"...And may I introduce the newest member of our staff starting this semester, the new head of our music department, Doctor Erin Townsend."

Later, Doctor Henry Jones the Fifth, to those that didn't know the truth, and Doctor J. Thomas Magnus, both of the History department were walking down one of the many paths that crisscrossed over Empire State University.

"Something wrong, Jack?" Jones finally broke the silence that had been over the two collegues and friends since the faculty meeting.

"Indy, you were what? Forty-two when Casablanca came out?" The man who, in another world, would have been a Major in the United States Military answered.

"Yeah, it was only about... four years after the whole thing with the Holy Grail, why?"

"...Of all the universities in the whole country, she had to come teach at this one!" Jack paraphrased Rick from Casablanca before suddenly spinning and punching a tree hard enough to visibly shake it.

"I take it you know Dr. Townsend?" Indy asked with a half-grin. He had gotten used to his much younger friend's habit of overdoing things.

"Know her?" Jack scoffed, "No. It's worse than that, I used to date her."

"Hold on, Jack, when was this?"

Jack turned to lean back against the tree, crossed one arm over his chest and put the other to his head in thought, "Almost five... six years ago now, I was still a Frontliner when she left me."

"So," Indy leaned against a second tree, "What are you planning to do about it?"

"'Do'? Indy, you've known me for four years now, I plan to do what I've always done, have a stiff one and beat some bad guys to pulps, then thank Heaven that my students are as accepting of my excuses as I am of their's."

Yeah, Indy thought, that's what you do always do, "And when that fails like it always does?"

"You're gonna be a friend and drag me along with you next time you go off on one of your adventures if I don't get sent off on one of mine first," Jack answered.

"You won't be able to avoid her forever, you do realize."

"No," Jack shook his head, "But I can have our next encounter happen at a time and place of my own choosing, Henry."

Jack chuckled at the look of annoyance on Indy's face at the use of his first name.

"You know I like Indiana."

"I also know the DOG's name was Indiana."

A few minutes passed as the two professors enjoyed the silence that surrounded them during a 'planning' period.

"Jack, was here and now the place and time you were thinking of?"

"Why?" Jack asked, half asleep.

"Because she's headed this way," Indy nodded down the path at the subject of their conversation.

Jack's eyes popped open and locked on the form of one of the few people in his life that he truely wished never to see again. Combat-honed instincts, undulled, if not enhanced by teaching willing students about the past, ran through several possible scenarios and decided on the best course of action in a matter of seconds, leading him to straighten up and start walking into the small woods beside the path.

"See you, Jack," Indy shot over his shoulder.

"Only if you've suddenly developed thermal vision," Jack answered, running his hands through a quick pattern before disappearing.

Indy shook his head, "I've got to get him to teach me that invisiblity trick..."

It could have been so long later that there's not a name for that length of time, or so much sooner that there still wasn't, but we reappeared in another reality...

Right on top of me.

"You know," came my voice from the empty air under me and Athena, "All this does is prove that when I say people can drop in anytime, they take the drop part more literally than the anytime," the speaker faded into view, revealing my counterpart in a white t-shirt and blue jeans.

"If we ever make it home," I shook my head, "Not even Skywarp's gonna believe this..."

"As lovely as the lady is, and as fast as I heal, my spine would like to cordially request for the two of you to get off of it."

I rolled off my counterpart and came up to my feet, extending a hand to help Athena up.

"Don't mind me, I'm used to being a doormat," he commented when Athena accidently stepped on him.

"Johnnie, I think he's a worse smart-ass than you are."

"Blame it on four years of teaching college students."

"You're taking this pretty well," I told him.

"Compared to a lot of the other stuff I encounter on a regular basis, alternate reality versions of me are nothing new," he muttered as he rolled over onto his back, "Though usually they arrive in the morning, not the afternoon."

Let's see, an alternate version of himself shows up with his wife and lands on him and all he does is make a comment about showing up at the wrong time of day, if I ever needed any proof that he was me, that was it.

