Chapter 1: Their Life Now

*****In a Poor District of Cincinnati*****

The small coffee shop in Cincinnati certainly didn't look like much. It had windows that severely needed cleaning, seven scratched wood tables with stained linen cloths, rusted silverware, and chairs that were about ready to fall apart. The floors desperately needed cleaning while the walls were covered in black framed pictures of famous coffee houses that this little coffee shop aspired to be like.

Its chef was a simple person who never broke or bent rules. He was reliable but rather boring. He always wore a stained chef's uniform and a grey newsboy cap. His name was Brent, though everyone who knew him called him Boring Brent. He wasn't necessarily hated but no one ever invited him to parties.

The bus boy was quite literally a boy. He was an eight year old orphan that had been living on the streets when the coffee shop's owner saw him and took him under her wing. He wore a black t-shirt with baggy jeans but when he was on duty, he wore a black apron with his usual attire. He always seemed quiet and subdued but was actually very energetic. The only time he showed his true colors was around the coffee shop owner because she was the only one he trusted. No one knew the specifics about his real parents but they all knew it wasn't good. He cringed every time someone tried to bring it up. His name was simply Davy, he had no last name.

The coffee shop served some of the best coffee around though no one but the locals visited the run down shop. The despite the better-than-Starbucks-or-Dunkin-Donuts taste of the coffee, it was nearly dirt cheap. No one could buy it if it was any more expensive. That and the coffee shop owner didn't like coffee so she didn't see a reason it should cost any more.

The coffee was a secret recipe the shop owner's grandmother gave her. She, on the other hand, had the most delight in serving people Southern-Style breakfasts and French Pastries. The restaurant could have had five stars if it was in a better neighborhood. The owner could've opened the shop up somewhere else but she believed that the less fortunate people should enjoy food that was healthier than McDonalds or Burger King for every meal.

She also knew that they would appreciate it more here. Once upon a time she had a famous restaurant in New York City but the rich people who ate there were picky, called her menu 'stupid', and made disgusted faces when they ate the food even though they loved it. So when the aliens/Loki attacked New York City three years ago, she packed up her bags and moved away.

Now the shady part of Cincinnati was her home. She could've moved somewhere more posh but she didn't exactly want to, she'd been enough fancy places in her life.

As Tony Stark was taking a jog around Cincinnati, he knew none of this information about the little coffee shop other than its shaggy looks. However, it was lucky he was jogging in front of this coffee shop when his Arc Reactor glitched for a half second. It was nothing major, it only knocked him out cold.

As Davy saw this, he gasped. It was six thirty in the morning, the shop was empty, so it was okay for him to run up stairs to the owners flat without fear of a robbery. Not that they would've been robbed anyway, everyone in town loved the store, but you can never be too careful. The little two bedroom, two bathroom, one small living/kitchen area was the home of Davy and the shop's owner, Eva Richards.

Davy grabbed Eva's wrist and began to tug her down stairs. Automatically sensing that something was wrong, she followed him downstairs. She ran outside at Davy's heels and saw Tony Stark's limp form.

"So do we help this filthy rich maniac" Davy asked bitterly.

"Yes, he is injured and we are people who aren't. It's our job to help him" Eva replied gently, "Now help me bring him upstairs. We don't want him out here on this dirty sidewalk with that nasty head wound."

*****Somewhere Underground in Asgard*****

Loki sat in his little cage, bitterly thinking of little things that could've changed in the past that might have allowed him to be somewhere else other than this boring cell. Sometimes Thor would visit him but Loki usually stayed quiet during these times. Like a child, he was giving Thor the silent treatment.

For now he had to wait out his prison sentence. Once he was out, he had bigger plans than last time. He knew that calling upon the Chitari for help was risky but now he had an even more brilliant idea. It was so smart yet so simple. It didn't require nearly as much violence as his previous idea but his was much more effective. He felt stupid he hadn't thought of it earlier.

All he had to do now was find his staff and get to Earth. So easy and yet so impossible. Before he could finish his day dream about conquering Earth, Thor walked in, taking him out of his reverie.

"How goes it, brother" Thor asked cheerily.

Loki stayed silent as usual but Thor continued trying to bring a light and happy atmosphere to the doom and gloom room.

"Heimdall repaired the Bifrost this morning. I cannot wait to see Jane once again! Three years is much too long. Maybe I can bring you to there once your sentence had been served. That would be exciting, would it not?"

After waiting a short period of time for Loki to reply, Thor sighed in exasperation. He did not appreciate Loki's constant silence. He missed his chatty competitive brother. So much had changed between the two and sometimes he had a hard time admitting it to himself.

"Still a mute, I see. Dear brother, won't you talk" Thor said sadly. As more silence answered him, he got up and walked upstairs.

Loki smirked as Thor walked away in frustration. Even at his weakest, he could still push Thor's buttons, a small comfort to him in this time of otherwise maddening emptiness.

