A/N: *Sobs in corner* OMG, so many of the old crew came back. I thought everyone left, but no, so many are here. T^T Shut up, i'm not crying, you're crying. I'm going to do you guys right. We need drama! We need cute cats and cuddles! Flirting without the flirting! THE WHOLE DEAL! My notes are in limbo, but let's be honest, I left so many hints in this story that it's pretty easy to see where I was going. You know, because I'm the author so I can see through ALL the foreshadowing. B) Thank fuck for my author notes that kept up with where the characters are. AND BY GOD, this chapter will not have as many typos. I'm on a tablet. It likes to auto correct. God I miss my old computer. I'll do better, lol.
"I'm never going to drink again. Never." Alfred declared from the kitchen table. His head was currently laying on the table, and he was trying to block the lights out from his eyes with his good hand. His other hand, which had been properly bandaged up, was limply hanging at his side."I'm going to burn down that building, take the insurance money, and move somewhere that has a dry county, so I'll never be tempted to drink again."
"Mm-hmm." Ivan hummed as he mixed eggs in a bowl.
"I mean it."
"I am sure you do." Ivan said, tipping the eggs in the pan next to him.
"I've done it before."
"I'm sure you have." Ivan agreed easily.
"Stop doing that."
"Doing what?" Ivan asked in amusement.
Alfred waved an annoyed hand at Ivan, before quickly stopping due to the pain. "Stop having weird alcohol powers. Stop being so cheerful. How are you not hung over? Do you have magic drunk powers? Tell me your secrets oh wise and drunken one."
"I do have secret drunk powers." Ivan replied with a chuckle, scrambling the eggs in the pan in front of him. "It is called being Russian."
"Booo! That's not a real super power." Alfred grumbled, turning his head to squint at the taller nation in front of him. "What's the real secret?"
"Alas, I am afraid that is all there is to it." Ivan admitted with an apologetic smile. "Maybe if you ate something it would help?" Ivan offered. "I have heard eggs are egg-cellent for hangovers."
"How dare you make puns at a time like this." Alfred groaned, covering his face again. "How could you be so cruel?"
"I thought my joke was egg-ceptional."
"Oh my god."
"I guess you could not-"
"Please stop."
"-take a yolk?" Ivan finished saying, giving Alfred a large smile.
"I am in hell. Truly." Alfred groaned as Hero jumped up on the table. Alfred pointed at Ivan. "Hero, attack that man for crimes against humor." Hero, not looking very impressed, instead flopped over on his side and started to groom his paw pads.
"I'm surrounded by traitors." Alfred grumbled as Ivan laughed at him.
Deciding to take pity on the younger nation, Ivan tipped a few eggs on the plate next to him, as well as a few bananas from a nearby fruit bowl. "I was not lying when I said eggs were good for hang overs. Eat, you will feel better." Ivan said, placing the plate in front of Alfred.
"Thanks dude." Alfred said, giving Ivan a grateful look. They sat in comfortable silence for awhile as Alfred ate. Ivan was humming lightly as he started cooking his own breakfast, reaching around and throwing ingredients into the pan here and there. Alfred watched him for a few minutes in interest. While he had seen Ivan cook before, he had never really gotten over the novelty of Ivan acting so relaxed around him. To be fair, they had been trying to kill each other for awhile now, so he guessed it was justified. Still, it was still kinda bazaar to see Ivan with a bed head. Alfred felt a bubble of amusement floating in his chest at the thought. Glancing up at Ivan's hair, the bubble only got larger when he saw that Ivan had a few cowlicks sticking up on one side of his head. Apparently he slept on his right side.
On a sudden impulse, Alfred reached over with his good hand and poked one of the cowlicks down, making Ivan jump slightly. Ivan looked over at Alfred with a slightly puzzled expression. "Why are you poking my head?"
"No reason, I was just admiring your cowlicks." Alfred admitted with a smile. "I had to put it down so we could match." Alfred said, pointing at his own cowlick.
"Ah, I see." Ivan said, shaking his head fondly. Reaching over, he flicked Alfred's forehead. "But no touchy. People who do not wash their hair correctly do not get to touch."
