AN: Alright taking a break from kidnapping and magic for pure hurt/comfort/angst/fluff! This is a direct sequel to Captured, not long after WW2, meaning Arthur and Francis don't have spirits, nor does anyone know about the twin's powers! Also this is before Al asked Ivan out! They've been friends for a while now but the Cold War (Which actually may have started before WWI in some sources) has them butting heads in little competitions of superiority (aside from politics and spaceships they also end up doing small spats like chess or Battleship)

He was late! He was late! He was sooo late! Al ran through the halls to the meeting room. It didn't help that his flight yesterday was delayed and spent half the night filling out paperwork causing him to sleep in. He hadn't had dinner or breakfast before so he bought a few dozen cheeseburgers from McDonald's on the way. (I know they weren't much of a thing then but I'm taking creative liberties) America's economy was in a bit of a post war slump and still recovering from the depression leaving him hungrier than usual. (It had been that way for a good 30 years now.) Of course not all of them were for him, he had to share with his twin as well. Maybe sneek a few to Prussia and cheer him up, poor guy. Even with what Hitler had put them through Al still thought dissolving him and trapping him with Russia was far too harsh.. Russia had been rather edgy lately.. Not that Al was worried about Ivan or anything..

When Al finally made it to the room, eight pairs of nearly dead eyes shifted up to him, some lingering longer than others. The Ex-Axis members kept eyes on their paperwork. France spared him a halfhearted smile, face gaunt and pinched. Scotland sat beside him, representing the United Kingdom whilst England recovered from the Blitz bombings. He sent the occasional glare over to Germany, still pretty beat up himself. The room was just full of tired tension and hatred.

"Hey, sorry I'm late traffic was a pain!" Al says moving to his seat by Matt with that Hollywood grin of his.

*You've really pissed them off this time,* Matt sighed mentally as Scotland stood and started their meeting. *Iain very nearly tackled Germany again... Francis stopped him...*

*Sorry.. Spent all night trying to balance out war funds, at least the economy is benefiting from it. Not nearly as bad when stock crashed..*

*You need to try and stop being late, Al... These meetings are tense enough...* He knew it wasn't Al's fault, but this really didn't help.

Al sighs softly. In fact it's only cause of the war that he wasn't still sick, bonds and funding had managed to slowly pull him out of unemployment and poverty. It had thrown everyone else into financial turmoil...

Which did so much good for his world status cause he dragged them down in the first place.. Al thought sarcastically.

They circled the room, each putting forth their piece, suggesting global improvements they should be aiming for. After about three people, the voices just blended together...

Well it was better than waving guns at each other.. They should have done this when he came up with the idea after the first war..

No one had been very talkative after the first war - Germany was effectively shunned by Europe. For all his muscle, the Aryan nation looked smaller than ever sat in this room.

Al sighs to himself. He had made it a point to avoid Ludwig when possible, he and Matt were still wary from their time in the camps. He was still convinced Matt had actually died that night.. If only for a while.. Arthur didn't feel it when it happened and couldn't convince him otherwise. He didn't know at the time nations could possibly resurrect as long as their land was whole..

Matt was still waking in a cold sweat at times, screaming for his brother to come back.

The whole war had been a horror story, everyone getting their own chapter of pain. Some were national, some were personal, some were both. It was unsure if Germany would ever be forgiven for bombing Northern Ireland, especially since he was so young, or Ireland herself, seeing how she remained neutral. Could the twins come to trust him? Would America and Japan manage to fix things after Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima and Nagisaki? Really, everyone had played dirty...

It would be a long road to trust.. At this stage, no one even wanted to set foot on it...

The meeting drones on. When it came to be Al's turn he did present his idea, but also threw in something about superheroes. It was more for a joke though, try and lighten the mood.

Not that anyone seemed to appreciate the gesture. Prussia spared him a tired smile from his new prison besides Russia. Ivan had refused to let him out of his sight for even a second.

He sighs mentally taking his seat again.

*Keep it up,* Matt encouraged softly. *I think you're the only thing keeping this together...*

He gave a slight smile at that.

Discussions struggled on for a while longer before they all just gave up. Finally they break for lunch, Al pulling out his lunch bags.

"How're things holding up for you now?" Matt asked idly, knowing it would look odd if they didn't talk.

"Eh.. Alright I suppose? Employment is really rising, farming is expanding again."

"That's good... My economy is picking up too now. Still struggling in places though..."

"Sorry about that.. If I didn't have so much trade in everything maybe it wouldn't have dragged the rest of ya down so much.."

"It's keeping us afloat now... The fact you're still willing to trade with us..."

