Disclaimer: I don't own Axis Powers: Hetalia.
Casey "Washington DC" belongs to RubberChi.
Elizabeth "Connecticut" belongs to Connecticut.
Caroline "Massachusetts" belongs to HaniChanTwili
Darcy "Georgia" belongs to Kendall N.S.
Anthony "New Jersey" belongs to Not So L33t
Savannah "North Carolina" belongs to elektraeriseros.
Dan "Maine" (mentioned briefly) belongs to Capt. Hasting.
And I forgot this in the first chapter: Damien "Louisiana" belongs to Arashikun
Michael "New York" partly belongs to Yori Mei. I changed New York's gender and name but his personality will be based off that of her OC Crystal "New York".
New Hampshire = William
Delaware = Robert
Pennsylvania = Christopher
New Hampshire stared at his reflection in the mirror, running his fingers through the black hair atop his head. Normally he never worried about his looks this much but today he and the other Originals had been called to Alfred and Washington DC's house for an important meeting. He had no idea what this meeting entailed but whenever the thirteen of them were asked to appear somewhere together it was always a competition. Who could look the most professional, who could come up with the best ideas, etc.
Giving his reflection one last look over, the blue eyed state exited the bathroom and made his way toward the meeting room. As he walked in he wasn't surprised to see Delaware and Pennsylvania were already there. They were always the first to show up, claiming it was just a coincidence.
The two of them liked to act like they were above the competition between them all but everyone knew they weren't. Being the first and second states, they always felt the need to act much more mature than everyone else. Robert was the only one who actually seemed that mature though; Christopher's personality was more similar to their father's than he'd like to admit.
Now, however, the two were talking quietly while skimming a document that sat in front of them. They must have brought it with them because there were no other papers placed on the table. That in itself was odd, usually Washington DC typed up an informative letter detailing what the meeting was to cover.
William cleared his throat, causing Robert and Christopher to look up. The younger of the two's face broke into a grin and he motioned him over. Christopher had an eerie resemblance to Alfred. He shared the man's hair color, bright blue eyes, and charming grin. Many times in the past he had filled in for Alfred when he hadn't been around, only needing glasses to complete his look. He could no longer do that having recently cut his hair quite short for the upcoming summer weather. Instead of letting it go all over the place he had cut it short on the sides while leaving it a little longer on top.
Robert also glanced up from the document and smiled at New Hampshire. The smile didn't reach his green eyes though, which always appeared cold. It took a lot to make the oldest state really show any emotion. His brown hair was parted on the right and brushed to the side. A few stray hairs hung over his forehead which he impatiently brushed aside.
"Will! Good to see ya. Come sit." Chris said happily, reminding him yet again of Alfred.
He took a seat next to the eager state, glimpsing at the paper in Robert's hands.
"What you boys got there?" he asked, gesturing to the paper which, upon closer inspection, looked rather old.
"I found it in my basement! I think it's one of those Silence Dogood letters Benny Franklin wrote but Robby here thinks it's a fake."
"It is a fake. We have all the Silence Dogood letters. And is it really necessary to change my name to "Robby"? I've told it's Robert or Rob. No exceptions."
"Way to be a stick in the mud! You sound just like that stuffy Brit across the pond."
"I am nothing like that man."
New Hampshire was tempted to mention their shared eye color but new better than to get involved in the argument. They acted like good friends but there was always a little rivalry between the two. Delaware was very proud about being the first one to attain statehood and it bothered him to no end that Pennsylvania had been given statehood just four days later.
"Hey Will, you think Delaware is like England, right?"
"Don't drag me into this. Oh look! It's Massachusetts. Hi Massachusetts!" he shouted at the blonde state that had just entered the room, her arm laced through Connecticut's.
"Will, Rob, Chris! Hi!" Caroline chirped cheerfully, waving eagerly with her free hand.
She had once been a very serious state, sharing the same unfeeling eyes as Delaware. The two of them had been a powerhouse of order and regulations.
Everything had changed after the Civil War. Massachusetts seemed to realize that there was more to life than following the rules. Her demeanor had changed completely as she had let go of her hard personality and let her inner child out. Like most of the original thirteen, she had been forced to grow up quickly with the beginning of the Revolutionary War. She seemed to be the once to grow up the fastest, becoming a threat the British were unnerved by. Caroline, who had gone by her first given name, Salem, then, had scared many of the states during that time.
