Nick Fury kicked his feet up on his desk as he looked at the potential members files for the Avengers Initiative. He had been at it all night and it was finally starting to annoy him. Ever since the studies of the cube began, new recruits were becoming more of a necessity, than the gradual recruiting process that it should be. Sure, there were super humans out there, but none of them seemed to really have a place among the Avengers such as Thor, Stark, and Clint. They didn't have the, well, for lack of a better word: initiative. Fury grumbled and put down a file. He only had one more, and then he could take a well-deserved rest. A nearly empty file, with only about three pages of information, and even then it was incomplete. He picked it up and started to read. No picture, no photo, not even a composite sketch. Just a name and some information on what he was.

Jose Kagai: Dragon-kind. Caused damage to the town of Medina, California. No photographs. Parents are adamant about secrecy.

"Now that's what I'm looking for" Fury smirked a bit. A dragon-kind? Those half humans were some of the best fighters this side of the dimensions, and were honorable and justice-driven by nature. Perfect pick! He picked up his communicator and pushed a button in a form of speed dial. "Coulson, come in" He called.

"Yes?" Coulson answered. There was loud music booming in the background

"Where the hell are you?" He asked.

"Starks'. He's throwing a party and I don't want anything damaged." He answered. Nick Fury rolled his eyes at the excuse that came so casually from Coulson's mouth.

"Well get on a plane. I'm sending you the file on the prospective Avenger you'll be picking up." He said. He began to hear the noise fade away. Thank god; loud music annoyed Fury.

"On it, boss" Coulson answered, hung up and sighed. More work. Why couldn't he get a day off? He looked on his smart phone and watched the file upload. "Jose Kagai: Dragon-Kind?" He raised an eyebrow. He had never dealt with a dragon before, but there was always a first time for everything, right? He put the phone back in his pocket and drove away from the party before he could even be missed. Let's just say that in the hour following he got about 3 missed calls from Tony.

He was in the small yet bustling town of Medina that very Morning. SHIELD was very efficient in time. He looked at the address for the prospective Avenger and got there in almost nothing flat; though he did take time to acknowledge his surroundings.

Medina is a small city, but busy and a city nonetheless. People were everywhere in small, indie coffee shops and bookstores, doing business or killing time; it was nice. But as he drove along the town square he noticed repairs going on. He then remembered the file. A huge, 30 foot dragon-kind from another world had terrorized this town in search of another, smaller dragon. That dragon- Jose- had been the one to defeat him. The dragon-kind hid away and hasn't been seen since, but one Shield agent stationed there managed to track him to his house, but when he tried to get an interview for the file, his parents flat out refused and literally threw him out.

Coulson began wondering what this "Jose" boy looked like. Was he strong? Fast? Tall? It was kind of exciting, coming up with what he looked like in his head. "Jose" was a rather Spanish name, so he imagined him to have dark hair and eyes, and tall too. I mean, if you can change into a 15 foot tall dragon, you gotta be tall, right? And how old was this kid, high school? Must be if he's still living with his parents and they make decisions for him. Coulson was riddled with excitement as he pulled up to the rather large house. He looked at the family name on the door- feeling that it rang a bell and decided to do a quick search before entering the house, to know what he was getting into. To his surprise, he found a SHEILD criminal file for a Kuraitori Kagai.

Kuraitori Kagai. Age unknown. Under suspicion by SHEILD of presiding over items with magical nature. Married to a Marisol Kagai. Age unknown, under suspicion of genetic mutation by private company, but is of no threat. They have 3 children. Jose, who is of dragon-kind due to interaction with other-worldly being; Yukko, and Koinu. All ages unknown. Update file when deemed appropriate

Damn. Coulson shifted a bit before getting out of his car and walking up to the door. He rang the doorbell and waited a moment. "Uno momento!" yelled a female voice from inside. She sounded busy. Must be Marisol. Coulson thought to himself as he stood there patiently. The door opened and there was Marisol. She had raven black hair that matched well with her dark skin and fiery orange eyes. She was short, but pretty, and frankly didn't seem a day over 20- the only thing about her that seemed a bit off. From the looks of it, she didn't seem mutated, but Coulson learned that he should be careful about these things. "Hola, senor. May I help you?" she asked politely.

"Hello ma'am. My name is Agent Phil Coulson of SHEILD, and I need you to let me talk to Jose. This is a matter of extreme importance" He stated simply, showing his badge. Marisol sighed.

