AU: I don't own anything that isn't an author's note and isn't in bold. If I did, I would totally be rich and famous, and all my ideas would be movies instead of on a fanfiction site. For anyone who's reading this because they've ready my other Avengers stories: I might update them… eventually… except I don't wanna and I have no ideas… so maybe? Sorry. I'm busy! With stuff. That was a bad excuse, wasn't it. Yeah, thought so. Sorry not sorry!

And now… chapter one!

Also, this story is taking place after the events of Age of Ultron. Only the characters listed in this chapter will be appearing, because I hate having a bunch of characters, because they can't all talk as much and it gets OOC. There's gonna be: Ironman, Cap. America, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Banner, Thor, Scarlet Witch, and Vision. Pairings: Scarlet Witch/Vision eventually probably, Black Widow/Cap. America eventually probably. Maybe even Science Bros as a pairing? Not sure on that one, because I also ship Tony/Pepper.

Chapter one

Natasha yawned and stretched out on the lounge chairs on the balcony of her apartment in Avengers Tower. She had had a long week of missions and danger and stupidness, and was really looking forward to have an entire day of nothing. Maybe she'd read a book. Maybe she'd just nap.

Whatever it was, she wasn't leaving this balcony for as long as she could. It was a sunny summer day, and for once she was relaxed.

Well, all good things come to an end.

Natasha didn't even feel anything change-to her, she just blinked and opened her eyes and was somewhere else entirely. She was sitting in the living room of the main area of the tower, with all the other Avengers in the tower there as well, all looking equally disoriented. Wanda squeaked and accidentally made one of the windows explode outward with her magic. Clint had his hands up like he was firing a bow, except all his bow and arrows were missing. Tony staggered a little, falling onto the couch. Thor fell backward over one of the armchairs and hit the floor. Steve reached for his shield to realize it wasn't right next to him where he thought it should be, and Bruce did a full 360 trying to figure out where he was.

Vision was the only one who didn't look confused. He stood serenely in front of them, waiting for silence.

"What's going-" Tony swore. "How did I-"

"I am sorry to have done that to you," Vision said politely. "But there is something that all of you really ought to see."

"Vision, how did you do that?" Wanda asked curiously, staring at him. "Did you teleport us?"

"No." Vision said. "Someone else did that. I only suggested it."

"Vision, I swear, you had better start making sense." Clint frowned. "Where's my bow?!"

"Being kept safe. As is your shield, Captain, and Thor's hammer, and the Ironman suit. They are all in a safe place until I am done showing you what it is you must see."

"What must we see?" Natasha demanded testily. She had been having a great day, and now all she wanted to do was punch Vision in the face.

"Yeah, can we hurry this up?" Tony complained. "I'm supposed to meet Pepper."

"I'm afraid that you're going to be late, Mr. Stark." Vision said, sitting down on the loveseat in front of the TV. "This may take a while. And none of you will find yourselves able to leave until we are done watching everything."

"Everything?" Bruce asked cautiously. "What are we watching?"

"Let's just get this over with," Steve sighed. Natasha scowled, but for some reason found herself less angry when he sat down next to her.

Wanda found a seat next to Vision, and everyone else crowded onto couches, the armchairs, and somehow Thor ended up sitting on the floor.

"What we are about to watch is extremely important, and entirely classified." Vision said. The TV clicked on without anyone having to do anything.

"The secret is out." The screen was still black, but they could hear a woman's voice.

"Who is that?" Clint asked. Everyone but Vision shrugged.

The screen changed to show a city, clouds passing rapidly overhead. The woman's voice continued, "For decades, your organization stayed in the shadows, hiding the truth." The screen now showed a sped-up view of people in a busy city intersection.

"But now we know. They're among us. Heroes…" Images flashed across the screen: Tony flying across the sky, the captain's shield, Thor's hammer.

"Hey, is all of this about us?" Steve looked surprised. "Someone made a movie about us?"

"No," Wanda looked a little puzzled. "Why would anyone make a movie about us?"

"And monsters," The woman continued. The screen was filled with crashed cars, burned buildings, and the face of a Chitauri. Then it showed Bruce in Hulk-mode, roaring at the camera.

Bruce winced. Tony scowled. "He's not a monster!" He told the TV screen. "He should be on the hero list!"

Bruce went a little pink. "Thanks, Tony."

"It's true." The other Avengers looked a little uncomfortable, until Tony glared at them and they all started nodding.

