfort of seeing him almost every other morning at breakfast demanding pancakes. He wouldn't be on the receiving end of random kidnappings to his brothers house. He wouldn't wake up to his friend next to him in bed, having collapsed there after a night of drinking with France and Spain or Germany. He would no longer be able to savor those moments pretending that they meant more than they were. To be able to pretend that Gilbert loved him as his warm form lay next to him pressing lightly against his side with one arm thrown carelessly over Canada's chest. He would no longer have the opportunity to absorb the peace and joy of those moments as he memorized that beautiful sleeping face. He would no longer be tackled from behind by hugs 'just because' at World Meetings by the only person who always knew who he was. And never again would he be able to gently trace his sleeping face and perhaps steal a kiss from the sleeping form. It was all gone.
Prussia seemed disgusted with him now, never meeting his gaze and barely acknowledging him. It was like their decades long friendship was erased completely. Even his sweet, oblivious brother had noticed enough to comment and it had taken hours of lying to convince Alfred that he was fine. Canada was getting very good at lying recently. He had to lie constantly to his brother, his Boss, the other nations, and even himself to keep things going despite the shattered soul inside him. Prussia had taken all the light and most of Canada with him when he rejected him.
Then he found his phone and saw it flashing with a message from Prussia. For a moment Canada had been frozen simultaneously with fear and a terrifying painful hope. Prussia hadn't called or even texted him since that day. It had been so silent without the in the middle of the night calls and off the wall texts that had warmed Canada's sad, lonely life. Numbly the nation opened the text and read it. His world shattered for a second time.
Hey Birdie. Even through the pain his heart skipped a beat at the nickname as he remembered the glow that always came to his friend's eyes when he'd used it. I'm going to be gone awhile, an extended vacation, so don't expect to be seeing me much. I know it's really sudden, but I sorta gotta give West his space now that he and Italy tied the knot. I just wanted you to know so you didn't think I was kidnapped by aliens or something else that sounds like your brother could come up with it. Don't worry. -Gilbert
Canada had driven him off. He felt like he was having a breakdown. Then he realized he was having one and tried to stop the hyperventilating, but he couldn't. He gulped the air like a suffocating fish desperate for the essential part of life ripped away from it suddenly. He was shaking all over. Gilbert had been so unable to stand him he'd ran. He'd never seen Prussia run from anything, and yet Canada had accomplished it. He feel to his knees shaking legs unable to support him. He felt his forehead hit the ground but didn't react, he was too busy crying and screaming on the inside, because he couldn't get enough air to breath much less release some of the pain ripping him apart.
It wasn't until a bleak endless hour later that he regained the ability to move, he felt like a robot as he went about his day, feeding the concerned Kumajiro and calling his Boss to tell him he'd found the papers. It wasn't until he was eating that he'd made pancakes in his daze. They tasted like ash.
That was when his kitchen door was thrown open by a loud shouting American.
"MATTIE! IT'S AN EMERGANCY IGGY'S BEEN TAKEN BY ALIENS! I NEED YOU TO BE MY SECOND-IN-COMMAND IN MISSION RESCUE IGGY!" America shouted barreling in without knocking.
When his brother froze horror and worry blossoming on his face Canada realized something. He'd been silently crying the entire time and hadn't noticed.
"M-Mattie?" America question blue eyes wide as he shakily walked towards his brother. Canada stared up at his brother dazed as he approached slowly, like Canada was an animal that would startle. When his brother gently touched his shoulder looking strangely terrified, an unusual expression for Alfred's face, all the self-control Canada had gained broke and he grabbed his brother's shirt and screamed his heart out, not caring about the tears or the show of weakness or about anything else at the moment.
America held his younger brother terrified of Mattie's pain and vowing to kill the person who'd done this to him.
