Disclaimer: Captain America, Buffy the Vampire Slayer belong their respective owners. I am merely borrowing them for the purpose of writing this story. This takes place about a week after the events of Captain America: The First Avenger.

The Super Soldier and the Slayer

He looked into his glass, watching the amber colored liquid swirled in the confines of the cup. The lights were dull, but just enough to give his glass and the whiskey in it a good shine, making the dazzling substance look all the more tantalizing despite its bitter taste.

He did not take a sip from the sweet nectar; it wouldn't do him any good if he drank it. He did not worry about drowning his sorrows in a drunken revere, for even that was outside of his ability to enact. Being perfect has its drawbacks, even when you're not doing it intentionally.

As the alcohol swirled in his glass so did his mind, moving through so many different things. One of a time he knew so well and yet would never see again, to where he sat now, in a time that made no sense to him yet he had no choice but to live within it. He looked up, staring at his reflection, his appearance muddled by grime and dirt.

Fitting…

He thought, at least to him, that was what he was. A relic of a time long past, someone that was left to the dust of history that no one remembered anymore. People rarely think of the future, and they don't often think of the past. And that was what he was here, someone that had been put into a place where he was simply nothing but a memory that had been forgotten.

All the war memorials and museums mentioned him, spoke of him, but no one truly saw him. They only saw a legend of the past, one that was no longer among them. Dead and gone, and now he was here he was no longer needed or wanted.

It is a tough pill to swallow when your entire reason for being is now made redundant and everyone you fought for is gone.

Why did I come here…? Steve thought.

Looking into his glass and finding the whiskey he had been nursing for the last half an hour, contemplating if he should even bother taking a sip. The only think he did was waste five bucks, and had he been back in his own time that would be a lot off his salary.

With a heavy sigh he left his seat, leaving behind the drink that wouldn't have helped fill the void. Right now he didn't feel as if he had anything to contribute to the world. What use is a soldier when he had no wars to fight, no battles to take part in. What was the purpose of his existence, the war ended seventy years ago, but he was still in it when he left.

So the question is, what do I have to fight for now?

Steve left the bar quickly, wanting to get out and go somewhere familiar. He scoffed at that, there wasn't anything around him that was familiar, even after four months he still couldn't find any sort of familiarity with anything. The world changed while he stayed the same, it was the price he paid for making that sacrifice.

He sighed to himself; even with that thinking Steve knew he would make it again; no matter what he wouldn't change his situation even if it meant he was trapped out of time. He just hoped that the nostalgia would pass in time.

Steve turned the corner, deciding to move down the quick alleyway to get to the other side of the block quickly. He just wanted to get back to his apartment, get out of this city he couldn't remember or understand. It was in his haste that he barely registered something out of the corner of his eye. He turned to see someone standing there, arms cross and smirking, which immediately sent off warning bells in his mind.

It had been a week but he was still on edge, still feeling as if he was still in Nazi Germany and about to be attacked. He could tell this guy wanted something, but it was obvious that what he wanted wasn't civil or something given freely.

"Nice night huh?" The man greeted with a smirk, his teeth slightly yellow, and his eyes gleaming with hunger and some malice intent.

"Yeah," Steve had been in enough alleys to know where this was going, he was being sized up and this guy was ready to pounce. "If you plan on starting something, you will regret it."

"Me? I'm just standing here, doing nothing," He replied, hands in his pockets and smirking all the way.

"Be sure to keep it that way," Steve replied evenly.

"Hey, you can trust this face," The man said, pointing to his pale clean shaven face. "But maybe not this one."

As he said that his face shifted, his brow ridges became more pronounced, his eyes turned from green to yellow. But what took Steve's attention fully was the elongated upper canines, and pointed upper incisors, showing that his teeth were much sharper.

"Now, be a good little human and let me drink you," The man said moving forward, Steve planned to defend himself, but as he raised his fists something connected with the side of his head.

He staggered to the side from the blow, quickly shaking off the feeling, his vision blurred onto for a moment. As he stepped back and looked up he found he was facing more than one attack, there were three. He sized them up and planned his next move; it was obvious that these things were not human, given what the first one had called him and the sudden physical alterations to their faces.

Also that kick really hurt, meaning that their strength was above that of a normal human being. The fact that they had called him human and their faces just 'shifted' kind of implied they were not, which was certainly different. He would need to test it out, hopefully one at a time. Luckily for him one did the job for him.

"Did that hurt?" The leader said, the one who had spoken with him before the ambush, something that surprised Steve, how did they get behind him and attack like that. "Tell you what, I will make sure it doesn't hurt anymore if you just give up and let me kill you."

"Not going to happen," Steve replied.