"The world is full of wonders," The woman finished. The screen changed again to show a little boy walking up to a shop window with Avengers action figures positioned inside. The little boy's father could be seen behind him, talking to another older man with grey hair. Words appeared at the bottom of the screen, in white: East Los Angeles, CA.

"I am confused." Thor stated. "Is this little boy known by any of us?" Again, all of them shook their heads, even the Vision this time.

"Ace, come and get it," The little boy's father said, offering his son lunch. The boy took it and turned back to the window.

"His name's Ace?" Clint smiled. "That's kinda cute."

"Aww… Daddy Hawk!" Tony teased, and Clint's face went red.

"I'm just gonna stop talking, now."

"What do you say we go out to your Aunt Mindy's this weekend? You and Kisha can swim in the pond." The boy's dad gave a smile that was slightly forced as the little boy stared at the heroes figurines.

All the boy said was, "Sure." The father's smile faltered.

"When he say's they're going to his Aunt Mindy's…" Natasha said, a thought springing to mind. "Do they have anyplace else to go?"
"They probably do." Steve said quickly, but he looked a little concerned.

"You know you got a birthday coming up in a couple a' months." His dad said, noticing Ace staring at the hero figurines. "Who's your favorite?"

"Me!" Tony said immediately, and Steve rolled his eyes. "What? It is probably me. I'm just popular, I can't help it."

"I'm okay," Ace said, looking sad.

Wanda frowned. Children should be able to have toys, she thought, remembering her own childhood on the streets with Pietro after their parents died. Vision seemed to sense her discomfort, and took her hand. Wanda's face went red, but for some reason she didn't feel like pulling away.

"Hey," The father bent over to be at the same level as his son. "Things are tight right now, but I'm gonna find something. Not back at the factory, but I got prospects. You and me, what are we?"

"We're a team," Ace answered, and the two fist-bumped.

"Okay," Steve said. "That is admittedly pretty cute."

"See? Not just me." Clint grumbled.

"It is." Natasha agreed, but quietly enough that no one had to hear her.

"That's right. So, who do you-" The top floor of the building across the street exploded outward. Screams and crashes spread through the street. The father shielded Ace from any shrapnel, staring up at the explosion in horror. On the street, people dodged fire and glass.

"Hydra?" Thor asked. "Or some other enemy?"

"I don't know." Steve frowned. "Hydra is usually subtler then that."

"Are you okay?" The father demanded of Ace. "Alright, Ace, look at me. I need you to stay here with Bernie, okay? People might be hurt I'm gonna see if they need my help. Stay with Bernie! Watch my boy!" The father shoved through the people fleeing the scene, heading for the wreckage.

"Does he have super powers?" Wanda wondered.

"I hope so. Otherwise, he might not be able to do much good, not without training." Natasha frowned.

The father made his way around the building to an alley at the back. A woman's voice screamed from above. "Help me! Help me!"

The father glanced around. Then he held up his hand like he was about to punch the wall.

Clint started, "Is he about to do what I think he's gonna-"

The father slammed his hand into the wall, and it sank in and stayed there. He jammed in his foot and another hand, climbing the wall.

"Well, he definitely has powers." Steve nodded.

"Lame powers." Tony said, checking his watch. "Pepper is gonna be mad at me, I was two hours late before this whole thing started, so this is just making me doubly-"

"Stark, shut up."

The father reached the window the woman had screamed from and threw his arms over the sill. He yelled in pain, but still managed to pull his hood over his head before throwing himself into the flame.

Everyone watching was tense, nervous to see what would happen and worried if something went wrong. They didn't even know him, but they were on the edges of their seats.

In the flaming building, the man struggled to see through the smoke. He kicked aside a burned-out door, and followed the voice. He only just managed to leap back as a beam fell down in front of him.

The screen changed to show people on the street, using their cell phones to film the explosion. Then, from one of the front windows, the hooded man leapt from the building, with a woman in his arms bridal style.

"Yes!" Tony cheered. "Go guy!"

He landed on the ground, leaving huge cracks in the concrete. For a moment, the screen showed him through one of the blurry phone videos. His face couldn't be seen. Then the phone video was gone, and he was lowering the coughing woman carefully to the ground.

The screen showed another young woman with dark hair and a leather jacket, staring and holding her camera.

"Isn't that like the third time they've shown her?" Tony realized.

"She must be important." Thor mused. "Perhaps she is an agent of SHIELD?"

"She'd be doing more." Natasha shook her head. "Maybe she'll figure out who he is."

