After Zach left, Captain America lead me outside. It was midday and the sun was out, shining brightly. I paused, letting the warmth sink in. Captain America stopped and eyed me. "Is everything okay, Miss?"

"I just haven't been outside in the sun for months," I said, smiling at the sky.

"Carlton never let you outside?"

"No, he didn't. I think the number one thing a captor does to insure his captive doesn't escape is to keep the captive from getting outside."

"Do you need a moment, Miss?" I was surprised by how respectful he was.

"No, I'm good. I can stay outside once I get home. I don't think I ever want to go to this place ever again!"

Captain America smiled. "Okay then. Let's get you outta here."

He lead me to a helicopter with SHIELD's logo plastered all over it. He helped me inside and sat next to me. I'm not a very patient person, and I was eager to get to the bottom of the mystery in front of me.

"So, how are you not dead, Captain?" I asked.

"Just call me Steve, and that, Miss, is a crazy story."

"If I'm calling you Steve, call me Tori. What happened?"

Steve sighed. "When I was on the plane, Red Skull tried to wield the Tesseract, and it killed him. The plane was filled with missiles, so I crashed the plane into the Arctic. I thought it was the end."

"How did you get from there to here?"

"Decades later, SHIELD found me, perfectly preserved and alive. They immediately began thawing me. They put me in a recovery room disguised to look like one from the '40's. Back then, they had radios on all the time in these hospital rooms, playing baseball games. SHIELD accidentally got a game playing that I had been to."

"So you knew something was off."

"That's right. And a few minutes later, I had broken out and was outside...in Times Square. I had no idea where I was. Then Fury came and told me what happened." He paused. "The adjustment was...rough. 2012 is really different than what I'm used to. Just when I thought I'd never adjust, Fury came and gave me a mission. I was surprised that he'd send me back into the world so soon, but he wasn't just letting me lose into 2012. No, he told me I needed to save the world."

"Save the world from what?" I asked in confusion. What the heck has happened?

"SHIELD had the Tesseract locked up, and they got a scientist, Erik Selvig, to try to figure it out. The Tesseract has a huge energy source, but it can also rip holes in reality. And that's what it did. It opened a portal to God knows where, and someone came out."

I had a hard time believing it. But it was Captain America telling the story, and something tells me he'd be a terrible liar. "Who was it?"

"Do you know anything about Norse mythology?"

"A little. I know who Thor and Odin and Loki are."

"Well, turns out it's not mythology. They're real. And it was Loki that came into our world."

"That couldn't have been good."

"It wasn't. He wanted to take over Earth. He mind controlled the scientist and one of SHIELD's agents, Clint Barton. That's when Fury pulled a truck out of his hat. The Avengers Initiative."

"What's that?"

"The Initiative gathered extraordinary people that could fight the battles that no one else could. And that's why Fury came to me."

"He put you on some sorta team? Is this-"

"The Avengers?" Steve said, gesturing to the SHIELD agents. "No, I'm the only Avenger here."

"Then who else did Fury find?"

"Tony Stark. Natasha Romanoff, a SHIELD agent and assassin. Bruce Banner, he's the Hulk. Thor, Loki's brother. And Clint, once we broke through the mind control."

"So you guys stopped Loki from taking over the world?"

"Yeah. It involved an alien attack at New York City, and, while we were at it, stopping a nuclear missile. That's why it took us so long to find you. Fury had actually narrowed down Carlton's location to this region of Arizona, but then Loki came. And Fury got a bit distracted, trying to stop a god from taking over."

"And once it was all over, you and Fury were able to find me."

"Exactly."

I sighed. "I leave for a few months, and suddenly there really are gods and one of them is a little power hungry."

Steve smiled. "Don't worry, it's over with. Loki won't be causing any more problems."

"What did you do to him?"

"Well, Thor took him back to Asgard. Odin dealt with him."

I sighed, not sure what to do while I waited for the chopper to get us to a SHIELD facility in Phoenix. I mean, I was in a chopper packed full with SHIELD agents, sitting next to Steve Freaking Rogers. What the heck are you supposed to do in that type of company?

Seeing my unease, Steve asked me a question. "I'm still tryna catch up with the times. Who is this Billy Joel guy I've been hearing about supposed to be?"

I smirked. Explaining Billy Joel was one thing I could do. "He's a singer. He's released songs from the '60's to the '90's. He actually wrote a song that could be very helpful to you."

"What song, and how could it help me?"

"It's called "We Didn't Start the Fire." It's about the crap that's happened over time and it starts in 1949 and covers a good chunk of the twentieth century. It doesn't explain the history, but it can give you pointers for what to look at."

"I'll look into it. Are any of his other songs good?"

"'Uptown Girl," "Piano Man," "Still Rock and Roll to Me," and "Only the Good Die Young," along with "We Didn't Start the Fire," are my favorite songs of his."

"I will look into that. What about Queen?"

I laughed. "Yeah, you're gonna need to know about them to survive in modern day America. They're a really good British band."

"British. I've also heard of the Beatles, aren't they also supposed to be British?"

I laughed. "The Beatles are arguably the most well known band in history."

"What about Tolkien?"

"He's an author. Probably started his career around World War II, I think. They're really famous, but so hard to read! There're movies based off his books now, and they're pretty good."

"And Star Wars?"

I stopped and slowly turned to him. "No one's told you about Star Wars yet?"

"I've just heard the title thrown around."

"You need to watch Star Wars!"

"I will-"

"Fast! You're the last unspoiled man on the planet! You have to watch it before someone spoils Empire!"

Steve laughed. "Okay, then, Miss, er, Tori. I'll watch this Star Wars thing."

