Author's Note/Disclaimer: So, I don't have a whole lot to say about this chapter. But I'm still putting this here because I think it looks odd without it.
I do not own Hetalia. Enjoy.
The Italian and German brothers glared at the fake Lithuania, waiting for a reply. The fake nation had claimed that Charles was a nation, but that was quite obviously impossible; none of the nations even knew of his existence until very recently, and certainly none of them recognized him as a nation.
"You've got about five seconds to explain yourself," Romano said threateningly, aiming his gun between Lithuania's eyes. "How the hell is Charles a nation?"
"Hold it," Prussia said, reaching out with one hand and slowly pushing Romano's gun aside. "Don't shoot him; you'll be wasting bullets."
Romano lowered his arm and set the gun aside, mumbling under his breath and still glaring threateningly at Lithuania.
"Anyway," Prussia said, redirecting his attention to Lithuania. "You still haven't answered my friend's question; how can this Charles guy claim he's a nation? I've never heard of a nation called Charles before."
Romano and Germany rolled their eyes at Prussia's comment, while Prussia himself snickered a little bit. Their prisoner, on the other hand, did not look remotely amused. He shifted uncomfortably on his feet, then finally made his reply.
"Charles is just his human name," the fake Lithuania said.
"We more or less figured that out already," Germany said, shooting one last glance at his brother. "What nation is he claiming to be?"
Everyone stood in absolute silence for over a minute. The fake Lithuania, still determined to not answer the question, stared at the floor, avoiding eye contact with his captors.
"Stop wasting our time," Prussia said. "Just tell us what his nation name is."
"He's not going to tell us," Romano spat, picking up his gun again. "Not unless we force it out of him."
Italy walked over to his brother, pushing his arm down. "Prussia told you not to waste your bullets on him," Italy said. "There's got to be another way to get him to talk…"
Romano was about to argue back, but was interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat. Everyone turned their attention to the fake Lithuania; the one who had made the sound.
"He introduced himself as the world's newest empire," the fake Lithuania said.
Prussia burst out laughing. "Empire my ass!" he said. "Nobody recognizes this idiot as so much as a micronation! And here he is thinking he's some great world power! Ah, mein Gott, kesesesese…"
"It's not even possible for him to be so much as a micronation," Germany said. "This Charles sounds like a delusional megalomaniac. A dangerous one, I'll admit; but delusional nonetheless."
"Whatever, I think we're done, at least for now," Prussia said, finally calming down. "I think we'll have to wait until later to get any more info out of this guy."
"We've gotten hardly anything from him!" Romano protested.
"Yes; we're going to have to be patient," Italy said. "We could all use a break anyway."
"Somebody needs to watch this bastard," Romano said.
"Thanks for volunteering," Prussia said sarcastically.
(-)
The long drive to D.C. proved to be quite uneventful, much to England's relief. Upon their arrival, he and Canada pulled into the parking lot of a nearby large hotel and quickly exited the vehicle. They only had to wait briefly for Russia's group to catch up to them. Once everyone was together, they began walking slowly along the sidewalk. They chatted idly as they walked, pretending to be tourists wandering the area.
"Where are we headed next, Arthur?" Russia asked.
England looked around. "Well, it's going to be a bit of a walk, but I was thinking of heading to the World War Two Memorial." He pointed in roughly the right direction to it.
Canada looked thoughtful for several seconds, recalling from previous visits where this memorial was. He mentally mapped out the area, trying to remember how close it was to the White House. His reverie was abruptly interrupted, however, when the other nations took off at a brisk walk; following England towards the memorial. Canada sighed and ran after them.
About halfway to their destination, Lithuania had to ask everyone to stop. A second later, the Baltic nation all but collapsed on the sidewalk; he awkwardly braced himself against the wall of the closest building and slowly sank to his knees. He gritted his teeth and clutched the sides of his head while everyone else looked on, unsure of what to do.
This is the worst possible time for him to be having an episode, England thought. But we're going to have to do what we can.
"Toris? You all right?" Canada asked, kneeling beside Lithuania. When he got no response, Canada shook the other nation gently. Lithuania groaned and his arms fell limply to his sides.
"I think he's lost consciousness…" Canada said.
"Damn it all," Scotland said, turning to Russia. "We can't take him with us while he's like this…"
"Then we'll split into two groups," Russia said. "Some of us will take care of Toris while the rest of us go to… the memorial."
"What are you going to do? Sit here and wait until he recovers?" England said.
Russia shook his head. "Of course not," he said, kneeling down and easily lifting Lithuania into his arms. "I'll take him back to that hotel we parked at. Call my phone when you and the others are done."