The hooded man stood up, and for a moment the two stared at each other. Then he yanked his hood down and ran. The young woman who'd been filming him seemed like she wanted to follow, but went to the rescued woman on the ground, instead.

"Good choice." Steve nodded approvingly. "Helping the injured first."

"We can't explain everything we see." The woman narrator's voice was back as the man made his way through a crowd of people to his son, Ace, his jacket now tucked under his arm. "But our eyes are open. So what now? There are no more shadows for you to hide in." The man led Ace away from Bernie and through the crowd from the explosion site.

"Something impossible just happened." The woman narrated. The man glanced at the wreckage one more time, and then they were gone in the crowd. "What are you going to do about it?"

Suddenly, the image of the man and Ace were gone, replaced with a logo everyone watching knew well. The SHIELD eagle, with the words Marvel: Agents of SHIELD written over it.

"What the hell?" Clint asked. "They make it seem like a TV show."

"How did they get all of that footage?" Wanda wanted to know. "This should be impossible, yes?"

"Should, being the key word." Vision said with a vague smile.

The logo was gone, replaced by black cars driving along the a river. Paris, France appeared at the bottom of the screen as the cars all stopped.

"Okay, these guys are SHIELD agents." Tony decided. "The black vans totally give it away."

A man in a suit climbed from his car, speaking into a walkie-talkie. "Agent Ward, there's been a development. It's the Rising Tide."

"The whonow?" Steve had to ask.

"A group of hackers," Natasha explained. "They've caused a lot of trouble for SHIELD, and other government organizations. Hacking our servers and leaking info onto the net, things like that."

"I like them already!" Tony grinned. Natasha scowled.

Now on the screen was a man on a motorcycle, wearing all black. The man's voice could still be heard over the walkie-talkie. "They've pinned down the location of the package, we need to abort."

"I'm five minutes away from retrieving it," The man on the motorcycle said, sounding annoyed.

"Agent Ward?" Thor guessed.

"Probably." Clint shrugged.

"So was everyone else," The man on the walkie-talkie replied cooly. Agent Ward was coming to a stop in front of a restaurant. The walkie-talkie man continued. "They posted the coordinates online."

"Jeez." Tony raised his eyebrows. "Isn't that… really dangerous for a load of people?"
Natasha nodded slowly, like she was trying to explain all of this to a child.

"If the job was easy-" Agent Ward started to say, but walkie-talkie interrupted.

"Yeah, it wouldn't be any fun. Watch your six." Agent Ward pulled off his helmet, and the camera saw his face for the first time. He was handsome, with dark hair and eyes.

"I think I might know him," Natasha frowned suddenly. "He looks a little familiar."

"Makes sense," Wanda nodded. "You're both SHIELD agents, after all."

Agent Ward walked into the restaurant through the back door, slipping a tray out of his jacket. He walked through the kitchen and into the main dining area, now dressed as a waiter. He carefully placed a special cloth on the tray.

"Undercover as a waiter?" Tony asked scornfully. "Lame."

"Waiters hear everything," Clint said reproachfully.

"Red tie, by the window." The walkie-talkie guy's voice said. It was a little muffled.

"Is he in Agent Ward's earpiece?" The Vision asked. Wanda nodded.

Ward approached the man described, who was at a table with several other men. He said something in French, and subtitles flashed across the bottom of the screen. May I take your glass, sir?

The man quickly nodded and turned back to his companions. Ward took the glass and hurried away. At the back of the restaurant was a set of huge spiral stairs with a chandelier hanging over them. Ward strode up the stairs, waving the glass over the cloth on his tray. A handprint appeared in blue light, then flashed red, then turned off.

"What was that?" Thor asked curiously.

"He took the fingerprints from the glass," Natasha explained. "That cloth scans it and re-creates the fingerprints. We use it a lot at SHIELD."

"That's pretty cool," Tony admitted. "But I still don't get why we're watching this."

Suddenly, the screen changed to a lavish apartment. French singing could be heard from somewhere. The door quietly opened, and Ward slipped into the apartment. He closed the door behind him and made his way down the hallway, glancing around each doorway. He finally seemed to find what he was looking for, stopping by a large fireplace.

What he did next was odd. He twisted the top and bottom of his tray in opposite directions, and a ring of blue light appeared. He held it up, and it showed an x-ray of the wall. He followed it to a keypad hidden behind a painting, which he took down. He typed in the code, and held the stolen fingerprints to the scanner.

