Star Spangled Border

by EgyptianRatScrew

It was the best kept secret the nations never knew of, and it was intended to stay that way. After America's brutally attacked by a mysterious group of personifications, England and any country willing to help find themselves crossing a border they never should have crossed. America's secret crumbles, and once states and nations clash, nobody can be trusted.

4. Fifty States to Find

France absent-mindingly twiddled his fingers between a loose thread on the couch in a poor attempt to distract himself from the tense silence that filled the room. It started after New York left, and it was most likely not leaving any time soon. France scanned the living room to see how everybody else was doing. Canada gazed out the shattered window and listened to the cars passing by. With the way he was staring at it, one would think that whatever was past that window was the most important thing in the world. Italy leaned over Prussia's shoulder and studied his phone; they were most likely scrolling through pictures or something of the sort. Russia sat on the couch next to France quietly humming to himself; the song had a very disturbing tone to it. Romano and Spain were in the kitchen; France could hear Romano's low grumbling and Spain's high-pitched voice waver as he talked. England was pacing around the room nervously tossing his phone between his hands. Pacing was an agitating habit of his. Sometimes when France asks him to stop, England would stare at him befuddled, because he barely had any regard that he started pacing in the first place. Germany and Japan found insignificant chores to do. They swept, vacuumed, dusted, and polished the entire apartment. France would be surprised if America even noticed the unnecessary chores they did when he returned.

But... would America return? That question caused his heart to skip a beat, so he shook his head in denile. He would return... well at least France hoped so. France still couldn't believe that half of the events that took place that day really happened. He never thought a nation could have personifications within the borders. Sure England had brothers, but that was only the United Kingdom. It's not like there were personifications for the regions of England. With America's situation however, none of this made sense. Wouldn't there have to be a drastic difference between the states for a personification to be born for each one? He believed that each state was quite similar, same government, same culture, and same language. The only drastic difference that France could point out was geography.

Then there was the fact that these states would harm America. France knew from experience that it's sometimes hard to get along with the territories he controlled, they may fight and rebel, but France never experienced one of his territories trying to take his role as a country away from him. What would they be gaining from such an unholy act? Wouldn't the United States crumble without Alfred? Then that would have a tragic effect on the states. Why would they want to do that?

England suddenly stopped pacing and turned to France, "Come on." England grabbed France by his wrist and dragged him down the hall and into the bathroom. When he closed the door behind him, France laughed, "What, Frog?"

His pearly white teeth shined against the vanity lighting when his thin lips formed an amused smile, "Nothing really. It's just that I wasn't expecting you to want these beautiful lips so badly at a time like this."

England gawked, "Are you accusing me of bringing you here for a make out session!? If so then you are very wrong!"

France leaned closer to the baffled Englishman, "Why else would you bring me into the privacy of the bathroom?" His voice was a low purr and his eyes had a flirty and challenging gleam to them.

England crossed his arms defensively, "because of New York. I don't trust him. For all we know, he could have been the one who shot America!"

France's posture changed as he straightened his back, "Oui, I have to agree with you. He's very untrustworthy. What do you suggest that we do?"

England smirked, "Well, I have always enjoyed spying..."

France clapped his hands together in delight, "I haven't spied in forever!"

"Well, that's because you're not good at it." England teased.

"I only got caught seven times!" He protested.

"In the same year! I had to save your arse plenty of times."

France rolled his eyes, "What about you? You may be good at spying, but just remember how skilled you are at escaping a country on the opposing side! America told me how he had to heroically fly you out on his airplane because you failed to escape Italy so many times."

England glared at him, "Germany was in the country at the time! He's like a bloody hound, he can hunt anybody down in a matter of hours! Anyways I bet that America failed to mention that he 'heroically' dangled me forty feet from the plane with a very old rope while he carelessly flew all around Europe!"

France laughed, but then it grew into a deep frown, "There are a lot of things that America failed to mention."

England studied the bathroom floor, "I know. He sure has some explaining to do when this whole mess is over. I wonder where the lad is now."

France was silent for a moment after seeing England's worried expression. He then let out an unrealistic laugh, "You worry too much! Remember when we all got caught by German troops in World War Two? We were pretty beat up the whole twenty one hours they had us. While we were near our breaking points, America was as strong as ever, and he kept on making jokes and combats. He was so annoying that the guard had to leave the room, and that was the chance given to us to escape! Imagine how annoyed these states must be while holding America captive!" Despite his uplifting words, there was no hiding the doubt in his deep eyes.

England smiled a bit, and France was glad he didn't notice the hidden emotion, "I bet they're ready to throw him back to us any minute."