"Aw, come on man!" Alfred said in exasperation. "There is nothing wrong with one in all shampoo! And we've practically been all over each other this last week, so I don't think you're making a valid point." Alfred suddenly cringed at his words as Ivan raised an eyebrow at him.
"All over each other?" Ivan asked, and Alfred's cheeks went a bit pink.
"Aw, shut up." Alfred said. "Don't take what I said out of context."
"No, you have a point. If I do not make an honest man out of you, England will come after us." Ivan said with a chuckle. "Let me see, we went to dinner and last night we got drunk. Tell me, when should we have the wedding?" Ivan teased.
"When we get to hell." Alfred joked back, holding his hand out expectedly as he spoke. "And just because you payed for one dinner doesn't mean much, Mr. sexy. Plus, I'm not seeing a ring. What kind of a proposal was that? I thought I'd at least get flowers!"
"Ah, my mistake. Forgive me, I am not good at this. I will do better next time." Ivan said with a chuckle, turning back to his cooking.
"That's all I ask dear." Alfred hummed back, a small smile pulling at the edge of his mouth.
They fell back into comfortable silence, and soon enough they were done with breakfast. They ended up back in the living room, with Alfred watching the news and Ivan playing with the little game boy. Hero was sitting on top of the coffee table, and Milashka was curled up around Ivan's shoulders, purring away like a little monster truck, his tail occasionally hitting the side of Ivan's face.
"How is your hand doing?" Ivan asked after about an hour. "Oh, and I beat your high score in Tetris. You are welcome."
"First of all screw you. I've been working on that damned high score since the ninety's and you beat it in what? Less than an hour?"
"It was not hard. And it was forty minutes."
"Like I said, fuck you. As for my hand, not too bad. I think it's about halfway healed already. It's actually really itchy, and it's kinda driving me crazy, but it should be just a small scar by tomorrow." Alfred said, wiggling his fingers in Ivan's direction. "It should be good as long as I keep it wrapped up today."
"That is fortunate." Ivan said, glancing up at Alfred. "We took quite a tumble yesterday."
"What can I say, we fell for each other." Alfred said a laugh, and Ivan rolled his eyes. "Oh, that reminds me…" Alfred said, with a snap of his fingers, getting up and wandering over to the kitchen. "I need to stop by the U.N building today."
"What for?" Ivan asked with a slight frown, looking up from his game to watch Alfred, who was lazily leaning against the bar and scrolling through his phone.
"I need to meet up with some of the organizers for the party, as well as security." Alfred said, looking up at Ivan with a bored expression. "You know, for the party later in a few weeks? Since this is kind of a last minute thing I need to run down there and straighten some things out. The president is insisting that some of the C.I.A attend, but several of the countries who are attending will throw a bitch fit if they find out. Plus, the fact that half of the other nations are going to be trying to smuggle weapons in might freak out normal people, so I have to get the regular guys who cover our events to come in. You know how it is."
"Do you want me to come with you?" Ivan offered, but Alfred waved him off.
"Don't bother. It'll only take a few hours to iron out." Alfred insisted, shooting Ivan a smile. "Thanks though."
"You will likely run into another nation there." Ivan pointed out, but Alfred again waved him off.
"Oh please, no one who would could cause any real headache will be there today. Short of France or Japan," Alfred winced slightly at Japan's name but continued on, "or even Arthur, there isn't anyone there I can't handle. Well, except maybe Germany. He sent me quite a few angry e-mails after the last meeting." Alfred added in amusement. "But the worst he's going to do is chew my ears off."
"He does get touchy about the meetings going smoothly." Ivan agreed. "If you are sure."
"I am. Anyways, I'm going to get ready. I'll be out in a few." With that, Alfred bounced out of the room.
LineBreak
Alfred let out a sigh of relief as he exited the meeting room, shutting the door behind with a snap. Thank fuck that was over. While the other nations could be a pain at times, it had been nothing next to the head of security for the building. The man was as stubborn as a mule about letting any outside security come into the building, and it took the head of the secret service to finally get the man to back down. Not that Alfred blamed the man, it wasn't like he knew who Alfred really was, just that he was going to protect some stupid foreign diplomats, and it was a security risk. But god damn it, it wasn't like it was some random security team replacing them. It was the fucking secret service! It had taken hours of haggling, but finally the man had relented, but only if some of the original security team stayed in the building to watch over the rest of the building. The head of the secret service had jumped at the compromise, and finally Alfred was free to escape. Alfred knew the head of the secret service was going to chew him out later for leaving him to wrap up the meeting alone, but at this point Alfred didn't care, gleefully making his escape towards the elevators.
