Canada sighed and massaged his temples. The stress of the past few months were getting to him, it seemed, and no matter how well things were going, having his southern borders closed off completely was having a toll on him and his economy.

Sure, thousands of new jobs were opened, and international trades were doing amazing, there was a price to pay, and that price was rather high. But just on the trade shut down with the US alone, Canadian musicians, clothing brands, food chains, and everything started popping up everywhere without their American counterparts beating them out. Canadian culture was expanding.

Maybe the war wasn't needed after all...

Mathieu shook his head, trying to rid himself of such thoughts. He was going to prove to the world that his people can fight, they can wage war and win. Especially with Russia on their side.

"Are you alright, Matvey?" The blonde looked up and across his desk to the massive nation seated in a plush and rather expensive leather chair.

"Yeah, yes," he picked up a pile of slightly scattered papers and re-arranged them, shooting a nervous smile at Ivan, "I'm just a little worried, is all."

Ivan blinked in mild confusion. "Worried? But everything is going well, da?" The Canadian laughed softly and nodded, passing the papers over. His shaking hands did not pass notice. "You miss him, don't you?"

Canada flinched and looked to the side. Bulls-eye. Ivan could read him very well. "Yes, I do." he sighed softly, "He's my brother, though. Of course I miss him." He placed his head in his hands and sighed, knowing very well that this was barely the beginning. Every time he closed his eyes, he could see his people building weapons of war: Battleships and and jets more advanced thanks to his agreement with the Chinese government. Missiles and ammunition were mass-produced, along with tanks and guns of all sorts. It made the quiet nation both giddy and scared.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when a large, gloved hand rested on his shoulder, and he looked up to see Ivan smiling softly, almost knowingly at him. "I know how you feel, da. All of my family left me after the Soviet Union fell – now even my own sister won't speak with me. Then again," he chuckled softly, though the look in his eyes was sad, "that may be because she owes me a large sum of money." The Russian made an 'up!' gesture and held his arms out, and Mathieu smiled and stood to accept the hug.

He was mildly surprised to discover that Russia smelled faintly of flowers, masked by vodka.

X.x.X.x.

Several meters underground, beneath a heavily fortified military installment in Manitoba, a blonde man with glasses over cerulean blue eyes donning a well-fitting Army dress uniform strode down the rows of hundreds of workers manufacturing various stages of military equipment, his hands clasped behind his back and medal honours enough for two World War Two veterans o share between them jingled in-time with his steps.

Mathieu still managed to feel extremely out of place amidst the generals beside him, who were busy filling him in on everything the men and women were building. The last time he had seen weapons of war being produced at this scale was over Seventy years ago, and even then, there wasn't nearly this many people or machines being built. He felt a chill go down his spine and attempted to hide his smile with a nod, pretending that he was listening to the stout man on his right.

The trio paused briefly when a woman approached them, and he followed as she lead them off to a massive hanger.

What Canada saw made him take off his glasses to clean them quickly before he replaced them on the bridge of his nose.

"Oh, these will do just wonderful." He crooned, a maniac smile creeping across his lips. Oh yes, these planes were perfect. A sheet on a clipboard that was passed to him confirmed his hopes. Capable of going above the speed of sound, specially designed for stealth flights – they slipped through even the best radars – and sported the best in missile technology. Two-man cockpit, yes, and – oh, precision bombing capability. It could even be flown remotely. He doubted America would expect him to have anything like this. Not since his beloved Avro Aero. "Absolutely wonderful."

Tucking the clipboard under his arm, he clapped his hands together once and smiled. "Well, gentlemen, shall we start a war?"

X.x.X.x

Well, lovelies, look at what I updated. It's relatively short and..odd, but we're building up somewhere, trust me.

This was delayed due to my muse hating me and throwing Canada out the window. Poor kid. But I found him! So I'll try to update this once a week or so.