"Ah, England you've arrived at last~" It was just as France was about to step forward and throw an arm about the Englishman that he paused, blue eyes widening at what he spied just beyond the other's shoulder. France faltered, and it left England with just enough time to slip casually around France, dodging physical contact as he entered the bar. Recovering his wits slightly, France cleared his throat. "I... I see you brought a guest. Welcome… Germany…"

Perhaps in another time, England might have gloated a bit over thwarting the frog's attempts physical contact, and perhaps in another time he might have enjoyed the way Spain seemed to be shocked into going rather white. However… it was not that time, and England could find only a shallow sense of victory in turning the tables on France today. While perhaps part of him acknowledged that France was actually concerned for him, and had asked him to come drinking a couple weeks ago out of concern, the rest of him was far too wrapped up in his searching to play along.

France and Spain might have time to waste drinking, but England did not. He had his duties as a Nation and a former colony to track down. Every moment counted. So, while he had finally broken down and agreed to France's request to come out to the bar, he'd made his own plans to make it a productive night. He could get drunk off his arse later (and he probably would once this was all over). For now… for now. Well, yes. Business.

He took a seat at the back corner booth that France and Spain had procured for the evening, dragging up another chair to accommodate Germany. Getting the German out here had been quite difficult, nearly impossible, but England had persisted. If there was any truth to France's claim that he needed to take some time amongst friends to keep sane, then the German was long overdue for this. The man was a husk, a cog in his country's machine and little more.

England couldn't admit to purely wanting to help Germany out of goodwill and kindness. He did sincerely hope for the man to recover himself… but he also was hoping to snap Germany out of the shell he'd retreated into. He wanted Germany's help. Tonight he was hoping that, with a little bit of alcohol and the first lead he'd uncovered he'd be able to rouse something in Germany. Perhaps the company of his brother's old friends would help with this as well. He could only hope.

When they all took their seats, England rather pointedly declined any alcoholic drinks. He caught the exasperated look France shot him and crossed his arms. "Don't look at me like that. I agreed to come out with you, I never promised I'd get pissed."

Francis sighed, rolling his eyes and waving his hand back to brush his hair over his shoulder. "So it seems. You look quite determined to undermine my gesture of good will."

England's hands tensed, balling into fists upon his lap. It wasn't that France's comment made him angry, no, but he possibly felt just the slightest bit guilty over the matter. France really did seem disappointed, and he had sounded rather worried. There was no time to worry over that now though, England had worries enough. He flicked his green eyes to Germany, who sat straight as a rod in his chair, pale eyes glued to England. The Brit cleared his throat and tried not to grow too tense.

Spain had recovered his color, though he seemed quite content to simply sip his drink and watch. That left it up to the frog to ask what England had in mind, and the Nation didn't ask so much in words but with a raised brow.

"I may have finally found a true lead in locating America, North Italy and Prussia," he said without preamble, quiet so as not to be overheard by human patrons of the bar, but loud enough that the other Nations didn't have to lean in to hear. Germany stiffened to attention, focused on the exact phrase that England had used to lure him out to this bar tonight.

France let out a small gasp, eyes narrowing. "You have? Why bring this up to us at a bar? Why haven't you called a World Meeting over this?"

England shook his head, scowling. "I said 'may', I don't want to bring this to light until I'm certain, lest the rats catch wind of it and hide deeper."

France leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and lacing his fingers together before resting his chin upon them. England mirrored the gesture, leaning in close. They locked eyes, and England continued to speak.

"I'd of course acquired all the security footage from the hotel America was taken from, making copies and dissecting every frame of it. Now, while his actual abduction wasn't filmed, I'd taken the liberties of doing a background check on everyone I could possibly identify, cross referencing them with hotel staff and whatnot." England took a breath, mentally shaking his head. That'd been a very long and trying endeavor.

"There was only one man I could identify that wasn't registered as staff or as a guest. There were partial figures in frames I couldn't identify at all, but I made special note of this visitor who supposedly had no business there." France nodded at him, and he continued, not bothering to look to make certain Germany and Spain were listening. He was sure they were.

"He was a dry lead at first, an American citizen with nothing tremendous on his records that I could find at any rate. It was rather difficult to pry, considering the rather paranoid state that country is in with their Nation away. Canada helped quite a bit in gaining American cooperation and…" he flicked his eyes to Germany, unnerved by the intensity in the man's eyes. "It was also Canada who brought something to my attention."

England sat back for a moment, reaching into his pocket and pulling out what appeared to be a pamphlet. He flicked his gaze about, making certain no one was near enough to see but his fellow Nations, before unfolding it and sliding it towards Germany. The Nation read it twice over before passing it over to France. The process was repeated by France who moved it to Spain. The Spaniard read it, took a phone picture, and gave it back to England.

"The 'One Earth Movement', an American activist group calling for global unification, to put it mildly." He scoffed at his own over simplification of such a radical plot. "Canada and the American government are already hard at work trying to track down who is funding this group, where they are based, and who their members are. In investigating this group, however… we have learned some very troubling things."

