A/N: Sorry this took so long, Christmas kind of got in the way and the snow inspired so many cute ficlets that I couldn't help myself. Reviews are very much appreciated.

Chapter 3

To say that things were going badly was the understatement of the century. England sighed as he paced around the cells he and Wales had been bundled into, waiting impatiently for their older brother to come back from his questioning session. The three nations were understandably pissed off, why were they not being listened to? Wales snorted as he looked up from petting the little dragon that was curled up on his lap,

"Will you stop with the pacing around already? You're making me dizzy jus' watching you." He drawled, "I'm sure Ireland's fine." England stopped and glared at his twin,

"No I bloody well will not stop." He snapped, "This whole fiasco is an outrage and I have had quite enough of it." He then resumed his pacing. Oh what wouldn't he give to have a couple of pieces of chalk and one of his spell books right about now. Watching the police deal with a couple of trolls or hags would definitely brighten up his day. Hell, even if he could just summon up a poltergeist it would be infinitely more entertaining than waiting for Ireland's interrogation to be over with. He finally stopped pacing when Ireland was shoved into the cell by an officer,

"We'll let you think about what you want to tell us for a bit shall we?" the officer sneered as he slammed the door shut. Ireland gave the thing a one fingered salute before he settled down on the bed,

"Can't handle what wasn't even a proper riot." He snorted, "Honestly with the way I was being talked to you'd think I'd blown the Piccadilly Line up." England gave an amused snuff,

"Well to be fair, your lot were the most serious terror threat to the UK until quite recently." He reminded his brother. Ireland chuckled,

"I guess we were boyo, but I've calmed down a lot since then." He looked up at the door, "Seriously though, this has put a proper damper on things." England sighed,

"It most certainly has." He agreed, "Still, it could be worse..."

...

Scotland swore as he sat down. Things were not going nearly as well as he'd hoped. Oh sure, he and France had successfully pushed back the battalion that they'd come across, but both had suffered quite a lot more casualties than the British forces had,

"I swear to God that the wee one had better be sorting things oot doon there." He growled as he poured himself a glass of whisky and promptly downed it in one go. France didn't bother looking up from the table,

"These things will take time mon ami." He reminded the Scot, "The best we can do for now is to 'old off the invasive forces until the 'eads of you MOD get told the truth." Scotland scowled at the wall ahead of him, but then sighed, relenting,

"Ye're right o' course. I'm just frustrated is all. I shouldnae have tae defend ma ain border against British forces seein' as I'm pretty much the same bloody country." France nodded wearily,

"The joys of 'aving to share the responsibility oui?" he noted. Scotland sent the French nation a small smile,

"Fer once I'm hopin' the wee one is a'right. Wi' the way things are goin' I'll be surprised if he's been allowed anywhaur near Downing Street or Buckingham Palace." France chuckled,

"You would be surprised at how... inventive your brother can be when 'e really puts 'is mind to it." Scotland laughed along with him,

"Aye, not tae mention how bloody stubborn he can get. If we thought he wis bein' hard-headed during the Blitz then I'm guessin' we haven't seen anythin' yet."

...

England watched his brother nervously,

"Daffyd, are you sure someone won't notice the fact that you're using a bloody dragon to melt the bars off the window?" he asked. Wales merely grinned at his twin,

"D'you want to get out of here to get to the Palace or not?" he asked, "Best way out is the window, and since Meredith is here we might as well make use of her abilities right?" England nodded slowly wile Ireland laughed,

"What do you know the boyo has a head on his shoulders." He quipped, earning him a glare from his younger brother, while England watched the door nervously, straining to hear if a guard was approaching over the sound of Wales' dragon using her fiery breath on the window bars. It sounded vaguely like a blowtorch,

"Can you hurry it up before one of the guards or officers hears that thing?" he hissed. Ireland looped an arm around England's shoulder,

"Arthur, relax. We've got this covered." He told him, "Either way we're gettin' out of here so don't panic so much alright?"

"I am not panicking!" England snapped,

"Yes you are." Ireland replied.

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!" The two of them were so busy bickering that neither of them noticed that Wales' dragon had finished her job until she bit England on the shin,

"OW! What the bloody hell was that for?" England snapped, looking over to Wales, who simply rolled his eyes,

"If you're both done being childish and attracting unwanted attention..." he said, motioning to the door, which had by now opened and had an officer standing in it, wondering what all the commotion was about.