"Prepare for landing!" a SHIELD agent shouted at us. Were we already at Phoenix? The chopper landed on top of a SHIELD facility. Steve helped me out. Yep, we're in Phoenix. Gosh, why is it so hot!

I was lead by Steve inside the facility and down some twists and turns. "Is this where you've been at since the whole Loki thing?"

"Only since I got the assignment to rescue you. All SHIELD buildings are the same format, so you can navigate around any of them once you've been to one of them," Steve explained. After a few more turns, Steve stopped us in front of a door. "Let's head in," he said as he opened the door for me.

Before I could fully get into the room, I was forced into an embrace. It took me a moment to realize who it was.

"Oh my gosh, Tori!" Tommy said as he held onto me. I hugged back, smiling like a five year old on Christmas. "I thought I'd never see you again. Oh my gosh, are you hurt? If you are, I swear, someone will have to restrain me before I kill-"

"I'm fine, Tommy! And it's a bit too late to kill Dingo. He's dead Tommy! Dead! I don't have to ever deal with him again!"

"You done? 'Cause you're kinda blocking Captain Rogers from giving me his report," a voice said.

I immediately stepped away from the doorway, apologizing to Steve. Steve just smiled and brushed past to the other man in the room. Tommy nudged me into the room too. The man there was Director Nick Fury. I had never met him before, but he's pretty recognizable, what with the eye patch.

Fury gave me a smile, or rather, I think he did. The smile was gone all too quickly. "Welcome back to the world, Miss Lowe."

"Thank you for eventually finding me," I said.

"I apologise for the delays. We had some inconveniences along the way with some of SHIELD's other projects."

"By "inconveniences" he means aliens almost destroyed New York City," Tommy said.

"I know," I said. "I'm still having a hard time believing it though."

"Did you hear about any of this from Carlton? Because if you did, I'm 90% certain a good chunk of his tale would be fiction," Fury said.

"I told her on the way here," Steve explained.

"I was very confused since before everything happened, the world thought he was dead, and suddenly he was rescuing me."

"Very well. Have a seat, Miss Lowe. Will I be able to separate you from Miss Lowe, Mr Weston?"

"Nope, you won't be able to," Tommy said as he sat down next to me. Fury rolled his eye and sat down, gesturing to Steve to sit next to me as well.

I gave an account of how Zach kidnapped me and what happened once he got me to Carlton. I told him about the tests. I told him about how I saw SHIELD and how Zach helped us fight the assassins, and how Zach killed Carlton and left. After I was done, Steve told us how he got to the building and fought Carlton and rescued me. The entire time I was a little shaky. Seeing this, Tommy held my hand under the table and helped me calm down.

"So you don't know what the heck Hill said?" Fury asked.

"It was something in some language. I have no idea what language. And even then, he said it was in code in the last sentence."

Fury sighed. "He told you it for whatever crazy reason he has. Maybe we'll find out someday. But it is interesting, that the infamous Frostbite would help you escape."

"I have no idea why he helped me," I said. I really hoped that I wasn't a bad liar.

"On another note," Fury said, "I have an offer for you."

"Shoot."

"You are skilled with a computer and you have other skills that make you compatible for SHIELD. The best way to protect you now might be to train you more and offer you a job here."

"You serious?" I asked in shock.

"Yes, I am, Miss Lowe."

"Wow, okay." Very few people ever get offered a job at SHIELD, so this was huge. I could continue software engineering and learn how to fight more. I never thought I'd like martial arts, but it was the most enjoyable part of my stay with Carlton. When I wasn't being shot or poisoned, Carlton was training me himself. It was terrible. I hated sparring with him. But it was the best there was, and I surprisingly was pretty good at it. No, I didn't want to get into fights, but I'd be fine learning how to protect myself. "Are you sure?"

"He only hires people he's sure about," Steve assured.

"Then I'll do it, just give me a few days to figure everything out. And I'd prefer not to be in Phoenix. I'm only just barely not dying of a heat stroke here."

"Fine. To go along with that, I don't think I can easily separate you from Mr Weston, and he is a skilled forensic scientist. So I might as well hire him to."

"You're joking." Tommy said.

"I never joke during meetings," Fury assured. "Much less about job offers."

"I'm in if Tori is," Tommy said in a heartbeat.

"Good. In an hour a plane will take you two back to Lehi. Gather your stuff, and we'll send you on another plane to DC."

DC? I thought incredulously. That's the headquarters for SHIELD! "Yes sir," I said gleefully.

"I'll help you guys get to the hangar," Steve offered.

Steve lead Tommy and I to the hangar, which was filled to the brim with jets. A small plane was where Steve lead us. I tried not to cry. I was finally going home, after so many long months without even knowing what the weather outside was! When we got to the plane, I asked Tommy for a moment alone. He is an amazing best friend. He is so supportive of my every choice. He immediately granted my wish and got on the plane. Steve eyed me. "Are you okay?" He must've noticed how close I was to tears.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just, thank you so much for everything, Steve."

"Don't mention it. It's been kinda my job for the past seventy years to fight evil. Dingo may not have been a Red Skull or Loki, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't have gone to the ends of the Earth to stop him."

"Thank you." I fought in vain not to cry in front of him. Steve pulled me close to him and held me. I leaned into him, chucking any idea of not crying as I sobbed.

After a few moments, I broke away from Steve's embrace. Steve didn't resist and let me go. "Are you sure you're okay?" he said compassionately.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said as I used my sleeve to rub tears from my face. "Just overwhelmed with everything."

"I probably understand more than most." He smiled brightly. "I'll convince Fury to let you have some time to yourself before you start working." I nodded and went on the plane.

Casting

Tori Lowe • Willa Holland

Steve Rogers • Chris Evans

Tommy Weston • Grant Gustin

Nick Fury • Samuel L Jackson