Ahahahaha~! It's been more than a MONTH!

...y'all are gonna kill me...;_;

Sorry, but...life's been hell...and that's all I really feel like saying right now, so...

So if this chapter seems a bit unfocused…..you know why. I'm sorry. I love you guys, I really do, but things are just so pressurizing, you know? I want to update, but with everything going on, I just can't.

Please don't be angry with me.

I'll make an attempt to begin updating like I used to...sorry...

Chapter 10: Operation: Compromised

"We clear on the plan?" Francis asked, his calm and determined face circling the Conference Room, which was currently filled to the brim with killers and saviors alike. The entire room was silent, locked and loaded, weaponry and explosives all pocketed into some part of their backpack and/or body. Francis rose a suspicious eyebrow, and then asked one more time, "Are you sure we're good?"

Then, Feliciano let out a tiny squeak, and Francis and Kiku sighed simultaneously.

"That's what I thought," Kiku said. "Let's run through the operation one more time, just in case."

The entire room groaned in unison. Feliciano blushed furiously at his own weakness, and Ludwig, noticing this, glared pointedly at all those present in the room. "Just so you know, Feli just wants us all returning home safely. Now shut up and listen to the plan one more time. It's good for you."

The whole room immediately fell silent once again.

Kiku nodded towards Ludwig, briefly acknowledging him for getting the room quiet again. "Alright, so what do we do first?"

Several hands went up instantly. Kiku looked around, trying to find someone that wasn't paying any attention. "Gilbert?"

The Prussian jumped, startled, and then turned to face the Japanese man, attempting to remain awesome, despite his lack of attention towards the relay. "Yeah, boss man sir?"

Kiku folded his arms, obviously not appreciating the title. "The operation. What are we doing first?"

Gilbert blinked. "Oh? Oh. Oh!" He laughed at himself. "First, we get within a 120 yard radius of the perimeter. Then split up into groups of two, and different groups meet inconspicuously at different rendezvous points."

Kiku raised an eyebrow. "Alright," he said, nodding. "Which groups go where?"

Gilbert sighed. "The ones going in first...the ones taking out the guys and the cameras on the outer gates..."

"We're called Team Doom," Yao butted in, raising a finger.

"I thought we'd agreed on Team Omega?" Roderich asked, folding his arms.

"I kind of liked Team Unicorn-Fairy Magic Squad," Arthur offered. The entire room silently stared at him in a "what the fuck" manner, before turning back to the current situation.

"I like the sound of Team Pasta!"

"What about Team Alpha?"

"Team Omega's better!"

"Team Yaoi!"

"What the hell?"

"I like the sound of Team Awesome!"

"YOU'RE NOT EVEN ON THIS TEAM!"

"Guys!" France yelled, and everyone stopped fighting, taking back their seats. "We're trying to go through a debriefing here. Please pay attention." Several mutters and complaints escaped the crowd, but they all settled down nonetheless.

"Now, Gilbert," Kiku said, turning once again to the Prussian, who was trying his best not to swat at the fly currently buzzing around him. "You were saying?"

Gilbert coughed. "Oh, yeah," he said. "Well, anyway...Team Alpha Omega Doom Yaoi Pasta Unicorn Fairy Magic Squad-"

"Can we shorten that?"

"-whatever! Let me talk!" Gilbert huffed. "Team AODYPUFMS-"

"That makes even less sense."

"Shut up! Your mom makes even less sense!" the Prussian lamely retorted. "Anyway, the team with the name I cannot pronounce is going to rendezvous at the abandoned apartment due about 15 feet from the Eastern side of the mansion's security bars. When Kiku gives the signal, the tech heads-"

"Hey!" said "Tech Heads" yelled in unison. Gilbert promptly ignored them.

"-the tech heads are gonna disable the cameras on the outer gates using...some genius thing that geniuses use-"

"It's not a 'thing'!" Matthew retorted. "It's a high-frequency-"

"Details, details," Gilbert interrupted, sighing. "Anyway, once the cameras are out, Kirkland takes out the four body guards on the Eastern side of the gate. Silently, preferably."