In the short time we had available, we exchanged stories. Unlike me, he actually preferred being called Jack. For him, Frontline had never been instated into the full Joe team, so the non-regular Joe Frontliners found themselves suddenly civilians again. In any case, Jack had taken Nick Fury up on an offer to be a full-time SHIELD Special Agent, which wound up with him as Johnny Freedom, Steve Rogers as Captain America, and John Walker as the USAgent working together as a team. The cover Jack wound up with was as a history professor at ESU, teaching alongside the famous, or is that infamous? legendary? Doctor Henry "Indiana" Jones, Jr... or rather, his own cover of being his great-grandson... being nearly immortal does have downsides, it seems...

After that, we wound up sitting in on one of his history classes, and I'll say this, if half of my high school classes were as interesting as this one college class, I might not have just taken the GED and gotten it over with.

After the class filed in and he introduced us as observers, he began his lesson, "Today, class, we will be studying Eighth Century Japan, specifically, the clans of ninja, or Shinobi in Japanese, that reached their peak during this period. Many of you have already heard of the two largest clans, the Koga and the Iga, but at the same time there were a number of smaller clans, often more powerful but less well-known. Among these were the Hokage, who if you believed the legends possessed the ability to manipulate time itself and create a 'Flame', the Arishikage, who believed in adapting oneself to their surroundings for stealth, and the Naitotsurukusa, who believed the opposite of the Arishikage, believing in adapting one's surroundings to hide themselves..."

One of the male students did the mocking half-yawn that I remembered from my own school days, "C'mon, teach, this is boring..."

"He's right... These guys are long dead, what can they have to do with anything?"

Jack gave a smiling scoff, the kind I always give when I know more than I'm letting people know, "You'd be surprised, Miss Barnes. Any of you watch the news? Have you heard of Johnny Freedom?"

I could see smiles and relaxation go around the room, now the class was getting interested.

"Who hasn't, Professor? He's one of America's greatest heroes," The first guy answered.

"Did you know that he once went by the name 'Captain America'?" It was true of course, the first time I had worn anything like that it had been Cap's own outfit, the Red Skull had Frontline hostage, Cap was nowhere to be found, and if Captain America didn't show up, my men would be killed, so 'Captain America' showed up... just, not the original Captain America...

"Captain America? Wasn't he that guy from World War Two that you told us about?"

"Exactly, Mr. Jones. He had that name at first to honor the original 'Red, White, and Blue Avenger.' Johnny Freedom fights for freedom today the same way his predecessor did almost sixty years ago... longer than you've been alive, longer than some of your parents have been alive."

"Sixty years? Professor, haven't we changed any in that time? We had the Civil Rights Movement, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of the Soviet Union, isn't that changing things?" The young woman, Miss Barnes, asked.

"Unfortunately, no. We're fighting religious extremists and terrorists instead of Nazis and racism is directed towards Arab-Americans instead of African-Americans, but the battles are the same... Intolerance... Hatred... Fear... We call Johnny Freedom a superhero because of how and who he fights, but we sometimes forget that he's a hero in the first place because of why he fights. I'm going to tell you all a story and while I do I want you to think about this: The same Arab-Americans that get discriminated against, if the extremists and terrorists won, would most likely be killed as 'traitors' for siding with 'the Great White Satan.' While you are all thinking about that, let me recount a story I heard about one of Johnny Freedom's first missions, not long after 9-11..."

"Is it true?"

"Did it happen? I don't know, could it have happened? It could have, I'm sure... I personally like to think it did..." Jack leaned back in his chair, changing modes from teacher to storyteller, "There's someone for everyone, but Johnny's only love was his country. Fighting for her, he didn't have to prove he was a man. One day while he was away, the Al Queda decided to attack. They hit important symbols of his country with planes, three of them.

Johnny came back as fast as he could, to a country that was crying, the ruined buildings and shattered hearts were more than he could stand. He took out a picture of his idol, Captain America, and as his tears fell on the Captain's face, he heard these words in his soul:

'Walk away from trouble if you can. It won't mean you're weak if you turn the other cheek. I hope you're old enough to understand: You don't have to fight to make a stand.'

The first troop plane to Afganistan, Johnny was on it, and members of Al Queda just laughed at him as he walked into one of their strongholds alone. One of them got up and met him halfway 'cross the floor. When Johnny turned around they said, 'Hey look! Ol' red, white, and yellow's leavin'.' But you coulda heard a pin drop when Johnny took a table and blocked the door.

