Chapter 8:

1955-1960

The Path to Sanity

The journey home for America was all a blur, really. Eisenhower had lead him to the presidential limo and then through the airport to the plane. He was glad that he other nations had remained inside and hadn't seen him so pathetic looking. Texas had been left behind, utterly destroyed by the day's events and his own doing. As soon as they reached the White House, Alfred would grab his spare bifocals. He hated not being able to see, but at the same time it was nice to retract into his own little world of blurred colors and objects. No defining lines to differentiate between sky and soil. Everything was one and the same.

The plane ride home was completely silent, save for the occasional person who would ask Alfred if he wanted anything to eat or drink. His boss had gone into the private office aboard Air Force One and Alfred sat in what could be considered the 'living room'. A magazine had grabbed the American's attention for all of five minutes before laying open on his lap in abandonment. He gaze was focused on the passing clouds and the blocks of land below. Even with his poor vision is was very easy to see the green squares below. He always wondered how the earth looked so organized and well defined from high up but on the ground it was all a jumbled mess.

His thoughts drifted back to Russia. Damnit! The damn communist never seemed to leave even his most precious thoughts alone.

"It's a sad, lonely world we have created, you and I. I can only imagine what our future holds."

America could feel his hand grip tightly onto his knee at the very thought of what Ivan had said. It wasn't that the statement itself pissed off the young nation, it was the truth behind it that made his blood boil. Ivan had spoken from experience. Out of all of the allies, Russia was the most mysterious and most feared. He had long since grown accustomed to the loneliness that America was far from understanding. This was perhaps how the Russian managed to get under Alfred's skin. He knew exactly what he was going through and knew all of his weaknesses and strengths, if there were any left.

---

"Are you accusing me of being paranoid?" A few hours had passed since finally arriving home. The president and his country were currently sitting in the oval office. It had become a common meeting place for almost everything the two would talk about; war related of not. The president sighed and took a seat in his large leather chair. He leaned back, the sun slowly creeping behind the gardens that could be seen from the large window behind him.

"I'm accusing you of being overly aware. We have more important matters that we must focus on. Our people are suffering from this paranoia. Russia's people are suffering from his utter indulgence in this imaginary war. The welfare of the American people should come before anything else Alfred and you know that." Eisenhower sat up to pour himself and Alfred a cup of coffee. He slid America's glass over to him, which he accepted with a little guidance. The president then took a sip of his own before resting it against his armrest.

"Russia is getting to you and that is exactly what he wants. We must fight back, but not if it endangers the people."

"But Russia is endangering our people, don't you see that? He's a nuclear cloud just looming over us, waiting to strike at the most opportune moment!"

"Which is now." The president responded calmly.

"What?" Alfred just blinked in response.

"You are weak America. It was most obvious at the NATO meeting. Now that Russia knows this, I would not be surprised if he would attack us now."

Alfred thought for a moment as reality settled in. He had let Russia get inside his mind at the meeting and had shown him just how vulnerable he had become. He slammed his fist on the table and bit his lip. His cup of coffee shook violently, spilling some of the scolding liquid onto the blonds' hand. He showed no reaction to the burn as he looked distantly at the ground. How could he have been so stupid!

"That damn communist…"

"How far you can go without destroying from within what you are trying to defend from without?" Alfred gave a puzzled look at the president, who smiled from behind his raised cup of joe.

"I'm sorry?"

"At this rate, it's only a matter of time before Russia takes us from the inside, and he wouldn't have even lifted a finger." He held the warm cup in both hands. He leaned back and closed his eyes.

America starred into his coffee. His boss had never been so right. Alfred was effectively causing his own demise. He was the one who was so worried with communism spreading. He was the one who saw Russia as the next Germany. No one else helped him (not that he had even asked them too). No one was as worried as he was; even those states that Russia had claimed. So why was the American so afraid?

Even he didn't know the answer to that question.

The blond felt for the table and set his full, and now cold, cup of coffee on the oak desk. He stood up, excusing himself, ad felt around the room until he found the door. Why hadn't he gotten his glasses yet? Didn't he say he was going to as soon as they touched ground?

Alfred felt himself bump into someone and uttered a "Sorry." The person then placed something on his face. He could clearly see the man in front of him, now that said man had given him his glasses. He smiled. "Hey, thanks."

"No problem. Hey, can you tell me if the president is still in his office? I need to have a word with him." The man was slightly shorter than America and had on a very decorated Air Force uniform. From his badges, Alfred could tell he was a Lieutenant General and from his age, could assume he had been flying almost as long as planes had been in the skies.

