Disclaimer: I do not own the X-men or any other Marvel characters. The only thing that is mine is the plot.
A/N: We now begin the main body of this tale, which takes place almost eight years later. Scott is almost 24, and he is a member of SHIELD. His life has been filled with intrigue and danger, and never ending training. His interactions with the real world, are few and far between, but a real world event is about to change his life forever. This story will tell the tale of a new origin for the X-Men's first leader, the man known as Cyclops.
The Makings of a Hero
Chapter.1. – The Assignment
A young woman with long red hair, wearing a black bodysuit, twists through the air, grabbing a pole jutting out from a wall, spins until she is squatting on it, and looks back the way she came. Moments later, she sees a tall young man with shoulder length brown hair, in a similar black bodysuit, attempt to perform the same maneuver as her, but fail, and land face first on the ground below her.
As he picks himself up, she laughs and says with a Russian accent, "What's wrong, Scott? Can't keep up?"
He dusts himself off, adjusts his glasses, and replies, "I wasn't a gymnast before I joined up, Nat; so excuse me if I'm not as light and flexible as you."
She hooks her knees on the pole, and leans back until she is hanging upside down, with her face inches from his. "You weren't complaining about how light and flexible I was last night." She whispers with a playful smile.
"And, I'm not complaining now, either; just stating a fact." He replies.
"You're no fun to flirt with when you're in your 'training mode'." She says, pouting.
"Well, maybe I'm just trying to make you work a little harder for it; I mean, you're so much better than me at everything." He says with a smile.
"Lame attempt at flattery, Scott." She says mimicking his smile. "Why don't you try something original; think outside the box."
She reaches up and grabs the bar, intending to pull herself up, but Scott places his hands on either side of her head and holds her in place while he leans in and kisses her.
When he breaks the kiss, he whispers, "How was that for original?"
Before she can answer, the sound of someone clearing their throat draws their attention. Upon seeing who it is that's standing there, Scott releases Natalia, stands at attention, and salutes; while Natalia drops down into a crouch before mimicking the same pose.
"Colonel Fury, Sir!" They say in unison.
He salutes back and says, "At ease." Then he starts pacing in front of them. "Lieutenant Summers, and Agent Romanova, you both know that I have a strict policy against relationships between members of this unit." He states more then asks. "And that if it is found out that you are having a relationship, both parties are to be immediately terminated, and escorted from any SHIELD facility."
Scott opens his mouth to talk, but is silenced by Colonel Fury. "I've known about this relationship for six months now, and I'm pretty sure that it's been going on for a lot longer than that. Do you know why you're both still here?"
He stops, turns to face them, and says, "Because you're both too good at what you do to lose. If you've managed to keep your relationship a secret from people whose job it is to uncover secrets, then that just proves how good you are, and I can't afford to lose assets as good as you two."
"That being said, I need to know how your work is coming along with the targets you've been assigned. Agent Romanova?"
"Yes Sir." Natalia replies. "I've studied the tapes and have gotten her down to the walk; I've been cleared by Spec-Ops and Intel."
"That's good, Agent Romanova, because your team hits her tonight, and you need to be ready to take her place." Colonel Fury says. "She will be interrogated for any useful information, and then held in custody until her persona in no longer needed."
He turns to Scott and asks, "How about you, Scott?"
"Yes Sir. I've done the best I could, seeing as I've only ever been given blacked out images of him, but I have been cleared by Spec-Ops and Intel too." He replies.
"Good, because you're going to have to replace your target immediately." Colonel Fury says.
"Immediately?" Scott asks, too shocked to remember protocol.
"Something has happened, and our hand has been forced. Follow me; both of you." Colonel Fury says as he walks out of the training room.
Scott and Natalia follow him silently, as he leads them to a video conference room, and locks the door behind them.
"Scott, have you ever wondered why I've had you, and only you, train extensively with thrown objects as much as I have? Why I made you train with a riot shield to protect yourself from enemy gunfire?" Colonel Fury asks, as he takes a seat at the head of the table.
"Not really, Sir. I just assumed that you had a valid reason for it; that you were taking advantage of my natural skills, like how you had Natalia train so much on aerobics and gymnastics." Scott replies.
"I did have a valid reason, and I was taking advantage of your natural abilities." Colonel Fury says, as he turns on the monitor. "Scott, meet your target."
Natalia gasps at the still image on the screen.
"You can't be serious?" Scott asks, too shocked to remember protocol for the second time.
"I'm always serious, Scott. This is the man you will have to replace; Captain America."
A/N: That's it for this chapter, hope you enjoyed it. Reviews are always appreciated.
In the next chapter: Find out why Scott must replace Cap, and a bit of back story between Scott and Natalia.
Text in *Italics* represent thoughts.