Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel in any way

Chapter 2: Familiar Territory

"What did you just say?"

James stared at Nick Fury with the expression of a man contemplating life at the highest level. His mind was doing several mental gymnastics to come to a sensible conclusion as to not only how Nick Fury got into his apartment, but also the fact that his neighbor had just assaulted him.

"I know that super soldier enhanced brain of yours can process information fast, Rogers. It's time for you to return to active SHIELD duty," Nick said with a rather bored look on his face.

"Alright that, I got. However what I don't get-" James would look down at Amy, who stood up to her feet and brushed herself off. "Is you. You're… a SHIELD agent?"

Nick placed Sammy down, who would run up to Amy and circle her. He sniffed her legs and feet, which she didn't appear to mind.

"Captain Rogers, meet agent Amanda Magas. Codename Peace-Walker," Nick introduced.

James furrowed his eyebrows in confusion but nonetheless extended his hand to Amanda. Now that he had a better look at her, he would take notice of the form-fitting bronze jumpsuit that she wore, which was very reminiscent of the Black Widows of the past and present.

"Amanda, huh? Well not far off from Amy, I guess…" James trailed off. All he could think about was just how much of what he knew of his neighbor was probably lies.

"I'm glad you can finally meet the real me, Captain Rogers," Amanda replied, with a strong Russian accent behind her words as she shook his hand.

James raised an eyebrow, having been caught off guard by the accent.

"You're Russian? Wow...another thing about you that I didn't know. This entire time you've been my neighbor...has anything been real? Have you just been spying on me for him and nothing else?" James asked with some hints of betrayal in his voice.

Amanda paused for a moment, contemplating her own response. "I genuinely enjoyed our morning jogs-"

Nick rolled his one good eye and would clear his throat to bring attention back to his reason for being there.

"Agent Magas' mission was to test you. To ensure that you hadn't lost a step, especially against someone enhanced."

James turned to Fury sharply at the mention of enhancements.

"Enhanced?" he asked. His eyes moved over to Amanda in realization.

"Yes Captain, Magas has a lesser version of the super-soldier serum running through her veins. Much like Romanoff," Nick explained.

Once James had come to terms with that information, he would look down at his broken coffee table briefly.

"Well, did I pass your little test?" he asked.

Nick nodded and would reach into his coat pocket. He pulled out a circular device and would place it on the floor between them.

"Yes, you did, which is why I'm showing you your next assignment."

The device would project a holographic image of a white man with short brown hair and a goatee to match. The man wore a purple jacket with a yellow shirt underneath, along with combat pants. At the sight of him, James' expression became far more focused. Nick placed both hands behind his back and would walk around the image.

"Jacques Batroc, a man you know very well. The son of Georges Batroc, the Leaper as they called him."

"What about him?" James asked.

"He's assembled himself a little brigade, similar to how his father used to every once and a while. They've hit a few of our armories, and have stolen a fair share of weapons. What for, is for you to find out after taking them down," Fury said as he came to a stop.

James stared at the holographic image of Batroc and would find himself reminded of their past battles. While the Batroc name was rarely taken very seriously, Jacques was no laughing matter.

"Who's all working with him?" James asked.

Nick took a small remote out of his coat pocket and would press a button on it. The holographic image changed to that of a woman of Asian descent, wearing a green jumpsuit. There was also video feed next to the image of the woman utilizing two machetes in combat.

"Machete, a dangerous assassin from Madripoor," Fury identified.

He would press the button again, and the hologram would change to that of a man covered from head to toe in a camouflage mechanized suit. Next to it was video of the man spinning around at speeds that made him appear like a human tornado.

"Charles Cannon, Whirlwind. His father David was the original. Much like his father he's a mutant with the ability to rotate his body around its lengthwise axis at superhuman speeds," Fury explained.

At the sight of Whirlwind's powers, James would raise an eyebrow. "So he's the Tazmanian Devil?" he asked.