He nods softly. *Still.. Scared the hell outa me when I just collapsed..*

*Scared the hell out of me too... Dad had kittens when he heard!* "Guess it'll come in time..." Matt shrugged, outwardly calm.

"Anyway, after this is over wanna go skating? I could use a break."

"Sure thing, my lakes are freezing up already!"

"Wannae say that again, you fucking Kruat?!" A loud bang echoed through the room, followed by a grunt of pain. Scotland had Germany pinned face down against a desk, knee pressing into his spine. "Once more, I dare ye."

Al frowns jumping up to pull them apart. Matt rushed in to pull Germany away, quickly handing him off to Japan.

Scotland struggled briefly before a heart spasm forced him to stop. Al eased him toward the floor. The Scot sank down, gasping painfully as he clutched his chest. Al frowns softly rubbing his back.

It was a good few minutes before he could catch his breath again. Al sighs standing.

*Okay?* Matt hovered fretfully.

*Yeah.*

"How about we call today to a close and try again tomorrow?" Matt sighed, addressing the room. "Everyone go cool off..."

"Yeah, too much time in office rooms make everyone grumpy."

There were a few grunts and murmurs of agreement as nearly everyone shuffled out of the room. Al sighs sitting back down with his lunch.

Matt waited until France had all but dragged Scotland away before falling into his own chair. *We'll never get anywhere like this...*

*What else can we do? It takes time to make change..*

*Change only happens if you want it to though... At this rate, Iain's going to kill someone and start another huge war...*

Al sighs. *If it does I'll stop it then..*

*I just don't want it to kick off again...*

Al reached over hugging him. Matt clung to him a minute, still very unsteady in himself. Al smiles softly, balancing one of the wrapped sandwiches on his head.

Matt frowned softly for a moment, taking it off then laughing when he saw what it was. Al grins. Matt's the only one who seemed to get that joke.

"Thanks bro..." They just seemed to share a sense of humor. "I don't know what I'd do without you..."

"Same here."

"Let's eat!" he smiled softly, unwrapping a burger. Al grins grabbing his own. They chow down, clearing a good few.

It felt good to finally have something in his stomach. He really should stop missing meals but he was so busy lately. He'd start losing weight soon. Already, he wasn't quite as healthy as his economy said he should be. But not but too much, surely. The financial drop and Dust bowl only added to his hunger too..

Al starts unwrapping a fourth. Matt had stopped at three, stomach having shrunk during the wars. He just couldn't manage any more right now. Well they had something for tomorrow at least.

"I'd better go sort the rest of my paperwork," Matt sighed after a while.

"Alright, see ya later."

"Maybe we can hook up again later?"

"Sure." Al grins.

"See you in a bit," Matt hugged him before heading off back to his hotel.

Al gathers up the wrappers and uneaten sandwiches. The room was so quiet now, without anyone else in it to argue with...

He sighs heading to leave.

A messenger walked passed him, glancing to the pile of wrappers before huffing in disgust. Al rolls his eyes, yet another jab at his tastes.

People were starting to do that more and more now, judging him if he dared carry more than one lunch - they didn't seem to appreciate that he fed Matt too...

Not like there was much choice of foods you could grab and run with either. (fast food wasn't a big thing at this point) Nor was it up to them to dictate to him what to eat.

Al just tossed his trash and continues on. Heavy grey clouds hung in the sky, threatening rain. He frowns at that, rain always seemed to make him lethargic. Sometimes he swore he was solar powered.. (This is my personal experience.) From the look of the horizon, it might not be far off..

That was an interesting idea though.. Solar power.. Maybe he should look into ways of capturing it? Lord knows, it might be useful to be able to use all that heat for something like energy and power. He hums mulling it over as he walked out.

Rain started to sputter down just as he reached his hotel. He went inside with a sigh putting away his food. The room was warm, but it felt so lonely... Fake, almost. He missed home, at least it felt lived in.. Everything here was too neat and placed for aesthetics rather than convenience or comfort. The view was just plain dreary...

But at least he was close to Matt while he was here. His brother was just a few floors up, in the same hotel.

Al dropped his briefcase on the desk and stretched out on the bed, maybe he could sneak a quick nap.. It wasn't like his paperwork was going anywhere...

He glanced at the door for a second before pulling out his rabbit plush from behind the pillows and settled in. At least the bed was plush and soft. He really hadn't had time to rest lately... It didn't take long for him to drift off.

He must have slept for longer than planned though, because he woke up to his phone buzzing obnoxiously.

He sits up with a groan picking up the corded receiver. "'Lo?"

