Chapter 10 - Old Soldiers

(British Military Middle East Command HQ - Cairo, Kingdom of Egypt - 2nd December 1941)

Blood sprayed across the wall of the cell as the MP's truncheon smashed into his jaw again. He felt one of his teeth dislodge and fly into the wall. He could only kneel there and take it as the four other MPs in the room held him down, whilst their 3 comrades took turns to beat the hell out of him. He guessed knocking some teeth loose was what the men beating him had been aiming for as the large Corporal holding the truncheon took a step back panting heavily. However, any satisfaction the MPs had achieved at knocking a tooth out was soon lost as he spat out his mouth full of blood and gave them a wide bloodstained grin, the glint in his eyes caused the three MPs in front of him to glance at each other warily.

"Fuck me, John, I think you lads are sweet on me," The words were accompanied by flecks of blood spitting on the floor and some wheezing as he felt that two ribs were broken. "Got me my own room, with full room service, and you boys can't keep your hands off me. So…..which of you want it first? I promise I'll be gent-"

CRACK!

The truncheon slammed into the other side of his face, painting the other already stained wall with a fresh coating of blood. He saw stars for a moment but quickly shook his head and just cracked his neck as he let out a little chuckle before looking back at his attacker. In all good common sense, he knew he should just keep quiet, not say or do anything to aggravate the already dangerous situation further. However, that was based on the understanding that he wasn't already screwed six ways to Sunday and that he was going to die in this cell or on the gallows they were already building in the courtyard outside. So instead of doing what common sense dictated, he rolled his head back to the large corporal who had just struck him again and gave a flirting grin, or as good as he could in his condition.

"So you like it a bit rough John, fine by me." He accompanied the statement with a wink and blew the man a kiss.

The renewed beating he received was for a few moments rather more intense than he had anticipated, as the men holding him down just let go and joined in as well. At one point as his head snapped back as either a boot or a truncheon struck his chin, the force was so hard that he went back fully and was lying on the floor. He thought that was going to be it and that he was about to find out what came next as his vision started to blur. However, instead of the great hereafter he just received a final kick to the ribs as the group of men started to file out.

"Oh, are we finished? I was just getting warmed up." He spat out even more blood and managed to pull himself somewhere between sitting and kneeling on the cell floor.

"You're fucked Pennyworth," The MP just shook his head as he slammed the cell shut glaring at the man he and his fellow guards had just beaten half to death. "Stirling and Mayne can't save you this time."

"I'm guessing he died?" Alfred winced as he pushed himself across the floor, propped up against the wall across from the bars.

"You threw him through a bar window, smashed the man's head into a Jeep bonnet over 30 times and then punched him so many times one of his eyes fell out." The MP scoffed at Alfred's clearly stupid question, anyone who was present knew Alfred had killed the man "What do you think?"

"I think he was a limp dicked arsehole." Alfred just leaned his head back, liking the coldness of the cell's stone walls as it soothed the bruising and swelling he was suffering from, not an ounce of regret in his voice. "I think he was a corrupt little guttersnipe with balls the size of cricket wickets who liked beating and abusing women. I think he got exactly what he deserved, and my only regret is that I can't fuck up his smug face again."

"He was our Captain, you piece of shit" The MP slammed his hands into the bars as he glared at Alfred murder in his eyes "You better sleep with one eye open as you might not make it to your court martial in the morning."

"Yeah sure Johnny, make sure to bring your boyfriends with you." Alfred just closed his eyes and waited for the MP to shout another insult and leave before taking in a deep breath.

'Bravo, Pennyworth, old boy.' Alfred bemoaned the situation he found himself in, for all his bravado he knew he had truly stepped in it, he fought groaning in pain as the alcohol in his system wore off. 'You knew the bastard was going to rub what he did in your face, and you just had to go drink it off. You could have shot him from a thousand yards away, or slit his throat in the night with no one the wiser. But NO, you had to beat him to death in the middle of the damn street and injure an entire bar full of soldiers as well.'

He just stayed where he was on the floor, not able or wanting to move, as the cold concrete soothed his aching bones and bruised skin more than the cot in the corner would've. He let his mind wander, not feeling the need to focus on the situation he had already resigned himself to. The captain he had killed had been well-liked and respected, despite being a rapist and stain of a human being; his father was also a General on Auchinleck's staff, so Alfred knew he was screwed. He knew what came next: a thirty-minute court martial in the morning, a few hours of the guards having another couple of cracks at his skull and finally his ignominious hanging at around lunchtime.

"Whoever you are, unless you have a drink, you can fuck right off." Alfred didn't even bother opening his eyes. He hadn't needed them to notice whoever it was slipping into the cell a few seconds ago. "And if you're here to beat the shit out of me then you just missed it."