Alfred turned to Arthur. "Thigh sheaths?"

Arthur kicked him in the face.

"Then Roddy-"

"Not my name."

"Sure it's not. Roddy jumps out next and takes out the guys on the Northern side of the perimeter, but he uses a rifle to take them out, not manually, like Kirkland does-or will do," Gilbert sighed dramatically, wiping his forehead. "The sound of the four gun shots will attract the other guards to the Eastern and Northern sides, and then the rest of Team What's-Their-Names will jump out and go all Jackie Chan on the rest of the guards' asses. They knock them out. Initiate Phase Two."

Kiku nodded, obviously pleased. "And why are we using Roderich's rifle to lure the enemy into the North-Eastern sector of the perimeter?"

"Oh!" Antonio rose his hand eagerly. Francis nodded towards him.

"Yeah?"

"To avoid any hidden cameras that might be paired up with the motion detectors on the mansion grounds," Antonio replied, and Kiku nodded, satisfied.

"Good," Francis said. "Who knows Phase Two?"

Several hands rose, but the Frenchman's gaze was immediately directed to the timid man in front of him. "Matthew?"

"Ah, yes, well...um..," Matthew cleared his throat. "Team Tech-"

"Real original there, bro," Alfred commented. The Canadian rolled his eyes in irritation.

"Thank you, thank you very much," he said in reply. "Anyway, once Team Tech is finished disabling the cameras on the outer gate of the mansion, they are going to have to shut down the motion detectors on the Mansion Grounds." Matthew rummaged in his black backpack and pulled out a tiny, spherical, silver mechanism.

"Using this," Matthew continued, "we can easily disable the detectors. However, there's a catch."

The room groaned, and Matthew ignored it. "This device needs to be touching the power source for it to disable it. So one member of Team AODYPUFMS-"

"How did you pronounce that?"

"-is going to have to go onto the grounds, avoid the sensors, and place this device on the power source, which is directly in the center of the grounds. When he places it on the power source, I will be able to disable the sensors."

"And who's that?" Yao asked, then immediately wished he hadn't. "Wait. Let me guess. Me?"

The room nodded.

"You're the best of us on your feet," Kiku offered, smiling.

"Yeah, man," Alfred added. "C'mon."

Yao sighed. "Fine. I'll do it. But if I get fried by motion sensors...you'll know who to blame, aru."

Matthew smiled. "Thank you, Yao." He paused to take a drink from his water bottle, then continued. "Once I disable the sensors, we'll be able to initiate Phase Three. It's actually pretty simple."

Francis nodded, ruffled Matthew's hair a bit, and smiled. "Thank you," he said, smiling. "Now...Phase Three, anyone?"

Yao rose his hand, and Kiku called on him. "Phase Three is actually really simple, aru. I use my kunai to demolish the two video cameras on the doorstep. Then the rest of the teams come in through the gate. Half of us go in through two windows that are directly above the door, and the other half go to the back to disable any remaining computer systems. End Phase Three."

Kiku nodded again. "Phase Four?"

Alfred rose his hand, and Kiku motioned for him to go. "Well, the half of us that go in through the two windows try to find Ivan, but also try to remain as quiet as possible. Basically take out any guys or girls that get in our way, and once we find Ivan, we get 'im the hell out of there."

Alfred paused.

"Then we find that Winter prick, take him with us-"

"-I thought we were going to let him burn with the bomb," Arthur said, pouting. Alfred looked at him briefly, sighed, knowing he couldn't win, and said,

"As much as I'd like to do that, too, Iggy...I can't. Not my thing."

Arthur sighed, shrugging. "Fair enough."

Alfred smiled. They seemed to have been getting along a lot better ever since last night's...antics. "Anyway, we find Winter, handcuff him and shit, and then get him out of the house. The Tech guys are gonna plant the bomb."

