Wrong Reflection

A Broken Mirror

Something dark seemed to pass over his counterpart's face as Alfred introduced himself by his country name, and Alfred got the strong impression this man did not believe he was America.

"Liar!" His counterpart snapped, hands curling into fists, "You're a fucking liar!"

Alfred held his hands up, hoping to calm down his counterpart before he did anything drastic. The dark look in his eyes was still there, and although his counterpart sounded angry and panicked, there was still some sort of smug confidence there.

It almost reminded Alfred of Arthur, a comparison he hated to make.

Although his counterpart was not like Arthur with the face he was making, the other America had his teeth bared almost like a cat's, which, Alfred presumed, was somehow supposed to be intimidating. It just looked a little funny.

"Where are they? Did you do something?" The other America asked, and Alfred was incredibly grateful that his counterpart didn't have a weapon on him. Maybe he looked a little silly with his teeth bared like that, but there was no denying the dark look in his eyes.

It was almost predatory. It was mildly terrifying, but then again, Alfred had been slinging around bison since he was a colony.

"Listen, dude," Alfred started, holding his hands up in a placating gesture, "I don't know who you're talking about. I promise I'm not lying."

The other America's eyes narrowed, and in one quick motion, he lashed out, socking Alfred in the jaw.

"Fuck!" Alfred swore, hands going to grab at his face, "Dude, what was that for?"

"You're lying about having my name, knowing where my kids are–"

"You have kids?" Alfred asked, hands dropping as he stared at the other America in shock. The shock must have clued this America into the fact that Alfred wouldn't hurt him because his posture changed, becoming more relaxed, his expression fading into something more typical for a human.

"You're being serious." The Other America said before biting his lip, "Can you...I probably should have asked this sooner, but I was panicking. Can you prove that you're me? You can just show a small part of your hand if you want to."

"Dude, I know you feel whatever weird connection we have. What more proof could you need?" Alfred asked. The Other America scoffed, crossing his arms.

"I have that bond with people who aren't me. It tells me you ain't human, but it don't tell me who you are," he said.

"Fine. But please don't punch me in the face again. That hurt." Alfred asked.

"If you can prove who you are, I won't." The Other America said.

"Cool, cool, cool, cool. One problem with that. I can't do whatever magic hands thing you did." Alfred said. The Other America's eyes narrowed.

"Sounds like someone wants to get punched in the face again." He said. Alfred held his hands up again.

"I have other things I can show you to prove it. Please don't hit me." Alfred said.

"Like what?" The Other America asked.

"Like this," Alfred said, lifting the dumpster off the ground with one hand. The Other America's eyes widened, and he stepped back, startled, before laughing slightly. Alfred put the dumpster down, satisfied that he had made his point.

"Well, that doesn't exactly prove you're me, but I do have an idea. Do you have Twitter?" The Other America asked, his voice less angry and more amused.

"I don't know where this is going, but if you are asking me to open Twitter of all places, I'm concerned," Alfred said but still pulled out his phone, unlocked it, and passed it over to his counterpart, who quickly began typing, maybe looking for an account.

Alfred didn't really know what his counterpart was doing. He was an enigma, for sure. Finally, his counterpart's shoulders slumped, and he sighed, looking like he might start panicking again.

"Are you okay?" Alfred asked. The Other America nodded.

"Yeah, yeah. Just...another dimension. What the hell?" With a slightly hysterical laugh, passing Alfred back his phone, he said, "Sorry about punching you. I have some trust issues.

"It's okay. I would probably be jumpy if I ended up in another dimension. Now, quick question. What's your name? We never actually got to that part." Alfred asked. The Other America laughed a little.

"I'd rather be called America, if you don't mind. Human names aren't something we reveal back home, and even though I believe you about being, well, another me, I still don't fully trust you." America said. Alfred frowned but nodded in agreement anyway.

"Okay. Your call. But, uh, do you know how you got here?" Alfred asked. America shook his head.

"No. I don't even...as far as I'm aware, I did nothing to cause this. The last thing I remember doing was just walking around the city because it helps me think better, and I needed to kill more time before a NATO meet–oh fucking shit. My government is going to go insane. They're going to notice I'm gone when I fail to show up at the NATO meeting, and they're going to get paranoid and–" America's breaths were speeding up as his panic grew, and Alfred hesitantly put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, man, breathe. It'll be okay. I'll help get you back to your world, I promise. But you need to breathe before you start having another panic attack." Alfred said. America nodded and then began counting his breaths as his breathing became more steady. America then removed his glasses, rubbing the spot between his eyes.

"This is not good for my blood pressure." He muttered. Alfred laughed.

"You sound old." He commented. America snorted in amusement.

"We are old." He commented, putting his glasses back on.

"Yeah, but I'm like nineteen. You look middle-aged." Alfred pointed out, and to Alfred's delight, America didn't try to punch him; he just smiled at him in amusement.

"I'm thirty-three that's not middle-aged," America said. Alfred's eyes widened in surprise.

"You're thirty-three?" Alfred asked incredulously. If America was thirty-three, how old was his England?

"That's not old!" America insisted, "Besides if you are me, we're both hundreds of years old. I don't think physical age matters that much."

"Okay, true, but still, that's weird."

"Oh what, the blue hand wasn't?"

"No, that was still weird, but...I dunno." Alfred said, shrugging, unsure how to explain his emotions over this bizarre day.

"I get that. Different levels of weirdness. Although, I feel that learning weird things about each other will become our everyday lives. Speaking of our lives, I think I'm ready to leave this alleyway. I really don't want my first day in this dimension to end with me being mugged." America said with a smile.

"Yeah, that's probably smart. C'mon, I'll take you to my place."