Russia began to walk a few steps back in the other direction.
"Hold on a minute, Ivan," England said. "Are you going back by yourself?"
"No," Russia replied. "I said some of us will take care of Toris while the rest go to the memorial."
As if on cue, Estonia and Latvia walked over to Russia's side. England stared quizzically at them for a few seconds, then shrugged. Without another word, Russia resumed walking back to the hotel, Estonia and Latvia following close behind. England then began walking in the other direction; toward the World War Two Memorial, whilst Canada and Scotland walked closely behind him.
I thought Russia would have been more keen on spying on America's president than taking care of Lithuania, England thought to himself as he walked. He decided not to worry about it, focusing his mind on the task at hand.
The three nations were silent for only about a minute after they had resumed their walk. Eventually, Scotland grew tired of the silence and decided to strike up conversation. It started as idle chat in which Scotland pretended to be discussing the group's sightseeing itinerary, but turned into a cryptic discussion of the plan for spying on the president.
"I've always wanted to go on one of those tours of the White House," Scotland said.
"Those have to be arranged pretty far in advance," England said. Scotland looked somewhat disappointed.
"I think," Canada cut in. He dropped his voice to a whisper, "If you know the right people, you can still get in on a tour, even if you didn't arrange one in advance."
"Really?" Scotland said, regarding Canada with an incredulous look.
"You know what, I think he's right," England said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. He furrowed his brow and stared intently at the ground.
"You look like you've got someone in mind," Scotland said.
As a matter of fact I do, England thought. Whether or not this will work is another question; it might not even be a good idea in the first place.
"Sean, let me see your phone," England said.
"What for?!" Scotland demanded.
"Oh, for God's sakes, I just need to borrow it to send a text!" England said, holding out his hand as if he expected Scotland to comply.
"Use your own!" Scotland said, gesturing at England's pocket.
"I can't," England said.
"What? Why not?"
England bit his lip. "My phone's dead," he lied. "And Matthew doesn't have his with him at the moment."
Scotland didn't look the least bit convinced. "Who are you sending the text to that you can't let them know it's from you?" he asked.
Damn it Scotland, so you're not as dumb as you look, England thought. "Who else do we know…" he said at last. Then, dropping his voice so low that Scotland had to strain to hear him, "…that can get the three of us into the White House, no questions asked?"
Scotland's eyes widened in realization. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" he asked.
"If you've got a better one, I'd like to hear it," England shot back.
Scotland glared at England. "Fine, but I'll send it myself," he said, reaching into his pocket and retrieving his phone.
"Wait a minute," Canada said, tapping England on the shoulder in case he didn't hear him. "If we try that, then Sean's the only one of us that can go in."
"Yes, I know," England replied.
"I've got an even better idea," Scotland said with a slight hint of glee in his voice. He started entering the text.
England looked at his brother in alarm. "What is it?" he went over to Scotland's side, looking over the Scot's shoulder at the text he was entering.
"That's…" England said, staring at the screen in bemusement. "…brilliant. Why didn't I think of that?"
Scotland hit the 'send' button and pocketed his phone. "I can think of a number of reasons," he said.
"Shut up," England snapped before Scotland could continue.
Canada shot quizzical looks at England and Scotland, but decided not to ask. The three of them continued walking. Just a few minutes later, as the three were within sight of their destination, Scotland's phone went off. Scotland reached into his pocket and checked the phone.
"That was fast," Scotland commented as he answered the phone. "Hello?"
"Hey, Scotland, my boss says you can go ahead and come in immediately," came the voice of the fake America from the other end.
"He's not busy at the moment?" Scotland asked.
"He says this takes precedence," the fake America replied. "But yeah, he says to come over as soon as you can. There'll be some Secret Service guys waiting for you out front."
"Thanks," Scotland said. He hung up.
"Was that…?" England asked.
"That was Alfred," Scotland replied. "He's telling me I can go there right now."
England raised an eyebrow. "That is fast," he said. "Is Alfred over there as well?"
"He didn't say, but I think he might well be," Scotland replied. "In any case, I need to head over there right away."
"Be careful," Canada said.
Scotland took off at a brisk walk in the direction of the White House. England and Canada headed for the World War Two Memorial. They wandered around, only partially paying attention to the memorial they were supposedly here to see. Several minutes into this, England suddenly decided to leave the memorial.
"I need to step out for a bit," England told Canada. "Stay here until I get back."
Canada nodded and continued mingling with the tourists looking at the memorial, while England left, disappearing into the crowd.
