He was curious. That's how the whole story started. Actually it started just a little before Steve Rogers was curious is where the story begins.

Starting when before he crashed into the Atlantic, he saw what was supposedly one of the places where the Hydra was keeping prisioners of the Allies, he saw a man with greyish white hair and blood red eyes, cackling about something with another man who stood a few inches taller and had blond hair and did not seemed to get the joke that the shorter man told him.

He tried to catch them, but even with his strenght and speed, they somehow disappeared from the base without him seeing which direction they went. He still wondered about them days after he and the Howling Commandos went onto the next base.

After he was found in the ice for 70 years and had to help fight a mass threat to New York City along with several other heroes, he still wondered who those men were. Even if he requested S.H.I.E.L.D to look up these men, he assumed that they would most likely be dead, or be in a nursing home somewhere in the world where the Media couldn't get to them.

And then the whole thing with The Winter Soldier happened, making him forget the men for quite some time.

When Natasha had let the files leak to the world he knew this was his chance to see if he could find anything about them.

Finding an odd file marked "Project Prussia" he clicked on it and found the same man with greyish white hair and blood red eyes staring at him through the screen. He read through the file, learning more about the man and the deeds he did in the war. He was part of the vile group that he was fighting and was captured for information that he may have known. The file also said that he told the Allies he was only doing his duty and that he shouldn't be blamed for all the deeds that Hydra did.

Still Steve couldn't help feel the hatred run seep into his heart and his body.

"I see you found it." Nick said, startling Steve from his position.

"Yeah just wanted to see some files that S.H.I.E.L.D might have not let me see before." He explained.

The former Director nodded and left Steve to do whatever he was doing before.

He focused his attention back to the screen and was thinking about how young they look when he first saw them and now in the picture he saw in the file, how the man went from somebody who could take on the world to somebody who looked like they could barely hold himself up.

Steve continued to read about the Project they did with him and he felt his stomach turn slightly at the information he was learning.

"Hey what's up Steve? Looking through some old file stuff?" Said the ever excited Alfred F. Jones.

How he ever became an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D, Steve would never know, but he was known around the Headquarters as the Star Spangled Thing. People who have worked with him, were always delighted to do it again, even if he was slightly annoying at times.

"I'm just looking up some stuff that Natasha put on the Web. Nothing important."

The young Agent nodded and then sat next to him, phone in hand and was texting somebody with a happy grin.

Steve printed a few things from the screen and left the excited blond and blue eyed man in pursuit of looking for Natasha for more information about this project that the secret agency was up to so long ago.

After meeting her in a random coffee shop, he was trying to get to the subject of the project.

"Do you know anything about this?" He said handing her the picture of the man along with notes.

Natasha looked over the a few minutes she nodded no and gave him a quirked eyebrow. He leaned against the chair and looked over at the door for some kind of help.

He then saw a man enter the shop and thought he could play "Who is taller and stronger?" contest with Steve. With platinum blond hair and a smile that seemed to be friendly, he saw him calling for somebody that seemed to be outside the shop and was lagging behind the tall man.

"Gilbert you know what happens when you make me angry. Metal pipe remember?" He said in such a sweet tone with an Russian accent.

A shudder went down his back and saw that Natasha was giving a mixed look between shock and fear.

"I hope there isn't anything going on in that relationship." He whispered to the red head.

She nodded in agreement and took a slow sip from the cup she had in her hand. The person named Gilbert quickly opened the door and was yelling something.

"I know what you do with metal pipe. But seriously I was talking to a person, trying to get directions to the closest history place. I don't need your tactics to get me to move faster."

That's when he caught a good glimpse of the person and saw it was the man from the file, behind the name the name Gilbert and all the hatred from before started to seep into his body. Gilbert was giving a face of annoyance and was pointing a finger at the taller Russian the smile remained on the man's face, despite it being slightly creepy, he was patting the top of Gilbert's head and was saying something quietly to him.

The annoyed look started to fade, but he still snapped at him when asked what he wanted.

"Oh this is going to end well." He heard Natasha say across from him.

He turned his attention back to her and gave her a questioning look. She had given up the quirked eyebrow in exchange for a small smile that seemed to hold emotions that Steve couldn't quite tell you what they were.

"And you know one of them?" Now he was the one with the eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, I do somewhat." Was her reply.

