It had been such a nice day.
Alfred laid with his siblings and Kuma on the hotel bed, he had enjoyed a day of relaxing, movies, and more relaxing.
It had been so long since he had felt so happy.
And it felt so nice.
"I say," Maria started, "We watch The Lion King next," She ate handful of popcorn.
They had ordered up a lot of snacks and some food and just spent the day watching movies together. Mainly Disney and Dreamworks.
Alfred shook his head, "I would say yes but that movie always tears me up," He faked a sniffle.
Canada laughed, "Okay, how about a Shrek movie?"
"Noo!!!" Diego protested, "The Penguins of Madagascar."
See? He had missed moments like this.
Maria looked at her brothers, "Rock, paper, scissors for the next movie."
"You're on," Diego smirked. Canada smiled and nodded.
The three got in position, "Rock, paper, scissors, shoot-"
Alfred's phone rang.
He looked surprised for a moment, completely forgetting he had a cellphone. He had been given it by the President before leaving for the meeting. During his time at the White House, he hadn't been permitted to have a phone at all.
They didn't want him contacting anyone.
His siblings watched him as he contemplated answering it or not.
"Al," Canada said slowly, "You know you don't have to answer it."
No... America shook his head... he- he should. .. He was with his family now. His family was here with him and he was safe.. Yeah, his cousins all swore they would protect him, and yeah...
Yeah, and they weren't liars..
He was so sorry he ever called them that.
He shakily answered the call, "Hello?"
"Alfred!!" The president yelled at him, "I've been trying to get in contact with the agents and none of them are picking up!! What happened!?! Did you do something!?! Did you get in contact with the kidnapp-"
"Don't call them that." He said in a dark tone.
The president stopped for a moment..... "You did, didn't you?"
America growled, causing his siblings to look even more concern. "Leave me alone."
"I tried helping you America," His boss finally spoke, "I tried getting you stronger, I tried helping you as Alfred and America. But you clearly want to keep America open to attack, you clearly want to see America fall-"
"No!!" Alfred yelled as tears started to fall.
"You clearly don't care about America!!"
"No stop!!" He yelled, shaking his head. That wasn't true, he knew it wasn't true... This wasn't true..
"Leave me alone!!"
"You hate your country!! You want to fail your people!! You want to fall, don't you?"
"No!!" Alfred yelled out, "Stop!!"
"Al..." Canada moved to take the phone away from him.
"Please...." America begged as his tears picked up, he didn't know how much more he could take.
"You're still weak, you will always be we-"
Come on, come on. Be strong... Come on you can do this!!!"
The tears stopped.
Alfred growled again, even darker, "No." He said.
The President was quiet.
"Don't you ever make contact with me or my family or ever talk about them that way again!!"
The president was still quiet. He just... he just sounded so threatening.
He suddenly threw his phone at a wall across from him and his siblings.
And it smashed into pieces.
Alfred panted and panted, he let his angry tears fall. And just put his head in his hands and shook.
"Maska?" Maria put a hand on her brother's shoulder and rubbed it.
Canada softly smiled, he was proud. His brother had pushed him away, he had pushed the President, he knew it was him, away.
Diego rubbed Alfred's back and the American looked up at his siblings.
He wasn't weak, he wasn't, he was getting stronger and stronger everyday... yeah his family was here behind him and he was getting stronger because of them. Yeah.... he wasn't weak, he couldn't have been.
And to prove it.. he was going to do something he hadn't been allowed to..
He was free damnit, he had his freedom of choice back.
"C-can we go outside-" He cleared his throat, "I want to go outside."
His siblings all nodded and got up to get their shoes.
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They walked down the hallway in a comfortable silence.
Alfred's eyes were red but he wasn't crying anymore.
He refused too, he wouldn't let the Pres win anymore.
"Guys!!" They turned and saw Peru and Chile and walking towards them. "Where are you going?" Peru asked.
"Just going to hang outside," Maria said.
Her cousins nodded at her but once they looked at Alfred, they looked highly concerned.
Canada gave them an 'I'll tell you later' look."