When he finally made it back to the lobby, Alfred was just thinking about picking up some lunch for him and Ivan. He was right in middle of texting Ivan different ideas for food, when he heard a loud slam on the window he had paused next to. Alfred let out a less than manly scream at the sudden bang, and in his panic he dropped his suitcase, which fell to the floor and bust open, causing his papers to spill all over the floor. He almost dropped his phone as well, but he was able to catch it just before it slipped completely out of his hands. Whipping around to see what caused the bang, he was rather shocked to see a very angry China staring back at him, his hands on the window. The man looked like he had a screw loose. His usually neat ponytail was falling apart, and some of the loose hairs where hanging in front of his face. His clothes were wrinkled, and he was breathing heavily, like he had just ran a marathon before running into the window.
"You!"China hissed, and Alfred shrank back from the window in shock. "Do you have any idea just how LONG I've been looking for you?!"
Alfred gawked at the older nation. "Bruh, what the fuck?! My house is not that hard to find." Alfred blurted out in shock.
"Oh, you would have been easy to find, IF I COULD HAVE FOUND ANYONE WHO KNEW WHERE YOU LIVED!" China yelled back at him, banging on the glass again in frustration. "Check your fucking e-mails, you stupid American! Now get your type two diabetic, candy bar eating, chip dipping ass out here this instant! We need to talk! Now!"
"Fine! Just let me get my shit. Jesus dude, I thought my heart was going to fall out of my chest." Alfred grumbled, quickly picking up his papers, and ignoring the strange looks the other people in the lobby where giving him. Alfred gave them a quick reassuring wave, and quickly left the building to meet a very impatient China by the doors, who was glaring daggers at him. His foot was tapping impatiently as Alfred approached him.
"Bruh, what the fuck." Alfred asked in irritation as he stopped in front of China, crossing his arms in frustration. "I swear to god, if this is about my damned debt again I'm going to-"
"Forget about your stupid debt! I am not here to talk about that. No. You, come with me. Now." With that, China grabbed America's wrist and started to drag him down the road with a determined look Alfred had never seen before.
"Woah, dude slow down! Let me go!" Alfred protested as he was dragged down the sidewalk. "China, bruh, what the hell? Ow, stop dude! That's my bad hand!"
China looked down at Alfred's bandaged hand with a frown, then with a huff he let go of his wrist, but continued to keep hurrying down to an alleyway. "Keep up then."
For the next few minutes they snaked down several streets and side alleys. Just as Alfred was about to grab the back of China's shirt and start demanding answers, China stopped suddenly. Alfred almost fell over trying to stop himself from colliding into the shorter nation, but China paid him no attention. Instead he walked into a small building next to him, gesturing impatiently at Alfred to follow him. Alfred took a moment to catch his breath, glancing around him at the alleyway. It was lined by a number of Asian shops and restaurants, with a number of his Asian-born citizens filling up the small walkways. Looking closer at the building China had disappeared into, he saw it was a small noodle shop, with bright red posters lining the windows with meals for the day, and other marketing posters. Ah, so China had led him to his favorite location in the city. Sighing in exasperation, he entered the noodle shop, and was waved over by China from a small booth in a dark corner of the shop.
When Alfred finally sat down, a short but plump Chinese man walked over, and China and him had a rapid fire conversation that Alfred didn't even bother to try and translate. The only words he could make out were, food, privacy, and something about fish? Alfred honestly didn't want to know about that last part. Finally, with a firm nod the Chinese man turned away and walked into the kitchen, leaving the two nations alone.
"Okay, what the hell is going-?" Alfred started to ask, but China held up a hand, stopping Alfred.
"Wait until the food comes out." China said. "As soon as the food is served, we will talk."
"But-!"
