N: Everyone did as they were told, with Wolfgang walking with HRE and explaining the wonders of cars.

When the six rescued countryhumans were brought together, the three adults who were freed from their cages were noticeably cautious of everyone, and especially of each other, while HRE, Hibernia and the child seemed oblivious to it.

The moment Caledonia saw Hibernia, he got up from the bed he was on and stared at him, with a mixture of disbelief and wonder in his eyes.

"Cale, it's nice to see you again," the younger Celt smiled, but when he stepped forward, the other took a step back.

"Where did they find you," the elder Celt demanded.

Surprised by the question, he just said that he was in the tank, and when the other got it confirmed that he was telling the truth, Caledonia walked forward and hugged his younger brother.

"It's nice to see you too, Hibe."

From afar, Johann watched everything happen and smiled, so he walked over to the one child they rescued and crouched down, "so, what's your name?"

M: The kid shrunk away from Johann and buried her face into JE's side, the adult held her close and hushed her.

"I named her Sakura, though the scientist didn't let me use it," the former empire said, "I don't really know where she came from, neither Saxon nor I birthed her, she just appeared one day. It doesn't really matter how she came to be anymore, just that she is, and now she needs someone to take care of her."

JE managed to coax the child into giving Johann a chance, it seemed that she was a bit more comfortable with humans than the others were. From the outside JE didn't seem as rundown as the males, her entire lower half was gone and replaced with cat like legs, though she states that her organic legs were human like. She had an ear tag that displayed her subject number, and a layer of fur that hid her minor scars and bruising, but despite all of this she was quite calm and trusting of her rescuers.

"I'm not quite sure how Saxon feels about Sakura, I know he already has a family, so I'm not too bothered if he doesn't want to associate with us," she claimed, "but me, well, my little Japan has always wanted a sister, I just hope she has it in her heart to welcome me back into her life, it's surely not easy having an Axis Power and your mother."

N: "Axis Power," Johann repeated in confusion, until he remembered the quick history lesson he and his fellow resurrectees got when they were at the estate, "ja, I remember, the alliance during the Second World War."

Getting up on his feet, he glanced at Saxon, who was making sure none of the medics touched his chest, and leaned closer to JE.

"I think it's best that she stays with you, if you ask me," he muttered, "I've seen his family and are familiar to their dynamics; it's one crazy family and a crazier Isles, and it's best that you keep Sakura away from all that," he turned and smiled at the young girl, "I'm sure she would be cared for, no doubt about it, but maybe wait until she's older."

M: "No kidding, the British are the most dysfunctional group of incompetent fools, it was any wonder how they managed to keep their union alive," JE laughed, "they couldn't even win the war by themselves, I died before this but apparently my generals had the stupid idea to attack America, a neutral global power. I'm not even mad that he dropped those atomic bombs on my country, clearly I had a lot of dumbasses that needed to not weaken the gene pool."

She sighed after her rant, it held regret in it, clearly she was more upset about the topic than she let on, "Either way, I'm not gonna keep her away from them, whether I like it or not, I guess I'm officially part of the British family, and if there is one thing I've always believed in is to honor your family, it's just gonna take a while I suppose.

The door of the building slammed open and there soldiers came rushing in, two of them supporting the third as he clutched onto his bloody side, they must have found an uncooperative security guard. They were tasked to the back of the building away from the countryhumans, but still close enough for them to be in Johann's field of view, allowing him to watch a medic take off the helmet of the injured soldier, and to see Artemis's pained face cough up blood.

N: Johann's stomach fell as he felt the blood drain from his face at the sight of Artemis, and without a moment to hesitate, barged past the soldiers that were helping the second in command and fell to his knees.

"Keep it together, Arty," the Mandorian spoke, his voice quivering, "alright? Stay with me, bitte."

However, he was in the medics' way, and suddenly he felt someone pull him away and up on his feet.

"Let them do their work," Wolfgang spoke calmly as he held onto Johann, watching Arty with a stony face, "he's a soldier, ok? He knew what he was signing himself up to, but only if you let the medics help him will he heal."

M: "Arty, gosh what did you get into this time," MA called over when he realized what happened, then came over to see the damage.

"I'm fine boss, i-it's just a flesh wound," Artemis joked, trying to hide his pain, "this isn't my first time getting shot, I'll live."