"So be it," The man said, stepping forward and making a quick but lazy swing towards the Captain.

Steve ducked under the blow and locked the arm up, much the creature's shock, he tried to break away but Steve still had it locked in place, yet noted the increasing amount strength his opponent was showing.

Well that's new. With a quick punch to the jaw he staggered the man, before twisted his arm around his back and then grabbing the scruff of his neck and pulling him back and throwing him into the alley wall. As he slid down Steve turned to the other two, who looked surprised by the development and tried to intervene.

Steve stepped forward and intercepted the first punch, knocking it aside and quickly hitting the attacker with the back of his palm, dazing him. Steve intercepted the second one and quick caught his outstretched arm before delivering a quick punch to the jaw.

These guys are brawlers. They are not trained fighters. They are relying on their inhuman strength to give them the win. And for the average guy that probably would work. I'm just not an average guy. He thought as he turned back to the one on the left, quickly batting aside another attempt to strike, before delivering two quick haymakers to either side of his head. Following up with a quick punch to the midriff, knocking the air from his lungs, and causing him lurch forward with a gasp.

Steven turned and to look over his shoulder and quickly blocked the leg that moved for his back, before he kicked in his attacker's leg, dropping him down hard onto his knee. Steve then brought back his leg and kneed the lurching man in the face, knocking him off his feet and onto the ground before striking the downed man in the face with his heel.

As both hit the ground and did not stand up, Steve decided to take a more relaxed stance, waiting for these guys to make another move. He turned when he heard someone shuffling; he turned to find their leader was back on his feet. He was growling, obviously angry over his manhandling, and he pointed a finger at him.

"This ain't right! You're just a stinking bloodbag. You're not supposed to fight back!" He shouted, as the other two staggered to their feet. Steve gave them a wary glance and prepared to continue. "We're stronger than you! We..."

Steve turned suddenly towards the leader, not understanding his reason to stop speaking. But he only found him standing there, stock still and in shock. He looked down, his mouth open wide in pain as he looked at a strange protrusion in the center of his chest, a small pointed object.

Then in the next moment he turned to dust, body and bones turning to black dust that fell to the ground. Then they found the cause of the sudden combustion into ash- a woman was standing where he was a few moments ago. Wearing a black leather jacket, a red top and jeans, she was a slim brunette, late twenties maybe early thirties, holding in her right hand a wooden stake.

She shook her head at the vampires.

"Seriously, it never changes with you guys." She said, stepping forward and twirling the stake in her hand, while the other two backed off slightly. "You think just because you're vamps means you can do anything you want to whomever you want."

Steve observed her for a moment; he had not seen something like this occur before. What happened to that 'vamp' as she called him, was similar to what he had seen when soldiers got hit by a Hydra weapon. Disintegrated into nothing but particles, but he had never seen anything like this; the process was similar but different. Also she only had that wooden stake in her hand, how did that do what it did?

"... Slayer," the older looking of the two vampires growled, stepping back warily and ready to bolt.

"Yeah," She acknowledged grimly. "You do realize you aren't going anywhere but hell, right?"

The vamps shifted side to side, waiting, as if they didn't know to run or to stay and fight. It was a hard choice for them, fighting a slayer was never something you simply do, but it was almost an instinct to fight them. But with this guy that kicked their asses a few seconds ago they didn't exactly feel like sticking around.

"Argh! Screw it!" One vamp said, leaning down and grabbing a piece of wood, ripping it from a nearby pallet and swinging it at Steve.

Steve saw it coming, he quickly turned and blocked the strike with his left forearm before he elbowed the vamp in the jaw and then quickly shoulder tossed him right into the pavement. With a quick punch he struck the attacker right in the nose, breaking it and letting his skull bounce off the hard ground.

He turned to see the other vamp coming, but before he could act or the vamp finish its attack, the mysterious woman stepped forward and kicked him back. Her boot connected right with his stomach and dropped him to the ground.

She advanced on the vampire, who crawled back desperately trying to get back to his feet. As he got up he sent a quick right hook towards her, but she batted it back with her forearm, before following up with a quick punch to the side of the jaw. As the vamp staggered she got in close, following up with a few quick strikes to the gut, before delivering a quick uppercut to the chin.

As the vamp staggered she moved in again, not giving the guy a chance to strike. She stepped forward before strafing to the right, and then kicking him in the side of the leg, he fell to the ground with a cry of pain as his leg snapped. The brunette grabbed him by his ponytail and pulled him up, before drawing her stake and stabbing it through his chest.

