AN: WHOA! I'm so sorry! It's been forever since we've last talked! Well... This chapter turned out insanely long and guess what? It was originally going to be several different chapters! But I decided heck with it and make it one humongous chap because I haven't been updating in forever. Well... I didn't like how the original chap 6 went, so I re-wrote it, then I didn't like how that went I re-wrote it again, then bam! it was finals, then bam! it was the Christmas and New Years (Happy New Year's and other Holidays btw...(I'm late I know)) Sooo HERE IS YOU EXTRA-FRUCKING-LONG CHAPTER BY ME (MSF)

"When a human makes the mistake of believing oneself higher than another, he commits the sin of pride. Pride will make humans' downfall as a species. The only worthy of higher level than human is our Great Creator. When man believes himself higher than our Great Creator, it is the job of the SAFE to bring destruction of this notion before the worst befalls humanity."

-The Guidelines of the Sacred Association For Equality

Chapter 6

Toronto. Toronto was the first city to be hit.

Then Vancouver, then Winnipeg, then Quebec City, then more and more places until all the names began to run together. All except the capital, Ottawa, just like America the capital was from the destruction. Hundreds of innocent died; buildings collapsed and trapped hundreds more underground. People lost their loved ones.

Those faces. Britain had thought. The faces were always the worst. Faces covered with dust, tears streaming down leaving dark wet trails. There were those who lost loved ones, there were those who weren't directly affected but wanted to help any way they can. There were the faces of those lost shown in pictures of happier times.

It was all the SAFE's fault. Everyone knew now. There was outrage and violence, riots and protests, but the SAFE wasn't making any public appearances. Next to nothing was known about them other than the internet video. Not even the best could figure out where the original source had come from. Who the bloody hell were these people?

They seemed to be everywhere, yet nowhere at the same time. They claimed they had global influence, yet no one had ever heard of them before. They were like a shadow in the cover of the night, you knew it was there, but you just couldn't see it. It was following you, watching you, yet when you tried to do the same, you just couldn't. Britain hated this feeling.

He was standing in the doorway of the room Canada was in. Just like America he looked like he was dead, the only thing that signaled life was the accursed beep from the monitor. A green line when up and down at regular intervals, it was a heartbeat wasn't there.

A small polar bear cub lay at his feet. Kuma wasn't asleep; he couldn't sleep, not at a time like this. France sat beside the bed, his hand on Canada's. When the nation first heard of the… incident, he suddenly turned distant and quiet. Whether it had been Canada's condition or that conversation with Arkwell that turned him away from others, Britain didn't know. He didn't wish to ask why either.

The agents had informed him of the information France got from Jonah. This was actually the first they've heard the plan, but it was too late to stop it from starting. The SAFE members memorizing the faces of their 'targets', the nations, was new too. They already informed the rest of the nations' governments. Every country was on high alert for an enemy they didn't even know had existed until three days ago.

Germany stood by the window, looking into the red-orange sky of sunset and day's end. Italy was curled up in a cushioned chair beside him, snoozing quietly away. In the back of his mind, Britain wondered how the Italian could sleep so much and so easily. Japan stood against the inside wall, just beside him. Russia and China were just outside in the hallway, both leaning against the opposite wall.

"I'm going out." Britain said to break the silence. He turned his back to the room and began walking down the hallway.

"Britain, where are you going?" China called out to him, he took a step forward but was unsure of whether to follow him or not.

"Somewhere other than here." Britain replied, but did not look back. He took a turn left at the end of the corridor. At the turn he almost ran into the two FBI Agents, Hoover and Newman, but they quickly sidestepped out of his way. The nation's footsteps echoed down the empty corridor as he made his way.

The country with blonde hair and green eyes walked alone along a deserted street. He pulled the collar of his jacket higher, as he let a breath he could see his the cloud of water vapor in front of him.

Bloody betrayal of all things? Demarcus. The name left a vile taste in Britain's mind, similar to that of the word 'SAFE' now. Once word like that, a name like that would have meant nothing to him, to America, to Canada, to France, to the entire world, but now it was everything that he wanted to destroy himself. How ironic, Britain thought, that being 'safe' wasn't being safe. If he could just get his hands on one member of that accursed cult, he would make him pay. He would kill all them, he would stop them from hurting his friends, his country, his family.

