Chapter 10
In the Oval Office, America's boss - otherwise known as the President of the United States - was examining the paperwork he had to get through that day. He sighed and ran his hands through his hair. It seemed like the last few weeks had been less productive than usual. There had also been very little of Alfred around the White House. The president wondered if those two things were related. Personification of the country or no, Alfred was more than a little nuts and had a short attention span, but things seemed to get done when he was around. And for all Alfred complained about how boring he found Washington D.C. to be, he popped up there quite a lot...
The president paused in both his paperwork and his musings, as the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He had the unpleasant feeling that he was being watched.
As he glanced up from his desk, he saw that this was right.
Standing in front of him were two men. One was short and blond and looked very pissed. The other was Chinese and, while not as angry as the other man, did not look very happy either.
"What the hell are you doing in here?" the president demanded. "How did you get past security?"
"We can manage" said the blond man, his voice thick with an English accent. "It's hardly the first time any of us visited each other's bosses."
Something about that British accent was familiar to the president. He began to comb his memory. Something to do with the last time he met with the royal family of England? "You're Britain!" he said, everything clicking into place. "And you've come here with...China, is it?"
"Correct, aru."
"And to what may I owe the -"
"Stow it!" snapped England. "We can dispense with any formalities. Both of my little brothers were hurt by your men, and I want to know what you intend to do about it."
The president stared. "I'm sorry?"
"Mr. President, aru," said China, "Were you aware that your agents - your 'CIA', I believe they are - have been routinely abducting and subjecting America to painful and harmful procedures?"
"I'm not sure what you're talking about," said the President. "I granted the CIA approval for a new therapy technique, which they assured me that Alfred gave full consent for. Their research showed that it would help with his stress over economic issues and -"
He was cut off as England slammed both hands down on his desk.
"BOLLOCKS!" shouted the island nation. "You gave your CIA permission to take my boy and torture him!"
"Mr. England, please -"
"I assure you," England went on, ignoring the president's attempts to interrupt, "that those 'therapy techniques' were both unethical and illegal. They were also most certainly not beneficial to the poor child's health in any way, shape, or form."
"Mr. England, I was told that Alfred -"
"Don't just use his name like you are his friend!" snarled England, and the look of fury on his face, left over from his heyday as a pirate, frightened the president enough to listen.
"America, then. I was told that America was made fully aware of the procedure and agreed to it."
"Bloody hell, do you even know exactly what that procedure entailed?"
"Sir, with all due respect, any information exchanged between myself and the CIA is classified."
"Mr. President," China cut in, seeing that England was about to explode with fury, "you say that America gave full consent for the procedure. Perhaps that is true, aru. But," he continued, raising his voice slightly as the president opened his mouth, "are you aware that the procedure was also carried out on the personification of Canada, who I assure you did not agree to the tests? Furthermore, are you aware that besides abducting and experimenting on Canada, your people assaulted and knocked out the personification of Cuba?"
Judging by the look of horror on the president's face, he did not. England had to hand it to China for knowing which cards to play. America's boss was now scratching his head, no doubt thinking of the international bru-ha-ha that could result in dragging Canada and Cuba into a CIA project, harmful effects or not.
"Both of those men are willing to keep the issue quiet," said China, after letting the president stew for a minute. "Most fortunately, it looks as if both will recover very well from the damages inflicted on them, aru. They only have one condition for their silence, and it is the only thing that England and I are asking for."
That was simplifying the matter quite a lot, England reflected as he stared the president in the eye. He wanted a good many things, including the chance to shoot every bastard in that facility himself and to be allowed to punch America's boss in the face. Still, no sense in pushing one's luck.
The president frowned. "With all due respect, Mr. China, as the President of the United States, I can not -"
"We want you to rescue the innocent people being held as lab rats in that facility," England cut in, determined to end the farce as quickly as possible. "Do that, and we'll see to it that you're spared having to navigate the international minefield that you've found yourself in."
The president hesitated. He almost looked as if he was going to be sick.
"All we are asking is for you to be responsible," England urged. "No one will fault you for that."
The president laughed humorlessly. "You seriously think that?"
"Can we at least appeal to any sense of honor you might have? Or your love for your country?"
