I've accepted my chapters are no longer going to reach that 5000 word mark. Appreciate my 3000 word efforts XD
Also who needed some Unneeded Angst
Things went downhill fast.
As England was messaging America, Florida and California were fooling around with their guns. Massachusetts claimed she was too mature to play but the pistols kept disappearing and reappearing at random intervals. Iowa tried to stay out of it and Wisconsin tried to stop it. Southern California saw Alfred springing towards them across the field and scowled, turning towards the quietest state there.
"Iowa! Catch!" he called out, tossing the gun at the small state. Iowa widened their eyes and fumbled with the gun that was definitely not on safety.
A resounding bang sounded through the field, echoing as if they were in an enclosed room. Ethan's eyes widened and he stumbled backwards, losing all sense of hearing for a few moments. Voices were a blur in the back of his mind and the colors of the sky and grass seemed to waver uncertainly.
Iowa gaped at their brother, looked at the gun, and dropped the metal contraption on the grass hastily, paling rapidly.
Ethan seemed to look down at his front in slow motion, staring as a blossom of red started staining his abdomen. He blinked once, twice, three times before stumbling backwards again. He lost his footing and tripped, about to fall onto his back only to be caught by strong arms and placed gently on the ground. Ethan connected his murky green eyes with those of Alfred's, sky blue and full of surprise and guilt.
"Wisconsin!" California's voice tore through him and the state himself was by his side in an instant. "Oh my god! Oh my god, Wisconsin!" Iowa was struck dumb, dead silent except for their ragged breathing. Florida was rigid as well, but he was muttering under his breath rapidly with wide eyes, perhaps a prayer or merely terrified rambling. Massachusetts was blinking, as if the image in front of her was switching between memories and reality.
"No…" America whispered, staring blankly through his lenses at the red spreading through Wisconsin's front. "No no no! Wisconsin!"
Ethan cocked his head to the side slowly, eyes becoming hazy. A strange thought struck him and he smiled almost lazily. "Shot through the heart, but you're too late…" he murmured. America stared at him as if he had gone crazy. Maybe he had.
He turned his gaze to the other being beside him. "Guess I'm really falling for you, huh Cali?" California glared at him angrily. But he couldn't bring himself to chastise the stupid state.
He registered someone stripping off his sweatshirt - he liked that sweatshirt, it was America's, and America rarely gave them things… though he supposed it wasn't a gift from America, it was from Hungary, wasn't it? He would have to thank her later. But did he already thank her? Oh well, it wouldn't hurt to repeat. Ethan squinted slightly - he should wear his glasses more often if he had this bad of eyesight. But he could have sworn it was America above him, fussing over the dull pain in his abdomen.
England rushed to help and both him and America set to work on cleaning and dressing the wound properly. Florida and California watched in horrified fascination as the two worked, swallowing when they saw Wisconsin's eyes close for a few long seconds before America shook him awake again. Iowa had their eyes closed tight. Massachusetts had a glazed look in her eyes and she was unmoving where she stood.
Minutes stretched longer than they had ever felt before. America's heart pounded in his throat and he deftly started applying bandages. England was helping still but he also observed the one-track mind Alfred had seemed to take on when caring for his state.
Eventually Alfred sat back and England with him, the two gazing at the tired out and sleeping body of Wisconsin. They seemed to have forgotten about the other two states entirely as they stared at nothing and everything in front of them all at once.
"Wisconsin… I wish I could have done more…" Alfred started reaching for the state when something inside of California snapped and he very nearly growled (in the back of his mind he thought this was a heroic moment worthy of Hollywood), stomping over to his country. He drew back his foot and swiftly kicked him in the chest, successfully knocking the country backwards out of mostly pure shock. Alfred blinked up at the half-state, his glasses (Texas, of course) askew on his face.
