Family Ties [Part 45]
Title: Family Ties
Characters (in this chapter): Ireland, Latvia, America, Canada, Australia
Rating: 15
Warnings: How does Russia, time and again, manage to be creepy even when he's not actually in the room?
Summary: Uh, I need to be banned from the kink meme or monsters like this happen? Essentially, Scotland leaves the UK, which gives Northern Ireland an excuse to up and out as well, which leaves England and Wales all alone. Oh yeah, and this somehow leads to World War Three.
Smoke covered the field, making it treacherous to walk through. Rabbit holes, muddy ditches, invisible rocks that jutted up where you least expected them. All became obstacles for the foot-soldiers. The sky would have been clear if it weren’t for the combination of smoke and dust that clouded it. Every crunch of boots on drying soil or a brittle twig made everyone either jump or freeze. Humidity made clothes stick, no matter which side you were on, and the cloying scent of moisture and iron in the air added up to one very sure thing.
Aine was not pleased about having to fight on home soil again.
“Sergeant?” asked one of the men when she cursed under her breath again. “Are you sure this is the right way to-”
She rounded on him, pale skin bright red with suppressed frustration and hair coming out of it’s ponytail again. “I know this land like it was etched onto my body from birth. If you doubt me one more time, you can walk into Belfast alone. Are we clear?”
The poor boy looked terrified. Good. “Y-yes ma’am.”
Progress continued forward. Aine wished they could have taken the tanks, heck a cart with a horse would have been useful. But no, this was a stealth recon mission. They were to get in, get the documents, and get out without being seen. There were three soldiers, none of them knowing Aine was their Nation. She’d only insisted on coming with them because, well… if there was any chance she could see Éibhear, she would take it.
“I hear sergeant’s brother was captured by the swine.” She overheard the men talking. Again. “And that she’s gonna rescue him.”
“That’s bull, I heard it was her lover.”
“I heard they killed him and she’s out for revenge.”
Gossip, just gossip, she told herself. It didn’t stop her from tightening her grip on her gun and turning to the other men, giving them a green eyed glare. They promptly shut up.
The sun set. Enemy territory was quiet, but that was mostly because Ireland was leading them around the towns, villages and barracks. There wasn’t much she could do about mine fields; she was navigating purely from memory. North would be the one to know where those were.
It hit 3:56am, and they entered the compound just outside of Belfast. The walk had exhausted all of them, but Aine urged them on. Just a little further. As one broke the lock, the rest of the recon squad watched out for any movement. It was so quiet, eerily so. No sound of cars on the roads. No airplanes. No people leaving the pubs, or at least not in the rowdy way free men would. Just quiet. It was disturbing.
The lock yielded, door swinging open on new hinges silently. The four of them crept in, none leading, all following a map they ha memorized so well they could see it behind their eyes when they blinked. Somewhere, the NWO had sprung a leak. Pictures sent directly to Ireland’s desk, detailing the premises. Hinting at what it held. The fact this information had been leaking in the first place was invaluable, but what they were after could turn the tide of the war in their favor.
How to take complete command of another country’s information network. Internet, television, mass media, everything.
In essence, how to control a Nation.
They had seen the bare bones of it. Prevent people from traveling, restrict their access to communication networks, and any uprising is easily squashed. But just how they could do such a thing, the technology needed, was an unknown.
The spies stopped. There was a door, steel and ominous, one they had seen many times in the briefings. The man to her left swallowed audibly. The blind spots on the cameras were small, moved as the cameras did, but they had a perfectly planned route. None of them dared breathe as they crept past, quiet as the grave.
Looming impressively, though that may have been because they were crouching close to the ground, was the door. Aine did not hesitate in touching the handle, expecting to have to put a bit of effort into opening it, when it opened much more easily than any of them had thought.
There wasn’t much light to see by in the room. The glow of computer monitors illuminated carpeted flooring, wires that hung haphazardly over surfaces and snaked across the floor to plug sockets and extension cables, a single chair and a bed that couldn’t fit a grown adult. It was downright homey for a secret base.
Ireland moved forward, towards the computer. Here, it must be kept here, and if she could find out how it worked, she could reverse what had happened to North.
She didn’t get far before a knife was at her throat.
The soldiers brought their guns up fast as possible, but Ireland held her had up to stop them firing. The knife at her throat shook, trembled. She couldn’t see her assailer because he was shorter than her. She was looking over his head. Carefully, she looked down.
