Disclaimers: Although I wish I were the creative genius behind John's and Robert's character, they belong to Julian Fellowes. It also appears I was off with the dates of the 2nd Boer War (and now decided to modify Sybil's birthday, which makes more sense in order to have the dates of the war right). I'm apologising, it's all very new to me. I didn't even know about this war before Downton, I'm not from England... So I wanted Sybil to be conceived during the story. And since she's somewhere around 17 in 1912, she was born around 1895. So I'm asking you to accept that in this universe, Sybil is born later... Sorry again.

John had finally found his rhythm being Captain's Crawley batman. He was to dress him in the morning with the clothes he had picked according to his schedule, serve him his food and drinks, and accompany him wherever he had to go. The whole military part of his duties was still unknown to him as they had embarked on the boat as soon as he had assumed his new function.

Their journey back home had gone smoothly and they were already reaching the end of their stay in London. Captain Crawley had had some business to attend almost everyday but had managed to grant John the evening off for their last night in London.

John found himself treading the old streets of his childhood. Soon, he saw the building where his mother lived. Climbing up the stairs, he reached the hall and went to her door. He readjusted his uniform and combed his hair quickly before knocking. He heard light footsteps coming towards him. The door opened slightly. His mother was carefully looking at him. As soon as she recognised her son, she swung open the door and took him in a warm embrace.

"Oh, my Johnny! I thought you'd never come back!"

They broke their embrace and John saw happy tears running down her cheeks.

"There's no need to cry, Mother," he said, gently wiping them away.

"I received your letter telling me you were coming back to London with your young officer. But you never came so I thought the worst… I thought you might have died during your trip!" she sniffled.

He hated seeing her like that. He had been so busy attending Captain Crawley through all his meetings that he hadn't had the time to visit his mother. He kissed her on the cheek.

"I'm alright, Mother. Don't worry about me."

"Never tell a mother not to worry about her baby, Johnny," she said, arching an eyebrow.

"I'm not a baby anymore…" John groaned.

"You are mine, whatever anybody says. You will always be. But I must agree, you are all grown up. Look at you! You are a man, now, John. I couldn't be prouder to see you here, wearing this uniform" she said, taking a step back to have a better look at him. "Come in, son, come in. We have lots to talk about. Take a seat at the table. I was about to have dinner. You need to eat, my boy. It looks like they don't give you enough food out there. Get some strength up before you have to go back," she told him, closing the door behind him.

John had been so happy to see his mother so proud. He hadn't seen her in years and the last time they spoke she had scolded him about the type of people he frequented and what he was doing with his life. She had always wanted better for her son and had often repeated to him that he was nothing like his father. He was a kind, honest man. And now he was a respectable one as well.

John left his mother's building behind. After a big dinner with his mother he wanted to take a walk. His mother had an appointment with a doctor for a check-up. She had had a scare with her heart a few months prior. John was relieved nothing too bad had happened and had insisted on paying for everything. The most important was his mother's health. She had assured him she wanted to go alone and wanted him to enjoy his last day in London instead of spending it in a hospital.

John was lost in his thoughts and walked where his feet lead him to. He finally reached a park and stopped on a bench. He read there, comfortably, with a fresh breeze messing his hair. It was so quiet and peaceful that he lost any notion of time. When he looked at his watch, he realised how late it was. His stomach made a noise and he decided then that it was time to search for a place to eat.

He left the park, and after crossing a few streets, he saw the bright emblem of an inn. His stomach rumbled again, and John knew he'd better stop here and eat in this rather gloomy pub than go looking for another one.

He entered and at first couldn't see anything. He had to wait a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the big fog of smoke floating in the air. There were a few empty tables and he sat at one. A bartender, a big man with a beard, approached him.

"Would you like to eat something, sir?"

John quickly glanced at the menu and ordered the first plate he saw on it.

"Would you like to drink something with this?"

"I'll have a beer, please."

Thirty minutes later John was finishing his dinner. A group of people entered the pub and went straight to the bar. John didn't pay any attention to them at first. But then, he heard that voice, making his hair stand on end.

