Thanks to fiir . verdepol, ChaoticXXHearts, and LupinandHarrry for the reviews last chapter!

Left: Hey folks! Yup, it's me finally. I know, I know; I'm letting Right do all the work for this. But not to worry! Because it's my turn now. Well, sort of. See, we're trying something a little different here - you might have noticed it with our other works, but we more or less wrote this together. Actually, this is the final countdown for this story arc too... WE HOPE YOU'RE ALL PREPARED FOR WHAT COMES NEXT~!

The Perfect Storm: Part One of Two

There was something very odd about the gentle hum in the background of the room. It was not so much that it was interrupted by a familiar, rhythmic beat of a monitor, or that it echoed in the sterile quietness of what he sensed to be a fairly full room. No, these things did not bother him. Instead, what bothered America was that it was muted against the cotton that seemed to be compacted in his mind.

If he attempted to ward off the cloudiness left by heavy sedation, however, he already knew that the booming sound of millions of complaints would be splitting his head and leaving the contents in nice, mushy piles of goo.

For the time being he would allow the fullness of his thoughts and the white blotches scattered across his vision to pass. Partially for the reason of maintaining some of his sanity, but also because he honestly could not think clearly enough to draw another conclusion.

Besides, he might have needed enough sedative to knock out a bull elephant, but it still did not help those eyebrows. All … forty of them?

Blinking wearily, the nation allowed his cheek to rest on his shoulder and his eyes to rest half mast. He moved his hand in a sweeping motion at all the recognizable yet completely indistinguishable faces. "S'ow many here, again?"

"Still just the three of us, mate." Al was pretty sure it was the blur near his feet that spoke and, given by the brunette splotch that topped the talking blur, it was most likely… Cody. Not to mention the overzealous use of mate could be a pretty sure give away. His half-brother patted his foot sympathetically. "Just like the last time you asked abou' five minutes ago," he said.

Alfred groaned and tried to rub at this aching head. It felt like it had been years not minutes. But his limbs refused to move and more or less just twitched annoyingly under the covers he was trapped under.

"I dare say you were expecting someone a little more important then?" snapped the rather short blur that could only be the very disgruntled Britain hovering somewhere between "not close" and "close enough" to Al's head.

"Not really," Alfred said with a furrow of his eyebrows and a curious glance around the very indistinguishable (yet still inhumanly white) room. "Why is everyone so… picaso-fied? And am I beeping?"

"It's called a heart monitor," Arthur groused with a roll of his eyes. "I believe it's there to let us know how close you are to impending doom and whatnot."

"Speakin' of which, how are ya feeling?" Cody said coming closer. "You were pretty out of it last time I asked, so I sort of dismissed it as the morphine talkin'."

He blinked a few more times as the question finally began to register in his stuffy mind. Then, for good measure, he blinked again before he settled his gaze on Cody. God, he hoped it was Cody. It would be awkward if it was … someone random. "D'you want short version … or short version?"

Something must have been comical because there were slight, breathed over laughs by … some of the blurs. Alfred began to reconsider whether or not he should try to force the drugs out of his system just so he could get a good idea of what the hell was going on in there.

"Short," Arthur responded, apparently not one of the figures laughing.

"Like shit," Alfred reasoned before laying his head straight back and feeling fairly content with his response. Very concise, he thought. Then he heard mumbling, low like a stomach growl in his right ear. He turned his head and swore he saw something there for a moment. When he narrowed his eyes and looked around the white stains obscuring his gaze, it looked almost like a mirror.

"It's me, Al. Your brother." The voice was hoarse but certainly, unmistakably Canadian. Oh, that brother of his. Since when was he psychic?

"Hi, Mattie," Al said, probably sounding just as hoarse. No, not probably. They sounded completely the same. Besides, you know, the accents. "You sound… like shit." We must be pretty screwed over then. … From whatever that happened.

"Nice of you to join the waking world again," Matt said softly and, with what Al hoped was from his doing, a small smile on his face. Well. At least he assumed it was a smile…

Man. This really sucked.