If he's still alive. "Exactly! Now let's go!" France burst out suddenly. "We can't spy from the bathroom!" France and England exited the bathroom and creeped down the hall. They snuck up a narrow flight of stairs where New York's voice could be heard. The words he said were jumbled and hard to make out, but it became clearer as they got closer. France and England laid themselves on the ground and gazed through the gape under the door. New York stood in the middle of the media room staring at a large screen implanted into the wall. The screen was split into four different windows other than New York's. Each window had a different person with a star as their left eye. Every person in the room looked evenly agitated, New York had his arms crossed defensively and his muscles were tensed up.

"How could you let this happen, New York!?" One of them yelled with a burning glare. Her golden hair was tangled and she wore a tank top with matching pajama shorts.

New York shifted a little, but his voice was still cold and business-like, "It wasn't my faul-"

"Of course it was your fault!" She raged. "How can it not be your fault! They were not supposed to find out! " England narrowed his eyes, and France's mouth went dry, he was not liking how this was going. The group had the right amount of participators also. England did say that there were more than one person attacking America. He wondered if only five states were able to do it instead of ten like he estimated before.

New York sighed, "You're not letting me explain the entire situatio-"

"What else is there to explain?" The golden girl's voice was a low growl.

New York let out a quiet groan, "Maybe if you let me finish my sentences then you might understand tha-"

"That you're in deep shit? I'm sure that we understand that already. I hope you have a blast explaining this to the others." The blonde crossed her arms. France frowned at that. There were others? Exactly how many people were attacking America?

"I think that we should give him a chance to explain himself. I'm sure that he has a valid reason for letting this happen," Another state cut in, he had a sky blue eye and choppy dirty blonde hair. If he had a cowlick and wore glasses then France could mistake him for America.

New York sighed, "Thank you, Maryland. As I was saying before, only ten nations know about us. They have promised to keep us a secret as long as we cooperate."

Another state sighed, "Alright I'll be the one to dare ask, exactly how much did you tell them about us?"

New York studied the ground, "They know there's fifty of us, we have a star as an eye, thirteen of us have stripes, some of us were alive during the revolution..." New York paused and closed his eyes, "...and... theyknowthatwewouldharmAmericaatthegivenopportunity," He said the last part so hastily that France could barely understand him.

Everybody stared at him in shock, "New York..." The golden girl's voice was terrifyingly calm, "Why the hell would you tell them that we would harm America?"

New York glanced at Maryland for help, but he took a step back with his hands up, "you're crazy if you think I'm going to back you up."

The New Yorker's eyes filled with grief, "These nations didn't just come to the apartment to visit. England was talking to America on the phone, and a group of people entered the house. They attacked America, and these countries haven't heard of him since. They thought America was in the apartment, so they came racing here. They found me, and I tried to get away, I swear, but I couldn't. Once they told me how much trouble America's in, I knew I had to tell them about us." Relief washed over France after seeing their stunned expressions. He really thought that they were mad at New York because they were the ones who captured America. France glanced over at England to see that he was thinking the same thing based on his expression.

There was a tense silence for a moment before one of the states finally asked the question that was on all of their minds, "So... what do we do?"

New York's gaze hardened, "We're going to tell the rest of the states to meet at America's house and we're going to sort this out."

"NO!" Maryland burst out, all of the states looked over to him, "if we tell every state to meet at America's house at once, there's no doubt that one of them has America. If they think that they're going to be caught soon, they could panic. Do you know what would happen to America if this state panics? Bad things!"

One state narrowed his eyes, "How do we know that one of us did this? It could very well be one of the nations." France glared at the state on the screen. He had thick brown hair that almost looked black and milky brown eyes.

New York lowered his head and avoided eye contact, "I think that we should stick with what's most likely, Ohio."

Ohio studied him carefully, "Are you trying to say that you would trust these nations before us?"

The New Yorker flinched, "No! I would never trust those bastards for a minute! All I'm trying to say is that no nation knew of America's location. He was in D.C. at the time, and through the chaos of us all trying to return to our states the second the party ended, a group of them could have attacked America on their way back." Ohio opened his mouth to say something, but closed it. He studied the ground without saying much more.

"What if we split up and go to each state individually?" A girl said with a deep southern accent.

The golden girl glanced up at the screen, "Louisiana, that's not a bad idea!"

Louisiana smiled, "Thanks, California! If we can reach each state individually, then none of them would see it coming, and none of them would have the time to do anything bad to America!"

Maryland frowned, "but wait, what if we're too late? For all we know, this person could have already done something completely horrible!"

While every other state looked doubtful as they considered the option, New York smirked with confidence, "I don't think that's going to happen. Remember how I said a group entered the house?"

Louisiana gaped, "They formed an alliance!?" The group of states started chatting with each other excitedly as their spirits were raised.

"So what do we do now?"

A new kind of determination gleamed in New York's eyes, "Good question. We can figure this out. I told these countries that I would contact you guys and come back in thirty minutes with a complete plan. I left the living room nine minutes and twenty seven seconds ago. We still have time to sort this out."

Ohio rolled his eyes, "and there he goes with the time again..."

"Now it's thirty four seconds."