His eyes snapped open as he caught the object being thrown at him, taking a second to adjust to the cell's darkness. He hadn't registered how long had actually passed and saw it was now night outside. His gaze drifted to the object in his hand, then to the person in front of him. The former was a welcomed sight, and the latter a curious one. Alfred unscrewed the flask that he had caught, took a swig, and found it was filled with a rich brandy as he stared at the mysterious woman sharing his cell.

She was about 5 foot 7, with dark brown hair and steely blue eyes. She looked quite athletic from what he could see, and wore an officer's uniform. Curiously, she had no rank insignia or identifying marking on her apart from a small pin on her lapel in the shape of an eagle; he could just make out the initials "SSR" embroidered on it. It didn't take a genius to figure out what she was; the question was, who was she with, V-section? That new branch of Military intelligence? Or someone new with whom he hadn't crossed paths?

"Seeing as I haven't made my last request and I very much doubt that you're a courtesan in fancy dress…" Alfred took a final swig and emptied the flask completely before throwing it back "What's a spy doing in my little cell? Unless you are indeed a call girl, then give me, hmm, two minutes."

"You can drop the act Sergeant Pennyworth, I am more than aware of where your interests actually lay, so I know I'm not your type." The woman moved confidently forward, her comment causing Alfred's eyes to widen slightly as she took a seat on the cot crossing her legs as she gave him a pleasant smile "I also know how you ended up here, but I must say I am surprised. Paddy Mayne painted an imposing picture of you, so I was a little shocked you would do something so…"

"Daft." Alfred finished her sentence and shifted his eyes narrowing at the woman dropping his previous bravado "I was piss drunk, still am, and wasn't thinking. The bastard hurt the sister of a friend of mine, couldn't help but see red when he found me to brag."

"Yes, Nesma Tahan, sister of Osman Tahan, your very close friend. I know she was pretending to be your girlfriend to her family so that her brother could be her chaperone on your dates." The woman's tone turned slightly sombre as she didn't like bringing up the recent situation but it was necessary for the moment. "I also know what the man who you killed did to her."

"Do you? Do you know what they do to women here who are dishonoured? She's not even in a hospital. Her father took her out of Cairo, now Osman doesn't know where she is and he won't talk to me" Alfred scoffed at her response, wincing a little as ribs protested at the act, causing him to try to sit more upright. "I don't regret what I did, only that I didn't get to castrate the bastard as well. Now that we've covered that shit show, who are you and why the fuck are you here?"

"My name is Agent Carter, and I am here because I have a job offer for you," Peggy was unfazed by the man's statement although it took a lot of control for her not to wince at the full picture of what happened to Nesma "It would be a waste to the war effort if a man of your talents were to be executed in the morning. We want you to come and work for the SSR"

"The SSR, what rot is that?" Alfred gave her a curious look not having heard of the organisation before.

"Strategic Scientific Reserve." Peggy responded immediately with a hint of pride entering her voice "It's a new intelligence agency, us and the Yanks together. Our goal is to combat Hydra, the Nazi's deep science division. I believe you and your SAS pals have come across them?"

"Well, first, that's a stupid name," Alfred just shook his head as he looked away from Peggy and then back up to the ceiling. "And second, yeah I've faced Hydra, they're the ones with all the weird shite and digging holes in all those old ruins right?"

"That's them. You know how dangerous they are, so we need field agents who can handle themselves against the weird shite, as you put it" Peggy's eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at the bleeding man on the floor her eyes assessing his suitability

"You must be fucking desperate to come to a Cairo prison cell to recruit a drunk murderer who you seem to believe is a Nancy-boy," Alfred scoffed shaking his head as he knew that whatever this was wasn't legitimate no one came to recruit someone like him, especially not a woman, he knew brutally what the world was like and women didn't get these types of jobs. "You don't know me, and whatever game this is you can piss off because I would very much like to get some sleep before my hanging. Or firing squad, however they're going to do it."

"Alfred Pennyworth, born 16 August 1920, to Julia Pennyworth, a prostitute in Soho, father unknown, your mother died when you were three, you were then sent to live in Blackgate orphanage in the East End. A real hellhole I'm told, that's where you first learned to fight"

Peggy fixed Alfred with a steady gaze as her words caused him to turn to look at the woman, his eyes narrowing as she spoke.

"You surprised everyone by thriving both academically and in sports. Your skills and results attracted the attention of several charities who raised enough money to sponsor you to attend university. You aced the Oxford entrance exam and managed to get a scholarship. However, in 1939 you dropped out when war was declared on Germany, and you enlisted as a regular soldier, you made Sergeant before you were 21. You saw action in France evacuated from Dunkirk, selected for commando training, fought in Norway, raids into occupied France, half of the Mediterranean, and ended up here in North Africa. Where David Stirling recruited you into his new experimental SAS regiment, he and Paddy Mayne tell me you are the best soldier they have ever seen."

