THE DOMESTICATION MISSION

Prologue

He closed his one working eye in frustration. He needed to look away from the hesitation stitched on their faces. And the redness in Steve's face.

"It's a way to keep you low-profile," he said, finding the will to open his eye and look at the people in front of him.

"By hiding in, what, fame? Media? Well, I know I'm good at hiding in plain sight but this sight just isn't plain at all," Natasha Romanoff reasoned out, barely keeping the natural calmness in her voice anymore.

"Well, you aren't exactly in the position to hide in that plain sight anymore, Agent, and you know it," he replied before being cut off by the other person.

"How is this supposed to be good for me then? Don't you think the daughter of Captain America is going to be targeted by a lot of enemies out there?" Steve Rogers asked next, sounding less calm than the woman beside him.

Nicholas Fury held his hands out in front of him to finally silence them. "Look, Captain Rogers and Agent Romanoff," he started, slowly putting his hands down, "SHIELD isn't completely back up just yet. There's no way you two could be protected for sure from-"

"We're going to live, Director," she cut him, earning a one-eyed glare. She did not look fazed by this at all and kept her head held high as she listened.

"I know. But as I was saying, we're going to use your fame as your shield this time to keep them away. And yes, you can fend for yourselves. But this girl cannot. As you've seen, she has a special ability that is sought after by notorious organizations all over the world. If not, the universe. As far as I know, that ability has never really been controlled completely. So, besides the protection you're going to give her from the various threats that's gonna come her way, you'll also be able to fight off whatever… accidents that'll occur."

After a few moments of silence, Steve asked, "So, you're saying she's a mutant?"

"Yes, she is."

"Then, why can't she go to the Xavier Academy? That school for mutants?" the super soldier blurted out again.

"You do notice that she's just been de-aged into an infant, right? She's gonna be more vulnerable than ever. That place had a lot of security issues lately." Fury answered in a tone that made his question seem stupid. But Steve was also unfazed. Fury pushed a manila folder that looked like its contents are going to spill across the desk in between them and continued, "You see, she's not just your normal, unwanted mutant. She's Professor Charles Xavier's niece. Daughter of Colonel James Xavier, Charles' cousin. Their mother sent her and her siblings were sent off to be cared for by different guardians to keep them hidden when their father was assassinated. The mother went hiding after that."

Steve took the folder and read the label, "A.C. XAVIER". He opened it to follow what Fury just said. True enough, her profile confirmed his story. Natasha peered over his shoulder, also to read.

"She was under the guardianship of the professor. By then, the Xavier Academy has not been established officially. For some reason, she was still kidnapped. But the professor and other mutant who were with him managed to get her back. But the poor parenting he had before the capture required him to face the courts before he could take her in again. He was successful with that and she grew up with him. Her siblings eventually followed her under his care."

Natasha read her profile closer. She read:

Father: James Henry Xavier (deceased)

Mother: Lillian Williamson (deceased)

Siblings: Fredrick James Xavier (deceased), Susan Eleanor Xavier, Edmund Thomas Xavier (deceased)

She paled upon reading the last name. But not enough to draw attention to herself. She stepped away to stop reading. She could not anymore.

"Fast forward, she graduated with a mechanical engineering degree specialized in aerospace and joined the U.S. Air-"

Natasha put herself back together to cut him off once more. "Alice Xavier."

Both men turned to look at her. She continued, "She's a Broadway star."

It was like Fury was hesitating to answer her. "Yes, she is. But that's not the point-"

"She was famous."

Fury sighed. "I would appreciate it if you stop interrupting me, Agent. As I was saying…"

Steve looked back and forth at their exchange, not having a single idea about the Broadway thing they were talking about despite having her file in front of him.

"… She joined the U.S. Air force shortly after. And eventually she was recruited by SHIELD. She became a chief engineer under Howard Stark in SHIELD in its early days. She overlooked the first ever Helicarrier and the planes in it. After just a couple of years, she quit."

