In all his years as a SHIELD agent, Phil Coulson had seen a lot of strange, terrible, and wonderful things. Enhanced beings weren't as uncommon as people thought; the last several years had proven that. And yet the footage of what many were referring to as the "Seattle Incident" was as shocking as it was hard to watch.

On Fury's orders, he'd run through all existing footage of the battle during his flight to the state of Washington. The cameras were often shaky, as very few of the people filming were experienced cameramen. But it was easy to see what they were filming: two young men, who couldn't have been older than eighteen, flying through the air, telekinetically throwing objects, and somehow surviving being shot at, smashed through buildings, or even being hit by a bus.

The hardest part was easily seeing the young man who'd begun the chaos (the police had confirmed that it was a young man named Andrew Detmer) be telekinetically impaled with a spear by the other young man (who was clearly horrified at what he'd done). Coulson had seen men die before, but it was hard to watch no matter how many times it happened in front of him.

He'd gone through as much information as he could, trying to gather what SHIELD knew about the two enhanced individuals. The deceased boy, Andrew, had been seen robbing a gas station (and causing an explosion that killed the owner and left Andrew hospitalized). A police camera in the hospital room had confirmed that his father had been abusing him (which explained why the teen had tried to drop him to his death). His mother had died the same night as Andrew, having succumbed to a terminal illness she'd had for a while. Andrew's body was being held by the FBI until further notice, while his mother's (private) funeral had been only a week before. Richard Detmer was being held by the police.

The other teen, he learned, was Andrew's friend and cousin, seventeen-year-old Matthew "Matt" Garetty. Minus a reputation as a "stoner", he had no criminal record, a stable home life, and a girlfriend named Casey Letter (Miss Letter, after being unable to provide any substantial evidence or answers, had not been taken into custody). After ending the rampage of Mr. Detmer, Mr. Garetty had flown away. He hadn't been seen by his family, peers, or authorities ever since, although the police were actively looking for him (along with numerous government agencies).

SHIELD, of course, wanted to know about Mr. Garetty, which is why Director Fury wanted to find him before any of the either agencies did. Hence, his choice of Agent Coulson for the mission.

His trust in the agent was well-placed. While Matthew Garetty hadn't been seen in Seattle or his home in the last several days, a certain young man missing the tip of his finger had been seen purchasing cheap supplies from a run-down pharmacy nearly twenty-five miles away from the city. A quick geographical search revealed a few cave systems in the area, with only one of those caves being both big enough to hide a person and obscure enough that no one would find it by chance.

Trusting his instincts, Coulson had gotten into his SHIELD-issue car, driven to the likely area, parked a quarter mile from the cave's entrance, and gone to what was possibly the teen's hiding place. He didn't want to hurt the kid (and, from what the footage showed, the kid was unlikely to hurt him), but he needed to be cautious. He was wearing a bullet-proof vest under his suit, but other than that he was unarmed. He hoped that his display of trust would pay off.

He walked slowly as he approached the cave. It had a low ceiling; if Coulson had been six inches taller he'd have had to stoop. From the outside, it didn't look like anyone was there. In fact, it looked like no human had even seen the cave since the Dark Ages. But the agent knew that looks were often deceiving. Pulling a flashlight from his pocket, he walked into the cave.

He quickly realized that his hunch had been correct. As he walked further into the cave, he began to see items strewn across the floor. A sports bag full of clothing. A thin blanket. An opened first aid kit (with bloody gauze sitting in a wadded knot several feet away). The opened box of a Lego set of the Seattle Space Needle, all its blocks stuffed messily inside.

His flashlight beam fell on a photograph that had been taped to the cave wall. He studied it for a moment. It had been taken in a field, and depicted three teenage boys. The first one, who was holding the camera out with his right hand, he didn't recognize. The other two, however, he instantly recognized as Matt Garetty and the late Andrew Detmer.

This was definitely the right place. He looked around, surveying the cave again. It was cold, damp, and he couldn't see any food wrappers, debris, or evidence of meals being taken. The kid had been hiding here the whole time?

