AN: A few things. One: I love you reviewers. Seriously, you guys are amazing. Every time I see I have one, I get all giggly. Two: I'm not too sure of the dates in Captain America. And I am assuming that Steve got the serum at the same time as the London Blitz, and that the Captain Harkness that disappeared was the one who vanished with the Doctor and Rose. Enjoy :D
"I call shotgun!" Clint 'Hawkeye' Barton declared as Tony unlocked a sleek, four door beamer. This declaration earned him a lazy punch from the Black Widow, a lazy punch for her that is.
"Ow! Tasha" Clint complains, rubbing his arm and glaring at her. Natasha glared back, the two spooks communicating silently. Clint pouts.
"Fine… Tash calls shotgun" Clint sulks.
Natasha smiles and makes her way to the front seat as Clint and Steve open the two back doors.
"Uh, don't you think that I should have the front?" Bruce Banner asks, eyeing the back seat with concern.
"You have more self-control than I do Doctor" Natasha replies hopping in. Bruce sighs and makes Clint shift to the middle seat before getting in.
Tony starts the car, which comes to life with a silent growl, and then hollers at Steve. Steve had frozen by the open car door, staring at the street corner.
"Hurry up Cap! We haven't got all day."
But Steve wasn't listening, he was too busy focused on a memory he had just watched walk around the corner.
Handsome. Strong jaw line. World War two great coat.
Captain Jack Harkness. But… It can't be… I'm here though…
"Cap! Cap! Steve!"
"Huh? Oh, right" Steve sits in the car, squashing Clint slightly, and closes the door.
"You all right there Cap?" Tony asks, pulling into the street.
"Yeah…. I just thought I saw someone I knew."
"So… You want me to find an old friend of yours from the forties?" Tony asks, taking a sip of amber liquid.
"Yes, Captain Jack Harkness" Steve replies, slightly agitated.
"Well JARVIS, you heard the man. Find Captain Jack Harkness for us" Tony orders his British sounding AI.
"Searching right now sir" JARVIS replies, his circuitry combing every scrap of information accessible to him for Captain Jack Harkness.
"So who was this Harkness fellow?" Tony asks, setting his empty glass on the kitchen table.
"He's an old friend of mine who was involved with the super soldier program in World War two" Steve answered, mind going back. Luckily for Steve, JARVIS finishes his search and announces his findings before Tony could continue pestering Steve.
"One match for Captain Jack Harkness found. RAF pilot who disappeared in London during the London Blitz in World War two."
Confusion breaks Steve out of his nostalgic state.
"Wait, what?!" He exclaims, drawing Tony's attention.
"Captain Jack Harkness was a RAF pilot who disappeared during the London Blitz during World War two, Mr Rogers" JARVIS repeated, leaving out the exasperation that he usually showed when speaking to his master and maker.
"What's the matter?" Tony asks.
"I read about the London Blitz before I was injected with Dr Erksine's serum. I had already met Captain Jack Harkness when he was supposed to be in London disappearing" Steve explained, confused. Tony pauses, mulling the dilemma over with his less than sober brain.
"So… A name from a successful experiment decades ago doesn't match up with recorded history. And wasn't the experiment attacked any ways?" Tony says, refilling his glass.
"Tony! Shouldn't we tell someone? Fury?" Steve asks, not all that shocked at Tony's reaction.
"You can if you want" Tony answers, walking off towards the elevator, presumably to go to his lab.
"Sir, I wouldn't if I were you" JARVIS interrupts, "Fury has just arrived and he asked me to get everyone to the briefing room ASAP." Tony stopped and gave an irritated sigh.
"JARVIS, we have already talked about this. Fury doesn't get in this building without permission from me" Tony explained to his AI like he was talking to a child. But he doesn't do anything about it, just gesture for Steve to follow him.
"Well, now you can tell Nick about your little conspiracy theory" Tony quipped, as they both walked to the elevators. Steve shook his head at Tony's callous behaviour, but Captain Jack Harkness remained stuck in Steve's mind.
Five of the six Avengers (Thor is still on Asguard) sat around an oblong table, reading the information etched on the guts of manila files. Fury stood at the head of the table leading the briefing for the Avengers next mission.
"We had everything in place to take this group down. We were going to catch them red handed in an act of terrorism" Fury was saying, sounding slightly irritated which translated into being totally pissed off for Nick Fury. Something had happened to the organisation that SHIELD was after this week, and where there was a flurry of activity was now silence. It was like a man falling dead from an aneurysm. One minute healthy and full of life, dead and silent the next.
All SHIELD had left was one warehouse that still showed signs of life.
Tony raised his hand, a question basically falling off of his lips, but Fury ignored him. Not that that deterred Tony.
"So what happened? Your minions screw up?" The question fell off Tony's lips full of snark and cynicism.
