Title: A New Start (AU)

Fandom: Avengers/The Losers

Rating: Gen

Warnings: None

Disclaimer: I unfortunately do not own Captain America or any of the Avengers for that matter, nor The Losers.

If someone had ever come to him and asked if he knew he'd be labeled as the "Super Soldier" one day, Steve would have politely laughed. He'd also privately thought that person insane. Yet, even he had to admit that life had proven him wrong multiple times.

He closed his fist and flexed his right arm, trying to rid himself of the cramp that had started building near his elbow. With absolutely no trace of vanity, Steve had to admit he enjoyed the body the serum bestowed upon him. It had provided the perfect solution to deal with his deepest personal pet peeve: bullies. The serum (and his own stubborn streak) helped him to have a place in the army and to fight against Hitler, the Red Skull and HYDRA. Bullies with bigger ego.

Damn that cramp! How did that happen? The serum was supposed to heal nearly instantly every hurt and wound and yet, it could get rid of a simple cramp? Steve angrily pushed the laptop away, careful not to damage it, and stoop up, rolling his shoulders and rubbing his elbow, trying to work it off. Taking a deep breaths, the man closed his eyes, calming himself. He had learned to control his impulses and not to blow his cover. He briefly wondered if that what was the psychologists over at SHIELD meant by stress management.

At first, he had agreed Fury's invitation to join the Avengers. Again, it was the most logical thing to do .He was a man out of his own time so avenging the innocent against bullies was universal whatever era you came from. It had been quite sketchy in the beginning. Stark was as much an obnoxious smart-ass as his father Howard had been. That's why he assumed that he could take the leadership of this strange group. Steve had watched him stroll around the room, patting a god on the arm like he was a drinking buddy, flirt outrageously with the Black Widow, annoying Dr Banner, maybe hoping to see him get angry enough to change forms and cautiously eyeing Hawkeye, who just smirked.

Back then, Steve had been reminded of Howard, but also of Bucky. The same easy smiles and flirty banter. The same disregard for the social rules. But, to his knowledge, Bucky hadn't been much of an alcoholic nor was Howard. Tony obviously struggled against inner demons that threatened his very existance. As they all did.

Thor was still under the strain of the guilt he felt for destroying the Bifrost and all the people his brother had killed in the Jotunheim. He came back to make amend. Like him, Bruce Banner joined the group to prove the Hulk had his place in the society. Destruction could be used for good and not only for chaos. Natalia and Clint were harder to read, even for him. Steve had learned earlier to quickly profile his opponents, and the people around him. Being small and weak looking, he had to develop techniques to survive the ever-going assaults of the bigger kids. That part of him hadn't change with his new body. Even better, he now knew when to apply brute force and when to use diplomacy.

Still, after a few runs with the Avengers, the only thing Steve ever felt was to be a stage monkey once again. Same as when the governor had christened him Captain America before sending him on stage to recruit more men and to get more money inside the governor friends' pockets. Yes, he was fighting against Earth's biggest enemies. He had protected the ones unable to fight. But he had been seen only as an icon. A figure under which people united. A poster boy but never a soldier. And, as he did back then, he rejected it all. Only this time, he truly disappeared. And Steve must admit he wasn't doing too badly.

First, he approached Stark to learn more about this new world he was now living in. Computers, which were once a thing of science fiction, now were merely a tool he had to master. He proved to be an apt pupil. He quickly learned to understand the machine, the hidden paths to trod to get the information he needed and the language skills to get to comprehend the messages it sent to him. Even Stark was surprised. But to Steve, it was only a mean to an end.

He also befriended Bruce Banner in order to learn how the doctor had managed to deflect SHIELD scrutiny. Banner was cunning and saw right through Steve's pretense. Still, he willingly shared his secrets and his tricks with him. Perhaps he understood why the Super Soldier was doing this, Steve still received emails from him, encoded of course. It was the only link from his past as an Avenger. He didn't understand Banner's motivations but he admitted that having first-hand information was very useful.

All in all, he considered he did good.

The next step had been planning his disappearance. He didn't want to disappear from the face of the Earth like Banner did. He was realist enough to know that, even in hiding, he would be tempted to help people. After all, it was the reason why he became a Super Soldier in the first place. No, he needed an new identity for him to be part of the society without being seen. It was a chance meeting with a young SHIELD agent that helped him solve his dilemma.