"You know my war record and shitty childhood, so?" Alfred's tone was still hostile but Peggy could tell he was wavering in his defensiveness, he could tell she had real force behind her.

"I know you are a man who has fought for everything in his life, I know you have had doors shut in your face because of where you come from or because someone finds out the truth about you." Peggy uncrossed her legs and leaned forward looking the man right in the eye pouring all her honesty into it "I know you don't like bullies for that and the reason why other people don't trust you is why we want you."

"Because my interests mean I'm certainly not a German spy?" Alfred's tone was cynical but Peggy saw through the snide remark and saw she had him.

"Because you want to change the world for the better and will fight like hell to do it," Peggy gave him a small teasing smile as she risked a joke hoping it would solidify what she was already seeing behind his eyes. "And also because your interests likely mean you are not a German spy. So, do you want to leave with me and do some good or stay here and die in the morning?"

"Well, when you put it like that…. sign me up, Agent Carter," Alfred raised out one of his hands to her, which she took as she stood up and pulled him to his feet.

"Please call me Peggy, Sergeant Pennyworth." Peggy hooked one of her arms underneath the man as she helped him limp from the cell into the next chapter of his life.

"Call me Alfred," He winced with every step they took out of the now-deserted prison area of the HQ, further convincing him that Peggy was legitimate as it took real authority to clear out an entire section of an army base.

As they exited the building, it was still dark out, and dawn was a good few hours away; the darkness forced Alfred to squint to see where they were going. Mercifully, Peggy had a car waiting for them, so he wasn't walking that much further. He just hoped she had some alcohol or painkillers in the vehicle, since every movement of his body right now felt like a new shard of pain through him.

"Thomas, give me a hand if you'd be so kind," Peggy's words brought a fairly tall man in his twenties out from the passenger side of the car; he was wearing a US Army Air Forces uniform with pilot wings. "I'll drive if you look him over in the backseat."

"Wouldn't a doctor be better than a pilot?" Alfred joked as the dark-haired man took him from Peggy. "I'm a human, not an aircraft."

"Don't worry fella, it just so happens I'm a Doctor as well as a pilot," The man responded as he manoeuvred the injured Sergeant into the backseat and started to look him over. "You got three broken ribs, a hairline fracture on the jaw, three… no, four missing teeth, a mild concussion and I think acute alcohol poisoning as well."

"Sergeant Alfred Pennyworth, meet First Lieutenant Thomas Wayne, formerly of the No. 71 Eagle Squadron," Peggy gestured to the man with one hand as she started the car and moved to leave.

"Pleasure, now don't move. I need to grab my bag," Wayne gave Alfred a polite smile as he reached over the backseat to grab a doctor's satchel to treat the worst of the injuries.

"Are you sure he knows what he's doing?" Alfred grunted slightly as the man who looked more like a movie star or dilatant playboy than a medical professional started applying pressure to his head. "No offence, but you don't look like a doctor."

"Thomas here was the youngest graduate from Harvard Medical ever, before he decided to leave his comfortable life stateside to fly in the Eagle Squadrons before the rest of the Yanks decided to pitch in." Peggy chuckled knowing where Alfred's scepticism was coming from the first time she met Wayne she hadn't made much of him either but he had proved her wrong more than once. "To make a long story short, he works for us now, his medical expertise is quite invaluable, and he knows what he's doing."

"Yep, he would also like you to stop talking," Thomas spoke up as pulled out a surgical needle and thread, "I need to stitch this up or you're going to bleed on my nice clean uniform,"

"You got it, Tommy," Alfred grunted out earning a smile from Peggy as she knew what was coming next

"Don't ever call me Tommy," Thomas shook his head as he started to stitch up the injured Sergeant "Something tells me I'm not going to like working with you. Now stay still"

(SSR Forward Command Base - Austria, Alps Mountain Range - May 1st 1945)

Steve Rogers took a few moments to look up at the imposing fortress that was nestled into the Alps. Its black stone walls were reinforced with cold steel and he could see the large military base camp set up in the forest below. It was HYDRA's last true stronghold and represented everything he detested in the world, everything he had been fighting against for the past few years. Looking at it he could tell the assault in a few hours was going to be bloody and that a lot of good men weren't going to see the end of the day. Men like Bucky.

