The sound of multiple footsteps echoed down the hall, of numerous nations all marching toward the UN's General Assembly Hall at a rapid pace. The doors were pushed open to reveal a coalition of nations, comprised mostly of those in NATO, the rest of Western Europe, North and South America, Africa, some of Asia, and Oceania. The great majority of the world, a mass of personifications all entering the room at the same time.
In the room already were the remaining countries, Natalya, and the man of the hour, Russia. Sitting right at the front of the room. The nations spotted him calmly sat in his seat, a curious look on his face as he watched the performance of so many nations advancing toward him.
Once escorted into the room the majority of nations at the back of the pack broke off and went to their seats, passing judging gazes at the Russian nation. That left only the group of nations making up NATO, the EU, Australia, Japan, and South Korea.
Seeing the judgement and contempt in the eyes of so many nations circled around them, Natalya clung to Russia's arm and defensively glared down anyone that dared get close, scaring them away before they could approach.
But it couldn't keep everyone at bay, England being the first to march right up to Russia. Slamming his hand on the table, the two long time enemies looked eye to eye. "Where do you get off? Have you lost your bloody mind?!" England yelled, jabbing his finger at the other nation, only to retract his hand when Natalya tried to swipe at it.
Russia gently made her let go of him with a wave of his hand. "England. I had not been expecting of you to be so passionate about matters of my family." He then gestured his head toward Alfred. "I am expecting this outburst from him."
Alfred, who was standing behind England with his arms crossed, turned his head toward Russia in surprise, not expecting to be dragged into this already. He was still waiting his turn to berate Russia. "Don't look at me. I totally knew you were gonna attack... not that I needed intel to know you would."
"Yes, and intelligence continues to evade you it seems. In case you forgot, most of us knew. But that doesn't make us any less angry. This tosser here just started the largest land war since World War Two!"
"Hey man, I wasn't the one that invaded Ukraine," Alfred defended, wanting to direct England's ire back on the real culprit. Though France decided to interject himself and grab onto England's shoulders. "Alright Angleterre, let us settle down before we raise tensions furzher. Russia will get 'is comeuppance soon enough."
With some difficulty he managed to drag the screaming Brit away, but not before giving a warning look to Alfred, as if to say, 'Do not provoke Russia.' Despite his appeasing attitude France appeared frazzled, exhausting himself with the task of negotiating with Russia's government to hopefully nip the conflict in the bud.
It was useless in Alfred's eyes. He knew enough about Russia to know they were too far in to back out now. And France has known Russia way longer so they should know their behavior by now too, but whatever.
Alfred untangled his crossed arms and sat on the edge of the table, kicking his feet and staring down at Russia, his eyes quickly skimming past Natalya. He then shook his head with pursed lips. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Man, you just can't help yourself huh? I thought we all kicked the imperialist bug over a century ago."
Russia tilted his head like a confused puppy. "Imperialist?" He scanned Alfred's eyes for a moment, breaking out into a giggle. "That is rich, da? Coming from American empire, with all of Europe under thumb. I know your "heroism" likes to see world in black and white, but I am doing no such thing. Simply allowing sestra to remain home as she pleases."
Alfred's smile twitched a bit, blinking at Russia like they just grew several heads. "What are you talking about? Isn't she always at your house? Even the Baltics and Poland still visit," he began, biting the inside of his cheek and shrugging. "Probably to appease you so you don't pull shit like... this." He gestured his hand randomly toward the air, but it was clear what he was referring to. He could hear France sighing in disappointment in the background.
"Because slaves like them are good for nothing but worshipping him, as big brother is the greatest! Only total fools like you can't understand that," Natalya interjected, only for Russia to wave his hand to interrupt, looking at her with a neutral gaze. She understood and returned to holding his arm as he spoke up. "Her boss does not allow her to come home often. She is often gone for months, and sometimes cannot be calling. I want to be freeing her of cruel restrictions."
"And is this the line your government fed you? Or just the crap you actually believe?" Alfred shot back, completely ignoring Natalya's comments in preference for a smirk off with Russia. He probably should've expected it but having an actual stake in this crazy Slavic mess of a family was leaving him more agitated than normal, from several angles. For one he was really rubbed the wrong way about Russia's "freeing" statement, in regards to Ukraine, especially since he was at her house only a little while ago and she seemed completely content with her life.
But he was also unnerved with Natalya's defense of Russia. And yeah he knows it's usual for her to support them, and that she has to keep up a cover in public. but after everything that man has done to her recently, how can she even stomach clutching his arm and praising him while he hurts their sister? Meanwhile Ukraine had immediately put Russia in an ultimatum in order to repair his and Natalya's relationship. Is it because Russia had physically hurt Natalya, as opposed to being at war with Ukraine where it's more complicated?
No, Russia is still hurting his sisters, it shouldn't matter the circumstances. Alfred truly doesn't get it, and despite both his and Natalya's efforts he was deeply worried that this issue is going to creep into their personal life at some point. Damn, how was he going to navigate this? Beat Russia, help Ukraine, and all while keeping Natalya happy and out of the war.
'You've got your work cut out for you this time, Jones,' he thought to himself, staring at Russia as they talked. He was in his head for a while and missed parts of what they said, from what he could gather they were drumming up some justification for this "special military operation."