*****At a University in Washington DC*****

Bruce Banner smiled as his student turned in the completed essay. It was about the Effects of Gamma Radiation on Prokaryotes. He was so proud that he managed to teach at least one student about the Electromagnetic Spectrum properly. The others went into depth about the visible part of the spectrum, not the gamma part. Some were fine essays but none ever reached the same caliber as Linda Starling's.

"Good work today class. Remember to get a good night sleep for Friday's exam" Bruce stated as his class slowly exited the classroom.

He was unsure about being a teacher when he was offered the job two years ago. It was mainly because he didn't want to accidentally turn into the Other Guy when a particularly annoying student stepped over the line too often. Luckily, he'd been able to keep his anger in check so he accepted the job. It turned out to be the best choice he'd ever made.

He now had a large tidy science classroom that was his to do as he pleased. He could work on an experiment or he could use one of the high tech-computers to email his friends. Starting new gave him the chance to do something he usually avoided, making friends. Used to being cast off as too intelligent, he wasn't exactly bouncing out of his seat to be accepted into the tight-knit society of the University's professors. In fact, he nearly fell out of his seat when he discovered how excited the other professors were to meet him.

"Excuse me" Linda Starling asked as she approached Bruce at his desk.

"Yes" Bruce said, a little distracted by skimming over the newly turned in reports.

"I have a question to ask" she continued.

"Well, fire away" Bruce replied, glancing up from the papers for a moment.

"Well, it's well known that radio waves are the weakest waves on the Spectrum so why do we use them for cell towers and radio. Wouldn't it be much more efficient if we found a way to use ultraviolet waves or another kind to do the work instead" she asked eagerly as she pulled out a notepad to write down the professor's response.

Bruce was glad he had such an enthusiastic student but he knew that the reply to her question was much wordier than she anticipated. He checked his watch, he had an hour until his next class, hopefully that was enough time.

"Well…there are many reasons was use radio waves over the other kinds for daily tasks. To begin with…"

*****An Alley in Tokyo, Japan*****

Shin Wo hadn't done much good in his life. He robbed, killed, blackmailed, mugged, kidnapped, and sold drugs to innocent people. He was definitely not a role model parents wanted their kids to have. He never cared about peoples feeling as long as his empire expanded and he remained rich.

He was just going back to his mansion after poisoning one of his rivals to death in a nearby pub. He was just beginning to celebrate his victory when two shadows appeared in front of him. One was a woman with red hair and a gun in her hand while the other was a brunette man with a loaded bow in his hands.

He'd heard of them before, Hawkeye and the Black Widow, two of the world's greatest assassins. He knew escape was impossible, once they targeted you, you were as good as dead.

"Any last words" the Black Widow asked as she turned the safety off on her handgun.

"Tell Ree that she's gets my house, not Eta" Shin stated as the Black Widow pulled the trigger.

Clint Barton, AKA Hawkeye, looked at the man in confusion. Usually people's last words were to tell someone that the person loved them not who a house belonged to.

"I wonder what that was about" Natasha, AKA the Black Widow, stated as he looked down at the man.

"I have not the slightest clue" Clint replied honestly.

*****Somewhere in the Sky Above New York*****

Nick Fury looked as his officers as they bustled around. As much as he hated to admit it, he missed the Avengers. All of his employees did as they were told and nothing else, they never argued as much as the Avengers did. He knew where they all were except Steve Rodgers, AKA Captain America. Stark was in Ohio, Clint and Natasha were in Japan, Thor was on Asgard, and Bruce was in Washington. Unlike the others, once they were free to leave, Captain America disappeared without a trace.

Fury knew that it would take a while for Captain to become accustom to modern day but he never knew that Captain would go on his own to do so. Once upon a time, Nick Fury believed that when all of the other Avengers were gone, Captain America would still be there to support S.H.I.E.L.D. He was obviously very wrong since the Captain was the first to go.

Authors Note:

/* And so the story begins. Captain America is missing, the Hulk is a teacher, Thor is still trying to reconnect with Loki, Iron Man's Arc Reactor malfunctions, Clint and Natasha are still assassins for S.H.I.E.L.D., and Fury is getting bored (which is never good). So it starts off a bit weird for them. They're superheroes and they aren't acting like it right now. In fact they might even be acting a little normal. Or at least as normal as it gets for the Avengers.

We also meet Linda, Davy, and Eva, three new characters. You'll discover why they're important late, this chapter was mainly introductions, the action will come later so don't worry just yet.

Just so you know, at the end of every chapter I will add a recap like the one above just to make sure you didn't miss any major points and so you don't have to reread the entire chapter if you forgot it by the time I post the next chapter. If you want to, you can completely disregard these authors notes, you won't miss anything important. I know these 'authors notes' are supposed to be short but I don't want to leave anyone confused.*/