S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Rhapsosdos Introductions: Agent Jasper Sitwell

Beta-ed by: CommentatorinthePeanutGallery and Sypherianlp. (June 1st, 2013) [Last Edit: 23rd June 2014]

Disclaimer: FFVII is owned by Square Enix and the Avengers is owned by Marvel respectively. I don't own any characters in this fic (Genesis Rhapsodos, Agent Sitwell, Agent James 'Jimmy' Woo, Agent Blake (mentioned) and Agent Coulson.

Summary: When Sitwell sabotages a mission the US army is undertaking by General Ross' orders; he's shocked his target is a teenager. No one apparently passed a memo the army were chasing a kid: Genesis Rhapsodos. Moreover, what does Ross want from him? When Ross' records show human genetic enhancements for military exploitation, it's nothing good. 1st of Introduction Series. Chapter 1 of 2

AU Notes: First in the Introduction series! If you haven't read S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Rhapsosdos: Taking the Backseat, you might be missing out the fact that Genesis is an Agent of SHIELD in my Avengers and FFVII crossover. Other than that, this is basically a meet up with Agent Sitwell and Genesis for the first time. Although you'll understand more of Genesis' situation if you've read S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Rhapsosdos: A Part That Remains. If you haven't done so, you can read it after this fic (just to add the mystery).

Also I'm proud to say that this fic is the FIRST to have Agent Jasper Sitwell on Fanfiction dot Net in the crossover section as a main character! xD I kid you not, and I'm kinda glad I requested him into the character category. He's one agent that tends to be overlooked by other famous ones (Hill and Coulson). It's my goal to appreciate him as an underappreciated guy in two movies and two Marvel One-shot films (Thor, the Avengers, The Consultant, and Item 47).

Yep, this one is the first; unexpected but for the series I decided he was the first of the six to meet Genesis. I'll be making the series in chronological order. This will be a two shot (two chapters). We're not given much in the movie of the Avengers, so I will say that I'm taking some of Agent Sitwell' characteristics and specific skill set from the comics. Don't worry; don't need to read 'em as this is my version of blending in the movie and comics. Also note I'm dragging Agent James Woo (also a comic agent character) along for the ride. I'm lazy in making an OC right now and Marvel has tons of interesting characters to use.

And thus this is where SHIELD comes into Genesis' life …

Enjoy!

~ Introductions: Agent Jasper Sitwell PART I ~

Real Name: Jasper Sitwell

Aliases: Jason Sitwell

Identity Status: SHIELD Agent, Level 5 Interrogator.

New York, USA

Old Apartment blocks...

Year 2005

~( Hey Jasper, you really want to stick with the kid? )~ My partner's voice asked me with worry, through my communicator. The way he questioned me was as if I just signed my death warrant.

I sighed, "He is the target – our target. And as of now, I owe him. He also agreed to come with us without a fuss if we vouch for his safety. Better a willing target than unwilling. Extra information on what General 'Thunderbolt' is truly after is probably what the Director needs to know." My eyes were still observing how the red-headed teen, as he handled complicated credentials of a military secured computer with ease of a professional agent – or an elite hacker at that. I couldn't really imagine what kids were learning these days. It wasn't like Genesis was a run of the mill normal teen.

Jimmy seemed to be disturbed about my decision ~( Fine – You're the one calling the shots here. If we get caught by the military, Fury gets burned by the army because this mission is out of our jurisdiction. When that happens, we'll pretty much get booted out of the division. Anything else we've missed on the consequences list? )~

"Agent Woo –just point me to the nearest car that's parked for convenience." I snapped back. Next time, I was going to make sure Director Fury won't partner me with Jimmy on field missions. Interrogation matters and how we coped on the field were different things. While Jimmy was a great interrogator; he sadly wasn't exactly great in the spying department.

~( There's a black Chevrolet sedan a block north from your position, it's parked near a tree with a hydrant next to it. You can't miss it. )~ There was a silent pause before my partner asked me again, ~( How's our target doing?)~

Looking at Genesis's face slowly getting paler by the second facing the screen with his shoulder injury, I was sure we were short on time before he collapsed due to blood loss. "Getting worse – I'm surprised he's still awake at all – make sure you have medics on standby at our rendezvous point. Forward them the kid's known medical files and get his blood type right; he's going to need a blood pack or two."

I heard Jimmy wincing on the kid's unfortunate injury, but he kept his wits professionally. ~ ( On it. You two better make a break for it once you're done. I'm getting visuals of ten army guys on your way – plus, I got some heading my way too – Great – looks like I got flagged. )~ he muttered sarcastically.

"Agent Woo, get out of there now." I ordered calmly. "You've got the data to prove our case to the higher-ups." From the security cameras from the visuals in the room, I got an eye of Ross' soldiers coming up the emergency stairs. Not good. It seemed like out exit option was out the window, which was at least closer to the car our operatives prepared before the mission started.

~( You gonna be fine with the kid? )~

I let out a weak laugh. "We're better off if the army doesn't know we're the ones sabotaging them."

~( I'm just making sure I'll be having a partner in the interrogation room next week. Have I told you the guys caught a big fish last Monday that we need to crack later? )~

"Jimmy!" I hissed at him from my communicator.

