VIII

Time


Birds twittered overhead as both Alfred and Steve navigated the steady stream of tourists down the length of the Reflecting Pool from the Lincoln Memorial. The two had been discussing the years immediately following the conclusion of the Second World War – Steve explained that Fury had given him something of a crash course, but he still felt that Fury had deliberately left details out.

"Well, we were trying to get our feet back on the ground after the war, Fury included. Ivan, er, Russia, wasn't making things any easier. President Roosevelt knew how to get along with Churchill and Stalin, but his successor, President Truman, had a bit of a rough time. Not that he'd ever admit that aloud," Alfred said as he nudged Steve to a nearby bench, where they could sit comfortably and conduct their conversation undisturbed. Steve's S.H.I.E.L.D. escorts, Alfred noticed, didn't seem to notice them sit down as the two walked past only to settle on a bench a little ways away.

"Is it hard, having to adjust to a new President every four to eight years?" Steve asked, drawing his jacket closer as though to hide the military dress uniform he was wearing from the eyes of the curious tourists walking past them.

"Depends on the political atmosphere at the time. Elections got more and more cutthroat time after time, they still do in fact," Alfred replied, grimacing at the thought. He hated to think what was going to happen in the next eight to twelve years if the pattern held. "The current President though, he's a good guy. He's trying hard to keep everyone happy, but even I'll admit that it's a challenge because there are so many more issues to contend with, and that's not including foreign matters. To be honest, I have this sneaking suspicion that he's leaving those to me and the U.S. ambassadors," Alfred said after thinking it over for a few minutes.

"Fury did mention that we were at war in Iraq, even went into a brief explanation of the events leading up to it," Steve said quietly, looking out across the Reflecting Pool. Shaking his head, he said, "I should have been there to stop all of this, or at least help with the aftermath…"

Alfred could only guess at what he was talking about. "No one, not even me, knew what was going to happen that day, there was nothing you could have done," he said quietly, feeling the ever familiar echo of pain in his heart at the thought of that infamous September day.

"But the recovery effort…"

Alfred nodded. He still was slightly frustrated himself because he'd been in an hospital in Washington D.C. during the initial response and the ensuing aftermath, having collapsed during a meeting with several ambassadors and two other personifications – Matthew and Francis – at the time it happened. "I couldn't do much for the recovery effort either at first," he admitted. "To the other ambassadors I'd been in the company of at the time thought I'd had a heart attack or something. Francis and Mattie couldn't correct them either, they just knew something drastic had happened."

"Who other than the president knows about the personifications?" Steve asked, frowning as he looked at Alfred. "It must be tricky to get things done if not many people know."

"True, but it's also about who knows. For example, we, the personifications, can get away with a bit more without S.H.I.E.L.D. accidentally interfering because Fury knows, as do some of the original Commandos. Fury had found out by accident back during the nineties, when he tried to arrest Francis, Antonio, and Gilbert for making a mess of things at a few European S.H.I.E.L.D. outposts," Alfred said, leaning back against the park bench.

"Francis? Is he still seeing 'Madeleine' Williams?" Steve asked, glancing over at Alfred, who nodded.

"Arthur's opinions in regards to 'Madeleine's' choice of partners apparently didn't matter very much in the end, it drove him crazy to no end, just because he didn't, and still doesn't, like Francis very much," Alfred said, grinning faintly at the memory. Stretching slightly, he said, "The two of them still work together pretty well, so I have no reason to complain. Yet."

Steve seemed to hesitate on his next question, inadvertently causing Alfred to panic a little on the inside; he scanned his memory for something he might have forgotten to mention or clarify. Before he could find it, Steve asked, "Is it still… socially unacceptable for the two of them to be together as they are?"

That threw Alfred for a loop. What was he – oh, did he figure it out? "Wait, did you figure out who 'Madeleine' was?" he asked, glancing warily at his friend, unsure if his friend was still in the 1940s 'mindset' so to speak.

To his surprise, Steve nodded. "It wasn't obvious at first, but once I knew what to look out for, I could tell. Bucky figured it out first, he was constantly spying on Arthur, Francis, and Matthew while we were all still at Camp Lehigh. He thought for some time that they were undercover Nazi or Hydra spies. But once he said something, I knew what signs to look out for."

"And you never said anything?" Alfred said, looking impressed.

"Why would I? There was nothing to say," Steve countered. "I think General Phillips knew too, but the most he ever expressed about it was when he yelled at you and Arthur in those first few weeks, when you were fighting. Remember he said, 'If I could, I'd throw the two of you into a room and not let you out until then'."

"You know what? That makes so much more sense now, I thought he reacting to something Francis did to him earlier," Alfred said, replaying the scene in question over his head. "Because Francis was looking pretty smug when Phillips left…"

Steve laughed. "I think you all put Phillips through the wringer for the first couple of weeks. Fury didn't help either."