Maryland groaned, "you're too focused on fast-paced Manhattan. When was the last time you allowed your relaxing upstate side to take over?"

California shook her head, "I don't think it's Manhattan. I think it's just a serious case of OCD."

New York glared at them, "You guys are too laid back! Everything must be on time! How do you guys not get sick from being late!?"

Ohio took a step back from the webcam with his arms raised in defense, "Calm down, Death the Kid."

The others laughed while New York opened up a map of the states, "I am not Death the Kid. I don't care about symmetry, and I do not have OCD." He stole a quick glare at California before picking up sharpie and pointing it at the map. "There's five of us and ten countries who know about this now. There are forty five other states. This is going to take a while to reach each one individually. Everybody returned to their homes, right?"

Louisiana nodded, "Not a single one of us would risk staying in NYC with all of those countries wandering around, except you of course, because you're an idiot."

New York decided to ignore her last comment, "Good. Then the journey back must have been exhausting for them and they are probably sleeping in their homes."

California yawned, "I was doing that too before you called."

New York drew a rough oval around the top east corner of the map with the sharpie, "The best way to do this is regional. We will divide America into five sections, each of us will gather the nine other states in your region. I will have the countries separated into pairs and we will escort them while collecting the other states. I don't trust them, if we each have an eye on a pair of them, there's less of a chance that they will do anything tricky."

Ohio snorted, "The world ends the day we would trust any nation but America. They're outsiders!"

New York nodded in agreement, "I hate them all, they're monsters. I'll have the New England region and Pennsylvania."

Maryland thought for a moment, "I could go down the east cost to Florida, and then swing up to West Virginia if you want." New York circled a row of states. His hands shook from the shards of glass, France almost forgot that nobody tended his wounds. He kept his hands out of view from the webcam though, so nobody commented on it.

"I'll go west to Minnesota, and then go down to Mississippi," Ohio said. There was now an upside-down L on the map.

Louisiana sighed, "I guess that means I have to go over to Texas. From there I'll head to North Dakota, and pick up New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming on the way." New York circled Texas, the states north to it, and the three additional states.

California shrugged, "I'll get the rest, including Hawaii and Alaska."

New York glanced at his watch, "We have sixteen minutes and fifty two seconds left. Let's talk about transportation." France and England watched in shock at how fast they planned their modes of transportation, booked flights, bought train tickets, and estimated the cost of gas for when they traveled by car. New York even insisted that he calculated the exact time they should arrive at the house, the others protested of course.

When New York called out the two minute warning and started to end the video chat, France and England raced down the stairs and crashed onto the lavender couch. The rest of the nations stared at them in confusion, but it didn't matter. They crossed their legs and leaned back on the couch, failing to act as if they have been there the whole time. "What were you doing?" Prussia asked breaking the awkward silence they created.

"Spying," France whispered, but it sounded closer to a shout compared to the lack of noise.

England whacked him upside the head, "A spy never announces when they go spying!"

"So what did you find out?" Russia pressed.

England sighed, "New York didn't do it. I'm still not sure about the other states he was talking to, I wouldn't trust them."

"What other states?" Canada asked.

France couldn't explain before he heard footsteps thunder down a flight of stairs. Exactly thirty minutes after New York left the living room, he burst through the doorway, and walked up to the countries. "Everything is sorted out. Partner up, because you're going to be escorted by me and four other states to gather everybody individually."

Everyone stared at him in confusion, except for Germany who glanced at his clock, "I have to say I'm impressed. I didn't think that you would really have an organized plan in thirty minutes."

New York didn't try to hide his smile, "What can I say? I keep track of time. Now partner up!"

France looked over to England, who gave him a nod. France sighed in relief from having a partner right away. Italy jumped to Germany excitedly, leaving Romano with Spain. Canada was for once remembered since the person who didn't team up with him had to be with Russia. Prussia rushed to his side, giving Japan a victorious smirk, "Cananada! You need an awesome partner like me!" Japan's eye twitched when he realized he was paired with Russia, but he was too polite to complain out-loud.

Canada sighed, "It's Canada."

"So what states are we going to?" Italy asked.

New York unfolded the map and laid it out on the coffee table, "Your escorts are Maryland, Ohio, Louisiana, California, and I. I circled the regions you'll be going to."

Everybody studied the map with curiosity, "We'll go with Louisiana!" Spain announced with his gaze on the state of Texas within the circle. Romano narrowed his eyes, but he didn't reject Spain's outburst.

"California is warm, right? We'll go there!" Russia cheered. Japan didn't say anything.

"I want to go with Maryland!" Italy called out.

Germany gave him a questioning look, "Why?"

Italy smiled, "Maryland starts with Mary, which means that Maryland must be a pretty lady!" New York bit his lip to stop himself from laughing at Italy's statement. France and England also found the corners of their mouths twitching upwards.