"Damn right you will, hang in there buddy," MA said, a proud smile at his companion's bravery in the situation, "We're moving out in a few minutes, just hold tight."

He then turned to Johann and patted his shoulder, "he'll be fine, Jo, this is not the first time he's been shot, sometimes I think he likes the attention from it."

"Say's you boss, you got shot last month and just walked around with a hole in your shoulder for two hours," Artemis called to him, some of the other soldiers chuckling.

"See, he's feeling better already, I'll tell you that story some other time," the militant sighed, "now, how about you and Wolfie go have a chat with Saxon, he's giving the medics some trouble and he won't listen to me or Poldara yet."

N: "Ja, we'll do just that, right Johann," Wolfgang raised a brow at his friend, who just sighed and followed the Saxon to see how Saxon was faring.

The said Brit would allow the medics to tend to most of his wounds, but he wouldn't let them touch the one thing that needed to be looked at the most: the metallic prosthetic that goes over his chest and left shoulder.

"So, Saxon, we heard that you've been giving the medics a hard time," Wolfgang began as he brought up a chair, "why aren't you letting them help you?"

The country just stared at him, to which the human found the other's white sclerae unsettling, before turning away to stare down a medic who tried to touch him.

"You wouldn't know what you'll be messing with," Saxon finally replied, "even if those devils were putting me through hell the last few years, at least they knew what they were doing."

"But we can help you-"

"I don't have a heart anymore," the other interrupted, "well, not a normal one at least, and if you guys mess up, I die. I'm not risking it."

M: Poldara was still close by so heard what he was saying, and he actually agreed with him, "you're right, we don't know that much about artificial hearts, and that's something to be concerned about. I have a cousin who does though, he makes prosthetics for a living, and I can tell you that this metalwork on your chest is scrap metal compared to his handy work, no offense."

He then called over a Mandarian soldier and asked him to show them his chest, they complied and took off his shirt. He also had a chest piece, it was much more sleek and refined than Saxon's, it had a green light at the center that faintly pulsed with his heart beat.

"Danial here had a heart disease that pretty much rotted his heart away, but my cousin Johann was able to make him a new one," the younger country explained, "so how about we make a deal, the medics here won't touch your chest without your permission, but in return you let my cousin fix you up, deal?"

"I mean, the countries are all gonna be taken to him anyway, so-" Danial started but was elbowed in the gut by Poldara to stay quiet.

N: Saxon narrowed his eyes at the jab, his gaze bouncing between Danial and Poldara, "it doesn't seem like I have a choice, do I?"

Wolfgang facepalmed and shook his head, "so is that a yes?" When the other remained silent, he sighed, "let's just assume that you agreed to the deal for everyone's sake."

M: "My dad warned me you were a bit prickly, but he never told me you were a porcupine," Poldara sighed, dismissing Danial, "what's worse is I can't be mad at you because the shit you've been through justifies it."

Deciding to just leave Saxon alone for the time being, he made another round to make sure everyone was ok. They all waited a few minutes until the jeeps and trucks came to move people back to the base, ensuring that the injured were not harmed or strained and the tired could rest easy knowing they would be taken far away from the hell they just came from.

There were two trucks that the countries were riding in, one had HRE, Hibernia, Caledonia, and MA to watch over them, the other truck had Saxon, JE, and little Sakura with Poldara as their protector. JE was asleep leaning on Poldara's shoulder, while Sakura was constantly staring at Saxon for an unknown reason, perhaps she knew somehow that he was her "biological father" so to speak.

N: Saxon would only glance at Sakura from time to time, aware that she was staring at him but also because of her flag. Like JE, he doesn't know where the young girl came from, just that she one day randomly arrived at the cells and was chucked into one. Both of them had their suspicions but didn't bother to dig deeper.

It was clear from the first day they met that Sakura gravitated towards JE more, which made sense since it was the Japanese who named her, but whenever the girl would try to communicate to the Saxon, he would barely reply.

He wouldn't mind helping the child, but he wasn't ready to be someone's carer.

Eventually it got to the point where her stares were becoming really awkward, so he just leaned against the side of the truck, "I'm sorry that you have to have that flag, kid. Nothing good comes with it."