"Un momento. Let me talk it over with my husband" she turned her head and yelled "KURAITORI! COME HERE! THERE ES A MAN FROM SHEILD WHO WISHES TO SPEAK TO JOSE! HE CLAIMS IT ES MUI IMPORTANTE!" Coulson almost covered his ears- damn that woman could shout. Marisol looked to the door "He'll be here in a moment" she smiled politely and didn't even notice the little girl behind her. The little girl went up right behind her proceeded to scream at the top of her lungs. Coulson watched as Marisol hissed like a cat and her eyes slit rapidly- the girl ran away, giggling. Now there was the mutation. Coulson watched her mumble curses in Spanish as Kuraitori arrived. He was full- on Japanese, but he was born with blonde hair and icy blue eyes that actually made Coulson a little nervous inside. He was a foot taller than his wife, and was a few inches taller than our favorite little SHEILD agent. Coulson waited until Marisol took a breath before he started speaking again.

"Mr. Kagai, I understand that you and SHEILD don't have the best relationship, but I urge you to reconsider if you haven't already decided to turn me down. There is an initiative, to gather strong and able-bodied men to help protect this world in case of disaster." He explained "we've looked through countless files and have deemed your son as an honorable candidate. We would simply like to interview him" Coulson finished as calmly and politely as he could. He watched and Kuraitori examined him and stared at him for a few minutes. Marisol excused herself because a child was crying, so it was just the men at this point. Coulson hoped he wouldn't end up like the other agent, who claimed that the family had flung him out in a slingshot.

"Fine" Kurai finally said "Let me call him" He turned his head "Jose! Come down here!" he called to the stairs. Coulson watched in quiet anticipation as he heard footsteps coming down. Kuraitori stepped aside to let Coulson in and he stepped in, Just as Jose came into view. His eyes widened.

This wasn't what he was expecting at all.

Jose wasn't a teenager, he wasn't even a preteen! He was 8 at most! He had dark black hair like his mothers, with a white streak that swept down the left side of his face. His parents let him dye his hair? Preposterous. Coulson examined further. Jose's lighter skin was a semblance to his fathers, but Coulson couldn't help but examine the large scar that went down Jose's face from his forehead to his chin, going right over his left eye. I looked relatively new, so it must have been from that battle a few months ago. He had vibrant and curious violet eyes that nearly caught Coulson off guard- they were so expressive, bright. But that didn't change the fact that this kid was, well, a kid! This couldn't be who he was here for, no way!

Coulson looked to Kuraitori with a serious face. "Mr. Kagai, I don't appreciate jokes. I want to talk to your son, the dragon-kind" He stated simply "do you think you could joke with me on this matter by bringing forth a small child?"

"Hey!" The boy spoke. "I am NOT that small! I'm the second tallest kid in town" he boasted a bit. "And I am a dragon, thank ya very much" He rocked back and forth on his feet as Coulson looked at him again, jumping back a bit.

The boy had… changed! His pupils had slit- still keeping his vibrant color and his grin showed off some pearly-white serrated, sharp teeth. His ears were black, and sort of resembled an elfish shape as they perked up and down. It was hard to see, but he had small, ivory colored horns hidden by his black, fluffy hair. Black scales ran up the back of his neck from the collar of his shirt and about three-fourths of the way down the back of his arms. Swaying back and forth was a thin, black, scaled tail with a dagger-like tip at the end of it.

Coulson took a few seconds to regain whatever composure he had lost. "Alright, then." He managed. This was who he was looking for, no doubt about that. But was this kid ready for what was in store? Coulson followed as Mister Kagai led them to a small parlor, just big enough for about four people. Kurai excused himself, leaving him at the mercy of the small dragon-boy. "ok…" he tried to start "Jose, what I am about to tell you is top secret, you can't even tell your parents" He explained. Jose gave him a bewildered look, as if he had just said that there was a monkey heating up coffee with dynamite.

"Why can't I tell mama and papa?" he asked, taking hold of his tail in a nervous manner. The dagger tip made Coulson a bit wary, which he realized a bit later might have been what Jose was aiming for.

"Because this is top secret. Only people told about it by people like me can tell people" he tried his best to explain it simply. Jose took a moment, and then nodded.

"Ok mister. I'll trust ya for now." he smiled a bit. Coulson smiled back. He was a polite kid.

"Now, there's a danger coming, and we don't know what it is, but we need strong people with super powers to help us, and your power is pretty super." Coulson complimented. Jose chuckled

"Really? Like who?" he asked

"Well, there IronMan, and Thor- he's the god of thunder, The Hulk, two assassins, Captain Ameri-"

"Captain America?!" Jose nearly jumped out of his seat; his tail began flickering quickly back and forth from the excitement. Coulson grinned. So he liked the Captain too? Wonderful

"Oh yeah, we got him. He was frozen in a block of Ice." Coulson grinned as he saw Jose's excitement grow.