"We'll stay with you!" France told New York. His statement caught New York off guard and he studied the pair in surprise. France didn't know why this state hated countries so much, but he really wanted to find out.

"I guess that leaves us with Ohio!" Prussia cheered, still silently gloating about not having to go with Russia. There was no emotion in Japan's eyes as he stared at him, but France was sure that he was trying to figure out the best way to kill the obnoxious European.

"So what now?" Canada asked quietly.

New York turned to him and handed the nation an index card, "There are taxis waiting outside the apartment. You'll be driven to your hotel, pack, and then travel to your escort. Here's Ohio's number. Call him after you pack and he will give you further instructions. By the way when you start collecting the states, try to keep Ohio a reaching distance away from Michigan; they fight a lot." New York turned to Russia and Japan, handing them a similar looking card, "This is California's number, and if you try to flirt with her, I swear that one of us is going to bust your heads in." He whipped around to Spain and Romano, "Here's Louisiana's. Try not to make fun of her accent, that's my job." A card now landed in Germany's hand, "Maryland's. I'll warn you now, You're about to meet the most honest person you will ever know. She can also detect any lie, so don't bother speaking anything but the truth." Germany caught the emphasis on the "she" and smiled, now knowing why the state thought Italy's description of Maryland was so funny. New York turned to France and England, "You don't have a taxi, we're taking my car. Give me two minutes and I will be packed and ready to go." The pair shared a quick look with each other as the state ran off, neither was sure if allowing New York to time himself was a good choice.

XXX

France zipped his packed suitcase closed and stared around the hotel room. He was sure that he packed everything. He wasn't too eager to leave the five star hotel; the building lived up to the expectations of the perfect hotel. He was definitely coming back whenever he visited New York. He paused, actually that next visit would be very soon with the world meeting coming up. France frowned; that was about a month away, surely America would be back by then, right? The more he thought about it the more he doubted it. He shook his head and rolled his suitcase out of the hotel room. He locked the door for the last time and walked to the elevator. Prussia jumped through the closing doors right before the elevator started moving. "Prussia! I didn't know that you were on the same floor as me."

Prussia smirked, "Awesome, right? Going to the lobby too?"

France nodded, "New York is waiting outside in his car, all I have to do is check out."

The albino pressed the button to the ground floor, the elevator moved downwards, "Yeah, Canada's down there talking to Ohio on the phone." There was silence for a moment, then he turned to France, "I hope America realizes how completely messed up this all is."

France hummed in thought, "I wonder why he kept it a secret." The elevator stopped and the doors opened, revealing a busy lobby. Two broad men stiffly stood at the front doors, holding them open for the never ending crowd shuffling in and out. There were two separate desks next to each other. One for checking in and one for checking out. France and Prussia stood in a lengthy line to check out. Once he handed in the room key, he gave a flirty wink to the girl behind the desk before walking through the front doors.

New York and England were leaning against a black Toyota. From the looks of it, neither said a word to each other before France walked up to them, "Ready to go!"

England rolled his eyes, "It's about time, Frog."

New York opened the driver's door and popped the trunk open, "Put your bag in the trunk, there won't be any room in the car after we pick up the others." France leaned over the trunk and peered inside. There were a couple of worn jackets, a first aid kit, and two suit cases. France exchanged his suit case for the first aid kit and walked around the car to the driver's seat. New York lowered his sunglasses from his face and pointed to the kit in his hands, "Why do you have that?"

France swung the kit closer and smirked, "England will be driving." England stared at him in confusion, "Big Brother France is going to fix your hands!"

New York shook his head, "No. I got us here without a problem, my hands are fine."

France narrowed his eyes, "Nothing hid your wincing and your shaking hands on the way here." New York studied the steering wheel where his hands were placed, his hands were a throbbing red color and they continued to shake. "Look! They're already red! An infection is on the way."

New York groaned and stepped out of the driver's seat. He turned towards England who was still leaning against the car and tossed him the keys, "Crash my car and I'll have your head." He then climbed into the back seat with a satisfied Frenchman following. England stepped into the car, "Do you know how to drive on the right side of the road?"

France could see England roll his eyes through the mirror, "Yes, this isn't my first time in a country that rides on the right."

New York nodded, "Good. We're taking the New York State Thruway to Albany. We'll stop for gas, drive through Troy, and then take another highway to Bennington; that's where Vermont's house is."

The car started and England worked his way through traffic. France opened the first aid kit and rummaged through it for anything useful. He pulled out a roll of bandages, rubbing alcohol, a clean rag, and a pair of tweezers. New York spread both hands on the middle seat, "Have you had glass stuck in your skin before?"

New York shrugged, "Yeah, but I usually got them out before the wound healed, and even then it hurt a ton. I've never had this much glass stuck in me though, usually only a shard or two."

France bit his lip, "Alright, well this going to hurt a little more than it would if the wound didn't heal. It's kind of like taking a bullet out." Only taking out a bullet usually doesn't have so much digging, cutting, pain, and screaming... France decided not to mention that. "Just try to be patient with me, OK?"