"No, no he didn't."

"Of course, I've been trying to put everything I remember from the war into context whit what you've told me about personifications," Steve admitted.

"If it makes it any easier, just take foreign politics into consideration as well," Alfred suggested. "But you're okay with that? With what we were just talking about?" he asked, schooling his expression into one of professional curiosity, because he knew Steve's decision could swing either way.

"Why wouldn't I be? Love is love, no matter what form it takes," Steve said, looking as though he was trying to gauge Alfred's reaction. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason, just curious. People are more open about it now, but some haven't changed," Alfred replied, lowering his voice for a fraction of a moment as a small group walked by their bench.

"Speaking of Phillips, did you ever see him after the war ended?" Steve asked.

"Yeah. I thought he'd forgotten me by now, so I went to go see him a couple months ago," Alfred said, grimacing at the memory. "He… remembered me all right."

"That bad?"

"He… yelled. And swore. I was worried, as were the two nurses there, that he'd do something to worsen his health. But then he calmed down and said, that he should have expected that sort of thing from me, seeing that Fury was still young and all," Alfred explained, and Steve nodded. "The whole personification thing is sometimes tricky to work around, but I lucked out and had an excuse this time."

"Since you explained that thing about your mortality, does that mean you were never in any real danger while you were out on the battlefield?" Steve asked.

"Steve, my people were dying. You remember that. The people are our lifelines, if they fade, so do we. Then there were the Japanese troops attacking my Pacific islands, and you definitely remember Pearl Harbor. I was never really up to full performance during World War Two," Alfred said quietly.

Steve arched an eyebrow. "Could have fooled me. Remember when we captured that high – ranking Nazi official, Ludwig Beilschmidt? The two of you really went at it when you got the drop on him," he pointed out.

"That's because since we were both at war, we had equal footing. Ludwig was – is, the personification of Germany," Alfred said, raising up a hand to forestall any of Steve's reply that he knew was coming. "We've made our peace now, but he's not proud of that part of his past at all. I don't know if he remembers you, but it's just one of those things we've agreed to let it be."

"Understood." Steve let a small flicker of a smile cross his face. "Thanks for giving me the heads – up."

"No problem."

"If Ludwig is a personification though," Steve said slowly as a thought occurred to him. "Then is it safe to assume that the two prisoners we had before him, Gilbert Beilschmidt and Feliciano Vargas, are personifications as well?"

"Yeah, that's primarily why Arthur managed to secure responsibility for the prisoners of war, in case another personified nation came through the system. No awkward questions would be raised. Anyway, Feliciano is the personification of northern Italy; his twin brother Lovino is the personification of the southern half. Gilbert, Ludwig's brother, is a little tricky because he's already switched representation more than once. Around the time you met him, he had no country to represent since he had technically been dissolved; he used to represent Prussia. After the war ended, he became known as East Germany," Alfred explained, watching for his friend's reactions. "How much do you know about post – war Europe?"

"Just that the Iron Curtain divided Europe in half, the West were the capitalists and the East were the communists. I'm still reviewing all of that with some of Fury's subordinates." Leaning forward, Steve asked, "What happened to Gilbert when the nation of Germany reunited in the nineties?"

"Nothing, really. He's still around, lives with Ludwig when he's not causing a ruckus somewhere else. Wang Iao, er, China, thinks that Gilbert is still alive because there are still people who identify themselves as East Germans," Alfred said, shrugging.

"If it's not too personal, what happens when a nation is formally dissolved, but there isn't another, er, tract of land that needs representing?" Steve asked.

Alfred remained quiet for a few moments, trying to remember if Arthur had ever told him what happened in such a case. Most likely not, because when Alfred had been learning about himself, Arthur had still believed that the colony of British America would never need to worry about disappearing, and he'd still been at the height of power himself. "I honestly don't know, Arthur didn't think it was important at the time he taught me about all of this," he said finally. "Gilbert, Feliciano, and Iao are really the best ones to talk about something like that. They'd know for sure because they've all witnessed it at some point. But take it easy with them, the fate of dissolved nations isn't something that we usually feel comfortable talking about, especially to former enemies or otherwise complete strangers."

Steve nodded in understanding. He was no doubt well familiar with the subconscious desire to avoid topics such as inevitable death, especially in a war zone and also since it was an extremely personal topic.

"So if Sir Kirkland is the personification of England, do you think he'd know what happened to Agent Peggy Carter? I… I just want to check on her, make sure she led a happy life after the war," Steve admitted, the last words disappearing into a mumble as he looked away as though in embarrassment.