His pace picked up, but he didn't have to hurry. He didn't know where he was going nor did he really want to go anywhere. The night was lonely, and a cold, icy silence blanketed the air. He shouldn't even be out here. The reason for no late-night crowds was the American government had ordered people to stay off the streets and stay home. It wouldn't be long until they found him, a lone single man, in the deserted city. He knew the government agency, FBI, CIA, or whatever string of letters, would find him, give him a good scolding, tell him was too dangerous to be out alone when the SAFE could strike anywhere. Then again the two agents form earlier, Hoover and Newman, never objected when he left. They probably knew where he was the entire bloody time.

It was that he couldn't do anything, that he didn't know anything that bothered him the most. Why didn't he know? Why couldn't he do anything? It was all so sudden, no warning, no nothing. But should they have known all along? Should he have realized something like this would happen… again?

Over a decade ago, you could say the same incident happened. There were signs, there was unrest worldwide, but no one cared. No one thought it would actually happen, but it did happen. Then a war broke out on the other side of the globe, international unrest, other events followed in suit. But this time was different, there was no single enemy. There wasn't someone they could just blame, the only ones they could turn to was themselves.

These were just thoughts, probably thoughts that everyone had. A cold chill breezed through the night, Britain himself felt the icy wind penetrate through his jacket. He turned his head, and the nation saw that dark clouds had covered the sky.

"Britain?!" A voice broke into the night. "Britain! Hey, wait up!"

"China?" Britain turned to see the Asian country running toward him. "China… I…What are you—?"

"Doing here?" China finished for him as soon as he reached the English nation. "I was worried about you. It's dangerous to be alone. You should know that."

"So you decided to come after me, alone?" Britain responded. China looked back down, embarrassed over his action. Britain sighed. "Sorry, that was a bit harsh. It's just that with everything that's been happening I haven't been…" What... Haven't been what? Myself? Normal? Thinking straight?

Unable to finish his words, Britain backed away from the other nation. "You should head back. I'll be right behind you."

"I'm not going back without you." China came forward. "We all understand how you're feeling. America and Canada are our friends too. We made a promise remember? We would stop that SAFE together, all of us!"

"Stop them? What's the point?!" Britain yelled back. "There is none, I'll tell you now! They've already taken America, they've attacked Canada! Who's to say who will be next? Me? You? How about France? Hah! I'd be grateful if they blew up that bearded git. We don't even know who these people are. They just appeared one day and started tearing everything apart. Do you even realize how helpless we are? The American government was infiltrated by a member of their own. How can we even tell who's one of them now? Can we even trust anyone? We just... We can't do anything!"

China stared back at hurt nation before him. He was unsure of what to say and unsure of what to do. The elder country felt as if he had been unsure of a lot of things lately, too many things to let himself be unsure of. Sighing, he saw a cloud of his own breath form from the cold, then it dissipated into the icy air.

"Britain, I want to tell you that I knew what we could do or that I knew that everything was going to be okay, but I can't. If I did, then I would be lying to you and to myself." Again China put his arm on Britain's shoulder, reassuringly. "What I can tell you is that nothing is certain. Yes, there is a possibility that I, or you, or France, or any other nation might be the SAFE's next target. There is a possibility that they've infiltrated another nation's government. There's even a possibility that we can't trust anyone else. But there's also a possibility that we will get America back. We could stop the SAFE before they hurt anyone else, and we could trust each other. Right now you're only looking at the bad things that could happen, Britain you've got to stop thinking that way, because there is a real chance that good things can happen too."

For a moment Britain just stood there, taking in what the other nation had just said to him. China's arm felt warm on his shoulders, suddenly Britain realized how cold he truly had been. He couldn't think of words to say. Left speechless, Britain turned his eyes back to the dark, grey sky, a few clouds parted showing a hole of with dots of light. Suddenly, a while light streaked across the small opening. A shooting star? Hmm, make a wish. Britain knew exactly what to wish for.

"Am I intruding?" Another voice broke into the night. It was female, familiar to both nations. "I'm still coming out even if you say yes." A woman in a long dark overcoat stepped from the shadows of an alley. In a gloved hand she held a laptop bag, with the other hand she adjusted her glasses.

"Agent. I should have expected you." Britain glared back at the American, his stare cold as the icy air.

"Only if you had." Hoover coolly replied. "But I am the one who's going to grant your wish."