~( Alright! I'm off, I'm off! Careful, they're not the kind lot. We'll try to get some agents to shake them off of you two – whatever you do, get outta there immediately. This is Agent Woo signing out. )~Woo briskly said, and the line was cut.

"It's done Agent Sitwell," a young voice alerted me back to the situation at hand. Genesis handed me the card chip that now held the Intel to the project that was supposed to be only known to the Strategic Scientific Reserve before they disbanded. I quickly took the external data chip and hid it in my pocket.

"Through the window, we're going down that –"

I never got to a chance to end the order; the teen's body tilted at an odd angle and took a dive to the floor. Not going to happen. I raced over and snaked my arm around him before he made contact with the ground.

"Genesis – Kid! Snap out of it! Don't go clocking out on me now!" I yelled out, shaking him lightly trying to get the kid focus back to the world of consciousness. Heaving him up to his feet, my suit on my right shoulder was starting to soak with blood. I grimaced as his shoulder wound bled profusely through the bandage. While I had my fair share of seeing civilians getting dragged by terrorists because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time, I really didn't want the kid dying on me.

This mission had taken the worst sort of downturn I wasn't expecting.

~ A few hours before… ~

"Don't worry; it's just an extraction mission."

Those were the last few words from the division's higher agent echelons when I was assigned this mission; the famous words that usually gets people in trouble.

My name is Jasper Sitwell, Agent of the Strategic Homeland, Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division; specialty: Interrogations. Even so, it was common that all agents were trained for all sorts of missions. Extraction missions in particular were frequent if anyone worked in the Intel and spy business side of our division. With the endless number of enemies we have, only high selected few were chosen into our agency – Which meant many agents had to be adaptable to any situation. That night, I wasn't going to buy that it was going to be a 'simple' extraction mission. Especially with whom I was partnered up with.

My partner is Agent James Woo; he's Chinese American. Everyone else calls him Jimmy for short. He has short black hair that's divided in the middle and looks younger than he really is. Most people assume he's not quite up to the job at times when they look at his DOB. I don't blame them though; the guy acts and looks like in his late twenties for the most part. Unlike the rest of us who were picked up early just as we graduated from the spy school or the other Intel agencies, Director Fury invited Woo from the FBI. His specialty is the same as mine, Interrogations, but with a level 3 clearance level. Yet don't let the level 3 clearance fool you though, the guy is one of the elite interrogators we have, especially when he has a 98% success rate in making anyone talk.

We're both somewhat famous/infamous (depending on your point of view) when we crack subjects in the interrogation room. The director claims it's 'like a Saturday Night Live Skit that's actually funny' – and the fact most of our interrogation tapes are frequently logged by agents for movie night, means we're good at doing what we do. Agent Hill and Agent Blake (1) aren't sure how we do it, but the point is, we're capable of making Director Fury crack a smile on more than one occasion. Other than those reasons, we were sent in to sabotage a leak in military Intel. Rumor has it that the military's target is a feisty one; he's escaped all sorts of mishaps through a few states all the way from Chicago to New York for three months.

Our mission? Simple; capture the target before the military does and question him on our own turf. Most important of all, we get the information that target holds.

According to our scouts, the Intel we received suggested the target to be a professional, or at least a very smart person to escape the military this far. With Woo and I on the case, we were both expecting the person might be one of the tougher subjects to crack for information later.

While we usually don't butt in with the military very often, the Director's curious about why General Ross has been secretive about a few things for the last three years. (2) Its usually the Intel Agencies that do the secretive work, not the military – at least not the way the General is doing right now. There has to be a reason why he's making sudden rash moves in the military when he's known to be calm before, closing in with potential military investors, and recruiting scientists along with professors. Things aren't usually this secretive, but when our division got a sniff there was something dodgy going on, Fury called everyone to keep an eye out. And the One Eyed Eagle is customarily never wrong about those hunches, especially when the info had some records of human genetic enhancements for military exploitation.

The mission started off with Woo and I in the car driving our way to the van and our team that was waiting for us at our designated location. The target had been seen running around in the poorer parts, which were perfect places for runaways, or at least people who didn't want to be found. Covert military operations were pretty active around the area of late. The public won't notice them, but they're more prone to be spotted out to us agents. How? They don't act like normal civilians – hell – they stick out like sore thumbs in the area with how their body postures are far too stiff. It's a testament how rigorous training makes the body unconsciously act in a certain way, which makes them easier to spot for us. An hour's drive from our main base in NYC, and both Woo and I finally arrived at one of our communication vans on standby.

"Stats?" I asked one of the operatives.

"No information so far on the target, Agent Sitwell." The operative replied. "The target never moves in the day or is at least hiding as a civilian around the area which we're not aware of."

Woo rubbed his chin, wondering what was going on. "You sure about that? No weird guys coming around and doing evil things? You asked around some of the local hobos too?"

The other operative or Agent Norman, responded for his partner. "Not at all Agent Woo. We've asked around and we're in a bind here, apparently the hobos call this a drifter area. They get a lot of people coming and leaving this time of year."