Alfred nodded, remembering the young British intelligence agent in question. He'd lost track of her not too long after the war's end, hadn't even thought of her too much because she was Arthur's, not his. At the time, Alfred most certainly hadn't expected Steve to come back to life sixty years after the war, so he just hadn't bothered. "Yeah, Arthur is your best bet. However, I think she also had extended family here in the U.S., but I don't know for sure."

"She did. Her brother moved to Virginia after the war, I met her nephew, Harrison Carter, earlier this morning. He said that his daughter, Peggy's grand – niece, works for S.H.I.E.L.D., and that they'd thought I was here to deliver bad news about their daughter. My 'shadows' made them think that something was horribly wrong," Steve said, nodding to the two agents sitting not too far from them.

Alfred grimaced. "Oops. Did you ask about Peggy?"

"Yeah. Mr. Carter, the nephew, got strangely defensive about it, he wouldn't give me a straight answer," Steve replied. Looking down the path, he asked, "So how long did it take for you and Kirkland to make your peace? Last I knew, you couldn't be in the same room without killing each other."

"It… took time, it took a little time and patience, and we settled everything after the war ended. By that point though, Russia had already claimed a good chunk of Eastern Europe and we, meaning France, England, and me, just barely managed to convince Stalin and Ivan to keep the Iron Curtain where it was. France wasn't in any condition to protect himself if Russia kept pushing for total dominance of the European continent," Alfred said, keeping his voice low just in case. "Really, it was me against Russia for the most part. I don't think I've ever been that afraid for that long before."

"I think even General Phillips found Ivan Braginsky intimidating, he just never showed it around Braginsky," Steve said.

Alfred shrugged. "I always saw it as 'instinctual wariness'," he said.

Steve snorted. "Bucky had instinctual wariness of Braginsky. Although, now that I think about it, I wonder if he'd known all along there was something unusual about you and your colleagues. When Monsieur Bonnefoy, Sir Kirkland and Williams arrived, Bucky had told me that all three were planning to kill someone, but as it turned out, they were hiding another secret instead. Bucky never brought it up again, but he always gave Kirkland a wide berth."

"Yeah, I remember that. That had to have been the first true test of Phillips's patience with his new command. I thought he was going to skewer someone right there and then," Alfred said, grinning at the memory.

Steve smiled faintly. "Remember when we were on the borders of the Black Forest in southwestern Germany? And Bucky and Toro got Eric Koenig to tell those ghost stories?"

"And then the ghosts attacked my tent that very night, please don't remind me!" Alfred protested, shuddering.

Steve tried to stifle a laugh but failed. "Alfred, I already told you that those weren't ghosts, it was just Bucky and Toro messing with your mind."

"No, I'm pretty sure those were legit ghosts, Arthur said so once we all got back to base," Alfred countered.

"Yeah, but like I said earlier, you two hated each other at that point. I think he would have told you anything to make you panic even more," Steve reminded him. "In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it was Arthur was the one who gave Bucky and Toro the idea in the first place."

Alfred frowned as he thought this over. "Remind me to ask Arthur when we get back to New York, I want to know for sure now. He'd tell the truth now, since we're on better terms…"

"That's good to hear, I was getting worried about you two," Steve said, grinning. HE paused, and then said, "You know, Fury mentioned something about the Anglo – American alliance…"

Alfred groaned. "He mentioned that? Oh, what am I saying? Of course he'd mention that, he's been teasing me about that ever since he found out about the personifications. He knew I'd come looking for you once I found out you were back. He's either a telepath or clairvoyant," he said, shaking his head.

"If he was clairvoyant, he wouldn't be coming up with a backup plan for every little thing that could go wrong during a mission," Steve pointed out. "I wouldn't be surprised if he still did that even now."

"I wouldn't know, he doesn't let me hang around the helicarrier very much," Alfred said, shrugging. "Although, if he really was clairvoyant, he should have been able to stop the deaths of several key Western politicians, including one of my senators." Glancing across the Pool, knowing that if he closed his eyes he could still recall the day Baxtor had been found dead, Alfred let out a breath through his teeth. "There was a Russian assassin, who was more of a Cold War boogeyman because he was so good at covering up his tracks. Made murders look like accidents or suicides. He targeted Arthur and Francis on two separate occasions, and Mattie was the only one who saw him. His words nearly started a fight because he said that the guy looked like one of my own people. But the point is that Fury never really believed this guy was for real, but we knew he was. Ivan can deny it all he wants, but I know the assassin existed. Mattie is really the only other person who believes me."

"Has it ever occurred to you that maybe Fury is lying? That's not something he'd keep a secret unless he was going to do something about it already," Steve pointed out. "Especially if this guy has already tried to kill Kirkland and Bonnefoy."