Germany leaned forward now, tension radiating from his broad form, shoulders held rigid. He had their air of an angry dog, restrained by his master's hand for now, but snarling and ready to lunge for the throat. England wasted no time in continuing.

"It would appear that there is a very similar group to this 'One Earth Movement' in Canada… and in my own country. I would strongly advise you all take a look at your own, for I suspect there may be many instances of this group across the world. They don't seem to be connected from the little intelligence we've gathered… however, with such similar messages I believe they must.

"Additionally, the man I identified from the hotel was seen at one of the few 'One Earth' gatherings we were able to acquire photos of. Gentlemen… I believe this man may be our link to recovering our fellow Nations."

"So why the hell haven't you apprehended this bastard and beaten my brother's location out of him yet?" The sudden onslaught of Italy's voice made England jolt, head swiveling about as he instinctively tried to pinpoint the irate Nation.

With a smile people hadn't seen in quite some time plastered on his face, Spain slowly slid his cellphone to the center of their table, the display illuminated and decorated with a tomato and 'Romano' indicating just who was on speaker phone. He sent a mildly reproachful look to England, but he seemed much too happy to finally have a lead to give to Romano to lose his cheer. "You know England, if you thought enough to include Germany in this, you should have had us invite Romano as well."

England opened his mouth for a moment, as if to answer, before letting his lips slowly settle shut again. What could he say? That he didn't want to give false hope to the Italian? That he'd thought Germany needed this sliver of hope more? In the end, Spain was right, and he shook his head. "My apologies… yes I should have."

"Who cares about that?" Italy's voice snapped over the line. "When are you going to grab this bastard? You better bring him here, I'll get everything out of him!" The fury in Romano's voice was intense, but it paled in comparison to the menacing authority of Germany's voice when he spoke next.

"No, when this man is apprehended I will be the one to interrogate him."

The other three Nations at the table shuddered, shrinking away from the German. The aura he radiated was unnerving, his expression frightening, and the malice that seemed to lurk in his eyes was stunning. Italy was lucky he couldn't see this, but if the lack of insults to the 'potato bastard' and backtalk was any indication, Romano had picked up on the mood well enough to know better.

England gathered his wits and made certain to speak very calmly. "We won't be able to simply apprehend an American citizen with nothing but circumstantial evidence of a kidnapping crime or supposed terrorist activities…"

Germany fixed his gaze to England, resolute and focused in a way he hadn't been in a year. He said nothing, but his expression spoke volumes. He knew what they legally could or couldn't do… and he would work within the framework of the law so long as the law worked for them. England knew he'd need to call Canada and his government and meet with the American government immediately… of course bringing his own into involvement as soon as possible.

x 0 x 0 x 0 x

He hadn't seen Oliver in five days, and he was about ready to tear the walls apart (or his hair out). Granted, he knew he couldn't actually tear the walls apart (he'd tried already, as well as the door), but that didn't stop the impulse from surging through him. He was worried, protective instincts going haywire as he remained trapped in here, useless. If there was something he couldn't handle it was being useless and trapped when someone needed help. Especially someone he cared about.

Oliver had looked so sick the last time he'd seen him, too. Things had seemed fine (as fine as they could seem with the whole kidnapped/captured/hostage situation), and he and Oliver seemed to adore each other in equal measure. He'd been taking so much pleasure in sharing his culture with the little child, and the child was soaking it all up so very eagerly. But… the tiny Nation had also seemed to grow pale as the days went on, becoming weaker and sickly.

They'd taken him away… and then that was it. No explanation, nothing. His new little brother was suddenly just gone, leaving America with nothing to do but stress over his fate and the entirety of the situation his time with Oliver distracted him from. America tangled his fists into his hair for a moment before collapsing onto his bed. Oliver wasn't the only one feeling unwell, but he didn't want to admit to that. Heroes didn't complain about their own problems!

As it stood, America had been feeling a strange sense of detachment lately, one he guessed came from spending so much time away from his native soil. He hoped Bill was his only citizen trapped here (wherever here was), but that also meant there was little of 'America' here for the Nation to connect to. He could still lift his bed with one hand pretty easily, but America had the sneaking suspicion his strength was wavering, and he sort of thought he was feeling more tired of late than he should.

He wouldn't die though, no way! So long as the good ol' U.S. of A. stood strong he'd exist, the country personified. He hoped. God he sort of wished he'd asked England more about the nature of being a Nation. He'd never seen the need to, always just taking his existence for granted. But now, now he needed to know. Could these guys kill him even if the United States was still standing? Would harm to him harm the health of his country? If he did die, would a new Nation be born to take his place?

Could… Oliver…

No. America ended that train of thought, getting up and pacing. No need to worry about those things when all he needed to do was heroically escape and rescue everyone here. 'Think of a plan… think of a plan… think, think, think, think, think!'

His (not so successful) thoughts were interrupted when his cell door opened. He tensed, balling his fists and ready to fight. He didn't sense Oliver, and the guns pointed his way didn't bode well. He did, however, sense Bill, and his alarm levels went off the chart. A scientist he'd only seen a couple of times motioned for him to follow them, and America cringed to see there was a gun constantly trained on Bill, who was blindfolded, gagged, and adorned with ear plugs.

