Oh hai der. I didn't forget about this story, I just got a tad distracted with life stuff. College. :I It sometimes owns you body, mind, and all free time.

Probably the worst way to start the day was waking up late for a meeting.

Scratch that. The worst way to start the day was waking up late for a meeting and then spilling coffee all over oneself and not even having time to go by McDonalds for the usual Egg McMuffin. Nothing good could possibly come of a day that began with no breakfast.

Nothing.

Which was why Alfred was currently sprinting from his hotel room to the building where the meeting was being held. He shoved the glass doors open and then took the stairs two at a time instead of the elevator to get to the third floor faster.

With the doors to the conference room in sight he slid to a stop and took in a few steadying breaths. Now or never. Alfred carefully turned the doorknob and stepped in, hoping that he'd just slip in unnoticed.

Unfortunately it seemed like all conversation stopped and every other nation of the world turned to look at him the second he walked in.

The American froze for a second. Then he flashed a thumbs up to everyone and was grinning as wide as he could.

"Hey everyone!" He casually strolled over to where his chair was and plopped down into it as though nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. Really, he'd been late before so it wasn't that big of a deal.

Yet everyone was looking at him as if he'd grown a second head.

The awkward silence finally was broken when Germany cleared his throat. He frowned in Alfred's direction and then returned to talking about something energy-crisis related. Weird…Alfred could've sworn that-

"You bloody twat. You're ten minutes late." Arthur all but hissed at the blond that was seated between himself and Canada.

America shrugged and leaned back in his chair while the Germanic nation began discussing some new green something-or-the-other. Again he was wondering just why his tardiness was such a big deal. He glanced around the table, and more than a few sets of eyes quickly darted away when he made contact.

That was sorta strange. At least when he got to France the nation offered a reassuring smile, and then had to go and tack on a leering wink to ruin the effect. Alfred folded his arms on the table and set his head down on top of them, tilting it to watch Germany as he spoke.

England swatted at his head, but he was too tired to care. Besides sitting straight was for people who had gotten to eat breakfast, of which he had not.

Ludwig paused for a breath, and another voice slipped in during that break.

"Are we not going to inform America about what was said while he was sleeping?"

Alfred tilted his head enough to glare at Russia, who was directly across the table from him. "Put a sock in it, I've got this magical thing called a folder," he picked up Arthur's folder, "which has all the stuff we talk about in it."

Arthur made a noise of disapproval while Ludwig rubbed at his temple as though he had a headache. "You can speak with him about it after the meeting if you want."

The Russian nation smiled at America who scowled back and inched his chair closer to his northern brother. For what felt like forever the discussion dragged on with Germany leading it (as he was the host country) and other nations throwing in their two cents.

From what his sleep-deprived brain gathered they were going over the usual slew of problems. Resources this, alternative that. Same old, same old.

Then chairs were squeaking which meant it was time for break.

Alfred groaned, straightening his back and stretching his arms above his head. For once Arthur hadn't moved yet and was instead flipping through the folder he'd snatched earlier.

"Yo brows, what's with the long face?" The Brit looked moodier than usual. He didn't even take the bait and reply, but just glowered.

"You need to take this seriously America." Usually that would cue England to walk off, but instead he focused on the papers and stayed right in his chair.

Well, he wasn't going to get any rest with Arthur mumbling and being a general downer right next to him. Groaning loudly, Alfred dragged himself to his feet and turned to go find some coffee. A good cup of Joe would hit the spot right about now. Especially since his first cup of the day had ended up all over his clothes.

He offered Japan a tired wave as the eastern nation spoke with Taiwan. Alfred made a beeline out the door so he could grab a coffee from the stand downstairs. Probably made a killing during these meetings.

A loud yawn escaped as he walked down the hallway and this time took the elevator. He stepped in and leaned back against the wall. Just as he reached out to press the 'door close' button, another nation slipped in before the doors could close.

"спасибо, мой дорогой друг."

Alfred shrugged his shoulders and stared at the shiny gold interior of the elevator. Or more so the blurry gold reflections of himself and Russia.

"You missed a very interesting topic earlier." Russia casually rolled the end of his scarf between gloved fingers as he spoke.

"Yeah I'm sure of it."