As the vamp was reduced to dust she looked up, expected to find that guy still fighting the other one. To her surprise she found him actually holding the vamp in an arm lock, and attempting to interrogate the guy. She stepped forward, looking him over quickly, trying to find something. Maybe he could be a demon, a well-built and damn good looking one, she had not seem many guys with those kinds of muscles before.

"Alright, now why don't you tell me why you attacked me?" Steve asked, holding the vamps arm painfully behind his back, almost close to breaking it.

When he wasn't met with a response Steve added to the pressure, making the vamp choke out a pained groan as his arm was close to dislocating.

"To… to get food…" The vamp said.

"You wanted to rob me?" Steve inquired, not understanding exactly these things intentions.

"No…" The vamp replied.

As Steve prepared to ask another question he heard the vamp cry out, a pained gasp, he looked down to see that a wooden stake was through his chest. Steve looked up to see that the woman had thrown it, and was standing there looking at him intently.

"He just wanted to drink your blood. It's how vampires feed," she said to Steve.

Steve blinked once before speaking. "Vampires?"

"Yeah, and they are nothing like the fake ass Twilight versions," she said, an amused smile on her face, as her hard gaze was on him. "You got some moves on you."

"You did alright, although you weren't exactly Joe Louis." Steve said.

"Joe who?" the young woman asked, not recognizing the name.

Steve stared at her for a moment before he shook his head with a grimace, he hated being in the wrong time. He had no idea what she meant by 'fake ass Twilight versions'. Were there multiple versions of vampires?

Shrugging it off, he decided to focus on the matter at hand. "Never mind. Who are you and what's a Slayer?"

The brunette had a smile on her face. "Name's Faith. You?"

"Steve," he replied, deciding not to give his full name. Even if she didn't make the connection, he was trying to just stay low at the moment. Steve Rogers, even thought long dead, was well known to America.

"Well Steve, how about you come with me. I have a friend who has a bar nearby," Faith suggested. "We'll have a drink while I explain a few things."

Steve considered it for a moment, and then back to the woman that had apparently come to his rescue. He was a little concerned, was she another SHIELD Agent shadowing him, or was she someone else. He doubted it was the latter; otherwise those who were shadowing him would have acted when she showed up. Or will when she tries something.

"Let's go."

A discrete position away, an undercover SHIELD operative tasked with shadowing Captain Rogers had witnessed everything. His smartphone recording as he saw Captain Rogers get out of the alley with the unknown brunette. He had been prepared to take action when he saw the woman intervene before he could and was treated to a sight and conversation that went well over his pay grade. He was only Level Six.

Keeping his monitoring of his charge, he dialed a number he was supposed to call if there was an emergency with Captain Rogers. If there ever was an emergency…

"This is Agent Nivens, I need to speak to Director Fury at once. There's been a development with Favorite Son. Priority One."

Steve felt a bit wary of her, she was armed and likely knew how to use that stake of her, and she was also strong. To fight these things head on and not get hit just proved how touch she was, and if she was a potential threat he would need to engage her.

"Sanctuary?" Steve asked, noting the name of the bar he had brought to. He glanced at the woman beside him, there was a small smirk tugging on her lips, as if there was more meaning to it than he suspected.

"In more ways than one," Faith said, opening the door and walking through.

Steve hesitated for a moment, she knew things he didn't and when going into a place someone you didn't know was taking you was dangerous. As much as he wanted to step back and consider this it was a lead on what he just thought, and if he thought this out he should be fine. Nothing ventured nothing gained, after all, with that last quick thought Steve followed her in.

The moment he got inside he stopped as he took a look around. Most of the bars he had been in since waking up in this era had been a little dingy, had dull light and a single bar with stools lining the bench. This bar had better lighting than most, a skylight above them to allow for sunlight, the rectangular bar in the center with stools all around, and tables around. Lastly, none of the staff were male, not the servers, not the bartenders, no one. Even though the clientele was of both sexes.

The one at the register he noticed was giving Faith a meaningful glance, one that was returned, if the turn of her head was anything to go by. A shake from the cashier's head and Faith kept on walking towards a table near the back of the bar. Steve had already noted everyone inside, all of the staff had eyed him one point or another, some of the customers as well. But only the females, he would be flattered, but he knew that they weren't that kind of stares.

"Nice place," Steve said.

"Yeah, a little home away from home," Faith said taking a seat at the table, and motioning for Steve to sit opposite of her. A blonde server came by them. "Two Coronas. Tell Lacey to put it on the tab." She looked back to Steve. "Unless you want something else."

"Never actually had one," Steve said honestly, not that it mattered what he drank seeing as he could never get drunk.

The blonde nodded and went off to get their drinks. For a moment both remained quiet, Faith was trying to figure out where to start and her host was waiting patiently. Although she could tell he was riveting to hear her explanation.