Two hundred years of freedom was bottled up inside him. And he wasn't holdin' nothin' back; he let 'em have it all. When Johnny left Afganistan, not an Al Queda was standin'. He said, 'This one's for Nine-Eleven,' as he watched the last one fall. And I've heard soldiers say he said,

'I promised you, Cap, and I walk away from trouble when I can. Now please don't think I'm weak, I didn't turn the other cheek, and Captain, I sure hope you understand: Sometimes you gotta fight for what you stand.'"

In the space of what seemed like only a few minutes, an hour and a half had passed, no one, not even me, had even realized it until the bell rang signalling a change of classes.

"Okay, since we didn't get to it today, Tomorrow; Eighth Century Japan,"After they had filed out moaning, he added to Athena and me, "That was my last class, guess now would be the best time to head over to SHIELD Headquarters and talk to Logan."

"Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, I missed something here, why would we need to talk to Wolverine, and at SHIELD HQ no less?"

He looked slightly abashed, "I forgot, didn't I?"

"Forgot what?"

"Nick... died two years ago. Strucker sent an LMD of himself after Nick and even though it didn't succeed in killing him, he lost control of his hovercar... he sacrificed himself by manuvering into the East River instead of crashing into Battery Park. Logan had made his way up to the SHIELD command staff, and with Dum-Dum retiring when Nick died, Nick's Final Orders placed Logan as Director of SHIELD."

"Damn..." I whispered, Nick and I had always gotten along pretty well; both of us being jackasses and all, plus there was the Infinity Formula, so the thought of him dying was unsettling.

"No sense in that," Athena disagreed, "We'll be leaving as soon as the Dimensional Tuner is recharged."

There came a knock on the door and a voice that I hated hearing, I had grown up, but the person that voice belonged to never had, they were still in the 'If you want to be MY friend and use MY playhouse, you have to PAY me all of YOUR savings' stage after five years.

"J.T., are you in there?"

Jack tapped both Athena and me on the shoulder and pointed, "Out the window."

We didn't go to SHIELD Headquarters, but to another place with memories of Nick Fury. In my world, the apartment had belonged to Nick, but here Nick was dead and he'd left it to my counterpart. It's still THE unwritten rule that 'Once a Joe, Always a Joe' and that if a Joe or former Joe is in trouble, they can turn to any other Joe or former Joe and expect help, all that matters being the membership in one of the most exclusive clubs in the world...

Which was why my, or rather Jack's brother and a team of other heroes were piled in the apartment when we got there.

"Everyone this is myself and... what was your codename again, Sergeant?"

"'Athena,' Jessica Magnus. Yes, we're married, two years, I can stand him because he may be an idiot and a jerk at times but he's MY idiot and jerk, no, there's no chance of ignoring that and going on a date, Drake, any other questions?"

"Nope," the living block of ice that was sitting on the steps answered, "That about covers it."

I shook my head, "Don't worry, Jack, I know most of them..."

I began to point at each of them in turn, starting with the one in black with the red scarf draped over his shoulders, "John Henry Magnus, formerly known as Havoc, now called The Shadow after his teacher Lamont Cranston."

Then the woman in the yellow jumpsuit standing next to him, "Angelica Jones, 'Firestar', formerly of the X-Men."

Next the ice cube, "Robert 'Bobby' Drake, 'Iceman', also once of the X-Men."

The man in gold and red armor, "Anthony Stark, owner and CEO of Stark Industries, also his own bodyguard 'Iron Man'"

Then the one in jet black armor, "Terrance McGinnis, assistant to Bruce Wayne of Wayne Enterprises, instead of wearing tights and calling yourself 'Batman' like your boss in the 40's you wear a bat-stylized armor based on Iron Man's and go by Nightwing."

I moved on to the injured man in red and blue, "Peter Parker, the amazing Spider-Man."

The last one was a bit of a surprise to me, even though I knew this wasn't my world, the woman tending Spidey's wounds was not Indira Dimonji like I still expected it to be, "And Silver Sabalovia, the Silver Sable, assassin and mercenary known for only taking jobs against criminals and other scum."

Jack gave an impressed clapping, "Not bad, only missed two things with a slight mistake on a third, I'm impressed."