M: Sakura raised her ears in surprise, she didn't actually expect Saxon to say something to her, and now it was her turn to feel awkward. JE didn't wake up but Poldara glanced up from his phone, "you know that you can change that now, I don't know if they had mirrors in that place but you're no longer an entity, you can rebuild your life and your flag."

He reached into his back and pulled out a poptart MRE, giving one to Saxon and one to Sakura, "the world has a new head of insurgents, another German funnily enough, he's actually like your great-great-grandson since one of his father's is Ireland, it's a long story, I'll tell you later. My point is that you have a second chance, a new life where you are in control of it this time, you get to decide what that flag means."

N: "Oh I knew I wasn't an entity immediately," Saxon coldly chuckled, "as a Head, I could see what kind of entity a countryhuman was based on their aura around them, but the moment I came back, everything was...normal."

He turned the mirror so that he could see his reflection, staring at the eyes he hadn't seen in such a long time, and he sighed, "these eyes remind me of when I was young, a time way before you, and I've got some mixed feelings about those times."

M: Poldara nodded in understanding, "We all have regrets in our lives, lucky for you most people don't know about that far into your past, so it would be a little bit easier to start fresh. Honestly, the only one who's going to have a more difficult time is JE, her actions still ring loud and clear in the mind. But, I suppose if Third Reich was able to be given a chance, maybe it won't be so bad for her."

While they talked Sakura happily munched on her Poptart, and considering it was from an MRE, she must have really been hungry to find it delicious. When she was half finished with it she wanted to give the other half back to Poldara, in her mind he was probably just as hungry as she was, that's how she had lived her whole life. She stepped down from the seat but her right, cat-like leg gave out on her and she fell, she tried to hold in her tears but it was clear that she was very hurt.

N: Saxon glanced between JE and Sakura, wondering if the Japanese woman heard the child fall, but when it was clear that she was too exhausted to be awake, he went on one knee.

"You want to give that to him," he asked as he helped her up to her feet and made sure she was stable in her feet until she reached Poldara.

"It seems like I've missed a lot from the day I died," the Brit spoke, "from the few moments JE and I spoke, the world really changed quite a bit in the few decades after I died. The entire time, I was wondering how my family fared from the Great War, and to hear that there was another makes me worry about their safety. I just want to see them again."

M: "From what I've heard, they are a little less dysfunctional, or at least that's what my dad said," Poldara stated, picking up Sakura onto his lap to see why she was so weak in her legs, "after you died, and I'm saying all of this through second-hand information, they began to stop being at each other's throats, sure there were the occasional squabbles, as there are in families, but I guess they realized that they could lose people at any moment, or something like that. Let's see ... there are a few new members of their family, I don't know how many of them you know, but Scotland and England had Northern Ireland, and France and UK had twins, Australia and New Zealand. During the second war, the Germans took control of France, uh, and one of the brothers, Schutzstaffel ... well, let's just say that he took after his grandfather a lo-"

He paused, oh shit, he totally forgot about Corbin, if Saxon found out about him that was going to be a disaster, he'd have to call home to warn the Germans to get the hell out of dodge before they came home.

Sakura yelped in pain and that brought his attention to her, he had been gently feeling her leg for anything broken or dislocated, and it seemed that he found what was troubling her.

"She's got a partially healed fracture on her tibia, but it didn't heal properly and would probably break again if too much pressure is put on it," he diagnosed, "we'll have to take her into surgery to get it corrected, but considering all that you guys have been put through, that's easier said than done."

N: "I would preferably stay as far away from the operating room for as long as possible," Saxon nodded, "and I think that would go for everyone, especially Caledonia. I'm not too sure, but I think he's been in that facility the longest out of all of us, and it shows."

The Brit, taking advantage of the entire bench he has to himself, decided to lie down and try to sleep, but whenever he closed his eyes, he would just grumble in frustration.

"Please tell me you kept some of their anaesthesia," he spoke, "I don't know what was in there, but I'm pretty sure that's the only thing that could help me sleep any time soon. Everything is so damn loud; my stupid heart is so loud."

M: "I know, I can only imagine how bad that is, we'll get you to Johann's lab as soon as we can, he'll give you a heart that's much closer to a real one, you'll hardly know the difference," Poldara reassured him, "we're almost to the base, you can ask a doctor there for some melatonin or something, while not as instantaneous as anaesthesia, it still works wonders and won't make you feel so woozy when you wake up."

