The drive from the airport was mostly quiet, America talking on the phone with his Boss in hushed tones. Poland was focused on his driving, though he listened intently as Lithuania explained everything that had happened back in Moscow. Ivan had slipped out of his seat belt almost immediately, curling up against America's side so that he could rest his head on the blonde's thigh; he fell asleep pretty fast, his thumb stuck in his mouth as he cradled the grey squirrel close to himself with his other hand.

"Yeah, I'm heading back right now...I'll be there on time, stop hyperventilating!" Alfred sighed, resisting the urge he had to yell in frustration. His Boss was usually fairly cool-headed, but there were just some times when he got himself so worked up and out-of-sorts that even America couldn't deal with his shit. "Yeah, yeah, yeah; I hear you just fine! I know what I'm doing, so just calm the fuck down and let me take care of this!" he hissed into the phone, hanging up on that lovely note. He was going to get a real earful for that later.

"So...That sounded good," Feliks muttered, glancing back at the American.

"Well, it wasn't pretty, but it wasn't anything bad either," Alfred replied, rubbing at his eyes doggedly. He set his hand lightly on top of Ivan's head, his gloved fingers distractedly messing with the soft, fair locks. "He's just a little freaked out at this whole situation. I mean, we've been on good terms with Russia for the first time in a long time, and then this happens? We haven't dealt with this sort of a war since the Democratic Alliance of Countries* liberated the countries that made up the Communist Union* in 2758!" he continued, gritting his teeth.

"And?" Feliks queried, slowly pulling up at the front of the vast hotel that most of the nations were staying at for the duration of the meeting.

America sighed, leaning his head back and closing his eyes; the leather of the car seats squeaking under him as he shifted in place. "That war took a lot out of me...Even if it was a while ago now, it had some pretty harsh effects. I just hope I'm strong enough for what's coming up," he murmured, his eyes opening when the car came to an abrupt stop.

Poland twisted around in the front seat of his car, settling a smoldering look on America. "Are you seriously psyching yourself out right now?!" he demanded, clenching his jaw.

"What?" Alfred shot back in confusion, blinking at the green-eyed country's fierceness.

Placing a calming hand on Poland's shoulder, Toris said, "What I think Feliks means, Alfred, is that you can't second-guess yourself when it comes to this; you have to be sure of your own abilities, as well as your people's. If you go into a fight expecting to lose, then you will; your enemy will already have the upper-hand on account of your own doubt."

America brought his gaze up from his lap, his sapphire blue eyes meeting the two European countries' stares with determination. "Hey, you guys know me, I never back down from a fight. If Soviet Russia wants to throw down, then I'll be ready to meet him head-on. I'm gonna do whatever it takes to get Ivan back to normal, and to help get his country stabilized again," he replied firmly, holding both Poland and Lithuania's gazes.

Poland smirked in an almost triumphant way, his grass-green eyes shimmering with satisfaction. "Dobro*, that's what I want to hear," he hummed, shutting off the quiet-running engine of his hot pink car. "I don't like going into a war with an ally that is already shaking in his boots, so I'm glad to see that you're still the 'Sleeping Giant' you were back in 1941*."

"That was a long time ago, but yeah, I still got it," Alfred said in a confident voice, undoing his seat belt as he opened the car door on his left side. He carefully shifted the sleeping Ivan into his arms - the young boy burying his face into the fur lining America's replica bomber jacket, his breathing slow and heavy as he remained asleep - trying not to jostle him around too much as he made to get out of the car.

Lithuania and Poland followed after America, stepping out of the absurdly painted vehicle and into the cold, early morning air. "So, Ivan's going to stay with you tonight, right, Alfred?" Toris asked, wanting to go over their loosely made plans again.

"Yeah, and then we'll contact the old Axis and Allies in the morning, and get them caught up on the situation before the meeting starts up again. We need to go into this with a solid, united front; everyone has to be on board with aiding the Russian rebel forces," Alfred confirmed, heading into the building to escape the chilling winds outside.

"Alright...I guess we'll see you in a few hours, then," Toris murmured, reluctantly following after Poland as America separated from them to enter the elevator that was situated near the front entrance of the hotel.

"Don't worry, man, I got this covered," Alfred reassured the older nation before the doors to the elevator closed, and the box lurched upwards to reach the floor of America's room.

It wasn't long before America was fumbling into his hotel room, trying to be quiet and gentle as he maneuvered the sleeping child in his arms so that he could get to his wallet. He somehow managed to pull out his ID card - mainly using his teeth to fish it out, and only dropping his wallet once in the process - so that he could hold it up to the scanner and get into his room. He sighed with relief after he spat out the ID card, not even caring to look and see where it landed on the carpeted floor, and strode over to the bed. Frowning at the immaculately made bed, America cursed under his breath as he attempted to fold back the fresh bed sheets one-handedly without waking up Ivan.

"Sheesh...It's a good thing he's such a heavy sleeper," Alfred muttered under his breath, smoothing the covers over the six-year-old as he tucked the boy into bed. Taking off his jacket and kicking off his shoes, America didn't even bother with brushing his teeth or changing his clothes. He was going to be up again in a few hours, so why bother? Shuffling over to the other side of the bed, America slipped between the covers and switched off the remote-controlled lights. He took off his glasses and set them down on the nightstand to his left, glancing down in surprise when he felt a warm little body snuggle into his side.

Shifting onto his side and wrapping an arm protectively around the sleeping boy, Alfred murmured in the dark, "I won't let anything happen to you...I promise." He trailed his lips through velvety soft hair, America's eyelids suddenly becoming too heavy to keep open as he drifted off to sleep to the sound of relaxed breathing and soft snores.

Okay...This is a lot shorter than I wanted, and it took way too long for me to get it uploaded...Sorry about that. And it's mostly a filler, go-between chapter, so I suck doubly for that.

The war between the Democratic Alliance of Countries and the Communist Union in 2758 is completely made-up history, and was thought of on the spot while writing this out.

The 'Sleeping Giant' of 1941: For those who might not recognize this quote, Isoroku Yamamoto's sleeping giant quote is a saying attributed to Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto regarding the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor by forces of Imperial Japan. Although the quote may well have encapsulated many of his real feelings about the attack, there is no printed evidence to prove Yamamoto made this statement or wrote it down. (This was taken from Wikipedia, so, if you're curious about this topic, look it up there!)

Translations for this chapter:

Dobro: "Good" in Polish