Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Sorry about the last one. The Morgan family is in for a little turmoil, but for you who know how my writing operates, you'll know it won't stay that way. So here's the new one! Thanks for the reviews :)

The first thing Derek heard when he came back to consciousness was the sound of buzzing. He couldn't see anything, but he could hear it all. His other senses were extremely heightened. Where was he? He couldn't remember what happened exactly. Everything was fuzzy. Gradually though, he found the ability to open his eyes. Things were slightly blurry while he waited for his vision to adjust. It was a stark white lab room that he was in. He was lying on a table, that much he could tell. Slowly, he began to sit up, rubbing his head. His whole body felt wired, like there was electricity running through his veins and charging his body. As he sat, perched on the edge of the table, he vaguely remembered an explosion, a flash of light and a boom. He remembered the unsub and trying to talk him down. As he looked around, he realized he wasn't in a normal hospital room; it looked more like a laboratory than anything else.

But then the thought went through his head: how was he even breathing right then? A blast such as the one he remembered would have killed him. He should be dead. Jumping to his feet, he looked around wildly. He had to find out what happened. He needed to find Penelope and let her knew that he was alright by some miracle.

Locating the door, he strode towards it and attempted to wrench it open and find someone to tell him where his wife was. But the door was locked.

"What the fuck?" he demanded. He beat against the steel door with his bare fists. He was so focussed on getting out that he didn't even notice he had begun dent the door with nothing but his hands. "Hey! Hey, let me out of here!" This had to be a dream. Why the hell couldn't he make it out of here? "Hey, can anyone hear me?"

Realizing the door wasn't going anywhere, he backed away and started looking around the room for ways to get out. So far though, he wasn't finding anything. The room was fairly empty, save for medical supplies and equipment. On one wall was a huge mirror, and he took the opportunity to look at himself. He didn't look any different. He looked like he normally did. But it was how he was feeling that was making him uncertain. He felt hyper-aware of his surroundings and movements; he felt like he had energy drink getting injected into his body at a rapid pace. His heart was racing uncontrollably, thumping roughly against his ribcage.

But suddenly, the hiss and groan of the door opening sounded from across the room, and he shot around to look at who it was.

In stepped a rough looking older man dressed in all black and an eyepatch covering his left eye. Immediately, he stepped back and picked up a scalpel on the counter. "Who the fuck are you?" he hollered. When the man merely crossed his arms over his chest and cocked his brow, he repeated himself. "Who are you? Tell me where I am! And where's my wife? I want to see her."

"Well, to answer your first question, I'm —"

Derek scowled at the stranger. "That's not the most important question I have," he snapped. "I'd rather know where my wife is."

Fury ignored him and kept going. "I'm Nick Fury, director of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division," he said.

"Got a shorter name for that mouthful?" Derek snapped in response.

"We call it S.H.I.E.L.D.," Fury said impatiently. "And put down that scalpel before you break it in half."

"I think I'll keep it," Derek said cautiously, not understanding why this one-eyed man was thinking he would break a hard metal scalpel.

Fury shrugged. "Fine then," he said nonchalantly. "Keep it. You won't need it."

"Why should I trust you?"

"Because we saved your life," he responded. "You wouldn't be alive if it weren't for this." He held up a syringe filled with electric blue liquid from his long trench coat's pocket.

Derek's eyes widened, and he stared at the syringe with shock. "What the fuck is that?" he said, his voice sounding hoarse as it came out.

Fury motioned for Derek to follow him. "Come with me," he said. "We've got to explain some things to you." He went to open the door and paused when he looked down at where Derek's fists had left imprints. Looking back over his shoulder at him, he nodded. "Impressive. Very impressive." He glanced back at Derek and moved his body so he could see what his fists had done. Derek was speechless, staring blankly at the door. Fury spoke up again. "Put the scalpel down. Come with me. We can talk. There are several things we need to explain to you."

"Who's we?" Derek said stiffly, putting the scalpel down and walking forward hesitantly.

"We're the 'we' he's talking about," a silky voice said.

Derek's eyes shot up from his hand prints on the door to see an incredibly good-looking woman with auburn hair and a slim, but toned physique. She smiled softly at him as Fury led him out of the room and into a hallway. It was an incredibly well-lit, high tech hall that looked like it belonged in a high security science lab. Where the hell was he?

"And you are?" he asked cautiously.

"Natasha Romanoff," she said smoothly. "Good to meet you, Agent Morgan."

He frowned at them all. "How do you all know my name? This sure as hell isn't a hospital. Where am I?"

"You're several miles up in the sky," Natasha answered him as she and Fury led him down the hall and towards a set of double doors.

"What do you —" He began to say before he was led into a control room with floor to ceiling windows that overlooked the clouds. His mouth dropped. Natasha hadn't lied; they were up in the sky. He strode forward, passing Fury and Natasha and looked out over the control deck at the high tech computer gears and massive number of people. "What is this place?" he asked in wonder. "How is —" But then he halted again as his eyes fell on something else. He'd turned around to see the large round table where he saw two people he'd recognize anywhere. He whirled around to face Fury. "Are those two who I think they are?" he said, pointing at the table where Thor and Captain America were sitting, looking over things with two other agents. He looked back at Natasha and cocked a brow. "And you were there in New York, too! I didn't recognize you at first, but…" His voice trailed off. "Why am I here?"

