Denmark had long since mastered the art of rendering himself invisible and with Nazi Germany tied up by France and England, his confidence soared on the breeze. He procured a refurbished fishing boat no one would miss and navigated Sweden's deadly labyrinth on water that sparkled underneath a magnificent blue sky. He loved when the weather matched his mood.

He was equal parts thrilled and unsurprised to find Sweden already at the harbor, waiting. Denmark barely contained an urge to drop anchor then and there and swim the remaining distance to his friend. Still fresh in his mind were the frantic days before the invasion when Nazi Germany fractured his connection with both him and Norway. Denmark felt almost as if he were orphaned those days. Their actual relationships had no bearing on the fact he lacked his surrogate family and the pure, unabated need to have them back overshadowed any lingering animosity.

In fact, when he greeted Sweden at the dock, he only held stark admiration. He and Nazi Germany the only ones who kept their promises- Sweden's of neutrality and Nazi Germany's of destruction. Sweden's eyes held no joy though, his body tense from days and nights of hyper vigilance. There simply existed no path of least resistance.

"Again, no swastikas on my soil. Take off the armband." He said wearily.

Denmark removed it and tossed it in the boat.

"Better."

Then the gloom lifted for a spell.

"How did you know to look for me at Norway's?" Denmark asked in the spirit of making light conversation.

Sweden laughed disbelievingly. "How I didn't Iknow? Besides you being predictable as hell when you're sober and the sheer amount of noise you made… I heard Nazi Germany's plan to fish Norway out with you as bait. Pun intended."

Now it was Denmark's turn to laugh. The sheer absurdity of Sweden's words demanded it.

"Let me show you my trick," said Sweden.

The pair walked the short distance to Sweden's house and into the recesses of an attic Denmark never recalled being there before. Perhaps it was new. Sweden set up what appeared to be a Marconi room. The blips and beeps of Morse code rang constantly so Denmark snatched a pen and got writing.

…Finland's losing heart for the Leningrad siege. Implied his only goal was to regain territory lost to Russia years ago. Invited me in only to carry out his dirty fight. Now he mocks me to my face by training a dog to salute me, yet he won't himself. He'll stab me in the back the second I quit watching him. No matter, Moscow will be ours by springtime…

Denmark stared incredulously and waved the note at Sweden.

"Wow! Go Finland!" The other said. "Nazi Germany's keeping off my soil in exchange for iron ore and use of my communication lines."

"And he let you tap them?"

"Well…I didn't ask. It's always better to apologize than ask permission."

So that's the tense negotiation of neutrality, even in a period of calm and safety, Sweden checked out windows, checked the time as if the Sword of Damocles could crash down any time. No wonder Denmark didn't manage, he lacked the finesse.

"So that's how I knew about you and how I've been talking with Norway."

Denmark wrote some more as the next string of letters poured through.

We've seized Indonesia's oil supply and Netherlands can't do a damn thing about it, he and all these other resisting countries sit at a threshold of death whether they feel it now or not. My model state does nothing to glean their cooperation. Either he's lazy or they're stubborn or some combination of both. Those fools know not what they do to themselves. I will…

Then Denmark quit. He had not experienced any of Nazi Germany's infamous cruelty and, sometimes, liked to pretend it never happened at all. He appealed to Sweden, who merely shrugged him off.

"What did you expect? It's war." He said, not unkindly. "Norway tells me what the Allies are doing. America's got some contrived version of a plan to liberate us, but they're triaging the rescue. Right now all they're worried about is Russia, but it changes daily. Only one they're not concerned about is you."

"You all think I'm on his side." Denmark slumped in the chair.

Sweden ignored him for a spell, poured over some handwritten notes and maps, and then tapped out a message of his own. Denmark wrote all the same for his own benefit.

You can quit worrying yourself sick. Keep up your health. He's not starving or hurt, just cranky. Not sucked into Nazi Germany's creepy ideology either but would never expect that from him. Wants to know if you think he's a collaborator.

Denmark clicked the pen noisily the second Sweden paused. "Was that to-"

More beeps. Denmark scribbled furiously.

Of course not. He's too smart for that. Tell him I miss him.

"Who else?" Sweden smiled with his eyes and tapped back.

Too smart? This is Denmark we're talking about. Don't go overboard.

Denmark giggled in spite of himself. He missed hanging out with Sweden. Norway's response was instantaneous.

I'm laughing out loud. Too bad we don't have an abbreviation for that.

"It's almost never this fun." Sweden shut off the machine just in time for his stomach to growl insistently. "I have some food if you're hungry." Then they moved to the kitchen.

"I'm not done with this yet." Denmark paused momentarily to absorb it was he who stuck to business and protocol. Truly the world had changed. "Does the whole world think I've sided with Nazi Germany?"

Sweden shifted uncomfortably and passed Denmark a ration of thin soup. "It's honestly hard not to. I see through it and so does Norway, but I can't speak for everyone. You're treated the best of all of us. You already know that. He thinks you're likeable and Iceland's hiding behind America confirming it all."

The rest of the meal found them silent. Denmark sat deeply troubled. Him? A Nazi collaborator? Then and there, he resolved to prove otherwise… somehow. He thanked Sweden profusely for feeding him and promised he'd visit again. Soon.

Denmark had a full mind on hopskip home. As much as he spoke of a resistance that helped them help themselves, Denmark entertained a niggling suspicion that Sweden too banked on a rescue from the Allies in the long term.

In the meantime, the killing would intensify along the road to peace.

A/n: Indonesia was one of the Netherland's colonies and strategic on the Pacific front for its oil supply.