“W-who are y-y-you?” stuttered a high voice, not a girl’s but definitely a pre-teen’s. Not North. Eyes getting used to the dim light, Ireland took in pale blonde hair and tearful violet eyes. “Where’s Estonia?”
“I’m Ireland.” She said carefully, holding her hands up to show she had no weapons and intended no threat. This boy was a Nation, she had an innate knowledge of that as all their kind did, but she didn’t know which. “Who are you?”
There was a long, tense pause. The boy swallowed fear. “L-L-Latvia.” He nigh sobbed.
“Latvia.” Ah, that made sense. She didn’t know the Nation by sight in the dark like this. It’s not like they were close. “Latvia, I’m only here for information. Please put the knife down.”
The blade didn’t do anything more than shake. “I c-c-can’t.” he stammered. “He’s n-not awake b-b-but I’m st-stuck like this anyway. Automatic response.”
A situation. She heard a gun cock behind her, and Latvia squeaked in fear. She willed them to hold their fire. “Alright Latvia, if you can’t take your arm down, can you at least keep it right there?”
He nodded. “T-that’s what I’m d-doing already. You’d be d-dead otherwise.”
“Right.” She took a deep breath. “Good lad, stay there.” Backing up slowly, she moved a safe distance from the frozen Nation, dodging around him and to the computer. It was unlocked, easy to get into and shockingly simple to access.
“Ireland…” Latvia said, eyes on the WDF soldiers with their guns still pointed cautiously at him. “W-what are you looking for?”
Only past battle tactics so far. These file names were in Cyrillic. She clicked randomly to get through them. “The information blockade. How to make one. How to control information like Ru-”
“Don’t say the name!” It came so fast, without a stutter and quite a bit louder than usual that Ireland stopped clicking to stare. “S-sorry… that usually summons him.” He murmured, then looked right at her. “You’re looking in the wrong place for it though.”
The redheaded woman straightened. “Another computer has it?”
Latvia shook his head. “No, I do.”
-----
Alfred’s breath misted up the glass of the viewing window. Matthew was attached to so many life monitoring machines it seemed almost impossible to see him through all the wires. His glasses had been put aside some time ago, Kumajiro had vanished in all the confusion, and he looked paler than that one time America had forced him to watch The Grudge with him.
Pale, except for the burns and still bleeding sores that had ravaged his body. He looked like he’d been mauled by a bear and then tossed into a furnace. Repeatedly.
Pushing that image out of his mind forcefully, America picked up his cell before it could even finish the beginning bars of his national anthem. “Talk to me.”
“Mate, you gotta help me out here.” Came Australia’s voice. Even the usually energetic Nation sounded extremely tired. “I’ve got a load of missile silos to build, but not the money. India’s line is all tied up and I can’t reach her. Lend us some dosh?”
Alfred rubbed at his own eyes. He’d just woken up. “Aus, my economy’s in the shitter.”
“Then can you watch Kiwi?” his voice was nearly desperate. “She can’t be left alone, or anywhere quiet, and I only need to pop out for a day to sort this. She starts… she starts screaming. I'd take her with me but... it's loud, and that makes her scream worse.”
Once again a horrific image to be pushed away, out of America’s mind. “I’ve got to watch Mattie.”
A short pause, before realization. “Oh, oh crikey I forgot about that. Sorry mate.”
“It’s cool, don’t sweat it.” Canada’s metronome heartbeat in the background was nearly a comfort sometimes, America wondered vaguely. Focus. Think. “Tell you what, how about I get Falklands? Iggy left his address book here for us to use his contacts, and then the two of them can talk about sheep or whatever.”
“Bonza!” Australia sounded truly cheered by this idea. “Though she’s not up for much talking yet, if there’s anything that’ll get her chatting, it’s sheep and rugby.” There was a clattering sound. “Oh, gotta go. Later!”
“Bye!” America managed to get in before he was met with dialtone. He'd barely brought it away from his ear when it rang again. "Uh, hello?"
"Alfred?"
"Iggy!" the excited blonde nearly yelled, before in a strange instance of reading the atmosphere lowering his tone. "Geez, about time you called!"
"I've been banged up in hospital you git, what do you want from me?" came an irritated huff, and boy was it ever good to hear that again. He rushed to update England on the situation, turning his back and leaning on the glass to take a load off.
This meant he didn’t see Canada’s fingers curl into a fist.
Notes:
- Little longer because I thought the two scenes were too short on their own.
- Did I just turn Latvia into a McGuffin? Yes. I did.