"Your glasses are on the bedside table," Matt said, again surprising his twin by turning the psychic works on to full alert. "Which would be half the reason you can't see."

Cody gave a wistful sigh that seemed oddly out of place. "Ah, an' the rest of that would be the drugs swimming through your system. I still don't remember half the days I spent on those in the hospital." Another sigh. "Those were the good ol' days."

Arthur gave a snort and shifted on his feet, his arms folded rigidly across his chest. "Funny, because I recall them quite clearly, Australia."

This brought Alfred to put upon a little pout of sorts. He was not feeling good to start things off and now he had to deal with not knowing what the heck anyone was talking about. Or, he did. Somewhere in his brain surely had that joint memory but it was inaccessible at the moment.

There was a heavy sigh and something placed upon his nose that suddenly caused the world around the persistent snowflakes to be clear and even toned in obnoxious hospital lighting. It made him blink a few times but America certainly could come to the conclusion that he preferred the blurry world to Arthur's scowl and Cody's genuinely offended gape. Beggars couldn't be choosers, though.

"Now you can see, eh?" Matthew asked with a bit of a hopeful look in his surprisingly paled, drawn out face.

"Unfortunately," Alfred responded before scowling at the other two. If he hadn't been so caught off guard by the fact that they had seemingly excluded America and Canada from the discussion, he might have been surprised by Cody's suddenly defensive and slightly more aggressive disposition. "Fine, just ignore me. I didn't want to know what the hell I was doing in here anyway."

"—you were completely unprepared for this—"

"Who the fuck prepares for atomic explosions in the—"

Matthew just blinked wearily at the two of them alongside his twin, capturing Alfred's attention once more with the mundane way he was accepting the situation. "Oh, they're just very stressed. Cody's hearing is later. Lots to be worried about, eh?"

Eyebrows disappearing into his hairline, Alfred stared at his brother. "His hearing? Already? How fucking long was I out for, Mattie?"

"Oh," Matthew said, his hands fidgeting in his twin's sheets. He pushed his own glasses up his nose, his eyes looking everywhere but at Al. "Ah, well, maybe a month or two, eh?"

"A month?" Throwing off, or, well, trying in his drug-state-of-mind (it was more like flailing like a child than anything), the sheets keeping him to his bed, Alfred wrestled to find his feet under all those layers. "God, what the hell happened? There's hardly any time left to do anything!"

"Whoa, Al! Relax, you can't do anything now," Matthew frowned, trying to hold his brother steady. Their struggles were, apparently, still lost to the quarreling countries just feet from them (although they had moved quite closer to each other and, despite their closeness, were yelling even louder now). "No one blames you for being out – I was in here for a week or two also. The storm hit you and Mexico the hardest."

"Storm?" Jeez, is that all that hit me? "Why do I feel like that storm rolled in on a very large, overfilled dump-truck then?"

"It is your business to be in control of your country's affairs! I've taught you that since the first bloody day—"

"Oi! This again! How many times do I have to plead my case to you? Don't you think I'll have to do that enough already, pom?"

America settled on a distinctly dissatisfied look as he stared at the other two, giving his twin only the angles of his peripheral vision. "Hey," he moaned hoarsely. "Since when did they fight? It's supposed to be my job to yell at Arthur."

Said twin rubbed his face with a sigh. "It's been stressful, Al. Everyone's saying that the new bomb caused the super storm."

This caused the bed ridden brother's head to snap over to his brother's direction. "Storm? Super storm? What the hell is that supposed to mean? And why would any storm have me out for a month! I'm the United States of America for crying out loud!"

Matthew rubbed his chin and frowned. "Well, it's kind of hard to explain until you get a handle of what's going on yourself, but the best we can describe is that this storm on the West Coast is sort of bringing a mega-cold front to both you and Mexico and, well, me. When it did it's caused a lot of wind damage, tornados, floods and, well, now…"

Alfred's eye twitched at the long pause. "And now?" he asked almost irritably.