"I know, I know. It's just that the assassin's spree seemed to end in the 1980s, but I still think he had something to do with Howard Stark's death, it seemed like foul play at the time…" Alfred said, standing up as a familiar agitation began to course through his veins for the first time in a long time.

"Whoa, easy there. Alfred, from what I understand, the Cold War's over, take it easy," Steve said, standing up as well.

"I know… I still get carried away sometimes, sorry." Alfred glanced down the path before he asked, "You think Fury would tell me if I asked? About what he knows of the Russian assassin?"

"No, he'd deny it until kingdom come," Steve said with such blunt honesty that Alfred found himself grinning despite the negative answer. "But he'd at least know you're interested, which might make him more inclined to let you in the loop if he heard anything new," Steve added.

Alfred nodded, acknowledging Steve's point. Gesturing with his head for Steve to follow him, he said, "But enough about me. What about you? How have you been settling in?"

Steve shrugged with one shoulder as the two men began walking again, away from the Lincoln Memorial. "It's going, I suppose. After I fell from the buzz plane, I thought I'd died for real. I guess I dreamed that I was in heaven, now that I look back on it. So when I woke up again… it was a jarring return to reality. I thought the worst case scenario would be that I was in a coma for several months," he said. "Since I didn't recognize the men standing over me, or their uniforms for that matter, I thought we'd lost the war and I was looking at the newest breed of Hydra scientists."

"Nope, that's 'Advanced Idea Mechanics' you're thinking about," Alfred said. "So then what did you do?"

"I punched them, the nearest doctors that is. Then I ran." Steve grimaced. "Made it out as far as Times Square before Fury and his men caught up, Fury wanted the chief physician to look me over for any nasty side effects. Turns out the chief physician had gotten the brunt of the damage from when I panicked. Doctor Sanderson wasn't very pleased to see me again less than an hour after I broke his nose."

Alfred snorted. "I've actually heard horror stories about him from other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. But then again, no matter where you are, it's never a good idea to piss off the man whose job it is to patch you up. Trust me on that. I was in Afghanistan a year or so ago and was left in the care of this British captain who was also the unit's medic. He set me straight pretty quickly before treating me," Alfred said, shuddering. "Unfortunately, he got shot in the shoulder a couple months ago, and was honorably discharged a little while after that."

"Yeah, he'd side with Sanderson in regards to medical care. The thing is that, as grumpy as he was about getting punched in the face, he said he was used to more troublesome patients, so what I did was actually not the worse he'd ever gotten while on duty," Steve said, shaking his head as he smiled. "Some of the greenshirts are convinced he uses power tools to threaten for patient cooperation."

Alfred turned to stare at him. "Really?"

"No Alfred, they're just rumors, don't worry," Steve said, grinning. "Just enough to make the newest troublemaker think twice before causing mischief."

"Yikes. So what happened then, after you were released from Sanderson?" Alfred asked, jamming his hands into his pockets.

"I started acclimating back to society. Fury took me up to the helicarrier to meet the Avengers. It was interesting at first, especially since I met Tony Stark first. I think I was expecting him to be like Howard in temperament, but Tony's more… bombastic."

"Yeah, I've only met him once or twice through political functions, so he just knows me as a minor White House official. This of course means I can't exactly pop in at Stark Industries without raising too many questions," Alfred said. "In other words, I don't know what kind of guy he is."

"He's interesting to say the least. He was very eager to show off a lot of the technological advances I'd missed, that's for sure."

Alfred nodded. "From what I heard Fury say though, Banner is something of a calming influence on Stark," he said.

"I can definitely see the irony in that situation," Steve said before glancing back as though to check on his shadows, which were within sight. He was turning back around right as he and Alfred arrived to the stone memorials in front of the Reflecting Pool.

Even as they came to a slow stop, Alfred knew what his friend wanted to do. There were thousands of names here from several wars, some of which Steve had never experienced firsthand. There were names here, of the men and women who gave everything to their country.

It was times like these that Alfred couldn't guess what Steve was thinking because his friend's face was blank as he studied the sheer amount of inscriptions.

"Take as long as you need," Alfred murmured before stepping back to give Steve space.

"Thank you," Steve said quietly before stepping closer and kneeling in order to begin reading each individual name on the wall.

His two shadows appeared at Alfred's side, giving the captain as much space as he wanted.

For a while, no one said anything.


A/N: I apologize if I accidentally offended anyone in this chapter, and if I did, please let me know and I will change it.

Howard Stark's death: Yes, it was possibly foul play, but not the way Alfred thinks it is…

The scene with the memorials was inspired by a similar scene in one of the Captain America books, sadly I can't remember which one (except he was Captain America there, not Steve Rogers). If you know which book I'm talking about, let me know the correct issue/volume numbers!