"Damn," I cursed. If that was the case, the target could be running out of this area right now. However, since it was in the day time that person probably won't move too much, the locals or people in the area would know if someone was acting suspicious or desperate. "Any other weird information you heard?"

"We don't have a face, but some of them said they heard some rumors of our target moving to and from a 'Bone Orchard'." Norman said in a confused tone.

I raised my own question at that, "Bone Orchard?" What was that supposed to mean?

"It means a graveyard." Woo answered my question and certain of it. I gave him a questioning look and was replied back with shrug, "Hobo language. A couple of years on the streets as a FBI agent and you pick can that up easily." My partner then pressed more questions. "Any ideas where the nearest graveyard is? And is the so-called 'graveyard' our target goes to is near in the first place?"

By the hesitance I saw on Norman and his partner, I was sure they had no leads on that. "No sir. We weren't aware of what the term meant at the time. The nearest graveyard isn't actually close either by foot."

Woo sighed. "That I agree with, and there are more graveyards on the outer radius of our search zone that aren't helping on locating our target. The guy must move a lot then – a real paranoid one at that and probably won't stick to consistent routes – but sticks to certain regions. Shall we ask around Sitwell?"

"No can do," I shook my head, "We're both suspicious looking as we are. The military guys will make a report on it if they noticed us snooping around. They're not supposed to know we're here. We might as well take the hunt at night when things are less easy to be spotted out."

My partner groaned. "The waiting game – well – no point in staying here for now." Agent Woo took a glance at his watch then said, "We got another few more hours until nightfall. You want to get something to eat or drink?"

I nodded, seeing as we both missed most of lunch for the initial mission briefing. I turned to our operatives in charge of the monitoring. "Let us know if you get anything,"

"Yes sir." both of them said simultaneously.

Both of us got out of the van casually and walked silently a couple blocks away where our car was parked. It wasn't until we got inside that we spoke a word of our current mission.

Agent Woo sat in the shotgun seat, seat belt on, popped open the storage space in front and flicked through the file missions. "Honestly, we could have questioned the hobos in the area. They're a lot more perceptive than most people when it comes to what's happening on the streets."

I snorted. "That may be an idea, but we're going to stand out too much and get the mission compromised. If you were back in the FBI, I think the military would easily dismiss it off as a street case." I clicked in my seat-belt, started the engine, and drove our car towards the nearest diner I knew in the area. "Not so lucky for us, the FBI doesn't even have a case running around in our search zone. If we pull off a federal agent cover-up, they'll check us up and the mission will be compromised."

Jimmy scoffed turning more pages that were in the file, "Yeah – but we might as well get more information about the target first, because if I'm reading this file right… either some of our agents and the military suck at getting a face on a camera… or this dude is that darn good at keeping his face hidden."

"I've been wondering about that," I said my thoughts out loud, but kept my eyes on the road. "If we don't have a face, how have we kept tabs on the target? I've flipped through some of the files, and our target has no electronics on him."

"We got pictures of him wearing a few same set of clothes. But his face is covered with a hoodie – always a hoodie. He's smart enough to change every once in a while. The military aren't the type to hunt down people who look like normal civilians, ya know?"

I halted the car to a stand as we reached the red traffic lights. "You think there's another reason why he's hiding his face besides he's hiding his direct identity?"

"Not that I know of, unless the dude is ugly or has a deformed face." My partner muttered without much thought. Jimmy then looked at me with a slight concern on his face, "I don't know about you, but the military seem to be really locked-on to catch this guy. I know I don't have as much clearance to know things as you do, but trust me, I think whatever our target has or knows… it's the big one."

I didn't say anything to that. He was right; this mission had to do with how Ross had his fingers tangled with a messy rumor. One rumor that he was involved in digging up something that was supposed to be privy to those of the old Science Strategic Research team.

Now the main question was: just who was this guy we're hunting?

That Midnight…

~( Why am I on van duty again? )~ Jimmy complained through the communicator.

I responded him with a dry tone, "We're not going over this again. What part don't you understand that you still act like a cop in civilian clothes?"

He only shrugged. ~( I can't help it. )~

"That's the point." I muttered back. With the way our current mission required stealth and disguises, he was better off keeping an eye on my back through the other agents who were around the area.

~( Harsh. Real harsh man. )~ was his fake hurt reply, which I didn't bother to reply to.

In the dark, I was following behind a mercenary that apparently the military hired. This wasn't good. If they were desperate enough to hire a third party, it meant the target was too valuable to lose and getting too hard to hunt down. The military only had so much power in assisting catching people who were usually on the list of Intel agencies. Since the guy we were all hunting down wasn't on any hit list, proved whatever General Ross knew was only known to him and his team. The idea that the general was behind some dicey project that even the CIA wasn't aware of, made my suspicions rise.

"Woo, got any visuals on the streets where the target is heading to?"

There was a longer pause on the line. ~( Seems to be an abandoned shop and old apartment area to me. We got a few of our agents around there keeping an eye out. What's the plan? )~he asked me.

I hurried my walking pace so I didn't lose sight of both the target and the mercenary. "Get them to do a blackout for military frequencies and any other ones our follower is using. See to it that the mercenary doesn't have any communication with Ross' hunting team. Then, get the diversion team to pull off something that the military will be inclined to get their eyes on and forget their merc."

