Chapter Fourteen

A few weeks had passed rather normally. There were less problem ghouls and less paperwork. Both of the nations had a lot more down time and they were enjoying it. Matthew was especially enjoying sleeping in.

"Hey, Birdie? Jou awake?" Prussia asked resting his chin on Canada's shoulder. They were both still in bed. It felt really early in the morning, but Matthew knew it was probably around noon. He kept quiet hoping Gilbert would let him sleep a little longer. "I know jou're awake."

"I wanna have a nap." Canada grumbled and Prussia just laughed. "It's too early. Ghouls are nocturnal you know."

"It eleven, jou're not nocturnal." Gilbert said kissing his cheek. Matthew rolled over to face him with a small smile. "Ve should shower and make some food."

"Coffee does sound good right about now." Matthew said sitting up and stretching. He grabbed his phone to check alerts and was happy to see there wasn't any. "Shower first though. You coming?"

"Ja." Prussia yawned and sat up as well. Matthew snorted at his bed head. The albino tried to pat it down, but it kept springing back up. Canada leaned over and ran a hand through Gilbert's hair making it stand up more. "Meanie."

"You love me." Matthew said getting out of bed and walking over to pick Prussia up. He easily pulled him up and into his arms earning a loving kiss from the smaller nation.

-❄"It's like algebra... Why you gotta put letters and numbers together? Why can't you just go fuck yourself?"❄-

"When's the next meeting?" Matthew asked settling on the couch next to Gilbert. Kuma jumped up and curled up on the blond's lap. Seconds later, Gilbird was nesting in his hair.

"Don't know." Gilbert shrugged. "Haven't got an email yet. There might not be one this month because of the Olympics."

"Wouldn't that be nice?" Canada sighed.

"It vould be." Prussia smiled giving Kuma a scratch behind the ear. "Izn't our next meeting the formal vear one?"

"Unfortunately." Matthew grumbled. "Have to dig out the old uniforms. I think they're in the basement somewhere."

"Let's not leave it to the last minute this time." Gilbert said and Canada nodded in agreement. "Jou need to go pick up papers today?" Matthew nodded. "West apparently needs my help balancing the budget."

"He must just want someone to talk to while doing it." Matthew teased. Prussia just rolled his eyes. Kuma started to nibble on Canada's fingers to remind him that he hadn't fed the bear his lunch. "I'll feed you before I leave in a bit." Blackbird said letting the polar bear keep chewing on his fingers.

The couple sat quietly watching the news for a little while until Germany called. Matthew had stuck around to say hello before letting the brothers get to work. He fed Kuma and got Gilbird out of his hair, also giving him some food before leaving.

It was still winter out so he had to take the truck. The Canadian was sad that his bike was stuck inside for the winter, but was happy enough when the truck warmed up. He was happy he only needed to go into town to pick up papers instead of driving a couple of hours to get to parliament. He was still a bit annoyed they couldn't just email him the paperwork.

Canada sighed stepping out of the truck after finally finding a parking spot. He pulled his hood up and started the short walk to city hall. It was snowing lightly out and it was sticking to the ground. It was starting to get icy. Matthew was happy he wore is boots instead of runners.

Blackbird stepped in the back entrance of the city hall and stamped his feet to get the snow off him. He pulled his hood down shaking the snow off it. He felt his phone ringing in his pocket and pulled it out to see the contact. He leaned against the wall and answered it.

"Hey, Ash. What's up?" Canada asked expecting some new information about a problem ghoul.

"Matt, there's movement close to the boarder. Right near the rainbow bridge." Ash said quite worriedly. "Border patrol has picked it up as well and shut down the bridge."

"Shit, I'll get down there as soon as possible." Matthew said starting to plan in his head. He never thought Alfred would actually make a move.

"I'll contact the others, we'll meet you there." Ash said quickly hanging up before Canada could say anything else. The Canadian immediately called the military to hopefully pull some strings and get a helicopter pickup; otherwise he'd have to drive for two hours.

Blackbird was able to arrange a pickup at the local hospital to get to the falls. The commander briefed him on the current situation as they flew. The nation was going to be taking partial command of his troops along with two other commanders.

The chopper landed in the field beside the Niagara police station dropping them off before taking back to the sky. The local police department was taking care of the evacuation around the boarder and keeping the ones that couldn't leave inside and safe. The air force was moving in a large volume of soldiers, most of them were special tactical units with a few regular ground units. The units were ordered to keep three blocks back while the snipers took up their positions. They were setting up a perimeter to contain the possible invasion.

Matthew had a quick conversation with the other commander before taking his small group of marksmen. They were all splitting up, but keeping in contact with radios. They all hopped into a jeep and were dropped off at their own positions. He was handed a standard issue sniper rifle and an ear piece before heading up. Canada had taken a position front and centre, the parking garage beside the Crowne Plaza hotel.

On his way up the stairs to his position Matthew finally remembered to call Prussia. He felt terrible not keeping the albino in the loop, but he was so focused on protecting his boarder.

"Birdie? Are jou okay? Vhere are jou?" Prussia asked quickly clearly worried.

"I'm alright." Matthew reassured him. He finally reached his spot and peered through his scope taking in the situation first hand. "I'm by the casino by the boarder. There's a lot of equipment over there."

"They're actually doing this." Prussia muttered. Then he cleared his throat. "Ve'll be down there as soon as possible."

"What?" Matthew asked.

"Zola and Shayne picked me up. Ve're about twenty minutes away." Prussia explained.

"You're all coming?" Canada asked confused.

"Ja, Ash told jou this." Gilbert said.

"I must have not been paying attention, eh?" Matthew grumbled. He was watching the boarder carefully. The Americans were still assembling more equipment and hadn't past their booths yet. "Sorry." He apologized.

"Jou definitely had a reason for forgetting." The Prussian reassured him. "I'll see jou soon."