Fury motioned for him to join him at some of the screens. He used the touch screen to pull up a file of information on him, Derek Morgan. "You're here because we've been keeping an eye on you for the past year or so," he explained. "Seems a bit unusual, but we needed to know if you were viable candidate."

"A viable candidate for what?" Derek asked.

"We wanted to recruit you to be an agent for us, for S.H.I.E.L.D.," Fury stated. "We were planning on offering you a job before this happened with the bombing in the city. You're quite the exceptional agent and profiler." He moved the screens to show footage of him chasing the unsub through the lobby of the Chrysler Building. "However, after this happened with the firebombs, merely asking you to come work for us wasn't going to work."

A man wearing a pair of sunglasses — even though they were inside — came up towards them and nodded to Derek. "This the FBI man you guys have been tracking down?"

"How many people seem to know who the fuck I am?" Derek demanded. "You all know who I am, so do me a favor and tell me who you are."

Taking his sunglasses off, the man nodded to him. "Clint Barton," he said. "People seem to enjoy calling me the Hawk, though."

Derek fixed him with a harder look and studied him carefully. "Are you the one with the bow?" he asked. "From New York?"

"See, people seem to know exactly who our buddies Ironman, Thor, Cap, and Hulk are, but no one seems to know who Natasha and I are," Barton said sarcastically. "Nat and I were there, too though."

Cocking a brow, Derek returned his gaze to Fury. "Okay, so I've met these two," he said. "But I want to know how I'm alive. You said it had to do with that syringe. What is it? How am I here?"

"You're here because of this man right here," Fury said pulling up a new screen, this time with a photo of a man from several decades ago. Another photo popped up next to him, this time one of Captain America. "You're here because of the serum created by Dr. Abraham Erskine, that our labs have been modifying. The original serum was used by Erskine and the army on that man over there." He pointed in the direction of Captain America. "The serum made him a stronger and better soldier. You've been injected with a different version of this same drug."

Derek stared at him incredulously. "You're telling me that you put a drug in me that made me another version of Captain fuckin' America?" he demanded.

Having heard his name being said in a rather unsavory manner, the Cap looked up in their direction and observed them for a moment. "Nice to meet you, Agent," he called. "Welcome to the team. Fury tells me we could use a man like you." He nodded and smiled to him, looking just like the ads Derek had seen about him all over the place: the definition of patriotism and righteousness.

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm telling you," Fury said, interrupting his thoughts on the Cap. "But there are some major differences…namely, this one."

He switched the screen again, moving onto a photo of a man who looked chargrilled in many ways. Derek was horrified looking at it, seeing the charred skiing and characteristics masked by the disfigurement of the body. But when he looked closer at it, he realized that it was him he was staring at. His throat dried up in the same way a desert would when hit directly by the sun. "That…is that me?" he asked with difficulty.

"Yes," he said. "That's you. Two days ago."

Derek glared at him. "How the hell is that me from two days ago?" he said harshly. "There is no way I should look like nothing is wrong with me."

"Well, you didn't die on impact, and because you didn't die, we decided to test the serum to see if it would save your life," Fury said. "This version of Erskine's serum, when injected into a body, gives you healing powers of some sort. We didn't realize how well they would work. Your cells have completely regenerated in merely two days. It's incredible. And like the serum in Steve Rogers over there, you've got super strength. That's why you were able to make those dents in the door."

Derek fixed him with a look. "So, it was always the plan for you to ask me to work for you, inject me with a mystery serum you had no idea would even work, and turn me into Stars and Stripes over there?" He jerked his thumb in the direction of Captain America again. He was still finding all of this too hard to believe. Had the doctors explained all this to Penelope when they'd told her it was the only way to save him? Good lord, what was he supposed to tell Talia or his mother or his sisters?

Vaguely under his breath, Cap muttered, "Does anyone realize this guy sounds just like Stark?" Thor chuckled beside him.

"Who sounds just like me, Rogers?"

Derek knew that voice. He'd heard it a million times on the news. It was Tony Stark. He was now entering the room, coming towards them all, a bag of what looked like freeze-dried blueberries in his hands. "So are all of them here?" he asked sarcastically. "Where's the Hulk?"

"Currently working in the lab," Stark answered for Fury. He observed Derek briefly before popping a blueberry in his mouth. "Who's the shirtless Adonis?"

Derek snorted. "Finally a person who doesn't seem to know who I am."

"Stark, this is Derek Morgan," Fury introduced. "We injected him with a modified version of Rogers' serum."

"Welcome to our ragtag team of the world's greatest superheroes," Stark said dryly. "How exactly is he fitting in to finding Bellaria?"