America tried to send out calm reassurances to his citizen, needing reassurance from the patriot as much as the man needed his country. The group marched down the hall, no one bothering to answer when America demanded to know where they were going. The urge to try to make a break for it right now was strong, but the Nation resisted. Not yet. Now wasn't the moment.

When they came to a set of heavily guarded doors America blinked. This room… these were the doors that led towards where he was sure North Italy and Prussia were being held! He stretched his senses as much as he could as they passed through the doors and continued down the hall. He could sense… he could sense someone vaguely. The further down the hall they went, the clearer things became for America.

Clear but anything but good.

He could sense more than one Nation beyond, one obviously Oliver. The other Nations he could sense felt vague and weak though, barely enough of a presence for him to pick up on. It made his heart sink as they passed through the last door, entering a small observation room. America was nudged towards the soundproof safety glass, and what he saw made him see red.

"Italy! Prussia!" Without thinking he rushed the glass, pounding on it and sending cracks racing from the point of impact. If he continued to strike it it'd shatter no doubt, no matter how much it'd been reinforced, but for the moment it held together. The sound of his strike was loud, startling the humans moving about in the lab on the other side of the glass below. It only made one of the figures strapped down to a metal table stir, however, and pained red eyes followed the source of the noise to gaze at America.

As Prussia held his gaze America felt his blood turn to ice. Those red eyes, he'd been staring at a pair so similar with Oliver. He broke his stare with Prussia, looking with dawning horror at the comatose form of North Italy. Auburn hair… his eyes roamed to take in the sight of Oliver, and he shivered. 'Oh god, what is this?'

"It seems you're starting to understand…" America spun on his heel, all but growling and wanting nothing more than to throttle the scientist before him into giving him some answers and setting everyone free. The guns trained on Bill and him made him pause, though, and the scientist laughed. "You'll have your answers America, but we're not ready to give them to you yet. What we need from you today is your blood."

"What?" America's eyes narrowed, body rigid and ready to move if he needed to. The scientist simply smiled and pointed him towards the cracked observation window.

"That child… 'Oliver' I believe you've named him? He is quite weak. I'm afraid without a blood transfusion, he won't survive much longer. Normally we use the blood of our other subjects down there… but as you can see… they're hardly fit to perform such a task at present."

Horrified, America did look over his shoulder again, staring in open dismay at the emaciated husks of North Italy and Prussia. It was amazing they were alive at all. He turned his eyes back to the scientist, and as if anticipating that America had had enough of playing it safe, he clicked a button. A row of monitors along the wall flared to life, revealing room after room of kidnapped humans.

"If you do not cooperate, you should know that they will all be killed. Oliver. North Italy and Prussia. Your citizen here. All of those people you see in those videos. All of them will die because of you. Think on this clearly."

America's teeth clenched so hard he thought they'd surely shatter. He was so angry he was seeing red, so furious it was a wonder he didn't just snap. He couldn't though, because if he did he'd be condemning so many innocents to death… but all the same. He let out an aggravated shout, loud and long and burning his throat by the end of it. He punched a chair in the room, breaking it apart and sending it flying into a wall. It did little to ease the anger inside of him.

Panting, he stared down the scientist, pleased to see that at the very least the man looked terrified for his life. What should he do, what should he do, what should he do? He'd never heard about sharing blood between Nations. He'd always guessed it must be taboo or something, because no one ever seemed to do it or talk about it. America had never really been hurt enough to need it personally, so he'd never considered it. But still… his blood, the blood of the American Nation… that wasn't just his to freely give about, was it? Would this hurt his nation somehow? He had to think of his country and his people. Over everything else, his duty was to the United States.

The scientist offered no answers, too busy trying to compose himself as he waited for America to make his choice. America turned his back to the man, walking to the glass and placing his palms against it. He stared at North Italy. He stared at Oliver. He stared at Prussia, the ex-Nation still staring back at him. What would Prussia say if he could speak right now? 'Do what you think is awesome'? America sighed and turned to the scientist, nodding his head.

"Whatever you're trying to do, you're not going to succeed. Remember that." The scientist smirked and gestured for the guards to prepare to move them all into the lab.

"Your thoughts have been duly noted."

A/N:

Don't worry dear captives, your fellows are coming to save you all! Eventually. XD

So, a bit of a question/request for my readers. I speak only English. I took a language in high school, passed the classes, and forgot most of what I learned. To get to the point, our dear villains have little branches all over the world, yes? And they wouldn't all be using English for their name. So, if you happen to be fluent in another language (or confident in what you know), I'd love to see the 'One Earth Movement' translated. I don't want to use internet translators for this, and it's not terribly important for me to get any translations. I can certainly write around it with ease. But it could be fun. Heck, if you're from another country (English speaking or not) and want to toss a name suggestion for your country's branch feel free. Fellow Americans, sorry, you're stuck with the 'One Earth Movement'. Any suggestions I get might be included next chapter.

Reviews are always loved, thank you SO much to those who do.