"No Mr Stark, the organisation suddenly fell silent. One minute there's chatter and we're receiving intel about an attack on American soil, the next, nothing." Fury responded, one of his hands twitching unnoticeably with the urge to smack the genius inventor.
"How does that just happen?" Bruce asked, voice quiet and enquiring.
"We don't know" Fury answered politely, liking Dr Banner more than Tony, "that's why I'm sending you guys to the last warehouse of theirs that has a mere whisper coming from it to investigate." Bruce nodded, satisfied with the answer before asking another question.
"You won't need me though" the statement was more of a question.
"No, we won't need your alter ego. You'll stay behind with me and help on this side of the op Dr Banner" Fury answers, mollifying Bruce.
"What do you think about this Captain? You've been awfully quiet over there" Fury continued, pulling Steve from the depths of his mind.
Steve's head jolted up, his gaze suddenly shifting from the papers on the table to Fury.
"Sorry sir, what was the question?" Steve answered. He had been reading the file in front of him and thinking about Jack Harkness. Fury stared at Steve for a brief moment, studying him.
"Go get ready. I expect you guys to be on the helicarrier in one hour" Fury ordered. He then sat down as the top-notch team got up and left, minus their esteemed and currently distracted leader.
"Everything all right Cap?" Fury asks, shuffling through papers in a file.
"Don't know" Steve responds, eyes downcast, deep in thought again. Fury stopped moving the papers around and looks at Steve, waiting.
"I had Tony look up an old friend today" Steve started, "and… records show that when he was in America working with me he was actually in the London Blitz going MIA."
"And who's this soldier?" Fury asked.
"Jack Harkness. Captain Jack Harkness."
Fury sighed. Harkness. He hadn't realised that Torchwood had stuck their noses in the super soldier program in the forties. Steve looked up at the sigh, eyeing Fury sharply.
"You know something sir?" Steve suspiciously asked.
"Captain Jack Harkness was a part of a rogue British organisation called Torchwood. Now Torchwood dealt with aliens and their tech. But they, and Captain Harkness, have been dealt with. Torchwood has been disbanded" Fury answered, mind going back to a report he read recently about the 456 incident. Steve's brow furrowed as he mulled over this new information about the man he once had feelings for.
Rogue organisation? Jack? I… I… I don't know…
"You sure?" Steve asked, tiredly propping his chin on his hands.
"About what?" Fury asked.
You sure that Jack is basically a traitor.
"I don't know"
Steve, Clint, and Natasha filed onto the quinjet, Steve and Clint stowing their respective equipment before taking a seat. Clint and Natasha took the pilot and co-pilot seats, relegating Steve to one of the passenger seats in the cockpit. Outside the window, Iron Man was wandering around the hanger, waiting for them.
"You slow pokes ready yet?" Tony's bored voice came over the speakers. None of the occupants of the aircraft paid the eccentric genius any attention, and Natasha used the radio to talk to those on the bridge of the helicarrier.
"This is Quinjet Three and Iron Man ready for departure."
"You guys are good to go, what's your ETA?" Fury responded, voice not showing his Tony stressed state.
"Uhh, about thirty minutes Fury" Clint replied, pushing a button that caused the engines to rev.
"OK, contact us when you land. Good luck" and Fury's disembodied voice left them alone. Clint and Natasha collectively flipped a few switches and pushed a few buttons, and the quinjet rose.
"Race you guys there" Tony taunted and then he and his red-and-gold Iron Man suit jumped out of the hanger, vanishing with a blink of the eye. The two super spies exchanged a look of mixed confidence, annoyance, and glee. Steve caught the look and instinctively reached for the chairs seat belt, and not a moment too soon. The second the belt clicked into place, the jet was propelled out the hanger after Iron Man.
"Watch out Stark" "We're gonna get you" Hawkeye and Black Widow taunted; and together, they piloted the quinjet more skilfully and dangerously than Tony flew his Iron Man suit.
"Just get us there in one piece please" Steve quips, internally supporting the duo in this impromptu race.
"Cap" Clint all but simpers.
"Don't under estimate us" Natasha finishes, and Steve could hear their grins in their tones.
A comfortable silence descended on the group, Tony, Clint, and Tasha all focused on piloting their vessels and Steve focused on the mystery that is Captain Jack Harkness.
As per usual with Tony, the silence didn't last long. It only lasted fifteen-twenty minutes before the speakers blared into life bearing Tony's voice.
"So Cap, did you tell ol' Nicky about your friend?"
Steve didn't respond. He grabbed a headset and slid it over his head and took a breath.
"Yeah… Yeah I did Tony" is Steve's vague response, and he lapses into another silence. Tony, Natasha, and Clint wait a few minutes for Steve to elaborate, some more patiently than others. He doesn't.