The doors opened and America bolted out of the cramped space as fast as he possibly could. Unfortunately the giant that is Russia kept up easily with him.

"Да." Russia stepped in behind Alfred as he began to order the largest coffee possible. The girl taking the order smiled, but shrank back a little as Ivan leaned over Alfred's shoulder.

"Two extra shots please." America mumbled with a groan. He stepped off to the side to wait for his coffee, arms folded and turned partially away from Russia. Russia, who was smiling blankly and standing there. Waiting. With him.

Alfred snatched up the coffee and cradled it close as he inhaled the aroma of it. Russia watched him, still smiling.

He held the Styrofoam cup closer. "I'm not sharing." Alfred bluntly pointed out.

Either Russia was ignoring him or didn't care.

"It was about you."

The American began walking back to the elevator, but instead turned at the last moment to take the stairs. "What was about me? I mean most everything is, but I've seriously not a clue what you're talking about." He took the first blessed gulp of coffee and almost melted right there into happy goo.

As Alfred pushed open the door to the stairs, Ivan hesitated, and looked a little surprised.

"I thought physical activity was something you avoided."

"Ha ha. Says the beefy king himself." He didn't bother holding the door open as he took the stairs, for the second time that morning. Ugh.

Just to be safe this time, Alfred held the coffee off to the side. He wasn't going to risk drinking coffee while walking at the same time. That was how bad accidents happened.

"You were the topic of the meeting." Russia supplied helpfully, staying a step behind the American as they reached the third floor in record time. Probably because Alfred kept skipping a step in an attempt to put more distance between them.

America stopped abruptly and turned around, taking another gulp of coffee.

"Yeah, so?"

If Russia was trying to get a reaction out of him, he was barking up the wrong tree. For one, he had been late, for two he just didn't care. It probably wasn't anything serious and this creepball was just trying to freak him out.

Russia smiled and shrugged his shoulders, walking past him back towards the conference room.

America stuck his tongue out at Russia's back and finished off his coffee. Then he tossed the empty cup into a trash bin before heading back in.

Not everyone was back yet, including Canada, so he took the folder that was sitting in his brother's place.

"H-hey-"

He plopped back down in his chair, and flipped open the folder to see what was on the agenda for the last hour or so of the meeting. His eyes skimmed the pages, but they were all vague and even some of the time slots were left as 'open'. Whatever that meant.

"Tch." He peered over the top of the folder to see Russia now speaking with China. Ivan tilted his head and gave Alfred a smile. The blond quickly ducked his head behind the folder again, acting like nothing had just happened. Creeper.

While using the folder as a temporary shield he noticed something odd. He laid the folder down flat on the table, ignoring the slight poking at his side.

Discussion over the increasing debt, along with the addition of military expenditure and placement of naval bases.

America fidgeted in his seat. Most everyone was going through a bit of a debt problem, but not many other nations had just approved a bill focused on increasing spending on certain military…Things. Or had a frigate or two stationed in the Adriatic Sea.

He closed the folder and slid it back over to Canada's spot.

"Thanks."

Alfred jumped and stared at his northern twin. "How long have you been there for?"

Matthew frowned, "I've been here the who-"

He tuned Canada out while he considered just what he'd missed earlier in the conference. Again his gaze flicked up to China and Russia. Seeing them conversing so amiably made his skin crawl. That and Arthur was acting strange too.

The seat he'd been in was now empty, and the meeting would be starting up again soon.

As if his thoughts had been read Francis sat down in the open chair, practically draping himself across it like he belonged there.

"You look wary ma petite colonie."

Alfred grinned. "Nah I just didn't get breakfast this morning. Y'know, makes you grumpy and all." Still he kept looking between Russia and China.

"Hm, perhaps after the meeting-"

"Out of my chair frog."

Francis tilted his head back and smiled up at Arthur. "Cher rosbif, it is always a joy to see you. I've no idea what you mean." With a smirk he spun the chair around so he was facing him. "Is your name on it?"

England glanced over to America, eyebrows raised like he expected him to jump in at any moment. Alfred shrugged his shoulders. "He's got ya there."

"Out or I'm going to shove my foot so far up your arse…" He trailed off, leaving the threat open ended.

Francis wordlessly got out of the chair with a flourish before migrating back to his own seat.