That's when he felt a tap on his shoulder and saw the tall Russian man towering over him with the same sweet smile. He smiled wider when he got the Captain's attention.

"Hello. I was wondering if I may speak with Natasha for a moment? She is a dear friend to me after all."

He quickly gave his friend a look to see if it was alright. She was in the open after blowing all her cover stories after the Winter Soldier incident. She gave him a quick nod and he gave the man a yes.

Smiling he gestured the redhead to come with him and she did. However she was replaced with the Gilbert fellow and felt the same hatred seeping back into his body. The man was scowling at the other man and was muttering something in a language he couldn't quite place. He stared down at the cup and figured he might as well drink it.

Sipping, he saw the other man slumping in his seat and just plain look miserable.

"What's getting you down?" He asked, wanting to be the good guy.

Still with a scowl he answered "Just having a bad day is all. Nothing you could understand."

"I think I might."

"I doubt it there soldier. Just let the awesome me be and we'll just get along great." He said back, looking like it was taking effort to even say that.

Steve said no more and just went back to drinking the coffee. He looked from the corner of his eye and saw that Natasha was slightly enjoying the conversation. The Russian man was smiling and looked like he was happy about something and that caused Natasha to smile back and gave a couple gestures in return.

"Where did you get these?" Said the man across him.

Steve looked back and saw the red eyes blazed with anger and something else. He said nothing because he did not know what to say to the man without angering him further. The man was holding the file and was shaking slightly from the information that he had read.

"I said where did you get these?" He said anger seeping in his words.

"Old S.H.I.E.L.D Headquarters." Was the reply.

The file started to crumple from the strength and anger that Gilbert seem to have. Steve was looking for all the ways he could get out of this without injuring him or others.

"Why does that place still have this information? I gave them all the information they wanted and I expected it to be destroyed by now. Can't they leave me and the others alone?" He said.

Steve not knowing who he was talking about, just gave him a shrug. The other man, angry with the Captain, threw the file at the table, making a large "Smack" sound when it came into contact with it.

Reaching across the table, the man grabbed at the collar of his shirt and pulled him could feel the angered puffs of air on his face and he suddenly felt like he was in danger for the first time since meeting the man.

"Its important that you get this off the internet or anywhere else. There are some secrets that the world must keep. Whether your stupid program understands that or not." He threatened, tightening his grip to prove he was indeed serious.

Steve stunned, slowly nodded and felt himself fall back into the chair as the man loosen his grip on his shirt collar. He felt his heart beating fast and trying to slow down from the odd experience he just went through. Gilbert just scowled at the table top and held the coffee cup prisoner, he felt some pity slide through the hatred.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

The man looked up from his gaze and was just about to give him a nod, but something in Steve's face must have changed his mind because he just sighed and started to talk to him.

"I wish I could tell you. But after what we did in WWII, I doubt you would understand. I still get taunts from the others for being such a failure."

"All I ask is who are you Gilbert? Cause I'm sure you're not an everyday guy." said Steve.

The pale man sighed and tapped his fingers lightly against the table.

"Alright. But you better not tell anybody. You just might have to deal with somebody who's stronger than you." He said, a smirk beginning to form.

Steve just gave him a blank face, wondering what else could the future have for him that he hasn't seen.

Gilbert seemed to take a moment to explain whatever he thought he needed to explain to him. With a shaky breath he started.

"Have you ever thought about if the Nations of the world were human or represented a country?"

Steve nodded as the idea must have past through everybody's mind at least once in their lifetime. What was the pale man getting at?

"Well what if I told you that they were real, but in hiding?"

"I wouldn't know what to tell you that you have few loose screws in the head."

The other man gave a pained chuckle at the statement. Steve just stared, wondering where Gilbert was going to take this.

"Well you better believe it. They are as real as the earth revolving around the sun." The pale man said, a small smirk sketching onto his face.

Steve just stared at him and seemed to notice his eyes that flickered with something that no normal person had. Pain so intense and there seemed to be a wise edge to it that he's only seen in a soldier, like himself. But he also saw a wonder that he guessed was the man's hope, dreams and beliefs.

Or maybe it was all in his head about what he saw.

"You're in disbelief, taking the look of shock on your face."

He snapped out of it and gave some sort of action that he agreed. The man gave a smile and seemed happy that the Avenger was giving him such a listening ear.