He heard footsteps approaching, and turned off the flashlight. He backed against the wall. If this was who he thought it was, then he didn't want to scare him off.

A teenaged boy walked into the cave, walking slowly and clearly not realizing that someone was already in there. Coulson studied him, and confirmed his suspicions. This was who he was looking for. He even had the missing finger tip.

"Mr. Garetty?"

The teen started, and whirled around, looking for the voice. Coulson turned the flashlight on, illuminating his face and polite smile. "Sorry to scare you. It is Mr. Garetty, correct?"

"Stay away from me." He backed up, his hands in the air, looking like he was ready to use his powers if he needed to. "I don't want to hurt you."

"I know that. I don't want to hurt you, either. In fact, I'm unarmed." He held up his hands, proving his point. "My name is Agent Coulson. I work for SHIELD."

The kid looked slightly less alarmed, but he still looked ready to run or fight. "I don't know what that is."

"Basically," he explained, slowly lowering his arms, "we work to protect the world from potentially deadly threats. Which is why we're interested in what happened in Seattle several days ago."

"Are you here to arrest me?" He asked, a mild spark of fear in his eyes.

"No. I just want to talk to you." He looked around again with the flashlight, then looked at the kid. "Have you been living here this whole time?"

Matthew nodded a little. His hands lowered, just a bit. "I…I couldn't go home. Not after what happened."

"How long has it been since you ate?"

Almost as if in response, a loud growl came from Mr. Garetty's stomach. The kid looked a little embarrassed. His arms had slowly fallen to his sides. Coulson, feeling that the situation was under control, walked up to the teen, stopping a respectful distance away.

"I need to ask you some questions, Mr. Garetty. But I don't see why you can't get a meal out of it."

"Y-You don't have to do that." The kid stammered.

"Don't worry, it's a company card." He joked before his face turned serious again. "You are not under arrest. A lot of people want to know what happened a week ago, and you're the only person who knows for sure. If you tell me the full story, then I can help you. Deal?"

The kid hesitated, not looking him in the eye, then nodded. "Deal."

…

For obvious reasons, they didn't go to Seattle to eat. However, the town of Poulsbo was nearby, and it wasn't difficult to find a small restaurant. The kid looked around at everyone and everything as they got out of the car, clearly a bundle of nerves. Coulson doubted that the kid was afraid of being attacked. Along with his (admittedly impressive) powers, his worn dark blue hoodie, equally worn jeans, and old shoes didn't make him a likely target for muggers. However, there was still an APB out for the kid, and he seemed to know it.

Luckily for them, it was three in the afternoon, and the restaurant had maybe two or three other patrons. They were seated immediately, and a waitress with bouncy blonde hair that stank of chemicals took their orders. Coulson ordered a simple cup of coffee while Matthew (after the agent swore he could have what he wanted) got a double burger, fries, and a chocolate milkshake.

Coulson, who could recognize a starving kid when he saw one, had the grace to wait until after the kid had eaten part of his meal to start asking questions. It was a good thing, too; the second their orders arrived, Coulson had barely thanked the waitress before the teen dug in. He seemed to have enough self-control to not make himself sick, but the sandwich and most of the fries had disappeared within five minutes.

It was only when the kid started to slow down that the agent began to speak. "In the footage, my superiors and I saw you trying to stop the other boy." He paused, looking at Matt. "What did you call him? Anders? Drew?"

"His name was Andrew." The teen, who'd been sipping his milkshake, pushed it away. His eyes were suddenly downcast. "He was my cousin."

Coulson nodded, and slightly leaned forward, talking low. "I need to know what really happened. Why don't you tell me?"

Matt was quiet for a moment, then seemed to remember the deal they'd made in the cave. He sighed, took a sip from his water glass, and started to speak.