"It'll be a hard nut to crack Cap, but crack it we shall." The steady voice broke Steve out of his momentary haze;

As he turned he saw Sergeant Pennyworth moving next to him, the man's uniform was crisp and immaculate as ever and he looked ready for parade duty. The only thing missing was his ever-present sniper rifle and Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife, whose absence caused Steve to frown. Ever since Peggy had introduced him to Alfred as the drill Sergeant at Camp Lehigh for Project Rebirth candidates he had never seen the man without them. One of his earliest memories of Alfred was the man using the butt of his Lee–Enfield rifle to knock Gilmore Hodge on his back and then put his knife to the man's throat when he tried to attack him when his back was turned.

That moment had endeared him to Alfred and everything since had only solidified his liking of the British commando who he counted as one of his rare friends. Alfred had had Steve's back from the start, he had been tough and brutal in training but fair and encouraging as well, and after Erskine had died had been the only one apart from Peggy to argue that he should see combat. He had also been there right alongside him when he went to rescue the 107th from Hydra, although he still thought the man was crazy for jumping out of Howard's plane in all that flack. Against all odds, he survived the night and since then the Englishman has been near enough to his right-hand man. In his mind, he would always be the first Howling Commando.

"We will. For Bucky," Steve gave his friend a nod he knew that after himself, Alfred would be missing Bucky the most. The two had had a running rivalry over who was the better shot and had always pushed each other to be better.

"For Bucky, we'll give them hell" Alfred gave his solemn nod, looking at the last fortress before turning back to look at his friend. "One last fight, Steve."

"Yeah, last one." Steve released a sigh at the strangest feeling of having the end just in front of him but without Bucky next to him.

"So, what'll you do when this is over?"

Alfred's sudden question caught him off guard causing Steve to blink. The two of them had never talked about the future before, his favourite saying was don't tempt fate or, more bluntly, stay in the moment.

"Oh come now, it's a valid question." Alfred gave Steve a slight chuckle knowing where the frown was coming from. "We might not even have to fight. I've just heard from the intelligence boys that Hitler is dead, offed himself in Berlin yesterday. So these sad sacks may give up now that their beloved leader is dead."

"It won't matter. Hydra's loyal to the Red Skull and nobody else." Steve sighed, although the news of Hitler's demise was welcomed and signalled the war would soon end it didn't affect what was about to happen. "They'll fight until every last one of them is dead."

"Oh yes, I know, but a man can hope." Alfred let out a sigh himself as he kicked a rock before refocusing on Steve. "You still didn't answer my question, what's next for The Star-Spangled Man? Ticker tape parade, dinner at the White House, and then what? Back to Brooklyn, finish that painting class you left?"

"Dancing," Steve gave his first real smile since losing Bucky, as he remembered the promise he had made "I have to take someone dancing. What about you? Going back to Oxford to finish your business degree?"

"Gotham, actually," Alfred replied, earning a surprised look from the Captain who was not expecting that answer. "Thomas offered me a job, wants me around to help him run the family's business. He's not sure what I'm to do exactly, his father's still in charge, but he says we shall work something out."

"Wow. I didn't see that coming. I honestly thought you two were going to kill each other when I first met both of you," Steve shook his head at the wonder that had just happened. Now he's offering you a job, and you're accepting….. What about Percival? Is he going with you?"

"No, no he is not." Alfred shifted a little at the mention of the fellow Howling Commando he was noted to be very close to by outside observers. "We discussed it, but he'll be making his way back to Essex at the end of all this. There is a girl his mother wants to introduce him to and he thinks it's best if he meets her."

"I'm sorry, Alfred." Steve placed a hand on his friend's shoulder in sympathy.

"I wish the world was a kinder place and that you could follow your heart."

"Yes, well," Alfred sighed and gave Steve a thankful nod before releasing a deep breath and recomposing himself. "Speaking of following your heart, I actually came over here to get you. You need to get into something nicer, you're needed at the wedding."

"Wait, what?" Steve just blinked in complete confusion at the string of words that had just been spoken at him "What wedding?"

"Well it would seem Thomas just proposed to Martha, she said yes, and since they don't want to wait…" Alfred gave the super soldier a wide teasing grin as he turned him around and pointed to the makeshift venue that was being set up "Howard, ever resourceful, found a priest. Peggy is Martha's maid of honour, Colonel Phillips is giving away the bride, Doogan has made a wedding dress out of parachutes, I'm frankly amazed he knew how to sew, Morita got a cake from somewhere, and as for you, Thomas says you're his best man."

"W-we'll be launching our assault in less than four hours!" Steve just baulked at the sheer insanity he saw before him as the most elite soldiers in the world rushed around putting a whole wedding together.