New York nodded, "Alright, it can't possibly hurt that bad, right?"

XXX

"OH MY FUCKING GOD THIS HURTS!" New York yelled as France was carefully pulling out another glass shard. He tried to get them out with as little pain as possible, but the state's hand was shaking too much to avoid any pain. They were only half way done with the second hand and New York already drew blood from biting his lip so hard. He thumped his foot against the car floor and his bandaged hand had a death grip on the car seat.

"Well maybe if you let Japan take care of this earlier, then it wouldn't hurt as much," England said. He drove the car calmly on the highway, trying to use the road to distract himself from the state's screams.

New York delivered a death glare to him, "Shut. Up. You. Damn. Brit." He growled through clenched his teeth. France finally pulled out the long glass shard. He placed the piece of glass into a plastic McDonalds cup. A small clink could be heard as the piece landed on the glass pile in the cup.

"Ne vous inquiétez pas petite État! We have one hand done already, we'll have this one bandaged up in no time!"

New York glanced up at him, "Call me a little state again, I dare you!"

France stared at him in shock, "You know French!?"

"And Italian, German, Dutch, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, Afrikaans, Arabic, Korean, the list is endless... pretty much I learned a language from every immigrant that passed through the golden gates."

France smiled, he was happy that he was finally starting to distract him from the pain, "That is so impressive! I know a couple languages too, but not that many!" France glanced down at the state's red stripe, "So tell me about the other states? Who are we going to meet?"

New York studied him for a moment, most likely debating whether he should say anything or not. Eventually he sighed and glanced up at him, "Well first we're going to Vermont. She's a lot like Canada from the way America describes him. She likes hockey, she's quiet, but she can be really mean when she wants to, and she's vicious in any battle. Then we're most likely going to New Hampshire. He can be very friendly and down to earth as long as you don't get on his bad side, been there, done that, it wasn't pretty. Maine loves the outdoors and he can be very country sometimes. Then we'll zip down to Massachusetts. He sure is something, but I wouldn't judge him by my opinion if I were you, Red Sox suck by the way. We'll go down to Rhode Island, she drinks this stuff called coffee milk and calls water fountains a bubbla, which is weird. Connecticut likes to brag about his money and universities. New Jersey isn't orange, don't let reality TV shows fool you. Pennsylvania's pretty cool until you get him on the topic of football, and he makes good food. Lastly we're going to Delaware. He can be hard to understand, he's quiet and not the easiest state to read, but he's pretty loyal since he ratified first."

France nodded, it was hard to remember these states. He didn't understand how America could remember all fifty of them. The states in the east weren't that hard to remember though with him helping out during the revolution. Then there were the states that had popular tourist spots, or had news there that went international, but he didn't know the names of half the states in this country. If he did before, then he forgot over time. "So some of these states were alive during the revolution?" He asked as he dug into damaged skin with the tweezers.

New York tensed up and closed his eyes, "Yeah. At least the ones in this region."

"So how come we never knew about this?" England asked. "What about other parts of America? Where were these states when Spain controlled the south and France had the west?"

New York looked over at him, "A state isn't born until they become part of U.S. territory, with few exceptions."

"What kind of exceptions?" France asked. It was weird how different these states were from the nations.

"One exception is if you were independent before becoming part of the U.S. I know that Vermont was independent before joining the union. She was alive during the revolution."

England frowned, "You states are nothing like us, are you?"

New York shook his head, "We kinda are, but we have different rules than you nations. For example, while you nations enjoy inflicting pain on others, us states are a little more civilized an- OW!"

"Done!" France cheered as he yanked the last piece of glass out.

New York glared at him, "You didn't have to celebrate by ripping it out of my skin!"

France winced at his harsh tone, "Sorry! That had to be one of the largest pieces of glass I had to pull out of someone's skin, and I knew that it was going to hurt anyway. So I just figured that it would be best to get it over with."

"And you didn't bother to warn me beforehand!" The state yelled.

France shrugged, "I wanted to wait for you to become distracted before pulling out that piece. It would have been stressful for you if I warned you." He started to wipe away the blood that coated the state's hand with some napkins he found in the back seat. There was so much that he almost couldn't point out New York's stripe on his wrist.

New York glanced at England, "Take the next exit off the thruway, we're at Albany."

France gazed out the window to see that he could be right, he honestly didn't know any other cities in the state besides New York City. To the right of their car was the thick Hudson River, straight ahead were a series of bridges that curved and overlapped each other, and to the left was the city. The first thing France noticed was a rectangular forty floor narrowly tall building. Almost the entire exterior of it were a series of windows. White lines that were either stone or metal neatly ran up the building. Four identical buildings half the size were lined up next to it. There were a couple other large and modern buildings, but even from a distance France could tell most of the city had aged architecture and was fairly old. Past the center of the city, which had large and impressive buildings, were houses and trees. New York's capital was definitely different than his most popular city.