"I guess it started two months ago. Andrew's mom, my aunt, had been really sick. He wasn't taking it well. He didn't talk to people, he didn't hang out with people, he was picked on at school…I took him to a party, but he got in a fight because he wanted to videotape it…"

The teen gave a small laugh. "He videotaped everything. When we got kicked out of the party, my friend Steve got him to come with us to check out this crazy hole we found in the middle of the forest. There was this…crazy sound coming out of it. Steve and I just thought it was cool, so we jumped into the hole. Andrew told us not to go, but he still followed us down. I…I don't know what happened after that, but there was this crazy crystal-rock-thing glowing at the bottom. When we touched it, it turned red, and we all got these really bad nosebleeds…we got the hell out of there and didn't talk about it for a few weeks."

Coulson nodded, his interest peaked. Possible extraterrestrial activity? Director Fury would definitely need to know about that. "Go on." He told Matt.

"A month ago, we figured out we had these powers…" He stopped, as if having an idea. "You know it…it might be better if I just showed you."

Coulson sat up straight and looked around to see if anyone was watching. He hoped that the teen had enough sense to not demonstrate his powers in the middle of a restaurant. But, to his relief, Mr. Garetty simply pulled out a (very battered-looking) video camera.

He pulled the screen out, pushed a button, and handed it to the agent. Coulson propped it on the table so that they could both see the footage. The video started, and showed Andrew Detmer, hiding behind a display in what looked like a toy store. As he watched, he saw Andrew, the unidentified teen (Steve, possibly?) and Matthew using their telekinesis to play pranks on shoppers.

The video then jumped to the three boys sitting at a booth in what seemed to be a fast-food restaurant. He saw Matt, sitting next to Andrew, who was holding a fork. Coulson nearly jumped back when Andrew stabbed at his cousin's hand with the utensil…only to hold the completely destroyed fork up while the boys laughed in amazement. Matthew, watching the footage, turned red when he realized that the person holding the camera dedicated the rest of the video to filming a woman's skirt.

"Steve..." He muttered under his breath, sounding embarrassed, annoyed, and a little sad. He then pressed a button, jumping to the next video. The third video showed two boys (with Andrew out of sight) in someone's bedroom. They watched as Andrew used his telekinesis to build an entire Lego replica of the Space Needle (likely the same Lego set he'd seen in the cave). Couslon had to admit that the telekinetic control shown was impressive.

The final video, if the look on the boy's face was any indication, was his favorite. Coulson clearly saw why: it showed the three boys learning that they were capable of flight. While Steve had picked it up immediately, the other two had a hard time getting off the ground. Once in the air, the entire video showed the three rocketing through the air, playing catch with a football…and almost getting hit by an airplane. He let out a breath when the footage showed the three getting out of the near-death scenario safely, with the video ending on the boys shouting for joy.

Matt chuckled at the memories, then turned off the camera. His face quickly grew saddened. Coulson could tell that the next part of the story was one the teen didn't want to tell.

"The crap hit the fan after the talent show."

"Talent show?" Coulson questioned.

"Steve and Andrew had this idea to use their powers in the school talent show to perform a magic act. Everyone thought it was just wires and special effects and stuff, so they got a huge applause and won. That night, we got invited to this party, and Steve and I planned to help Andrew get…um…"

The teen's face suddenly turned bright red. Coulson put two and two together, and gave a chuckle. "I understand, Mr. Garetty. I take it that things didn't…go as planned?"

"Yeah. Something happened, and Andrew ended up getting laughed at and leaving the party. Something happened with his dad some time after that…I knew that my uncle had always been a jerk, but it was worse than that. He was beating up Andrew, and none of us knew it. He got in a fight with his dad and flew off. Steve went after him…and it was storming, and…"

Matthew's eyes started welling up with tears. Coulson's heart sank when he realized what had happened. He'd been wondering why there hadn't been reports of a third enhanced boy. The poor kid…

He continued, as if deciding to just get it over with. "I don't know what really happened, but the next morning Steve was dead. The coroner says he fell or something. How, she didn't know, and Andrew swore he had nothing to do with it…I don't know what…" A barely muffled sob escaped the teen, and he grabbed a napkin to wipe at his eyes.

Coulson gave him a minute before speaking. "I'm sorry about your friend."

"Steve…didn't deserve it. He was a good guy, and my best friend." Matthew took a moment to take a few deep breaths. Then he continued.