Wish? Confused, China looked back and forth from the agent to the nation, trying but failing to understand the exchange between the nation and the agent.

Hoover came toward the two nations, her heels clicking on the concrete. She sat down on a sidewalk bench, taking the laptop out of the bag and turning it on. She motioned for them to come over. "This is our chance."

On the screen there was a window opened to what looked like a giant factory of some kind. Giant metal spires touched the sky and smoke stacks pumped seemingly endless white clouds up in the air. Metal walkways crisscrossed between the giant structures, concrete buildings with oversized garage doors housed who-knows-what kind of machinery.

"The Hayesville Refinery located in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia on the banks of the Reed River." Hoover informed the two nations, the picture zoomed out to show the surrounding area. It was located in a valley, on a river side, squished between two towering mountains covered in forest. The picture must have been taken during autumn as the trees were covered in vibrant shades of orange, red, and yellow. The small river was held at dam at the end of the valley, which trickled down into a creek. "And it's the suspected headquarters of the SAFE."

"We'll be sending in a team tomorrow. It shows no patrols or body guards, but we're sure there's some type of surveillance. We're going to try to enter the main building, and then see what we find." Newman explained the plan to the remaining countries, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and France in a conference room. A projector screen showed the schematics and several pictures of the same refinery.

Japan studied the images on the screen, listening intently to the Agent's plan, yet he felt uneasy. But then again who wasn't? This was their chance to stop the SAFE, if this really was the base and if this team the agent's put together was good enough. He had every reason to hope for the best, but the SAFE were still so elusive and so little was known about them. Would they be so careless to just let them in?

Beside him Germany was also listening, and then Italy tried to keep himself focused, but seemed to be distracted by the changing pictures on the projector screen.

He looked across to the nation sitting on the other side of the table. France was remaining unusually quiet about the matter. Since last night he barely spoke to anyone. From the SAFE's attacks on America to now Canada, Japan was worried that France was beginning to… let himself go? He promised himself have a talk with him after the meeting.

"Mr. Newman, ah, I hope you can let us have a piece of those SAFE members too. Seems a bit selfish if you only let your agent friends have all the fun." Russia said. He was beside France, who still seemed distant from the rest of the group.

Japan couldn't tell Newman's full expression for his dark glasses prevented him from seeing the agent's eyes. He wondered if the American ever took the things off.

"Sorry, Russia. Then you'll think me even more selfish when I tell you that I'm going to be with my agent friends at the refinery." Newman replied to the country. His voice just as difficult to read as his face.

"You're saying you'll be with the team?" Germany questioned him. The entire room was surprised at Newman's announcement, and even France turned toward the agent.

"Yes, I will be on the ground tomorrow, but don't worry about me. I'm not a trained FBI agent for nothing." Newman reassured him. Japan thought he heard the slightest bit of doubt in the agent's reply.

"But Newman-san, it's dangerous." Japan decided to speak up. "Not just for you, but the rest of the agents as well. You shouldn't be doing this, you should let us, the nations, do it. The SAFE aren't after you, they're after us."

"Japan you know that's not a good idea, even worse than the one we've got. The SAFE already have America, and attacked Canada, we don't need to lose another country to them. It's my job, Hoover's job, and whole lot of other peoples' job to make sure you guys are protected from the enemy and to eliminate the threat. This is the best way we can do our jobs."

He's putting on a brave face… Too brave. Japan thought, though he knew that he wouldn't be able to stop the agent from doing his duty.

"Newman," Germany spoke, "how did you find out about the SAFE's base in the first place?"

"Arkwell." Newman answered. "After France… We decided to question him again. Strangely enough he was a lot more compliant than last time around. It was as if he waiting for the right time to tell us. Who knows, he probably knows more than he lets on."

"Newman-san no!" Japan suddenly said. "Can't you see? This is a trap. They're obviously trying to lure you in. They will hurt you or worse…"

The agent turned his head down and let out a long breath. "It probably is a trap, but we might as well fall for it. Right now, this" –the agent motioned back to the picture of the refinery— "is our only lead. And Arkwell is our only source of intel. As unreliable as both are, we've got a country down, another missing, a man that's gone AWOL, and insane cult of maniacs hell-bent on taking over the world, so this is our only choice."

