Cantankerous Souls (Countryhumans WW2 AU)

How Dare They

Chapter 3: 1939: UK PoV:

"Bloody hell, the Germans have invaded Danzig and Poland's territories!" UK exclaimed, setting the paper down on the table. He was currently meeting with France in a coffee shop.

"The Treaty should have prevented this!" France said, sounding mildly scared. She looked terrified too, her purple eyes were wide and she was fiddling with her black neckerchief. She was wearing a long-sleeved black sweater and pants, with black shoes. She also was wearing a black beret.

"I know! But somehow, we overlooked all of his rearming and other shit!" UK said, flopping back on the couch. Perhaps meeting here had been a bad idea. He thought as the other patrons gave him odd looks. They were in a secluded corner of the coffee shop patio, where there was a table ready to seat four even though only two people were sitting there.

"Yeah, yeah... Maybe we should call-" France started, before being interrupted.

"We are not calling my idiot brother, America," UK interrupted, waving a hand to shut her up. He had winced when he said brother, but he had to keep America being trans a secret from anybody not in the family.

"Well, what about Soviet?" France suggested, clearly grasping at straws here.

"Non-aggression pact," UK sighed, pinching his nose. Everyone was out of reach. Australia and China were dealing with J.E., so they couldn't help the German problem. F.I. was already on TR's side, so she was out. Soviet wouldn't dare break a non-aggression pact, no matter who it was with. Finland, well, Finland was probably going to side with TR. That was just a hunch, however. Belgium, Sweden, and Switzerland would probably remain neutral again, as they had last time.

"What about Canada and India?" France asked, who had both slipped UK's mind.

"Right! Those two. I'll have to ask Father, as he is the one who is-" UK was interrupted by the familiar thumping of a cane.

"I see you have decided to talk about the war without me!" British Empire laughed, pulling a chair back and sitting in it. He was a man who radiated his presence not through height, but through his mixture of laid-backness and harsh ruling. He was around 5'0 and had a handlebar mustache, which was a bit of a periwinkle color. He wore a navy blue suit with a top hat that made him appear to be a fine gentleman of London, which he sort of was.

"O-oh! I am so sorry-" France started, a flash of the old vendetta crossing her expression before she started to apologize. Our families never liked each other, I have to remember that. UK thought before he heard British Empire respond.

"No worries, no worries. I knew you two would do such a thing. It is only the nature of young 'uns like you to talk about these sorts of things," B.E. said, still chuckling. "Anyways, how far into this conversation have you gotten?"

"Only discussing possible allies," UK said, a hint of dejection creeping into his voice.

"Well, who have you come up with?" B.E. asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Canada and India," France and UK said at the exact same time, both with a similar dead tone.

"Soviet wouldn't break a non-aggression pact, no matter who it was with," France said, already starting the list. "She also helped Reich invade Poland's territory."

"Belgium, Sweden, and Switzerland will probably remain neutral again," UK sighed, already not liking their chances.

"Poland and Danzig are the ones who got invaded," France pointed out, counting on her fingers.

"America refuses to join in anything that happens in Europe unless you get he- ahem, him involved," UK said, shaking his head.

"Austria and Czechoslovakia are already under his control," France sighed, clearly already not liking their chances.

"J.E. and F.I. already signed alliances with T.R.," UK noted, biting his lower lip nervously.

"China, Australia, and New Zealand..." France turned to UK for help.

"Are dealing with J.E. and stuff," UK supplemented, nodding.

"All bad or dire circumstances, it seems," B.E. mused thoughtfully, stroking his chin with his right hand.

"Yeah," UK nodded, huffing slightly. Everything seemed to go wrong at exactly the wrong moment.

"What about Denmark and Norway?" B.E. suddenly asked.

"Wha-" UK started before France interjected.

"I think Reich has trade deals with them, or something similar. Though I'm not sure about Denmark," France elaborated, nodding slightly.

"Wait, couldn't you have gathered this all by yourself when T.R. invaded Danzig's and Poland's territories?" UK asked, a bit suspicious now.

B.E. chuckled, his mustache twitching slightly. "Astute observation, my son. And yes, I have done my research on the situation, I just wanted to see what you knew!"

UK sighed, knowing that he would have done so. France just blinked at B.E. confusedly.

"So why ask us?" France inquired, her brows furrowed in confusion. She clearly did not believe B.E.'s explanation.

"Well, you two young 'uns are smart, and I also wanted an opinion on what was happening that was not my own," B.E. explained, though UK suspected there was more to it than what he was suggesting.

"Mkay..." France said, though before she could continue a person approached them.

"I'm looking for my cat, she's on a leash, but my son let her go," The person explained, "have you seen a green-eyed tawny tabby cat on a purple leash?"

"No, sorry," UK said apologetically, while France shook her head. B.E. shook his head as well.

"We'll keep an eye out for her, does she have a collar on?" France inquired.

"A purple collar with a tag, yes," The person nodded.

"Perfect. We hope you find your cat. It is never fun to lose a pet," France said, nodding.

"Thank you," The person said, before walking over to another table and asking them if they had seen the cat.

UK sighed, feeling weary for some reason. B.E. seemed to notice.

"I'll bring you both home, there you can rest and then later discuss our plans for dealing with this German menace," B.E. said, standing up.

UK nodded, a sinking feeling forming in his stomach. This war felt too similar to the last one, someone in the German Family starting it. He hoped it wouldn't go like that, but something told him that it would be a lot worse and a lot longer.

Notes: The UK and France did declare war on Germany on the 3rd of September, 1939. The USSR had signed the non-aggression pact with the Third Reich by now, called the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Norway, Belgium, Sweden, and Switzerland were all neutral. Sweden had a trade deal with the Third Reich, importing iron through neutral Norway. Denmark was simply existing and also neutral.