"You don't deserve to say that! Not to Wisconsin!" California narrowed his eyes dangerously. "He was literally kidnapped from you, right under your stupid burger-smelling nose and you didn't even care!" Alfred opened his mouth to object but California wasn't finished. "All you cared about was like upholding your image and beating Mexico! Like, get over yourself, Alfred! America is a great country, the best in all the world, but Alfred is an awful brother who doesn't even, like, know his own state's names!" California was getting really into his rant, punctuating all the right words and making all the right hand gestures, but his valley accent leaked into his speech. "Like, Wisconsin was so upset, so far into desperation that he even called me. We, like, hate each other! At least, I know he hates me! How could you have sunk so low that he has to resort to calling his enemy?"
Alfred was silent and California stepped forwards, ignoring the fact that he was shorter than the nation. "I wasn't even going to come when I checked where the call had come from. Russia, Alfred. Wisconsin was in Russia and you had no frickin' idea."
There was silence. England was solemn and Florida had a shocked but hopeful look on his face. Iowa looked as if they was three steps from being liberated. Massachusetts was weary but there was a glint of… was that appreciation in her eyes? California was breathing heavily and Alfred was quiet for once. The bespeckled country opened his mouth slowly but once again his state interrupted him. "Tell me his name, Alfred. What is Wisconsin's name?"
His silence answered the question better than words could. At the obvious looks of disgust on both California and Florida's faces he scrambled to redeem himself in any way he could. "But I remember your names! California and Florida, I know your names! It's Eric and Nora!" he said desperately. Florida's eyes widened and he almost felt like crying, flinching at the name. California nearly snarled.
"My name is Cole." Florida spit out. "And it has been for nearly twenty years. Even California calls me Cole, and we hate each other." California nodded in agreement while England secretly found their relationship to be an awful lot like Hungary and Prussia's, albeit slightly less violent from what he could tell.
"I'm sorry," Alfred choked out eventually, taking off his glasses to rub at some water that was starting to leak out of his eyes. "I never would have thought this would happen."
Neither Eric nor Cole said anything for long moments, neither state willing to accept his apology. They both knew that the midwestern states would be more apt to trusting, and the western states more willing to move on, and the eastern states more ready to attempt a compromise. The south would try to mend the broken ties in the family or move away from them altogether.
"Most states still consider you to be a saint." Florida, Cole, suddenly spoke up. "They are mad at you for not visiting them as much, sure, but they still like you. I have to deal with it every time I talk to Mississippi and Louisiana and I can't bear to crush their hopes. Because you don't care at all, do you?"
"I do care, I just don't have time-"
"His name is Ethan." California spat scathingly. "And you were everything to him."
-x-
Another accident. Nothing major. Still hurt like hell, though. Ethan writhed on the bed, feeling his stitches starting to rip through his shoulder.
"Ethan!" Minnesota snapped, pushing the state back onto the cotton sheets. Ethan protested with a whining voice that was indiscernible for all who heard it, save South Dakota from her experience translating her twin's mumbled speech. Allison, however, was not present (which was probably good for the mental health of Minnesota, who was already straining with keeping Ethan healthy without adding the added stress from dealing with South Dakota).
"Can't believe you shot him," commented Illinois, his sunstained hair shaking as he laughed in amusement. "Unbelievable."
"It was an accident!" Michigan protested. He poked at Ethan's not-shot shoulder hesitantly. "But you're okay, bro."
"Oh my god." Minnesota groaned. "Michael, he was shot in the shoulder. By you, might I add. I don't think he's okay."
Ethan lifted his unshot arm and flashed Michigan -Michael- a thumbs up while Minnesota was speaking. Michigan flashed his trademark grin at his bedridden brother. Ohio snorted at the whole exchange. He was kicked back and pretending to read while watching the drama unfold in the living room.
"The anesthetic should be wearing off soon, so you'll be able to speak without having a numb tongue," Minnesota said, a smug undertone earning him a deadly glare from Ethan. It was just like Liam to 'accidentally' numb his whole mouth, preventing him from making any noises other than unintelligible garbles. But he could feel the anesthetic dispersing through his face, spreading to his ears and jaw and neck uncomfortably. Soon he had a strange, half-asleep sensation of his entire lower face and part of his upper.
