Chapter Text
This was seeing himself once again in the same situation. And again, he was too stunned to speak. God was rubbing his sins all over his face. One thing was to see little America being an impulsive kid, but another thing was to have a full-grown Alfred threating one of his generals with a fucking gun against his head, ready to pull the trigger and kill him in the middle of a meeting.
Alfred had always been protective; heavens knew that his savior complex had got him into a lot of problems. But this was ridiculous.
The first time that this happened, America was little. He looked around 6 or 7 years old. He didn’t recall the exact date, but he was having an argument with an admiral from the Navy. The jerk was good at his job, but he was too prideful and greedy to England’s liking. And he wasn’t the one to talk, he was aware of his good number of flaws. Maybe, that’s why he put up with him.
They were discussing something about America, not the kid, obviously. They didn’t care about the kid. He was just discussing about land and resources. England tried his best to help America in every way he could. But this Admiral was stubborn and disrespectful. Alfred must have heard the yelling because he got worried and appeared into the room looking shy.
“England? What’s going on?” he interrupted.
“Nothing, dear. Please, come back to bed. I’ll be there in a minute” He tried to smile to reassure America.
The Admiral looked rather displeased at the way he spoke the America.
“Control the fucking kid”
England did everything he could to control his impulse to strangle the man right there. He didn’t want to make a scene in front of America or scare him. He just stood up from his desk.
“Get the hell out of here now” England said.
The man clearly believed himself to be superior to England and started to yell at him.
“I’m not going anywhere. You bloody tosser, come here!”
England didn’t really notice when America entered the room and came closer to the man. He just heard the thump and saw the man flying across the room and hit himself against the wall. Alfred just threw the man across the room and the blow was a nasty one. He was yelling in pain.
He was aware of the kid’s strength. For god’s sake. He saw him throwing buffaloes when he was little. A simple man was no problem to Alfred.
“You shut up!” Alfred said.
The kid was angry and scared. He didn’t understand what was going on, but in his little mind, this bad man was yelling and insulting England and he couldn’t allow that. He had to protect him.
“You don’t yell at England!” America shouted.
Alfred was glaring at the man. Arhtur didn’t like the view. He had to stop him, to prevent Alfred to do something else to the man. He was horrified, England did this. He provoked this.
“Alfred, come here” He ran and hugged Alfred. “It’s okay. You didn’t have to do that, easy. Let’s go to bed”
Alfred didn’t move. Arthur was trying to pull him, but he couldn’t, America was stronger. He couldn’t even move him an inch.
“Alfred, let’s go. Come on.” He insisted.
He didn’t listen to Arthur, the kid just kept glaring at the man who stared back horrified and scared of Alfred. The boy really gave him a good scare, maybe this will teach the man a lesson or two. And he writhed in pain, but Arthur couldn’t care less about that. He just wanted to get Alfred out of the room.
Arthur kneeled beside Alfred and took him gently by the face to make eye contact.
“Hey, look at me” He smiled. “America, please, let’s go”
Alfred responded and looked at Arthur and smiled. It was creepy to see the kid changing his mood so fast, but he ignored that. Arthur lifted him and then carried Alfred to bed.
“The bad man was hurting you, England, right?” He asked.
“No, he was not. He was just angry, OK? You shouldn’t intervene in these situations”
“But he was calling you bad words! He was rude and he wanted to hit you”
“I know, I know. But I can handle him. You don’t have to worry about me. Promise me that you won’t do that again”
“No”
England was silent. Alfred was a rebellious kid. He expected a little resistance. But this time was different, Alfred was too serious about this.
“If someone hurts you, I’ll save you”
Arthur just kissed his head. “I know you will. But I must protect you as well”
“You got in trouble because of me?”
So, he was right, America must have heard and understood that the fight was about him.
“No, of course not. Don’t worry about that”
“You were defending me”
It wasn’t a question.
“It is my job. I’m supposed to take care of you and your land”
Alfred smiled.
“Now, don’t do that again. Let’s go to sleep, OK?”
The situation left a bitter taste in his mouth. He got the feeling that there was something terribly wrong about this whole thing, but he couldn’t figure it out yet.