"Wait." China said firmly. Reluctantly, Alfred held his tongue for the next few minutes. It was painfully awkward, and Alfred ended up looking around the small shop instead of trying to look at China, who was staring him down. China took the time it took for the man to return with their food to put his hair back up in a neat ponytail, and smooth out his clothing so he looked a little more presentable. Finally, the man returned with their food, nodded at China and Alfred, and promptly left again.
"Here, use these." China said, handing Alfred a pair of chopsticks. "I know you can use them. Kiku told me so."
"Thanks?" Alfred replied, now throughly and utterly confused. "Look, I don't mean to sound ungrateful or anything, but what the absolute hell is going on?"
"Eat." China commanded. "I promise, I will explain everything afterwards."
"But you said we would talk when we got the food." Alfred protested.
"And we did. Eat." China said, and with that he dug into his own food.
Reluctantly, Alfred followed China's example. While the food was freaking fantastic, it did little to settle his frustration at the situation. It was another half hour before they finished, and by now Alfred was debating on whether or not to strangle the older nation, or just leave. Eventually, China put down his chopsticks and leaned back in his chair, studying Alfred like he was one of his ancient scrolls.
"Well?" Alfred asked impatiently after a minute of them staring at each other.
China let out a long sigh. "Are you full now?"
"Sure, but I fail to see why this is relevant." Alfred replied with an annoyed huff.
"You are a lot more agreeable when you are full." China explained, picking up his cup of tea with a tired expression, all of the traces of his previous anger now faded away. For a moment, the mask of the young man China usually acted like disappeared and Alfred saw an extremely tired, and very much done old man sitting in front of him, even if his appearance didn't change.
"So you bribed me?" Alfred asked, slightly annoyed, slightly amused.
"In a way, I suppose so." China agreed. "Although, I felt that you being in a better mood would help in this situation.I need to talk to you about Kiku."
Alfred stiffened at the mention of his former best friend, and China nodded sympathetically. "Yes, don't look so surprised. I am human too, you know. And for as much of a dumbass my little brother can be, it is still my duty as the eldest sibling to look out for him. I may not be able to apologize on his behalf, but perhaps you would listen to this old man's advice before you confront him? Perhaps I can soften the blow Kiku will receive from you."
"You must be serious if you're bringing out the old man card." Alfred joked after a moment, and the tension eased a little bit as China chuckled into his cup.
"Indeed. It is useful at times. If you are fortunate, perhaps you too will be able to use it someday."
"Hopefully." Alfred agreed. "So, what did you want to talk about?"
China didn't reply right away, seeming to be thinking carefully about what he was going to say for a few beats. "After the last meeting, I spoke to Kiku. I told him in plain terms that he needed to talk things out with you. I told him his choices, and then left. I see now that perhaps I should have kept a better eye on him, because the last time I saw him he was fleeing his hotel, bags in hand."
"Okay…" Alfred said, a frown growing on his face.
"For some ridiculous reason, the kid started to panic over the thought he had messed up you two's friendship permanently, when he still clearly had options on the table. I did try to stop him from leaving the hotel, but instead we fought. It was a rather tiresome argument, and I will not bore you with the details. But the most important thing you need to know, is that he was acting irrationally. To be frank, the idiot was in a blind panic. He kept blubbering about how you would never forgive him, and took to the wind."
China closed his eyes for a moment, and then shook his head in exasperation and opened them again. "I am not sure if you have noticed, but that kid has a rather unfortunate habit of self destruction. For some reason, instead of talking things out with his words, he will either shut himself in his room and ignore the world, or he will throw himself on his own sword to try and correct something, even if it is something as small as a paper cut. It is a rather tiresome habit, and while I have to tried to talk him out of it, he is as stubborn as a mountain. He will not be moved."
Alfred didn't speak, but gestured for China to continue. His eyes never left the older nations face.
"I do not know if I should be telling you this." China said, gently putting his cup on the table. He crossed his arms, and gave Alfred a neutral expression. "But I will anyways. When you called Kiku that day at the café, and yes, I know about that-" China added, waving away Alfred's surprised frown, "Russia called me. Apparently Russia was rather angry at Kiku's behavior, not that I could blame him. Anyways, when you called him, he must have panicked even more than before. While his actions are his own, I do not think confronting him so soon was a good idea."
