The door clicked open again. Arthur looked up with slight bags under his eyes from no sleep the night before, and his whole body was aching from lying in the same position on the hard, stone floor ever since he had been captured.

"How are you feeling, England?" Wren asked, stepping inside the cell casually with his usual outfit on.

Arthur simply said, "Why are you here again?"

"Isn't it obvious? I wanted to see you," the man answered in a mocking tone.

"Cut the crap, Wren," the island nation hissed between clenched teeth. "What is it that you wanted to see me for?"

"You're no fun. But fine, I'll tell you. Alfred's been captured, and he's being transported here as we speak. Your pathetic attempt to save him was for nothing." Wren cackled as the nation at his feet writhed in anger.

"Son of a –"

"Language, Arthur."

"Release me from these chains; let's fight man-to-man! I'll beat you to a bloody pulp," England threatened.

"Maybe you could, but do you really think I'd do such a thing? I don't care for honor or pride, only power. Now that I have America, I'm all set. Your job now is to lie here until you rot." Another click, and Wren was gone.

-

The countries took turns getting ready by having one of them at a time in the back of the van get dressed and pick a gun while the others stood outside. They were having their sanity tested by Alfred, who was waving seemingly endless supplies of hamburgers in front of their faces and asking them if they wanted one every few seconds.

"Why don't we try to make this whole thing look a little more authentic, America?" Russia asked after he nearly snapped out of annoyance. He raised his pipe, which seemingly came out of nowhere. "I can hit you over the head with this and then maybe they'll be more likely to believe that we caught you forcibly, da?"

"N-No, that's fine, Ivan! R-Really!" Alfred ran inside the McDonald's and didn't mention hamburgers again.

When everyone was ready (except Canada; he could slip by unnoticed the way he was), they waved America over, tied him up, and sat him in the back of the van. As Germany drove, they passed the time by telling each other what they were supposed to remember to do when they got there.

"Alfred-san, it'd be nice if you don't smile like that when we're getting there. They could become suspicious," Japan said. "Try to look more serious and like you regret getting captured – which I'm sure you would be if this were real."

"Of course, Kiku!" America reassured him. "I'm a great actor, you know! Hollywood isn't in my country for nothing," he bragged. "But China and Russia have to remember not to use 'aru' and 'da' at the end of their sentences. It would be a total giveaway!"

"That's true," Germany agreed. He periodically looked at the GPS and then back at the road to make sure he was going the right way.

"I suppose we are all in agreement, then," Japan said. "Alfred-san acts as though he really is getting captured and Yao-san and Ivan-san speak normally."

Both of the countries knew that it was such a big part of how they communicated that they might ruin the whole plan if they didn't change it. So, they both resolved inwardly to speak as little as possible during the mission.

America was bouncing up and down on the floor of the van, with Canada was sitting silently next to him. Alfred told him that he could be used as espionage and such since he wasn't going to be noticed by anyone (not even his own teammates, for the most part). Oh, how the American wished he could be a cool spy like that! But being a hero was much better than being a spy, he reasoned, so it was a good compromise.

"Alfred, will you stop?" Matthew cut into his thoughts suddenly. He sounded irritated again. "Why are you so happy? What if something bad happens to you?"

"I'm the hero, so nothing bad will happen to me –"

The other country cut him off. "It's not that I don't believe you, Alfred, but that isn't very reassuring in the least. This is real life, not a movie."

"But Mattie, I'm not pretending to be a hero: I am one," America said, full of pride. "You have to trust me." He stared at him with such solid, sea-blue eyes that it looked as though they could conquer anything they set their sights on.

Canada looked away and sighed. He was still scared, but not as much as he was before. Maybe Alfred really could look after himself, no matter how incapable he seemed to be at first.

America hummed cheerfully, "So, are we almost there, Ludwig?"

"Yes, but these directions are strange," the nation remarked. "We're driving into the countryside, and we're close, but there seems to be nothing of importance here. Did he give us the wrong instructions?"

As soon as he said this, however, the top part of a strange-looking building was rising up on the horizon. When they got closer, they realized that it was a castle, and if they didn't know that it was the supposed to be the organization's base, they would have thought it was one of the sites of old castles left in England.

When they got inside the grounds, a couple of guards that recognized the van came out and the nations breathed an inward sigh of relief. They now knew that they hadn't shown up at the wrong place. America steadied himself and put on a very serious face; he dared to venture it was his most solemn yet.

One of the guards came up to the driver's side of the van, and the other one stayed back, inspecting it from afar.

Germany cleared his throat. "This is Vehicle #4," he declared.

"You're the one with America?" the guard asked him cautiously.

"Yeah." Ludwig jerked his head toward the back, where America was sitting. "That's him, isn't it?"

The guard pulled a crumpled up piece of paper from his pocket, upon which a picture of the American was printed, and compared the two. "Fine," he said, putting it back in his uniform. "You can go inside."

Everyone was quite surprised that he had that picture – did all of the organization's members have one? They didn't let the shock show in their movements, for they were all perfectly still.

Germany hesitantly drove toward the door of the castle, which was opened shortly in order to let them pass. The first room inside was an indoor parking lot for the black vans. Once Ludwig secured the van in the only empty spot left, he and the others filed out accordingly. Japan roughly grabbed America and had his gun pointing into his back, while the others circled around them and started to go for the nearest door in the interior of the castle.