"Let's just say it snowed in Baja California this morning," Matt responded with a frown.

(&)

"I hear Dad is up." The State of Jefferson spoke with a strange, dead twist of his voice that made him sound like he had the worst head-cold in history. With his luck, he probably did. He snapped shut a cell phone and pocketed it before turning to his sister. California, with a thick blanket wrapped snuggly around her shoulders, was perched on the very edge of the balcony of the room they got stuck in together.

One of two of them was greatly displeased about this turn of events.

"Awesome," she said, just as thickly. "D'yeah think he heard about it snowing in California?"

Jefferson raised a brow at that. "It always snows in Jefferson," he said slowly. "Which is a part of California, if I'm not mistaken."

She waved her hand in dismissal. "Well, I meant my half. Jeez." With her back turned to him, she missed the shadow of hurt that darkened his face before he turned on his heel and quietly left the sick State to her view.

(&)

Alfred winced and rubbed his head gingerly. His head felt like it was trying to split itself in fifty very equal parts. Matthew, ever aware of his brother (somehow amongst all the ruckus in the room) stood up suddenly and turned to the quarreling nations.

"Maybe it's time to leave for a bit, eh? I mean, he's been awake ten minutes longer than he has in weeks. Too much attention might go to his head."

"Hey!"

Australia and England snapped their jaws shut almost in harmony before turning and looking at the twin nations. Their equally green eyes seemed to share a strikingly similar gaze of confusion before they parted slightly and crossed arms. Alfred couldn't help but think how funny it was to have the two of them look near identical.

"You trying to kick us out, Mattie?" Cody suddenly blurted out, not nearly as jovial as he would normally intone.

"We have just as much right to visit Alfred while he's not more a babbling idiot than usual as you do," Arthur snapped fiercely. "I've waited almost two months for him to be awake enough for me to strangle that daft head of his off! No wonder he took the hit so hard, not being homebound for almost six months!"

Despite pain, Alfred shot his tensed brother a dark glare. "You tattle tale."

"We had to come up for a reason for why you weren't waking up, Al," Matthew reasoned. "I had to be honest else the doctors wouldn't have known what to do with you. And as for you two," he said, quickly turning his attention back to England and Australia. Their eyebrows must have intimidated Canada because he almost immediately returned to his stutters. "Don't you think he needs rest? A-and maybe we should let some of the States out in the hall visit with him w-while he's awake, eh? It would just really help if you two would stop arguing…" the last began to be lost under his own sighs.

But Al, being the ever-perceptive Nation that he was, only caught on half of Matt's argument. "Wait, wait – back up. My kids are here? In the hallway? And you didn't tell me!" He paused in his half-way attempt to sit up when a thought suddenly struck him. He eyed the other nations in the room warily. "How many of them did you say were out there?"

"Not all of them," Matt said quickly with a tight smile. "Although they tried very hard to all be here."

"Thank God," Arthur grumbled, shifting his weight to his other foot. He pinned Matt with a glare. "I don't see why I have to leave to make room for the brats when we've been at his side this whole time, waiting for him to wake—"

"To strangle him," Cody pointed out, with a glare at their former-caretaker.

"—and we barely get to see him awake five minutes before kicking us out," Arthur continued as if he hadn't been interrupted. "He's held progress on everything back for weeks longer than it should have because he was a bloody wanker who wanted to get out of paperwork!"

Paperwork? Oh, yes. That part of his job. Alfred sank back into his pillow. "Hmm. Y'know, Mattie, if Pennsylvania is among the ones waiting, I should probably stick with Arthur and Cody. I mean, Iggy's old so I can fend him off if it need be—"

"Not in your current state, you git," Arthur shot him down before he could finish. He then looked intently at the Canadian twin. "I didn't see them being so anxious to get in here and watch over their father during all this time, Matthew. Did you?"

"They were avoiding you, Pom, even I knew that," Cody said with a yawn and a stretch.

"Sod off, Cody," Arthur bit back an even more ferocious growl and Alfred began to feel himself pout.

