The shouting rose to a fever pitch, a mixture of anger, sadness, and worry. The meeting had come as expected; as a lead balloon, Many were outraged at being pulled from their breaks just after the last big meeting and when the topic of said meeting was disclosed pandemonium erupted.

Antonio remained silent staring at the table as everything went on. He was upset and struggling to keep it together. Francis was to his left looking solemn and feeling guilty from their previous encounter.

"Antoine...are you ok?" He asked trying to coax a smiled. Toni gave a glance and nodded numbly "Hey, I'm sorry my friend but look, everyone is here and we are going to get this sorted ok? Lovino will be found"

"But now I am certain it is my fault" He muttered "and everyone is too fixated on keeping themselves safe to worry about him, we don't even have the license plate from the vehicle to track because they destroyed the footage"

Francis settled down and thought a moment, his friend was correct. Yes at first he was cynical and had a similar opinion to most when it came to the other but still. He couldn't even imagine what it was like to be in Spain's position

He got up and reached across to the bottle of water on the table slowly filling glasses around him. The Spaniard looked at his actions with confusion as did the Belgian on the other side slowly pulling the glass towards her. The Frenchman motioned for other glasses which his friend helped him reach until the bottle was empty. He smirked at Antonio leaning to Laura on the other side, the empty bottle was raised above his head "Pardon my Belgian beauty but cover your eyes"

The bottle came down with an almighty crash as glass flew everywhere. Silence fell on the room and all eyes were on the blond still clutching the neck of the glassware.

"Right everyone shut up!" He bellowed "I get it! National emergency! International emergency! The fact of the matter is that one of our own is missing"

He cleared his throat and adjusted his shirt "I get it not everyone cares about Lovino as much as others but the point is that if we let whoever took him to get away with this how can we say we have learned from our mistakes, from our wars and our…" He paused "Misconceptions. Right now someone out there had enough reason to want and succeed in kidnapping a nation and we need to find out why!"

Ludwig cleared his throat taking the moment to gain control "We need to establish a network. If you can use a computer for more than God damn Minecraft get into the next room." Slowly the German walked up to the podium "And I need notes and information from all contact, and don't bullshit me about how pure and innocent and good you are I know every single one of you has at least one secret and now is not the time to be prudish!"

A feeling swelling in his chest the Spaniard lit up looking to the man who days previous he wanted to strangle "Thank you Francis...I never expected"

He was hushed by the man who smirked "If I cannot come to your rescue then how can I ever expect to win your heart" And the Frenchman winked wandering away as the other rolled his eyes. Now they had a chance. Nations began to clamber around trying to figure out where they were best suited.

"We are going to find Lovino!" Feli excited grabbed Antonio's hands as they both made to leave "I need to go get the footage Alfred found from my room, come with me?"

The brunette stopped and blinked at the other "Why? Are you scared of getting taken?"

The Italian smiled sadly "Is that so bad? I mean, I should be used to looking over my shoulder but now I am on edge more than ever!"

Antonio chuckled petting Feli's head "Lovino would kill me if I let you get kidnapped..."

The two of them wandered out into the lobby where one of the desk workers waved to get their attention. Maybe there was more news? Although the Spaniard doubted it, most likely was his boss checking in to make sure he was breathing in this time of crisis.

"Hola, can I help you?" He asked and the woman smiled brightly at him. A parcel was held out towards him.

"You are Mr. Carriedo correct? This just came in for you"

"For me?"

Antonio was confused. What could he possibly be getting at a time like this? Eyes went wide and fingers trembled "What if this is from...them?"

Feli tilted his head "Them? Wait the kidnappers are sending you something?" He looked scared and nervously eyes the parcel. The Spaniard opened one end and peeked inside seeing a case of some sort. Fingers retrieved the plastic to reveal a CD inside with 'watch me' written in capitals.

"What do I do?" Antonio asked terrified at the disc. Feliciano took the CD with a determined looked

"We tell Ludwig"

A laptop was set up in the back corner away from the hub being set up. Ludwig looked over the disc again with a humming noise "We treat this like it is nothing until it is confirmed" He sternly told the others.

"I swear if this is a disc of Portugal in various swimsuits I am going to kill Gabriel" Antonio hissed rubbing his temples.

"What makes you think it's that?"

"What makes you think this would be the first time?"

The disc was removed from the case allowing something to drop out from behind it. Another piece of plastic clattered onto the table which when turned over revealed an image of Lovino. It was his ID card. A small silence broke over them before the CD was placed in the tray. The computer began to whir as it read the CD. Feli had the ID to his chest looking determined. This had to be important. They never expected Lovino's image to appear on the screen.

He looked docile sat in a garden dressed in flowy colourful cotton. He seemed to laugh a little as a woman fixed flowers in his hair.

"What am I doing?" He asked the woman swaying a little in place and she speaks softly and he nods before looking straight into the camera and waving. "Hello, Antonio! They said this is coming to you so hello~"

"Is he drugged?" Ludwig asked confused at the out of character behaviour before he was shushed. The words flowed from Lovino in a heavily conditioned manner

"Don't worry about me, I am so happy here. I am safe, I am warm, I am loved." He chimed "I have been chosen for an important purpose. I am going to miss you but its ok...this is what I want and I couldn't be happier"

He then looks off screen and nods at someone "They promised to show you when it's all over~ So bye…"

And then the video stopped leaving a heavy atmosphere around them.

Antonio raised a hand to his face thinking, where had he heard those phrases before? He knew he had spoken to people before who sounded like Lovino did but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"So what do we do Luddy?" Feli asked hoping that it was as hopeless as it seemed. The German looked to him and then to the screen.

"We give it to the IT hub over there, they should be able to get some details from it...even if its a breadcrumb we will find him"

Feli continued to be concerned "Do you think they will hurt him? What purpose could Lovino be ok with?"

Antonio looked at the other realising he had zoned out "Wait what was that?"

"Do" Feli faltered "Do you think they will hurt him?"

"No the other bit…"

"What purpose could Lovino be ok with"

"A purpose you are convinced to believe you are ok with…"The Spaniard felt like a light bulb had gone off how could he be so stupid "Oh no…"

The people he had spoken too who sounded like that were when he was a teenager.

A teenager who saw the practices of the nation and deemed them unGodly especially because of one involving people having a 'Greater purpose'. A ceremony where you were conditioned to believe this was what you wanted. Once that ended in death.

"They're going to sacrifice Lovino…"