~( Roger that. You'll be fine until I get back to you? )~

"Yeah," I agreed. "I'm going in and take the merc down while you're at it. Hopefully I can strike a deal with our target without getting too violent."

~( Or else we're going to have a bit of fun with him in the interrogation room later. )~ said Woo finishing what would happen next if the latter didn't happen. ~( Hit the alarm if you get in trouble. )~

"Got it. I'm turning off the comm now." I said and switched off the small device that was stuck behind my ear. The closer I got to the mercenary, the gladder I was that my communication was off. For now, I didn't need any sort of noise or disturbances that would alert the hunter hunting its prey. Here, I was the observer for now – at least until the hunter strikes the prey down.

From the shadows, I followed his movements – his steps, light jogs, and even pauses –critically until they were perfectly timed with his sounds of feet and body movement. I had the advantage of being hidden to him, the eerie surroundings of the older buildings around me and dim street lights made sure of that. Backing to a wall, I peer at the hunter as he pauses at one spot taking note the target had somehow picked a lock and went into the building. The guy pauses for a second and scans around. I roll my eyes as he doesn't notice me, but I examined his paranoid periodic scans as a sign he had some professionalism to pay attention to his surroundings. He wasn't an amateur, but neither was he a full expert – that still didn't change the unpredictability of the situation – and this had to be ended quickly before things went bad.

From his coat he takes out a semi-auto hand gun and attaches a sound suppressor.

'Nice goin' Sitwell, ya just had ta jinx it.' I thought sourly. There went all sense of logic that this was going to be handled without bloodshed. I readied my own gun but didn't have a suppressor. Having this hunter here was never on my expectations list for this mission, but now it changed. My aim was to take the merc down. However, I hoped I only needed to knock the guy out and didn't scare my target in the process.

Once I had checked my ammo, the hunter goes into the building without a glance. I took it as a cue to follow, but kept my distance in case it was a deliberate trap. Yet, as I get to the door, the guy's already gone up the stairs. My eyes survey the area; most of the abandoned building's interior has been bombarded with nailed wood planks on nearly all the doors. The only place I was going to find the guy was upstairs, which hopefully, would lead me to my target for the mission. Hastily I catch up and tried not to make too much noise that would alert my enemy.

BANG! (3)

Damn it! Too late.

While the neighborhood would probably mistake the sound akin to a loud car door being slammed shut, at my distance to where the other two were, I clearly heard a gunshot. I cursed silently as I rushed up to the top of the brick block apartment. At the roof, I warily approached the scene with dread.

To my horror, the target was injured clutching his left shoulder on the floor and still had the merc aiming the gun at him. Like Jimmy had mentioned, the person who was our priority for the mission wore a black hoodie over his head. His face wasn't entirely visible, hidden by medium length auburn hair. Lucky enough the hunter had his back towards me; I placed the gun back in my holster behind my jacket, and took the initiative to make the first attack.

I sprinted and shortened the distance between the merc and me, swiping at his feet. He doesn't expect that, and falls to the ground with a grunt. For safety measure, I kicked his gun to the door that had led me here; it tumbles and echoes down a floor. Sadly he doesn't stay down for long.

A few seconds I let myself get distracted making sure he's weaponless, he's up and swiping punches at me. I evaded a few and successfully got in a few punches of my own. To my dismay, my opponent was a large guy. My hits weren't as effective as I thought initially. The tide turns in the wrong direction as now I was overpowered by his far stronger and desperate jabs. I hissed as a couple land on me, but I wasn't going to give up and let the mission get compromised. I soon realize that whoever the military hired was a professional merc. Shit. I try locking his movements with aikido, but he easily counters them with the right moves. It takes a split second before I came to my senses he throws me over the edge to my doom from five stories high. Cold fear rushes through me as I feel the air rush below.

'NO!'

All I heard next was a hand slapped onto my left wrist and I grunted in recoil as my fall halted.

"What?!" I shouted as I came face to face with the target. His pained eyes were focused on mine as if he was saying to not let go. I hadn't had the slightest clue why he was helping me, but I was just glad I wasn't dead. The red-headed guy hisses keeping me from falling, and I felt guiltier when blood dribbles down to my arm meant he was supporting me with the shoulder that had the gun wound.

Things unfortunately don't get better.

The mercenary comes back with a vengeance and slams his foot on my rescuer's injured shoulder. I heard a muffled cry of pain, and the auburn haired man's grip loosens; but out of pure determination he keeps hold of me.

There was a chilling laughter. "So stubborn. But for how long are ya gonna keep hold?" the merc taunted. "I dunno how there was someone else lookin' for a target like you, but I think that means I can get a higher paycheck from the general."

He keeps his foot on top of the injured shoulder, but keeps on talking. I tune out any of his words and focus on the person who was trying to save me. "Do you trust me?" I whispered just loud enough for the red-head to hear.

There was hesitance for a moment before in his blue eyes, before he nods calmly without a word.