Part 46
Characters (in this chapter): Ireland, Latvia, America, Canada, Australia
Rating: 15
Warnings: How does Russia, time and again, manage to be creepy even when he's not actually in the room?
Summary: Uh, I need to be banned from the kink meme or monsters like this happen? Essentially, Scotland leaves the UK, which gives Northern Ireland an excuse to up and out as well, which leaves England and Wales all alone. Oh yeah, and this somehow leads to World War Three.
Smoke covered the field, making it treacherous to walk through. Rabbit holes, muddy ditches, invisible rocks that jutted up where you least expected them. All became obstacles for the foot-soldiers. The sky would have been clear if it weren’t for the combination of smoke and dust that clouded it. Every crunch of boots on drying soil or a brittle twig made everyone either jump or freeze. Humidity made clothes stick, no matter which side you were on, and the cloying scent of moisture and iron in the air added up to one very sure thing.
Aine was not pleased about having to fight on home soil again.
“Sergeant?” asked one of the men when she cursed under her breath again. “Are you sure this is the right way to-”
She rounded on him, pale skin bright red with suppressed frustration and hair coming out of it’s ponytail again. “I know this land like it was etched onto my body from birth. If you doubt me one more time, you can walk into Belfast alone. Are we clear?”
The poor boy looked terrified. Good. “Y-yes ma’am.”
Progress continued forward. Aine wished they could have taken the tanks, heck a cart with a horse would have been useful. But no, this was a stealth recon mission. They were to get in, get the documents, and get out without being seen. There were three soldiers, none of them knowing Aine was their Nation. She’d only insisted on coming with them because, well… if there was any chance she could see Éibhear, she would take it.
“I hear sergeant’s brother was captured by the swine.” She overheard the men talking. Again. “And that she’s gonna rescue him.”
“That’s bull, I heard it was her lover.”
“I heard they killed him and she’s out for revenge.”
Gossip, just gossip, she told herself. It didn’t stop her from tightening her grip on her gun and turning to the other men, giving them a green eyed glare. They promptly shut up.
The sun set. Enemy territory was quiet, but that was mostly because Ireland was leading them around the towns, villages and barracks. There wasn’t much she could do about mine fields; she was navigating purely from memory. North would be the one to know where those were.
It hit 3:56am, and they entered the compound just outside of Belfast. The walk had exhausted all of them, but Aine urged them on. Just a little further. As one broke the lock, the rest of the recon squad watched out for any movement. It was so quiet, eerily so. No sound of cars on the roads. No airplanes. No people leaving the pubs, or at least not in the rowdy way free men would. Just quiet. It was disturbing.
The lock yielded, door swinging open on new hinges silently. The four of them crept in, none leading, all following a map they ha memorized so well they could see it behind their eyes when they blinked. Somewhere, the NWO had sprung a leak. Pictures sent directly to Ireland’s desk, detailing the premises. Hinting at what it held. The fact this information had been leaking in the first place was invaluable, but what they were after could turn the tide of the war in their favor.
How to take complete command of another country’s information network. Internet, television, mass media, everything.
In essence, how to control a Nation.
They had seen the bare bones of it. Prevent people from traveling, restrict their access to communication networks, and any uprising is easily squashed. But just how they could do such a thing, the technology needed, was an unknown.
The spies stopped. There was a door, steel and ominous, one they had seen many times in the briefings. The man to her left swallowed audibly. The blind spots on the cameras were small, moved as the cameras did, but they had a perfectly planned route. None of them dared breathe as they crept past, quiet as the grave.
Looming impressively, though that may have been because they were crouching close to the ground, was the door. Aine did not hesitate in touching the handle, expecting to have to put a bit of effort into opening it, when it opened much more easily than any of them had thought.
There wasn’t much light to see by in the room. The glow of computer monitors illuminated carpeted flooring, wires that hung haphazardly over surfaces and snaked across the floor to plug sockets and extension cables, a single chair and a bed that couldn’t fit a grown adult. It was downright homey for a secret base.
Ireland moved forward, towards the computer. Here, it must be kept here, and if she could find out how it worked, she could reverse what had happened to North.
She didn’t get far before a knife was at her throat.
The soldiers brought their guns up fast as possible, but Ireland held her had up to stop them firing. The knife at her throat shook, trembled. She couldn’t see her assailer because he was shorter than her. She was looking over his head. Carefully, she looked down.
