Still not mine… :I

In the distance, Alfred watched as the enemy tanks lumbered slowly across the barren German outskirts as early snow fell. Across the empty expanse, barbed wire and bombed-out craters spotted the now-desert landscape. Around him, there were the familiar sounds of machine gun fire as his fellow men attempted to push farther into the countryside.

It had been two months since Christopher had been taken hostage, and with each passing day, Alfred's worry grew more and more. He had learned some time ago that, the longer they were in, the less of a chance they would survive.

As he sat, waiting for his chance to advance farther in, he thought back to the day he had been called into the office…

'You're Jones, right?' the man had asked, 'You are needed at base headquarters. Follow me.'

Alfred had quickly followed, knowing that he wouldn't have been called in unless it was something important. Back straight, he walked behind the messenger as he led the blonde through the small base camp until they reached the large Generals' tent.

'General Braginski? Jones is here.' The man announced quietly, saluting the high-ranking officer before him.

'At ease, private.' He answered with a slight salute of respect, 'You can get back to the mess hall now, da?' Clearly this general was a Russian officer.

When the other man had left, Braginski had turned to Alfred expectantly, so he immediately straightened his back to ram-rod straight and clicked his boot-clad heels together all while saluting the man before him.

Carefully, the man inspected him with violet eyes, searching the private from head to toe and giving Alfred the feeling he was under an x-ray.

The blue-eyed man, too, inspected the Russian before him, taking in the pale skin and heavy build with nearly-white hair sticking unkemptly under his hat. Around his neck, he wore a pink scarf and no tie, clearly out of uniform. However, Alfred could tell that no one would dare tell that to the intimidating man.

'At ease, Jones.' Braginski said after a moment of inspection, 'I bet you wonder why you are here?'

Alfred quickly moved into the required position of being told to stand at ease by an officer, moving his left leg slightly so his feet were shoulder-width apart and clasping his hands behind his back.

'Yes, sir.' He responded respectfully.

The hulking man responded with a slight smirk while moving to the liquor cabinet near the cluttered desk, pouring himself a shot-glass of vodka before sitting down behind said desk and turning to Alfred again.

'Da…' he trailed off while taking a sip of his drink, relishing in the feeling of power as he made the American before him wait for his words, 'It has come to our attention that a friend of yours, a man by the name of Christopher James, has been taken hostage. Is this correct?'

'Yes sir, General.' He responded evenly, trying desperately to quell the guilt he felt in the pit of his stomach.

'And you wish to get him back safely, no?' the man asked with an arch of a silver eyebrow.

'Yes sir.'

'Well then, you need to go and get him.'

For a moment, Alfred stood with a confused look on his face, unsure of what Braginski was implying.

'…Sir?' was all he could think to reply with.

'You heard me, Jones. We need someone to get in there and rescue him, along with several others. We've been watching you specifically during your training and out in the field, and you're the only one with the guts and skills to pull off a mission like this.'

'I'm honored, sir, but….' He trailed off, what 'buts' were there?

'Yes, Jones?'

'Nothing, sir, I am prepared to accept the mission.'

'Da, I knew you would. Now, this mission won't just happen today. We need you to train and learn more about the facility our men are being held in before you go rushing in. Got it?'

'Yes, sir.'

With that, he had been dismissed by the hulking Russian to return to camp. He had been told to tell no one of the mission he would partake in, and had begun the special training the next day.

Now, it was a month later. His special training was almost complete, and he knew it was only a matter of days before he would enter the POW camp he now observed a mere mile away from where he sat. They weren't positive, but it was fairly certain that that is where Christopher was being held.

He was so focused on his thoughts for the dangerous mission ahead, he didn't even noticed Matthew quietly join him and lay a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Al, you've got a letter."

It was this that finally shook him of his thoughts, and he quickly put on a false smile so as not to worry his old friend. He hated lying to Matt and even Steve about the special training, but he had been told not to tell anyone, so he had just lied and said it was some sort of extra-training for those who may be soon moving up in ranks. They had smiled and congratulated him, but often still sent questioning glances his way every time he would appear to zone out in thought. It was times like those that he was thinking of the possibility that he wouldn't get out alive.

"Oh, cool, thanks Matt!" he said, accepting the letter without even looking at it, still caught up in thought.

"Alfred, it's from Arthur." Matt said gently.

It was this that finally pulled Al completely out of his thoughts, and he looked down at the letter hopefully, ripping it open quickly and reading the letter inside.

Matt frowned as he watched Al read the letter beside him. The man was completely absorbed in the letter, seemingly forgetting all about the friend beside him. As Matthew watched, tears began to fall from Alfred's eyes, silently and steadily. His frown deepened, worried for his friend, who was more like his brother.

He hadn't been fooled by his lies. He had always known that it wasn't just training for those who would possibly move up in ranks, he knew that didn't happen. But, Matt and Steve had both just smiled and congratulated Al, knowing that they shouldn't pry if he didn't (or couldn't) tell them what was really going on.

However, he was really worried. He had no idea what was really going on, and it worried him to see Al perpetually worried.

With a sigh, he stood up and left his friend to read his letter, still sobbing quietly as wet drops fell onto the paper before him.

Al wasn't really sure why he was crying, but his emotions just seemed to open like a floodgate as he read the Brit's letter.

Maybe it was the way Arthur seemed to truly believe in him. It made him feel… special.

But, it was more than that. So many emotions had been plaguing him, that this feeling of happiness sent him over the edge into a crying, shaking wreck.

For a few moments, he simply sat and cried, before picking up a pen and a blank piece of paper and a pen.

AN: Aww! Poor Al! D: He's all sad and angsty! But, isn't that brave of him to volunteer and do that? :D

'General Braginski'? YEAH! It's RUSSIA! Hahaha I loved writing him like that, kinda treating Alfred like scum just because he's higher ranking… :'D

Oh, and I've decided that I'm going to try and do a new chapter every other day, I get a little stressed doing every day, but since I have so much free time for writing, every other day is easy enough! :)

And I would like to say thanks sooo much for all the reviews and alerts and faves, you people are amazing! All of them make me feel so happy! I read every single review from you guys, sorry that I don't usually have any time to reply D: (I have enough free time to write, but not much else :/)

Thanks for reading and reviewing! :D