"How did he know the code?" Wanda asked.

"SHIELD has ways of knowing these things." Natasha said shortly.

"That's really creepy." Tony muttered.

"She just means that they've probably got surveillance on this place." Steve explained. He glanced sideways at Natasha. "That is what you meant… right?"

The entire fireplace slid up into the ceiling, while Ward looked unimpressed.

"That's cool," Clint said, nodding. "I think I should put one of those in my house."

"Laura would kill you." Natasha shook her head.

Behind the fireplace was a dimly lit small room with a table, a small pile of treasures set on it. Ignoring the piles of bills, Ward took a small cloth bag from the table and turned to leave.

"Why doesn't he take the money?" Tony frowned.

"Because he actually has morals."

"That explains it."

He was halfway out when he looked up and saw a blond woman in a dressing gown holding a wooden cooking spoon, frowning at him.

"She's not dressed…." Steve averted his eyes, ignoring Tony's sniggers.

The two stared at each other for a moment, and then Ward said, "Your fireplace is broken."

Tony and Wanda both laughed. "That's the best he had?" Clint smirked. "Jeez."

"It is not entirely inaccurate," The Vision said thoughtfully. "Lifting into the ceiling probably impairs the intended purpose of the fireplace."

Wanda shook her head at him.

The woman looked unimpressed, and for a moment the only noise was the French opera music, which had played the entire time. Then something was called in French from the front hall, the door bursting open, and Ward jolted into action. He threw his tray into the face of the first man inside.

"Nice," Steve said appreciatively.

The second man was swung into a bookcase. There appeared to be only two of them, but they kept getting back up. The bookcase man pulled a gun, but Ward yanked it out of his hand and it hit the floor. While they fought, the blond woman rolled her eyes and left the room. The man threw Ward to the floor and they were almost caught underneath the fireplace as it lowered to the floor, but Ward managed to roll out of the way.

"Ward," Walkie-talkie man was back. "Just a heads up, we've got possible hostiles in your vicinity."

"No kidding!" Clint laughed. "That warning came a bit late, don't you think?"

"I don't think he needed a warning," Natasha said. She'd been watching Ward fight, looking a little impressed. "He's a good fighter." Steve shot her a glance. Was he jealous? Okay, maybe a little. But he kept his mouth shut. He didn't even like Natasha in that way… right?

"Really?" Ward hissed as he and his attacker, in a headlock, fell backwards over the couch. The French woman, now fully dressed, was spotted leaving the house.

"She isn't even going to do anything?" Wanda said scornfully. "I'm not impressed."

Ward wrestled with both men, managing to kick one back into the sofa. The other grabbed him by the collar and shoved him into the kitchen counter. Ward punched him to the floor quickly, but the other man was almost on his feet again.

Ward grabbed a blender from the counter and smashed it in the sofa-man's face.

Everyone winced. "Ow."

The other man was on his feet again and tried to hid Ward with a frying pan, but Ward had pulled out a drawer and held it up in defense. He then smashed it over the man's head, and another punch sent him to the ground.

"He is an impressive fighter," Clint agreed. "Not much finesse, though."

Wanda snorted. "You don't have finesse, either."

"No arguments."

Ward kicked the man's face into the oven door. Then with a panted breath and a glance around, he was out the door.

The next shot showed a helicopter flying over Paris.

"His extraction?" Natasha guessed.

"Must be," Steve agreed.

Ward was shown climbing up onto a roof, jogging along and looking up at the helicopter.

"Did he seriously climb that high?" Tony wondered. "That's ten stories, at least."

The helicopter swung overhead, and Ward caught a rope lowered down to him. They swung out over the city, Ward holding onto knots in the rope.

"That must be terrifying." Thor commented.

"It is," Natasha agreed. "I've done it several times."

"What does SHIELD stand for, Agent Ward?" A familiar woman's voice asked.

"Hill," Steve, Natasha, and Clint all said at the same time. "What's she got to do with all of this? And what's all of this got to do with us?" Clint wanted to know.

"You will see," Vision promised.

Ward was now sitting at a metal table in a dark room, looking like he didn't want to be there. But he still answered immediately. "Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division."

"And what does that mean to you?" Hill asked. They still hadn't seen her on screen, but there was nobody else that it could be.

Ward hesitated. "It means someone really wanted our initials to spell out SHIELD."

Tony laughed. "My opinion of this guy just went up."

