Prologue

"That looks like it hurts, son."

Alfred looked up past the bloodied handkerchief still pressed against the left side of his forehead. Trying not to look like he was in too much pain, the blond gave the inquiring man the best smile he could manage. "It's nothing, sir. Just got on the wrong side of a cane belonging to a very angry politician."

The man however looked unconvinced. "Son, politicians don't go waving around waving canes like mad men without reason. If you tell me what happened, maybe I can get you some help."

Help. There was a funny word, Alfred mused. To think there was a time when he could write to Francis and ask for backup, or ask Arthur for a hand. It seemed like centuries had passed from the times when it was perfectly normal for the American to take a trip up to Montreal and ask for Mathew's advice on political issues.

Help? Help was too far gone. He had to deal with this one on his own.

"Yeah well..." Alfred started, removing the cloth from his wound and examining the once white material. "Things got out of hand real quick. At least now I know what I'm bringing into a fight- canes hurt like a bitch."

The man raised an eyebrow at the young man's comment. "While I will elect to ignore the previous profane remark, I must ask again: what happened?"

Alfred gestured to the end of the road, "Have you heard about what happened in Senate a few days ago?"

"I've been in Illinois up until today, I'm afraid."

"Well, you know Sumner? Senator from Massachusetts, against slavery and all that crap? Well, he made a pretty intense speech at the last session, pissed off just about every Southerner in the room." Alfred refrained from chuckling at this part. Seward had jabbed him in the side when the blue-eyed teen had started snickering when Sumner compared the conflict in Kansas to the harassment a virgin.

"Anyway," he continued, "South Carolina guy, Brooks I think his name is, well he got it into his head that it would be a good idea to confront Sumner about the speech, right? It was totally ok and all, but then he pulled out his cane and started beating Sumner with it!"

This of course shocked the man, who was now sitting beside Alfred on the bench he had found for himself. "He beat Sumner?"

"Oh yeah, and he wouldn't stop even when the guy was unconscious." Alfred allowed himself to scowl at the memory. "Thing is, some of the other Senators tried to get Brooks off of the poor guy but Keitt, his buddy or whatever, pulled out a goddamn gun on everybody! I mean, who does that?"

"What happened then?" The man asked next, now focused on every word the teen spoke.

"Well, I walked in around then and got around Keitt, he was kinda distracted by the other guys in the room. I tried to get Brooks to stop or take the cane, but he ended up whacking me right here." Alfred pointed to the dried up blood on on his head. "My brother always said I had a thick skull, I guess that's what he meant when Brooks' cane broke right after."

The man frowned, taking in the information that he was just told. Soon, he spoke up again. "I trust that Sumner was taken to a doctor?"

Alfred scoffed, as if the answer was obvious. "Heck yeah. The guy had the nerve to ask me if I needed help- me! Like I was the one bleeding on the floor half-dead! But it's ok, Sumner's gunna be fine, the doctor told me so."

Leaning back on the bench, the man adjusted his suit. Deep in thought, apparently. "Slavery becomes more of a problem with each passing day, it seems. But to think that violence would find its way into a place of democracy? This is truly a sad thought..."

"You're telling me." Alfred agreed, mimicking the man's posture and looking up at the evening sky. In all honesty, Alfred shouldn't have been surprised that a fight broke out among the Senators. In fact, he should have been anticipating it. It seemed like everyday now the northern and southern Senators looked about ready to bite each others' heads off. Brooks was just the brave one to do it first.

Not only that, Alfred thought, but the press was going to get ahold of this faster than anyone could imagine. A South Carolina Senator beats another from Massachusetts with his cane after a heated speech criticizing and ridiculing everything the South stood for? They would go nuts! The North of course would go into an uproar, and they'd probably demand that Brooks be jailed for his crimes. The South was predicable; they'd probably call Brooks a hero, no doubt. As much as Alfred was all for acts of heroism and justice, this somehow felt wrong to him. Like Brooks had gone too far.

"-your name?"

Alfred snapped out of his thoughts in time to hear the last few words of the man's question. "Huh?"

"I said, thank you for telling me about this. I wouldn't have wanted to hear some overly dramatized version that the press loves to feed the people, so thank you. I also asked for you name, if you wouldn't mind." The man said politely, extending his hand.

Alfred gladly took it, shaking it firmly and did not take notice to the fact that he still had blood on his hand. "Anytime. My name's Alfred; Alfred F. Jones."

The man nodded in understanding. "Abraham. Abraham Lincoln."

"Kinda a mouthful isn't it? Don't you have a nickname or something?" Alfred asked, deciding that Abraham just didn't roll off the tongue very easily.

Abraham let out a small almost inaudible snort. "Well, I think you'll be content at just calling me Mr. Lincoln for now. I confess I never liked the name 'Abe' much in my youth."

Alfred let out a laugh and decided he liked this guy. Definitely wasn't the type to beat around the bush. "Well, ok Mr. Lincoln. You said you were from Illinois right? Whatcha doin' over here in D.C.?"