"Really? Captain America?! Can I meet him?!" He jumped.

"sure, but I need you to focus" Coulson Chuckled and made a motion for him to sit back down. "I have to talk to your parents about it, and make sure that you're approved. But, if you're approved, you'll get to meet them all" Coulson watched in amusement and Jose bottled up his excitement and nodded quickly.

"I'll go get Mama and Papa!" Jose jumped up and ran out of the room faster than Coulson could take a breath. This was going better than planned. Phil made sure to stay put until the Kagai's came back. It was nearly 20 minutes before Jose came back in, with one parent on either side of him. They sat on the small couch with Jose in the middle and faced him.

"Senor Coulson" Marisol started, with a firm tone that reminded him of his own mother. "We have spent a long time thinking and talking, and we have come to the conclusion…" She looked to her husband to continue.

"So long as you can guarantee our son's protection, we will allow him to go with you" He finished "I am not one for SHEILD, as you have noted, but I am for the protection of this world" he explained. He then looked Phil dead in the eye and said slowly and clearly "Do you swear to keep my firstborn son safe?" He asked with perhaps the most serious, intimidating tone he had ever heard next to maybe Fury.

Coulson kept his composure and nodded. "So long as your son is within SHEILDS-"

"No. I don't want empty SHEILD promises" Kurai made perfectly clear. "I want YOUR promise, to keep my son safe. He is a strong and brave boy, but he can't do everything." Kurai explained, holding tight to his son's shoulder "I want your solemn vow to protect my son".

Coulson saw the look in Kurai's eyes. This man was no longer the threat to shield that he was years ago. He was a father, a husband. He had a family to protect, to raise. And he wanted all of his children safe. Coulson nodded. "Mr. Kagai, I swear that Jose will always be under my watchful eye. No harm shall come to him" He said in a sure way. Kuraitori stared at him and then let go of his son's shoulder.

"Jose, go get your things" He said, and watched Jose run out of the room. Marisol followed him to ensure that he only packed necessities.

There was a silence between the men for the minutes that Jose was gone. Neither spoke, as there seemed to be nothing to say. They both waited until Jose came down with a kiddie-sized duffle bag. Only then did Coulson notice that Jose was back to his human form. Coulson got up, and handed them a card "if you want to call him, 24/7 Here is my number" he let Marisol grab It and read it.

"Es this your personal number?" she asked. He nodded and she smiled a little, putting it in her pocket and enveloping her son in a hug. Kurai waited until she had kissed his little head goodbye, and Jose turned to him. Kurai went on his knees to match his son's height.

"Be safe and kick butt, my son" He rubbed his head.

"You got it, papa!" Jose grinned and hugged his father. Coulson smiled a bit, then went for the door

"We'll get going now" he said as he opened the door. "I'll be waiting in the car" He walked out and sat in his car. A few moments later, Jose came out and opened the door to the passenger seat

"Shotgun!" he announced and sat in the seat, putting his bag in the space below and putting on his seatbelt. He grinned a big grin at Coulson and then quickly turned his head to his parents, waving right as Coulson drove off.

Coulson dubbed the drive the "question drive" where Jose could ask any question he wanted. He relayed this to Jose, who happily embraced the long drive to the airport.

"So, what will I be doing?" he asked

"You will be training for now, so we can learn your strengths and weaknesses." He said as he kept his eyes on the road.

"Will I meet any superheroes?"

"Of course. I'll try to get Hawkeye to train with you, if I can get him away from his post that is"

"Hawkeye? Papa talked about him! He sounds super cool"

Coulson cracked a smile "who knows? Maybe I can even get Iron Man to help train you"

"Iron Man? NO. WAY!" He was jumping in his seat. "What about Captain America, huh?"

"… Why not? If I can convince Fury, maybe you'll bet some fight time with him"

Jose let out a squeal of excitement that would have sounded strange to come out of an older person's voice box- but for an eight year old, his excitement was rather justified.

The rest of the questions were mostly about Captain America and what type of training he would go through. For a child, he was surprisingly eloquent and thorough in his questioning, asking things like what he would eat and where he would sleep. By the time they got in the plane, Jose had exhausted Coulson with all of his questions.

"wait. I have just one more" he asked. Coulson sat in the big seat of the aircraft and looked to him

"what?"

"Will I be a hero too?" he asked. Coulson's look softened some from the stern, tired look he had on before.

"if you work hard, I'm sure you will." He nodded. Jose smiled a more mature smile. And looked out the window to watch the lift off.