Now she was the friendliest state out of them all, rivaled only by California. She dragged her brown haired companion over to New Hampshire, plopping down in the chair next to him. She turned and grinned at him, her own Nantucket sticking out on the right side of her head. William couldn't help but smile back, her smile was contagious.
"How ya been guys?" she asked enthusiastically.
"I'm glad you're here, Care! Guess what I found!"
"Oooh! Ooh! I know! A ghost eating a hamburger!"
"Uh…no." Pennsylvania replied, a puzzled look on his face. "Better than that!"
"I don't know! Tell me!"
"A letter from Silence Dogood!"
"Seriously? Yay! Ben was a good human, I wanna read the letter!" she squealed.
"You can read it if you want but I'll tell you right now, it's a fake." Delaware cut in with an annoyed tone. He never had gotten used to Caroline's sudden personality change. He would probably never admit it but New Hampshire could tell he missed the old Massachusetts.
"Oh. Really?" Through her glasses New Hampshire could see disappointment cloud her green eyes.
"Don't listen to him! I know Benny's writing as well as you do! We can confirm it ourselves." Pennsylvania said hastily, no one liked to see Massachusetts get upset. Depending on the topic she could either start crying or revert back to her old self. Neither possibility was easy to handle.
"Ok! Let's look at it!" Her mouth pulled into its usual smile as she and Christopher began to read over the document. Both were rather fond of the founding father seeing as he had been born in Caroline's state and had been a popular political figure in Christopher's. Rather than fight over him like many of New Hampshire's siblings did when it came to prominent people in history, the two would spend hours telling stories and recalling all his wonderful qualities together.
Within the next ten minutes the rest of the Originals trickled in, aside from New Jersey. He was always running late. Unlike the rest of them he seemed completely oblivious to their rivalry. He would always show up late and was never dressed professionally, preferring jeans, a t-shirt, and his backpack in place of a briefcase.
Connecticut rolled her green eyes and began to drum her fingers on the table impatiently.
"Is that really necessary?" William asked, trying to keep his own frustration out of his voice.
"No, I'm doing it just to bother you, Will." Elizabeth answered back sarcastically.
"Appreciate it." he muttered before turning his attention to the rest of his siblings, all sitting around the long, rectangular table. Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina all sat together, arguing about something.
The three of them often argued over the Civil War which North Carolina felt she had been dragged into. Savannah was very adamant about how she had gotten over it but Georgia and South Carolina still liked to bother her about it. North Carolina had a bad temper and the states were always trying to see who could bother her the most before she snapped. So far Colorado held the shortest record (thirty seconds) while Vermont and Massachusetts tied with three hours. That wasn't surprising considering Massachusetts was ball of sunshine and it was near impossible to get mad at Vermont. Charlotte had spent much of her childhood with Canada and, consequently, was very soft spoken and, for the most part, and kindred spirit.
Nearest the arguing trio were Rhode Island and Pennsylvania who were watching New York and Massachusetts have a "heated discussion" over baseball. Connecticut, who supported both teams, was trying to stay as far out of that argument as possible. Unfortunately this didn't seem to be working as Caroline would continually drag Elizabeth back into the argument. Michael also seemed to support this, hoping to win Connecticut's favor in their argument.
On William's right were Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware. All three seemed to be watching the scene before them with interest. Delaware looked predictably irritated while Maryland and Virginia just looked amused. The two of them had been best friends since the very beginning, despite Virginia siding with the Confederacy during the Civil War.
Delaware gritted his teeth and stared at the states with his chilling gaze. Slowly everyone began to look his way, all feeling his eyes upon them. It wasn't something one could ignore easily.
"Is this really how we should be acting? We are the oldest states. Shouldn't we be acting accordingly? You are all a big disap—
He was interrupted as the meeting room door swung open with a bang.
"The PARTAY has arrived! Please hold your applause!" New Jersey waltzed in, pushing his sunglasses off his face and into his unruly brown hair, revealing his blue eyes. He had on loose fitting jeans that revealed checkered boxers. On top he wore a plain white shirt with a red zip up sweat shirt.
"Tony, you're orange." Connecticut said blankly.
"No I'm not, Lizzie! I'm just preparing to hit the Shore! Don't wanna get a burn, ya know?"
"No. No I don't know."
New Hampshire smiled, enjoying his brother's loud personality. He envied him. He'd love to be that uncaring about what others thought of him. Anthony was always carefree, getting all the fun out of life he could. Delaware, on the other hand, looked about ready to throttle the tanned state, his mouth pulled into a frown.