After the meeting Newman told the rest of countries to get some sleep. It was late and tomorrow would be a big day. The last on to leave the room, Newman stopped himself before closing his laptop. The picture of the refinery still loomed on the screen. He neglected to tell the nations that the place was literally a bomb waiting to explode. One wrong move and the SAFE might shut the plant down, taking off the safety procedures, sealing off the safety spires that let gas out into the air. The heat build-up would cause the place explode as well as taking out the two mountains it sat between and anyone else within a half mile radius.

Didn't you just tell them not to think negative? Newman thought. It was better if they didn't know, or at least didn't find out until later. He closed the laptop and put it away, then headed to the door. But when the agent opened it—

"Ah! Veh!" The Italian nation yelled in sudden fright, then hid behind Germany. "Oh, uh… sorry… I...uh—didn't know the door would open, veh…"

Confused to see the two, Newman raised an eyebrow, but then shrugged it off. "What are you doing? I told you to get some shuteye."

"Wellll…." Italy stepped from behind Germany. "Since you know, you let me borrow your glasses for a bit, I just wanted to give you this." Quickly, he held out the object to the agent. "Also it's for good luck too! For tomorrow."

"A white flag?" Again Newman raised an eyebrow, but then let a small smile escape on his face. "Thanks, I think." Reaching in his pocket, Newman pulled out his extra pair of sunglasses. He exchanged them with Italy for the white flag. "I believe it's only fair trade."

The nation's face lit up with joy as Newman handed him the glasses. "Grazie, veh~!" He said as he put them on, "I'm going to keep these on all the time like you Agent Newman!"

"I don't keep them on all the time, just most of the time." Newman said, then turned to Germany. "And you're here because..?"

"He didn't want to do it by himself." Germany replied. "Now I think we'll take your advice and get some sleep. And I wish you the best of luck tomorrow, agent."

"Trust me, I've already got it." Newman playfully replied, then gave a small wave of the white flag.

"Come on Germany! Let's sleep together!" Italy called out, then pulled Germany away by his sleeve.

You can't deny countries are pretty… unique. Newman thought as the pair went away. He looked at the white flag in his hand, wondering why the nation would give it to him and just how much luck he really needed.

"What's with that thing?" A voice came from the other end of the hall, followed by the clicking of heels on the floor.

"Good luck charm." Newman answered, then gave the little flag a wave. "We're going to need all the luck we can get."

Hoover narrowed her eyes at the flag, but didn't inquire much more about it. She turned to Newman, but the glasses, as always, blocked her from making direct eye contact. "You're still sure about going tomorrow?" She asked with caution.

The agent turned to his superior, his smile was gone and he put back on his unreadable expression. "I'm sure. I think the question is if you are, or if they are."

"The countries know what's going on, but from what I can tell, they're just as worried about you as I am." She motioned to the good luck charm Newman held in hand.

Newman slipped the white flag into his pocket. "You just don't want it to happen again. I don't either. We can't stop what's already happened, people have already died, countries got hurt, but we could stop more people from dying and we could stop more nations from getting harmed."

She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. "You're just wanting to make yourself a big hero. I'm not going to let you get yourself killed over a selfish desire. You're right, people have already died, but adding another one to body count won't help anything."

"Elaine, you're being selfish and you know it. Weren't you the one who said we've got to stop the SAFE at any cost? But you're right, I do want to go there. But it's not for the same reason you think I want to. I've just got the feeling that I… have to."

"Have to?" The other agent questioned.

Once more, Newman allowed a small smile to escape. "You know, a wise man once told me that… it's not where you think you want to be, it's where you know you need to be."

Elaine stopped at the reference to old friend of theirs. An old dead friend. "I hate it when you bring Raymond up. I can't argue with you when you use him on your side."

"And neither can I when you do. Besides, Ray wouldn't want it any other way. But it seems as if we're stuck in that same situation, surrounded by death and mistakes all over again." And again Newman's smile faded as he leaned against the same wall as Hoover.

"I told you no. Look, France it's not going to happen." Japan heard Hoover's voice as he was about to round the corner. He knew it was bad manners to listen in on the conversation, but something stopped him from going any farther.