"No, probably not." Alfred agreed reluctantly.
China shot him a quick, but grateful smile before retuning to a more neutral expression. "I'll get to the point then. America, Kiku did not run away because he was trying to hurt you, even if that was the outcome. I believe that it was one of his knee jerk reactions in times of stress, and he blindly ran back to hiding away from the world. I'm not asking you to accept, or even forgive him for that reaction, but I do want you to understand his standpoint. For all his years on you, he is not that much more experienced with people than you. Him hiding away from the world did not help him in then long run, and while he is improving, he is slipping back into old habits again. All I ask, as a favor from his older brother, is when you two eventually meet again, is to remember the words I've spoken and for you to take them into consideration when you eventually decide on how to move forward."
Alfred looked down at his cup of tea, and didn't speak for a few minutes. China waited patiently, taking a sip from his cup every so often. He knew that America needed a moment to process his words, and most of the hardest decisions needed time to sort out. Time, China thought with a bittersweet feeling in his chest, was something he had plenty of. No need to rush.
"I do have one question." Alfred finally said, looking up from his cup and at the older nation.
"And that would be?" China asked curiosity.
"Why didn't he just tell me how he felt?" America asked, a slightly hurt expression appearing on his face. "A lot of this mess could have been avoided if he had just been honest."
"I'm afraid that's not something I can answer for him." China replied, giving Alfred an apologetic smile. "I think that you should ask him that yourself when you see him again." With that, China stood up, and gave Alfred a slightly amused look over.
"What?" Alfred asked, feeling slightly self conscious.
"It is a shame." China finally said with a sigh, shaking his head sagely. "Although I might not have approved in different circumstances, you and Kiku would have most likely made a cute couple. It is a shame that it did not work out. Then again, if you ever decide that Russia isn't good enough anymore, I am sure Kiku will not fail a second time." China said with a slight twinkle of mischief in his eyes.
Alfred stared at China, his jaw on the floor as he did so. China merely laughed in response and after quickly leaving a few bills on the table, he quickly left the booth, leaving Alfred as a sputtering, red faced mess in his seat.
LineBreak
"What am I looking at here?"Lebedev asked with a frown. He was currently staring at his computer monitor. In his email, there was a picture from a video of that Alfred John guy. The guy looked like he had a shock of some sort, but the camera wasn't pointing at the right angle for him to see what had caused it. Scanning the rest of the photo, he was delighted to see his briefcase had it's contents all over the floor.
"We were able to get that from an inside guy in security." The lackey next to the computer said. "Apparently there was an incident, and it just so happened to be him causing it."
"Well, at least we know where he works now. I guess the boss lady was right to be suspicious of her brother's friend. Where you able to get any information on any of the papers?" Lebedev asked eagerly, and the lackey nodded.
"For most of the documents, no. The papers where too far away to be read, but one piece of paper did get close enough to the camera to be read. It looked to be a sort of security schedule for this month." The lackey leaned over, and blew up the photo a bit so that the boss could see the paper easier. Indeed, it seemed like an excel sheet, with different colored box's showing the different shifts on them.
"It appears that he is hosting a party soon." Lebedev hummed, tapping a finger on his desk thoughtfully. "And on the header it says…" The boss frowned for a second, then he leaned forwards and squinted at the screen. "What did you say his name was again?"
"Alfred Johns sir."
"You god damned idiot, that's not his name. That paper says his name is Alfred Jones! Jones you idiot! Good grief, at least get the poor boys name right. We at least owe him that." Lebedev huffed, and the lackey nodded fearfully.
"Yes boss, it won't happen again sir."
"Enough grovelling. It doesn't matter. We need to let the lady know about this. At the end of the day, this kid works for the U.N. somehow. We need to proceed with caution on this. Email this to the lady, and let's wait for directions. Don't make any moves for now. You're dismissed." Lebedev grunted, and the lackey all but sprinted out of the room.
"Who the hell is this kid?" Lebedev wondered, a small feeling of uncertainty growing in the back of his mind. Perhaps this was above his pay grade, he thought.