"Pull me up with what you got. I'll handle the rest. " I said as quiet as possible reaching for my own gun that was still in my holster with my free hand. He nods slightly, and grips my arm with his hand three times. 'So it's on the count of three', I thought. At the first grip, I already had my gun out. At the second, I make sure to get ready and grab the ledge to heave myself up.

On the third, I was hoisted up.

My mission target scrambles away from us, wisely getting away from our fighting area. Even though the merc was taken aback at first, he tries to punch me and I try to shoot at him. His blow misses inches from my face, my hand with my gun passes by his head, but I let out a shot. A sonorous bang echoes through the streets. I didn't hurt him, but I was sure he'd be deaf thanks to the unsuppressed gunfire blast that was released near his ear. Disoriented from the bang, he falls to his knees. I whack him from behind hard and send him tumbling to the ground. I cautiously nudge him to make sure he was out like a light, as I take in breaths to get my breathing back to normal.

That's when I got my first glimpse of what my target really looked like with his hoodie down; he was pale, had messy medium length hair that hadn't been cut in a while, but most of all he was young – really young – a teenager.

I gaped and gasped, "You're a kid?!"

He doesn't answer, instead, he stands up, staggers as he walked, and goes to what I thought was a tool shed. He opens the door. The kid points at the unconscious merc and then points into the shed. I snap myself back into reality. Right, I was forgetting to make sure the merc wasn't an actual threat anymore. I complied on what he suggested and threw the merc in and locked the door.

"Who are you with?" the kid asked me quietly, still holding down his shoulder wound. His eyes narrow with suspicion and his stance shows he was keeping a good distance away from me. "You're definitely not one of Ross' goons… and you don't act like you're from the police either." Even if he did help me, I couldn't help but be startled of the healthy paranoia and observation. Smart kid. It undeniably explained how the kid was able to avoid all forms of capture from the military.

"I'm not; I'm here to get my own information out of you. About why they're chasing you. The fact that I'm finding out you're this young isn't really helping." I said with a leveled tone.

The teen had a good poker face. It didn't hide the bitterness in his voice though. "Does it matter? You're not lying but you haven't exactly said where you're from or who you're working for." When I didn't answer him, the red-head picks up his thrown away backpack with his good shoulder, walks away, and heads inside. "I suppose I won't be getting any answers. Ripples form on the water's surface."

"Wait!" I called him back. He turns his head over his shoulder. "You're injured."

In turn he raises a question with an incredulous tone, "You're helping?"

"You helped me. You could have run away during the fight, but you saved me instead."

He then muttered something I didn't quite catch. "Only –cause –life–screamed—ally."

"Excuse me?" I asked.

He shook his head. "It's nothing. I only did it because there's enough blood that's been spilled. I should get going."

"You're not going to get far with that sort of wound." I interjected. Then I quickly decided I'd try to negotiate with him here and now. "Tell you what, I help you what I can with that shoulder wound and we exchange stories. Fair enough?"

The teen went silent for a while. But it then gets creepier when he answers me, "You're telling the truth." He pauses for a moment and nods. "Alright. But we take it inside. This place is too open; I don't want to alert anymore of Ross' assailants that he'll most likely send after he loses contact with the one we took down."

I was silent myself wondering whether the kid could read minds or not. The logical part of my brain settled on the part he was too observant for his own good. Oppositely, the other part of my brain that agreed with my gut instinct… was giving me signs the kid could read me somehow by a sixth sense. In the end I chose to ignore my previous thoughts and focus on the mission. Kid or not, I was supposed to bring him in anyway. I agreed with the kid about Ross sending in more mercs or his men on the case. However, thanks to Agent Woo and the other operatives they probably won't be coming soon. The fact that there were no people after us after I fired an unsuppressed gunshot was proof of that.

We both go down, but the teen stops at the 4th floor and makes two turns before he gets to a door. I looked at him confusedly as the doors are nailed down by planks as well, but he fiddles around with the doorbell with a Swiss army knife. To my amazement, his picking on the simple plastic doorbell reveals that behind the doorbell there was a digital door lock.

"Doesn't seem to be touched in a while," the teen said with relief. "Now, the code number… 9…3…2…5…1…4…0."

A soot of dust falls off a larger outline that was surrounding the original bombarded door and swings around like a hidden ninja door. I gave the red-head a questioning look, "How did you know that?"

Again, I was ignored and I chose to follow him as I get inside. Once we were in, the door closes on its own. Inside, there are numerous computers; some dating from the older era, to the newer ones that were on the market. The teen boots up the modern CPU from sleep mode, but settles down on a chair. He still looks at me cautiously.

I take it as a hint to start talking. "I'm Jason Sitwell."

The teen didn't quite believe me but he nodded all the same. "An alias…You're from an Intelligence agency?" When I looked stunned at him, he pointed out, "You have a small communication piece behind your right ear."

Now it was the game of trust. I wasn't allowed to spill out too much, but I didn't want the teen to get out of my sight. I decided to give him some of the truth. "Yes, I am from an Intelligence agency. It's best that wound gets looked at, before you bleed out."

"What's your relation to General Ross?" he pressed me for information, staring me down to stay away until he got answers.

