"So that's it?" Steve asked. He sat across from the other "Captain America," who had identified himself as Jeff Howland. The other Avengers stood behind him.

"Yup."

Steve could hardly believe at how well this young man had fought the Hydra gunmen. Or how skilled he was at coordinating with his team.

Then again, he's as young as Peter was when he became Spider Man. After all these years, I still can't believe how youths can be this foolish. And brave.

"So, what's the verdict? You turning us in? Or-"

Jeff was cut off. His green eyes followed Cap as he stood up.

"No. I should, but I won't. Thanks to the Registration Act being held back, permanently, I hope, you won't have to worry about being arrested of going public. At least, not completely," Steve said, sighing.

"What?"

"We can't have you running around, conducting attacks on your own. Too dangerous. But, if you become members of the Avengers-"

Jeff stood up.

"You serious? I can't do that! Sooner or later, they're gonna want our names! All of us! I'm not about to let our privacy rights get taken away!" He yelled.

Hmmm. Kid definitely has a good point. And the registration act wanted to destroy just that. But still…

"If not your real names, your team names," Stark supplied, coming into the room.

"Okay," Jeff said. "Could you bring them in?"

Tony nodded, and hit an intercom on the table.

"Send them in."

The other members walked in, and the two Avengers sized them up.

"Obviously, I'm Jeff Howland. Super soldier. I got the serum a few years back, when there was that whole thing with Hydra and their four "Avenger" mockups. No, I didn't go willingly. I don't even know who took me. I was in a dark room the whole time. They kept me sedated," he explained, recounting the tale. "But when they injected the serum into me, something changed. I saw better, heard them whisper, and I broke free."

He looked at them, as I asking if that was enough.

"That's it? How'd you get out?" Tony asked, curious, and a little suspicious.

"The serum worked instantly. I broke the bonds instantly. It still hurt a lot, though. I fought my way out easily. I'm a street kid," he said, grinning. "I know street fighting, and Krav Maga, as well. Different from Judo. More effective. No offense," he continued, looking at Cap. "Then I noticed the uniform. The one that Hydra goon had before. I took it, and fought my way out. Wasn't hard. Stole a Mercedes and got the hell out of there. I was planning on finding the Avengers right then and there, but I heard about the attacks. I was worried you'd just think I was an insider or something."

Tony nodded. It was a reasonable assumption. We'd have locked the kid up instantly, without verifying.

"So instead, I looked for others. And I found them. All at different locations, with different skills."

He stood up, and opened the door.

"Meet the troops."

The first being that came in was the Iron Man look-alike.

"This is Cold Steel. Stark Enterprises Mark III armor. Don't ask how he got it. We all have our secrets, and I respect that," Jeff said. "He prefers to just blow things up, but he also uses the armor as a bettering ram. I think you remember the incident a few months back, when everyone thought the Rhino took out an armored van."

"That was you?" Cap asked, surprised. Maybe he'd been wrong about these kids. Maybe they were trouble.

"Yes. Some goons decided to rob it, and no one was close enough. Spider Man had something else going on at the time. I think he was busy with the Sandman. So we sent in Steel. He slammed into the truck doing a good sixty miles an hour. He didn't kill the men inside, but they didn't give us trouble, if you know what I mean."

"I remember pulling the feeds," Stark said. "I actually thought someone had managed to fool me with a very elaborate video fake."

"No fake," Steel said. "It was me. Anyway, on to the next member."

"Jake Janson. Formerly of OsCorp. He found Mr. Osborn's hidden chamber in his office one night, and after his death, he contacted Steel there and the two joined forces," Jeff explained. "Steel is-was a Stark employee."

That bit of news stunned all the members into silence. Steel looked down, then took off the helmet.

"Name's Thomas Sparks. I think you remember me, Mr. Stark."

Thomas seemed to be in his mid twenties, with blond hair and amber eyes.

"You fired me for something I didn't do," he said coldly.

"I-I remember. But I had no idea you didn't-" Tony started.

"No, you didn't. I disappeared before you could do anything worse. And when I found Jake, the two of us decided to work together."

"Shortly after that, the team came together, and that's it," Jeff said, ending the possible feud.

"And him?" Spider Man asked. The wall crawler was on the ceiling, face to face with the other Spidey.

"Name's Benjamin Reilly," the costumed man said. "Scarlet Spider." He took off his mask, surprising Peter so much he actually lost his balance, and fell to the floor.

"Peter, are you alright?" Steve asked helping him up.

"Yeah, uh, cap? Tell me that isn't me."

"What?"

The two turned around, looking at a man whose face paralleled Peter's in many ways. The two had the same general shape, same eyes. The only real difference was the eye color, and the attitude.

"I was created by someone I didn't know. I escaped the lab when there a malfunction. I knew who you were, and I thought it was best to hide. I did just that-until your enemies started hunting me," Ben explained. "Doctor Octavius, Hobgoblin, even Venom a few times. But I came out okay."

Steve was about to say something, but Jarvis walked in.

"I'm afraid you'll have to stop the pleasantries," he said. "It appears Hydra is once again on the move."

Cap looked at Jeff, who just stared challengingly at him.

"Don't try to keep us out of this," he said.

"I learned my mistake with the Young Avengers. I won't make it twice," Steve said, pulling his mask on.

"Avengers assemble!"

As the team rushed out, Jeff sighed. The others looked at him.

"Well? He didn't put us on house arrest."

"Yeah, but I think the great Avengers might need help," Scarlet Spidey said.

Jeff grinned.

"Yeah. Let's show Hydra why certain skeletons should never be moved. Move out!"

With that, Jeff, who Cold Steel had dubbed "The Commander", ran out of the room, his team one step behind him.


AUTHOR's NOTE: Late. Really late. Sorry. I've been working of my Gundam SEED story these past few months, and it's STILL not too far along. I just hope everyone enjoyed this chapter.