Chapter Twenty

Canada had called for the other commander to pull their perimeter in to search for any soldiers that could still be around. They had taken Blair back up to the parking garage where Prussia was. The albino was busy talking on the phone in German. Matthew assumed it was Germany. They carefully sat Blair down against the wall and Ash stuck close to him. His wounds were mostly healed now, but he still needed rest.

Blackbird went over and picked up his rifle to get a better look at the damage. There were a few damaged and completely wrecked jeeps littered along the bridge. There were body's everywhere. He spotted a few soldiers pulling their comrade back to the American side. He didn't realize the amount of soldiers that had invaded until he saw the amount of bodies on the bridge. His marksmen had taken out the brunt of the attack.

"Matthew?" Gilbert asked turning to him. "West vants to talk to you." He said hanging the phone to him. Canada took it. Prussia whispered quietly. "He only knows America attacked that's it."

Matthew nodded putting the phone up to his ear. "Hello Germany."

"Hallo Canada, how are jou?" Germany asked politely.

"I'm alright, what about you?" Canada replied stiffly.

"Just fine. Now, news is just coming out about the situation between jou and America. Ve vill be needing to set up a meeting and discuss vhat this means." Ludwig explained. "Ve'll set it up for in a veek in a neutral nation."

"I won't be willing to leave my land for quite a while. If you want a meeting in a week, it will have to be here." Blackbird said firmly.

He could hear a pen scratching on the other end before Germany replied. "Of course, I understand. I'll see vhat I can set up." He sighed. "I'll be in contact vith jou or Gilbert."

"Okay, thanks." Matthew said before hanging up and giving the phone back to the albino. He heard footsteps coming up the stairs and turned to see the other four ghouls. "You guys okay?"

"We're good." Shayne said with a smile. Then he yawned. "'Bout ready for a nap though."

"You guys can go, it will be mostly clean up and politics now." Canada sighed. "Lay low though, I don't know if the CCG will be out."

"We'll keep close to each other and quiet." Blair said standing up. Ash was still beside him.

"I'll keep tabs on the CCG and watch the Americans still. We all had masks so hopefully, they can't pinpoint our identities." Ash said with a small smile.

"Let me know if they're getting close to finding out, I'll push them a different direction." Matthew said. The other ghouls nodded as they started off. He radioed for the other commander to let them by to get to their cars.

"Do jou think the CCG will figure it out?" Prussia asked tracing the almost healed graze wound on the Canadians neck.

"I hope not, but there are cameras everywhere and all of the marksmen and American troops saw us. The cameras are probably crappy quality; the Americans wouldn't be too reliable considering they attacked us. The marksmen are a mixed bag. Same with the people in the midway." Blackbird sighed pinching the bridge of his nose. He was a bundle of nerves. "I'm betting on most of the focus being on me and not the others."

"Ve'll have to see vhat they'll come out vith." Gilbert sighed. "I hate this vaiting."

"I do too." Matthew said biting his lip.

"On the bright side, jou kicked America's ass." Prussia smirked wrapping his arms around Canada's waist. Matthew smiled rolling his eyes. He was happy that he was able to get more than one sentence out when talking to Alfred. "Vhat are ve going to do now?"

"I don't know." Blackbird shrugged. He pulled away from Prussia to look over to the bridge again. "I don't think we need to stay for the cleanup, I'll have a lot of paperwork to do."

"I guess so." Prussia shrugged as Canada grabbed his rifle. He also picked up his coat and took his jacket off. He switched the two, putting on his coat. Matthew would have to remember to ask Zola to sew up the holes. He really liked the jacket and wanted to wear it again at some point. "Vait, how are ve going to get home?"

"Oh right." Canada laughed realizing their situation. "Maybe we'll stay here for a bit until we can get a ride back."

"Good idea. Let's go find a hotel?" Gilbert suggested and Matthew nodded.

-❄"Look at all those chickens."❄-

The two nations ended up staying by the falls for a few days. There were mountains of paperwork to do. It seemed like he had just finished a stack before another was set in front of him. It was mostly to release the American soldiers bodies back to their families. Prussia helped anywhere he could. He had to remind the blond that he actually needed to sleep.

A lot of people were displaced by the evacuations that were just now able to get back to their homes. The damage on Clifton Hill was slowly being repaired after all the wreckage and bodies had been removed. The Canada-US boarder remained closed across the whole country. The Canadian border patrol had ramped up its security around the open boarders as well. They weren't allowing any flights from the US in either. They were allowing flights from everywhere else in as normal, but if there was a US citizen on board they were screened more in depth.

The American government hadn't released a statement on the events or even really acknowledged that it happened. The Canadian government had already spoken out about what exactly had happened. There had been quite a bit of backlash against the Americans. There was talk about sanctions being put on them by the UN.

There had been a few reports on the news about ghouls, even the Red-Winged Blackbird, had possibly helped the Canadian soldiers. The government wasn't even denying it. A few reporters had managed to track down and interview some of his marksmen. They weren't denying it either and were defending the ghouls. Both the government and the soldiers refused to release any information about their identities.

Someone had found and released some really low resolution footage of the ghouls meeting the American soldiers on the bridge. There was no way to accurately figure out any of their identities. Matthew was relieved slightly seeing this. He had also learned later that power to the buildings on Clifton Hill had been cut off during the attack. The boarder security booths were the only place that had power and that footage had already been leaked.

Matthew didn't have to worry much about his ghouls. They had been lucky this time, but he didn't want to put them in that much danger again. The Canadian CCG was investigating, but wasn't really getting anywhere.

Germany had called the next day. He had managed to book a conference hall in the Hilton hotel in Niagara. It was scheduled for a week after the attack. Canada was very nervous for the meeting. He knew that Alfred knew that he was a ghoul. There was nothing stopping the American from telling the other nations.