I snapped my fingers, "What'd I miss?"

Now I know why everyone always mutters that I'm insane when I start laughing, Jack gave me the twitches and I'M HIM.

"Third mistake, Sable was ...exonerated of her 'crimes.'"

I nodded, I'd seen, in fact, I'd been a part of that kind of procedure, "SHIELD Special Agent, now?"

Iceman chuckled, "Isn't everybody?"

I returned the chuckle, "Sometimes it seems like it. So, if that's my third mistake, what were my first two?"

"There's not a single woman in this room."

Athena reached a hand out to Firestar, "Their taste in women is probably the thing the Magnus boys have most in common here, too, isn't it?"

Firestar smiled and shook hands, "Redheaded..."

"Opinionated."

"Forceful."

"Take no crap."

Then the two of them finished what was, in mine and Athena's world, a running joke between Athena, our Firestar, and Talon, "And sexy as hell."

Smiling and shaking my head as the two in-a-way sisters-in-law hugged, I commented, "All the parallel universes in existance, and some things never change," I paused, then looked at Sable nursing Spidey's wounds, "Of course, for everything that doesn't, there's a LOT that does..."

Spidey shook his head and winced, "It's a long story..."

"Always are," I joked...

Here, as I WAS familar with, Peter and Mary Jane Watson never worked out...

Here, Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of Crime, had arranged a break-in to the Helicarrier to capture John Hardeski, who was a willing prisoner of SHIELD instead of a SHIELD Special Agent like I knew.

Felicia Hardy, Hardeski's daughter, was turned into a female super-soldier called the Black Cat here, as well.

However, that's where things change.

Hardy didn't join SHIELD, she became a superhero, one of the few whose identities were public... A rare breed, others who tried that... it didn't work out. It didn't here, either. She started a relationship with Spidey as the Black Cat, but couldn't have one with Peter as Felicia because of the danger to people close to him, even though the two were married in secret - if the Black Cat hung around Spider-Man and Felicia Hardy was married to Peter Parker, it doesn't take more than a two-bit street hood to figure out that Spider-Man and Peter Parker are one in the same.

Poor choice of words. That's how it happened. Hardy went insane, insanely jealous, one day she and Indy, Indira Dimonji, 'had words'... in an alley and a two-bit street hood overheard and relayed the information to Adrian Toomes, The Vulture, who almost killed Peter's aunt May Parker. Spidey nearly killed him, but was stopped by his teammates, including Silver Sable, hours later he wound up talking to Sable to clear his head

Hardy, however, decided to kill the Vulture in his prison cell, thinking that would help her keep Peter.

While that was happening, Peter was trying to talk to Indy for advice, but he couldn't do it and left her apartment in time to be caught by the New Invaders who thought he had killed the Vulture

Long story short, Indy nearly died, Nightwing showed up late and ended up killing the Black Cat...

Spider-Man took time to mourn, and almost never worked alone again. It seemed at times that he didn't care what happened to him as long as he was lost in combat. There were quiet moments, as well...

...tender ones...

...in which he and the hard-shelled Symkarian exchanged more and more of their thoughts...

...their feelings...

...their affections...

Two troubled adventurers finding solace and comfort in each other.

I shook my head, trying to adjust to the differences from what I know, and unconsciously walked over to Jack's computer desk, opened a drawer, and pulled out the canned drink I knew without thinking about was in there and popped the top.

"Well, Jack, that proves he's you; no one else knows where you keep your beer, if he wasn't, he'd have gone to the fridge."

Shadow was right, of course, when I was younger it was soft drinks, but I've ALWAYS kept at least one drink stuck in the drawer of my computer desk, it's habit.

"Anything else I should know, like is Steve dating Sharon Carter for example?"

Jack was about to answer when there was a knock on the door and a voice, "Professor?"

I expected him to act like he wasn't home or tell us to hide, but what he did surprised me, "Come on in, Rikki."

The door opened and one of Jack's students walked in, I recognized her from earlier as Miss Barnes. She glanced around the room and shook her head before asking the New Invaders, "What did you all get into this time?"

Spidey groaned, "Rhino zigged, I zagged, and zoomed into the wall."

"You should be glad Doc Connors knows about Spider-Man, Peter, and that he, Doc Indy and Jack helped me cover for you, but the other Professors are starting to wonder."