LineBreak
Alfred didn't know what the fuck was going on anymore, and at this point, he was way past the point of giving a shit anymore. He had all but left the restaurant in a daze, and by the time he made it home he was just ready for this day to be over. Sighing, he walked into the lobby of his apartment building, and saw Greg looking rather pissed off. Hearing footsteps, Greg looked up at him with an unimpressed scowl, until he realized it was Alfred. Seeing Alfred's face, he gave Alfred a questioning look.
"You alright sport?"
"I'm great." Alfred said a slightly higher pitch than usual, and kept walking towards the stairs. "Great. Peachy. Grand."
"If you say so." Greg said with a raised eyebrow as Alfred disappeared up the stairwell.
When Alfred got to his apartment door, he stood outside of it for a minute, just looking at the door handle. He honestly didn't know what to do with the info China had given him today. On one hand, he was not expecting China to give him his blessings to date Japan one day. That info had come so far from left field America didn't even know what to do with it, so he decided to ignore it for now. Yep, best to repress that memory.
Then there was the matter with Japan. He wasn't sure how to feel about that information. It felt like there was a storm of different emotions howling in his heart right now. Anger and sadness of course, but also happiness and something like hope. If what China had said was true, and Alfred suspected it was, Japan didn't really want to stop being friends with him. He had just been unsure how to approach him. He wanted to believe that it was the truth. Every cell in his body wanted nothing more than to run off into the night and get his best friend back, damn the rest of the world and it's consequences.
But that didn't solve the small problem that Kiku was still in love with him, and had hidden those feelings for years. That didn't solve the problem of Kiku running into the night like a bat out of hell when the truth came out. And it sure as hell didn't solve the problem of his best friend going behind his back to spy on him because he had to act on his jealousy, instead of just talking to him like a god damned adult. Alfred let out a long, and soul rattling sigh, still looking at his door handle like it would whisper the answers he had been looking for to him. As far as Alfred could tell, there really wasn't much more he could do with Kiku in the moment. Until he came out hiding and actually talked to him, nothing was going to change.
Alfred allowed himself to stand there for a few more minutes and feel sorry for himself. Honestly, it had been awhile since he had had a moment for himself. And while he did enjoy others people company most of the time, he found himself bitterly wishing he had taken that damned Hawaii vacation before all of this had happened. If he knew this shit show was on the horizon, he probably would had blown off his boss and Ivan and ran for the hills.
"But then-" a little voice in his head said, ''you and Ivan would have never made up. I don't want to change that."
Alfred sat there for a moment, considering that. While these last two weeks had been hard, becoming friends with Ivan had been a huge plus. He had also made up with Arthur as well, he realized with a start. Not only that, he had made friends with Ukraine too. Not to mention Finland and Sweden had even come out to remind them he was their family. And what about the other nations who had stepped up for him when they thought he was in trouble? What about his brother, who had gone up to bat for him against Arthur, France, and the rest the world?
Alfred suddenly felt overwhelmed with emotions. Part of him wanted to reject the emotions he was feeling right now and run screaming into the night. Another part of him wanted to start crying and break into a million pieces. And yet another part of him wanted to laugh with giddy joy. Overwhelmed, Alfred sucked in a deep breath, and let it out slowly, clamping down on his emotions. He wasn't going to think about this right now. Now was not the time. After he calmed down a bit, he finally reached for the door handle. That would be tomorrows problem he decided. Right now, he just wanted beat Ivan's ass at Tetris.
A/N: Oh thank fuck it's done. I literally spent all night writing this chapter. I started writing this at 12am. It is now 9:30am. But by god, I did it. Oh, I also corrected another error I made in the past. I was rereading comments on this story, and someone pointed out that I didn't give Alfred the right last name to the crime boss dude. That was a typo, but I thought it was funny enough to leave in the story, lol. And finally, China gets his moment in the spot light. Look, after all the shit I put Japan through, I needed to throw the poor thing a bone. Also, Alfred honey, don't hurt yourself on all those emotions. *evil cackle* Okay, I'm going to bed now. *Flops onto bed* Oh, and i don't care about typos right now. I'm too tired.