"So, where do we start? Well, how about to obvious and then you can ask and I'll answer. Sound fair to you?" Steve nodded. "Basically vampires are real, surest ways to kill them are sunlight, beheading or a wooden stake through the heart, and they don't sparkle. Questions so far?"

Steve looked at her for a moment, frowning at the last comment in confusion. Most would be surprised, expressing shock or even disbelief at the statement, but he wasn't most people. Had he not been part of World War II, seen the things he has seen and never been a super soldier, he may have been surprised. But still they didn't know him and he didn't want them to know him, or catch on, so he decided to mislead his incredibility.

"Vampires? Really?" Steve asked, and was met with a nod. "I would have believed aliens and genetic experimentation first, not the occult."

Faith had an amused look on her face, it was not often she got to do this, make the poor unaware citizen that the world they have been growing up in is not as normal as they may think. But she did find his reaction to be strange, he did express his doubt, but not much emotion appeared over his face. That was odd considering, he was well schooled in keeping his emotions down, very odd for a 'normal' guy.

"Pretty much, it's a little hard to accept at first, but I can tell you that there is more in the world than just them, there are a lot of other things out there." Faith responded.

"What about 'Slayer' then? That is what the vampire called you, and I can say that you matched those things hit for hit," Steve said, looking at her. "What are you?"

Faith looked at him for a moment as the server came back and dropped off their drinks. He likely wouldn't believe some bullshit story that she was simply a tough son of a bitch, so might as well go for broke.

"...'In every generation, there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer.'" She said, making the server hesitate for a moment and glance at her but she quickly collected herself and left, reciting the old line the Watchers loved to speak when telling a new Slayer about their destiny. "Boston, May 12, 1998. That's the day I became the Slayer. I magically gained all the physical and mystical enhancements that come with it… along with the job of dealing all the things that go bump in the night."

Hearing that, Steve actually felt the need to take a drink from the glass on the table. Given what she was saying, there was actually more than just vampires in the world. Magic also seemed to be real as well, considering that he had seen things that defied even science, maybe it wouldn't be too hard to believe that there is some weird stuff out there not related to the scientific community.

He wondered how HYDRA could have never come across any of it. Then again the Red Skull was about science, not mysticism, while he did seem to have a deep understanding of myth and legend. One report says that the Tesseract was actually said to have belong to Odin, one of his prized possessions in the halls of Asgard. He thought about his old enemy for a moment, and then those that were his friends, not many of them left, in body or mind.

He quickly banished the thought before looking over towards Faith and thinking about what she had said.

"You've been at this for over thirteen years?"

The brunette had a proud smirk on her face; obviously her tenure in this gig was longer than most.

"Damn well better believe it. Thirteen years of Slayage and counting and I'm only getting started." Faith replied.

"How can you manage to do this on your own? You have to be part of some outfit or group." Steve asked, as it didn't make sense for someone with some sort of 'mystical destiny' to just do things solo.

"Never said I am all on own. I have my own support staff, not to mention I'm not the only one to do this," Faith replied. "There are normal human beings like yourself that do what I do, only without the Slayer perks."

"Even so, what about oversight, a command structure, if you are just a group running through the streets I am doubtful you would get much done," Steve replied, these people had to have some kind of organized movement across the globe, otherwise what would be the point of being the chosen one if you never left your home or used your powers.

"You're taking this entire thing rather easily aren't you? Most don't, some call us nuts and simply run out screaming they believe me, you want to know more and are asking things people usually don't." Faith said, deciding to prod and see if she can get a reaction, either the truth, or something else.

"Let's just say that I have had a few... Adventures into the strange. As for my questions, trained that way." Steve replied, not giving anything away.

"You in the service?" Faith asked, wondering if he was military. Considering how he handled himself and his physique, which was making that shirt of his look tight, so tight.

"Retired actually," Steve replied, a flicker of weariness in his eyes appearing. "What about you?"

"Not military," Faith replied, finding his short answers to be the most obvious way for him to keep things close to the chest. She could tell he had not been 'retired' for long, and that he still had his obvious training kicking in. It was understandable if he didn't trust her right now, someone you just met, and killed three random guys, not trustworthy. She gets it.

But the fact that he had done what he done and was keeping so calm about all this, and taking everything in, she doubted he didn't have a secret or two.

Steve was about to say more but noticed her eyes were caught by someone in the back. He turned briefly to see a brunette in a blue sleeveless shirt and black pants, looking in their direction. "Friend of yours?"

"Her name's Lacey. She's the owner of the bar," Faith responded. "Give me a minute while I find out what she wants. We're not done talking handsome."