"Yes, we will, which is why I've been placed in charge of organising," Alfred just fixed Steve with his best Sergeant glare as then pointed to very "So, go to that tent over there, your dress uniform is inside, get changed and wait with Thomas by that Jeep. It's going to be the altar. Also, bring your shield. Martha and Thomas are going to use it to cut the cake. Come now, chop-chop."

"Alfred, this is crazy." He could barely get a word in edgewise as Alfred started pushing him towards the tent where Thomas and Howard were getting dressed, the former in his dress uniform whilst the latter somehow had found a tuxedo.

"Yes, well you shouldn't have introduced them to each other then. So less talking more getting changed, I'm very busy," Alfred pushed him into the tent before turning around and spotting another Howling Commando who was rushing around "HEY Gabe! Have you found some rings yet?!"

"Nah, not yet!" Gabe Jones did not slow down as he ran past the priest who was doing his best to set up for the sudden wedding. "I'm gonna try the motor pool!"

"Quickly please, this is happening in the next 30 minutes and if we don't have rings then I am going to start shooting people." Alfred looked scarily in his element as his head snapped in another direction as he marched off and disappeared from Steve's sight his voice was still clear though "Dernier! You better have some flowers!"

"Before you say anything, Martha asked him to organise the event, I just wanted a priest."

Steve turned and saw Thomas Wayne who had become the Howling Commandos' unofficial medic giving him an awkward smile as he continued to get dressed. The man was officially here as part of Project Rebirth to monitor Steve's vitals and draw blood samples in hopes of recreating the serum. However, that pretence had long since been abandoned and his role was largely to provide medical assistance to the team. Although he didn't appear in the newsreels or official reports every member of the elite unit counted him as one of them and there wasn't a single one that didn't owe their lives to Howard's steady hands.

Steve was ashamed to say when he first met Thomas he thought he was just some pampered rich boy whose father had got him an easy assignment stateside as Doctor Abraham Erskine's lackey. However, he quickly learnt that he was dead wrong. The man had been a pilot in the peacetime US army before the war. According to Thomas his father, Patrick Wayne, had forced him to join up early so that if war did break out he could get his son stationed somewhere safe and in a role more prestigious than just being a doctor. However, deciding he wanted to do good with the skills he had learnt he defied his father, left his comfortable rich lifestyle and joined the Eagle Squadron to fight in Britain.

Thomas would still have been a combat pilot or a field medic if not for his father's continued interference. The elder Wayne used his money and influence to force his son onto Project Rebirth's staff using his position as the project's main funder, so the army had acquiesced to his request which led to the SSR gaining a new lab assistant. Thomas had been more than qualified, but had at first resented that his father had stuck him on what many viewed as a pointless side project to keep him safe. Nevertheless, Thomas had done his job, been a crucial part of creating the serum and when they needed someone to follow Captain America around to assess him in hopes of making more like him in the future he had leapt at the chance.

Steve was also proud to say that like the rest of the Howling Commandos Thomas had not only proven himself but also had become a dear friend. He was also more than thrilled that he was now marrying Martha who Steve had introduced him to at their bar in London. She had originally been a friend of Peggy's who was one of the few other female agents around and Steve had liked her the moment they were introduced.

"C'mon, you know Al, give him a mission and it's good as gold he'll see it through," Howard chimed in forcing Steve back to the present as he helped Thomas fix his officer's bars to his shoulder. "So you better just go with it, Steve."

He just looked back outside and saw Alfred barking more orders, even some to Colonel Phillips. He just gave a nod and started to get dressed. He had fought alongside Pennyworth long enough to know that resistance was indeed pointless. As he got dressed his mind for a brief moment pondered on the future and what his own wedding might look like, which caused him to smile.

'Maybe I'll get Alfred to organise it, look at what he did with only an hour to work with. Wonder what he could do in a month or two.' Steve gave a large smile and was about to commit to the idea when he heard a thunderous shouting outside.

"YOU FUCKING DONKEY! DROP THAT AND I'LL HAVE YOUR HEAD ON A SPIKE!"

'Or not…..yeah, best not to.'

(Wayne Manor - Gotham City - October 6th 2011)

"I very much don't see the point of this," Damian crossed his arms as he glared at his father who was sitting across from him in the main sitting room "It is ludicrous. It is banal. It is utterly beneath me. "

"Which is why we are doing it," Bruce took a deep breath as he looked at his son trying to get him to understand why this was crucial "Damian, you have to do it. So pick one."

"Why is this such a necessity?" Damian shot back his eyes glancing to Cassandra who was lounging in a corner reading a book on the human nervous system that looked ridiculously large and too advanced for her, all while her phone lay nearby beeping occasionally. "I do not see you pushing Xialing to engage in this silliness."