Jack looked at me and chuckled, "Rikki Barnes' grandmother's brother's name was James Buchanan Barnes."

That made it click, "Bucky."

"Yeah, and so am I," Rikki said.

"Rikki is one of my teammates, as well as one of my students," Jack explained, "Along with Captain America, USAgent and Battlestar, the five of us form a government special missions unit called the Avengers... Rikki, this is me from another time stream and his wife."

She nodded, "Hey."

"So, what's the sit?"

"You know that new teacher in the music department, Dr. Townsend? ...Erin, I think, or something like that?"

Chuckles rippled throughout the room as both Jack and myself whirled around and slammed our fists into the wall, without even meaning to do it simoultaniously.

"Ok, I take it that means yes. She learned that I'm in your classes and asked about you, asked Doc Indy too."

Jack snarled and hit the wall with his other fist before fuming, "Who the hell does she think she is? If she thinks that she can cheat on me, betray me, and then I'll take her back, she don't know Jack Magnus! I don't care if it has been years, she can go hifreann leat!"

I smirked at him dropping into Celtic when he said she could go to hell, "Freedom..." I stepped over and put a hand on his shoulder, "I think this is an opportunity, say to make Sharon and Susan proud?" I grinned.

He looked up and matched mine with his own, "A 'Trap'?"

"Double the Turbo, double the trouble, if you get my meaning."

"'It would be naughty to...'"

"'It would be wrong...'"

We finished together, "'Let's do it!'"

We tapped fists, and Athena added her own, "I'm in. I still owe that bitch for her attitude when we met in our world."

"How does she...?"

"We're married, think about it."

Firestar looked at Athena and I before commenting, "Jack, if you ever meet a girl like that, the rest of us are taking a nice vacation; like a fishing trip to the Sahara desert..."

As I would find out at a much later date, those words would prove to be prophetic for them.

In military terms, it could be called a Double-Feint, making the opposition think that you're trying to make them think one thing when you've done something different when in fact you actually did do what you were supposed to do in the first place. As far as I was concerned, however, it was going to be the best lesson my professorial counterpart had ever taught; 'How do you like me now?'

Which was why Athena and I were already in position, a table at the back of Lamont's, a resturant owned and Head-Chefed by former Sergeant Lamont Morris, known to some as 'Heavy Duty', waiting for the target to be escorted in. Athena had to borrow something from Firestar's closet, leaving her in a pale yellow dress, while Jack and I had both gone for simpler black slacks and white polo shirts - the two of us had to match almost exactly for this to work...

I heard Athena laugh lightly, "The only way he could look any more disgusted would be if someone was disrespectful to the flag."

Had to be Jack and Townsend, but I couldn't resist responding to Athena's comment; I drummed out 'Danny Deever' on the table with my fingers. 'Danny Deever', for those who don't know, is what's played at executions, the bum-bum ba-da-ba-da-ba bum that the drummers do.

"Okay, but whose execution is it?" She asked.

"With any luck, hers. Now let's enjoy our meals, we've got about thirty until the switch-out." I commented, picking my fork back up.

Thirty minutes later, I stepped into the bathroom and locked the door as Jack turned visible again.

"You've got to teach me that trick."

"You'll learn it yourself anyway... ugh..." he shuddered, "She's become even worse..."

Earlier...

"I told you that you should have done this from the beginning instead of your foolish time wasting in the military."

It was all Jack Magnus, Major, patriot, and American could do not to go ballistic - and as someone who had flown the X-22 Storm Eagle, he knew ballistics well - with that remark.

"Doctor Townsend," he said, refusing to call her by name, "There was nothing foolish about or wasted serving my country. I would thank you NOT to insult it or the service around me."

"I can say whatever I damn well please about the USA. Just because I live here doesn't mean I have to think it's the greatest damn country in the entire world. Yeah, America has some things right. But it also has some things wrong. It's not perfect, and it's not 'unpatriotic' to point out and critizise its flaws."

"...If it wasn't for the fact that the switch was so close, I wouldn't have gone into 'Silent and Glaring mode', I would have given her a dressing down that any Sergeant would be proud of - in public."

"I probably would have let you, too. You ready?"