"I apologize for this, Alfred-san," he murmured.

"It's fine," America whispered back, smiling at him for a second before looking serious again.

On the other side of the nearest door was the foyer, which had long walls dotted with doors on the left and right. Giant, twin staircases led to the upper floors. The countries were confused as to where to go. However, as if on cue, a man came down the long, winding stairs slowly, a mischievous grin plastered on his face.

He had long, black hair, and was wearing a sweeping black cloak, as well. His eyes were clear grey, almost a shining silver color. He was surprisingly thin and a little frail-looking; his clothes, different from the usual organization's uniform, were hanging off of his outstretched arms. He was carrying a glass with an unknown liquid in it in one hand, and brushed his other one against the polished railing as he walked.

No one was sure who this person was, and for fear of betraying their plan, they didn't say anything.

"Do you not recognize me? Well, I suppose you wouldn't. Most of my subordinates do not get to see my face up close. I am Wren, the leader of the Black Roses."

Once again, no one moved, unsure of how to greet him.

Wren sighed and rolled his eyes. These fools couldn't recognize greatness up close? "I thank you for capturing America. You've proved yourselves quite competent, and I think I may promote each one of you, so you may work closely with me in my new world government." He moved closer to the group, his eyes rolling over each one of their features. He continued to smile, but it was a bit more gracious. Finally, he came up next to Japan and slipped his slender fingers under one of the ropes that was bounding Alfred's arms. The incarcerated country was silent, continuing his façade of pretending to be grim and keeping proud of his resistance at the same time.

"Ah, Wren-sa – I mean, Wren…" Japan started. "Where are you taking him?"

"I was going to escort him to the dungeon," the leader said nonchalantly. "Would you like to do the honors instead?"

"If you do not mind," Kiku replied, bowing slightly. He straightened up almost immediately because he wasn't sure if it was the correct behavior to display or not.

Wren kept smiling at him. "Sure, go ahead. I'll show the others to their rooms. I'm sure you all must be so tired from chasing and subduing Alfred. You were gone for a whole day, after all."

"Yes, we are," Germany said suddenly. "Let's go."

The leader pointed out the door in the foyer that led to the dungeons and then motioned for everyone else to follow him upstairs.

Japan and America walked to the door, and after hurrying down the first flight of stairs, Kiku undid Alfred's ropes and let him free. "Look, Alfred-san," the Asian nation said, pointing down at the rows of cell doors. They each had a certain country's flag on the right side of the prison entrances, presumably with the respectable nation inside.

"I'm going to find the UK's flag," America decided aloud quickly. Blushing slightly at the almost uncomprehending stare that Japan gave him, he explained himself hurriedly, "I have to make sure that Arthur's okay."

"But maybe we should get to work freeing the others first or something –" Kiku protested. He was also a little suspicious because there were no prison guards in sight.

"Just give me a sec," America interrupted, already dashing down the hall. He was so far away that he didn't hear his friend's reply. As he ran, he couldn't see the particular flag he was searching for on that floor, but there was another flight of stairs at the end of the hall. The pattern repeated itself until he reached the end of the fourth and final hallway. Alfred almost thought he wasn't going to find it, and at the second-to-last door, there was a U.S. flag. He shuddered as he passed it, but when he finally laid eyes on the spot next to the last door, there it was. The United Kingdom.

"Arthur!" the young nation yelled as he threw the door open hastily. "Arthur, I'm here!"

England was unresponsive. His eyes were closed and he did not stir, not even when Alfred knelt by his side and shook him. Was he already gone? America didn't want that to be true; nations couldn't die that easily, could they? Tears started to prick at his eyes as he contemplated that perhaps he was too late to save him. Did the hero…actually lose in this story?

After a few moments, Arthur slowly returned to consciousness, murmuring slowly, "Alfred…? Is that you?"

"Oh, Arthur, you're alright! The hero wins again!" America beamed his idiotic, happy smile along with small, wet drops of salty water dotting the corners of his eyes. "I was so worried."

"You act as though I never worried about you, you bloody git," England huffed, acting like his usual self now that he was around his ex-colony again.

"Don't ever change, Arthur," Alfred laughed. "Now, I have to find a way to get you out of these chains –"

A gun fired four consecutive bullets into the nation's chest at that instant.

"I can't believe you didn't think I would catch on to your plan, America. You're even stupider than I first thought," Wren laughed hysterically.

Alfred's body slumped over Arthur's, his eyes glassy and his famous grin gone.

--

A/N: It might take me a while to update again because, ironically, I suppose, I have a lot of AP US History homework to do in this next week or so. I'm sorry! ;_; I do enjoy learning more about Alfred, though.

I know I'm not a very good writer, but my passion lies in Creative Writing, and I just wanted to ask if anyone knew any good universities in England where I could study abroad (in Creative Writing, of course). I'm wondering if it'd benefit me more to study there or to just stay in the US and study... I'm 16 so I still have time to make that decision. :)

Thank you everyone for reviewing, favoriting, and following this story. I'm kind of embarrassed because I'm not that good. I hope that you will continue to enjoy it.