Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers
Present Day
5 months after fall of S.H.I.E.L.D
Steve's P.O.V
Two and a half years. That's how long it's been since the Avengers had gathered together. During that time they had went their separate ways. Some went into hiding and others went about their daily routine. Sometimes a little crisis might have brought a few of them together but generally they had kept out of each other's personal lives. Now though they'd been called together by Fury. Currently Steve and his friend Sam Wilson were heading to Avengers Tower. He and Sam were coming back from Los Angeles where they had been following a lead on Bucky's whereabouts. Ever since S.H.I.E.L.D had fallen he and Sam had been trying to find Bucky, but so far they hadn't had any luck. But now the search would have to be put on hold until whatever crisis had come up was dealt with.
When they got there they noticed that the others had already arrived. Stepping out of the car that they had arrived in, Steve took in the building. The first and only time he had been at the tower had been when they were fighting Loki. Since then the building hadn't changed all that much. The only thing that had changed was the logo, which was now an A, standing for the Avengers, and the fact that it didn't have any damage to it.
"Dang, that's one building," said Sam admirably, coming up from behind him. He nodded. With Sam trailing behind him, he entered the building and walked up to the receptionist. After asking for some directions they headed up the tower. When they finally reached their floor, they found the others mostly spread out around the room. The atmosphere was one of confusion and akwardness.
"Hey Spangles! It's about time you showed up!" Ignoring Sam who was snickering, he turned towards Tony.
"Stark," he said curtly, annoyed by the nickname.
"Rogers!" Smiling he turned saw Natasha walking towards him. After returning her hug, he greeted the other Avengers. After greeting the rest he introduced them to Sam.
"This is Sam Wilson. He's been helping me with a few things. I hope you don't mind that I brought him along. I figured he could help with whatever we were called in for," said Steve. Sam raised his hand in greeting. With the reminder of the reason why they were all there, they turned towards Fury who had been silent throughout the whole exchange.
"Alright, now that you've all said your greetings it's time for business," said Fury standing up off the couch he had been sitting on. Seeing that Fury had their attention, he continued. "As you all know, S.H.I.E.L.D. was taken over by Hydra, forcing us to shutdown it down. HYDRA has been the main threat that we've been focusing on since they've come out into the open. However, recently we've come across a new potential threat."
"Potential?" asked Natasha.
"I say potential because so far she has both aided us in our missions and has also gone against us during our missions," said Fury. Grabbing a remote, Fury brought up a holographic screen. On it was a picture of a young woman with brown hair, blue eyes, along with information, most likely about her. He noticed that there was little to no info on her. Looking around, he saw that he wasn't the only one who noticed. The woman had and slightly tanned skin.
"Her name is Annalysia Martin. She is the leader of a group called A.P.S. So far we have come across her a couple of times already. And recently we've come across a video that was sent to us ominously." After clicking a few buttons, a video started playing.
Immediately a woman came into view. Next to her were a man and a woman, most likely guards or people that worked for her. In her hand she held a large gun. She also looked as if she had just gotten back from a fight. Her white tank top was covered in dirt and her hair was a bit disheveled. By the way the camera was aimed, it looked as if someone was trying to secretly record everything. The woman started addressing some unknown group of people.
"My name is Director Annalysia Martin of A.P.S, and these are my agents. Now given recent events and what was going not even an hour ago, I know you're not very trusting of new people right now. But I can assure you that as long as you are under my care, no harm will come to you. Right now, my goal is to get all of you safely out of here and to help you back on your feet. However before I can do that, I want to be sure that you know that while I don't expect you to trust me just yet, I expect you to try and not trick me or deceive me in anyway." Suddenly the woman turned towards the camera, as if she had known all along that she was being recorded. She walked toward the person recording and grabbed the camera away from the person. A second later the camera turned to static.
The room was silent for a couple of seconds. Everyone was trying to take in everything. The first to speak was Clint.
"What's A.P.S?" he asked.
"We're not sure. We've never heard of it before. Our guess is that it is a fairly new group. That video took place 5 months ago," said Fury.
"Around the time that S.H.I.E.L.D fell," he said. Fury nodded.
"As of yet, we haven't heard a single word from those agents. No trace of them at all. And those who had families went missing around the same time as well, and unfortunately we don't know exactly what she wants," Fury said.
"Is there any sort of record on her?" asked Tony.
"Unfortunately no. We haven't found any evidence that she even exists," said Fury.