"Uh yea he's still there." The man gave a quick salute, which the blond returned, before scurrying off into the room he had just left. Alfred wondered what was going on but quickly dismissed any thought of it to continue on his way. He had originally planned to go back to his room, but now that he could see, perhaps he would go someplace to clear his mind. He knew exactly where to go.

The presidential gardens were like a scene on a postcard. Alfred assumed that every flower known to man was planed here, there were so many. The shrubbery was all tripped to perfection and the overall layout of the vast garden took the blond to a whole other world. It was nice that this personal oasis, which the First Lady helped to design, was in his backyard.

America took his time walking through the garden, taking in every single beautiful detail. He hadn't spent much time here since the Cold War began. He missed it.

He eventually found a bench perched near a fountain. Alfred gladly took a seat and watched as the water flowed out of the statue and back into the pool. Everything so peaceful and serene, so opposite to what he had grown accustomed too. He spent a good majority of his day on that bench, thinking of this and that. Then one thought in particular struck out of his mind.

He had been so consumed with trying to find the differences between Ivan and himself that he had been so ignorant to the similarities. It was just like an American, to refuse to acknowledge that he could be anything like the communist douchbag; to refuse any other ideology but his own. That was what had driven him insane. That was what had made him show his weaknesses to the world. That was the answer to his question.

So why not fight fire with fire?

If Russia knew his faults through experience, America would fight back with wit. It wasn't always present, but when Alfred put his mind to it he could out-wit anyone. Alfred made a mental list of the differences between the two superpowers, which turned out to be shorter than he had hoped for. Russia was communist and America was democratic, that one was obvious. Russia was oppressive and America was all about freedom; another no-brainer.

And that was all Alfred could think of. "Wow, have I been an ignoramus."

Next were the similarities. The two countries were superpowers. They both wanted to be number one and knew that someone had to lose. Because of this, they had both been driven to isolation, no matter how many countries Russia would conquer or how many nations helped Alfred. Both nations now knew the consequences of being alone. This would be America's new weapon. Russia assumed he was still fragile, but the next time they would meet America would make sure to prove the taller man wrong.

Alfred continued his mental checklist and a new term popped up. Psychological warfare. That was really what their cold war had been all about, messing with the enemy's mind. As of late, it had been pretty one sided, but with this new-found information, Alfred would finally best the communist bastard. The hero's old smile slowly crept across his lips. He was finally out of his slump.

He continued to sit and took in a long breath. The faint smell of petunias and tulips filled his nose. He breathed a sigh of relief and for the first time since the Second World War ended, Alfred could relax. He'd be quick to tell his boss of his discovery, but for now, the world would wait for him.

---

Later that day, Alfred met with President Eisenhower, yet again in his office. This time America had some cola and his boss a cup of tea. The sun was setting over the gardens where Alfred had been enlightened. He was very eager to tell his boss of the news, hoping that it would lead to a swift end to this annoying war, but the president requested that he speak before hand.

It was a small announcement, nothing too big but was still something Eisenhower felt his nation personified should know about. "Al, today I met with a top ranking officer in the Air Force. We spoke about the absolute threat of Russia and we came up with an idea."

The blond nodded, remembering running into the man, and nibbled on the end of his straw.

"We have created the Strategic Air Command to post a twenty-four hour watch in anticipation of a Soviet surprise attack capability."

"Twenty-four hours?" Somehow that felt like it would cost a lot of man power.

"We can't take any risks. It will monitor any movements that Russia makes."

"What about any other countries? Like England?" Alfred continued to chew on his red and white straw.

"Yes. The range of this technology is quite impressive and can always be increased by attaching it to a plane." The president lightly smiled and leaned back. He had yet to take a sip of his beverage.

This new technology sounded rather cool to the young blond. He was sure to have the upper hand on the Russian now. Even if he had the cahones to attack him, America would snipe it down before it even left ground. He smirked to himself as he felt is old heroic spirit slowly awaken from dormant.

The next hour was spent with America telling his boss about his new discovery. They would wait for the most opportune moment to reveal this, however. At the moment, Russia thought Alfred to be weak and paranoid, but he was slowly on track to his old self. Alfred did almost all of the talking, with Dwight merely smiling and nodding. It was very reassuring to see Alfred out of his slump. There was finally an end in sight to this power struggle.

---

Just a month later, Eisenhower received some troubling news.