No matter what Russia said he wouldn't trust them regardless. He remembers when Russia once wiped out their own tanks and men just because their boss barred them from showing up to a meeting. If this was all the Russian government's decision then Russia would've just fought against it, but they didn't and that tells him all he needs to know.
"I'm gonna be honest man, I stopped listening to you a while ago," Alfred laughed while itching at his ear, interrupting what Russia was saying. "Lying is boring dude. Just admit you want Ukraine's land and go from there."
Russia let out an amused huff, intertwining his fingers and setting his elbows on the table. "And this is attitude I had been predicting from you. Your accusation is very untrue. This is simply matter between me and my family. We can do without the classic American meddling."
Alfred smacked his palm off his forehead in feigned realization. "Oh right! How could I forget about your famous "family matters"? ...You seem to be having quite a few of those recently, man. I mean, I know you got issues but... you've seemed to develop a baaaad bad habit recently."
As Alfred said that last part Russia's whole body tensed, his knuckles cracking as his hands slowly clenched into fists. Beside him Natalya glared suspiciously at Alfred, not certain of their intention but having a good feeling of what they were referring to. This was dangerous territory Alfred was putting himself in.
"Bad... habits... hmm," Russia repeated back slowly, pondering on the words, not liking its implications. "You know, i have been wondering to myself as to why this is making you so irritable. It is reminding me of Vietnam all over again."
At that Alfred twitched uncomfortably, as Natalya put Russia's arm in a chokehold, glaring daggers at Vietnam from across the table, who was trying their best to not look concerned with the conversation taking place.
Russia giggled to himself at Alfred's discomfort, wanting to twist the knife deeper. "I suppose it is the ridiculous hero complex. Always having to "save the damsel," as you would say. Do I even have to be bringing up My Lai Massacre?" He paused as he heard a creaking noise, noticing Alfred's fingers digging their way into the wood of the table, their whole body starting to tremble. He smirked and continued. "I will not let you fill sestra's head with false promises of safety and prosperity. Even now you show true face. A violent, emotional, monster of a man child that buries sins with delusions of heroism and being so much more "human" than the rest of us. Bad habits, da? I will not subject her to such fate."
"Do not even go there," Alfred threatened, slamming his hands on the table and getting right up in Russia's face. "You've committed how many war crimes in the past century alone? You're probably already committing them in Ukraine as we speak. Because why love your sister when you can beat them into submission, right?"
The smile on Russia's face spread into a toothy grin. "If you like I can beat you into submission, so you may truly understand severity of what you are talking about." In moments the tension in the room had increased tenfold, everyone staring at the two with bated breath. But just as Russia was about to stand up Alfred was yanked away by the arm, France sighing as he pulled Alfred along with one hand and head locked a struggling England with the other. "I mean honestly Amérique, sometimes you're so similar to Angleterre it's painful."
Alfred grumbled in frustration. "I—" but before a full argument could ensue he was struck by a glare from France, who was still struggling with keep England at bay. He so wanted to just ignore France and continue on but Russia wasn't going to budge at all on this issue, despite them having no real good defense against abusing both his siblings. So it would basically just be him slamming his head against a Russian-shaped brick wall.
So with an astronomical amount of effort Alfred went along with France, flashing Russia a dirty look, with everyone after him deciding to give their piece to Russia. From urging for them to just turn back and stop what they're doing, to warning that there'd be dire consequences. The latter of which being rare as most nations were still very much intimidated by them, even more so now that they proved way too willing to start wars.
But Russia took all their words on the chin. They reacted the same way back in 2014, just empty words. He shouldn't expect any different now.
On the other hand there was Alfred, their words slowly digging under his skin. He's had his suspicions of Alfred ever since the meeting in Minsk, when the subject of Natalya being in America was brought up. It is clear that Alfred's knowledge of what happened between him and Natalya was greater than they were letting on.
But why were they being so cryptic about it? If they knew that he had lost control and hit his sister then why weren't they belting out abuse accusations for all the nations to hear? It seemed like that was being implied with Ukraine, which was false of course. But bringing up Natalya would surely make him look like the bad guy, and back up their lies about his alleged "beating" of Ukraine. Which in turn would likely spur on more intense support for Ukraine, so what was Alfred scheming?
Russia's thoughts were going a mile a minute, trying to pick apart Alfred's plan, if there even was one in the first place. They had always been spontaneous with a tendency to dive headfirst into things. Back in the Cold War it made them very hard to predict, but also led to them being emotional and rash. So it concerned Russia that they were being so careful.
Just then his eyes widened to an impossible size, a realization coming to him. If Alfred is aware of him hitting Natalya, then that would mean they would also likely know that the reason was over China and their relationship together. With anyone else it would just be an embarrassing situation, but with Alfred he could use the info for who knows what. With the Natalya situation they could vilify him, not that that was anything different, but with knowledge of his secret relationship? He could shudder at the thought. Blackmail, leverage in world affairs. The U.S. government would eat it up.
It's irrational. It's a relationship that shouldn't cause much issue, but he knows better. China and Russia have held a delicate balance of relations for a long time. If the world figures out that they're colluding with each other to this extent it could turn dozens of nations against them, and toward America. It's less the nations and more the human governments that are the worry.