"No hunting for you~" Ohio snickered. Ethan groaned and whined at the same time, flailing his arms around helplessly.
"Stop moving!" Minnesota commanded, pushing down the arm connected to his shot shoulder. "Honestly, how are you not in pain?"
"Oh, he is." Illinois moved closer to the bed. "He's just an idiot."
Ethan shot him a look that said 'thanks, bro.' as sarcastically as he could manage. Resigning to his position of nothing, he settled into the bed and let out a huff of breath. Liam -Minnesota- let out a relieved puff of air and sat back in one of the chairs strewn about the room.
Ethan beamed, sensing the feeling start to come back into his mouth and allowing him speech. And though he would never say so, he was grateful for his family being there for him to help him out (even though it was Michigan's fault in the first place).
The memory of inside his home faded away softly and he fell deeper into sleep.
-x-
The wind whistled through the grass forlornly. The situation, once charged and fiesty, was starting to become more and more awkward to anyone who wasn't southern California.
"We should probably move Wis- er, Ethan, so he can get better quickly." It was England who spoke. America nodded dumbly and moved to pick up his state, but was almost shouldered out of the way by California. England grabbed the state's collar and jerked him away with one quick movement. "No. America and I know how to deal with this type of wound much better than you do."
"But-!" California tried to protest, but one poisoned glare from England shut him up. Florida tugged on his sleeve roughly, dragging the state after England and America and muttering something about a hero complex originating in Hollywood. Massachusetts and Iowa followed mutely. That is, until Massachusetts decided to speak up.
"America, England, I can transport everyone to a destination if we need to." England paused, thinking over her words as America protested meekly, pride wounded from the earlier exchange.
"But… you haven't done a group this big before?" His statement lilted up by the end making it sound more like a question. She nodded uncertainly and a flicker of relief crossed his face.
"Well, no, but I need to try, right?" She nodded to herself, a flash of determination crossing her features. England nodded on her in respect and stepped closer, gesturing the two coastal states and single landlocked state over with his head. America was already close enough to Massachusetts.
"I would recommend America's house, you know there best." England recommended. She nodded.
"Here goes nothing…" she murmured, furrowing her eyebrows in concentrated resolve, a small sheen of sweat starting to show on her brow after a few seconds of nothing. Then, as if psyching herself up for something, she closed her eyes tight and clenched her fists. Instantly the group was transported to another location.
Instead of America's house, like most of those present had assumed, Massachusetts had sent them to the National House of States, where all of the State meetings were held (much like the world meetings, just with less culture and more guns). They were in the foyer, and Massachusetts gasped for breath; she wasn't transporting anything any time soon.
America, however, had not been in the National House of States for decades. As the country, he wasn't needed there. Which, in hindsight, didn't seem like the smartest thing to do. He hesitated the moment they appeared. England had never been here and therefore had no idea what to do, while Florida and California were in the middle of another argument - "It's not my fault you're so stupid!" - and were no help at all.
Iowa, however, beelined for the hallway with a gilded gold sign that had Midwest scrawled in cursive. There were various hallways leading to other sections of the building: Northeast, South, West, and Meeting Room were among the titles. Iowa was already halfway across the foyer when they glanced behind them and saw the countries and states alike standing dumbly. An almost uncharacteristic scowl crossed their face and they called to the states.
"Are y'all stupid? We have a state meeting in two days. Why do you think Wisconsin had such a hard time getting ahold of everyone? The entirety of the Midwest were probably on a road trip, and there's no service on the way here. Or here, for that matter," Iowa mused for a split second before getting back on track. "But by now they should be here, and they should know- and they also have some of the best hospitals."