Once England had the car off the highway, they were driving through rows of brick houses connected together. Even though thick clouds hovered over the land, none of the citizens were phased by the threat of bad weather. They were sitting on their porch and talking, or walking up and down the street, or blasting rap music in their car, or playing basket ball in the streets. "There's a gas station at the end of the street," New York directed. The car rolled up to a gas pump and came to a smooth stop. New York dug into his pocket with a bandaged hand and took out a worn leather wallet, "Here's fifty, get yourself a sandwich or somethin' while you're at it. It's almost dinner time."

France laughed and shook his head, "Not for me it isn't. I would be sleeping right now if I were in Europe." He passed the wad of dollar bills to England, "You go in, I still have to finish up here," he said gesturing to the bandages.

New York pulled out his phone once England left, "What are you doing?"

New York shrugged, "Checking for new messages."

"From the other states I'm guessing."

The state shook his head, "No, from America." New York stopped scrolling for a moment and frowned, "I should have known that there wouldn't be anything."

France tilted his head, "You really care about him, don't you?"

"I'm his state, if I didn't care then there would be a problem." New York said with a small smile.

"If you states care so much, then why did you say that even you would harm America?"

New York brought his gaze to the ground with a slight glare, "because we're all greedy fools who want more than we could ever have."

"Greedy? What do you gain from harming America?" France asked with a frown.

"Everything we ever wanted," He grumbled.

France tried to ask more, but the state refused to even look at him. He was starting to wonder if it was a good idea to start asking him questions in the first place. The nauseating smell of gasoline filled the car as France silently bandaged his hand. He made sure not to cover the stripe though. He noticed at certain times his stripe and his eye started to glow, and France was starting to become curious. He wondered why these states had a star and stripe in the first place. He knew that sometimes nations had certain parts of their bodies that stood out, America's cowlick being Nantucket is a good example. But France never knew of a personification having parts of their flag on them. The fact that these states did was sort of frightening. Certain parts of a nations body were either their strength or their weakness. For Example while the Italy brothers had their hair curls as their weakness, America's glasses were indestructible. What purpose did these stars and stripes serve?

England hopped back into the car and threw a wrapped sandwich in the back, "I figured that since you were talking about food that you would be hungry," He said.

New York placed it to the side, "Maybe later. I had a sudden loss of appetite." The state stared out the window, "Get back on the highway, we will drive right through Troy and reach Bennington in about fifty four minutes."

England gave France a questioning look. He could almost hear England's voice in his head asking, what did you do? France ignored the look and busied himself by packing up the first aid kit.

They drove past cities, towns, barns, woodlands, and lakes before finally crossing over to Vermont. It was weird being able to drive for such a long time without having to show any passports or anything. If he drove for the same amount of time in Europe he probably would have ran into a different country by now. Instead they peacefully crossed the border, nothing guarding it except a friendly "WELCOME TO VERMONT THE GREEN MOUNTAIN STATE" sign. He wondered about this state. When he was helping out during the American Revolution he heard about the land called Green Mountains. It was an independent territory that many people were fighting claim for. There were rumors that the land had a personification. He asked America once about the land, he said that there wasn't. France frowned, he was lying then. New York said that this state was alive during the revolution. He started to question exactly how many lies America told to keep the states a secret.

"We're almost at Bennington," New York spoke for the first time since they left Albany.

France stared out the window and enjoyed the view. There was no questioning why Vermont was the green mountain state. Past the highway were mountains and hills of all sizes, they folded in front of each other and rolled into one another. There were so many trees on these mountains that it was entirely green. The closer he looked, the more beauty there was. Almost every single shade of green was painted onto those glorious mountains. Sunlight shined through the thick clouds for a moment, lighting up the forest green color. Everything looked so natural and rich, France just wanted to jump out of the car and wonder those hills. He would love to see what a sight this state would be during the fall when all of the trees turned different colors. He would have to make sure he came back later in the year. This personification must hold much beauty, France couldn't wait to see her.

"Where do I go from here?" England asked. New York was the only one who knew where they were after they got off the highway. Now they were driving through some small road with a lot of hills and curves. The road was coming to an end and they could either go left or right.

"Go right," He ordered. "From there continue straight and you'll find yourself in the middle of Bennington."

"How do we know which town it is?" France asked as the car turned. The trees started to thin and there were soon a series of houses. Each house was large enough to hold seven bedrooms, but France doubted that there was more than one family on each lot. Their driveways were long and curvy, France would have mistaken them for separate roads if the properties' lush gardens weren't in sight.

New York smiled a bit, "Look for the moose statues."

England glanced at the state through the mirror in confusion, "What?"

New York shook his head, "Vermont's similar to Canada in more than one way. One thing you notice quickly about Bennington is that there are random moose statues placed around the town. You'll see them outside restaurants, businesses, on top or roofs, and on sidewalks, they're everywhere really." France and England both had the same confused look on their face, "and in case you're wondering why, let me just say that I have no idea."