"I returned to law after some rather unsavory work in the capital some years ago. I have a client in the city, which is why I came back." Abraham explained, recalling his time among the chaos that was Congress. "I regret that I left under such unfavorable resentment towards Mr. Taylor, but it was unwise to stay in the capital after loosing my aspired position to some old fossil. I only come back under my new work and nothing more."

Alfred listened, and about halfway through Abraham's explanation, a light went off in the blond's head. It had been some time ago, and Alfred had almost forgotten about the almost unknown politician from the House. But when he thought about it, the name Lincoln did sound familiar. Then it hit him- Abraham was the once infamous 'Spotty Lincoln'. He remembered the day when Polk had come back to the White House, hollering on about some schmuck in the House how dared attack his powers as President.

The youth hadn't thought much of it at the time, and it was a miracle Alfred had remembered it at all. Perhaps it was the name, or how Alfred had thought it was hilarious at the time. That would mean that the 'old fossil' Abraham was talking about was Old Man Justin.

"Aw come on, Butterfield wasn't that bad. Ok, so he was kinda old but he was alright when you caught him on a good day!" Alfred argued, even though he was sure Abraham had a point.

The latter was about to formulate his response before a realization struck him. "Wait just a moment, you knew Mr. Butterfield? And on that note, how were you allowed in Senate? Forgive me, but you don't look much older than twenty."

Alfred cursed at himself for letting his casual banter set in with a complete stranger. He was starting to slip, just like Pierce had said he would if he allowed himself to get too comfortable around civilians. Guess Chinny was right after all.

"My dad worked for Congress for a while, that's how I got to meet a lot of the higher ups." Alfred lied, drawing out his well rehearsed story. "And I started working as a janitor for the floor about a year ago when I turned eighteen."

Much to Alfred's relief, Abraham seemed to accept his story and sat looked up at the now darker sky. A moment of silence passed before the lawyer spoke again. "Then tell me Mr. Jones, how do you feel about the slavery debate? Many boys by your age have some opinions when it comes to politics."

Boy, there was a tough question. As the personification of every man, woman, and child on his land, Alfred couldn't just pick a side without acknowledging the other. The nightmares were getting worse however, and every time he awoke the same voice would whisper into his ear: 'Are you really ready to sacrifice everything you've worked for just for some slaves?'

The meetings in Congress weren't helping Alfred's worries at all. They only served to contribute to them, as it was becoming more evident with each day that this debate had to end somewhere. But he was beginning to genuinely fear what the 'end' actually entailed.

Scrunching up his nose in either intense focus or confusion, Alfred thought long and hard about Abraham's question. While it was true that he was supposed to represent every one of his people, including those in the South, if he was being completely honest with himself...

"I think," Alfred began, his voice betraying his doubt ridden thoughts, "I think that whatever happens, I just really hope no one's left with the short end of the stick. As much as I don't think the slavery thing is right, I don't want everything to go to hell because of it."

And as Abraham nodded in quiet acceptance of the boy's answer, Alfred should have noticed this was the first red flag in a series of events that would change everything. For even as the two men sat quietly in the streets of Washington D.C., the young nation should have realized that when a personification starts disagreeing with the other half of their people, things could only go downhill from there.

Hello everyone, and it's been quite a while since I wrote a fanfiction, let alone one for Hetalia. This one is one that I've been thinking aboutever since World Wind if you believe that. There will be no shipping in this story; I'm sorry but that's just how it works with these.

Historical Explanation (In the order in which they appear):

1. The Caning of Senator Charles Sumner was a real event that occurred on May 22, 1856 between Senators Charles Sumner and Preston Brooks. Two days before his attack, Sumner delivered a very controversial speech to Congress about the Bleeding Kansas incident and the border ruffians from Missouri- comparing their goal of converting Kansas to a slave state was the equivalent to raping a virgin and thereby giving birth to a new slave state. Naturally, every Southerner in the room was appalled by this comparison and just as equally insulted. South Carolina's Senator Preston Brooks decided to take action two days later, and confronted Sumner along with his colleague, fellow Senator Laurence Keitt. When he finally approached Sumner, he said a few words to him before taking his cane and began repeatedly hitting Sumner over the head with it. Keitt kept other Senators who attempted to remove Brooks by pulling out his pistol; the beating only stopped once Brooks' cane actually broke.

2.a. Abraham Lincoln made a name for himself in the years before his presidential campaign- and was a member of Congress for some time before he left. During President James Polk's term, Congressman Lincoln was opposed to the Mexican-American War and was a main advocate against it. When Polk insisted that American blood had been spilt on American soil, Lincoln challenged him and asked the President to show them the exact spot where the blood was to prove his point. Lincoln lost a lot of support after his failed stance against Polk and earned the name 'Spotty Lincoln' in Illinois.

2.b. When Polk's term drew to a close, and realizing Clay was an unlikely victor, Lincoln showed support for candidate Zachary Taylor. While Lincoln had hoped that he might be appointed Commissioner of General Land Office after Taylor's victory, but the position was given to his rival, Justin Butterfield, instead. When offered a consolation prize for his contributions, Lincoln rejected them as they interfered with his reputation in Illinois. Soon after, he left office and returned to law practice in Springfield.

**Reviews/corrections/opinions are heaven sent and are always appreciated**