Rogers' Return

by Enfield

Peculiar Happenings

Enfield walked up to the door and rose his hand t knock, but he stopped and turned back to Scootaloo. She gave him a nod to get on with it, Enfield could see that she was getting impatient. Enfield took a deep breath, and knocked heavily on the door. He stepped backwards and waited for his grandmother to open up the door. The inside door unlocked and Enfield cringed, anxiously waiting for the door to open. Thought the stained glass of the door he could see the blurred mass that was his grandmother unlocking the door.

“I don’t think I can handle this,” Enfield whispered to Scootaloo.

“Just stay cool,” Scootaloo replied. She looked slightly irritated with Enfield, he didn’t blame her, he had slightly lost his touch but he knew that it’ll get better.

The door opened slowly and Enfield was standing face to face with his grandmother.

“Hi, Nan,” he said slowly. His grandmother looked at Enfield, her face more blank than a piece of paper.

“Hiya James,” she said, “My you’ve gotten bigger.”

“Time does fly,” Enfield replied.

“Well do I get a hug as a hello?” Nan asked. Enfield hugged her, glad that she wasn’t freaking out.

“Who’s this then?” Nan asked as she let go of Enfield and looked at Scootaloo.

“That’s…uh,” he stammered, Enfield didn’t know if he should give Scootaloo a fake name again or tell his Nan her real name.

“I’m Scootaloo,” Scootaloo said before Enfield could respond.

“Strange name,” Nan said, “So why are you here with James?”

“Nan, I have to tell you something,” Enfield said, “She’s my daughter.”

Nan back up to see Scootaloo more clearly.

“That’s nice, my little James is all grown up,” she said tweaking Enfield’s cheek. She let go and went back into the house. Enfield rubbed his cheek and followed, Scootaloo bringing up the rear.

“Do you think is should tell her that I changed my name?” Enfield whispered to Scootaloo.

“Maybe but I think you should tell her to call you by your old name,” replied Scootaloo.

“You’re right,” said Enfield, “It might be better for them to remember my old name. This will help me remember my name as well.”

“So do you call your grandmother Nan?” Scootaloo asked.

“Everyone does in my family,” replied Enfield, “You’ll end up calling her ‘Nan’ after the day is done.”

Enfield pushed his way through the beads that were separating the kitchen from the outside hallway, he entered and let Scootaloo in before he shut the door behind him. Nan’s house was just as he remembered it, right down to the slight musty smell that lingered in the front hallway. Enfield followed his grandmother into the hallway and into the living room, where she had gone and sat down in front of the TV.

“I’m guessing that you were expecting someone else,” Enfield said as he sat on the couch.

“The rest of the family was going to visit but I didn’t know if they were coming today or tomorrow,” Nan said, not taking her view off the TV.

“That’s good,” Enfield said taking his bag off his back, “I’ve been wanting to see them for a few days now.”

“What’s that you got there?” Nan asked looking at Enfield’s bag.

“Just stuff I brought, I hope you don’t mind me and Scoot staying for a few days,” Enfield said, he turned and saw Scootaloo standing in the middle of the room, “You can sit down you know.”

“Oh, okay,” said Scootaloo. She took her bag off and sat down next to Enfield.

“So where have you been for the past three years?” Nan asked.

“Well I was kind of pre-occupied that one summer,” said Enfield, “You remember Abigail Samantha and Susie right?”

“Oh yes, the three girls you took care of,” Nan replied.

“Well the one called Susie is actually Scootaloo here,” Enfield said.

“I thought Scootaloo looked familiar,” Nan said.

“Yep, I managed to get the girls back home,” said Enfield.

“Oh,” Nan said, “So what about the other two years? I haven’t heard from you or your parents.”

“It’s kind of hard to talk about,” Enfield said.

“Is something wrong?” Nan asked, sounding a little concerned.

“I’d actually rather talk to the rest of the family,” Enfield said, rubbing his arm. Scootaloo leaned against him.

“It’s okay now dad,” she said kindly, “You’re still alive and we’re a family now.”

Enfield hugged Scootaloo and smiled.

“I’m really glad you’re here to remind me about that,” he said.

“Well it’s starting to get dark,” Nan said getting up and closing the window blinds. Enfield hadn't been paying attention to the time, it was getting close to five in the afternoon when he left Equestria, in England it had almost gone eight.

“Have the guest rooms been made?” asked Enfield.

“Yes, they’re okay to use,” Nan said as she shuffled toward the stairs.

“I hope you kept my old room the same way it always was,” said Enfield.

“It’s been the same since you left it,” Nan replied.

Enfield and Scootaloo followed Nan up the stairs to the bedrooms. There wasn’t much in terms of spaciousness, most of the bedroom were about as big as Enfield’s bathroom in his house. He didn’t care however, he was really happy to be back seeing his Nan once more, tomorrow, he would be seeing the rest of his family.

“So which room do you want?” Scootaloo asked.

“I’m going in the same room that I've used for the past twelve years,” Enfield said. He opened the door to his room and walked in it. It was exactly the same as he left it since he left it four years ago: The bed still had the same blue covers on it, the bedside table had a few magazines sitting on it under the lamp, even Enfield’s old radio controlled car was still on top of the closet. He took a deep sniff at the air and exhaled heavily.

“Good to be back,” he said.

He tossed his bag up onto the bed and started unpacking it. Enfield took out most of his clothes, a small amount of money, his PDW-R and his 1911. He set both of the guns on the windowsill and shut the blinds.

“Why did you put them up there?” Scootaloo asked.