"This state sounds very... interesting," France finally said. He was waiting for New York to say something, but the state continued to stare out the window with a relaxed smile, "What has you in such a good mood all of a sudden?"

New York's smile grew, "We're here." And he was right. France glance quickly at a rectangular sign at the corner of the intersection to see that the street they were on was Main Street, which surprised him. This street seemed too small to be considered a main street. The lone houses with large yards died out, and the houses became smaller and less impressive until there were just a series of buildings pressed next to each other lining the streets with no room for a yard. "Pull over here, Vermont's apartment is only a short walk away." The car came to a stop and they were parked along the street in front of a small barber shop. Actually, every shop was fairly small.

France had to support himself with the top of the black vehicle the second he stepped out of a sitting position. He had been sitting for so long that his legs were practically jello. He attempted to shake the feeling away as he closed the door of the car. His back was beginning to hurt too, he saw why New York wanted to walk for a little bit. He watched the state stretch his legs once he exited the car. England yawned and locked the door, "Well that was a very tiring drive. Does Vermont even know we're coming?" Both nations knew the answer to that, he wondered why England bothered asking.

New York shook his head, "No, I trust her with my life, but if I told her that we were coming, it would only be fair to tell everybody else. Then the state who has America would be given a warning that they're going to get caught soon and-" New York paused and bit his lip. "It won't be a happy ending." He looked up at England, "That's not going to happen though, we'll make sure of it."

France gazed down Main Street, "So are we ready to go?" England shoved the keys in his pocket and nodded. They all crossed an intersection and France looked around. The town was so small and cute! Shops lined the streets, making it seem more narrow than it already was. He realized that almost everything was in a short walking distance. There were banks, restaurants, clothing stores, food markets, everything one would need was smushed right next to each other. The pizza shop was next to the post office, the flower shop stood besides the jewelry store, the bakery was across from the church, there was a small alleyway between the eyeglasses building and the costume store, everything was assorted at random. Above these small businesses were ordinary brick buildings with plain windows, France could only guess they were apartments. As they walked down the pale sidewalks, France enjoyed the fresh smell of upcoming rain and the sound of cars passing by and the citizens murmuring to each other as they walked past them. France was never a claustrophobic person. In fact, he very much enjoyed closed in spaces, they were more homey than open spaces. He loved walking down this narrow street crowded with strangers. It reminded him of some of the narrow streets that were in Paris, some of those streets couldn't even fit cars. He wondered if this state felt the same about small spaces, but he doubted it with the wide open mountains.

"She lives here," New York said almost nervously.

France glanced upwards, it seemed that she lived in one of those apartments above the row of small shops. "She lives above a book shop, a spa, and a chocolate store? What a relaxing area to live in! I can see myself living here. Although I would gain loads of weight eating chocolate and reading books all day."

New York laughed, "Vermont loves the location too. She doesn't gain any weight though. I bet it's from all of the hockey she plays in the winter." France smiled from making the state laugh. He seemed to be in a bad mood for most of the ride, that mostly had to do with France digging into his skin with a pair of tweezers for half of it, but he figured that after he was all bandaged up he would have been a little more happier. Once they were outside of the door to her apartment, New York's smile fell, "You might want to step back, this could get real ugly, real soon." France stared at him in questioning, but the personification ignored him. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and gave the wooden door three sharp knocks.

"Who is it?" A sweet voice echoed through the apartment hallway.

"Jay Excelsior," New York called casually. France now noticed how tense and restricted his voice was before, and how it instantly vanished once he talked to a fellow state.

A playful gasp could be heard through the door, "This wouldn't be the dashing Jay Excelsior who escorted me to that ravishing yacht party last night, would it?"

New York rolled his eyes, but nothing hid the smile on his face, "The same."

The door was thrown open, and England and France jumped back as a flash of red launched at New York. France stared cautiously at the red-head crushing New York into a warm embrace, "Hey! What are you doing here?" She opened her eyes and glanced past the state she was hugging. Her left eye had a glowing star and her right was a deep forest green. Her eyes widened in shock and she numbly unwrapped her arms from him. She took a step back without taking her gaze away from the two nations, "New York...?" Her soft voice was barely raised above a whisper, and it sounded frightened as ever.

New York sighed, "We shouldn't talk about this in public." France recognized the fact that the apartment hallway was completely empty, but a personification could never be too cautious.

The state took a step back, "Yes, o-of course. Come in." She held the door open for England and France, but couldn't help but flinch as they walked by. The first thing he noticed was the strong smell of maple syrup that hovered throughout the apartment. The area was simple and small, there was a small kitchen that held a variety of different odors, most making France's stomach rumble. He hadn't eaten since early morning at that diner in New York City, seeing England's focused gaze on the kitchen, he knew he was thinking the same thing. There was a small living space filled with fancy antique furniture, even the small dining area besides it had an antique dining table that didn't fit more than two people. There were two doors off to the side, most likely leading to the bedroom and the bathroom.