"Oh bloody hell." England groaned as the officer finally worked out what was going on and reached for his radio. Ireland was faster and swiftly kicked the device out of the man's hand before he could call for backup,

"Sorry boyo, but we've got a country to save." He quipped as he landed a punch in the officer's face. He turned to his brothers,

"You two get going before backup turns up." He told them sharply. England hesitated for just a moment before nodding and dragging his brother towards the window and squeezing through it,

"Good luck!" he called just before he disappeared, taking off running across the yard. Wales gave his brother a short salute before he too disappeared, following after his twin. Ireland turned his attention back to the door of the cell, which by now had about half the guards stood in it,

"Well lookie here, more witnesses to our astounding escape. Sorry lads, it's been nice knowin' ye!" he called as he dashed to the window and jumped out of it just before the nearest officer could fire his taser. Ireland laughed as he heard the shouting and swearing as he ran to a nearby shed and poked his head around the door. He felt a tug at his jeans and turned to see one of his leprechauns standing there, a wicked grin on his little face,

"Well, ye certainly showed them up, but it won't stop them chasin' ye down." He noted. Ireland nodded,

"And that's where you come in my little friend." He replied, mirroring the little man's smile, "D'you think you can distract them for long enough?" he asked. The leprechaun grinned and laughed,

"O' course we can boyo, you just get out of here." Ireland grinned at the leprechaun, shook his hand and took off running again, trying to work out where his brothers could have gone, while the leprechaun jumped out in front of the officers who had just rounded the corner,

"Top o' the mornin' to ye lads. What say ye to a little game?"

...

England finally slowed to a stop when he realised that he and Wales were not being followed. He leaned against a wall to catch his breath,

"That was a little too close for comfort." He muttered. Wales leaned with his back against the wall, Meredith snaked around his shoulders,

"Well you and Ireland would start a bickering session." He drawled, "Good thing Seamus has a quicker mind than you." England shot his twin a glare,

"Oh yes, very quick, I can't argue with that." He replied, "But now we've probably got Scotland Yard on our backs as well!" he snapped. Wales shrugged,

"Can't be helped for now. It'll all get smoothed over once we get a few things straightened out with Parliament though." Wales replied,

"If it ever gets straightened out at this rate." England muttered. He jumped when he heard a voice behind him,

"I believe we may be able to help with that." Came a well accented voice. England turned around only to come face to face with one very familiar face and several not so familiar ones. He smiled as he shook hands with the man he recognised,

"I can't tell you how relieved I am to see you lot." England sighed in relief, "I do hope it's not just me you're helping though." He said. The leader smiled,

"Oh no, we've got operatives heading up to the Scottish border to liase with your older brother and France as we speak." The man replied, "In the meantime I do believe that the Queen is awaiting your arrival at the head office." England nodded as he and Wales followed the man and his agents, both of them feeling much happier about the whole situation.

...

France frowned as one of his soldiers came into the little bar, wringing his hands nervously,

"Monsieur Bonnefoy, il y a un monsieur étrange qui veut parler t'et à monsieur Stewart." He said. France blinked a bit, looking to Scotland, who shrugged in confusion,

"Très bien, laissez-le dedans." He sighed. The French man did not want anything else to deal with on top of the British forces, but he supposed he had no choice. Scotland immediately straightened up as a young man walked into the bar, a large grin on his face,

"Hullo there!" he greeted enthusiastically, "Now I understand you lot have a little bit of a problem with a runaway government." Scotland blinked a bit in confusion at first, but his face split into a massive grin as he realised just who he was talking to,

"I've got to admit that it's a surprise to see you, but am I ever glad tae do so." France merely looked on in confusion,

"Angus, may I ask who this gentleman is?" Scotland turned to France with a great big grin on his face,

"If ye dinnae recognise him the noo, no doubt ye will when we get outside." He practically sang, pulling France out of his seat and taking him to the door. The young man following behind them both, looking amused.

...

A/N: Who are these mystery people exactly, and what do they have to do with the current crisis? The story's taking a definite twist here, one that even I never expected it to take. Sorry for the lack of Scotland, there's more of him in the next chapter.