“I don’t want Nan to know what had happened to me two years ago,” Enfield replied.

“So are you going to tell your family everything once they get here?” Scootaloo asked.

“Right down to your adoption,” said Enfield.
Scootaloo yawned and stretched, Enfield could tell she was tired and he was starting to feel that way too.

“I’m going to bed,” Scootaloo said.

“You do that,” Enfield said, he looked out the window and saw that the sky had gone pitch black.

“What the bloody hell?” he thought.

“Dad!” Scootaloo shouted, “Dad, get in here!”

Enfield grabbed his PDW-R and raced into Scootaloo’s room. Weapon raised he ran into her room and skidded to a halt in front of Scootaloo.

“What, what is it?” he asked frantically.

“Look at the clock,” Scootaloo said.

Enfield lowered his gun and examined the time on the alarm clock.

“What in the name of Celestia?” he said.

The time read eleven pm.

“Okay,” Enfield said, trying to keep his cool, “Why does the clock read eleven pm?”

“But it was only eight a few minutes ago, wasn’t it?” Scootaloo said.

“Does this have to do with the Rift?” asked Enfield.

“I hope it doesn’t affect my sleeping time,” said Scootaloo.

“Best we try and get to sleep now,” Enfield said, “Ten minutes have just passed.”

Enfield ran back to his room, tossed his PDW-R onto the windowsill pulled his shoes off and tried to sleep. The morning came much faster than he thought, but he still managed to get a decent night sleep. Enfield sat up and opened up the curtains, he could tell that it was either ten or eleven from the positioning of the sun. He managed to drag himself out of his bedroom and wake Scootaloo up. They both charged down the stairs hoping to get something to eat before it became one in the afternoon. Luckily once they were done it had just turned twelve. In order to think this through and deduce what was happening, Enfield went into the living room and tried to relax.

“So then,” he said as he pulled the slide of his 1911, “How is time going really quickly here but everything seems to be moving the same speed as it normally would?”

“Could it be that something happened to the planet when we were gone?” Scootaloo asked.

“No,” Enfield said, “There’s a reason behind everything.”

“How can we figure this out?” asked Scootaloo. She sank down next to Enfield and instantly wrinkled her nose and pushed him away.

“Dad, you smell really bad,” she said.

“Do I?” asked Enfield, he stuck his nose into his shirt and grimaced, “You’re right there, Scoot. I really reek of sweat.”

“How did you get to smell so bad?” Scootaloo asked.

“Probably a mix of stress and nervousness from yesterday,” said Enfield. He stood up and went upstairs to take a shower and change his clothes. After several minutes fiddling with the shower in order for it to work, once his shower was complete he dressed. Just as Enfield was pulling on his shirt he stopped and looked in the mirror to examine the scars he got from when he was almost killed. He ran his fingers across the shotgun pellet wound and sighed. The soldier’s name who did that was Rickter, he had helped Enfield after the hurricane hit the Outer Banks and trashed his beach house. Enfield never knew that he would be killed by his appointed savoir but there was nothing he could do to fix the past. Nor was there anything he could do to erase the scars of betrayal, both mental and physical.

Enfield pulled his shirt over his head and went back downstairs, taking his PDW-R with him so he could clean it. He was slightly annoyed that a half hour had passed even though it felt like his shower only took five minutes. Putting the massive time lapses out of his mind, Enfield sat on the couch with Scootaloo while Nan flicked through the TV channels looking for something that would appeal to all of them.

“I wonder if the new season of Top Gear has been released,” said Scootaloo.

“I didn’t get any new DVDs but I’m sure that once we get back they might be there,” Enfield replied. Nan didn’t listen to them, she was too focused on the news which she stopped on.

“It’s been two years since the end of the Guardian/Enforcer war and the US is suffering from the final martyrdom that both sides committed,” Enfield leaned closer to the TV to hear what the news anchor was covering, “For anyone who can remember the final battle that ended in Washington DC and San Francisco being wiped off the face of the Earth.”

“What?” was all Enfield managed to say.

“Didn’t you hear that those two armies bombed each other in those cities?” Nan asked.

“The day when both the Guardians and the Enforcers launched nuclear missiles to destroy each others HQ was a terrible day for the US,” the anchor continued, “The effect of the nuclear fallout has spread across the country and caused multiple cases of severe radiation poisoning. The US CDC is requesting that everyone is to stay indoors if they are within fifty miles of the areas of the missile strikes.”

“How many nukes were launched?” Enfield asked.

“I’m not sure,” Nan said.

Scootaloo wasn’t liking the look of Enfield’s face so she tried to change the subject.

“So when’s the rest of your family coming?” she asked.

“In a few minutes,” Nan said as she went into the kitchen.

“More like three seconds,” said Enfield.

Enfield heard the door open and shut and the voices of his family.

“We’re here,” Enfield’s aunt said.

“Hiya you lot,” Nan said.

“Hi Nan,” two small ecstatic voices came from out of the kitchen.

Enfield listened to the voices carefully so he could figure out who had came over. The talking lasted for several minutes and Enfield was able to deduce that his auntie Cher and uncle Isaac had arrived with his cousin Kelly. Uncle Geoff and Uncle Charles were also here but Enfield couldn’t tell who the two small voices were.

“I hope they remember me,” said Enfield.

“Wait,” Aunt Cher’s voice said, “What do you mean he’s here?”

“Yes he’s here, he’s in the living room,” Nan’s voice followed.

“Who’s here?” one small voice said.

“James, your cousin James,” Aunt Cher said.