Russia steeled himself and let out a calming breath. No need to get riled up he just needs to be smart about this, and keep Alfred from talking. They haven't said a word despite probably knowing about his relationship for over a year at this point, which while unsettling, gives him time to think of what to do next, seeing as Alfred's in no rush to tell people. If that's the case then there is no purpose in wasting time here, he will leave and use the time to figure out his next move.
To Natalya's surprise Russia stood up out of his seat, pulling her up with him as she let go of his arm and landed on her feet. Other nations turned their attention to the two of them, cautious of what they might do after the previous scare with Alfred.
Seeing all the tense looks he was getting Russia couldn't help but laugh. Typical. Ignoring the urge to roll his eyes he looked down at Natalya, who stared back at him expectantly. "I think it best to leave now sestra. We have no more business here."
Without question she agreed, following her brother as they both turned to leave. While still struggling with France, England raised his head above the other, noticing the two siblings leaving. "Um... America? Shouldn't you be stopping those two?"
Stopping his conversation with Canada midway Alfred turned just quick enough to catch sight of Natalya disappear behind the door to the room. He blinked a few times and looked away, playing off his disappointment with a shrug. "Nah, I was gonna have him leave when we started talking about the more important stuff."
England made a grumble in agreement, a little calmer now that Russia was gone, France letting out a sigh of relief now that he didn't have to wrangle them. "I 'ave to say Angleterre, zhis is not my preferred kind of wrestling," he huffed while brushing out his hair.
"Shut your face, frog," England scoffed, crossing his arms and marching off toward his seat. "If Russia's already gone then I'd like to skip right to the meeting."
With Russia and Natalya gone the remaining nations began to take their seats, Alfred giving one last look at the door before tearing his eyes away so no one noticed his lingering eyes. As host for the emergency meeting he marched his way to the podium, looking over the large group of nations present.
Despite the grave situation he couldn't help but laugh out loud, his voice getting picked up by the mic and gaining everyone's attention. "Who thought I'd be up here because of Russia so soon after last time? It's almost like I told you so."
He ignored the groans from the audience as he pulled out his phone, communicating with his government for the details. After a few minutes of texting back and forth he set the phone down on the podium top, fumbling with the mic and looking up at everyone. "Alright dudes! As you all know we're gonna be having a U.N. assembly with our bosses in a few hours, so it seems like our job is to just, take the time to work out in our heads where we all stand on this issue. Not that it's a hard decision to make between her and that tyrannical no good evil bastard I've been warning about for years."
He whispered that last bit out of the corner of his mouth, though when that received mixed reactions and annoyed grumbles from everyone he quickly moved past the subject. "After that we can discuss what we'll do in terms of aid. Because..." He couldn't stop the smile from creeping into his lips, his shoulders raising in a dramatic shrug. "Well it seems big bad Russki isn't doing too hot. He's going slower than we predicted. Which means we got some extra time to figure out our response."
It shouldn't have come as a surprise but it was still odd to see England nod in agreement. "Yes. It seems our claims of Russia being a paper tiger were well founded," they said with a smugness that made even the mildest of Russia's supporters glare at them. Though that only resulted in returning glares from those opposed to Russia's actions.
Even without Russia present the tension was very quickly reaching a boiling point barely a minute into the meeting. Alfred seemed fully prepared to let the impending chaos ensue, but Germany unfortunately didn't want to see the start of WW3, standing up and speaking directly to Alfred, bringing the room's focus to him.
"America if it's alright vith you I believe zhose sympathetic to Russia's cause have no reason to remain in zhis meeting. I doubt zhey have much input on zhe subject of Ukrainian aid, and vill speak for zhemselves on vhere zhey stand during zhe U.N. assembly. I believe it is best if zhose zhat vish to leave may do so."
Alfred assessed Germany for a moment, eventually shrugging with a neutral expression. "Yeah, ok." To be fair it probably wouldn't be a good plan to discuss war aid with Russian sympathizers in the room. Leaning toward the mic he put on a grin and spoke up. "Welp, you heard the man. I guess those that don't have a purpose here can leave if they want."
Promptly a few nations stood up and left, some that supported Russia and others that would later abstain in the official U.N. vote. Notably China was not one of the people to leave, France raising a brow and looking over at his fellow nation. "Do you not intend to join zhem?"
China flicked his hand through his ponytail, a smile spreading on his face as he put his hand to his chin and stated, "I'm abstaining," with a shimmer in his eye. Foolish western countries are too emotional, it's rash actions like this that lead to world wars. Well he won't be dragged in so easily.
"Sure you are," Alfred stated in a mockingly cheerful tone, walking behind China and France on his way to his usual spot between Canada and England.
"Huh?!" China screamed, whirling his head toward the other nation. "What did you say?" Alfred didn't look at them, sidetracked with organizing his 'notes.' "Nah nah nothing," he dismissed, setting the neat pile of blank papers on the table.
China could physically feel the vein in his head pulsating, and he was about to yell when he stopped himself, letting out a tired huff. He realized a moment too late they were trying to get a rise out of him. And dammit it worked.
"Are you implying I'm secretly supporting Russia?" He asked, the nations close enough to hear the statement staring between the two. Seeing what was unfolding Germany just sighed, feeling a stress headache coming on.