Hill was shown on the screen, sitting across from Ward and looking annoyed. Ward quickly revised his answer. "It means we're the line," He sighed. "Between the world, and the much weirder world. We protect people from news they aren't ready to hear. And when we can't do that, we keep them safe."

"That's a good way of putting it," Natasha agreed.

"That's a good way of justifying it." Tony corrected. They shot each other glares.

Hill tilted her head. Ward continued, pulling the small cloth pouch from his jacket. "Something turns up, like the Chitauri Neural Link," He pulled it out of the pouch and held up a small metal object.

"Chitauri what now?" Clint asked, confused.

"The Chitauri Neural Link is a classified object," Vision immediately answered. "I cannot explain what it is. Mainly because our author doesn't know either, but thought somebody would probably ask."

"Huh?"

Ward slid it across the table to Hill. Words appeared at the bottom of the screen, in white: Agent Hill's Field Office. Location: Classified. "We get to it before someone bad does." Ward finished. Hill examined the link. It looked link a part of a spine, ridged and shiny black metal.

"That thing is disgusting," Wanda decided.

Hill stood up and walked to a man who was standing expectantly with an open black case. "Any idea who Vanchat was planning on selling it to?"
"I'm more interested in how this Rising Tide group found out about it." Ward said, obviously hoping for answers. "I thought they were just hackers. What changed?"
"Everything's changing," Hill said, hands on hips. "A little while ago people went to bed thinking the craziest thing in the world was a billionaire, in a flying metal suit."

Tony gave a fake grin, raised his hands, and pointed at himself enthusiastically. "Ooh, ooh, that's me! That's me!"

"We know, Tony," Steve rolled his eyes. "Shut up."

"Take a joke, Steve?" Bruce said, a little miffed at Steve. Tony looked surprised Bruce had sided with him, but didn't comment.

"Then aliens invaded New York, and were beaten back by, among others, a giant green monster, a costumed hero from the forties, and a god."

"Two things," Tony said, holding up two fingers. "He's not a god, and he's not a monster. She only got one out of two."

"And she left out me and Nat!" Clint said, pretending to be hurt. "Way to be a jerk, Hill."

"I don't think Thor is technically a god," Ward said, frowning at her.

"Thank you," Tony and Clint said at the same time.

"Close enough," Thor actually did look a little hurt. "More godly then any of you."

"Well, you haven't been near his arms." Hill shrugged.

Everyone but Thor (who was red-faced) and Vision (who was confused) laughed. "I'm thinking I'm starting to like watching this," Steve smiled. "It's actually not so bad."

"Say that at my funeral after Pepper murders me for not showing up," Tony sighed.

Ward pursed his lips. Hill kept talking. "The Battle of New York was the end of the world. This, now, is the new world."

"I can't tell if that's inspiring or depressing," Clint frowned.

"Little of column A, little of column B." Tony shrugged.

"People are different," Hill continued. "They have access to tech, to formulas, secrets they're not ready for."

Ward leaned forward, getting tired with her speech. "Why was I pulled out of Paris?"

"That you'll have to ask Agent Coulson."

Natasha, Steve, Clint, Tony, Thor, and Bruce all froze. Wanda and Vision exchanged slightly confused looks. "Who's Agent Coulson?" Wanda asked curiously.

"A friend," Clint said stiffly. "Died in the battle of New York. And if she just said that this is after the Battle of New York-"

"Are there some meds Hill is taking? Or should be taking?" Tony guessed.

"Is it possible that Coulson lived?" Bruce asked, glancing at Thor, who had been there when Coulson had been stabbed through the heart by Loki.

"Nay," Thor said darkly. "I wish it was so, but I saw my brother's scepter go straight though Coulson's heart. He could not have survived a wound like that."

"Everyone mourned him," Natasha nodded, trying to convince herself. "Clint and I went to his funeral. It's not possible that he's alive. He just isn't. I wish he was but he isn't."
"Uh… yeah." Ward gave a clearly fake smile. "I'm clearance level six. I know that Agent Coulson was killed in action, before the Battle of New York."

"Maybe Hill's just crazy," Clint suggested. "That's possible, right?"

The screen changed to show a dark corner. Ward finished, "Got the full report."

Then Agent Coulson stepped out of the shadows. "Welcome to level seven."

AU: End of the chapter! I was originally planning to have a chapter for every episode, but this is already getting to nine pages and we're only in the first ten minutes of episode one. So I guess I'll just stop wherever the hell I feel like, or wherever will bug you guys the most! Please favorite/follow or leave a review in the comments!