Chapter 4

Japan was recovering very well under the care of China. Canada had called and said that once Japan was well enough, they could begin to look into why and how he was targeted. They had also informed China about the threatening message left for America.

Not that that discouraged anyone though.

England was finally starting to get some sleep, when a voice not unlike his own chirped, "Would you like a cupcake, poppet?"

England was a bit perplexed, to say the least. "Er, no I`m fine..."

A short ginger stepped into view, and he looked crestfallen. "But, I made this batch all for you..." he trailed off.

Someone else entered the room, but England couldn`t make out any features, only that the man was relatively tall and was smoking something, making it a bit hard to breathe. He stayed in the shadows, but said, "Oliver, you stay away from this one," he paused to drag on whatever he was smoking, "in fact, le patron doesn`t want you anywhere near any of them. Not after your screw up with retrieving the first target."

"First? I`m not the only one then?"

England`s question brought the smoker and the ginger, apparently named Oliver, back into the situation at hand.

"Well, i`m afraid I can`t tell you that, seeing as if I did, the Boss might put me into a coma for it," Oliver replied.

The smoker stepped into the light and grabbed Oliver`s shoulder, roughly throwing him out the open door and then closing it. From what England could see, the man had a bit of scruff, blond hair that was tied back, and tired blue eyes.

"Now, Angleterre, shall we begin?"

The blond sat on a chair right in front of England and puffed his cigarette, taking it out, exhaling, and flashing England an almost maniacal grin.

America was tired. Canada was tired. China was tired. Everyone was tired. Did that help the situation? No.

Hours of brainstorming came to nothing. Zero. Zip. Nada. All the investigators were running solely on coffee, panic, and willpower. Not very healthy. There was no apparent reasoning for taking who they did, and, more importantly, who were they?

Finally, America called a break, and all the countries that had stayed behind filed out of the room in almost a zombie-like state. However, none of them needed to be reminded to travel with a buddy-any one of them could very well be the next target. Their only chance of nabbing the criminal(s)-even their number was undetermined!-was to be ready when another nation was attacked, but they needed a game plan first.

A tall blonde made his way into a room that was made into an office. A broad-shouldered man sat behind a large wood desk, with scarlet hair that had brown undertones that could only be seen because of the light coming in through the window.

"Well, what have you learned?" the redhead asked. He stared coolly at the blonde, red eyes boring into blue.

"They didn`t expect it before, but will be on guard now. However, they most likely have no idea of our selection process," the blonde reported, taking a drag from his cigarette.

The Redhead smirked and leaned back in his leather chair, "Well then, commence with Phase 2 and, while you`re at it, get Japan."

the blonde smirked and dragged on his cigarette again casually saying, "Oui, monsieur."

Hey guys! sorry I took so long!

Hope you liked it, Please R&R!

-RaVeNcLaW