"Hey now. I didn't say anything," Alfred defended, his hands raised, before pointing both index fingers directly at China, "...But yeah that's exactly what I'm implying."
"America..." Germany warned in a low voice. The last thing this high stress situation needs is an argument between those two. It only results in unnecessarily leaving everyone wired, which is not what they need with Russia's boss throwing out nuclear threats like free candy.
Alfred shrugged and lolled his head toward Germany, about to goad China even more, but catching onto the exhaustion in Germany's eyes he bit his cheek last second. He looked to the floor as Germany spoke up once more. "Remember zhat zhe main reason ve are here is to simply determine our stance, zhen discuss vhat commitments ve intend to make, or lack zhereof." He slightly nodded toward China, then turned his head and narrowed his eyes at Alfred. "But zhis is not zhe time to argue or accuse ozher nations. No matter how emotionally charged some of us may be."
"Not arguing," Alfred corrected casually, ignoring the remark Germany clearly directed at him.
A few hours into the meeting and the remaining abstainers had left, leaving only those in support of Ukraine, meaning they could all finally begin discussing aid.
"I say let's give her A-10s!" Alfred spoke up loudly, whipping his head side to side excitedly as he awaited everyone's reactions, to which he unfortunately didn't get outside of a few concerned glances.
"And what did your government say?" Germany was quick to respond, seeing that Alfred was growing too overzealous about this. Alfred dropped into his seat with a pout, glaring off into space with his arms crossed. "Wait to see what they decide on," he said with the bored tone of a kid repeating back a rule they broke.
He continued to mope as the other allies discussed their planned contributions with each other, Canada giving a supportive pat onto his shoulder. "Don't worry about it. Everyone's just being very cautious. It's been a long time since there's been a war of this scale in Europe."
Alfred's face twisted and he looked away from his brother, resting his chin on his palm. "No one else has to filter all their opinions through their bosses, they just all get to say what they're gonna provide and that's that."
"Yeah, well they aren't the world's superpower," Canada started, lightly smacking the back of his brother's head to get their attention. "A superpower who happens to have a real issue butting in to things. We're sort of trying to prevent you and Russia from fighting here, eh?"
Alfred stuck his arm out toward the other side of the table where Germany sat, facing Canada with an exasperated look. "Germany and France got the most money of any country in Europe, and they're being super slow to do anything. Germany is hesitant to provide helmets. Helmets, Mattie!" He hissed under his breath, only barely catching his volume as Canada frantically put a finger to his lips.
"I know I know. But like I said people are cautious. . . Maybe some a little too cautious. You know how Germany is," Canada conceded. "But we both know that if things were up to you you'd probably be in Ukraine right now."
"Y-Yeah?! Well..." Alfred tried to argue, only to go quiet and become unable to look his brother in the eye, which wasn't helped by the "yeah, I thought so" expression that Canada was boring into the side of his skull. "Whatever, man. Shut up," he said in an annoyed huff, trying to just drop the subject, though despite his effort it ended up becoming an whispering argument anyway.
That was until a voice spoke up and called on him, to which he perked in his seat and became distracted from threatening to wring his brother's neck. "I- a wha-??" He stuttered out, rapidly scanning the room to figure out who called out to him, his eyes landing on Germany who was staring back with a sole brow raised, whatever annoyance or concern they felt buried under the usual stoicism.
Seeing the confusion on Alfred's face Germany rolled his eyes and repeated himself. "I said my time is over, it is now your turn to speak. I hope you at least remember zhe topic you are speaking on."
"Yeah! Yeah of course I do," Alfred said, scrambling with his notes. Though looking down at his papers it seems the last note he jotted down was just the word "HELMETS" in big bold letters. He stared at the word with disdain, like it had personally offended him, before flipping the paper over and returning his attention to the others in the room.
"I think in general we could probably spare a bit more. I mean, there's like thirty of us in NATO, and even more that support Ukraine. We've got waaaayyy more money and badass weapons than Russia does. I mean just look at the Baltics." He pointed both arms at the three nations at the end of the table, who were all staring ahead with serious and intense expressions.
Estonia nodded slowly and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, an unnatural light glimmering off the lenses. "We will provide anything necessary so that Ukraine will win," he stated, his voice nearly robotic as Lithuania and Latvia nodded along in unison.
"See? And they're some of the poorest in NATO. Yet they're contributing the biggest percentage. And I hate to bring it up again... but most of you still aren't paying the 2% we agreed on." And just like he assumed it would that caused a few nations to begin yelling at him, which resulted in him arguing with them as well.
That was until Poland dramatically raised their hand, holding it higher and higher until it became distracting enough to quiet the other nations down, who were all now staring at them. "Uh, what is it dude?" Alfred called out, Poland grinning and sitting back down. "Nothing. Just remembered I have something to ask you after the meeting."
"O-Oh..." Alfred stuttered, a little caught off guard with the arguments getting cut off. "Of course dude! There's this awesome slushee machine in a gas station near here I like to hit up if you wanna meet me there during the lunch break. You should totally get some too! It's got a bunch of crazy flavors you usually don't see and you can combine them into even crazier flavors and—"
"If we could please return to the subject at hand," England interrupted, standing up out of his seat with his big brows creased. "There are limits to what we can provide, America. Either Russia, or his government, or both, are convinced this is some big proxy war with us and is hurling out threats willy-nilly."
