Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia or Wolf Creek, but I do own my OCs
Notice: I have edited the first two chapters quite a lot, so I would recommend reading them before this one.
Australia pushed open the worn and frail doors to the pub and casually strolled in, sunglasses over his eyes shielding his calculating gaze around the establishment. He felt the heavy and intense stares of the locals that sat around the bar and gathered in small groups around a pool table, stuffing his hands into his pockets and letting a small grin on his face he walked straight over to the bar and sat down on one of the more sturdier stools and moved his sunnies on top of his head. These weren't normally the type of people that Australia would associate with, as most of them either belonged to a bikie gang or had some form of criminal record.
A hand was immediately slapped on the bar table in front of Australia. The nation casually looked up, he gave a friendly smile to the big and bulky bloke that was dressed in all black and denim. Any normal person would have jumped and been intimidating by the murderous glint in the man's eyes, but Australia wasn't even phased. Honestly he had seen a lot worse, so one taller and tattooed man wasn't going to faze him, he survived two World Wars, a bunch of others, and he had to help some of the other nations break up the fights in world meetings. He once had to help a drunken Russia back to his hotel room and try and hide from his crazy little sister Belarus, now that was terrifying.
"G'day mate! Can I help you with something?" Australia asked casually with a hint of boredom. A cheery smile on his face, he knew it would annoy the man and being stuck in a car for hours made him almost go stir crazy without some form of entertainment.
"Cut the 'mate' crap," The man said, his hand curling into a fist his piercing blue eyes glared down at Australia, "We don't like strangers in our bar, so if you know what's good for ya, you betta hightail it outta here."
"Yeah?" Australia looked at him disbelievingly and couldn't help the playful smirk lighting his features, "I'd like to see you try. I've fought bigger blokes than you."
And it was true! He had wrestled bigger crocs than this guy and come out with barely a bruise. He tried not to laugh at the furious expression on the man's face.
"Listen here you-"
"Leave him be Ralph," Spoke the bartender as he approached the two men, "I know him, he's alright."
With a huff Ralph returned to his bar stool a few seats next to Australia, not taking his glare away from the Australian nation as the two men sitting next to him spoke in hushed tones to Ralph. Australia then turned to the bartender, he got on quite well with him, well they were on pleasant speaking terms at least. He had helped the man with a snake problem a year ago, a few snakes had bred up in the ceilings and the place was overrun with the little buggers. At the time he seemed like one of the better blokes in the run-down place. The bartender was quite short and not as muscular as Australia, but he could break up a fight and throw them out easily enough.
"Thanks Jack," Australia grinned, "They always like that?"
"Afraid so. I'm surprised Jett, you didn't strike me as the rough bar type," Jack laughed, "Can I get you anything? VB?"
Australia nodded and soon a bottle of cold beer was placed in front of him. He had been driving for a couple of days to get there and he was craving the drink. He took a sip, allowing his mind to find the best way to approach the conversation.
"I'm looking for a guy, Mick Taylor," Australia asked, "I heard that he normally passes through here, and I figured you'd be the best to answer."
Australia noticed the shift in the atmosphere when he mentioned Mick's name, it wasn't the scared feeling, it was more defensive as if they would be reluctant to give any information away. The bar fell silent, as if they were trying to listen to the conversation
'He must have friends here,' Australia thought to himself bitterly, 'Great, this will be harder than I thought'
"Yeah he stops by here every now and again," Jack answered while pouring himself a glass of whisky, "You lookin' for him?"
"You could say that," Australia grinned. While he did like Jack and while he seemed like a decent bloke, he didn't know what his status with Mick is, if they were friends then it would be hard to get information out of him.
"He's mates with a couple of the regulars, me included." Jack downed the whisky and turned back to Australia, "I may owe you for saving my business Jett, but I have known Mick for far longer and he's a pretty decent fella. You're not lookin' for any trouble would ya?"
With an edge of suspicion in his voice and he stared intensely at Australia, any friendly light that was there had diminished.
Australia resisted the urge to make a comeback, but held his tongue not wanting to cause a scene here "Nah, no trouble" Australia muttered and took another swig of his beer.