Jacob Thompson, "Jake please. "Jacob" remind me of my grand-father telling me off for some shit I pulled.", had never been in the field. "They did gave me a weapon and some training, but they quickly realized that my strengths laid elsewhere." Jake shrugged, his eyes never leaving the screen as his fingers worked magic over the keyboard. And magic it was. If Stark was good, Jake was better. "Nah man! That nice of you to say that but old Stark is a true genius. Me, I just understand computer language better than English, it's all." Still, Jake took what Steve had learned from Stark and pushed it further. "That's not fair man... Do really you have to be perfect in everything?" Steve chuckled at Jake's complaint.

Jake worked with legends. "See, we have agents in the world gathering Intel for us. They often need a false identity to infiltrate their targets. We call those identities "legends" since it's mostly fictional work. However, the agent must make that legend live or s/he will be discovered. It gets tricky sometimes. Some agents like their legends more than their real history and don't want to give back." Jake explained as he filled the database with more information. "Some of the legends are nearly blank canvas. You get a name, a social security number, credit card activity and a sketchy past. Other legends are more complete with family members, picture albums and all. The agent take the place of a lost member that the rest of family had only heard off." Jake turned to Steve and pointed a list on the screen. "Each time an agent get a new legend, every reference is deleted. I write the new name and the one of the agent with their old security number and their new one in a secret file that is not linked to the database. Only a few people have access to it." A week later, Jake died from a gunshot wound in a robbery gone wrong. Just a freak hazard.

At that moment, Steve made his choice to still fight but as a "freelancer". A week after the funerals, Steve logged into the database using Jake's password and stole a legend. He followed every step of the procedure, deleted the legend from the database but conveniently forgot to write his name and security number, before leaving the next morning.

Steve stretched out, finally working off the cramp in his arm and neck, scratched his chin and smiled remembering the physical changes he did to fit his new past. First, he grew a beard, following Banner's advice, and fashioned it as a goatee. "Details always struck people. That's the reason why a false beard will always attract attention." Next item on the list was the hair. Gone was the American crew cut. He now proudly sported what the hair dresser called a "fashionably out of bed" style. With the beard and the hair, his own mother would never have recognized him. A pair of glasses, round framed, completed his new look and brightly colored slightly oversized T-shirts helped hide his muscled frame. The legend he stole proclaimed that his parents had died somewhere in Australia. He had no family except for a female cousin somewhere in Springfield, near Los Angeles.

Steve smiled remembering their first meeting. It was three years ago in a cemetery. He had walked on her while she was standing in front of her parents' headstone. She had raised her head at his approach. "Are you Jacob?" she asked, scanning him over. Steve nodded, "Yes, but please, call me Jake. Are you Sonia?" The woman nodded and turned back to the headstone. A long and awkward silence filled the space between them. "Erm... I'm sorry for you loss...?" Steve blurted out, rubbing the back of his neck. Sonia nodded again, "Thanks." Suddenly, she turned toward him and asked him if he had eaten and if not, if he was hungry. That's pretty much how he was adopted into the family thought he still couldn't figure how it worked out. Now, Sonia's daughter called him "Uncle" and neither adult corrected her.

Pooch entered the bedroom, surprising the hacker. "Yikes! A knock would have been nice you know? It is statistically proven that lack of manners is a direct cause for stress and negativism. In fact, it had been steadily..."

"Jensen!" Pooch stopped the hacker before he launched into one of his famous monologue of random facts. "You ready? Clay wants us to get going before the trail goes cold." Pooch sighed. "Are you hacking in your underwear AGAIN?" Jensen grinned and grabbed a T-shirt from his pack, before closing it. "Clay asked me to check on some stuff before we left." he said, putting the T-shirt on. Pooch just looked at him. "Okay, seriously?" Jensen looked down at himself, Captain America's shield proudly displayed on his chest, America Truest Hero scribbled across it. "What? It's the truth! Did you know that, in 1943, he went and singled-handed save about 200 men from HYDRA? Also, he is responsible for... "

"Just be ready in five or we leave without you!" Pooch cut in and left the room, shaking his head.

Jensen grinned. Yes, he didn't do too badly. He grabbed his laptop and his smile disappeared as he read the message flashing across his screen.

"Be careful, they're still looking."