"Anthony, you need to be on time. Your late appearances are doing nothing for your less than positive image."
Tony's eyes flashed dangerously before he smiled again. Usually he got very angry when people brought up his reputation, based only on stereotypes; however, he had a lot of patience for Robert. He seemed to understand the oldest state's serious personality and had a lot of respect for him. Much like Pennsylvania, he saw Delaware as his equal rather than an older brother. Despite his laid back and sometimes childish personality, the third oldest state could display a reasonable amount of maturity when he wanted to.
"Sorry, Robster. I'll try to be here on time next time." He beamed at his older brother and smiled before sitting down on the other side of New Hampshire. He placed his beat up back pack between their chairs and slung his arm over William's shoulders.
"How ya doin' pal?"
"Good, I guess." William replied, not really focusing on his older brother. His attention was drawn to the bag Tony had just placed on the floor. He could have sworn he saw it move.
"Tony…what the hell is in the bag?"
"Oh, nothing, nothing. Look you wanna—
"It moved! There is something in there!"
Tony glanced around the room, ensuring that the rest of his siblings, mainly Delaware, were all preoccupied with something else before he whispered in William's ear. The state's eyes widened and he looked at the carefree man in shock.
"You brought that with you?" he hissed.
"Don't freak out. Lil' Devil is totally harmless."
"The Jersey Devil is not harmless! It's killed people."
"Nah, bro. You've got it all wrong. Lil' Devil isn't like the myths at all. Here, look."
He carefully picked up his bag and opened it under the table. A small, grey head of fluff poked its head out. It had undersized horns and a face that vaguely reminded him of a teddy bear. The little creature climbed out of the bag and onto Tony's lap. It had short, stubby legs that ended in black hooves. On its back it sported two miniature wings that didn't look like they would support the chubby animal if it decided to fly. Tony pet it between its horns and the creature leaned into the touch, purring like a cat.
"See? Isn't he cute?"
New Hampshire had to admit, the thing was pretty cute. He reached his hand out tentatively and smiled when it began to lick his fingers with a tiny, pink tongue.
"Yea, he is pretty cute. Why is he such a secret?"
"If anyone found out about him he'd be thrown into the zoo or taken away to some scientific lab somewhere. I don't wan that to happen to him!"
Just as William was about to reply the door to the meeting room opened once again. In strode Washington DC, an unrecognizable emotion on her face. Tony ushered the Jersey Devil back into his bag which he put back between their chairs. Casey seated herself at the head of the table and placed her briefcase under her chair. New Hampshire wondered about that action; usually she was unpacking pages and pages of information out of that briefcase before they started. Something was different about this meeting.
"Alright, let's get started." she said, flatly.
"Wait! Daddy isn't here yet! We can't start without him!" exclaimed Massachusetts.
At this, Casey slumped forward onto the table, burying her head in her arms.
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about" she murmured, barely audible.
"What do you mean?" demanded Pennsylvania, his usual smile gone and replaced with serious frown.
She sat back up, straightening out her blonde hair. She stared at them all before continuing.
"You remember when I sent out that email a couple weeks ago asking if any of you had seen Dad?"
"Yes, we do." New York said, suspicion filling his voice.
"Well…I still haven't found him. He's been missing for over two weeks now." The last sentence came out as a whisper as tears fought to spill out of her blue eyes.
"What do you mean he's missing?" Delaware asked as his usually lifeless eyes filled with a mixture of anger and fear.
"I mean I haven't seen or hear from him in the past two weeks. He had no trips out of the country planned. I even checked the records of almost all the airports. There were no records of anyone named "Alfred Jones" making any bookings. He also had no appearances that he had to make. And he missed his meeting with Uncle Matt on Tuesday."
"Have you told anyone else about this?" questioned Connecticut, a somber expression on her face.
"No, I felt like the thirteen of you should be the first to know."
Connecticut nodded at this before burying her face in her hands. Massachusetts gripped Delaware's hand, tears threatening to rush down her cheeks. Instead of brushing off the distraught state, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and turned to Casey.
"Have you checked with Arthur? Before the Revolutionary War Alfred would leave without warning to visit and be gone for weeks at a time."
"I thought it was best if I kept his absence a secret to most of the world. We're incredibly vulnerable without him, as I'm sure you're aware."
"That's true." Delaware agreed.
"He'll be back soon though. There's some kind of understood law between the countries that they never be away from the country they represent for more than a few months at time. They all seem to respect this and would never make Dad stay away for too long." New Jersey said, surprising them all with his sudden statement.