The president sighed. "I'll give the order right away," he said. "You have my word, the facility will be seized by the authorities and everyone being held prisoner will be released."
Of course, he should have known it wouldn't have been that easy. He should have bloody known!
It had been nearing evening when the call had come. England and China had spent most of the day returning to Washington, while England fussed and cursed his younger brother for deciding to pick now of all times to live at the exact opposite end of his land from his boss. Given how America and Canada had been in desperate need of medical attention, they had been dropped off at the nearest hospital. Cuba had stayed behind to keep an eye on them, after England fell into British Empire Mode and had to confront America's boss face-to-face, right then and there. The upshot was that with said confrontation over, they now had to get themselves across America's entire continent.
Of course, being nations, it somehow didn't take as long to make it over there (no one was sure exactly how the nations managed it, but that's how it went), but they still were desperate to check on the North American brothers.
Fate was a mischievous lady however, and no sooner had they made it to the hospital than "God Save the Queen" began to play from England's pocket. Ignoring the odd looks he was getting, he snatched it up to check the number. If it were any other time, he would have let it go to voicemail straight away. This time though, he knew it was America's boss, or at least someone calling on America's boss's orders. The president made good on his promise, it appeared, and the facility must have already been seized and searched. England had smiled as he answered the call, anticipating the good news he could bring to cheer up his little brothers.
But now...
"Kindly repeat what you just told me," England said.
"There was nothing, sir. Nothing at all," said the federal agent who contacted him.
England growled. "Do you mean to tell me that the entire fucking facility just up and vanished?"
"No sir, the building itself was still there. But the documents you described, the room full of test subjects, none of that was there."
"You must have missed it! I knew I should have gone! Look, I'll be over there right away and -"
"We searched every room, sir. Nothing was left."
Someone was going to die. England wasn't sure who, but he was beginning to feel nostalgic for his pirate days and for when he didn't have to feel guilty about making heads roll. "So what next?"
"Well sir, that's about it."
"...Explain, and do so without the 'sir's, or so help me I'll shove a cutlass up your arse."
"Si - um, seeing as we have no evidence that any criminal activities had taken place, we can't legally persecute anyone."
"But surely America could give names!"
"He could, but given his mental state, unfortunately his testimony won't carry very much weight."
"Are there no documents anywhere else? Any hints as to where those people went?"
"We're still looking, but right now it doesn't look good."
England rubbed his forehead. He shouldn't let this upset him so much. That is the way it always goes. As long as the nations have existed, their bosses and other officials have done terrible things and buried it ten feet under.
"Mr. England?" the agent cut into his thoughts. "I really am sorry si- ah, I wish I had better news."
"Thank you," replied England. He shouldn't yell at the man. None of this was his fault. "Goodbye."
And with a click, he hung up.
Cuba had already said his goodbyes to Canada and hi-tailed it back to his place. England suspected that Cuba might have stuck around longer, except that Canada and America were sharing a hospital room, and sitting in such a confined space with his hated enemy was asking too much of the nation.
China was somewhere around the hospital. England knew that he didn't want to leave until he was sure that America and Canada were better-recovered. England also knew that China wasn't about to monopolize the North American siblings before their older brother had a chance to talk to them.
When he entered their room, England felt a considerable weight lift from his chest. Both of his younger brothers were sitting up in their beds, looking much more alert and well-rested than they'd been for days. America's eyes were glued to the TV mounted on the wall, while Canada was enjoying the pint of ice cream that Cuba had gifted him before leaving. When England stepped into the room, both of their faces lit up and both gave cries of "England!"
"Hello lads," he said, dragging a chair over so he could sit between their beds. "Feeling better, I see?"
"Much!" said Canada, taking another bite of ice cream.
"Meh, I wish I knew how to change the channel on this thing," said America, scowling at the TV. "The news isn't the most awesome thing ever."
England took that to mean that America was, in fact, doing well.
"What happened?" asked Canada. "I heard you on the phone outside. You didn't sound too happy."
England sighed. "Not all good news today, I'm afraid. America, China and I spoke to your boss about the facility"
America leaned on his side, so he could converse more easily with England. "Don't tell me that some of those bastards got away."
England curled his hands into fists. "All of them, actually. And...the people there weren't found."
The room was silent, save for the attractive anchor woman on the TV giving the latest news update.