"She prefers Cassandra, as you well know Master Damian," Alfred gently admonished, causing the boy to look away and mumble an apology. "And she does not need one. She has crafted a most effective cover as not only a prima ballerina and regional acrobatic champion but also as an online influencer and has a host of friends at the academy."

"Meanwhile, you managed to get the academy bursar arrested for embezzlement." Bruce's words caused his son to refocus on him "You need a cover, Damian. Your teachers are already talking, as are the students. They see you as odd, strange and frightening."

"So I should, what, let him continue stealing money?" Damian just kept his arms crossed as he looked between his father and the family butler.

"No, but there are ways of doing that, and not drawing the wrong kind of attention." Bruce was using every technique he knew to keep his anger in check, but it was starting to run out "You keep saying you want to be part of the mission, this is a key part: managing how others see you and making sure that it can never be linked to what we really do."

"Master Damian, we got very lucky last year. Your father was able to scrub any footage of you and Miss Cassandra, and the world was also more focused on Mr Stark's fight and the incident in Harlem with Doctor Banner than on the urban rumour of Batman." Alfred spoke softly. He had found that like his father Damian was largely highly logical and just needed things presented in a certain way to understand them. "However, currently it would take no stretch of the imagination for one of your classmates to believe that the spectre of Robin and Damian Wayne are the same person."

"So with this latest incident, we need to redouble our efforts on your public persona," Bruce gave Alfred a small nod as Damian took a moment to consider the elder man's words, the good cop bad cop approach they had discussed seemed to be working. "So, pick one?"

"I understand, but….." Damian uncrossed his arms in defeat but let out a sigh as he looked at the brochures in front of him "How is a school club going to help my persona?"

"For one, it lets you socialise with people your own age. Next, we can build on it to use it as cover in case you get injured." Bruce took some of the edges out of his voice as he saw Damian was at least trying now. "Much like with Cassandra and her activities, bruises and broken bones can be explained away."

"I would suggest more than one." Alfred moved closer, already prepared for this next part as he had already selected the clubs he thought would be best for Damian to take part in, gesturing to the brochures in question. "Let's start with a group sport. What about Lacrosse or Football? Both have high enough injury rates that you can cover up what you might sustain in the field. We could combine one of those with the Drama club; it would help with undercover work."

"Very well, let me read up on these sports, and then I will decide" Damian grabbed the brochures for the activities that Alfred had selected but then turned to Cassandra as well. "Cassandra I will also require a list of tolerable girls, their interests and clothing styles."

"Why?" Cassandra lifted her head up from her book and looked at Damian with a raised eyebrow.

"In order to date them of course. I shall seek out the exceptionally vain and foolish" Damian made the comment casually as he turned back and started to read the brochures in his hands "The lower the IQ the better, please. I will have to work out the requisite expenses for these dates. I will need a budget father."

"Um, what?" Bruce blinked at the sudden 180 his son had done, Damian barely looked at girls let alone talked about dating one.

"You want me to allay suspicions, and you have proven that dating a higher number of females, usually more than one at a time, creates a solid foundation of a cover," Damian was speaking like one of Bruce's old instructors without emotion and based on pure logic. "Therefore, as your son, a playboy persona would be easiest for me to adopt. You can train me yourself."

"That…. it… Alfred, help please." Bruce just stared at his son failing to think of an argument for the totally inappropriate approach Damian wanted to take because logically it was completely sound and exactly what he had done.

"Perhaps-" Alfred opened his mouth only to be mercifully interrupted by the sound of the room's phone.

RING RING RING

"Wayne Manor, Alfred Pennyworth speaking," Alfred answered the phone, turning back as he watched Bruce struggle to talk his son out of his wild idea for a cover.

"Alfred, it's Fury. I need you on the next flight to New York," Fury's voice "It's important. A car will be outside to pick you up in an hour."

"I'm sorry but Master Wayne's schedule is incredibly busy, he can't just come to New York," Alfred spoke as politely as ever, knowing the motions of what happened next, Fury would be cryptic, he would push back, Fury would then give the real reason he called, and then Bruce would likely say no.

"Not him. You." Fury's tone caused Alfred to pause as he felt the Director take a very uncharacteristic pause "Alfred, it's the Eurydice protocols. We found him…he's alive."

"... I'll be there." Alfred just hung up the phone not waiting for an answer, and he just threw the phone on the table.

"Alfred, what's wrong?" Bruce stood up seeing the completely blank expression on his old friend's face. "Is it Dick, Barbara?...Tim?"

