Chapter 5 – Meet Captain America

A/n: Err, wow! The reviews on this story are insane but keep them coming for sure :D

HockeyGal09: The fast updates will keep coming as long as my interest lasts and my addiction to this story isn't going away yet

3 Avengers: Yay! Someone else joined the Fem!Tony team. I'm glad you like it so far and Toni is up after this chapter

youwannabekate: I was wondering where you had gone. I always worry when I lose reviewers as it's like did they stop liking my story. Love you too :) I love all my reviewers equally. Hawkeye is awesome and girl crushes on Toni are fine :) Both quotes will be in the next chapter although who says one of them will be changed

XxxBellaBellaxxX: Yes, I had to change Coulson's dialogue and I foreshadowed the better relationship between Tasha and Toni too. Toni's scene is up after this one.

Guest: I'm glad you're enjoying it. Yes there will probably be Clintasha but not officially just subtle (or sometimes not so subtle) admiration and flirting

Guest: I'm glad it's still good.

Guest: Well here's Steve; Toni's coming up next :D

The scene changed once more to show a boxing ring as someone punched a punching bag repeatedly in the background. As the shot drew closer to the person it became obvious that it was Steve as the punches became more and more frantic. A flash of a scene of Steve in full Captain America regalia running along with soldiers.

"Flashbacks; now those I'm familiar with," Toni said apparently having calmed down from her earlier fit about being called a soldier.

Natasha and Clint both nodded in agreement with her statement. Over the years they had both done things that resulted in unpleasant memories for them both. Mostly the flashbacks came in the form of nightmares but they had been known to have one whilst awake after a traumatic event. Being pulled out of ice after being frozen for seventy years would certainly qualify as such.

Another scene flashed up of Steve using his shield to deflect a blast from an enemy's weapon before flashing back to Steve taking his anger out on the punching bag.

"There's not enough time," Steve's voice said as a voiceover, "I got to put her in the water." The scene showed Steve's plane from that day as he turned it down to face the ocean. Steve's punches to the bag were getting more and more ferocious as he continued to remember the events of the 40's including a memory of the Tesseract.

"That thing has been around for ages and yet the moment they start testing it an incident occurs. If they'd just left well enough alone then everything would have been fine," Bruce sighed.

"You won't be alone," Peggy's voice said as the screen showed Steve looking at a picture of her within a pocket watch.

"She looks so much younger there; it's strange," Toni said quietly.

"You knew Peggy," Steve queried suddenly.

"As much as I hate to admit to it Howard Stark was my father so yes I was familiar with Peggy Carter. She was there all through my childhood up until the point that she retired," Toni admitted, "she was the only real female role model I had as my mother doesn't really count."

"Oh my god!" a Doctor exclaimed as Steve was shown obviously having recently been retrieved from the ice, "this guy's still alive."

Steve's punches had reached his peak, superhuman level and the punching bag that he had been using as a vent for his anger flew from its chain and skidded across the room spilling sand everywhere.

"And that's why all the punching bags here are reinforced," Toni said with a smile, "that was an interesting few hours, figuring out which method would work best."

"I guess that's why since I've been here I've only managed to do that to one of them," Steve realised.

When Steve turned he picked up one of the many other punching bags that he had waiting on the floor. As he began to punch that one Fury was shown standing in the entrance, "trouble sleeping?" he shouted out to Steve.

"Guess that's why this was the only incident I was involved in that Fury didn't make a personal visit," Toni said with a smile, "he was too busy recruiting you. I much preferred getting visits from Phil anyway."

Steve paused momentarily before deciding to continue boxing whilst he spoke, "I slept for 70 years, sir. I think I've had my fill."

"Then you should be out, celebrating, seeing the world," Fury said matter-of-factly.

Steve was clearly sceptical about this point of view as he stopped boxing and walked away from Fury unwrapping his hand wraps. "When I went under the world was at war. I wake up, they say we won. They didn't say what we lost," Steve said in a melancholy tone.

"True," Bruce spoke up, "we lost a lot of ourselves to wars and to terrorists. That's how the whole mess with SHIELD got itself started."

"We've made some mistakes along the way," Fury agreed, "some, very recently."

"Some," Toni scoffed but made no further comment.

"Are you here with a mission, sir?" Steve asked clearly wanting Fury to get to the point of the matter.

"I am," Fury clarified.

"Trying to get me back in the world?" Steve continued.

"Trying to save it," Fury said handing over the file he had been carrying which Steve took upon noticing it contained a picture of the Tesseract.

"That was not a good moment. I thought we were rid of that thing," Steve spat out.

"HYDRA's secret weapon," Steve sighed.

"Howard Stark fished that out of the ocean when he was looking for you," Fury informed Steve, "He thought what we think. The Tesseract could be the key to unlimited sustainable energy. That's something the world sorely needs."

"I'm sure my father did think what you think Fury but it certainly wasn't anything beneficial to the world," Toni sneered, "unlimited sustainable energy wasn't something my dad was interested in at all. That's my field and my field only in the Stark family."

Steve gave Toni another worried glance. Who had Howard become after he had flown into the ocean? And what had he done to Toni that made her resent him so much? The man he remembered had been a good man and Steve had been saddened deeply to hear that he was dead. Something Howard had done meant that Toni couldn't see him that way.

Steve held out the file to Fury indicating that he should take it back the stern look not leaving his face, "who took it from you?" he inquired.

"He's called Loki," Fury told him, "he's not from around here. There's a lot we'll have to bring you up to speed on if you're in. The world has gotten even stranger than you already know."

"At this point, I doubt anything would surprise me," Steve said standing.

"Ten bucks says you're wrong," Fury bet.

"So that's what that was about," Bruce realised suddenly.

Steve hoisted one of the spare punching bags up onto his shoulder as Fury continued to talk to him, "there's a debriefing packet waiting for you back at your apartment," Steve kept walking away not really acknowledging Fury's words. "Is there anything you can tell us about the Tesseract that we ought to know now?" Fury questioned.

"You should have left it in the ocean," were Steve's final words as he exited the scene.

"And I stand by that belief," Steve reiterated with a glare at the screen.

A/n: This one is short because the scene in the movie is too. I didn't want to combine Toni's chapter with this one because everyone else got their own intro.