The man in question turned around and saw him too.

"If that isn't some irony! Johnny Bates. After searching for you for two years, I finally find you by pure luck," said the blond man with the scar he had escaped that day he ended up enrolling in the army. He met the piercing blue eyes. "We have unfinished business, you and I, Johnny"

"It's Sergeant Bates for you, now," said John, calmly sipping his beer, as if he was completely unbothered and in the least unsettled. The man chuckled, letting his buck teeth appear.

"I don't think it makes a difference, you're still that little scumbag who stole my share. And for what? Give it to your poor old mother? Isn't she dead yet?" John's hand squeezed the fork he had in his hand. "Well, if she isn't, I'll remedy that myself".

John stood from his chair, making it creak on the floor. John was taller than the man and he easily grabbed him by the collar and held him against the wall, his feet not reaching the floor anymore.

"You'd better get out of here quickly before I call for the police." John hissed.

"They will never arrest me…" John tightened his grip.

"Oh, wouldn't they? Don't you think they'd believe a soldier instead of a thief?"

After a few seconds of hesitation, the man finally spoke again.

"Okay, okay. Calm down Johnny, I'll leave."

John released him. The other man, helped by his two partners in crime, got back on his feet and headed towards the door.

"Aren't you coming, Vera?", he said to a woman at the bar who was looking at John.

"I'm not sticking with losers, Frank. Get out," she ordered him, and he did as she told him.

John took a better look at her, and finally recognised her. Here she was, all those years later, looking as stunning as she had ever been. Her long black hair tied loosely in her back and her icy blue eyes, now staring into his hazel ones. She was the girl he had always had a crush on but she would never acknowledge his presence. Except this time, she was looking at him. She rose and went to his table.

"So, I recognise you. Johnny, isn't it? You lived in the same street as I with your mother."

"It is I, indeed," John said, his cheeks reddening.

"Well, you have certainly done well for yourself since the last time I saw you. The uniform suits you quite well," she told him with a flirting tone. "What are you drinking?"

"Beer," he managed to say.

"Only beer? Certainly a proper man like you would take something stronger." Then, turning to the bartender. "We'll have two whiskeys over here!' she yelled before John could say otherwise. She turned back to him and smiled. John smiled at her in turn. "I hadn't noticed how handsome you were back then," she told him, reaching for his cheek with her hand. And John lost himself in her touch.

John woke up with a terrible headache. The sun shining through the window was hurting his eyes. He sat up straight in the bed and took his head in his hands, rubbing his eyes for a moment. He had drunk quite a lot last night, and now his head was pounding. Suddenly, he realised that he was wearing nothing under the sheets and events of the night came back. He realised in shock that in his drunken haze he had made love with Vera in this bed. He turned around to search for any sign of her, but the other side of the bed was empty. Only wrinkles on the sheet suggested someone had slept beside him. And then he saw a note.

Johnny,

Thank you for this wonderful night. I leave you my address on the back of this note if you ever want to have a repeat of last night.

Your Vera.

John read the note again and turned it. An address in London was scribbled down on the back as indicated by Vera.

A bell rang in the distance and suddenly John realised what day it was. He looked at his watch and saw that it was already 9 am and he had to meet Captain Crawley at the train station by 10 am.

He jumped out of bed, put his uniform back on, quickly combed his hair, put the note in his front pocket and headed to the reception to pay. He took a cab, hoping to reach the station faster and managed to arrive a minute before Captain Crawley.

"Bates, my dear fellow! Is everything alright? You look a bit pale and you seem a bit out of breath.

"I'm perfectly fine, sir. It is my wonderful complexion, inherited from my Irish mother. I was stuck in traffic and hurried as much as I could, that's all."

"Good. Because I just received the best news! Cora is pregnant again!" said Robert with such pride in his eyes. "We will have to celebrate on the train. I want you to come in first class with me, I have made the changes for our tickets."

"This is very good news indeed, sir. Thank you very much, I'll bring our baggage and I'll join you as soon as I've finished."