It was supposed to be his job to piss of Arthur. He had become an expert at it over the years! He had refined it into an art form! Cody was supposed to be the easy going occasional drunk. This whole being ignored thing was way overrated too. He was sitting right there, dammit!

It was quite similar to removing a dam blocking a dangerous, deadly, and very loud flood back. Matt stood to the side and uselessly motioned for the flood—er, states, to help themselves in, but they wouldn't have noticed one way or another. Arthur instantly clamped his mouth shut as the true force of the wave broke in and he backed up hastily.

"Matthew," he hissed, finding the culprit behind the door. "Look at what you've done!"

"Oh, well, I guess we don't have much choice now, eh?" Matt said, sounding every bit as worn as Alfred felt. He smiled to one of the states that sounded a little louder among the crowd with a "Hello, Uncle Matt!" but said nothing more.

Cody, on the other hand, seemed much more at ease with the sea of kids and chuckled as a few came over and gave him a quick hug and a chirped hello. "Aye, aye, alright it's good to see you kids too."

The majority of them ignored Arthur. Which was fine by him.

Alfred gave a 1.21 Gigawat smile to the kids as many gathered up around his bed. Tugging on the various contraptions which had managed to cling to his skin despite previous flailing, he was able to better sit up and appreciate the view. "Well, who all's here?"

"Everyone that felt up to it, Pops," York spoke up, shoving aside the minute figure of Delaware like she was a little bug to be flicked. He got a death glare from New Hampshire in response. "Oh, 'sides Penns. He's been all close to your boss since the accident to try to keep things from flying down the shitter too fast. But George—"

"Oh, Papa!" a familiar cry of a Southern Belle came tearing through the air over the clatter of twenty or so Statesmen. The blonde bombshell knocked over her northern brother and had the Nation's head her iron grips as she flung herself around him. "You've been out for so long! And in here with him."

About that time, America blinked and looked around his bedside, finding that the majority of his states had been pushed further away from the bedside to make room for twelve of the thirteen original colonies who were all suddenly giving a particular Englishman some nasty looks.

Arthur seemed red in the face but less so than when he had been in a yelling match with Cody. Most likely this was because, after two hundred years, he had grown used to the tension between him and Alfred's favorites. It still made Alfred uncomfortable, though.

They didn't seem too worried about keeping their thoughts much to themselves, either. Well, they were related to Alfred after all.

"Aw, please," said one of the Thirteen that was more-or-less hovering on the outskirts of the state-pile. Maryland rolled her eyes spectacularly, but the effect was lost with her smile that was near breaking point. "He was bloody sleeping the whole time, Georgie. I'd hardly call that a horrible inconvenience. Still though, it's nice to have you alive again, Dad."

"Yeah," piped in Rhode Island with a small twist of her mouth. "You can call off Penns now. He's driving us nuts."

There was a chorus of agreement from all the states to that.

Alfred just grinned, petting Georgia's back comfortingly (or as comfortingly as he possible could all locked into his bed and whatnot). "I'm sure he's just doing my – uh, his - job, guys. It can't be that bad—"

There was such an apprising noise of disagreement from the Statesmen that Arthur, from somewhere in the back still looking quite peeved, clamped hands over his ears as near-fifty voices tried to out-talk each other.

Matthew and Australia just watched, bemused as their brother dealt with his kids he prided so much.

"Pops, talking to him is like having someone pinch your nose closed and hold you under water," York hissed, covering New Jersey's mouth as he attempted to interject. "It's impossible! And he absolutely refuses to take even one night out. Seriously. If I could take him clubbing for one night I could get him with someone who could loosen that noose he calls a tie—"

"Uh, as your father figure, I think my fragile state of mind would be better off if you didn't tell me about your guys' sex lives," Alfred said with an almost pained look on his face. "That's sort of why I don't go to Oregon's house anymore."

"I've had enough of this nonsense," England muttered to himself before heading toward the door, pausing only to give a somewhat agreeable nod to Washington who greeted him with more kindness that every other present state combined.