Since Jack was friends with Mick, it would be difficult to get any information out of him, maybe he should try a different direction. He could always challenge some of the locals to see who can hold their alcohol better, maybe he could see if he could get some answers from them that way, like hustling a card game, except he was wanting information instead of money. Besides, he could hold his liquor better than England, not as good as Germany though.
"Ah here he is now, Hey Mick!" Jack greeted with a warm welcome. Australia tensed, he could practically feel the evil and darkness radiate off Mick Taylor, and he gripped the beer bottle he was holding even tighter when he noticed that Mick sat right beside him. Looks like he won't be going with plan B anytime soon.
He glanced out the corner of his eye to the man beside him. Mick was wearing a red checked shirt that contained small specks of blood dried into the cotton. But what stood out was a scratch mark alongside his cheek, and it looked as if it was placed there by a human, and it was fresh.
"The usual mate?" Asked Jack with a smile and turned to get the drink, Jack didn't speak again until he placed the glass full of alcohol in front of Mick, "You know, Jett here came in look for you."
'Shit' Australia mentally swore and almost spat out his drink. What is it with people throwing him under the bus lately, first his boss now the bartender. He again felt some people glance in his direction. The people that were wary of Mick and tried to avoid him looked anxious and sent wary looks in Australia's direction wondering how the new stranger would fair against the other.
But this also blew his chances of handling this quietly. If he tried to arrest Mick here and now, then the people he was friends with may try to defend him. He would have to wait until he got the chance to get Mick alone.
"Oh yeah? And what would that be for?" Mick Taylor said as he looked directly at Australia in a chilling way, it sent a cold shiver down Australia's spine as he looked into his cold and squinted eyes. Mick's voice sounded friendly enough, but Australia knew better than to trust him. And now he had to think of a lie that would be passable, he tried to think about what he knew about Mick Taylor.
Australia plastered on a grin to mask the tension, "I've heard a lot about you, and you're famous for your pig shooting. I've come to see if the rumours were true."
Australia inwardly gave a sigh of relief when all the eyes turned off him, except for one person, Mick. Mick just kept staring at him with a calculating look. Australia shifted nervously in his seat, thinking that Mick saw straight through his lie. The silence was so thick you could cut it with a knife, but thankfully to is relief Mick broke it…but not in the way he was hoping.
Mick let out a laugh, one that would normally terrify any person that he came across. But to Australia it just mildly unsettled him. It left him unsettled and confused as he tried to comprehend if Mick bought the lie or not. His body remained relaxed as he took a drink from his glass and a smile remained on his stubbled face. But his eyes remained guarded as they continued to stare into Australia's own green eyes. He was definitely going to be a hard one to crack.
"Well they are. Best pig shooter in the outback and I reckon in all of 'straya if I do say so me self," Mick boasted, "You interested in hunting mate? You don't really strike me as the type."
"Well Jett here works as a snake handler. He's the one that got rid of those snakes that were nesting up in the roof." Jack explained to Mick as he continued to wipe down the counter.
"Yeah? A pretty boy like you with your little Steve Irwin get up? Didn't think a bloke like you would be able to handle a place like this let alone those nasty little buggers." Mick commented with a raised eyebrow.
Australia suppressed the urge to roll his eyes and correct the man. Like this man had anything on him, snakes were a walk in the park for Australia, he had handled far worse. He had been walking around in the hot and blazing outback, barefooted and barely six years old in appearance since this human was even born. Australia was interested to see how Mick would go trying to handle three angry snakes at once in the tight spaces of the ceiling. But no matter how much he'd love to prove the man wrong, he did have a job to do.
"Well I'd love to see how well you can shoot. So what do ya say, reckon we go back to your place? Grab a couple of beers and swap stories? My shout for the beers of course, for an outback legend like yourself you gotta have a few cracking stories to share." Australia persuaded.
He tried to appeal to Mick's ego in hopes that the man would accept and when Australia got him alone he would be able to arrest him. Australia had managed to keep his smile friendly enough, and Mick looked like he was about to agree.