"You are there," Matt's voice crackled through - he must be using the phone in his room too. "I tried knocking for ages, but you didn't answer... I thought you'd gone out."

"Sorry.. Dozed off.."

"I'll come down, give me a moment." The line went dead and about two minutes later, a knock sounded on the door. Al puts away his rabbit before answering.

Matt stood on the other side, casual clothes on instead of his worksuit, a tired smile on his face. "I woke you up, didn't I...?"

"Yeah.. It's fine though."

"You sure...?" Matt slipped in, letting him shut the door. "You look pretty tired still..."

"Like I said I was up late." He shrugs.

"I wanted to know if you felt like getting dinner with me...?"

Al grins hugging him. "Sure bro!"

Matt relaxed and smiled, hugging back. "You might want to shower first though."

"Alright. Be back in a bit." Al shuffles through his suitcase heading into the bathroom. Matt chuckled softly, sorting Alfred's paperwork into manageable piles while he waited.

He came back about fifteen minutes later nice and fresh.

*I sorted your work into daily piles and dated them for you. Please try not to let it mount up...* Matt smiled softly. "Ready for dinner?"

"Yeah!"

He grinned, leading him down to the hotel's restaurant. They get seated and look over the menu.

They had a lot of rather heavy meals to offer, meats and vegetables and a rich sauce. It was almost like his nation wanted to boast over how they were still managing rather well.

It wasn't like that ten years ago.. The Dust Bowl took over a lot of the central farms, and crops were hard to grow in the dry soil.. No wonder the hotel was so expensive though... There again, some of it was probably imported down from Canada...

Al ends up ordering a plate of steak. His Eagle was being rather peckish for something rare cooked. Matt sighed and gave up, ordering the same. His appetite was still patchy, but he made sure he ate.

"So Matt I had this idea earlier."

"Oh?" he looked up when he spoke, tilting his head curiously. "What about?"

"I wanna talk to the guys about looking into solar energy. Coal is only gonna go so far and sunlight is basically forever right?"

Matt blinked, shocked. "You think you could use the sun instead of coal? But... How? You'd need some way to collect it first."

"Yeah that's the problem. We need to look into experimenting with it."

"It'll probably be expensive..."

"Most likely.."

"You're mad," Matt chuckled softly.

Al just grins.

"Any ideas on getting it started yet?"

"Nothing solid yet. I figure we could look at how it powers plants and other things and see what it is we need to collect, is it the heat or light or radiation we need?"

"So many questions already! What on earth even made you think of this?"

"Saw the rain earlier." He chuckles, "Ya know I feel lazy when it rains. I was just thinking 'I swear I must be powered by sunlight!'"

"Powered by sunlight," Matt smirked softly. "You never cease to amaze me."

Al chuckles. Their meals soon came and they sat and ate.

It was rather filling, Al hums contently. Matt ate slower, having to pause half way, but he cleared his plate. *That was good.*

*Yeah.*

Matt sat content for a while before sighing. "Should probably finish paperwork..."

Al nods softly. They got up and paid the bill before leaving. Al hums softly as they walked.

Matt paused in the lobby. "Fancy a walk instead?"

"You bet!"

He grinned, heading out the front and down the street. Al follows along content to be outside. They just stroll down the path, letting the wind tussle their hair.

Al sighs softly, he hasn't had much time to himself lately. What with paperwork, these meetings, and trying to get things stable again.. Hectic didn't even begin to describe it.

Even with the smoggy clamour of automobiles, the streets offered more peace than he'd felt in days. After a while he just closed his eyes as he walked, finding his way by following Matt's path.

Matt just lead him through the city, needing to see something that wasn't the inside of a building or work. It was far more relaxing than anything he had tried lately.

*I miss cool nights like this,* Matt hummed idly.

*Well it's not all that cold yet.*

*When it snows, you need to come up to my place again. We can have the winter together.*

*Sounds good.*

Matt smiled warmly. Al smiles back and they continue on.

They stroll until it gets dark then head back to their hotel. Al sighs as they reach the lobby. He was tired again.

Matt frowned softly, taking his arm. *I think you should leave the paperwork til tomorrow, you look beat...*

*I'm sure I can get some of it done..*

*I didn't even make a pile for tonight, just rest.*

*Alright..*

Matt all but marched him to his room. *Seriously, sleep.*

Al smiles softly. Matt could be rather protective when he wanted to be.

*I'll come get you in the morning, alright?*

*Ok, night Mattie.*

*Night Al...* he hugged him warmly before heading to his own room.

Al went in and changed, slipping into bed with Mana. The bed embraced him in a warm hug, coaxing him into sleep. He drifted off rather quickly.