Jack sighed, "Give me a moment to steady myself. Let's review. I slip out invisible, you take my place, at the signal, Jessica comes over to ruin Townsend's day... What is the signal anyway?"

"The classic; one she'll know."

"Okay... Anyway, the signal is made, Jessica ruins Townsend's day, and," he made a gesture with his hands, "She's off my back, right?"

"That's a roge, Major."

He patted me on the shoulder twice, "Just remember one thing, Turbo: Yo, Joe."

It was all I could do to keep under control. I've NEVER been good with people running down the country that generations of my family have fought for, and I've gotten even worse about it since I joined those ranks myself...

I was learning that Jack had more restraint than me, because I didn't just want to put her in her place verbally, I wanted to physically stuff Townsend in a box and airmail her to Siberia or some place. Wordlessly, if a bit forcefully, I set my fork down and picked up one of Lamont's trademark William-Peter Shis-q-bobs, which any Joe knows is a fancy way of saying that Heavy Duty still cooks them with White Phosphorous grenades, and spun it around while taking bites off of the meat and vegetables.

Everything returned to balance when Jessica stepped up behind me and rested a hand on my shoulder, "Ready to go, Johnnie?"

"Excuse me? May I ask what you are doing with my date?"

"Date, that's funny," Athena slipped into the booth beside me, "Last time I checked, my husband DIDN'T date tramps on the side."

"Husband?"

I grinned and lifted my left hand so the braided ring of white lustrium could be clearly seen, "Guilty," I smirked.

Athena scooted over closer to me, holding up her own matching ring, "I'm sure you wanted for a long, long time to find a man like mine... But, you're too late. So before you go and make your move, maybe me and you should get a few things straight; there's two ways we can do this, and I'll let you decide, you can take it somewhere else or we can take it outside."

"I don't believe this."

"Oh, believe it," Athena smirked, "I was lucky, I got to live every woman's dream of her knight in shining armor riding in to save the day, you came close, but unlike you, I was smart enough to enjoy the feeling instead of complaining that my knight prefered fatigues to armor and a motorcycle to a horse. You think you're gonna ruin what I got, but you're not," she leaned forward and looked Townsend in the eyes, "Now, I'm a Christian, but if you keep it up... I'm gonna go to kickin' your pretty little butt. Is that clear enough?"

"Now just a minute! I don't know who you think you are, threatening me, but-"

I stood up and let all my lives stand with me... and when you've got a soldier, a hero, a husband, a father, a brother, and a friend standing together, that creates an impression...

"No, I don't know who you think YOU are, but I know I'm not stupid, DOCTOR. It's not a hidden fact that I teach at ESU, and the music program here isn't exactly one of the best in the country, so it's fairly obvious WHY you came here, so don't act so holier-than-thou because you committed a major clusterfuck: You're here because you've deluded yourself into thinking I'll take you back, well, fairy tale's over, WELCOME TO REAL LIFE. I'm a happily married man, I served my country proudly and was honorably discharged upon completion of my duties, I'm teaching young men and women that history is important to the future, and I'm not unhappy with any of it... It's 2007, Townsend, not 2002, and if I could change anything about the past... I never would have dated you in the first place."

If I could have, I would have gotten a picture of her expression when I finished my statement... It was indiscribable, and I enjoyed it. I enjoyed that I was getting to put her in her place again... or rather, I was enjoying her finding out that when she had pushed me away someone else had stepped up to stand by my side again. In it's own way, this time doing it for Jack was actually better than when it had happened for myself... Certainly Townsend was taking it a lot worse, which made it that much better for me.

Lamont's had gone silent, everyone looking our way, even the waiters had stopped what they were doing to watch.

I extended my hand to Jessica and she took it and stood up.

"You know, mo leannan," I said to her, said, not whispered. I didn't care if anyone heard at the moment, "For the first time in a long time, I've lost my appeitite... Let's get the hell out of here."

We slipped out of the booth and the whole restaruant - lacking one - burst into applause.

Two weeks later, Jack sat in another staff meeting, but he had a suspicion why this one was called...

"Ladies and gentlemen, as you know, Doctor Townsend's last day here is tomorrow, so I'd like everyone to give her a big farewell when she leaves..."