"Dude, it's just a chair." Alfred grinned. "Though I can't blame you, sitting next to me is a pretty big deal."

Arthur shot the American a glare. Okay, Arthur wasn't just moodier than usual; he was completely off his rocker. Great.

Right as the meeting was about to resume, the doors were slammed open. Alfred turned to look and was surprised to see both his and Russia's boss.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we need to speak…Privately." The President of the United States was the first to speak. Alfred got up, but not before noticing the worried look on England's face. Russia too got to his feet.

Just then another man, somewhat shorter than his own President stepped in. Alfred recognized him as a top leader of China's. He nodded to Yao who was now standing as well.

The three left the meeting room and followed their respective leaders to another, much smaller room.

"What's this about boss?" Alfred whispered quietly to his President as they sat down on one side of a table, with both Russia and China on the other.

The President said nothing.

Instead Russia's President broke the silence.

"American air force planes have been entering no fly zones within Russian territory."

Alfred frowned. "Like, in Russia?"

The Russian President didn't reply. "As we do not know what your planes purposes or intentions are we will be forced to shoot them down should they continue this." A pause. "You've been informed of this before."

"This has not come to my attention prior; I can assure you that President." America listened to his own President speak, his voice soothing. "You understand that the civil wars in both Bosnia and Croatia are top priority to us. Our bases in Afghanistan are best reached through part of Russia. They provide key supplies."

Alfred glanced over to China, who had yet to say anything.

"You are to cease or as we said the planes will be treated as threats, including their pilots." This Russian was getting on his nerves.

The American President nodded once. "I'll speak with my cabinet and then call you."

"What's China doing here?" Alfred asked with a hint of unease in his voice. The tremendous debts he owed the ancient nation were enough to have him avoiding Yao whenever possible.

Yao looked over each man there before tilting his head slightly to the side. "Merely as mediator at this time."

"No offense Yao but I don't think you're the best choice for that." He looked over at his President for back up. "He's got some serious leverage and wouldn't a country like Switzerland be better for this?"

The Russian President stood up, and Ivan followed after.

"We have business with them as well Alfred." His President spoke in a low voice as the Russians closed the door after them.

Then his President was standing and walking around the table, with Yao's representative meeting him. "I'll be back in a moment." Then they left. Leaving him alone in the room with China.

Alfred did not like this scenario one bit.

"Business, huh?"

Yao arched one brow. "Yes, if you mean aside from the issue of money owed."

Alfred pasted on a smile. "Right."

China pulled out a piece of paper and set it down on the desk between them. America reached out and took it, skimming over the proposal between himself and Taiwan concerning selling of military hardware and other supplies.

"Yeah this has been in the works for a while…"

Yao carefully took the offered paper back from Alfred. "Yes and relations between us have been…Strained because of it."

"Where are you going with this? Yeah it has, but you know that we-that I don't really view Taiwan as being a province of yours. So…"

"Business between us will be lessened, especially with some of your companies." China carefully folded the paper as he spoke. "We will also be limiting the air space you can travel over." 'Like Russia' was the only thing Yao didn't tack on at the end.

What was going on here? Alfred frowned. "Yao what…What's with this all of a sudden? I know you don't like me helping Taiwan out, but this is a little over the top don't ya think?"

China put the paper away with a soft sigh. "I don't like that you intrude on personal affairs of mine, and it seems like a poor thanks for someone who has been helping you out as I have." He leaned forward, getting up as he did so.

"You owe a great deal to nations like me America." China's voice was hushed.

Blue eyes narrowed behind Texas. "You may have helped me out through a rough spot, but I'm not relying on you. I can take care of myself. Holy hamburgers is that what you think? That I…Need you or something?"

Yao straightened. "No, but you should keep it in mind."

Alfred watched Yao walk out of the meeting room, and shivered. As if having Russia's subtle threats in his mind wasn't bad enough…

He had thought they'd been getting along well too.

Since this is a somewhat future AU there will be obvious liberties taken with international relations and events leading up to them. For example China still holds most of America's debt, and relations with Russia have obviously not improved. Add to that America's continued support of Taiwan and his intervention in civil wars taking place and there's some serious drama going down in the world.

I hate this chapter with a fiery passion but at least it sets up the next chapters to come where plot will actually get going. Not be so mind numbingly boring.