Author's Note/Disclaimer: This is so much fun to write. Although, I couldn't update as soon as I would have liked, due to college, as well as fixing some things in the proofreading process.
I do not own Hetalia. I'm just writing this for fun.
America awoke to the sound of multiple voices talking around him. For the first minute or so, America was only dimly aware of his surroundings; he knew he was lying down on a bed, and he felt like there was something in his arm. Aside from the voices, America also became aware of an incessant beeping noise.
"What… is that…" he mumbled.
He heard someone walk over and stand next to him.
"Alfred? You awake?"
The voice sounded vaguely familiar, but America couldn't quite place it, so he merely blurted out the first name that came to mind.
"Ar… thur?"
America opened his eyes in time to see a fist flying toward his face. Whoever he was talking to punched him hard in the nose. Suddenly, America sat upright, massaging his nose, now wide awake.
"What was that for?" asked a slightly annoyed America.
"Do not… ever… call me by that twat's name ever again."
"Huh?"
America looked in the direction of the speaker, who turned out to be Scotland. The redhead looked thoroughly annoyed, and his right hand was still clenched into a fist, as if ready to punch America again if he needed to. Only now did America realize the gravity of his blunder.
"Dude, I'm so sorry!" America said.
Scotland grunted and unclenched his fist. "I sure hope you are," he said.
America slowly got off the bed. "Where the heck am I?" he asked.
He perused his surroundings, finally noticing Romano, Spain, Japan and China as he did so. China appeared to be tending an unconscious, bespectacled blond man in the bed next to America's. America looked at the IV still sticking out of his arm.
"Am I in a hospital?"
"This is the enemy's infirmary," Japan replied.
"Uh huh." America massaged his head in the place Russia had struck him with the water pipe. "How did I end up here? Last I remember I was fighting Ivan…"
America shook his head vigorously as he tried to puzzle out what happened. When he stopped shaking his head, he yanked the IV out of his arm and stepped away from the bed. Blood spurted from America's arm, staining his shirt, the bed, and even onto the floor. America quickly covered his arm with his other hand, casting about for some bandages.
"What're you doing?" Scotland asked incredulously, stepping backwards to avoid getting blood spattered on him.
"Well, I was taking that IV out," America replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Who knows what kind of stuff they were giving me through that thing."
"I suppose…" Scotland muttered.
America found some bandages and wrapped his arm, then looked around again. "Hey!" he said.
"What is the problem, Alfred?" Japan asked.
"Have any of you guys seen my jacket?" America asked, checking under the bed. He got up and began looking on all the other empty beds. "Ivan better not have stolen it…"
"I doubt he stole it, aru," China said, now carefully trying to remove the IV from Estonia's arm. "But these people might have."
America gave up on trying to find his jacket and rejoined the group. "Yeah?" he said. "And I bet he's working for these guys! He was wearing one of their uniforms, and fighting alongside their men!"
Everyone exchanged glances. There was a long, awkward pause.
"This isn't making any sense," Spain said. "Why would Ivan work alongside an underground criminal organization that has been spying on us?"
"I'll bet he was feeding them the information!" America said. "It explains how they were able to learn so much about us without our governments finding out about them!"
"Alfred, calm down," Japan said. "Now, think: what could Ivan possibly stand to gain from doing that?"
"It's Ivan; he doesn't need a reason!" America retorted. "That, or they're paying good money."
Scotland laughed. "Somehow, I doubt they have the kind of money to bribe an entire nation, especially one like Ivan," he scoffed. "Let's face it, we're all greedy bastards; Ivan even more so than most of us."
America only looked partially convinced. "Well, if it's not for money, then why is he working for these people?"
"He may not be working for them at all," Japan said. He held up a hand to silence a protest from America. "What if he simply disguised himself to infiltrate their ranks and get information from the inside?"
"Could be," America admitted. "But something still doesn't seem right."
The argument was interrupted and ended when China walked over, carrying Estonia. "He won't wake up, aru," he said. "But he has a strong pulse; I think they just gave him some powerful anesthetic."
"He'll wake up eventually," Spain said. "Until then, we need to get a move on."
"Where to?" Scotland asked.
"Ludwig's group. We'll find and meet up with them," Japan said.
"Right. This way." Scotland led the way out of the infirmary and along the path that would take them towards the other group.
o0o
Germany's group gathered together and made ready to move as soon as Germany's phone conversation with Japan earlier had ended. Now, they had started walking along one of the passageways. Not two minutes into the walk, and they heard the sound of footsteps behind them, rapidly gaining on them. England and Germany whirled around, guns drawn, but quickly lowered them.
"Sorry, guys, but I had to go back and get something," Canada said, finally catching up to the rest of the group. He held up the laptop computer that had been in that room England and Canada had been hiding in before Germany's group found them.
"The laptop!" England exclaimed. "I had forgotten about that!"
"Well done, mon fils," France said.
"Where are you going to put it?" Germany asked. "None of us have backpacks."
Canada shrugged. "I'll just carry it," he said, tucking it under his arm.
The group resumed their journey. Germany led the group, while Canada brought up the rear, being careful to keep an eye on the laptop. Everyone except for Canada walked along with weapons in hand, ready to fight if any more guards showed up. However, it seemed that all the guards had either already been eliminated, or were occupied elsewhere in the complex, for Germany's group continued to travel for quite a ways without incident.