"No, it's….private." Alfred just blinked and then looked at his now grown ward, before he suddenly turned on his heels and started heading to his room calling to them over his shoulder "I am taking a few personal days, I need to go to New York. I'll call when I know more,"

Bruce, Damian and Cassandra all just stared at the door that closed behind him as Alfred suddenly left the room. Damian and Cassandra just looked at each other whilst Bruce's mind went into panic mode, Alfred had never done anything like this before, he quickly rushed to the phone and grabbed it to see who had called. It was a blocked number, Bruce just glanced at the door again before he took the phone and raced to a clock on the wall that led to the Batcave, he needed to find out who called. He needed to protect Alfred. As the secret entrance slammed shut the two children in the room just glanced at each other completely confused.

"Well….that was odd," Damian spoke first, his eyes going to the clock, then the door and then to the brochures in front of him. "Do you think I still have to join a club?"

"Ugh Damian, you're unbelievable." Cassandra just shook her head as she threw her book to one side and stormed out of the room herself.

(SHIELD Medical Facility Number One - New York City, New York - October 6th 2011)

There'll be bluebirds over

The white cliffs of Dover

Tomorrow

Just you wait and see

I'll never forget the people I met

Braving those angry skies

I remember well as the shadows fell

The light of hope in their eyes

Steve groaned a little as he opened his eyes and was greeted by bright lights, then it took a few moments for his eyes to adjust. He turned his head and saw the radio which was playing music softly in the air, and his eyes narrowed. It looked like no radio he had ever seen, it was slender and metallic and the front was glowing blue. But there was something more urgent. He pushed himself up so he was sitting on the bed before zeroing in on the person standing in the corner.

He couldn't make them out, shadowed as they were in the only part of the very large room that had no lights on. Steve felt his muscles tense as he glanced around, this looked like a hospital ward like the one his mother used to work in, except he was in the only bed and the entire room looked like something out of a Buck Rogers comic strip. He leapt to his feet as the figure in the shadows leveled a rectangular device in his direction, however, the only thing that happened was the music suddenly stopped.

"What's going on here? Where am I?" Steve made his hands into fists as he looked around for a weapon to defend himself and also spied a set of double doors at the end of the room next to where the man was staying. "Just who are you?"

"Well, in a roundabout order, I'm an old friend…" Steve felt most of the tension leave his body as Sergeant Alfred Pennyworth's voice greeted his ears from the shadows. "you are in New York City, and what is going on is that you are very much not a pilot. Come now Steve, the Arctic? You couldn't possibly land somewhere warm?"

"I didn't have a lot of options, Alfred," Steve laughed, feeling more at ease as his eyes kept drifting around the strange room. "How long was I out? What the heck is this place? Did Howard build some new futuristic hospital just for me?"

"Well, that's where this gets difficult…." Alfred trailed off and although Steve couldn't see him fully he did see his old friend shift uncomfortably.

"Alfred, what's going on?" Steve's eyes narrowed and felt his muscles tense again ready for a trap.

"Agent Coulson, can we lift the blinds and turn on the lights?" Alfred's voice rang out and a few seconds later the lights turned on and what Steve thought was a wall in front of him lifted up revealing a row of windows.

Steve's eyes widened in shock at the sight of what was clearly Times Square, but not any Times Square he had ever seen before. There were movie screens on all the buildings showing coloured short films depicting strange drinks, weirdly dressed people, and perfume. Massive billboards loomed everywhere, but most of all the buildings were different. Apart from a few he recognised all the buildings looked like something out of Thomas and Howard's sketches, even as he looked down on the street he saw vehicles straight out of an H.G Wells novel.

"What ha-" Steve turned to look at his friend and froze in shock.

Alfred was wearing his old dress army uniform, chest full of ribbons, and he looked as immaculate as ever, but like the uniform was weathered and old, so too was his friend. Raising his eyes from the uniform he wasn't greeted by the grinning devil-may-care smile of the youngest and best Sergeant of the British Army. No, he was greeted by the gentle aged smile of a man deep into his twilight years. Steve for a second thought it must be some sort of trick, a Hydra scheme, but as he looked into his friend's eyes he knew it was real.

"You were in the ice for 66 years, Steve. They wanted to ease you into it. I told them best to just get it over with. Trying to trick you would just lead to a lot of broken stuff and injured staff", Alfred let out a little sigh as he saw the look on his friend's face that he couldn't quite read "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, I just….." Steve looked away from his friend, back to the Times Square of the future, or present Times Square he guessed was the case. "I had a date,"

"I know Cap, I know." Alfred moved forward placing a gentle hand on his friend's shoulder as he lifted his other one up, Steve looked down and saw his compass with Peggy's photo in it. "and I'm sorry,"

"Thanks," Steve took the compass, the small object helping ground him as he felt so surreal at the moment. "So, this is New York?"

"Yes, let's get you up to speed. What's the last thing you remember?" Alfred moved over to a table and chair that he had set up.