Nick nodded. "Something like that." he said while moving on to the final holographic profile.

It was of a white man with red hair, wearing a long coat and holding a gun in one hand, while a sai was in the other. The video footage showed him engaging soldiers in combat with nothing but guns and knives.

"Finally we have Michael Zaran, The Weapons Master. He's a very dangerous man with damn near any weapon in his hand," Fury explained.

James stared at each holographic profile as they were brought up beside one another. It wasn't an impossible task by any means, but he knew that it wouldn't be easy.

"Am I doing this alone?" James asked while looking at Fury.

Nick would shake his head before retracting the holographic profiles.

"No, you'll have help. With each of these mercenaries, you'll have another agent there to help you," Fury said.

James' eyes shifted over to Amanda, and he began wondering if she'd be along to help him. As if he were reading his mind, Fury shook his head.

"Agent Magas won't be one of them. She has another mission of her own now that you'll be coming back into the fold."

Amanda looked down at the floor for a brief moment before looking back up to James with a small smile.

"It'd be too easy if I were helping you anyway," she said.

Nick tilted his head to the side with a hint of impatience towards James.

"Well, Captain...are you ready?"

"Just one question...why do you need me? Why not send Agent Walker on this?"

"Walker's on Raft duty as its new warden. Besides...I trust Captain America to handle this more...expertly than the U.S Agent."

The Triskelion

Manhattan, NY - 10 AM

A SHIELD Shuttle would land in the aircraft hangar of The Triskelion, the current headquarters of the government agency. Upon landing, James Rogers and Nick Fury Jr would exit the shuttle, with James holding a brown leather bag that contained his shield. James took a moment to himself to process the fact that he was back as an active agent of SHIELD after many months away.

"Did you miss it, Captain?" Fury asked, breaking James out of his thoughts.

James looked over at Fury before turning his attention back to the hangar. There were many aircraft technicians moving about in the large hangar, which was full of a variety of SHIELD aircraft, including Helicarriers and hoverfliers.

"I can't say I missed it...but I'm not mad that I'm back," James responded.

"I'm sure you'll get right back into the swing of things. Now come on, it's time you meet the agents that you'll be working with," Fury said while walking ahead to an elevator, which was completely see-through in nature.

The two would enter the elevator, where they began the ascent up countless floors. Once they reached their designated floor, the doors opened and the two would exit the elevator. Nick lead James through a hallway, where a few SHIELD agents greeted James amidst his return. One agent, in particular, a large Austrian man 6'4 in height with short black hair, would offer his hand to James.

"Welcome back, Captain Rogers."

James looked down at his hand for just a brief moment before looking him in the eyes and accepting the handshake.

"Thanks, Hein. Good to be back," James responded in kind.

The agent would look to Fury and nod.

"Director Fury, when you have a moment I'd like to speak with you regarding the...Masters, situation."

Fury sighed but ultimately nodded at the mention of it.

"Wait for me in my office, Walter. I won't be long," Fury responded.

Walter nodded and would continue down the hallway, leaving James and Fury to be alone once again. James glanced at Fury with a raised eyebrow.

"Masters situation? What's he talking about? And don't say it's not in my clearance level, I rank higher than Walter."

Fury continued on towards a pair of double doors ahead of them, looking as if he couldn't be bothered with James' inquiry in the slightest.

"It's nothing of your concern at the moment, Captain. Your concern is Batroc."

Nick opened the doors to reveal a boardroom where 3 agents were currently seated at a table. One of them was a woman with blood-red hair, wearing a black tactical jumpsuit that had golden gauntlets around her wrists. The second was a man with long black hair, wearing a standard SHIELD uniform with black gloves. The third, was a teenager with dirty blonde hair, wearing a modified SHIELD uniform, but instead of being black, it was red. On his chest was a fire emblem, further setting him apart from the rest.

"About time," The black-haired man said while leaning back in the chair. "I was wondering if this was all just some joke...but then I remembered Fury doesn't joke."