"They are likely bluffs," Lithuania pointed out, gaining England's attention. "Russia will not dare to confront NATO on his own, especially without alliance to match. It is all deterrence." England frowned at Lithuania and their logic, not because they're wrong, but because he's trying to prove a point and keep America from getting any rash ideas.
"But are we seriously willing to take that risk? What if Russia finally loses what's left of his brain and attacks more of us? We all know his next targets will likely be Moldova, Poland, or you three," he said, pointing a finger at Lithuania and the other two Baltics.
"Which is why we are needing to make sure Ukraine wins," Lithuania argued back, standing up from his seat as well. "I do not see drip feeding approach as working."
Before England could offer a rebuttal, he was stopped short as Alfred's hand clasped his shoulder, drawing his attention away from the Baltic nation. "Don't worry about it Iggy, that's what the hero is here for!" Alfred said confidently, winking at the older nation, a sparkle shooting from his eye and bouncing off the other man's forehead. "As long I'm protecting you guys Russia will be too scared to try anything."
England shook his head and shoved Alfred's hand off, spinning on his heel to face them fully. "You are the problem here! You get even the slightest bit too involved in this and poof! There goes the entire planet. What if Russia decides to attack you first? If by some miracle you don't immediately blow each other up with nukes."
Alfred let out an amused huff of air, his hands falling to his hips. "Well I can totally beat Russia if nukes aren't involved. But anyway that's why I've got you guys at my back for support. That's the main point of NATO after all. You guys got my back I got yours."
"Then why do you still try to make it sound like you're the leader of us all?" England asked, hitting the back of his hand off Alfred's chest. "You always do this. You aren't the only nation on Earth you know..."
As Alfred entered his third argument in the past five minutes, Finland watched intently from further down the table, tapping his temple in thought at Alfred's previous words. Looking around him he observed his fellow Nordic countries, three of whom were in NATO themselves.
He didn't think he needed any more direct allies than these four around him. But it's quickly become clear to him what happens to countries bordering Russia that aren't safe under the alliance's umbrella. Discreetly, he reached his hand toward the man to his left, tugging on the sleeve of Sweden, who returned eye contact with a curious expression. Wordlessly Finland tilted his head to the door, and without any need to explain Sweden got the message as the two snuck out of the room.
By the time they returned Alfred and England had stopped arguing with each other, and were now jointly heckling Turkey and Hungary for buying Russian energy. Finland and Sweden shared one last look, Sweden giving the smaller man a curt nod in support.
And with that Finland cleared his throat to get everyone's attention, having to repeat himself multiple times to compete with Alfred's volume. Until finally everyone's eyes were on them. "Everyone, if I could have all of your attention please. Sweden and I have an announcement to make."
Germany raised a brow curiously, not expecting Finland and especially not Sweden to have much input this meeting. He looked over at Alfred for any indication that they knew what was happening, but they only shrugged in return, looking just as perplexed if not a little excited to know what was up.
"After seeing what Russia has done, and the threat he now poses to Europe. Sweden and I have decided. . . That we will be applying to join NATO."
After the lunch break came, Thank God, Alfred couldn't have gotten out of there sooner, he walked hastily down the hall toward the exit of the building, wanting to get his slushee as soon as possible.
That was until he looked around, slowing down to a stroll as he observed the doors to the multiple offices and other rooms. Today's meeting bringing up previous memories of this place from all the way back in 2014.
Alfred walked down the hall of this very building, slurping out of a large slushee cup containing a mixture of blue raspberry and lemonade, as a reward for what had turned into a very stressful meeting dealing with the aftermath of Russia's actions following the Maidan revolution, when suddenly he paused as he heard the muffled sounds of weeping coming from the room beside him.
With the straw still in his mouth he reached for the door and opened it slightly, poking his head in to predictably find Ukraine the culprit behind the crying. The older nation had their face in their hands, their shoulders bobbing up and down as quiet whimpers and sniffles escaped from behind their hands.
Ukraine had always been stereotyped as an easy to frighten crybaby, but it didn't make it any less painful to witness. With a very loud slurp of his drink he made the crying woman flinch, spinning in her chair and staring at him through bleary tear-filled eyes. "Canada? Is that you?" She asked as she sniffled and wiped her tears, followed by her snotty nose.
Despite it probably not being the appropriate time to do so he bursted out laughing. "Hahaha! Never heard that one before." Stepping into the room fully he stood proudly, a thumb pointing at himself and his other hand holding his mega sized cup, his confident grin adorned with a faint blue stain on his lips. "It's just your average everyday hero here to come cheer you up! Am I interrupting something?"
"Oh! America. Nyet nyet it is nothing," she dismissed, wiping away fresh tears as Alfred walked his way over to a chair at the table Ukraine was sitting at. Ukraine watched him sit down near her, lowering her head, feeling a little ashamed that she was found in this state.
She hoped he wouldn't become annoyed by her behavior and just up and leave. She really couldn't deal with that after the day she's been having. And yet at the same time a small part of her wanted him to go away and leave her to wallow in peace. That's the whole reason for her sneaking off to this room anyway.