The resident of the small apartment surely didn't match the beauty of the mountains, she went beyond that. France could only stare, the woman was stunning. She had a slightly curvy figure covered with a loose low-cut tee-shirt and a pair of black shorts. She wore no make-up, and she certainly didn't need to. Her pale skin was naturally smooth besides a small scar above a scarlet eyebrow. Her green eye had just as much contrast as England's did, only her eye was a darker green. While England's was a bright emerald, her eye matched the color of rich green leaves. Her most memorable feature though was her hair. Her hair went straight down to her waist in a series of layers. France couldn't imagine how thick her hair would be without them. Her roots were a deep red, while the tips of her hair were a bright yellow. France's eyes trailed down her hair to see the difference in color. The top of each layer were the same red as her roots, but then converted to a firey orange, which flowed to the sunflower yellow. Her hair very much resembled the leaves during the fall.

"Now Vermont, I bet that you're waiting for a explanation so let me-" New York didn't finish his sentence before a wild fist came flying at him. The confused beauty was now glaring at him with her hands clenched. France almost laughed at how delicate she looked before and how she was acting now.

"Of course I want an explanation!" Vermont roared, "What the hell are they doing here!?" She pointed a finger at France and England, who would have cowered at her intense gaze if they were in New York's position.

New York swallowed nervously, "Well... they- errr... surprise?" He ducked as another fist was thrown.

"I told you that you shouldn't have stayed in that city!" She raged as she bombarded the poor state with wild punches, "While everybody else left right after the party, did you? No! You just had to stay at your precious apartment!" Her green eye was filled of fury, but France noticed that her left eye lit up, so did New York's eye and his red stripe.

New York tried to dodge all of her attacks, but he soon tripped over a leg of the dining table and went crashing to the ground, "Vermont, HANG ON MINUTE WILL YOU!?"

Vermont paused just as she was reaching for a hockey stick that was leaned against one of the doors, "What?" She put her hands on her hips, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be mad at you, it's not like you gave away the secret we've been hiding for centuries or anything!"

New York's eyes widened in horror as she gripped the hockey stick, "AMERICA'S IN DANGER!"

Vermont stopped, all of her raging anger vanished into thin air as she stared at him in confusion, "What?"

Twenty minutes later they all sat around an antique coffee table with steaming cups of tea in their hands. Vermont stared at them in disbelief as New York recalled almost every detail, France noticed how he left out the fact that he launched himself through a window and had his head bashed in with a pipe, and he wasn't surprised, he would have left that part out too if he were the state. "...So then the group of countries separated into pairs and we drove here right away," New York finished.

Vermont stared at him with wide eyes, "I can't believe this is happening," She murmured.

New York nodded in agreement and sighed, "I don't either. One day you're celebrating the guy's birthday, the next you're wondering whether he's harmed or not. As shocking as it is though, it's happening, and we can't ignore that."

Vermont nodded in agreement, "Just let me get packed and we will be ready to leave." The woman rose from her seat and walked off to her bedroom.

As the door closed, France stared at New York in amusement, "leaving out your romantic hug scene with the window I see."

New York glared at him, "Yes, and there's nothing romantic about me jumping through the window."

France pointed to his hands, "When did you injure your hands?"

New York glanced down at his bandages, "Some drunkie at the party shattered their champagne glass all over the table I was sitting at."

England titled his head and decided to join in, "Is that dried blood in your hair?"

France narrowed his eyes, "I do believe that is some dried blood in your hair."

"Why would there be blood in your hair?" England asked.

New York's eyes were as cold as ice, "I hit my head this morning and never had the time to get the blood off before you broke into my apartment."

Vermont came out of the bedroom with a green duffle bag, she shuffled to the bathroom, threw a couple of plastic bottles into the bag and zipped it closed. She then entered the living area once again. She grabbed her hockey stick and paused, "I think I'm ready to go."

New York didn't tear his gaze from the hockey stick, "Do you have to bring that?"

Vermont smiled, "How else am I going to deal with the group of states who would dare mess with America?" France shivered, he'd seen Canada play hockey once and if she was anything like him then he wouldn't touch her with a ten foot pole while she held that stick. "Well we should be going. If we're really going to swing around to Pennsylvania and pick up everybody along the way then this is going to be a long night."

xxx

Author's Note: 1/? Of France's and England's adventure. So I'm sure you've caught on by now that I'm splitting up the painfully long chapters for more efficiency more frequent updates. I'm such a fuckface for not doing this before, it would have saved so much stress. But I guess there hasn't been too much of a loss since even if I did split it up it still would've took this long to write all of this stuff. I'll give you a long ass apology note and shit after I spit this up. Just bear with me you beautiful readers.