"Look kid, I'm not going to hurt you. You're already injured enough." I sighed. Then I chose to answer him, "I was sent here to sabotage Ross' intent to capture you. Now, let me help."

It takes another minute or two before the kid relents and lets me approach him. I wasn't sure how he figured out how to trust me, however with him calming down, I sighed inwardly in relief I didn't need to resort to taking the kid down in his state. The agent side of me had no qualms about it, but it would hurt my conscience in some way. Quickly, I got some clean rags that were left over in the toilet of this hidden room and went to work tying down his shoulder in a knot. Hopefully that would keep the blood pressured inside from flowing out.

"I didn't quite catch your name back there." I said, as I tightened the knot to his shoulder.

"I'm Genesis." The red-head said.

I shrugged off the fact he didn't tell me his last name. I knew he wasn't lying about his first name; it was his way of telling he only half trusted me right now. Even so, his first name was actually unique than the average Joes or Johns – a good thing when looking in the civilian database. I dragged an office roller seat for myself and sat down.

"What's the reason the military are after you?"

I think I hit a nerve as he snaps back at me, "Oh? Then how about which agency you come from first?"

"Trust me, it's a mouthful. You'll forget the minute I say it." I countered him.

"Try me."

And Goddess when the agent did say it, it was a mouthful.

"It's called the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division."

If he wasn't that smart or a genius in easily remembering complicated spells, Genesis was very sure he'd miss most of the words besides 'strategic' and 'division'. Thankfully he had heard of it before from his friend who was a former CIA agent. (4) It was newer than the FBI and CIA (established 'officially' in the 1970s), but the former first class wasn't sure where the agency stood. If he was correct, it was higher than the former two.

"Your division seriously needs an abbreviation to that." Genesis blurted out. (5)

"That depends who are the higher-ups." the agent said casually.

"So, what does the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division want from General Ross?" the teen asked without missing a beat. Genesis inwardly commended himself when Sitwell raised a brow he got the agent's division's name right.

"We want to know what he is doing. Especially with your case, because I'm very certain the military recruits at minimal are recruited at 17. It doesn't make sense either; they're chasing a civilian for 3 months, unless they have a good reason to." the agent in disguise said.

The agent who called himself 'Sitwell' was bulkier than most, but Genesis only guessed it was his physique that people would suspect for an NFL player. Other than that, he seemed rather athletic, bald and wore glasses. Now that he met an agent… what was he supposed to do?

It was so easier to give up right there. The former SOLDIER was dead tired of running. With his new shoulder wound he carelessly got shot upstairs, it rose up stakes in keeping himself alive. Genesis may still have his SOLDIER enhancements, but he realized the fatal mistake that there were no potions and ethers on Earth. It clearly meant he couldn't maintain his magic reserves in his body unless he got rest – something that General Ross wasn't going to give him very soon – and most of his magic was spent thanks to the near-death experiences a week earlier. He also had other injuries that the agent couldn't visibly see right now, and they too were half healing. His enhanced healing also had slowed down to a halt. After three months of running from army men and mercs who were out to catch him, Genesis was starting to reach the stamina limit of his teenager body. For the current record, he hadn't slept for the last five days. The former commander knew he was pushing it, but he wasn't given much of a choice when he had the military on his back.

When this guy came along… Jason? No – that was an alias – 'Agent Sitwell' came along, the Lifestream in him hummed with contentment, saying he was a friend. If he hadn't saved the man, Genesis was quite sure the Lifestream, that was a part of him, would have scolded him. Lifestream or not, this guy was still a spy of some sort. Being the more logical person and having plenty of experiences from running from the Turks in his previous life, Genesis took the practical approach of staying on guard. The Lifestream wasn't wrong and could detect any lie, it did tell him the agent had good intentions, but he needed to know something first.

"What's the catch?"

Sitwell unconsciously straightened his glasses. "That depends what you're telling us."

"If I tell you everything, will I still have my freedom?" Genesis inquired nervously. In this second life, he had lost all his hard work back in high school thanks to this military nightmare he got caught up with. All his grades and every scholarship he was offered to Ivy League colleges were long gone. This time around it wasn't even his fault to begin with, but even then, it was the end of getting a normal life on Earth. All he had left was his freedom.

The agent wasn't expecting that question. "Why are you asking that? According to our sources you haven't killed anyone."

"That doesn't change the fact you can toss me back to the army men once you're done with me." the teen retorted. "If that happens, I'll be dead along with the others."

"Others?" Sitwell asked.

"..." Genesis breathed out heavily, and turned his attention to the CPU that was up and running. "I wasn't the only one the military tried to shut up. There were two other civilians caught up with the project Thaddeus Ross was involved with."

"Then they're dead."

"Yes." the teen's voice was mixed with guilt. He typed in the credentials that accessed the CPU.

Sitwell now was confused why the kid was in New York. "Then what's your purpose here?"

"To get the last data that was taken, out of military hands." Genesis said, going through numerous windows one after the other. His fingers blurred through the data in search of what he was asked to do. He stopped at one particular window and let the agent have a look, "See it for yourself."

MILITARY PROPOSAL (Year 2002):

The Revival of Strategic Scientific Research's: Project Rebirth (The Super Soldier Serum).