Francis nodded, and then said, "Now, what will the other half be doing while they retrieve Winter and Ivan?"

Lovino, in the back, rose his hand lazily, like he'd rather be anywhere but here.

"Yeah?" Francis asked, and Lovino sighed.

"While those guys go in and look for Ivan and the other asshole, my half goes to the back of the mansion, where the Control Room is. Long story short, we take out the guys in there, hijack their systems, and switch off any of their other traps. Problem solved. Then, we go to the center of the house-yes, I know where that is-and plant the bomb in there," Lovino finished. Then he paused.

"And then we get the hell out of there," the Italian added. Elizaveta smirked.

"...and they all lived happily ever after," she finalized. Francis and Kiku looked at each other for a short moment, then turned back to the team, proud expressions on their faces.

"Looks like we're good now," Francis said. "Any final words?"

The room looked at one another silently. Naturally, Gilbert broke it. Cocking a sniper rifle and screaming triumphantly, the Prussian yelled,

"Let's lock and load, bitches!"

~Operation: Compromised~

"This is it. Right here. Stop. Stop, you git, stop!" Arthur yelled from the backseat of the huge black-clad vehicle. Alfred, hurriedly removing his headphones from his ears, did as ordered and stopped, doing a 360 degree turn, and somehow managing to park messily near some French restaurant.

Typical.

Everyone in the backseat stared absentmindedly at the road ahead, caught their breaths, and then took turns hitting Alfred on the head. When all of them had evacuated the car and it was just Alfred and Arthur, Arthur took the liberty of hitting Alfred on the head as hard as he could, then kissing it.

Alfred laughed. "Good luck."

Arthur pulled away and adjusted the American's glasses, running a hand through his hair. "Don't die," the Brit replied, placing his forehead on Alfred's. "I swear to Christ, if you die, I will revive you and then kill you myself." Alfred just laughed. The git.

The American then captured Arthur's lips in a tantalizing and somewhat bittersweet kiss. When they parted, Alfred said, "I won't die. I've got you now."

Arthur glared at him, called him a git, and kissed him once more. "And what does having me have to do with anything?"

Alfred blinked, then blushed. He then kissed the Brit's cheek, and whispered in his ear, "'Cause now I have something to come back to."

Arthur blinked in surprise. Oh...

"Um, hello!" Roderich called, shattering the moment. "Can we get moving please?" Arthur groaned inwardly, and he could tell Alfred did, too. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Elizaveta punching Roderich for "ruining the yaoi". Whatever the hell that meant.

Alfred and Arthur exited the car and gathered up everyone in their group. Currently, they consisted of all of the members Team Tech and Team AODYPUFMS. Alfred locked the car and they all gathered up in an abandoned alleyway, huddled up to listen to what they were to do next.

"Okay, so Kiku has paired us with one other person from this group," Alfred said. "Basically, though, Arthur's with Roderich, I'm with Matthew, Feliciano's with Eliza, Yao is with Feliks, Toris is with Vash, and Lovino...you're with Antonio. Good luck, everyone." Several people complained about who they were paired with, but eventually, they settled down.

"Go with your partner and pretend you're walking casually. Like, in the park or something," Alfred continued. "Eventually, we will all meet up at the rendezvous point. Make sure to call each of us when you can see the rendezvous area. We don't want to enter the point all at the same time. It'll arouse suspicion. Does everyone remember the code names? Are we all good?"

Everyone nodded their agreement.

"'Kay. Let's go."

Before letting Arthur go with Roderich, Alfred turned around and blew the Brit a kiss. The Brit scowled and mouthed "you're an idiot". Alfred just laughed.

Hopefully, tonight would go without any hitches.

~Operation: Compromised~

"America, this is England. Austria and I can see the rendezvous point. Over," Arthur whispered into the tiny communication device in his right ear.

A couple seconds passed before Alfred, otherwise known as America, answered. "Okay," his voice came back in reply. "So can we. Can you and Austria sneak into the apartment without looking suspicious?"