Steve watched her walk away and then hung his head. What is it with me and brunettes? He asked himself. Not since Peggy had he met a woman this independent. Worse, she had to be a bit of a wise ass.

Faith walked over to Lacey, who wore an amused look on her face. "Well he's quite fetching, and human," the Australian bar owner-Slayer remarked to her friend. "But then you already know that."

Faith nodded. The moment anyone walked through the front door, a protection spell Willow had cast upon it to determine identity would be scanned him when he entered the bar to make sure she wasn't bringing in something that wasn't supposed to be.

"Actually, I did think he was a Passing, just using human form while dealing with those vamps," Faith replied. Having seen Steve fight, she could tell it was military training. The strength however was another story. She wasn't sure how comparable to her Slayer strength it was but it was certainly more than the average human had. She had to admit, she did bring him through the door of the bar to see if he was a demon passing as human and his ignorance about vampires was just an act because she showed up.

Now it was a totally different picture.

"We can run his prints from the glass later, see what comes up if you want," Lacey suggested.

"You can tell Gina that, but we're not going to go after him," Faith said firmly. "Whatever military experiment he's been through or whatever else it might be, he's giving off boyscout to me. Which means we're not going to burn him."

"Doesn't hurt that he's cute now does it?" Lacey remarked, smirk on her face.

"There no way I'm taking him home to bed with me," Faith said, amused look on her face as she walked away. "I've matured from my wild days. I mean, I just met him."

"Yeah. Now you wait until the second time," Lacey returned, bemused still as Faith went back to carry the conversation with Steve. She did wonder who he was? And that odd air he gave off.

"Sorry about that, we're all good," Faith said as she took her seat back. "Now, anything else you would like to know?"

"I don't suppose you can tell me more about your organization," Steve asked, already knowing the answer.

"Sorry, a secret, you have to be a member and follow us on twitter," Faith smirked, but it went a little slack at his confused expression. "Yeah, well, we can't tell you anything else really?"

"Doubtful you would give me anything else," Steve said, leaning back in his seat. "Unless you wanna talk about how you saved the world?" He noticed the smirk that formed on her face.

"Which would you like me to talk about?"

Elsewhere...

"And you are certain that this is the woman you saw leave with Captain Rogers?"

"Without question sir. I'm outside the bar in question. Should I proceed inside and..."

"Absolutely not Agent Nivens. You will keep your distance. Under no circumstances are you to enter that bar," Niven's boss ordered. "Maintain cover and remain where you are."

"Understood Director Fury," the agent said before the call terminated.

Nick Fury, the Director of SHIELD, looked at the picture on his screen that Nivens had sent him. Out of all the possible scenarios I could have thought happening with him, this was nowhere on the map. He looked intently at young brunette with Rogers, knowing just who she was.

Faith Helena Lehane. Born December 14, 1980 in South Boston, Massachusetts, to Emily and George Lehane. Father abandoned her at age six, mother dead at fourteen. Ward of the state several years, running in and out of foster homes and the street until May 14th, 1998 when Charlotte Chambers, a British National, took her under her wing. Faith was under her guardianship for several months until Ms. Chambers was found brutally murdered in early September of that same year. From there Faith found her way to Sunnydale, California, at which point on, officially, her records were sealed.

Unofficially, Fury knew the truth about girl the supernatural community called the Dark Slayer. He knew all about the Slayer Organization, which operated under the umbrella of the Watcher's Council. SHIELD may not deal with the supernatural on a daily basis, but that didn't mean Fury was ignorant of it. He had his own personal division of people he had selected to investigate events that went... outside their regular scope, for normal and gifted people. It was because of the operative he had in command of this division that he had all of his Intel on the Slayers, as well his understanding that the Slayers were not a threat. Despite their number in the low thousands, they were just people and not all of them were fighting the demons in the night, some were just trying to live normal lives, despite their enhancements.

The operative had suggested for over a year now to try to make a dialogue between his division and the Slayers to allow for more efficient work in the field. Fury had not consented on the grounds that neither organization had ever been in each other's orbit and seemed to work well on their own without getting involved with the other. The agent had argued that sooner or later that was going to change.

Guess he was right.

Just never expected it to come out like this, Fury thought.

Faith's past was shady and very dark, although recent years have shown that she has been making certain amend for them. Despite her past deeds, she had spent nearly the last ten years working towards making amends. He didn't know if that was something he could consider proof, but he knew another person who was trying to do the same. So he didn't doubt the girl could change, but if she would stick to these new principles.

If the Council hadn't killed the Avengers Initiative, he would have thought that her or Buffy Summers would make a good candidate for the Avengers. Although considering their elusive nature and also one now leading the organization it was difficult to pin them down.

