There was a long, awkward silence between the nations, as China stared in pure shock at Japan, not failing to notice the way Japan was dressed or how different (or lack there-of?) he looked.

"B-b-but..." China finally said, finding himself completely speechless. The countries around them observed him and the Japanese nation, waiting for some sort of reaction. But the two seemed to lockoed in a silent staring competition, both unblinkingly staring at each other, hurt and many other emotions being visible in both sets of eyes.

Then, in a flash, China was standing next to Japan, hugging the shorter man tightly. He didn't say anything. He didn't cry. He just stood there and hugged Japan, as if he would disappear any second now. The countries continued to be quiet, the other three nations (well, technically two and a half) entering the room as well.

China finally let Japan go, who in turn didn't seem that bothered about his private space being invaded. It was perfectly understandable after all. China looked at him unsurely.

Feeling unbelievably uncomfortable now, Japan dared a very, very small (also unsure) smile.

Then China started yelling.
"Where the **** were you? Aru!"

After having calmed the Chinese man down and locked the spies in the basement, the countries were now sitting around the coffee table in America's home, now going into different details.

"Who are they?" America asked.
"They are a group of people from all over the world, that discovered us and took an interest. At least, that was how it was in the beginning. I thinks it's changed to using different nabtilities for their own gain." Canada explained.

"Natilities?"
"Oh sorry... You wouldn't be familiar with those kinda words... Nabtilities are the abilities that nations possess. So, like nation-hopping, our ability to heal at fast rates or to survive a fatal injury and stuff like that. It's a good thing they never caught you really... Otherwise they'd be trying to crack superstrength or something by now... Or would have cracked it..."

"Do they have a name?"
"Yes. HCS. I'm not sure what it stands for though."

"Ve... I think they're located at the South Pole." Italy commented, pleased he remembered something.

"How many escaped?"
"We don't know, but that's not so important. The biggest goal we have right now, is to infiltrate the HCS and free the other captured countries. (And bring the HCS to justice)"

"Ve~ So true."
"I wouldn't mind kicking their damned asses." Romano commented, enjoying the idea of causing the HCS, as they were now known, ten times the amount of grief they had inflicted upon the countries, particularely Italy.

"How can they stop us being connected to our countries?"
"Erm..." Canada replied. None of the three present with memories were sure. It wasn't like they had gone through their own files before escaping.

"There are a lot of open questions, I admit, but they can be answered later, at an appropriate time. The whole point of us escaping, was that we call for help. All we have to do now is get the goverments of the world to attack them and take over the base." Japan inturrupted, sighing with relief that this whole ordeal would have an end soon (or should anyway).

"Erm... Japan aru? You do know it's not that simple, right?"
"What do you mean?" Canada asked. The countries gave him a puzzled look. Canada frowned, although he also had to bite back a smile. It'd been a very long time since this happened.

"I'm Canada." He said softly, frowning.
"Aahh.."

"What'd you say?"
"I asked 'What do you mean'?"

"He means that... Well, you guys know you've been gone a really, really long time right?" America asked. England, Canada, Italy and Japan all nodded in agreement.

"Well, after all my false leads, they stopped listening to us..."
"And most countries forgot what we are. They don't know we exist any more."

"What? But what about the agencies made specifically to protect us?" Canada demanded, although it came out as a soft question. Damn my soft voice... Canada thought silently. Germany sighed.

"They were closed down. After twenty years of searching and not finding you, they gave up. They also realised that although you guys were missing, the country in question seemed to be doing fine. So the groups disbanded and the employees either joined a still running agency or got an entirely new job."

"Oh." Japan, Italy and Canada said in unison. England said nothing, simply staring off into space as he tried to fit the new information into his head. Man, he felt so out of place here!

"Besides, my government doesn't trust a single thing I say. They couldn't care less for me right now... They consider me a nuisance with no practical use." Spain said uncharacteristically sad, leaning back into the chair. The other countries muttered an agreement, shocking them.

How could they have become unimportant? Before humans even knew what they were, heck, before they knew what they were, they'd always been important!

There was a (to some awkward) silence, as each thought deeply about what the other had said. They never noticed that small glint flash across America's eyes, the same way they did when he had actually gotten an idea that really was brilliant.

"Well, there's always more plausability in masses. We need to get the other guys to help us out!" He suddenly spoke up, inturrupting the others' thought process.
"Ah yes, the other countries that avoided getting caught." Japan commented, thinking he could follow what America was about to suggest.

"Also, we've got some missing nations now! We can force our bosses to believe us, now that we know with a hundred percent certainty that they're the real deal!"
"... He's damn right. I think I can sense Italy."
"Ve~ I can sense you too Romano!" Italy replied happily, hugging his brother tightly, even more happy to find his brother not retaliating by means of either insult or simply pushing the younger brother off his persona.