Florida and California turned bright red; they had both forgotten about the state meeting and most likely would have been dragged there by Georgia and Northern California respectively. Massachusetts had been aware of the meeting, obviously, as she had landed them there. England was muttering about the smaller letters under the Northeast sign spelling out New England and America was taking long strides towards the hallway titled Midwest.
"Where are we?" England asked, examining the secretary desk that was empty. A smile flickered across both Florida and California's faces.
"It's a national secret~" Florida winked and strode past the old country.
"We don't tell anyone," California said airily, following Florida's path.
"Oh, shut up! You wouldn't be able to find your way here with a map!" Massachusetts snapped, stalking after them. "Your brother drags you here every meeting!" England found himself needing to scramble after the hurried states, distantly hearing "Sister!" from one of the states.
"It's been a while since I've been to this part of the building," Massachusetts mused, examining the walls and door decor. The walls were a washed sky blue with a wooden fence-like decoration protruding an inch from the plaster. The first doors they passed were offices and meeting rooms (Iowa winced when they heard a bay from behind one of them- the Midwest did not use their offices for normal purposes).
They had only been walking for a dozen paces when the hallway expanded into a small lobby with plush carpets and large windows. There were papasan chairs and beanbags strewn about with tables of games and snacks laid out. There were no states present but it was recently used.
Florida let out a low whistle. "Damn. This place is nice."
California furrowed their brow in annoyance. "Why is theirs so much cooler than our break room?"
Massachusetts snickered. Not only was the Midwest's breakroom different (they had two rooms for the entire Midwest, while there were separate break rooms for the splits in the Northeast, South, and West, such as New England and Mid Atlantic for Northeast, as the others did not like to share) but she had been in every part of the building for various reasons and the Midwest did have one of the better break rooms. But not because they were better than the other groups, no, it was merely because they had managed not to trash it day one. The South, for example (South West, to be specific) have an eternal grease stain on the ceiling (all Oklahoma's fault, according to everyone there). In the Northeast (Mid Atlantic specifically) room a knife was thrown clean through a table (really, New Jersey needed to calm down). And then there was the West, of course, nobody knew what happened in there, especially on the Pacific (Oregon and Washington seemed sort of normal, but then there was the two personifications of California).
Regardless, despite the expertly hidden bullet holes, the Midwest had a decent (large) lobby. There was even a functional Keurig and a flat screen TV (that wasn't broken, surprisingly).
Illinois came sauntering into the room from the continued hallway, an apple in his mouth as he hummed along to an inaudible song. He was counting through postcards in his hands when he looked up. His eyes widened dramatically and the apple fell out of his mouth at the sight of the states and country alike.
"A-America? Massachusetts, Iowa? And is that-" his voice instantly dripped with disgust. "California."
"Southern California, actually," California corrected. Illinois sneered until his gaze dropped to the state dangling in his country's arms.
"Wisconsin! Oh my god, what the hell happened to you!" The corn state was by his brother's side in an instant, cradling his lolling head in his hands. His eyes dropped to Wisconsin's stomach, glazing over the burn scars, and he examined Wisconsin's sides, which was bandaged up with red seeping through. His eyes narrowed and he glared up at the surrounding personifications.
"What. Happened." He was seething, face twitching. He was Illinois, and he made up his people. Including the gangs of Chicago.
"Well…" America winced. "A lot."
"And are you… England?" Illinois raised his eyebrow at the rather short personification.
England straightened. "Yes, I am."
Illinois stared at him for a long, uncomfortable stretch of time. England stared back, wondering what this state was going to say to him. Hate? Admiration? Indifference?
"Stay away from the New England states. It's for your own health."
And with that, Illinois gathered Wisconsin into his arms -away from America, though the country still hovered over him- and disappeared into the hallway.
"That's settled." California said cheerily. Florida sent a glance his way; he was one of the few states who could tell when California was being genuine or not. For now, he had his Hollywood persona on. In other words: fake.