They nodded and decided to let their cousins have some sibling time together. They would meet up with them later.
"You guys up for going out to eat tonight?" Chile asked, still looking at Alfred.
They all nodded, "Yeah," Alfred finally spoke, he slightly smiled, he really wanted to be around his family right now.
The older cousins talked to their relatives a little more before letting them go and heading down a hallway.
"We haven't seen Alfred all day," They heard a voice say, "We can't leave without him."
Another voice started to speak, "I say we leave him, Donson, I'm assuming, was badly hurt by his savage family. And we still have no idea where he is."
It was the two remaining agents.
Peru and Chile looked at each other and smirked.
They both cracked their knuckles.
And walked towards the agents.
Looks like South America's been beating a lot of bitches lately..
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America softly smiled and let the wind blow through his hair.
This felt so nice.
He felt so free.
Finally.
The fresh air he had missed for so long. It was the little things you missed when they were gone.
But this wouldn't be taken away from him again, he would make sure of it.
"You okay now Al?" He heard Mattie ask.
He didn't answer and climbed up a tree, he motioned for his siblings to follow.
It was time to tell them.
They climbed up and sat carefully on the branches. It was time... He wanted them to know.
He wanted it to be part of the past now... It would take some time still though, a lot of time. But he knew he could do it with them behind him.
"He-," He started, leaning back on a branch, "They wouldn't let me go outside," He whispered softly.
His siblings didn't say anything. They wanted to let him talk.
They would listen.
Canada put a hand on his brother's leg in comfort.
"I couldn't do a lot of things," He whispered out again. "I was barely allowed to be alone by myself. You guys kept an eye on me."
They nodded.
"But they kept track of me."
Maria closed her eyes and took a breath, she didn't even think she wanted to know of what her big brother had went through.
By his own government.
"The first morning I was back," He said, "An agent had been standing in my room... If I had, had my phone on me. They would have taken it away. When I cried in the bathroom, about three of them busted in and told me to stop."
They looked at him in disbelief.
"I later saw that they put a lock on my window," He swallowed hard, "I wasn't allowed to eat much food.... so I went to bed hungry every night." He sighed and wiped his tears. "I spent the whole day in hunger. I couldn't cry or whimper, because that was weak. I wasn't allowed to be weak."
Superpowers weren't allowed to be weak.
America shook his head.
That's what he thought.
But it wasn't being weak.. Superpowers could go through rough moments..
And get back up again.
He knew that now.
"These were considered 'privileges'."
"Que?" Diego and Maria both asked in shock.
America nodded, "I always had to do paperwork and if I didn't finish in time, or when he deemed the due time, I wouldn't get feed." He slightly shook and Canada reached over and grabbed his hand.
"Sometimes agents would stay in my room to monitor me so I wouldn't... act 'weak'. If I did, they would threaten me." He sighed and shook his head again, squeezing his brother's hand. "I was wrong," He told his siblings, "I'm sorry for what I called you," He looked down shamefully. "You guys cared, you always did. I was too blind to see that. I doubted that."
But he didn't anymore.
His siblings all smiled at him.
Diego gave him a soft look, "Well, you've been forgiven for a while now."
Alfred smiled. He was so thankful for them. He nodded.. "Thank you," He said softly.
"Stop thanking us," Canada finally spoke, "You're family Al, we're a family. You don't have to thank us for anything, we have and always will care for you," He smiled.
Alfred smiled wider. He nodded..
How did he ever doubt them caring for him...?
"You're with us now," Canada went on smiling, "And this won't ever happen again." And now that he knew what happened to his brother.
He could, and he would. Take action.
Time to make some plans with his cousins.
America nodded, he was free now. And he would stay that way, he would make sure of it.
He wasn't under the manipulative president's control anymore. He had his freedom of choice back.
He was free, he could and would start to heal, with his family right by him. Helping him, guiding him, comforting him, protecting him. He was free.
He had his liberty back.
And it felt so good.
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Okay guys!! This book is winding down. We have 2 more chapters left, can't believe it.