Subject: Steve Rogers

Aliases: Captain America

Status: Believed to be deceased and frozen in the Arctic Circle

Description: The only successful subject that was enhanced to peak human condition. Unfortunately, Dr. Erkshine's formula was lost with his untimely death. No one has yet found how to replicate the formula. However, with the advancing technology in science and engineering of this age, we hereby propose to reactivate the project…

Jasper Sitwell had stopped reading right there. He couldn't believe the military were doing this without the involvement of any other agency, especially his own. Skimming through the data he asked again, "So you're saying that this data was booted out of Ross' internal Intel?"

"Yeah."

"Who did it? You?"

"No, Edward Marshall did. He was along with me when the military were hunting us down, and with another, Tina Brown." Genesis' eyes were on the floor.

The agent took his mind back a step observing the face of the teen. It was a familiar expression he'd seen on the faces of fellow agents who lived to tell the tale of surviving a mission all alone; survivor's guilt. "Take me to the top – from the beginning – and explain from there. How do three civilians get caught up in a military project that's related to the Super Soldier Serum?"

The red-haired teen seemed doubtful the agent would believe him but said, "It started out at the largest PC game convention in Chicago about three months ago. I was there out of curiosity, and there was a real-time strategy game that was so difficult that even the best players were having difficulty with it."

Jasper wasn't sure where the kid was going with this, but he did want to know anyway. "And then?"

"What do you know about the A.I. called EYECOM or known as the Strategic and Tactical Forecaster simulator?" Genesis asked.

There was a pause as the agent mulled over it. "It's an artificial intelligence that gauges the ability of a professional military strategist. Usually it's used to examine or see the potential of – wait – you mean the military were using in out in the open for the public?!" Sitwell gasped with disbelief. The teen wasn't even supposed to know the AI existed, and it was also only used for higher ranking strategists.

"It was disguised as a game," the teen said tiredly. Genesis rubbed the bridge of his nose, "I had the highest scores to surprise them, Tina was dragged in too getting the second highest score, and Edward…he was a hacker who happened to be around the place. He got curious when he saw people in military clothes around the place claiming they're part of a cosplaying group when they had real military IDs. Next thing we knew… we were being hunted down, or asked where we were."

"I understand that Edward already knew too much if he hacked in, but that doesn't explain what they want with you two who had highest the scores." The agent argued.

The teen grimaced, "If the super soldier serum was able to make people reach their physical peak, the military also had in mind to research on military intelligence as well. Another planned version of the serum was to create super strategists or tacticians. Bluntly put, Tina and I were selected to be their unwilling test subjects or lab rats."

"…" Jasper was too taken aback to say anything. The pieces of information from the informants about human genetic enhancements for military exploitation were true. He just never anticipated General Thaddeus Ross to use civilians as test subjects.

"I was lucky enough they never caught my face on camera during the convention or after. Tina and Edward were both taken down one by one; they never even made it out of Chicago." Genesis explained looking rather distraught. "The data I have now was Edward's desperate attempt to leak the file to one of his friends who worked for a certain news agency here in New York."

Sitwell frowned at this, "What happened to his friend?"

"He got killed by the guy who nearly killed us upstairs." The teen said with regret. He shook his head, "And here we are in his secret stash of information. The reporter left me with it so the military won't get their hands on it. Most of the data that was stolen was on the three of us."

"So now that you have the data," the agent said, "What do you intend to do with it?"

The former 1st Class SOLDIER wasn't sure. "I have no idea. If I destroyed it, three people's deaths would have been in vain and I'm unsure who the right people are to hand this data over to."

That gave the opening that Agent Sitwell was looking for. "How about this…if you're willing to testify the truth along with this data, I'll try and help you out and see if the agency I work in can pull some strings to reward you for the information."

Genesis looked confused. "Why?"

"I owe you a life debt kid." The agent said like it was obvious. "I could have died from falling down, but you saved me. That's not something I take lightly. Let me call my partner through my comm and make arrangements so we can get outta here. I promise you that you can get out of this military goose chase and start over."

Again, Genesis listened to what the Lifestream had told him there and then. Urging him to go with the man, he agreed. "Alright, let me get all the data first. I'll hold to that promise."

The former commander put all of his efforts in making sure that the data he had on the Super Serum was intact. Three people had died so he could reach here, and Genesis had enough people dying one after another this year. He shook his head frantically snapping himself to focus he'd finish this – if he was going to have the emotional breakdown of his life this time around… he might as well do it in a hospital. Now he had an agent that was willing to help him get through this crap. The teen cursed as he was starting to feel weaker than he had in days – his injury was getting worse too.

Black spots now clouded his vision.

Damn.

As the agent negotiated and talked over the communicator with his partner 'Agent Woo', Genesis did his best to not collapse on the floor. With the all data transferred into a microchip, he took it out and set for all the data in the CPU to be deleted. The moment he gave the chip to the agent, he was out like a light.