He shouldn’t fear America, right?
The kid really loved him, and Arthur loved Alfred just the same. But this time, he felt that America’s affection was too much. But, loving someone too much couldn’t be a bad thing. Or that’s what Arthur thought at the time.
Many years later, he could understand why he felt so anxious. America was a strong country with great potential. He could even grow up to be stronger and better than Arthur, and he did.
Now, this time was different. He expected that after all these years America would behave himself. Or get over the fact that he had to stand up for England.
They were near the end of WWII. They were having a meeting with France and America and their delegates. The meeting was a mess as always. They couldn’t agree on one single thing.
Once again, one of England’s Generals started to complain about the ridiculous American impositions. Arthur didn’t say a word, he was tired and just wanted to go home. He tried his best to reach an agreement. It was an order from his Boss to get the deal with America. They needed supplies, guns, and money.
Apparently, this General didn’t like England’s attitude and the way he would agree on the terms imposed by America. He didn’t have a choice, to be honest.
“Aren’t you going to say something? Are you selling yourself to best bidder like a whore, now?” He yelled at England.
Before Arthur could hit him in the face, he heard a trigger. It was America who was aiming his gun at the General’s face.
“You shut up” he said in a serious voice.
The room went silent. Everyone could feel the tension. They weren’t supposed to bring arms to the meeting, and killing a General was literally a war offense.
“We can fix this quick and easy” Alfred said.
Arthur got flashbacks from years before. Little America throwing an officer across the room. Once again, he was paralyzed for a moment. He didn’t expect this, not again. America was not a little kid anymore. He was very aware of this. He couldn’t just go and hug him to calm him down.
But there was something else this time. This time was different. He didn’t feel the same. There was something else in his chest.
A chuckle took him out of his stupor. It was France, he was looking very amused.
“Someone is in trouble” Francis muttered.
Arthur frowned. “Alfred, for the love of God, put that gun down”
Alfred didn’t listen. He was glaring at the man with hatred. Arthur moved forward and stepped between the two of them. He knew that America woulnd't shoot him, Alfred lowered the gun instead.
The American commission tried to get Alfred out of the room and asked for a small break. As they were taking their leave, he heard Francis.
“God forbid if someone lays one single hand on England”
Arthur couldn’t take it anymore. He grabbed Francis by the neck.
“What do you mean, frog? Say it again out loud”
Francis lifted his arms in a surrender gesture.
“Jeez! Calm down, Rosbif”
Arthur pushed him aside, the delegates were watching, and he didn’t want them to listen.
“I was just saying, no? He’s always been like this when it comes to you”
“Like what?” He gritted his teeth.
Francis smiled. “So impetuous and protective”
Arthur was getting more pissed.
“I don’t like the way you said it. Listen to me, If I hear gossiping one more time, I’m going to rip off your tongue out of your mouth”
He let him go and went away pacing furiously.
He went to talk with his own commission, they were worried. He tried to calm them down. The General was outraged and was demanding an apology. He knew he wasn’t getting one anytime soon. The air was dense and the conversation too awkward. There was something left unsaid. The very right thing that everyone was thinking, and that England was trying to ignore.
Why would he do that?
He left the room to go to the toilet, this whole interaction was draining him. He was getting an headache.
He saw Alfred in the hallway with a cup of coffee.
Alfred visibly jumped when he saw him. Then, he looked embarrassed.
England walked right to him.
“If you are here to scold me, then save it” America said. “I’ve had enough from my commission. I’m not apologizing.”
“I know, I didn’t expect an apology.”
Alfred looked surprised and confused.
“He deserved it” England continued.
There was more thing different this time, Arthur thought. He wasn’t horrified with America’s actions now. For a moment, he would have liked to see more of this side of Alfred.
“I sent the bastard home. I’ll deal with him later. We can’t tolerate that blatant display of disrespect, right?” Arthur smirked.
Alfred smiled.
“Yeah” America was uncommonly silent this time.
Yes, that hadn’t changed at all. England still let America get his way.
“You still need to behave”
Alfred groaned. “Let’s just go back to the boring meeting”