"No way," Canada finally murmured. "All of those people? Just...gone?"
"It appears so." England closed his eyes, as if that would make it any easier. "The man I spoke to promised that they were still searching, but..."
"But it doesn't look hopeful," America finished.
England looked at his former colony. He as taking this better than expected, or else he wasn't as recovered as he appeared. England had been expecting America to jump up screaming that he'd be a hero and save everyone, as soon as he heard the news.
America gave a small smile, as if he knew what England was thinking. "I kind of knew," he said. "They're my people, you know? I can feel them. Even if I hadn't been getting screwed up by them, I still think I would have known at some point. And somehow, I know they're still alive. Just as soon as I'm able, I'll find each and every one of those people and make sure they're back at their homes and able to live normal lives. That's what a hero does!"
England laughed. That was the America he knew! "Do that, lad," he said. "Don't let it stop you, what they did to you. They had no right, and your government should never have hurt you like that, but -"
"What are you talking about?" America cut in. "What does my government have to do with this?"
Brow furrowed, England stared at America. Was the boy still suffering from amnesia? "Your government was running those experiments," he reminded him. "They asked you to take part in them. You said so yourself."
"I did?" America frowned and rubbed his head. "No. I know the head of the CIA offered a new type of therapy session, but...but I never had a chance!"
"What?!"
"Yeah! Those bastards had kidnapped me before I could start! I don't know who they were. Maybe they're a part of some terrorist group or something. But I need to talk to the CIA head and apologize for not making it to his -"
"America!" It was England's turn to interrupt. "My boy, you are mixed up! It should come back to you, but that wasthe work of your government! The head of your CIA was torturing you!"
"NO!" shouted America. "You don't know what you're talking about! They would never...not to me! What sort of boss would -"
"Am I interrupting?"
Everyone froze, with England and America flushed from yelling and Canada wide-eyed from the confrontation. They all turned to find that China had come up to the doorway without their noticing.
"England, aru? Come out here and talk to me, would you please?"
"What? Oh, yes, of course," England replied, getting up to follow China out.
"China, wait!" America called. "I want to talk to you!"
"I'll be in to talk to you, just as soon as I've spoken to England, aru. I promise, I'll be right there!"
China led England down the hall, until they reached a stretch of corridor that was empty. "You can't force America to accept this, aru," he said when they stopped.
England raised his eyebrows. "Excuse me?"
"Denial is the first stage of grief, is it not?"
"I...but...for God's sake, China! How could you even think about entertaining that little fantasy of his? It's more than obvious that his government did something to him, and he needs to accept that if he's to avoid it happening in the future!"
"And he will accept it, aru. He must be given time, though."
"I just...I simply don't get it," said England, running his fingers through his hair. "How can he be that naive? How?"
China smiled, and England found himself remembering how old the nation really was. "America is still young, aru. You and I have been in this world for much longer. We know more of what our bosses may be capable of. The loss of innocence is never easy, aru."
England closed his eyes and felt so tired. He remembered everything of his past. Every beheading, every invasion, every minute.
And then he looked at China, who had been a nation for so much longer. China, who suffered through so many political upheavals and revolutions that it was a wonder he survived in the same form for so many years. China, who was cut and shot and bled by his own siblings, and had done the same to them in turn. China, who, if what America once claimed was true, likely was tied to a bed himself and brainwashed by bosses who would rather win his love through manipulation rather than a good rule.
England opened and closed his mouth several times, unsure of what to say. Finally, he managed "China, I'm -"
"I understand, aru. Now, if you'll excuse me, I wish to speak to America and Canada."
England watched China walk gracefully down the hallway to the North American brothers' room. He heard China calling their names, and heard America's loud voice drifting down the hallway: "China! Hey, China! Listen, I think I said some bad stuff to you and was really shitty, and I'm really sorry!" He saw the door swing close, cutting off the rest of America's apology.
With that, England left the three of them to talk and relax and listen to the news report on the TV. It was a rather heartwarming story, actually. The police in a nearby city finally arrested a man responsible for a number of hate crimes against several Chinese immigrants living in the area. The man had been caught trying to beat a Chinese girl on her way home from school, but was stopped and restrained when nearly everyone on the street rushed to her aid.