Back to the Present…

A block from your destination seems a lot further than you think when you have some military personnel after your head, a backpack to carry, and an unconscious teenager that was bleeding and hanging onto life. It wasn't the most life-threatening mission I went on, but it was by far the most closest I would get in compromising a mission. I was hoping that the other agents could at least cover the both of us until we get to the car. Failure wasn't really an option, and if Genesis died… I was sure we'd hear only half of the real story of General Ross.

It could have been simple to just ditch the teen's bag and leave it there. However with the circumstances that the military weren't supposed to find out who Genesis was, made it a mistake to leave any evidence behind. At least the kid was a light packer. So when I heaved over to the window, and started climbing down the railing stairway, it helped a great deal that there wasn't too much weight in the bag. With the kid over my shoulder, I soon found out he was lighter than I expected – most likely he didn't eat much – because the military wouldn't stop hunting the kid down and let him rest. At the same time, I kept an ear open out for a group of people that was supposed to be behind my back.

It was quiet.

Good.

With what strength I have left, I carried down the kid but kept to the shadows. The less visual they have on me, the better it was. If they had night vision goggles then I was screwed. What had felt like hours of take short brakes, hiding, scanning the area and approaching the car a couple of times, we both finally made it into the car. With the keys hidden in an external special compartment, I laid the kid inside the car and got myself in the driver's seat. The darkened windows would hide us, but it won't necessarily make us disappear. Heaving out tired breaths, and making sure that the seat-belt was secure for the both of us, I tried to wake the kid up.

"Genesis?" I tugged his uninjured shoulder gently. "You okay there? Talk to me."

He groans in pain and tries to focus his vision but fails. "Not OK… You're…Sitwell… but… can hear…you."

"At least you can hear me. Try to stay awake as long as you can, OK?" I said back in slight relief. He nods weakly; he doesn't say anything back to me and focuses on his own breathing.

My heart races when I spot out a couple of flashlights through rear-view mirror of the car. My hand automatically latches onto the car key that was already slotted in. I gulped and a bead of sweat pours down the side of my face, as now a group of military garbed men were getting closer. Out of making a break for it or hiding, I wasn't sure what to do. If I made a run for it, it would be too suspicious – the car was a bigger target and I might get my own identity in jeopardy. Then there was the option if I waited them to pass, but there was a small chance that we'd be searched if they were thorough. To my dismay that night, they were going through a thorough search.

~( Sitwell? )~ my communicator flared to life. ~( You still alive buddy ol' pal? )~

I thanked any god out there that Jimmy was online again in the nick of time. "I'm alive – but screwed in less than a minute. I going to drive out –"

~( Don't do it! )~

"Are you crazy?!" I hissed back.

~( Whoa! Easy! )~Woo said with a snap. ~( If you drive that car right now, you're going to be target locked by them. We got two fake cars zooming your way. They're bait, once I say the go, drive normally a few blocks to the east and head for the rendezvous point. )~

"Well the fact that you're talking so casually means you got out of trouble." I muttered still keeping my eyes on the soldiers closing in.

There was a snort heard on the line. ~( Well, the army guys aren't too smart like the merc they sent in to hunt the kid. Speaking of a merc, he's going to be extracted by some of ours so he disappears. )~

Just as the soldiers were going to check our car, two cars zoom in and let out gun shots. The military fire back at them; made chase when the two cars screeched and zoomed off out of vision. Orders were barked to track down the agents who created the diversion. They think the target is in the cars, and forgot their mercenary completely. It takes another five to ten minutes for them to get to their own vehicles and leave the scene.

~( You're clear to proceed Agent Sitwell. )~ said Woo after the long silence.

I turn the engine on and drive normally out of the area. On the inside I felt like I really wanted to bolt out of the area. Genesis' focused breaths before were now far too quiet for my liking. "Woo, can you get the medical team to move to a nearer location than the rendezvous point? The kid's not going to last long at this rate."

~( Negative. We don't have authorization. Just another block more and you can make way for the streets. You better hurry Jasper. )~

"You don't need to tell me twice." I said, determined to save the kid.

Once I was out of the danger zone, I slammed my foot on the gas pedal.

TBC...

Next time...Introductions: Agent Jasper Sitwell PART II

Notes/Trivia:

(1) Agent Blake is a serious agent, who tends to do everything by the book, leaving no space for creativity - somewhat similar to Agent Maria Hill. He makes his first appearance in Marvel's One-Shot: Item 47 working alongside Agent Sitwell. – Marvel Cinematic Universe Wikia.

(2) According to the MCU Timeline, General Thaddeus Ross revived the super soldier project in the Year 2002, four years before the Incredible Hulk starts (Year 2006). This fic takes place a year before Doctor Bruce Banner turns into the Hulk for the first time.

(3) Gun suppressors only suppress the sound of a gun and rifle and do not (like in Hollywood movies) silence them completely. At a half mile radius, it would have made a difference. At a closer distance 6-30 feet, the gunshot can still be heard clearly.

(4) Genesis Rhapsodos hears the existence of SHIELD from a former CIA agent named Robert in the prequel fanfic: 'A Part that Remains'.

(5) The SHIELD abbreviation was not created until the events after Iron Man (2008), where Tony mentions to Agent Coulson the longer version of the division's name was too tedious to remember.

Comments, opinions, your thoughts, are always welcomed.