Chapter One

The room was silent and I could feel my heart beating hard in my chest, in fact I could hear it. I couldn't speak. Phil wasn't kidding. I didn't even know what to think. I wasn't angry or sad I was just blank, too stunned for emotion. Too confused to understand. Wondering what would happen to me didn't seem cross my mind.

Phil wasn't betraying me, I knew that. I shouldn't have been snooping. But... I...I don't know. I expected more or him. Deep down he cared, I knew it, but most of the time he was a mindless company man.

I quickly sent the files on my phone out to my home computer and a secured email address. I had a feeling that I would need leverage out of this situation.

Almost silently, I heard someone come back down the hall. Not someone, a group of people. As they got nearer and nearer my heart began to race, until finally the feet stopped and that door fatefully swung open.

Two tall, built agents stood in front of me, with Fury trailing. Phil was nowhere in sight.

"I assume I'm in trouble." I said after what felt like a minute of silence. Fury signaled the two and they began to escort me somewhere. Back through the hallway I noticed that further on up, where my room was, the door was opened and people were walking in and out with my belongings.

"What's going on. Did I blow my final chance?" I asked, directing my comment to the ever silent director.

"No. But as this is a top secret initiative, you will be forced into a secure holding area until the appropriate action can be taken." he replied sternly. This was being taken seriously and I knew that I was in deep shit.

"Are you going to wipe my memory or something?" I said joking, trying to lighten up the mood as we went deeper and deeper into headquarters.

"It's a possibility." Fury said un-nervingly. I gulped, it was supposed to be a joke...

We had been walking for a solid ten minutes before I realized I had no idea where we were. We were in a section of base that I had never been permitted to enter. We turned a corner and Fury put in a password and the machine scanned his eyes and asked him to speak before we could enter the next section.

"You're relieved men." he said dismissing my 'escorts'.

The doors slid open and Fury gestured for me to enter first.

"How much did you read about the tesseract?" he asked wryly as we walked into a large tech'd out room.

"Not too much, to be honest. I was more interested in the people with superpowers thing." I said straightly, "Some box with power."

Fury chuckled a bit, "And we were worried you were an enemy spy."

My mouth dropped when I suddenly realized where we were. The room had an array of technicians running around crazy, but more than that, sat a little blue cube in the center of the room. The Tesseract.

"This isn't exactly a secure holding facility for people is it?" I said stunned. This place was honestly amazing.

"The guards that brought you here, not briefed for clearance. They had to believe we were taking you somewhere else." A familiar voice said from the shadows.

"Why?" I questioned turning to the direction it came from. High in the rafters someone dropped down and walked steadily in front of me. I knew who he was instantly. Agent Clint Barton. Master archer and all round freak of an agent.

"Because you've got yourself right in the thick of things, and there are consequences." Barton said outstretching his hand.

"Agent Barton." I nodded receiving his shake.

"Agent Coulson... Jr." he remarked slyly.

"Come with me." Fury said as he descended down a nearby flight of stairs. The two of us sheepishly followed, myself in the center and Agent Barton warily behind.

"Does everyone think I'm a traitor or something?"

"Yes and No." Clint snickered.

"While I believe it is a simple mistake on your part, it has dragged you down into a deeper part of S.H.I.E.L.D. Don't expect to be going on anymore 'spy' missions anytime soon... You're here—," Director Fury started, stopping to open up another door that led into a back room, onlooking the Tesseract, "Sit. You're here because we can't erase what you saw, unless someone loosed a bullet in the back of your head and quite frankly we could use an extra staff member."

"Wait... hold up. You want me to be a part of the Avengers?" I asked dumbly, ignoring the death threat he posed.

"No my dear," Fury laughed, "Only people with powers beyond normal humans joins that rank. People that can fight the battle's we can't, against enemies we never dreamed of."

"I still don't see why I'm here..."

"I know stealth and secrecy aren't your forte, but it's time you learnt them. Quick smart. We are only allowing you in on this because we know you're a good intentioned agent. Also your brother is a close friend of mine and I would prefer not to loose that over a decision made hastily." Fury slid another folder, identical to Phil's, across the table as we spoke.

I began to pan through it, everything was here. When I first looked at it I didn't exactly pay to much attention to detail, noticing some familiar name here and there, but now (supposedly because this was mean't for me) I understood. Names, skills, accomplishments piled up in my brain. Memorizing. Tony Stark, rejected. Bruce Banner, under surveillance. Even Clint was in here. But one page stopped me dead in my tracks, the most familiar name. Steve Rogers, Captain America. Phil's idol... who died nearly 70 years ago.

"How can Captain America be part of the team? He's dead..." I asked.

"Read on." Fury egged.

"Captain Rogers was found frozen in the middle of the Arctic circle on July 29th, 2012. Found along with shield of un-identifiable metal, he has been in a cryogenic state overly the last 70 years. He has not aged and appears the same since 1942 when he was reported missing in action, presumed dead.

Currently resides at an off base training facility, to re-accustom him to modern living.

Skills: Super Soldier- heightened strength, agility, physicality, speed."

All I could manage to spit out was, "Does Phil know?"