Arthur brought his eyes up to take in the old, abandoned apartment. Jumping into the windows was not an option. Too much noise. Walking right in was not an option either, especially from the East side. The cameras from the gate would see them for sure that way. Then, the Brit caught sight of an open window on the Western side of the old abandoned building.

"Yes," Arthur answered. "Yes, we can. There's an open window clear on the Western side of the building."

"Do it," Alfred answered. "Be careful. Oh, and Iggy?"

"You're calling me this why," Arthur deadpanned into the communication device.

"Long story," Alfred replied. "I love you."

Arthur blushed, but swallowed his pride. "Me too. England out."

Arthur then turned towards the Austrian behind him. He was well-aware that everyone could hear his and Alfred's conversation over their own communication devices, so thank God that Roderich wasn't commenting on what he had just heard.

"Ready?" Arthur asked, and the Austrian man nodded.

The two walked casually out of the alleyway from which they had spotted the building. They talked to each other, so as to appear in deep conversation, and then, inconspicuously slipped into the abandoned apartment through the open window with no trouble at all.

Once inside, Roderich shut the curtains on all sides except for the Eastern side that overlooked the mansion. Then, he pressed his finger to the communication device in his ear. "America? This is Austria. We're in."

~Operation: Compromised~

"America? This is Austria. We're in."

Alfred nodded, pleased, then turned to Matthew, who nodded in response. Matthew pressed a finger to the communication device in his ear.

"This is Canada," he said, bravely. "America and I are entering the rendezvous point."

Several people showed their agreement over the communication device, and Alfred and Matthew made their move. Similar to Arthur and Roderich, they exited the coffee shop they had been sitting in and moved towards the building. The hard part was, Alfred and Matthew had to pass by the Eastern side of the abandoned apartment to reach the Western window.

As the two brothers walked passed the Eastern side, they did not breathe. Holding their breaths, they walked casually passed the camera's intimidating lens, managing to slip into the apartment through the window once the camera could not see them.

Matthew sighed in relief, beginning to set up his computers and laptops in the abandoned concrete room that overlooked the mansion. He greeted Arthur and Roderich briefly before logging in. Alfred hugged Arthur swiftly, before pressing two fingers into his communication device.

"Hungary! This is America. We've reached the rendezvous point. You can proceed."

~Operation: Compromised~

After Matthew, Alfred, Arthur, and Roderich were inside, everyone else arrived without a hitch. Now the only people they had to wait for were Antonio and Lovino. The problem was that the two, like Matthew and Alfred, would be passing by the Eastern side of the mansion, where four guards and a camera lay perched in a line, like a hawk waiting for its prey.

Breaths hitched, everyone huddled around the high window, spotting Lovino and Antonio easily passing the Eastern side. The two didn't seem to be causing any trouble, and the camera didn't seem to be paying attention to them. They began to calm down when...

"Shit!"

"Oh my god."

Vash, panicked, pressed two fingers to the communication device in his ears. "Southern Italy, Spain. This is Switzerland. What's wrong?"

Antonio's voice came back, timid. "I...I dropped a grenade out of my pocket."

The entire room reeled, listening terrified to the conversation. Toris, mouth dry, asked, "A-and?"

Several long moments passed. Then, Lovino answered.

"We're on the Eastern side of the mansion. Antonio dropped a grenade on the ground from his pocket. The guard's are still turned around, but..."

The Italian paused.

"...the camera's looking right fucking at us."

~Operation: Compromised~

Yeah. Sorry it's so crappy and unfocused...I'm trying to get my life together, so...yeah. :D Please review anyway...I know I haven't been here for a while, but...yeah. :)

NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE BETTER! I PROMISE! I really hate chapters where I have no choice but to explain the stuff that's going on...*sigh* That's the kinda chapter this was...;_; Hope you understand. Next chapter WILL be more action-packed.

I love you guys so much. I'm going to try and update sooner, like I used to. Thanks. ^^

LoveHateLove,

Blank Paiges (is back, baby!) :D