"Tony's right. That's how it's always been. If a personification of a country is away from his or her country for too long they become weak and their country suffers." Pennsylvania added, nodding his head in concurrence.
William considered this. This didn't explain where his father had disappeared to but it did ensure that he would be home within the next month. No one would keep him away unless they wanted to torture both Alfred and the states. New York stood up, voicing William's exact thoughts.
"What if a country wanted to do that though?"
"Don't be foolish, Michael. Dad has many enemies but none that would have been able to convince him to have a meeting with him so they could take him captive." retorted South Carolina.
"I'm not saying he had a meeting with them. What if they kidnapped him?"
"It would be very difficult for one of Dad's enemies to sneak into the country. We have surveillance of the area around our house twenty four seven." offered Casey.
"Then we have to assume whoever took Dad was someone he trusted." Michael said simply.
"Stop! Daddy wasn't taken! He's on v-v-vacation! A secret vacation." stuttered Massachusetts.
"We need to take this seriously, Caroline. It is a definite possibility that Dad was kidnapped. It would make sense that someone he trusted would have done it." Pennsylvania said.
Massachusetts let out a sob and buried her face in Robert's chest. He patted her back, more out of habit than anything else. In his mind he went over all the countries that were on "friendly" terms with his father.
"It could have been England. He never did recover from the Revolutionary War." he mused aloud.
"I doubt it. They've been getting along well lately." Casey said.
"That's the whole point though! He'd want us to dismiss him as a suspect right away." exclaimed New York.
"Look, now's not the time to be jumping to conclusions. As Caroline pointed out, Dad could just be on a little vacation. He's been pretty stressed out lately. Let's just all go home and I'll contact you guys in a few weeks if Dad hasn't shown up."
They all began talking amongst themselves, discussing who they thought was or wasn't responsible. Delaware was talking softly to Massachusetts and leading her toward the door. She was still in tears and had both her hands clenched around Robert's arm. Georgia and South Carolina were consoling North Carolina who was near tears. Pennsylvania, New York, and Rhode Island all wore stoic expressions as they packed up their things and headed toward the door. Maryland and Virginia were whispering to each other from their seats at the table.
Will glanced at Tony, who was now standing, mildly alarmed at the serious expression that had taken up residence on his usually smiling face.
"You and Vermont are staying at my house from now on." Tony said without turning.
"Why?"
"Protection."
"We can handle ourselves, thank you very much!" Will glared at his older brother. Many of the older states assumed he and Vermont couldn't take care of themselves. Both were relatively short but that didn't mean they lacked strength. New Jersey wasn't particularly tall either. Taller than he was but not by that much.
"I don't like the idea of you being up there by yourself."
"Maine will be there! He can take care of us."
"He'd suspect something if the two of you suddenly asked to stay at his house for a while. I don't think Casey wants everyone to know about this yet." Despite his strong accent he still managed to sound in control.
"But won't Vermont be suspicious if you suddenly asked for us to stay at your house?" he countered.
"Just tell Charlotte I want to get you ready for summer the Jersey way." Tony said nonchalantly, as if it was the most logical explanation for his sudden interest in having the two of them stay at his house.
"Fine…but only until Dad gets back."
"Great! Let's go get Vermont!" Tony's grin was back on his face, making it seem like he hadn't been wearing such a serious expression just moments earlier.
"You can play with Lil' Devil and go water skiing and tons of other fun stuff!"
William was only half listening. He was actually relieved to be staying with Tony. Although New Jersey was small in stature he could pack a powerful punch. During the Revolutionary he had been home to many battles and had supported the American troops in whatever way he could. He had been part of the crossing of the Delaware River when American troops attacked the unsuspecting Hessians in the Battle of Trenton. He was certainly battle hardened, even if he didn't show it often.
Of course, William had also played a role in the war. He had been the first state to declare his independence. He hadn't seen as much of the war as some of the other states though, his only battle being a raid on Fort Mary and William in 1774.
As Tony continued to blabber on about the "fun plans" he had, Will tried to wrap his head around everything that was going on. His dad was missing, leaving them all in jeopardy. Delaware was showing his emotional side and New Jersey was acting serious. Something was definitely off. He could only hope that thing would go back to normal before something serious happened.
AN: Sorry for grammar mistakes! Hope ya liked. :D
Also sorry if I forgot to credit someone, just let me know! I hope it's ok if I changed a few of their personalities a little to fit my story. :P