They spent the rest of the ride in silence, JE woke up at one point but seemed much weaker than she was before, Poldara determined that she was just anaemic and would feel better after a blood transfusion and some food. When they arrived the rescued countries were taken to the infirmary to be properly cared for, MA and Poldara had to stay with them the entire time to make sure that they didn't attack the doctors when it was time for vaccines and IV's.

Caledonia was the most troublesome, he didn't want any humans to even come near him with needles, Poldara had to step in instead for the Celt to let himself be treated.

N: Whenever any of the medics would approach Caledonia, he would just swat them away, and if he saw a single needle, he would grab the needle and yank it out of their hand and throw it at the ground, breaking it.

"None of this is getting anywhere near me," he growled, "never again."

M: "Caledonia, it's the only way to help you feel better, I promise that nothing we're trying to give you is going to hurt you," Poldara tried to reassure him, "you're anaemic and you're battling an infection, that combination can be deadly if left untreated, and the only way we can is to give you an IV that has all the medicine in it."

"These doctors took an oath to never bring harm to their patients, they wouldn't do anything that isn't in your best interest," MA added, "but if you don't let them help you, you run the risk of dying all over again, do you really want to do that when you are getting closer to seeing Celtica again."

They gave the Celt a moment to think about that, when he didn't answer Poldara asked, "would it help if I did it instead, you don't have to get pricked by the humans, but you need to by someone eventually."

N: "Out of everyone I trust you the least," Caledonia narrowed his eyes, "I've already seen that you can do magic, and for all I know you could be that subject the scientists pamper. You could easily just turn into my son and..."

Although his face still expressed anger, a hint of sadness was showing through as he looked at his hands and clenched, imagining the blood he had to shed so many times. However, the blood soon became real as he got into a coughing fit, and wiped away blood from the corner of his mouth.

"If you want me to be treated, you'll have to put me to sleep first," he muttered.

M: Poldara could only look at him in disappointment, he knew he shouldn't judge Caledonia's caution, but it didn't make it any less frustrating, "as you wish, I didn't want to do this but it seems that you are too stubborn for your own good, the sooner we get you back to Scotland the better."

"Poldara, don't talk like that to him, you know what he's been through," MA started but his nephew cut him off.

"I do know what he's been through, he's been through the same shit that my daughter when through when she was created by those monsters, but she was much more of an adult than he is," Poldara grunted, "honestly, with all those stories Mis Celtica told of him you'd think he would understand that we're trying to help him, or at least not be such a baby about it."

The special entity walked out of the door to get some air, MA apologized to Caledonia on his behalf and went after him to talk to him. The doctors weren't sure what to do, their only protection just left and now they were too scared to do anything, deciding to wait for someone to go get Russia.

N: Johann and Wolfgang were just watching everything unfold, and when they glanced at each other, they silently argued on who should call Russia, to which Johann caved in.

"Fine, I'll go," he huffed as he left the infirmary in search for the Russian. After asking around, he eventually found him, so he cautiously knocked on the door, "umm, Mr Russia, we have a situation in the infirmary and it would be nice if we could use your help."

M: "Well, that took longer than I expected," Russia said in surprise, looking at his watch, "I thought it was going to be less than five minutes before I was needed."

He followed Johann into the infirmary to see what the problem was, he noticed the rescuees all shrink in fear of him, that was to be expected, he was tall, hulking, and intimidating, he was used to getting these looks.

Now that he was there, the medics felt safer to continue, none of the countries gave them any more trouble, even Caledonia was a lot tamer in his presence.

Wanting to dispel a little of the fear, the Slavic country introduced himself and tried to appear as friendly as possible, JE helped out a bit since she was familiar with Russia, she knew him as a kid and treated him like he was her nephew, it at least helped Sakura feel better.

N: "Wait, where are we," Caledonia asked, glancing at Russia, "are we in Europe?"

"In Russia, some of the scientists spoke Russian," Saxon stated, then it dawned on him, "wait, this is the furthest east you've ever been. Were you aware of the Pontus region of the Roman Empire?"

"Of course," the Celt nodded, "I've visited the Empire often."

"Well, you see the sea it has, Pontus Euxinus (the Black Sea), keep going north and you'll reach where we are now, I think. I haven't seen how the borders had changed since the revolution in this very country," the Brit spoke.