Steve looked down on her file once more. He read what happened next:

November 6, 1991: Partial damage of the Triskelion; Responsible for the halt of the spreading of the lava to the city from the erupting Mt. St. Helens (Washington)

"Damage of the Triskelion?" he asked, looking up. Fury turned to the curious soldier.

"Yes," he answered. "It was later found out that her mind was controlled by Hydra. On the day of their apparent attack against SHIELD and Washington itself, she tried to fight off the control. She succeeded but she chose to stop the lava from getting to the city. Using her forcefields. Other mutants helped. But by the time the lava miraculously hardened, she was already nowhere to be seen. It's believed that she was covered with the ashes after she fell down due to exhaustion."

"And now she's found." The red-head side commented.

Fury nodded. "She did not show signs of mind control. SHIELD researchers found out it was too risky to tamper with the mind while trying to keep her alive. Whatever preservation they used, it somehow stopped her from aging as well. And apparently, it didn't involve ice." He looked at Steve by the time he said the last part.

After a few moments of contemplative silence, Steve chose to ask questions again. "If she was already famous before, then why hide her in fame again? Won't the media notice?"

"I do not think the media would fret about the resemblance. They'll only care about the fact that she's a kid of two of the Avengers." The older man replied.

Natasha decided to speak up, "So, you're going to make her come out as our biological child?"

"Exactly."

"I'm in."

Both Fury and Natasha quickly turned to Steve after his apparent consent in participating in the whole thing. It took Natasha by surprise more than she thought.

"Steve-"

"What's the plan?" he continued to ask, looking as determined as he was when he was fighting off aliens.

Fury was pleased by this. He only nodded to show that. He was about to speak up again when Natasha spoke up again.

"What if I say 'no'?" She had this stoic but intimidating look in her eyes as she crossed her arms across her chest in defiance.

Fury stared at her just as hard. "This is an order, Agent."

That seemed to satiate her for a while. And the director continued, "Since you two have already disappeared for almost a year—well, since SHIELD was taken down—we could just easily make up a story of how you two married off and had a kid together. You're going to settle in Salt Lake City. And you stay there until SHIELD is back up. We don't want to risk anything here in Manhattan. Or risk running by the X-Men. Check-ups and her overall development will be done by Banner."

Steve and Natasha nodded. It did kind of make sense that they were settling in one of the most peaceful cities in the U.S.

"The paperwork is already being processed. Your residence, too. Now, we're not going to announce this marriage and birth thing to the world. But when word gets out, you simply have to answer that you're trying to live this simple family life in peace." Fury explained. Steve raised an eyebrow at this.

"But what about the Avengers? Isn't it too far from the HQ?"

"The Avengers," Fury answered quickly. "Will be around. The others will keep in touch of course."

"So, they're also informed about this?" She inquired.

"They will be informed," he answered firmly. There was that moment of silence again.

"How often are these check-ups going to be? Won't Bruce need to be around often for that?" she asked.

"We'll need to speak to Banner about that. He'll arrive tonight. We'll keep you notified." He paused and turned to look at them each closely. "You two leave the day after tomorrow. After her final check-up." Fury sighed and paused like he was thinking if he should tell them what he was thinking. And so he did, "And you wouldn't have to worry about the looks, I assure you."

And like some sense of familiarity of his action and tone, they both understood that they were going to be dismissed. And when the former director nodded his head, they both mirrored his action and turned to walk out the door. They were in for long adventure. And this one is going to tie him to Natasha a lot longer.

A/N: Hey, you! Thanks for giving this a chance. :D

So, this is a story that's been living in my head since last year. LOL. I've just been too lazy to actually write it. And now I've started. In the prologue, I used dialogues a lot. In the future, I hope to be able to elaborate more.

This one is going to intersect the Avengers and the X-Men. But the X-Men part is going to have only a little part in this story. Maybe in the sequel, they're going to be more prominent.

So, I do not own the Marvel universe, sadly. I do own A.C. Xavier, though. Haha.

I hope you tune in for the next chapter! :D