"How can someone not exist?" asked Thor.
"Well she could be going by a different name. It could be a false identity," said Natasha. Thor nodded.
"Is there anything else that you found on her or her group?" asked Bruce. Fury shook his head.
"So what does that have to do with us?" he asked.
"What we are planning to do is set up a mission," said Fury. Everyone looked at him confusedly. "It will be a mission within a mission. There is an event this evening and we've discovered that she will be there. Right now agent Hill is gathering the other agents that will be there. I want all of you to be there as well. We're going to see if we can corner her and hopefully bring her in."
5 hours later, all of them were dressed in suits or in Natasha's case gown, heading to a party some rich guy was throwing. Agent Hill had managed to get all of them invitations to the party. Once they arrived they all went over the plan one last time. Each of them were going to be stationed in certain parts of the mansion that the party was taking place at. The mansion itself was a large 2 story building, complete with a large ballroom, multiple rooms, and a garden out back. They were to keep an eye out for any sign of the woman or anyone that might be associated with her. If they did find her, they had to get her away from the area and hopefully detain her and bring her back to the Avengers Tower. He and Thor were going to be placed in the ballroom to keep an eye out for her there in case she happened to show herself. Natasha and Clint were going to be stationed on the other two floors of the building. And Tony was going to out back in a van with the other technological crew. The other agents were all spread about the whole building.
After a couple of hours of no citing of her, he began to grow tired and impatient. Just as he was about to contact the others, he saw someone move out of the corner of his eye. At first he started to dismiss it as just another dancer, but then he took another look and stopped short. Standing just ten feet away from him was a woman around his age. She wore a red long-sleeved dress and bright red lipstick, like the ones that the woman in his time would have worn. With a start he realized that she was looking straight at him. Not wanting to lose her, he quickly made his way towards her. However as soon as he started to move, she started to move away. But after following her easily enough, he realized that she wanted him to follow her. Unsure as to whether he should continue following her or not he tried contacting the others, only to be met with static. He looked around the room to see if he could spot the others, but he couldn't spot anyone. After trying a few more times to contact the others he gave up. He quickly took off the ear piece, and after debating whether or not to continue on with the plan, he followed her.
A couple minutes later, he found himself outside in the garden in the back. Looking around, he couldn't spot her anywhere.
"So you're the infamous Steve Rogers." Startled he turned around and found the woman propped against the side of the building. He must have walked right past her as he came outside. "You look as good as the others say."
"Who are you?" he asked.
"You already know that," she said. She stepped away from the wall. "I suggest you start asking the right questions Mr. Rogers," she said, walking towards him. He slowly put his hand towards the gun he had hidden at his hip. She must have seen because she stopped walking towards him and put her hands up. "I'm not here to harm you in anyway. I want to help you," she said.
"Help me? Help me with what? What do you want?" he asked. She smiled at him.
"Good you're asking the right questions, and as to what I want to help you with, I want to help you understand that you're not alone. That you're not the only one," she said.
"The only one? Look I'm going to have to take you in with me," he said. She said nothing. As he approached her she didn't move. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a pair of handcuffs.
"You know my favorite sweet as a kid was always the Johnson's chocolate," she said suddenly. "Though I had also loved Whiteman's Chocolates as well. I had a thing for chocolate as a kid, though since my parents couldn't afford much, those were a rarity." He looked at her confusedly, not understanding why she was mentioning it. In the back of his mind though, he thought the names sounded familiar. Suddenly she grabbed him and kissed him.
For a couple of seconds, all he was aware of was her lips pressed against his. By the time he realized what was happening she had already let go. He looked at her stunned.
"What-" he started only to be cut off by a sudden wave of dizziness. Startled, he looked back at her. He stumbled. "What did you do to me?" he managed to ask. She reached out and grabbed his arm to help steady him.
"Don't worry, it isn't harmful. It'll only put you to sleep for a little while," she said assuredly. "I know that it'll take a while for you trust me, but I promise you that I'm not your enemy." As it grew harder for him to stay awake, he felt her wrap her arms around him and gently ease him onto the ground. "Soon you'll understand everything," he heard her say. Unable to stay awake any longer, he fell unconscious.
AN: Hey everyone I'm back! I hope you liked it. Let me know what you thought about it. Thank you to everyone that reviewed, favorited and followed this story. They mean a lot. The next update should be next week, so I'll see you then!