"It's a pleasure to see you after so long, Captain America."

Alfred froze at the mention of his previous alter ego, silently glaring at Nick Fury. One tedious minute of dead air continued as Alfred defended his doorway.

"Um, M-Mr. Fury, you can, uh, come in, er, if you want-" Matthew started, only to receive a less-than-comforting look from the agent,"-s-sir..."

"I'd love to accept your request, Matthew, but your brother here doesn't seem to be having it..."

"Why the hell are you here, Agent Fury?" the mentioned blond asked pleasantly, though with underlying hostility.

However, Fury hardly seemed fazed, standing firmly in his position. "Is it really that bad to be reminded of your past, Alfred?" he smirked.

"I have no idea what you're even talking abou-"

"I have a hard time believing that, Mr. Jones. I do know the truth, even though the common public are still falling for that ludicrous story the media set up for you- they still think you're still frozen somewhere in Antarctica. And besides," he continued,"If you aren't really Steve Rogers, then why act so defensive?"

"I don't like people breaking into my house and accusing me of being someone who shouldn't have even existed, that's all. Now can you just le-"

"Technically, you shouldn't exist either. But you still do, living the way you do, day in, day out, always moving with the times. Things like that shouldn't exist, but they still do, don't they? And why? because that's just the way the world works, Alfred. You, of all people, shouldn't argue against an accusation just because it 'shouldn't exist'."

"I know damn well that something like that doesn't exist." The blonde retorted, unsuccessfully hiding a shudder.

Fury raised an eyebrow. "You just said that Captain America shouldn't have existed, and now you're saying he doesn't exist? Is he real or not?" Alfred looked down. "Or maybe," Fury continued,"you're just saying that Captain America isn't real right now? Saying that means you know he was real, only proving my point even further."

"Is there a reason you came?"

Nick smirked. "If there wasn't would I be here right now?"

o~o~o

Alfred sat on the couch opposite their new guest (whom Matthew had finally insisted come in) and leaned back. "So, the Tesseract is missing, huh?" he seemed to look a away pensively. "Why did you have it in the fist place?"

"We need to protect it from being put into the wrong hands. We may have even found a way to create an unlimited power source. Our agents were experimenting on it when it activated, creating a wormhole for Loki to come through and take it."

"Hm." Alfred took a sip from his beer and looked at Fury. "So what would you need me for?"

"You know enough about the Tesseract to be able to help us find it, so we need you on our sid-"

"Did I say anything about picking sides? It's not like I'm going to help you..." Alfred rested his bottle on the table and furrowed his brow as Fury reacted with a look of questionable surprise. "Do you really expect me to go back that quickly, sir? You can't just assume that things are going to go your way because you break into my house-"

"W-we let him in, Al..." Matthew cut in, only heard as a faint whisper to his brother.

"-whatever. I'm not going back, Fury. As much as fighting evil sounds dandy, I don't want to work my ass off only to get kicked out by another organization that only wanted me to get their dirty work done."

"What if we said you were going to be provided with extra help, Mr. Jones?"

"Then they would be better off without me. I haven't done that for years now, I'd be more of a burden than actual help."

The other man shook his head. "This isn't just your normal team of sidekicks, Alfred," he pointed out. "We've found a way to start the Avengers Initiative."

Alfred rolled his eyes. "Enlighten me, please," he taunted.

"We found a way to bring together a group of incredible individuals, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, to work as a team to find the Tesseract and protect it from being used for the wrong purposes. You wouldn't be doing this just for our organization - by doing this, you'd also be protecting the people." Finally, instead of retaliating, Alfred remained silent a knowing glint in his eyes. He didn't seem fully convinced, according to Fury's observations, but at least he had struck a chord in the previous hero, who had diverted his attention towards his apartment floor.

However, in an ever-hesitant voice, Alfred's brother spoke. "Um, sir, I, uh, understand your intentions, but don't think you were there when Alfred was actually a hero... He wasn't very excited at first, but soon he'd gotten used to fighting against evil and protecting others. He really did start feeling heroic, and he was so happy..." the Canadian stole a quick glance at his brother and continued,"But his enthusiasm ran short again after days turned to weeks and years... the war had gotten progressively worse, and it was taking a toll on every one of the nations. Everyone started to see different sides to Alfred... he would constantly go from being as cocky as ever to acting especially agitated... and more often than not, he would just get scared. He was scared for himself, his people, his own well-being... he was becoming something completely different than the blonde, blue-eyed and bushy-tailed guy everyone knew him for being, and he knew it. He spent every ounce of the anger he had left in him protesting to the military, and eventually he just left... And then he vowed not to return to his superhero life again. So um, understand that this is a particularly tough decision you're putting him through..."

The agent nodded as Matthew explained his brother's situation, fitting new information to the story that he had been told. Yet, something still didn't quite fit in... Why would the military just let Alfred run off on his own?

"So, when did Alfred give up his alter ego?"

"March of '45," Alfred cut in, as if it was written on the back of his hand. But his tone suggested that it wasn't a happy memory, saying it almost like a broken wind-up doll, wearing him own more each time he said it.

March of 1945... only months before the end of World War II. If his facts were correct, there was a prototype meant to be used by the U.S. Military as the ultimate weapon...

Alfred spoke again. "My opinion hasn't changed... I just can't do this thing anymore. I'd rather stay here than have to face that again..."

Fury stood. "I understand. Sorry for disturbing you Alfred... Matthew." he said, looking at each sibling. "I respect your opinions, but I must say it is quite the disappointment."

Matthew exchanged lightly shocked expressions for a quick moment, but he quickly stood to take Fury to the front door. "Sorry to waste your time, Agent Fury..." he whispered, shocked to receive a mystery object from said agent. Curious, he looked up, only to be returned with an all-knowing smirk.

"It's no problem," he stated, then said in the direction of the living room, "For the record, Mr. Jones, that ultimate killing machine never worked. It might comfort you to know that it's considered one of the U.S. Military's biggest technological failure of modern times." Alfred quickly straightened from his hunched position, ready to say something, but before getting to reply, Fury had closed the door and left.

"That was intense..." Alfred slowly said to re-establish the mood. "I'm pretty tired now..."

"It definitely was pretty intense" his brother agreed as he made his way from the front door. En route to the kitchen, Matthew discreetly slid Nick Fury's mystery paper to Alfred over the coffee table. "I guess that means you have a lot to sleep on." Alfred gently unfolded the paper, nearly dropping it as he disclosed what was previously hidden but careful creasing.

He wasn't sure what to do at first, but when Mattie was back around the corner in their miniscule shared kitchen, Alfred hastily stuffed Nick Fury's unfurled business card in his shirt pocket.

Hello all! I just wanted to say thanks for all the positive feedback! All f your reviews, follows, favorites, etc. make my day and have inspired me to get this chapter out as quickly as I could.

Now some important stuff - I may not be updating as often as I would like to because I have literally just started school again and I have some things to catch up with, so bear with me. I will still update ASAP, but updates may come somewhat slower in the future (that's also the reason why this chapter was a little bit late ^^)

Again, a special thanks to all those who left me feedback, and don't be shy if you have any issues in the story so far~