"After he died, Andrew and I didn't talk. I still used my powers sort of casually…we all did, when no one was looking. But I didn't hang out with him anymore. And Andrew started getting worse.

"People picked on him worse than ever, and his mom was getting sicker. I found out later that he'd been robbing people to pay for her medicine, killing them for their stuff. When he tried to rob a gas station, he got hurt and put in the hospital. His mom died while he was there.

Matt's breaths became heavier. "His dad came into his hospital room to yell at him, maybe worse, and Andrew woke up and…and he snapped. He flew out of the hospital and tried to kill his dad. I caught my uncle before he could hit the ground.

"I tried to talk to him. I tried to talk Andrew into just flying away with me, tried to get him to stop before he did something crazy…but he wasn't the same anymore. Something had changed, he was just….crazy.

"We ended up flying around the city, chasing and fighting each other. We did a lot of damage, and I don't know how many people got hurt. One of the cops shot off part of my finger when I wasn't paying attention. Finally I realized that Andrew wasn't going to back down. The only way to stop him was to, to…."

The teen's self-control went out the window, and he broke down sobbing. Coulson had seen the footage of the impaled teenager. He couldn't imagine the guilt that Matthew was carrying. He reached over the table and gave the teen's shoulder a squeeze.

After a minute, he sat back up and finished his story. "I just flew away. I couldn't go home; my parents hadn't known about our powers, and I couldn't get them involved. I flew out of the city until I found that cave. I bought some supplies with the cash I had on me at a pharmacy, then set up camp up there. A few days later I broke into my room to get some of my stuff. I haven't been back home since."

He pushed away his empty plate, put his arms on the table, and sat with his head down. Coulson gave him a minute. The poor kid had been through even more than the agent had thought.

"You did what you had to do, Mr. Garetty. A lot of people would have died if your cousin had continued his rampage. You are not to blame."

"Yes I am." His voice was muffled by his arms, but he'd clearly started crying again. "If I hadn't abandoned him after Steve died, if I'd realized what his dad was doing…he didn't deserve it. It's all my fault."

"No, it's not. You didn't ask for Steve to be killed, you didn't ask for your uncle to hurt Mr. Detmer. You did what you had to do to stop him. To protect innocent people."

"I just…" He sat up, wiping at his eyes. "I don't know what to do. I'm scared, Mr. Coulson."

"I might have an idea."

The teen looked up, looking both helpless and curious. Coulson began to explain.

"My organization works to, as I told you before, protect the world from threats. People like your cousin, who gain powers and do harm, are chiefly what we try to protect the world from. So, when we meet someone like you, who gains powers and doesn't want to do harm, we make an effort to reach out."

Realization dawned on the teen's face. "That's why you wanted to talk to me. Isn't it?"

"Yes." He nodded, moving aside his empty coffee cup before folding his hands on the table. "Mr. Garetty, we can help you learn about your powers, and through us, you could use them to help people. With us, you'd be protected, along with your family. It's your choice, but we could help you. And your incredible powers could save countless lives."

The teen was silent for a few moments. Just when Coulson was beginning to think he'd reject the offer, Matthew began to slowly nod.

"Okay. Okay, I'll do it. But I have a few conditions."

The agent nodded. "I'm listening."

"First, my family had nothing to do with this. I'd need SHIELD to contact them and let them know I'm okay, but don't drag them into this."

Coulson agreed; usually, the fewer people who knew about SHIELD's members, the better. And a simple anonymous phone call to the Garettys would hardly be a challenge. "We can arrange that. The second request?"

"I want to know how we got our powers. We were never able to get back into the hole, so we couldn't figure it out. But I want to know what happened to us."

The agent almost laughed. That was almost too easily arranged. Their scientists were already desperate to meet the kid and learn how he developed his abilities. "SHIELD has plenty of scientists who'd be willing to help you."

"Good. But they better not dissect me or anything."

Coulson gave a small smile. SHIELD's scientists could be enthusiastic, but they weren't crazy. "I promise that won't happen. What's your last condition?"