Until, two people walked through the doors to the bar, an elderly couple. Australia mentally swore. They were tourists. Japanese tourists.
"Of all the places, of all the bloody pubs they had to walk into this one." Australia muttered just softly enough that no one would hear him. Mick would be attracted to them like a spider to a fly. And the fly just flew into the web.
Australia watched as Mick turned around to look at the couple, a flash of pure hatred glistened in the human's eyes. But it was easily concealed as the couple started to approach the bar where Australia was sitting next to Mick. The husband politely greeted Jack as he tended the bar, his wife smiling beside her husband.
"Excuse us. Our car is not working, would you have a phone or a repair nearby?" The elderly man spoke in pretty good English he stumbled over a couple of words here and there.
"You can try and give them a call, but they probably won't be able to get here for a while." Jack replied apologetically.
"Those bastards could take a few hours at the least to get over here," Mick spoke up, "I'll tell ya what, I'll tow you back to my place and I'll get ya car fixed up there."
The Japanese couple, not sensing his hidden agenda, smiled appreciatively and thanked Mick profusely for his generosity. They began to walk over to where their car was parked, Mick followed out after them.
Australia muttered a string of curses under his breath. His cover be damned, he couldn't let those people leave with Mick, he couldn't let them be subjected to the pain and suffering they would experience at the hands of Mick before he murdered them. Besides, they were Japan's people and they most likely had a family.
Australia hurriedly reached for his wallet and threw a twenty dollar note on the counter. After telling Jack to keep the change he walked briskly out of the pub until he spotted them.
"Hey hold up!" Australia called over to them. The three turned around at the address.
"I know my way around cars, so I can fix it for you right now," Australia offered, "I'll have you up and running in less than an hour."
"Thank you sir," The lady said kindly, her eyes crinkled in happiness as she smiled. She held onto her husband's arm as they led Australia over to their car. Australia didn't need to look at Mick to know that the man wasn't happy, he could feel holes burning into his back.
"You sure you know what you're doin' mate?" Mick spoke as he narrowed his eyes into a glare at the Australian, "Maybe I should just give them a lift to my place, if they need spare parts I can get it to them."
"Cheers, but I can handle it," Australia replied in a frosty tone, equally levelling Mick with the same glare.
Australia walked past Mick and followed after the couple. Mick wasn't moving from his spot, he was probably waiting to see how things played out. But Australia knew that Mick didn't want to give up his next targets that easily. However, even if they didn't know it, they were under the protection of a personification.
Upon reaching the car, Australia lifted up the bonnet with a friendly and reassuring smile he flashed at the couple. He engaged in a casual conversation while he searched for anything amiss in the car. He had learnt that the couple were here on holiday for their anniversary.
"Well here's your problem. Your radiator's out of water. In heat like this your engine can get pretty overheated, so it's always a good idea to keep an eye on it so it doesn't get too low." Australia explained.
He walked over his own car and rummaged through the passenger's side to retrieve a full water bottle. He went back over to the couple's car and refilled the radiator with water.
"There you go, the car should be working now," Australia handed them the bottle with the remaining water inside, "Here take this, wouldn't want you to get stuck out in the middle of nowhere. Who knows what you might run into."
"Arigatō sir," The man spoke with gratitude, "You are very kind."
"No worries, just remember to keep it filled" Australia smiled and waved as the couple drove away.
Australia turned his head back over to face where Mick was still standing, a scowl was present on his face as he stormed away. Australia leant against the side of his car, it seemed he'd have to try a different method to bring Mick in. Because he doubted the man would trust him after he saved those people.
I am so so sorry this update took forever! I had major writers block with this chapter but it's out and I hope that there are still people that are reading this XD. Just a reminder that the first two chapters have been re-written so I would recommend checking them out as well.
VB- Victorian Bitters, it's a type of Australian beer.
Arigatō - Thank you (Japanese)
And I also have a headcannon that nations would come up with a career for their human personas, much like their human name. It would make sense if they were talking to a human and the person asks the nation where they work and what they do for a living, it would be strange if they just replied that they would work for the government considering some of them appear to be in their early 20s or even teens.