Not knowing how to react to him being here, she kept her eyes trained on the table, an awkward silence in the air. Though it was quickly broken as suddenly a long red and white striped straw entered her vision, shaking back and forth. "Want a sip?" Alfred offered, Ukraine shooting her head up to find a big grin adorning his face.
"Um, no thank you. I am appreciating it though," she politely declined, gently pushing the cup away. He gave her a confused look like she was crazy for rejecting it. "Are you sure? It's blue raspberry and lemonade, it's the total best!" He stressed, redoubling his efforts. Though when all she gave him was a nod he shrugged and brought the straw back to his lips. "Suit yourself."
He took another loud sip of his drink, glancing over at her from the corner of his eye. Even he could see in her face she was beyond drained. Doing her best to remain quiet and hold in her emotions for God knows how many hours of a meeting must've taken a lot out of her.
Slamming his cup down on the table he threw his arms behind his head and leaned back in his chair with an exhausted groan, startling her with the sudden outburst. "Ugh... what a boring meeting today, right? If Germany talked for a single minute longer I thought I was gonna whither away and die!"
His head then flopped over the back of the chair, staring at the back wall upside down. He turned to look at her upside face with a knowing, tired smile, eliciting a strained and rueful laugh from her. "Da, it was... unpleasant."
He scanned her face for a few moments longer before sitting back upright, the front legs of the chair landing back on the floor as his body leaned forward and rested against the table. "You holding up ok?" He asked, Ukraine noting the striking quietness in his tone as compared to a few seconds ago.
She tried to hold up a strong face but it fell apart almost immediately, her mouth wobbling and eyes springing with new tears. "Oh America I do not know what to do. This is all horrible. I just wanted different government is all."
He shrugged easily, thinking he related to her situation. "No one said revolution would be easy. Especially with such... unsavory neighbors as yours." But she was quick to refute him, her arms falling down onto the table. "It was not supposed to be a revolution... at first. Just peaceful protest. But now to be at war with brother? I had never wanted that. Maybe this is all just... big stupid mistake." She sulked and pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes.
"Hey hey it's alright. There's nothing wrong with wanting something better for your country. That's like, sorta our jobs as personifications, right?" He said, attempting to cheer her up a bit. She slowly looked up at him from behind her hands, him giving her a comforting grin. "It's not your fault Russia's being dumb and using this as an excuse to annex Crimea. I mean he's not even being subtle about it."
A part of her wanted to defend her brother, knowing it was very likely his government's doing with him being an unwilling, or at the very most a mislead participant. But she was also really upset, so she couldn't really bring herself to argue.
Alfred tapped his fingers against the table a few times, before asking a thought that came to him. "What is his deal by the way? I did a little digging before this meeting and it seems like you two have been fighting for centuries. Mostly just him trying to invade and take over your country over and over."
Ukraine let out a huff, somewhere between a sigh and a laugh. "Da. It is issue he has had since days of Russian Tsardom. He has bad addiction for imperialism. But understand he is good man, simply that he is afraid of becoming alone, and chooses... extreme means of avoiding that."
Alfred nearly sneered at her, hiding it by itching his nose. He should be able empathize with Russia's predicament, and nearly did not that long ago when the two of them were trying to improve relations, but he just can't. He doesn't invade and rule nations with an iron fist to be "friends." Russia does not get a pass, he himself has grown past his own obsession for expansion a long time ago, and has got enough historians and people on the internet reminding him of his awful past actions everyday.
Suppressing his own sour mood he glanced over at Ukraine, a smile adorning his features. "You know, when I saw how many times you two have fought, the thing that stuck in my head was that no matter how many times your brother had been a grade A asshole, and despite how much you love him, you keep resisting him. And I think that's super cool."
Ukraine's frown deepened a little bit, almost as if she were guilty of that fact. And suddenly she seemed much older than her appearance would suggest, rubbing at her tired eyes that have seen innumerable wars and conflict. "But every time it is ending in same result. If I do become free it is only matter of time before he returns to attempt and take over once more. I have fought against him more times than I can be counting."
"I'm sure you have. But when was the last time you fought him when he wasn't like, a humongous powerful empire? Probably not since he was shorter than you." He said with a chuckle, nudging her arm with his elbow. Luckily his laughter rubbed off on her, who giggled a little as she thought back to Russia when he was still young and she was taking care of him. He used to be such a silly little boy.
Alfred let her reminisce on the old times for a moment before returning to the conversation. "He's not the same as he was back in the Soviet Union. I mean you gotta remember he needed both your help and the help of thirteen other nations to "match" against me." He made air quotes with his fingers, doing his best not to roll his eyes and insult her brother too badly. Even if he so so wanted to go further. "Between me and you it seems he's gotten weaker. And I don't mean just him himself. It's no secret he's always had problems with corruption in his military, it's just that now he doesn't have the endless resources and money to shoulder the burden."
"I am not in much better situation," Ukraine was quick to defend. "I am suffering from same corruption issue, another reason I am so poor and have so many of the debts." Her head was slowly sinking back into her hands, but Alfred quickly clasped her shoulder and shook her a bit. "Hey just means you're both on equal footing, yeah? I think you've got a better shot against him than you think."