A thought came to Fury then as he thought about recent business that had occurred in New Mexico. Recent information on the Asgard had given him some idea of their culture, specifically their technology. He had almost nothing in his arsenal that dealt with the occult, only a small division meant to monitor it.

"...Well, why the hell not?" he decided as he opened up a communication line to his right hand man.

It would take some time, but he was certain he could set something up, he just needed to make sure the Council didn't do anything to get wind of this.

"...And so my Watcher finishes putting up the incantation to seal the Hellmouth just as I slammed my ax right through one of the Hellmouth Spawn's Tentacles of Doom, saving one of my friends who was going to get chewed on by said tentacle. The Hellmouth finally started to close but I tossed the ax at it, hitting it between a couple of its eyes before it vanished. End result, the world is saved."

"... Tentacle monster?" Steve asked, trying to see if she had actually made this entire story up, and yet the entire time she described the absolutely bizarre battle, it just didn't feel like bullshit. Some things you can't just fake.

"Yeah that was just my first year as the Slayer," Faith replied, smile still on her face. "I got plenty of other stories. I mean I have three other Apocalypse stories but some of my other Slay Tales are just as entertaining."

"No I think that's enough for now," Steve said. I wonder how the Commandos would have taken a story like that. "But you had civilians help you save the world?"

"Whole thing about secret life, you get help where you can and how," Faith answered. She did feel a little bad that she was not telling the whole truth, Steve seemed like a nice guy. She was editing out a bit, like how there were two Slayers at that time but B wouldn't want to be exposed.

"Yeah but, you managed to get out of that world ending mess alive. All of you, right?" Steve asked her.

It was then that Faith's smile faded and she looked back at him. "Back then I was lucky. But you can't be lucky forever. Eventually, you lose people that you care about. People you work with to fight the good fight with you." She looked into his eyes and saw something there now, a reaction to her words. "You know exactly how that feels, don't you Steve?"

He let out a sigh, remembering bitterly that terrible moment. "His name was Bucky, and he was my best friend."

"Laura. Robin. Those are my failures, my regrets. The people I wish I could have saved," Faith said solemnly.

"Do you blame yourself for their deaths?" he asked her.

"Laura, I trained her myself. And Robin..." Faith let out a tired chuckle. "He always had to have the final say. You can tell yourself that its part of the job, you can expect that at any time your number is up, but when you're right there within arm's length and you are still breathing while they aren't… it does sometimes feel like you're the one at fault doesn't it?"

Steve decided to raise his glass then to her. "To our fallen friends. Gone but not forgotten."

"Gone but not forgotten," Faith said, reciprocating the gesture.

Silence seemed to pass between the two at that point as they just finished their drinks, yet both of them were looking at the other, feeling a sense of kinship between the two even if they came from completely different worlds, holding secrets that the either did not know.

"This may be hard to accept but this is the world you live in, and try to understand that it is secret because people can't handle this sort of thing." Faith said.

"Most wouldn't accept it, and there would be panic, I understand that," Steve replied, knowing full well that chaos that would ensue if the knowledge of monsters existing would shake the world entirely.

"Glad we could work that out," Faith said, standing up and drowning her Corona and moving for the door, deciding to lead him out.

Steve stood and followed her, passing the woman in blue who smirked at Faith, only to be ignored. Steve had no idea why but he had the feeling he was involved somehow with why she was smirking. Had his problems with woman not been so debilitating he would have tried to figure out what she was smirking about.

"Well, you ever feel like stopping by I won't stop you, but keep away from the girl in blue she is a raunchy girl." Faith said in mock warning, and smirked when she saw Lacey pull her eyelid down with her middle finger and stick her tongue out.

"I'll keep that in mind," Steve said, giving a small smile as he did.

Faith looked at him for a moment and thought, What the hell.

She stepped forward and gave him a kiss on the cheek, it was more rewarding than she suspected as he looked a bit uncomfortable. She smirked ruefully at the reaction she got. Faith sent a knowing look at Lacey who only held in a barely contained laugh at seeing Steve have apparent issue with affection.

"Uh… thanks… that was… that was..." Steve said, not really knowing how to go about returning the affection without actually reciprocating it.

"Just something to remember me by," Faith said ruefully. "Have a nice trip home, Boyscout." Those last few words she sang as he stepped out the door. Watching him fumble for a moment to regain his bearings and then leave, he hesitated once in which direction to go before going left. "Damn I'm good."

"Really?" Lacey said, incredibility lacing her tone.

As Steve walked away from Sanctuary, he couldn't help but feel a smile form on his lips. He may have been still feeling out of place but for the first time since waking up from the ice, he felt more involved than he had in the world, a world that was even stranger than he ever imagined.