"And you're probably wondering how nobody has made this discovery before?"

Another nod yes.

"We the nations during WWII had to make the citizens forget a backlash from them, blaming us for all their problems that were not caused by us. We had to do it for we did not want to give them more pain. So with the help of several countries in a specific field they mastered in, we made everybody in world forget us."

"So you're telling me that people knew you before those huge wars and didn't revolt till then?"

The man sighed with frustration. "Yes and no. We had done it a few times before that with individual countries that were in danger of its citizens. But with the WWII? We had to do the world because it seemed that nobody would listen to us, except for a few. We did what was best for us and the citizens. We made them forget."

There was a sad note at the end of the explanation and Steve sat there soaking up the information he was given. It all made sense when it was being told to him and maybe why he accepted the term of countries being real is because he grew up knowing that there were representatives of all the countries, before they decided to rid the existence of themselves to make the citizens happy.

"The only time we ever tell we exist is to our new leaders. It is fun to watch their reactions whether there your leaders or not."

The pale man gave a strange laugh leaving Steve to wonder who he is. For all he knew, the pale man could be a small European nation that had developed during the years when he was asleep.

He found that his coffee had disappeared and was wondering if he should get another cup or not when he found the pale man just slumped into his seat with a expression you only found on those who lost it all. Or just didn't know which way they should when given an opportunity that hadn't existed before.

"Ah it was so great back in the day when you could go to war and have the satisfaction of being the winner. Not that everybody in the meeting room would agree with me."

"War? Why would you enjoy war? Aren't you countries all for peace and stuff?" Steve questioned.

"Not all countries were made for that. The peace stuff I mean. I was made for war and I excelled at it too. Not like Austria, the music loving, stick up his arse freak."

The other man huffed at the German country, like the country was the worse thing to ever come across.

"And what country are you suppose to be Gilbert?" Steve pushed, his curiosity getting the better part of the sensible him.

"I am the awesomest country you'll ever meet!" Gilbert declared, which turned a few heads in their direction.

Steve slid into his seat a bit, embarrassment quickly creeping through his it didn't seem to faze the other man, as he made gestures and words in another language to show his excitement for what he represented. Which he still didn't have a clue what it was.

"Gilbert? What country do you represent? You didn't exactly tell me who you are."

The man across from him gave a deflated expression, almost like it was the one question that Gilbert didn't want to answer.

"I use to be the country Prussia." He said, sadness dripping onto every word.

"Wasn't Prussia the one country after WWII that got…" He said, trailing off.

The look the representative had was gloomy. He said no more and went to get a second cup of coffee. Steve looked back a couple of times, just to make sure the pale man didn't do anything irrational to the place or the people.

"Here you go sir." The woman said, as she placed the coffee on the counter. She motioned for the next person in line to get their order.

He grabbed the cup and went back to the table with the depressed country sat, just looking blankly at the wall near them.

Steve sat down and started to speak to the man.

"Sorry about that." Was all that he could say.

The other nodded and took a sip from his cup. They sat in silence for a long time before the country made himself sit up straight and look Steve right in the eye.

"Do not feel sorry for me. I have enough of the pity from the others and I would like it if I had somebody to talk to with neither sadness nor pity in their eyes. You're the first human I've even told about us. You better keep that a secret or the country that use to be will take live again."

A serious tone laced into the words and all Steve could think about was how much this country reminded him of Fury and maybe a tiny bit of Coulson with all they he has seen and heard from this man today. He gave a tiny smile and just held out his hand. The grey-white haired man looked at it with a raised eyebrow and then gave the same look towards him.

"I just want to shake my hand to show that I'll keep my end of the bargain. Why don't you show yours?"

Gilbert sat for a second and then gave his odd laugh, as he took his hand in his and shook it with great strength. He started to smile and then let go, sitting back down in the chair.

"Ah I can see an awesome friendship forming! With me being the awesome one of course." The man chuckled with happiness and was starting to telling him all the battle tales and cute stories of his little brother, Germany.

Steve sat through it all, laughing or smiling at the stories he heard from the strange man who wore a grin as wide as the cheshire cat.

I did this story for a writing class and figured I would share for everybody else to see. If I got anything wrong or see anything that you think I should reconsider changing go on ahead. I would like to become a better writer and need other people's point of veiw to see my work in a different light.

That's all for now.