He went silent as he thought back to the Revolution, and he sighed deeply, "didn't have enough time to find out how that young man's mind ticked, and I don't think I will," he turned to Russia, "since you're standing here instead of Soviet, I'm assuming he was killed?"

M: "No actually, папа died of lung cancer from a mixture of nuclear radiation and his habit of smoking," Russia explained, "it was around a year before the end of his Cold War with America, 1990 I believe, he certainly left me with a large mess to clean up but I got it back into a stable enough shape, though my people do have poor choices in presidents."

"While we were in the lab I heard some scientist talking about how you betrayed your father and helped a prisoner escape," JE commented, "is this true, you were always so loyal to him when I knew you."

"It's a long story, it was mostly my brother, Kazakhstan that did the betrayal, he blackmailed me into helping him but I don't regret it at all," Russia smiled fondly, "you want to know who we saved, his brother and son should be coming back in any minute now."

By amazing luck, MA and Poldara came back right on cue, Poldara looked guilty and he apologized to Caledonia for his words, while MA was confused about why all eyes were on them.

"What's with the staring," he asked, but when he saw that Russia was there he frowned, "oh brother, what did the grizzly bear say this time, I swear that I did not provoke that fight, he was drunk and I had to defend myself, honest to god."

N: "Hold up, we weren't talking about that, but interesting either way," Saxon spoke, "nein, Russia just mentioned how he and his brother helped your brother, Mandara, while he was a prisoner."

"Who's Mandara," Hibernia asked, finally speaking as he opened one eye.

"You two have so much to catch up on," the Brit shook his head before returning to the conversation at hand, "anyways, from the very few things I've heard about Soviet, I think I can gauge what kind of man he was."

M: MA's gaze became extremely cold in an instant, "you know absolutely nothing about that demon, you can never understand. He tricked my brother into thinking that I was captured and lured him into a trap. He was in captivity for 9 entire months, 9 MONTHS!"

"9 months, Jesus Christ, how did your brother survive," JE asked in shock, "most of his prisoners are lucky to last 9 weeks. Soviet might as well have been German with the way he treats his prisoners, the first thing he does when someone is captured is to brand his insignia on their chest."

"And that was the most merciful thing he did to Mandara," the militant muttered, tears pricking his eyes, "you want a good visual, think of the most evil god in your religions and make them have a son, that's Ussr."

"Yeah, that's pretty accurate," Russia agreed, "that sick son of a bitch had poor Mandara spayed just so he wouldn't accidentally get him pregnant."

N: "Like I said, 'I think'," Saxon grumbled, "never have I said that I know what he was like. He was a young man when I last saw him; too young for me to know what he would become afterwards, and besides, I was too busy dying to care."

The Brit sighed as he shook his head, "despite all that, I'm sorry that you had to suffer through that, and even if I didn't know Soviet, I already know a German who might as well be the devil himself," he glanced at JE, "if by German you mean Prussia, then I think I can imagine Soviet a bit better."

M: MA, Poldara, and Russia all looked at each other when Prussia was mentioned, they all felt like they should tell them but they didn't want to risk it when everyone was so tense from the rescue.

"You should have seen how Weimar grew up, being his ally through the second world war I can tell you that he was insane as well," JE stated, "it just seems like everyone in that family is mental."

"Not everyone, Germany and Wehrmacht are some of the most sane ones," MA corrected, "and JE, please refrain from speaking about the Germans so much, you forget that we have someone of Germanic descent, and the very start of the German family line here."

JE's ears drooped when she realized this, "oh dear, I'm terribly sorry, I didn't mean to be so rude, it won't happen again, I promise."

N: "At this point, we're used to it," Saxon sighed, "isn't that right, HRE?"

"Ja," the winged country replied, sounding quite defeated, "if you don't, someone else will. For some, it's definitely deserved, but it still saddens me that this is the legacy my family had left behind." The man paused for a moment before adding quietly, "I should've been a better father to Prussia. Maybe, just maybe, things would then be different."

M: "Well, at least you get a second chance now, since Prussia works for his daughter," one of the doctors blurted out, causing the two Mandarians to squeak in shock.

"God damn it, we weren't going to tell them until after they settled," Russia scolded, "was this not discussed during the meeting?!"