Guess finding something to grasp onto and get involved in kind of brought back old memories. There were bad things in this world, some normal and other surreal; some things do not change it would seem. That brought about a little comfort, in a disturbing sort of way.

Things change. Time moves on. But battles, battles still rage on in the world. Just with different people than the last time he was involved. For a moment, he actually wondered about trying to get involved, Faith had mentioned it that there were demon hunters.

But that wasn't him. That wasn't the world that he lived in. Not to say that this one right now was his either, but as strange as the modern world was to him, the modern supernatural one was even stranger. Not to mention a week was hardly enough time to get used to the times.

Learning what he had in that bar had sparked something within Steve Rogers. He would find out all that he could about the new world than remaining in his memories of the old one. Once he knew the world maybe he could actually be a part of it again. He may not have a purpose right now but he had remembered why had gone to war to begin with.

To help people.

Captain America will return in The Avengers

Faith walked into the lobby of the hotel she staying at while she was in New York. Quickly moving for the desk and asking if anyone had been in, her inquiry just as hasty. She had a strange feeling ever since she left the bar, and whenever she got one it was usually bad. This one was along the lines of 'someone is watching me', for a while she suspected it was true, this little paranoid sense of danger had never failed her before. And it would be a cold day in Hell that she didn't trust her instincts on this.

Apparently no one had come to her apartment or asked about her, she would have felt at ease, had the feeling abated. Faith moved for the stairs, taking them three at a time to get to her floor and then to her room, she needed to be somewhere familiar and prepared for anything.

Reaching for the eighth floor she quickly moved for her door, looking over her shoulder as she worked at her keys in the lock, not one taking them off what could be behind her. As she opened the door she slid in and slammed it shut, turning and surveying her room. Seeing nothing she quickly locked her door, pulling the latch over the door and then quickly scoping the rest of her apartment.

Paranoid she may be, but in all her years it had never failed to keep her ass alive. She wasn't going to let that little quirk of her die, not today. She got the highest room she could get that had quick access to the fire escape and was closest to the adjacent building. Always a way to escape, that was her way, if fists didn't work then she would leg it and get out of dodge.

She liked to have an escape route ready, right now she felt like it would be time to use it.

A knock on the door drew her attention and out of her musing as she kept herself just out of sight on the windows. With the grace of a cat she walked over and stood off to the side of the door, she was silent for a moment, weighing her options. Quickly she leaned in front of the door, being sure to keep her body mostly out of the way of the frame. Couldn't risk anything right now, not when there was the potential for someone to shoot her through it.

"Who is it?" Faith asked, sounding sing-song, at least she put up the effort to appear none the less suspicious and waited to either be blown down or shot.

"Someone who needs to talk," Came a voice from behind the door. "Do you mind opening up, I feel more comfortable talking to something that has more personality than cheap redwood from China."

The Slayer felt a little underwhelmed by the reply; after all it was far from hostile and a little too jovial for someone who wanted her dead. Besides that was the worst kind of way to actually try and get her killed, he didn't even try to coax her out, just asked.

"You a salesman?" Faith asked, seeing if it would throw him off.

"No, but you can trust me, I work for people a lot less shifty."

Faith quirked a brow at the comment, definitely someone from the government, she looked through the peep hole and saw him there. A blurry image of a man in a suite, those idiots need to know how to clean, with a sigh she decided to wing it and see what happened. Quickly unlocking the door she opened up to get a good look at the guy, she found a balding man there and with his hands behind his back.

Nice suit and a disarming smile on his lips. Yep, he's definitely a spook.

"Faith Lehane?" He asked.

"Yeah, who wants to know?" Faith inquired, the suit threw her off, and his off manner made him seem more odd than dangerous. That was a bad sign.

"Phil Coulson," The man said holding out a badge. One that she recognized, her eyes widening momentarily at the familiar silver eagle. "I'm with SHIELD. I was hoping for a moment of your time."

He walked past the stumped Slayer and into her room, taking a quick look around, he was not impressed with what he saw. Not much with décor as the walls were plain white. Not much for furniture either as there was just a single bed, a closet and a TV was on a dresser nearby, the power cord running to the wall.

"I hope at least you got basic cable," Phil said, looking back at her.

"Local channels," Faith replied. "And I'm not living here. Just needed a place to crash for a few days."

"So, business trip then?" Coulson asked with a smile.

"Listen, I don't mean to be rude, but me and big government agencies, we don't get along well, so…!" Faith said turning to the door and gesturing him to leave, before she had to resort to his lack of leaving and her sudden attempt to throwing him out.