Her hands slid to her cheeks as she shook her head, her face sulking. Yet she remained silent, a deep focus in her eyes showing she was in fact contemplating what Alfred had said. The last thing she wanted was for this to escalate into a war, she held out hope that this would blow over and return to some sort of normalcy. But Russia was set in securing Sevastopol, and they were giving more and more support to the separatist groups in the East. America was right, wasn't he?
Crimea was in the midst of occupation with only a few pockets of fierce resistance, much of her forces currently in a blockade, and with all the optimism in the world she can't conjure up a way in which Russia decides to simply leave. But was it even possible to fight back, if the need arises? Could she match him in combat, or rout him from her territory, let alone bring herself to fight her brother knowing the sway his government has on his actions. Whether or not he wants to do them.
"—kraine? Earth to Ukraine? Hello?" Alfred's voice faded into her consciousness. She quickly darted her eyes up to his voice, only now realizing she had been staring at the table while chewing the tip of her thumb raw. She flinched a little under his bemused gaze, a smile on his face as he itched at his ear with his pinky. "Jeez, if me with my lovable personality is able to make you zone out how the heck do you even survive the world meetings?"
She opened her mouth to respond, only to hold it open while her eyes flicked around in deep thought. "I... do not wish to be fighting brother. But if I am forced..." she paused, her fingers fidgeting together as she glanced up at him with a grim look. "How would I do so? It has been while since I have."
He stared at her with wide eyes, shocked that she'd actually be willing to hear him out. A prideful smile spread on his face as he launched off the chair and onto his feet, his hands on his hips. "Lucky for you I'm a total expert on fighting him! And a stronger version of him no less! Haha!" He was easily amused at the thought of Russia not being in tip top shape. Old rivalries die hard it seems. Though that was a given after Russia just botched any chance of friendly relations between the two countries.
Grabbing her chair he whipped it to the side, nearly launching her out of it. Then he took a few steps backwards as if about to put on a performance. "Alright! First thing you gotta know about fighting Russia is his style. He's very strong, even now, and so he tends to want to hit you with one real big and devastating strike." To emphasize his point he punched his hand into the palm of the other, a smirk splitting across his face.
"But when it comes to fighting he's always been clumsy. Once he goes for a hit he's fully committed to it, leaving him open to counterattacks. He's sort of a like a lumbering giant, so when he swings for the head, duck it and punch him in the ribs!"
Ukraine could see the merit in Alfred's words. In both her own experiences and as witness to other wars Russia has partaken in, his doctrine prefers to defeat the enemy with overwhelming numbers and force. Even when he gets beat back or caught by surprise he always retaliates with brutal retribution. She shook her head dismally. What hope does she have now after one hundred years of military advancement?
Noticing her glum look Alfred struck an expressive fighting stance, bringing her attention back to him, bewilderment lacing her features as he started jabbing at the air. "Now I haven't fought against him since the USSR was a thing, but I can tell just by looking at him he still hasn't fully recovered from the collapse." He stopped in his punching and gave her a confident smile. He was certainly more animated than normal, perhaps the sugar from his drink had gotten to him.
"I can't be certain of how much weaker he is, maybe a lot, maybe only a little. But even if you lost you were still able to resist for what, three or four years? I know you can do it again, and this time you can win!" He stuck his balled fists up in the air, trying to hype her up, but she shook her head again. That didn't make her feel any more confident. "I have not recovered either. How will anything be different this time?"
Alfred did his two finger salute and winked at her. "Well because you didn't have the strongest country helping you yet, duh!" Ukraine's eyes widened in near terror, unable to believe her ears. "Y-You cannot! If you are getting involved it could mean end of world!"
Taken back by the sudden shouting he blinked at her dumbly, only to brush it off with a laugh of even greater volume. As if drowning her out would automatically invalidate her point. "Nah I wouldn't worry about that. It was glossed over already at the meeting but I'll be sending nonlethal stuff for now. Got my hands tied on that unfortunately. We can discuss trade deals for weaponry in the future. What I mean is I could train you to fight." He finished by pointing directly at her, making her shrink into her seat. "Are you certain? That still is sounding like it will cause issue."
But Alfred just waved her off. "It'll be fiiiine. It's not like I'm gonna show you how to kill him or something, so he can stick it. And it's not like he can blame me for this more than he already has. Besides, if you want a chance at victory you're really gonna need a refresher on what it's like going up against him."
"If you really think it will be helping," Ukraine said with an uncertain nod, hopeful but knowing better than to blindly trust any plan concocted by America, of all people. She was sort of waiting for when he'd mention something like sending a giant mech or super soldier to do her fighting for her.
Instead Alfred beamed and plopped down onto his chair, his legs bouncing up and down in excitement. "Sweet! I'm gonna teach you so much stuff you're gonna be a pro fighter in no time, then next time you have to face him you can deck him right in his big nosed face!" A devilish little smirk made its way on his lips, off putting Ukraine a bit as she fidgeted her laced fingers.
"You mean this all metaphorically, da?"
"Hm?" Alfred was caught off guard by the question, his confident smirk crumbling as he fumbled over his words. "Y-Yeah totally! That's... what I meant." He shook his head, trying to jumble the failing words back into place. "But anyway yeah, just leave it to me and soon fighting Russia will be a cake walk."