James looked at the three, with a focus on the black-haired agent. He would smile before placing his shield bag against the wall and walking over to the agent in order to shake his hand.

"Dugan, nice to see that dry sense of humor hasn't gone anywhere," James said.

The agent would shake James' hand, nodding in agreement.

"Dry humor's my thing, no one can do it better. Especially not Anna," He replied, giving a playful side-eye to the red-haired woman sitting across from him.

"It's a style for those who aren't really funny at all. Like Sean, clearly," Anna responded with an eye roll.

James would look to Anna and nod in acknowledgment.

"Agent Romanoff," James said.

Anna nodded in return and would move to a much more comfortable seated position than she had prior.

"Good to have you back, Cap," she said with a resemblance of a smile.

Having known both Anna and Sean prior, seeing them was no surprise to James. What was a surprise, and an area of unknown, was the blonde teenager. James would look at him with a squint of his eyes, in an effort to place the face.

"I...don't think we've met before. New recruit?" James asked.

The teenager stood up from his seat and would walk over to stand in front of James. He stared into James' eyes with a blank expression. After a couple of seconds passed, he would extend his hand to James for a handshake.

"I am JH-HT2, otherwise known as Josh Hammond. Also otherwise known as the Human Torch," he responded in a casual, but monotone voice.

James raised an eyebrow, specifically at the last name.

"Hammond?" hee asked. He would glance back at Nick Fury for confirmation. "Like Jim Hammond? The original Human Torch? One of my dad's oldest friends?"

Nick would nod in confirmation, crossing his arms as he did so.

"Before Jim died, he wanted us to use his technology for something greater than himself. That's exactly what we did. We used what was left him to create Josh. In a sense, he's Jim's kid and his legacy gets to live on," Fury explained.

James looked back at Josh, and all he could see was a younger version of Jim Hammond, Uncle Jim as he was known to him. It was surreal to an extent, but he could handle it.

"Well Josh, I look forward to working with you," James said.

Josh paused for just a brief moment, before nodding.

"I look forward to working with you as well, Captain Rogers. It is my prime directive to assist you in battle whenever you require it," Josh responded.

James' eyebrows furrowed, but he would nod nonetheless. It felt weird having a robot seemingly designed just to help him, but he wouldn't argue against it. When looking at the three agents before him, he couldn't help but think back to Thomas, Joseph, and Will. It was the last time he had ever worked in a small team, but that was now about to change.

"You've all been briefed on the situation at hand. You know your targets," Fury began as he stood at the front of the room.

James would turn around to face Fury fully, while the others focused on the director.

"Our intelligence has located each member of Batroc's Brigade. They've split off into different sections of the world, smartly so. There's no telling how long they'll stay in these locations before moving again, so you'll need to move fast."

Sean would raise his hand, like a student in a classroom. Fury glanced at Sean with an unimpressed expression.

"Does this look like 4th grade, Dugan?" he asked, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I just wanted to make sure I understood this correctly," Sean started while lowering his hand. "Each of us is gonna assist Cap in taking down one of these guys, right? So for example, while he and Widow are out doing their thing, what are we doing?"

"You'll be keeping eyes on the other mercs. If they move, you follow. Just stay out of sight. If you're made...I'll put it like this, don't get made." Fury directed with an extra emphasis towards Sean.

Sean raised his shoulders and would look around at the other agents.

"What are you staring at me like that for?" He asked.

"You did ask the question," Anna pointed out.

Fury sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. There were times that he felt that he could use a vacation, and these were one of these times.

"Assuming there are no more questions, I only have one," Fury said.

He would turn his attention to James.

"Still remember where your uniform is?"

A/N: The next chapter will be the first time we see James Rogers in action as the new age Captain America. How does he compare to his father? Has he mastered what's needed to hold the mantle, or is he still learning? These questions will be answered as he takes on the first member of Batroc's Brigade, alongside the Russian super-spy: Black Widow.