Alfred didn't miss the concerned look Steve gave him at his slow walking speed or how his hands trembled a little as he pulled a seat out for Steve then his own. As Alfred took his seat, he too was finding it hard not to give his friend an awkward look. He had long given up hope of seeing Steve Rogers alive and had long resigned himself to the fact his friend had died saving lives. He thought that the most he could hope from Peggy's and Fury's searches was a body he could lay to rest in the Howling Commando section at Arlington, but even that he had thought impossible.

"Going into the ice on Schmidt's Super Plane," Steve replied, his mind turning back to the event that for him was a few moments ago but apparently was nearly 70 years in the past.

"Okay, so here's what happened next….."

Alfred took a deep breath as he gave Steve a quick rundown of the events that followed his disappearance. He first stuck to just what happened to the Howling Commandos immediately afterwards then largely stuck to the very large topics of the latter half of the 20th century. Like SSR turning into SHIELD, the Civil Rights movement, the whole sexual revolution as well, the general Cold War picture and other moments that defined the latter half of the century. Steve just sat there and listened; he occasionally asked a question or two but largely just stayed silent as Alfred gave him a crash course on global events. He followed the advice the SHIELD psychiatrist had given so he avoided getting lost in minor details, like cell phones and the internet for the moment. However, the other piece of advice to avoid personal details about the fate of his fellow soldiers until Steve was more settled proved impossible.

"So what about the men?" Steve asked the question he clearly saw Alfred was avoiding, but despite his current shock he needed to know "Howard, Thomas, Martha and…..Peggy?"

"Steve….." Alfred trailed off feeling a weight press on his heart as his friend looked at him with pleading eyes.

"Alfred, please?" Steve leaned forward his eyes burrowing into the aged eyes of one of the men he trusted most in the world. "What happened?"

"I'll get SHIELD to give you the files, but if you insist, I'll tell you in brief." Alfred took a deep breath deciding to start on the best first although it was still not great for Steve "Apart from Junior Juniper who died in ]46 on a mission, the rest of the unit survived to live long and full lives. Most got married, a lot of children between them and generally they were happy. We all stayed in touch."

"What about you?" Steve asked, "Did you ever get married or, settle down with anyone?"

Alfred chuckled at the reminder of how careful his comrades had always been talking about his sexuality and how long it had been since someone had had to tip-toe around the topic. He gave Steve a wide grin as he leaned back in his seat, sipping the tea that had been brought in, his uniform's jacket having been discarded on a spare chair.

"No, never married. Though there were a few men over the years, nothing lasted." Alfred's open response caused Steve's eyes to widen as the super soldier suddenly looked around purely out of concern for his friend not wanting him to be overheard "Oh don't worry, it's not illegal anymore. We can even get married in a few places."

"Really?" Steve gave his friend a surprised look but a happy grin. "That's… great! I'm glad to hear it. So what did you end up doing after the war? Did you take Thomas up on his offer?"

"I became his butler." Alfred raised a hand stopping the comment and bark of laughter Steve was about to make "Don't start, it was only in public. In private I ran the company for him whilst he focused on medicine."

"Okay, so Thomas went back to being a doctor," Steve gave his friend a nod, knowing he would have more time to ask about the whole butler thing from the man he once saw charge a Hydra tank whilst on fire. "Good for him,"

"Yes, he and Martha settled in Gotham and even had a child." Alfred fought to keep the smile on his face as the image of that dark alley reared to life in his head, although his smile stayed, Steve saw something flash across Alfred's eyes. "Bruce Steven Wayne, you'd like him, he's a good man"

"Are they still…" Steve trailed off not wanting to say the word that would make it so final.

"They died, quite some time ago." Alfred responded quickly hoping his friend wouldn't ask a follow-up question he didn't want to answer, but he couldn't keep the anguish out of his voice.

"I'm sorry to hear that…" Steve just looked at his old friend and could tell there was something he needed to know, and so even though Alfred didn't want it asked, he decided to press "Alfred, what happened?"

Silence fell. The aged man just closed his eyes and for a moment he just focused on the warm feeling of the cup of tea in his hands. However, he knew he had to tell Steve, he owed his friend to be the one to tell him the worst of what happened to his friends. Even Howard's untimely death had come after he had lived into his 70s and seen his son grow into a young man, everyone else had just died of old age surrounded by loved ones and family.

Only two hadn't enjoyed that privilege, and they had been the most deserving of it. They had found happiness together and shared it with all of them, they had only tried to help after the war was over, they had had a child they loved more than life itself together, and what was their reward? A dark alley, a string of bloodstained pearls and a child who saw the worst the world had to offer.

"... There was a mugging."