“W-who are y-y-you?” stuttered a high voice, not a girl’s but definitely a pre-teen’s. Not North. Eyes getting used to the dim light, Ireland took in pale blonde hair and tearful violet eyes. “Where’s Estonia?”
“I’m Ireland.” She said carefully, holding her hands up to show she had no weapons and intended no threat. This boy was a Nation, she had an innate knowledge of that as all their kind did, but she didn’t know which. “Who are you?”
There was a long, tense pause. The boy swallowed fear. “L-L-Latvia.” He nigh sobbed.
“Latvia.” Ah, that made sense. She didn’t know the Nation by sight in the dark like this. It’s not like they were close. “Latvia, I’m only here for information. Please put the knife down.”
The blade didn’t do anything more than shake. “I c-c-can’t.” he stammered. “He’s n-not awake b-b-but I’m st-stuck like this anyway. Automatic response.”
A situation. She heard a gun cock behind her, and Latvia squeaked in fear. She willed them to hold their fire. “Alright Latvia, if you can’t take your arm down, can you at least keep it right there?”
He nodded. “T-that’s what I’m d-doing already. You’d be d-dead otherwise.”
“Right.” She took a deep breath. “Good lad, stay there.” Backing up slowly, she moved a safe distance from the frozen Nation, dodging around him and to the computer. It was unlocked, easy to get into and shockingly simple to access.
“Ireland…” Latvia said, eyes on the WDF soldiers with their guns still pointed cautiously at him. “W-what are you looking for?”
Only past battle tactics so far. These file names were in Cyrillic. She clicked randomly to get through them. “The information blockade. How to make one. How to control information like Ru-”
“Don’t say the name!” It came so fast, without a stutter and quite a bit louder than usual that Ireland stopped clicking to stare. “S-sorry… that usually summons him.” He murmured, then looked right at her. “You’re looking in the wrong place for it though.”
The redheaded woman straightened. “Another computer has it?”
Latvia shook his head. “No, I do.”
-----
Alfred’s breath misted up the glass of the viewing window. Matthew was attached to so many life monitoring machines it seemed almost impossible to see him through all the wires. His glasses had been put aside some time ago, Kumajiro had vanished in all the confusion, and he looked paler than that one time America had forced him to watch The Grudge with him.
Pale, except for the burns and still bleeding sores that had ravaged his body. He looked like he’d been mauled by a bear and then tossed into a furnace. Repeatedly.
Pushing that image out of his mind forcefully, America picked up his cell before it could even finish the beginning bars of his national anthem. “Talk to me.”
“Mate, you gotta help me out here.” Came Australia’s voice. Even the usually energetic Nation sounded extremely tired. “I’ve got a load of missile silos to build, but not the money. India’s line is all tied up and I can’t reach her. Lend us some dosh?”
Alfred rubbed at his own eyes. He’d just woken up. “Aus, my economy’s in the shitter.”
“Then can you watch Kiwi?” his voice was nearly desperate. “She can’t be left alone, or anywhere quiet, and I only need to pop out for a day to sort this. She starts… she starts screaming. I'd take her with me but... it's loud, and that makes her scream worse.”
Once again a horrific image to be pushed away, out of America’s mind. “I’ve got to watch Mattie.”
A short pause, before realization. “Oh, oh crikey I forgot about that. Sorry mate.”
“It’s cool, don’t sweat it.” Canada’s metronome heartbeat in the background was nearly a comfort sometimes, America wondered vaguely. Focus. Think. “Tell you what, how about I get Falklands? Iggy left his address book here for us to use his contacts, and then the two of them can talk about sheep or whatever.”
“Bonza!” Australia sounded truly cheered by this idea. “Though she’s not up for much talking yet, if there’s anything that’ll get her chatting, it’s sheep and rugby.” There was a clattering sound. “Oh, gotta go. Later!”
“Bye!” America managed to get in before he was met with dialtone. He'd barely brought it away from his ear when it rang again. "Uh, hello?"
"Alfred?"
"Iggy!" the excited blonde nearly yelled, before in a strange instance of reading the atmosphere lowering his tone. "Geez, about time you called!"
"I've been banged up in hospital you git, what do you want from me?" came an irritated huff, and boy was it ever good to hear that again. He rushed to update England on the situation, turning his back and leaning on the glass to take a load off.
This meant he didn’t see Canada’s fingers curl into a fist.
Notes:
- Little longer because I thought the two scenes were too short on their own.
- Did I just turn Latvia into a McGuffin? Yes. I did.
Part 46