Before Fury could respond, Derek held up both his hands to stop them all. "Okay, hold on a sec! The whole idea of me having been injected with the same thing as the man in tights over there is still not registering with me exactly, so I'm sure the fireworks for it will be coming later. But right now I want to know where my wife and daughter are. Clearly I'm not in a hospital, so they've got to be around here somewhere. I want to see them." The space between everyone grew quiet, save for Stark, who continued to munch away on his blueberries. Derek noticed the the look in Fury's one eye and suddenly felt anger rise in him. "Where is my family?" he demanded in a quieter voice, one that very clearly had rage boiling beneath it. Switching his gaze from Fury, he looked over to glare at Romanoff and Barton. They merely looked at him evenly.

Stark raised a finger in question. "I take it because none of you are answering him that his family is not here?" he said.

Derek looked back at Fury. "Where are they?" he ground out.

"Your wife and daughter are completely safe," a quieter and more calm man said, coming to join their growing circle. He stopped in front of Derek and stuck out his hand. "I'm Agent Coulson." Derek refused his hand, and he let it fall to his side, apparently not phased or shocked at all by Derek's lack of manners.

Fury nodded. "Coulson's right," he said. "Your wife and daughter are fine. They're not on the Helicarrier with us, but they're fine."

"Where are they, then? I want to see them!" Derek said through gritted teeth, his impatience only getting worse.

"You can't," Romanoff said softly.

The impatience started to leak through, and his voice became even more unsteady as he grew angrier. "What the fuck do you mean by that?"

"What she means, Agent Morgan, is that to everyone — your wife, your daughter, your team — you're dead," Fury said. "No one knows you're still alive. Everyone believes you died in the explosion at the Chrysler Building."

Derek couldn't stop himself from yelling now. "WHAT?" he roared angrily. The whole of the control room got quiet as everyone stared at him. "You're telling me that Penelope, Talia, Hotch…all of them think I'm dead? Why? Why would you not tell them that I'm fine!"

"Your life at the FBI and everything you've ever known is over now," Fury said. "Now that you're part of S.H.I.E.L.D., your life is involved in the things that no one thought possible at first. The attack on New York? That's just one of a thousand other threats out there. You're part of one of the world's biggest secrets now. And because of that, you can't live the life you knew anymore. The plan was never for you to be the test subject for that serum. Our intention was to approach you about a job and have you work the way Coulson or any of our other regular agents would. But if we hadn't used it, you wouldn't be breathing."

Derek's hands clenched into fists, and fresh rage filled his whole body. "But why can't my family know I'm alive?" he demanded.

Stark clapped him on the shoulder. "What our mutual pal Fury is trying to say to you, Morgan," he began, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "is that you're an Avenger now…you don't have a family anymore."

XXXXX

1 Month Later

JJ was finishing up washing her hands in the Morgans' upstairs bathroom. The place didn't even feel like a home anymore, though. It seemed like an empty shell, hollow and dull. Since Derek had died, she'd been spending the nights Henry was gone with Penelope and Talia. During the day, Penelope walked around like a ghost. She functioned normally, taking care of her daughter and managing to go in to work, but as soon as Talia went to bed, her tears would overflow and spill everywhere, making her raw and exposed to everyone. Most nights she was over, JJ would find her on the couch, a picture of her and Derek clutched in her arms, sobbing.

It was now nine o'clock in the evening now. She was picking up Henry in the morning, so she was going to spend the night with Penelope and Talia again. As she hit the bottom of the stairs, she went into the living room where Penelope was curled up in the fetal position. No noise was coming from her, but her shoulders were shaking uncontrollably. Occasionally, a sniffle would rise from her.

Tears pricked the back of JJ's eyes. She couldn't stand seeing Penelope like this. She was broken, without any direction. No one would have been able to guess what would happen to Morgan or Garcia if something happened to the other. Their bond went deeper than anyone knew, but this transformation that Penelope had gone through was nothing anyone could have ever thought. Looking at her was terrible for JJ. Her best friend exuded pain. All she wanted to do was wrap her in her arms and tell her it would be okay.

But she knew that it never would be. Not again.

Going around to the other side of the couch, she sat down and rubbed Penelope's shoulder. "Garcie?" she murmured.

Penelope looked up at her and sat straight. Her eyes were cherry red and bloodshot, swollen and puffed up. "Jayje," she said hoarsely. "How am I supposed to get through this? Because right now, I can't figure out what I'm supposed to do."

With trembling lips, JJ wrapped her arms around her best friend and murmured, "You're strong, Penelope. I know you can get through this."

"I thought I was!" Penelope wept. "But I'm not. I can't figure out how to get out of bed in the morning, and I'm worried I'm going to do something that hurts Talia. I never thought I would be so lost without Derek. I'm…I just…"

The tears came in greater force, and all JJ could do was hold her friend tighter. Tears kept burning against the back of her eyes, and she had to force herself to stay composed for her best friend. No one deserved this, especially not Penelope. Seeing how much pain she was in made JJ realize how grateful she was she'd never fallen in love with someone this way. She didn't know if she ever wanted to be this in love with someone. Because the moment that sort of love came around, there was always a chance they could be taken away. As she held her friend, she knew in her heart that even the slight risk of it wasn't worth this pain.