Homeless (a Hetalia Fanfic, Book Three)

Chapter 16~!

"So, hey there, Al," I began much like a teen would approach their parent when said child wanted to ask for something. I had no doubt whatsoever that Alfred picked up on my tone immediately. He had a fully grown daughter and a nine-year-old son, after all.

"Hi, Alice. Hey, guess what?" Clearly he was trying to avoid my request. Did he have an idea what it was?

"What?" I asked, humoring him for the time being.

"Willow called me a little bit ago and said she figured that if things didn't get any worse, she would be able to fly out to Europe by tomorrow night," Alfred reported happily. "Which means you'll have your sis with ya soon! Isn't that great?"

"Yeah, that is," I agreed with a soft smile he couldn't see, only hear. "But I've got a question for you. More like a request, actually."

"Oh, boy," he sighed. "What is it?"

"Uh-- hey! It's not that big of a deal!" I said defensively. "All it is is that the guys kinda need me as a, uh, tactical asset in an op."

"Alice, you're going to storm another W.O.R.L.D. base, aren't you," America guessed without really having to guess. "I thought I told you that you weren't going out on any more missions!"

"But, Al! They need me on this!" I pleaded. "I've been inside this one before, for starters. Better yet, we think that at least one nation is being held in it, and we've got basically the rest of the nations behind the effort for raiding it and trying to free whoever is there. You've gotta let me go!"

"Whoever is possibly there," he corrected me without hesitation. "You don't have proof; that's what it sounds like to me."

"We don't really need proof of a prisoner in there. These guys are the bad guys, and we've already got our Avengers teams assembled for this mission," I rebutted. "But they need me, and they're probably gonna fail if I don't go."

Behind me, England threw a hand up into the air defensively and sent me a look that roughly translated to: "That is utterly preposterous!" I waved him back and mouthed, "Let me do this," before returning to what Alfred was saying.

"Ugh..." he groaned, leaning away from his phone for a second. When he returned, he didn't sound happy. "When is this thing happening?"

"You mean I can go?" I asked excitedly.

"Hey, I didn't say that," Alfred snapped. "Answer the question: when is this attack taking place? And where, while I'm at it?"

"We were planning for four days from now, and we're attacking in Brazil," I reported eagerly. "But you can't tell anyone that at all."

"Yeah, yeah... Fine, you can go on this raid-- but on one condition!" he added before I had any time to perform a victory dance.

"Okay, yeah? What is it?" I asked quickly.

"Willow is gonna be in Switzerland before this raid takes place. I want you two to stick together, got it? You don't leave each other's sides for anything at all during this mission. I want you to keep each other safe." Alfred stated this with such conviction that I'm sure it would have convinced even his hardheaded boss.

"Yes, sir!" I replied. "We'll do that, for sure. Thank you, Al! You're the best!"

"Don't get yourself hurt or captured, okie dokie?"

"Okie dokie," I answered. "Bye!"

We hung up, and I could just picture in my mind's eye that he was massaging the bridge of his nose under his glasses right about then. That was when I turned around with a thrilled expression on my face and nodded to England and Russia, both of whom had accompanied me in case they needed to persuade America into letting me come. England looked relieved more than anything, and Russia smiled genuinely at me.