Matthew wore a look of determination. "Before I start with SHIELD, I need to take a trip. There's a promise I need to keep."

Coulson remembered how the teen had flown in the footage. He could literally go anywhere on Earth he wanted. "With your abilities, I think we can allow that. When do you want to take this…trip?"

"As soon as possible. But I need supplies."

At that moment, the waitress returned. Agent Coulson paid for the meal, and the two left the building. Once they were back in the car, he turned to the teen and resumed their conversation.

"How long would this trip be? And what specifically do you need?"

Matt thought as he put on his seatbelt. "Maybe two days. I'll need a backpack, winter clothes, some food…" He paused, as if remembering something. "...and a video camera."

"Don't you have one already?"

"I can't take it. If I'm working with you guys, then you should probably have it. That footage is, you know, evidence and stuff." As he spoke, he handed over his battered camera. "I still need to take a video camera with me though. It's…personal."

Coulson nodded. That was all doable. But he had one more question. "May I ask where exactly you're going?"

"Tibet."

…

The gear Mr. Garrety had asked for wasn't hard to procure. Nor was it difficult to send an anonymous message to his family to let them know that their son was alive, but that he wouldn't be able to see them for a while. The Seattle police department, after a brief phone call from Agent Sitwell, dropped their hunt for Matt. As did the FBI, CIA, NSA, and everyone else. Sitwell had a…way with people.

Director Fury had been given the kid's video camera, and studied the footage. At the very least, it confirmed that Matthew Garetty was simply a scared kid given extraordinary powers and not a supervillain in the making. If Coulson hadn't known better, he'd have sworn that the director was trying not to laugh at some of the three boys' antics in the videos. Once watched, the camera was locked away for safekeeping. The kid could have it back if he asked, but until further notice it was SHIELD property.

Matt, the second he had his promised gear, gave a brief thank-you before simply taking off. Literally. While he'd seen footage of Mr. Garrety's powers, Coulson was amazed to see the teen simply launch into the air and soar like an eagle.

They hadn't told him that the backpack and camera he'd requested had been bugged. While Coulson believed that Matt's story and intentions to work with SHIELD were genuine, they had to be sure that he wasn't going to try and run (er, fly) away on them. At that moment, Coulson was in his office, a cup of coffee in his hands, as he watched the tracker.

"How's our traveler?" He looked up to see Director Fury walking in. Coulson sat up and held the tablet he'd been reading out to him.

"The camera has been activated twice, both times filming clouds, ocean, and mountains. The tracker indicates that he's near the monasterie of Tibet."

He was about to say more, but the video camera activated again. Coulson stood and walked over to Fury, who held the tablet so that they could both watch the footage.

"Hey, Andrew…" Matt, dressed in the winter clothes he'd been provided, talked to the camera as though he were talking to his deceased cousin. The pain was obvious in his voice.

"...I want you to know that I'm gonna be better from now on. I'm gonna help people. I'm gonna find out what happened to us down there. I don't care how long it takes, I'm gonna get answers. I'm gonna do it for you, and I'm gonna do it for Steve. And…I just…"

He paused, looking like he didn't know how to express what he was feeling. Fury and Coulson watched, silent. Matt took a breath and kept speaking.

"I love you, man. I didn't ever get a chance to tell you but, I love you." He turned around, and pointed the camera to a different angle. Several Tibetan monasteries came into view.

"Guess what?" He started to smile, just a bit. "You made it." He looked up and whooped. He stood, breathing heavily and smiling as he heard it echo.

"Isn't it beautiful?" He asked. He looked for a minute as though he were about to cry. Instead, he simply looked at the camera. "Goodbye Andrew."

He walked off screen, and they heard a gust of wind. The camera kept rolling, but no one came to get it. Fury turned off the feed remotely.

"He didn't take the camera." Coulson remarked, wanting to say something.

"I think we can afford to lose one video camera." Fury responded. He handed the tablet back to Coulson. "His training starts the second he gets back. With a little work, Garetty will make a nice addition to the Avengers Initiative."