"Hey, now's our chance to trash the place." California snickered, sweeping his eyes over the cushion heaven that was the (first, but they didn't have to know that) Midwest lobby.
"Honestly, I wouldn't do that," Iowa commented. At the contemptuous raised eyebrow thrown their way, the farming state silently walked to a random couch and reached under it, pulling out a hunting gun. "This is one of many."
Florida chortled to himself while California laughed highly. "That's not loaded." California grinned at the smaller state.
Iowa cocked the gun, the loud noise echoing through the room. "Is it?"
-x-
Illinois strode to the second lobby, the one only a set few got to see (namely the actual Midwestern states). He could hear two sets of footprints behind him but he had little care on who they belonged to, opting to stay focused on his brother, who was shot after disappearing from his house.
Foolishly they had thought he was only leaving early for the meeting. Imagine their surprise when they arrived at the National House of States to find that the dairy state was nowhere to be found. However, they had not been expecting to see him unconscious. With a bullet wound.
Illinois shook his head. Ethan had been wounded before, and much worse; the only difference was that his family wasn't there this time. Illinois didn't count America in this subconscious assessment, dubbing him too distant to be called family.
He had learned long ago to only trust those who truly cared.
Hur dur I want to kill myself x.x this was not needed but my brain just went "oh, it's not obvious enough that America doesn't really care so you should add a gun wound to make it worse" /shot/ (ohmygod PUNS)
On a different note, the National House of States has four sections: East, South, Midwest, and West. Each section is split into different subgroups (ex Pacific and Mountains are subgroups of West). Each subgroup has its own "lobby" or "breakroom" but the Midwest just shares theirs equally, which created the Main Group of Wisconsin's friends, otherwise Minnesota would not be in the group. (basically my excuse to have Minnesota have a close relationship to Wisconsin haha)
Moving on to reviews! Wowee, I was not expecting these! Thank you all so much :D :*
deadlydaisy808: Woo I hoped you liked this update :D sort of a mixture of randomness eh. And I didn't really know about it until looking up headcanons for Wisconsin OC's and the opportunity for angst is real. Also Peshtigo was one of three? others that happened on that day, though Peshtigo was def the worst and Chicago was the most popular. Also thank you for your contributions and Massachusetts is actually really fun to write TwT
SonoSvegliato: I legit went from smiling ear-to-ear to busting a gut laughing. I've never had straight up cheese soup (I'm certain it's a thing) though I have cheese with soup but it usually ends up being half the soup anyway. (why I'm caught up in the cheese soup thing idk). And yes. Broken relationships are on the mend (hopefully owo). hunting Ethan is the best Ethan and I LOOKED UP TURTLE MAN THIS IS CULTURE AND IT'S BEAUTIFUL. and thanks for the reviews and helpful hints on Kentucky, he'll make an appearance soon :D
Fonix Girl: I. Wow. I don't even know where to start. Other than with THANK YOU SO MUCH AHHHH YOU REVIEWED A LOT! Okay here starts my long af response #noregrets. love Michigan, it's gorgeous there (fun fact i've only been to the Upper Pen.), also countries don't question things when there's beer on the line. Hungary is so chill and the family relations I just. I don't ship Pruhun but their siblingship gives me life :'). Monaco I've formed from fanfics but I think she's in the comic and is one of France's former colonies. Belarus just kinda shows up and so does China XD and honestly the voicemails were so fun to make I had to have them all be different and it shows their personalities so much I just :D (Ethan accepts your hug). Yeaahhhh he's afraid of fire and just wait until his Midwest fam finds out what England did. ;). Oooooh. oooooooo shoot I really like your idea but it might be too late to incorporate a little Upper Michigan x.x and I have headcanons already too X(
I JUST GOT AN IDEA NVM. And if any of y'all stuck to the end of this long af (as always) A/N, congrats. I won't be updating as fast (RIP I have responsibilities) but I hope I can get a chapter out before three weeks. Au revoir readers and thanks for reading :D