"Hey, Uncle Oz, want a rematch?" Florida questioned as he gave a few quick jabs to Cody's shoulder. The tanned boy then smirked up at his uncle, eyes glimmering with hope.

"Only if you feel like being knocked out silly," Australia jested before messing with the young statesman's hair.

Matthew watched and fiddled with the sleeves of his sweatshirt before glancing to the exit. He debated whether or not he should stay and look over his twin but one look at the states and Australia told him that everything would be just fine if he stepped out for a moment.

But a figure angling back behind the Statesmen slipped out before he got the chance to do it himself. Frowning and suddenly curious, Matt trails after the girl as she begins pacing the floor, a cell phone glued to her ear.

"No," she snapped, trying but failing to keep her voice level. "I said no. I don't care what you do with the papers – burn the godforsaken things if you have to – just get rid of them, alright?" Her frown deepens as she listens to the other side of the argument. "Are you listening? No, no, no, dammit I don't-" her fingers pinched the bridge of her nose as she sighed. "Yeah, I'm with Dad now. No, I'll tell him you call—" She stopped in mid-sentence, staring at her phone that gave off a low dial-tone beep.

"The sonofabitch hung up on me."

"Having troubles?"

The State of Wyoming nearly jumped out of her skin and turned with a hand over her mouth in Matthew's direction. She turned a pasty white at seeing him. "Oh, jeez, Uncle Matt. You weren't supposed to—was I being too loud? Oh shit, can they hear me in there?"

Frowning, Matthew raised his hands in an attempt to keep his niece at bay. He'd never been very good with dealing with his twin's kids (with a few exceptions), but he knew enough to know this was not in Wyoming's normal reactions. "Hey, no, I'm sorry for sneaking up on you. I was just surprised you left the others," he explained half-heartedly. "Are- is everything alright?"

Her cheeks were burning bright with embarrassment and she fumbled with her phone. The Canadian watched patiently as she hastily slid it into her back jean pocket.

"Things are fine," she said in that exuberant, loud voice that only Americans could intone without seeming comical or forced. Her eyes glanced over him curiously before hardening. "Why wouldn't they be?"

"I never said… they wouldn't?"

She made an annoyed, guttural sound before turning and going back to the room, her shoulders shuddering for a chill that simply was not there. Matthew found this more than a little peculiar.

[Notes]
* Baja California is technically Mexico, we're aware, but this is all to demonstrate that the weather is sorta fubar at the time being. The mechanics of the new nuclear bombs will be explained in later arcs of the story but, for basic comprehension, we are working on the theory that this new nuclear bomb is capable of not only causing bigger, badder atomic explosions but is also able to displace hydrogen atoms around the are of impact and cause massive dehydration. And, well, all those gas and water molecules had to end up somewhere so, for this story, it was a long wait before it gathered enough momentum to hit the Americas.
*Just a recap, there's a huge difference between North and South California. Again, a reason for why Northern California has actively lobbied to become its own state (i.e., State of Jefferson).
*England and the Original States: let's just say that in this universe, the thirteen kiddies making up Alfred's original colonies share a less than pleasurable relationship with Arthur. It goes both ways. Besides them, though, there aren't too many of the states Arthur actively fights with, just pretending to be the characteristically grumpy uncle.
*1.21 Gigawats: ... Yes. It's a nerdy Back to the Future reference. But, hey, it's America. He'd more than approve.

Left: Wow, I'm so glad Right took care of those notes. I wouldn't have done nearly as good a job (read: none at all) on that. And she more or less said to leave a parting message with you all. And yet I have none! Oh, also, she called me a Sneaky Sod, so... Well... take that as you will. As for the next part, it should be up uuuh... Pretty soon. Everything from this point on is more or less written, so I dunno why it's taking us so long to post it. I figure it has something to do with finals in school and getting jobs and whatnot. BUT YEAH. Stay tuned, you beautiful people you.

Please Review!