Chapter Two
"No Avengers. Keep it quiet. That's the way Nick wants it. If it were any other man I'd tell him my answer with the back of my fist, but not Fury. That man demands respect, and he's watched my back more times than I care to remember," Steve Rogers thought to himself as he stood outside a street corner in the Bronx.
"The question is, why do you call in a man as colorful as Captain America for a recon mission?"
Steve thought this over a moment as he purchased a sausage and onions from one of the numerous street vendors littering the street around him. As he bit down into the steaming meat he thought of all the people that he trusted enough to bring in on this new assignment.
"Well, there's obviously Tony, but Nick doesn't want any of the team involved with this one, which means it could get messy. Don't like the idea of having to work with other colored costumes then, so we'll have to do this a little bit differently. There's a particular runty old man with a disposition for violence that's always in the mood to lend a hand, especially if it's a tango with Banner."
Steve finished the rest of his lunch and wiped his mouth with his shirt sleeve, realizing that he would probably have to ask that man for help again, although he was wary of being able to keep him in line. However, he would be a logical choice, considering he didn't want more than five people involved with this, otherwise the numbers would be harder to control. Easier to keep a tighter unit if you pull in the ranks, his military mind dictated such decisions. That might take care of numbers anyways, because that bezerker can handle any number of men on his own.
"But what we need is power. Banner could give us a problem bringing him in, and if he starts letting his green friend do the talking for him, then it's going to be well beyond what I, or the runt can handle. We need some real power, some off the radar power."
Steve reached into his coat pocket, removed a cell phone, and dialed the operator.
"This is Rogers, Steve, clearance code Avengers Alpha 001, give me a hard line connection to Genosha," Steve said. He waited a moment for the operator to route the call.
"Hello Steve, what can I do for you today?" a voice answered on the other end of the line. Steve muttered to himself how unsettled he was by telepaths, even ones that were his friends.
"Hello Professor. Well, if you knew it was me, then you also should know that I didn't call looking for you," Steve said as a noisy car blared its horn at a jaywalking pedestrian.
"Of course Steve, I was just being formal. Give me a moment, I'll get Erik for you."