There was an awkward silence that fell after that, Saxon giving MA the death stare certainly didn't help. The militant sat down and sighed, burying his face in his hands in shame, leaving Poldara to explain the deal with Prussia.

N: "So, you really have been walking around, assisting our escape, and not mention ONCE about the devil you call a friend," Saxon growled, "how exactly did you think I was going to react, huh? All sunshine and rainbows, and forget what he did to my people and family?"

"Corbin is different now," Johann stepped in, having listened quietly with Wolfgang in the corner, "sure, I have to repress my flight or fight instincts when he's around, but he's not the same as before."

"Tell me, Johann, how did you first react when you saw him," the Brit asked, "you too, Wolfgang. Knowing you, there's no way you would have let it slide."

"Actually, that's true, I-" Wolfgang began but was quickly silenced by Johann, which was all the Brit needed.

"Clearly old feuds are still alive, and I refuse to be in the same house as that man," Saxon spoke, his voice filled with anger, "and don't you dare bring up how your own family suffered too but now you get along with him. I don't care if he suffered in a facility, he fucking deserved it. I'm not obligated, nor I will, to take the fucking moral high ground. I'll speak the fucking truth and I wish that man dies a million times over, and you knew not to tell me because you know that I hate him."

"Sorry, but who is this Prussia," Caledonia asked.

"Imagine Roman Empire's personality but worse, mixed in with Francia's meticulousness, then times by 1000."

"I despised RE and Francia as they were," the Celt frowned.

M: "This just keeps getting worse and worse," MA muttered, "does anyone else have anything they want to say?"

A nurse raised her hand, but then put it back down after her fellow medics warned her not to get involved.

"Saxon, times have changed, it's best you let go of the past before you or someone else gets hurt," Poldara stated, "and honestly, that goes for everyone, I hate to say that nothing is going to be as it was when you all died. You'll all be here for a few days, we'll provide you with some books to help you get caught up with the centuries, but please try to keep an open mind about the people, places, and things you encountered."

"I think that is a fair request, this is our new lives whether we like it or not, we have to make the most of it," JE declared solemnly, "we can all go our separate ways when this is over, but for now we might as well help each other to adjust and try to get along with each other."

N: "Fine, I'll tolerate him but that's it," Saxon spoke, "I didn't get a second chance in life just to see a reminder of my past, and Poldara, letting go is much easier said than done."

"I for one will gladly want to catch up with what's happening in the world," Hibernia shrugged, "and you don't have to tell me twice that the world has changed. I will eternally be confused on how those wagons of yours moved without a horse."

"I think we all just want to go home," HRE added as he went to lie down, wondering about his son, "so bitte, for the sake of everyone, can we just be quiet and heal?"

M: "Yes, I believe the doctors are finished by now, we will go and let you all rest from this ordeal," Russia agreed, "if anyone needs anything at all, there is a button on top of your nightstands that will call a nurse when pressed. Tomorrow we will schedule any surgeries that are required, but rest assured that they will only be to mend any internal injuries and nothing else. Other than that, get as much rest as you can, breakfast will be served at 0700 in the morning."

"7 am for our non-military countries," Poldara translated, "but yes, sleep well everyone."

The medics and countries all left one by one, MA then led Johann over to a door that said "surgery recovery" on it.

"Since the rescued countries were a bit tense around humans we had the human soldiers that were injured stay somewhere else, and I believe that Arty is still recovering from surgery," he explained, "I saw how distressed you were when you saw him injured, you can go in and see him if you want but I don't know if he'll be awake yet."

N: Johann considered it for a moment then shook his head, "nein, I don't think it's a good idea for me to see Arty, especially if he's not going to respond. I've already had my fair share of family ending up in a hospital bed, and I honestly thought that my son Huey was dying for a second back then.

"Just call me when he wakes up, but for the time being, let him rest."

M: MA nodded in understanding, "I understand, he really is a spitting image of that boy, I'm sorry you had to see that. But that reminds me, since we finished the mission, you and Wolfie are welcome to go back home to your kids, I can have a smaller chopper take you back tomorrow if you'd like, if not, then at least make a call at some point to let the children know you both are ok."

With that, he patted his brother's shoulder and wished him good night, then retired to his bunk for the night.