Homeless (a Hetalia Fanfic, Book Three)

Chapter 23~!

Sadly, there was no way we could go on playing when there was work to be done. I hated this barbaric business with W.O.R.L.D., but more than that, I hated what they were doing to us and our friends. The break from reality was nice, and thanks to Finland the party did a great job of temporarily boosting the morale and camaraderie of all the nations.

Sorry, Ke$ha. We can't go on partying forever.

I happened to catch a glimpse of two people through the corner of my eye: Russia and England were talking, trying to hide from the others milling around. Had something been found? Another base, maybe?

After a moment, they decided to leave and converse in a more secluded place, leaving me to wonder what was being discussed. 'Maybe their spies found more countries? That would be wonderful... We need to act quickly, to make sure that we don't have a repeat of what happened to Turkey.'

Speaking of whom, I didn't really know what had been done with his body. Was there going to be a funeral? We had to honor his death in some way, after all. I knew for a fact that Greece, despite having had strained relations with Turkey for a very long time, was pretty distraught by his frenemy's unexpected death.

I know I would be really upset if one of my friends died. Even though I didn't know Turkey very well, his death still bothered me. 'I really, really hope he's the only one whose body we'll have to bring back here.'

That wish implied that we would be going on more missions, of course, and that was exactly what I was also hoping for. Our kidnapped friends weren't going to rescue themselves.

Just like last time, I was summoned out of the mess hall and to the conference room to talk about what had apparently been discovered. This time, Russia escorted me, and we made a little bit of light conversation along the way...

"So, am I to assume we'll be going on another mission here pretty soon?" I asked him.

"It depends on what we talk about," he answered with his signature smile. Most would call it unnerving, but I just called it familiar.

"Aw, so you can't give me at least a little hint?" I whined, hugging his arm like a little child might. "Pleeeease?"

"Нет, I cannot," Ivan told me apologetically. "But we are almost there, Элис. Try to be patient."

"I hate being patient," I pouted jokingly, and then grinned with my arms crossed over my chest.

Being quite a gentleman, Russia pushed the door open and held it for me before going in himself. I could see that not much had changed since the last time I was summoned for a little consultation. Germany, England, France, Italy, Japan, Russia, and America were all here-- okay, so America was here. That much had changed.

Aw, so does this mean I'm not the American representative anymore? Darn...

"You know, I do need to eat sometimes," I reminded them all as I walked in and took a seat in the front row of chairs. "What'd we find this time?"

"What can you make of this?" England inquired, handing me a blown-up photograph and pointing to a corner of it. I could just barely see the shape of a building amidst all the white in the image.

"Looks like some sort of storehouse," I replied, handing it back to my uncle. "You guys think it's W.O.R.L.D.?"

"Да," Russia responded. "It's not registered with any companies in my country."

"Oh, is that in Siberia?" I asked them. "That would explain the snow. And... hmm... I don't think I ever went that far into Siberia when I was hiding..."