Ukraine hummed along, not overly confident that he'll make a big difference but appreciative of the assistance regardless. Alfred didn't share that sentiment however, his grin nearly splitting his face in half. Leaning over he looped his arm around her shoulders and hugged their sides together. "Alright then, first lesson. When he misses the first strike he tends to get, grabby, so what you want to do..."
Alfred chuckled to himself at the memory, and also craving a slushee even more. Training with Ukraine had proven to be much easier than first thought. It became clearly obvious to him that she still retained her extensive combat experience, even if she had personally taken up farming after gaining independence.
Most notably was the fact that back in 2014, despite a surprise invasion from Russia, her own cobbled together and under-equipped military was able to resist for so long. It made him optimistic that this time around things could go different. Especially now seeing first hand how incompetent Russia's army truly is. He really hopes his advice stuck.
As he walked further down the hall he heard footsteps quickly approaching from behind, turning his head just fast enough to catch sight of Poland approaching him. "Oh, hey man. I thought you were gonna meet me at the gas station."
"Yeah well, I just remembered I, like, don't know where the heck that is," Poland replied bashfully, though managed to hide it behind a confidence only Alfred could match.
"Fair point," Alfred acknowledged. "So, what was it that you wanted to talk to me about? You seemed pretty excited." Poland grinned widely and put his hands on his hips. "You're damn right I'm excited, because I've come up with a plan."
"A plan?" Alfred wondered, his intrigue quickly rising. Poland just nodded dramatically. "Mhm. An awesome plan." Alfred rubbed at his chin, his eyes narrowed. "I do like awesome plans. What do you have in mind?"
Seeing he had Alfred hooked Poland clapped his hands excitedly. "Alright. So, you know how I've been, like, totally fucked over historically? Especially by Russia. And now we are facing an issue where people are worried they'll be attacked by him next, with my irresistible ass of course a prime target. And Germany, who is the largest economy in Europe, is being hella slow to provide aid. And yeah, I know eventually he'll get his overly cautious head out of his ass and probably spend totally more money than me, but whatever.
So my idea, right, is that I want a crap ton of weapons. APCs, tanks, F-35s, missile defense systems, the whole works. Sell me as many things as you can spare. Ooh and could you contact South Korea for me? I hear he has a lot of good tanks. I border Ukraine, and am a pretty big country myself, so if I'm attacked next with the whole heap of weapons I've stockpiled Russia's gonna have a horrible time. Plus it could be an amazing deterrent from Russia expanding his war in the first place. And then I'm making up for Germany's own slow response and increasing my own influence in NATO. And as a sweet bonus I'd be screwing Germany over by becoming your new biggest trading partner in NATO. Which I'm more than happy to do since he also invaded me in the past. I'm killing like, four or five birds with one stone. It's GENIUS!"
By the end of Poland's speech Alfred was staring slack-jawed, having to slap himself to make sure this was real. This was Poland he was talking to, right? He narrowed his eyes skeptically and scanned Poland's face, poking them with his finger a few times.
"Uh, what are you doing?" Poland wondered, dodging the finger prodding at his face. That got Alfred to snap out of it, retreating back and lowering his hand. "Sorry, I thought I was dreaming for a sec. Did you really come up with this plan? Or did you steal from Lithuania again?"
Poland chuckled smugly, putting his hands on the back of his head. "Nope. I'm pretty amazing aren't I? So, how about it?" Alfred didn't even hesitate, extending an open hand to the nation. "You've got yourself a deal! Now let's hash out the details over a mega-sized slushee." Poland shook his hand and nodded, as the two began heading down the hall and eagerly discussing this plan with each other.
Far back in the hall the other nations finally began to catch up, discussing with each other how they think the meeting went. And at the front of the pack was Finland, feeling particularly proud of himself after his and Sweden's announcement. He actually wanted to meet up with Sweden and ask how they thought about it. Even he was surprised Sweden wanted to join as well, given their pervious couple centuries of neutrality.
Feeling a hand suddenly on his arm he turned to face what he thought was the man he was just thinking about, shocked to find that it was in fact Hungary. "Oh! Hungary. I wasn't expecting you to speak to me. May I help you?"
Hungary hid her sly smile behind a hand, replacing it with a kind one as she pulled Finland to the side away from the rest of the pack of nations. "Yes actually. Now zhat you're planning on joining NATO I vould like some military advice. You vere a skilled sniper in zhe Second Vorld Var, ja?"
Finland blushed at the praise, waving her away. "Oh no you are really too kind. But yes I was a sniper. May I ask why you're suddenly interested in all this?" In response to the question Hungary put the back of her hand to her head dramatically. "Vith all zhis tension between Russia and zhe Vest I fear he may return to try and invade my country once more. I have heard you vere very effective in defending against him. Personally I am much too impatient for long stakeouts, and could really use zhe help from an expert such as yourself."
Finland chewed the inside of his cheek, having the sneaking feeling she wasn't letting on to the full reason she wants to learn how to effectively stakeout. But he also has no reason to deny helping her, so eventually he caved and decided to teach her what he knows. He just really hopes it's not for some malicious, or God forbid, perverted reason. But he wouldn't bet on it.