The United States was falling far behind the Soviets in missile capabilities.

Alfred was certainly upset by the news, but he knew they could recover. His scientists were working around the clock to build up their stock of missiles, nuclear and not. Shortly after finding out the news, the president announced to the American people that there would be a campaign to build fallout shelters as a precaution.

Alfred knew it would make his people uneasy again, he could feel it, but he knew it had to be done. His people's safety was most important to him.

Suddenly there was a mad rush to compete with Russia once again. Alfred himself even went to help with building some weapons. Some missiles were as tall as him and others looked like skyscrapers. If anything, America was sure he beat Russia with his variety of weapons. It was eye opening to see the deadly weapons so close up. It made him wonder about the consequences of actually resorting to using them. He shivered at the thought of a nuclear winter.

He made his way over to another missile that needed to be assembled. Another man ran over to him. He appeared to be very young, and Alfred wondered why he was even working here in the first place. "Sir, This just arrived for you."

The young man handed him a letter. There was no return address but from the weird stamp he could tell exactly where it had originated. "Thank you. You're dismissed." The two exchanged salutes and the boy ran off to continue his work.

Alfred walked away from all the action to read his letter in private. He walked outside of the hanger (once used to make planes, but had since been converted to assembling weapons) and lent against the metal exterior. Opening the letter, there was the iconic symbol of a hammer and a sickle. America bit his lip, arguing with himself if he even wanted to read it. He knew it wouldn't be good, but he did so anyway. Hell, maybe Russia had written to him of his surrender. He chuckled at the thought and opened the thrice folded paper.

Dear Alfred,

I heard your boss has finally realized that you are far inferior to us. Our sheer numbers are overwhelming you. (Alfred pictured Ivan saying his stupid 'da?' at the end of the sentence.) It seems that we are caught in a game of cat and mouse, I being the cat of course. I write this letter to inform you of a little proposal my boss has come up with. Why not prove our assertions by challenging you to a shooting match? It can be like those 'quick draws' you used to do in your rebellious days. (Again 'da?' popped into the American's head and he gripped the paper harder.) I hope you consider taking up my offer. It will do us both good to finally prove that I am superior.

Your dear enemy,

Ivan

A sour look crossed over America's face. Was the Russia so stupid to actually challenge him to a shooting match? Now, had the weapon of choice been a pistol, Alfred would have undoubtedly won. He still had some of his old gun slingin' tricks up his sleeve. But nukes? Atomic and hydrogen bombs? Russia was crazier then he thought. Of course he wouldn't respond, but Ivan had a lot of balls to provoke him like that. Perhaps if he was still filled with paranoia, Alfred would have easily gone through with it, but he had his wits about him now. America crumpled up the letter and shoved it in the pocket of his bomber jacket. The president didn't need to know about this.

---

Nothing was heard of either nation throughout the year of 1958. It was a relatively quiet year, some gloating here and there and some small updates on Russia, but overall it was peaceful. Towards the end of the year, news got out that Alfred had tested a missile that was capable of reaching Moscow. The test was in England, which many were surprised that Arthur would want to get in between the two superpowers. Arthur had immediately declined America's offer to aim the missile on his homeland, but upon seeing the 'new' Alfred, he had a sudden change of heart. Was this not the man he had seen go absolutely bonkers just a year earlier? It baffled Arthur as to how America could act like old self. Perhaps it was just his former colony putting on an act, as he had always done, but he dared not question it. The two English speaking nations loved the thought of being able to reach Russia in a matter of minutes. Even after all that had happened, Alfred still had some allies (mainly Arthur, which was out of spite and guilt). Because of this, it was easier to back up his threats of bombing. Russia couldn't reach him from the motherland and Alfred had heard rumors of Ivan's and Yao's relationship falling to pieces.

The last year of the decade was also relatively quiet. There were some things going on in Latin America that had America worried, but the new leader there was Marxist. Sure, it wasn't Democracy, but it wasn't Communism either. Besides, Alfred had other, more pressing matters to deal with at home. He didn't have time to get involved in another world affair.

On the flip side, Russia found himself influencing another country. Somehow he had convinced communist leaders in Vietnam to also 'influence' the southern half of the nation. Alfred swore that he wouldn't get involved.

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Author's Notes: I'm sorry for the horrible chapter! I just needed to get this one over with so I can get out of my slump and get back to the action! Also, don't worry, saneAlfred won't be around for long, I promise! Haha : )

Next chapter will be awesome, so please excuse the hot mess that is this chapter!