"What are you doing here, Sealand?" England asked the micronation, crossing his arms.

"I came with the soldiers! When I heard that Ancient Rome was here I had to meet him! Why haven't I met him before?" Sealand demanded.

"Because there was no need for you to meet him!" England sighed, "What time is it?"

Sealand shrugged, "Past midnight, I think."

"Here," England passed over some of the war gear he hadn't been able to bring home. "I'm tired and can't carry it anymore. I want to go to sleep, but I keep hearing things..." England hushed himself when he heard footsteps, grabbing a dagger from Sealand. "Who's there?"

"Chill, eyebrows," America laughed lightly. "It's just me."

"You aren't asleep yet? Ancient Rome is enjoying himself here. It's strange to see someone acting so nice to Belarus, isn't it? Speaking of...Why is she here, America?"

"It's a long story. We're married. It's all fine," America answered hurriedly. "Are you sure Ancient Rome is happy? If we had been prepared we could've played baseball or something, but all of my entertain-y like stuff is still in New York."

England nodded, "Yes, he's fine...Look, I had a dream about what the Baltics said and how a part of it was true..."

America shook his head. "I'm not worried about what they said anymore...But if you still want to talk about it tomorrow..."

The older nation suddenly felt like he shouldn't have brought it up. "No, no, whenever you like." He squinted his eyes, studying America harshly.

The American tugged on his shirt nervously. "Of course, stick with me and when the time comes, there will be something in it for you," he joked.

"As long as I can do it with a clear conscience," England said seriously.

America laughed half-heartedly, "Well, you should be getting some sleep now, England."

"You too," England said before grabbing Sealand's arm and pulling him away.

America sighed in relief as he watch England walk away and continued down the hallway. He really didn't have anything to do, not until Belarus rang the bell. "What is this?" he asked, glancing up. "Dude! That's so cool! It's just floating!" He inspected the object in front of him, going pale when he realized that it was a dagger. His hand passed through when he tried to grab it. "Why can't I...You're a ghost dagger, aren't you? And your owner will be here soon..." His breathing started to get heavy. "No, no, I'm okay. I'm just seeing things! Just like England. He was just here and one of his hallucinations got left behind. It got into my mind and knows that I'm about to...do something terrible..." America closed his eyes, breathing deeply. "The longer this takes, the more nervous I'm becoming.

His eyes shot open when he heard a small bell. "Time to go," he mumbled. "It's as good as done."

Belarus paced the floor of America's bedroom. She was forced to share with him tonight because so many people were over. "I must've had too much to drink, I can't sit still. Oh, big brother, Ancient Rome must be dying right now and you are that much closer to ruling in Germania's place. Those stupid soldiers were so easy to drug..."

"Who's there?" Belarus heard America call from somewhere in the house. "What do you want?"

"Crap," Belarus muttered. "I bet that moron got lost or woke up the guards. If he attempted murder and didn't finish it we would have a war on our hands." She listened intently. "I put the daggers in plain sight. He should've been able to find them." She groaned in frustration. "I should've killed him myself. Why did Ancient Rome have to snore like big brother?"

America walked into the room, looking dazed. "It's done," America managed to choke out, showing her the bloody daggers as proof. "Did you hear anything?"

"Just you talking."

"When?"

"Just now!" she hissed.

"Shh!" he hushed her, waving his hands. "Who's in the next room?"

"Romano," Belarus answered.

America nodded and looked at his hands. "This is so gross," he complained.

"Don't say such stupid things!"

"One of the soldiers started laughing in his sleep and the other yelled, "Murder!" They woke each other up. I had to hold my breath so they wouldn't hear me. It didn't take long for them to go back to sleep."

"I think Italy may be in the room with Romano," Belarus said, trying to change the subject before America started to panic.

America didn't hear her. He looked as if he were in a trance. "They probably know I was there. They probably saw all the blood."

Belarus rolled her eyes. "Don't think about it so much."

"He's a ghost now, isn't he?" America asked, suddenly looking Belarus intensely in the eyes. "He's a ghost and now he's going to haunt my house."

Belarus was starting to worry. She didn't think America would act this way. If he continued on like this, he was going to give them away. "We can't think about what we did," she told him what she hoped was a caring voice. "If we do, it'll drive us crazy."

"I was hearing things," America continued. "The voice said that I'll never sleep again. How am I supposed to spend the winter if I can't sleep through it? And how about when I get all tired from working all day? Or when I'm full and need a nap?"

Belarus wondered if slapping him would calm him down. "What are you talking about?"

"I need to sleep, but I can't because Ancient Rome was asleep when I..." America bit off his words.

"Who told you that?" Belarus demanded. "You're letting yourself fall apart because you can't stop thinking about this. Go wash your hands and try to relax." Belarus finally let her eyes fall on the daggers in his hands. "Why did you take these out of the room?" she asked frantically. "They have to stay there or everything is ruined! Take them back! Smear some blood on the soldiers!"

"I can't go back! I can't look at him again! His ghost will be waiting for me!"

"Coward!" Belarus scoffed. "Give them to me!" she jerked the daggers from America's hands. "There is no such thing as ghosts. Dead people can't hurt you! If Ancient Rome is still bleeding, I'll cover the soldiers in his blood. We have to make it look like they did it." Belarus glared at America before leaving the room.

He sat on the bed and stared down at his hands, nearly panicking when he heard knocking. "Who's there?" he asked, relaxing slightly when he realized it wasn't on the bedroom door. "What is wrong with me? Only guilty people jump at every noise," he sighed. "I am guilty though..."

Belarus ran into the room, showing America her hands. "Look just as bloody as yours and yet I am not freaking out like you are! You should be ashamed!" Belarus turned away from him when she heard the knocking. "Someone is at the front door. Go wash your hands and come back to change into pajamas! We have to act like we've just woken up." She waved a hand in front of America's face. "Snap out of it!"

"I wish Ancient Rome would wake up...I wish he was the one who would answer the door."

A/N

Review Questions:
Why can't America say 'murder?'
Is he going to be okay?
Is he too panicky?
Is Ancient Rome's ghost waiting for him?