"Madame Hoover, please. I need this." He heard France's voice. It wasn't strange to hear him pleading, but this time Japan knew it wasn't just for a pretty girl. "I need to talk with him again. Newman, didn't you say you got him to tell you things after I talked with him the first time? I could do it again, I could get him to tell you whatever you wanted. Just let me do it. I—"

"I said no. And you don't need this." Hoover's voice cut the country off. "You want it so much that you've convinced yourself you do. France you blame yourself for what happened to Canada, but it's not your fault. Even if Arkwell had said something else, told us something more, we—you wouldn't have been able to do anything."

"I know it's not my fault!" Japan was startled to hear France's voice raise. "It's his fault. I have to know why. He has to pay for the people he's hurt and for those he's killed. He doesn't deserve to still be breathing."

"This is exactly why I can't let you talk to him. You're not keeping your emotions in check. I was fine with you earlier because you could control yourself. But now with Canada being attacked, you're unstable. You need time to calm down." Hoover paused and the only sound Japan heard was his own breathing.

Japan didn't hear France respond, he was about to step out from his hiding place until he heard the other FBI agent speak.

"Come on, I'll take you to a room. Besides you look like a mess. You haven't slept since yesterday have you?" Newman spoke with a lighter tone, but it did little to affect the mood.

Japan heard two steps of footsteps make their way down the hall. He finally stepped from the corner only to nearly run into Hoover.

"Japan," The agent nodded, "surprised to see you still up. You should get some sleep like the rest." With that, she made her way down the other hall, leaving Japan unsure if she had known he'd been listening in or not.

Quickly he made his way down the hall that Newman and France had gone down. When he passed by the rooms that had been prepared for the countries, he didn't see either in the hallway. It was possible they had already reached there and the agent left France in his room, but Japan had another feeling that it wasn't quite the case.

Japan continued on making his way the labyrinth of hallways, he didn't know where he was going, but he was doing what felt right. After wandering around for what seemed like a long time, the nation rounded another corner to find two figures at the end of the corridor.

It was Newman and France, they were exchanging words with one another, but they seemed to be whispering and Japan couldn't make out what they were saying. Suddenly, France opened a door and exited the hall. The FBI agent turned around and walked toward Japan. Too late to hide, Japan let himself be seen.

When he reached the nation, Japan began to say something, but Newman raised a hand to stop him.

"Sometimes you've got to give a man what he wants." They were the only words Newman said, Japan didn't know how to respond. But he didn't have to, Newman left without saying anything else.

Japan wondered what Newman had meant. And also thought about the difference between a man and a nation. Was there really any difference at all? Hadn't Newman referred to France as if he really was a man? Didn't they refer to each other as brothers and sisters, like members of a family? It was a strange family, sometimes dysfunctional, sometimes like a crazy madhouse, but other times the nations would really care for each other, they were friends, and they were family. Was there difference between friends and family too? It didn't really matter to Japan, because in whatever way he still cared about them both.

No time to think. Japan stopped himself from pondering about his thoughts any further. He made his way down the hall to the same door that France had entered. Thankfully it was left open, but not by much. Japan slowly pushed it open but was surprised to find no one inside.

Wait. It's that room… Japan remembered there was another door on the side as well as a window, from the other side it would have looked like a mirror. The two on the other side would have never known the nation on was there.

Japan heard muffling from a speaker, the microphone must have been left on. He heard France say some words, but it was in his native language, he couldn't understand.

"Que saviez-vous?"

—What did you know? —

Where… Where am I? It was the first thought that crossed America's mind. It was dark, too dark to see anything. My head hurts and my chest, and my… everything.

He was in a sitting position, in an uncomfortable metal chair. He tried to stand up but soon found that he was restrained. "What the…? Agh!" A sudden sharp pain in his head stopped America from saying anything more.

Aw man… This sucks. How did I get here anyway? I can't… remember. Closing his eyes he tried to recall what exactly had happened. There was a world meeting… And I was talking wasn't I? Then I felt funny and then Canada asked me what was wrong… Argh…

Groaning aloud another pain appeared, this time his chest. "God… Why can't I remember, why does everything hurt so much?"

"It's okay." He sensed a presence in the room with him. It was a female voice, but he couldn't see her.

"Who are you?! What do you want from me?!" America yelled into the blackness. "Tell me where I am!"

"Don't worry." The voice said, it was calm and warm, but America knew that something was different about the voice. It tried to make him trust him, sounding inviting and honest, yet something was off. It just didn't sound right.

"You're safe now."

((PS: My New Year's resolution: POST CHAPTERS MORE OFTEN! XD Until next time~!))