After a while, the nations found themselves at an area labeled "Cellblock 1". They checked cell after cell, but every single one appeared to be empty. During their search, a loud, metallic crashing noise was heard, as if someone was breaking the bars of one of the cells. Germany and the other nations rushed to find the source of the noise.
At the end of the cellblock, they ran into Russia. Sure enough, the cell wall he was standing in front of had been more or less completely torn down. In Russia's arms was the cell's former occupant; a very pale and ragged-looking Lithuania.
"Hello, everyone," Russia said. "I was just about to leave. I recommend you do the same."
Russia then walked right past his fellow nations without further comment. The other nations just stared after him for several seconds while he walked away.
"Hold it!" England said. "Would you care to explain just what the hell is going on? Why are you even here?"
"As I told Germany earlier, I had urgent business with the Baltics," Russia explained.
"What does that mean?" Prussia demanded.
"I think the situation is self-explanatory," Russia said, nodding towards Lithuania, who appeared to be sleeping at the moment. He turned around and tried to leave again.
"No it isn't! Get back here!" England shouted.
Russia ignored him and left the cellblock. England swore under his breath. He was about to take off in pursuit of the Russian, but Germany held him back.
"Leave him; it's obvious we're not going to get any explanation out of him right now," Germany said.
"He's going to have to explain himself eventually," England said.
"He will; but right now we have other priorities," France said. "We still have to meet up with the other group."
"What about Lithuania?" Italy asked.
"I think we can let Russia take care of him for the time being. I'd rather not try to take him away from Russia at any rate; that wouldn't end well," Germany said. He pulled out his phone. "However, we need to contact the others."
He was about to punch in Japan's number, but was interrupted by the loud, obnoxious wail of an alarm. The countries briefly looked shocked, but England recovered first.
"Oh sure, now they set off the alarm," he said with a smirk. "Better late than never, I suppose."
Germany resumed dialing Japan's number, and called. Moments later, Japan answered.
"Germany, are you hearing that alarm as well?"
"Yes," Germany replied. "I'm not sure what it's for, though. However, we did reach Toris' cell, but Ivan got here first. He's already left with Toris."
Germany heard America shouting in the background while Japan paused. Romano's voice was also heard, telling the American to shut up.
"All right," Japan said finally. "We've got Alfred and Eduard, but Eduard is still unconscious, probably from anesthetic. Yao is carrying him at the moment."
"Are you still in the infirmary?"
"No, we're headed in your direction."
"Good. As soon as we meet up, we find the exit and get out of here. Got it?"
"Yes."
"Good." Germany hung up and pocketed his phone.
The alarm continued to sound, but the monotonous wails seemed to be getting louder.
"This can't be good," France said.
"Then let's hurry and find the others!" Germany said, taking off at a run.
Prussia, France, England, Italy and Canada followed as fast as they could. They left the cellblock, taking the passageway Germany had taken. After several turns, a few of the nations found themselves hoping that Germany wasn't accidentally getting them lost. All of the corridors were starting to look the same; it was a wonder anyone could navigate this place without a map.
At long last, the two groups met each other. However, there was no time to exchange words; as Germany immediately gestured for the other nations to follow him as he took off to find an exit. Everyone had to run to keep up with the German.
It seemed like hours before the nations finally found an exit. It ended up being the same spot that Canada had used as an entrance earlier; according to England, it probably wasn't a good idea to risk the entrance England had used; they had no idea what the security would be like over there. In all likelihood, whatever was left of the base's security was there, waiting to prevent them from using that exit.
Canada located the spot where the moving floorboards were. With some help from America, the two brothers forced the floorboards out of place, then helped lift the other nations to the floor of the building above. They sent Germany up first, who then took the unconscious Estonia from China's arms, setting the Baltic nation gently on the floor a few feet away. China went up next. The alarm suddenly stopped.
America and Canada were in the middle of helping Prussia up when the ground shook violently. The brothers nearly dropped Prussia, but Germany seized his brother's arm and lifted him the rest of the way up.
"What was that?" America asked.
"Somehow I don't think it's an earthquake," Japan said apprehensively.
The ground shook again, this time accompanied with the sounds of a distant explosion.
"I think I have a good idea what that alarm was," England said, as America and Canada began lifting Italy out.
"What do you think it was, Angleterre?" France asked.
"Judging by the explosions and tremors, I suspect this place has some sort of self-destruct mechanism in place," England explained. "It was probably activated some time ago, and the alarm was an evacuation warning."
"In that case, we really need to hurry," Spain said, stepping forward to let America and Canada lift him out. Romano swore and followed Spain. The North American brothers worked quickly, and with the help of the German brothers, got everyone else out in under a minute. America was the last one out; he hoisted his brother up, who then grabbed America's arm and lifted him out.
The shaking grew increasingly violent, and the nations lost no time in fleeing the building as quickly as they could. On the streets outside, passersby had felt the tremors as well, and were panicking and fleeing for cover in every direction. Meanwhile, the abandoned building the nations had emerged from collapsed rapidly, sinking into the ground. Just as England had said, the base self-destructed; the underground complex had collapsed in on itself, and the buildings and streets above were now sinking into the hole. Wailing sirens were heard coming from several directions as German emergency vehicles responded to the scene. Amidst the chaos, the nations made their way back to the hotel parking lot, where they got into their vehicles and drove away.