"Annnnd" Tony impatiently prompts, drawing out the 'and'. Steve maintains his silence for a few seconds, gathering his words.
"Fury knew of him. Apparently Jack was a part of a rogue organisation called Torchwood. But… they've been dealt with according to Fury."
Clint and Natasha surreptitiously tensed up, not that anyone would be able to tell, at the mention of Torchwood. Being high up in the world of assassins, spooks, and secrets, they had heard numerous rumours about Torchwood and their enigmatic leader. That and, they all knew what Fury meant by 'dealt with'.
The rumbling of hard pushed engines made background music for the silence as everyone pondered Steve's words and their implications.
The engine-backed silence rots, becoming awkward.
A piece of machinery beeped, and Iron Man appeared on the radar.
Tony shatters the spoiled silence.
"Impressive, you guys actually caught up" Tony's voice was tinged with grudging respect. The super spies wore identical smirks and the distance between them and Tony began visibly shrinking.
"Thank your lucky stars Stark" Natasha muttered sounding almost petulant before communicating with SHIELD. "We've arrived and are about to land, we'll contact you upon completion of the mission."
"Affirmative Widow" Fury replied from a few hundred miles away, "remember, we want survivors."
"Gotcha Fury" Natasha replied, and Clint absently nodded. Fury's reminder was meant for the both of them.
Clint and Natasha began landing procedure, leaving Iron Man hovering above them. The quinjet touched land similar to a butterfly, and Clint and Steve unbuckled to gather their equipment. Natasha also takes her seat belt off, but remains sitting, doing some post flight check-ups. A thud outside signalled Tony's landing and the trio joined their teammate outside, armed and dangerous.
Outside was hot. Shrubs cling to the light brown ground, their greedy roots cracking the very ground supporting them. In the distance was a barn, belonging to the group they were after. It didn't look like the warehouse Fury had been talking about. It looked slightly dilapidated and worn, but every member of the Avengers knew not to judge a book by its cover. Who knew what could be hidden inside the very barn they were approaching.
"We ready to rumble?" Tony asked, voice distorted by his face plate.
"We are, but first, can you do a scan of the building to see the numbers inside?" Steve asked, taking the role of leader that the other Avengers nominated him for.
"Sure thing Cap" Tony answered, stepping closer to the old building to do the scan.
"Hawkeye, when we breach, I want you up high keeping an eye on things and taking out targets that we miss" Steve continues ordering, turning to Natasha, "you, Iron Man, and I will scout the floor and find out what we can."
Black Widow and Hawkeye nod their acceptance of Cap's orders and Iron Man turns back to the team.
"Something's going down guys. There's a handful of heat blobs inside, but one blob seems to be killing the other blobs" Tony reported.
"Let's go, Tony, you go on head and get a visual on the situation inside" Cap commanded urgently, and the Avengers charged. Captain America, Hawkeye, and Black Widow on the ground and Iron Man streaking just above the ground.
Just as Tony reached the falling down barn, one of the doors opened a crack, releasing one person in a great coat before the entire barn exploded.
Tony was sent spiralling out of the sky, nearly hitting his teammates. Thankfully they had been knocked to the ground by the explosion and out of the way of the flying Iron Man. The man who had gotten out of the barn before the explosion was also sent flying, with a wooden beam in his back.
"That went well" Clint commented, getting to his feet and helping Tasha up. Clint often took pride, internally, of being one of the few people that Natasha trusted enough to allow them to help her up.
"I'll say" Tasha replied "that looked like a self-destruct."
"Fury's gonna be pissed" is all Tony said as he joined the two spies in staring at the smouldering wreckage. Clint and Tasha agreed, both remembering the survivor order Fury gave them.
Steve got to his knees and froze. The lone escapee was lying on his stomach with a piece of the barn protruding from his back.
"Aw jeez" Clint groaned, having turned back and seen the dead guy, "that looks painful." Natasha and Tony turned back to look at the body,
"Got that right bird-brain" Tony muttered before noticing that Steve was still on his knees. "Cap?"
Three pairs of eyes settled on a shell shocked Steve, who was still staring at the body in front of him. Natasha made the first move, kneeling next to him and putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey Steve, you ok?"
"It's him" Steve whispered, eyes wide and glued to the body. The man was wearing the tattered remains of a World War Two officer's coat and from what could be seen of his face, you could see his strong jaw line.
Jack? I... I did see him? What? Jack…
Steve got to his feet, inadvertently shaking Tasha's hand off, and pulled the giant sliver of wood from his back.
"Who Steve?" Natasha spoke again as Steve turned to face his team.
"Captain Jack Harkness, the friend I told you about on the jet."
The dead body of Jack Harkness shuddered and gasped, suddenly full of life.