Several personifications looked at America thoughtfully. The look they gave America was something along the lines of He actually said something intelligent. (something England should also be thinking really, but sadly wasn't, since he didn't remember for reasons still mostly unknown.)

"... So what is the plan?" Germany asked, from where he was sitting, next to Italy.

"It's simple! We organise an emergency world meeting for nations only!"

Germany was sitting next to America and Japan, in front of himself, the two spies that were still unconcoius, having been knocked out by China's wok.

Why was he sitting next to America and Japan, waiting for the two spies to wake up? Well, apparently, America really wasn't as obnoxious as he sometimes seemed. The united states had used 'getting the other countries up to speeds' as a cover.

He had suggested China go to the UK with England, since maybe all England needed, to reconnect with his country (and possibly remember), was to be in it. Although both nations had been hesitant (China most likely because he was tired beyond belief), they eventually agreed.

He then got Canada to go with Spain to South America (Romano seemed to want to come too, but then stuck to his twin), Romano and Italy went to the Middle-east and Africa, while America would presumably take over Australia.

It seemed like a logical plan, all went with it.

Then America took both Japan and Germany to the basement, were the two spies sat, as mentioned before, unconcious.

America had then begun to explain himself. "Guys... Our bosses won't believe us, whether or not we show them the missing nations... Remember the last lead I'd found ten years back, the one that made me give up hope finally? OK Japan, you wouldn't know, but you do Germany... I'll explain Japan... That last red herring'd been not only my last lead, but also the first time no one else supported me. At all. Not even Tony supported me in it.*

So I searched for them by myself... While checking out this false lead, I also decided to look through my history with other nations, only to discover all documents... Gone. I asked my boss about it and he said there'd never been any docs there. I was shocked and went home baffled, cause you know, fifty years ago, the room with the docs was practically bursting with docs and stuff.

Then I decided that the files musta been thrown away, no one needing them any more, so I went home to look through times long past, only to find all the photos and stuff*, from before the nations went missing, missing, apart form the ones from recent. I had no idea how long they musta been missing, but it had to be a while, cause everything left had a least a handful of dust on it. I then checked everyone elses stuff...

Yeah Germany, there was a reason I broke into your house at midnight ten years ago, OK? So basically, I looked for any info, any pictures, anything of the missing nations, but they'd all disappeared. I'm assuming this HCS musta stolen it now. At the time I didn't know, so I asked all the representatives of the countries, but they all asked me what the heck I was talking about and who I thought I was. When I said the USA, they... sent me to a mental hospital. My government agency got me out a couple days later."

Germany stared at the nation in disbelief, not sure on how to react to the news; Japan also seemed surprised.

"So, you are basically saying, that the governments of missing countries won't believe us, because they have forgotten us and those with governments who haven't forgotten..."
"... Won't listen because of the wild goose chases of the past and the fact we have no proof that Japan, England and Italy are countries, yeah."

"Then what do we do?" Japan asked.
"It means we can only trust our own governments, others will be everything but helpful. But we also need to prove that there are other countries out there and also that they're being held hostage. And the only way to prove that, is to get those files back... And if these guys are scientists studying... us... Then I'm pretty sure they've kept them locked up somewhere, in HCS HQ."

"Why did you hold us back?" Germany asked curiously, having not missed the fact that America didn't seem pleased to realise he had Japan in their group when he divided them up.
"... I uh... I needed Back-up..." Germany almost face-palmed and America had a soft pink on his cheeks as he looked away in embarassment. Japan merely smiled, having forgotten what young nations could be like.

"So what's the plan?" America didn't respond, thinking it over himself.

"Well, we know the HCS base is located somewhere in the South Pole, but we need confirmation and rough coordinates. Which is why we're waiting for those two spies to wake up.** Once we have the coordinates, we can fly over (since I'm a pilot and everything***). We would have to land (some how) and find the files, then leave. By then everyone else should have visited the remaining nations so..."

"We exchange the things we've collected, show it to our bosses and leave the liberation of the others to our governments."
"Yup! That's the plan!"

Germany frowned. It was an awfully sketchy plan, bound to go horribly, horribly wrong in all possible ways. But, with not much choice, he agreed. He noticed that Japan also seemed hesitant, probably having the same kind of thoughts as Germany on America's plan, but, much like him, not having much choice in the matter.

"Great! I'll remove the ear plugs and slap those spies awake!" America said, grinning with his stupid grin.
"Isn't that a bit unheroic America-san?" Japan teased uncharacteristically, smirking (which was also uncharactersitic). America fell silent, his smile disappearing, but soon returning in an even bigger grin.

"Germany! You used to torture people all the time! How about you wake them up?"

Again, Germany almost face-palmed, but instead rubbed his temples tiredly. And I used to think Italy was bad...

The spy groaned, as he slowly became concious again.

What had happened? He couldn't really remember any more. One moment he was talking to his boss, the next he only saw black... He noted that he seemed to be tied to a chair, so he immediately started listening, only to find he was unable to hear anything.