"Well, Riley Finn thinks otherwise," Phil responded, noting that Faith stopped in her tracks when hearing that name. Her eyes hardened and she looked at him seriously, there was a few things making her wonder what this guy knew, SHIELD may be one of the less scrupulous groups, but shady covert Government group still was just that. "Despite your unique one night stand, he had some rather nice things to say about you."

"... So you know?" Faith asked him, wondering how this was going to play out.

"About vampires, yeah, absolutely," Phil replied, some gusto in this tone, as he pulled out a clip from his belt, holding it out for Faith to look at.

Faith was a bit old school Slayer, preferring to finish off her vamps with a stake or decapitation, but she also knew her way around a gun and she also knew what ammo was in the clip Phil had just given her. Tracer rounds, pyrotechnic ammunition. She had seen them around and they were mostly used to help with aim at night, also they left a nasty burn when it hit a human being.

When used on a vampire, the demon would soon become a pile of smoldering ash.

"You always keep a clip of these with you?" she asked with interest.

"Ever since running into one a few years ago, helps to be prepared," Phil replied, pocketing the magazine.

Faith cracked a smile at the man's humor; she was surprised even by that. In all the years she done this, she hadn't met a suit like Phil before. It was rather refreshing to actually meet a government spook that didn't want to dissect her and was all stone faced.

"Alright, Phil, you have my attention. Start talking. What is it that SHIELD wants from me?" Faith asked, honestly curious how Riley was involved with a covert intelligence agency which had no dealings with the supernatural, at least as far as she knew.

"Director Fury would like speak to you at length on a few issues," Phil answered. "Our two organizations haven't been in contact before, though the Director has been aware of the 'Slayer Organization' for years now."

"And he hasn't tried to find us?" Faith said incredulously. You usually don't hold back on another organization unless you don't know about them, but SHIELD was everywhere, the fact that they haven't looked into them would be odd.

"The Director is aware that most of your previous dealings with governmental organizations have not gone well," Phil responded calmly. "We do have dealings with gifted people, but most of the time our missions don't intersect with yours. Director Fury had thought it best to keep it that way, seeing we haven't caused problems for each other. We haven't had any meetings with each other, and none of our assets have been involved in a singular operation or even in passing, until today that is."

Faith blinked for a moment before putting the pieces together. "Steve. He's one of yours."

"He's not an agent. He's a protected asset."

Faith had a bemused look on her face. "I don't think he's the one that needs protection."

"Your meeting was one of chance." Deciding to ignore her second comment as he replied, "It's not as if we were expecting you to even be in New York," Phil stated. "However, the Director has decided to take the opportunity now that you are within sight."

"An opportunity for what exactly?" Faith demanded to know, crossing her arms, this was the crux of the matter, and she wanted to know what kind of lingo this guy would pull to try and get her to come with him.

"As far as I know, the Director wants you to become our liaison to your organization," Phil said matter of factly. "Anything else, you'll need to speak to him."

There was silence for quite a bit before it was shattered by Faith's laughter. Seeing Phil's stare, Faith tried to wave it off. "No, no I am not laughing at you!" she assured him, trying to get herself under control but could feel the laughter still. "It's just... the thought of someone asking me to act as a liaison for anything... does he even know what he's asking?"

"He usually does," Phil replied, his expression not changing. "Your past doesn't concern us, you are close to Miss Summers, someone we would like to meet with and develop an accord. You are also a highly respected member of your organization; your help would be invaluable in solidifying cooperation."

Faith took a deep breath, settling herself down then. "Alright, I'm assuming this is just to talk. I can leave at any time." Phil nodded to her. "Good." She pulled out her phone and typed up a text message, sending it Lacey. "Okay. Now we can go. Take me to your leader."

Phil refrained from rolling his eyes at the bad joke. "Mind if I ask what you just did?"

"Just sent a message to my friends that if they don't hear back from me in twenty four hours that they will come and find me, and believe me you don't want that," she answered without any humor yet a smile on her face, showing her confidence that her people would take out theirs if they tried anything.

"Interesting," Phil said, giving nothing away as he gestured to the door. "After you, Miss Lehane."

"Call me Faith," Faith said nothing else, simply walking out and actually wanting to meet the Director of SHIELD and wondered what he really wanted with her. Liaison was one thing, the excuse was good, but there was always more to these people than what they say.

Faith Lehane will return in The Experiment

Author's Notes: I'd like to give personal acknowledgements to Marcus S. Lazarus and JIMMYJAMSTER728, who without either of their help this story would not have been possible. Both of these authors have helped with their support in shaping the way that this story turned out.

Faith's story will continue in The Experiment, which is currently in production and will feature several characters from the MCU. I hope you all enjoyed this story and look forward to the next one.

Until then.