Should he dare to open his eyes?
No. That'd be plain stupid.

Sadly, human curiosity got the better of him and he dared a peak, examining his surroundings. He didn't lift his head, although he'd probably seen more if he did. He noted that he really was tied to a chair and from the flooring, either in a basement or garage.

He wished he could sigh, but decided against it. He couldn't hear anything, but that didn't mean he was alone. He also noticed that there seemed to be something stuffed into his ears.

Ah. Earplugs. Of course.

Then, in the most painful way possible, the Earplugs were yanked out of his ears. He tensed a bit, but quickly relaxed, hoping to fool his captor/s into thinking he was still unconcious. "Haha, dude, you're not fooling anyone!" An American voice boomed... Oh crap.

Nervously, the spy looked up and was able to make many different notes. One: He was deffinitely locked in a basement. Two: His spy training must have been rubbish to have been caught so easily. Three: His partner in crime (literally) was tied back to back with him, on another chair. Four: There were three nations (yeah, he knew what countries looked like) present, all probably very, very angry.

He couldn't refrain from gulping, as he stared nervously at the three before him. Two of them pulled up some more chairs and sat down, as (presumably) America woke his comerade up, just as 'softly' as he'd taken out his earplugs.

"Also...*" Deffinitely Germany started, crossing his legs and folding his arms, his appearance intimidating the spy. " We have some questions for you..." He started, the spy paling considerably.

Liechtenstein sat alone in a locked room, frowning. Although they were supposed to take her to AB2 immediately, for reasons unknown, they were delaying it. She sighed, supposing she should be relieved to know that what ever crime-organisation the HCS had hired were complete amateurs, but it still made her frown.

After all, she liked to think that she had picked up a few things from being locked up in a cell for almost a century and that she should be able to escape easily from... Well, amateurs... She sighed. England was probably worried about her. She remembered the year she had spent as a human.

It had been quite... Interesting. To say the least. She had had human friends and had called England her 'brother' (but very rarely and usually only with introductions... He just wasn't her brother, and some how, even without her memories or even feelings, she remembered this)

Her thoughts slowly went through her 'human' history as Lilli Kirkland (boy, Switzerland would be glad to hear that! Maybe this information should stay between her and England...), eventually drifting to how she ended up in Liechtenstein.

She remembered falling unconcious after some how ending up at America's front door and for who knows what reasons, ringing the doorbell (or did she knock?, she wasn't sure.)

She looked around the place again. It felt like there was an obvious way out of here, but she just didn't know. Her eyes darted up when she heard a loud crash, immediately jumping to her feet.

"Liechtenstein!" A hesitant voice half shouted, half asked. "Liechtenstein?" The voice repeated.
"Who are you?" She yelled back, wondering why one of her captors suddenly started talking to her.

"Uh... I'm Lukas Friedli er... Ma'am?" The voice replied in German.

"..." Liechtenstein chose not to reply. However, she did get up and walk over to the place she'd heard the voice coming from. Friedli hesitantly continued.

"My great Grandfather was part of the Swiss Guard*! So was my grandad and erm..." Liechtenstein felt her eyes widen in surprise. That wasn't expected. Then again, it wasn't like the Swiss Guard had disbanded or anything, right?

"Are you going to help me out?" She asked quietly.
"Yes ma'am! I'll just get the guys, I think they found someone with keys!" Friedli continued (in German), walking away.

Liechtenstein smiled, but then slowly frowned. Not only was Switzerland's training nagging at her not to trust strangers (even if they're supposed to protect you, cause it's their job), but she felt that she was escaping the HCS was just a bit too easy...

Then again, it might not have been so easy for the Swiss Guard... Smiling again, Liechtenstein sat back on the floor, looking around herself (she wasn't sure where the door was), waiting to be freed silently.

Yet again, her mind started drifting back into the past, as she waited for her rescuers to return...

* This explains why America is on bad terms with the South Americans and Oceanian(?)s. They kept supporting America's crazy leads, until they couldn't bare it and ended up only hurting. Naturally, they took out all their hurt on America and won't even speak to him now.

* 'Stuff' being for example that toy soldier set England gave little America.
** Actually, I think there were originally three spies... Never mind. :3
*** I'm pretty sure Germany and Japan can fly too, but when someone says "Pilot" in Hetalia, I immediately think of America.
* Also (German) = So...
* I haven't ever actually seen a Swiss Guard before, but they do exist! They serve as guards and since the secret agencies in this story kind of 'guard' their nation (keep them outta trouble as best as they can), I thought they'd be great.

I er... Am REALLY sorry about the really late update... Er.. The next chapter will sadly probably take just as long to upload. Suffering from writers block and plot hole-appearances...

Still, aside from the writers block, I hope this chapter was OKish (i personally think it was rubbish, but yeeeaaah...)