I do not own Marvel, The Avengers or any of its characters. I only own my original character Arabella and anything else that seems out of place.

So here is the next installment in the Fallen Angel series. I really hope you enjoy it. I want to say thank you in advance to anyone who chooses to favorite, follow and review this story.

Inside the SHIELD base, in the analytical room. Fury is facing several large monitors as he is in conference with members of the World Security Council.

"This is out of line, Director. You're dealing with forces you can't control."

"You ever been in a war, Councilman? In a firefight? Did you feel an overabundance of control?"

"You saying that this Asgard is declaring war on our planet?"

"Not Asgard. Loki."

"He can't be working alone. What about the other one? His brother."

"Our intelligence says, Thor is not a hostile. But he's worlds away. We can't depend on him to help, either. It's up to us."

"And what about the Fallen Angel? Is it possible she could be helping Loki?"

"No. I can vouch for her myself, she's with us."

"Which is why you should be focusing on Phase 2. It was designed for exactly this…"

"Phase 2 isn't ready. Our enemy is. We need a response team."

"The Avengers Initiative was shut down."

"This isn't about the Avengers."

"We've seen the list."

"You're running the world's greatest covert security network and you're gonna leave the fate of the human race to a handful of freaks."

"I'm not leaving anything to anyone. We need a response team. These people may be isolated, unbalanced even, but I believe with the right push they can be exactly what we need."

"You believe?"

"War isn't won by sentiment, Director."

"No, it's won by soldiers."

In Brooklyn, somewhere in an old, almost WWII-esque boxing gym, Steve Rogers, a man out of time, The First Avenger, Captain America, is pummeling a punching bag. With every swing, it's like a memory he's trying to fight off and repress.

Captain America is running through the forest, dodging mortars, gunfire and the Tesseract's enemy firearms. "There's not enough time! I got to put her in the water!"

Steve's rage keeps building as he punches the bag. It gets harder…

On Red Skull's ship, Steve places his compass with an image of Peggy Carter. The time is here for him to crash the plane.

Steve closes his eyes and goes at the bag harder.

"You won't be alone." Peggy's voice says.

The Red Skull picks the Tesseract.

Steve opens his eyes and tears the bag as the last memory kicks in. Not sure if he can physically stop…

"Oh my God!" A SHIELD scientist says.

Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S, Antarctica, a half frozen Steve Rogers is lying on a medical slab. Two SHIELD scientists run over hi-tech devices to see if his vitals are up. And it seems…

"This guy's still alive!"

Steve tears the bag open, off its chain, spilling out the sand. He stands, breathing hard, letting out 70 years of repressed feelings. After taking a few breathers, Steve picks up another punching bag, which is laying next to another dozen bags. He hooks the bag up and starts punching again. Fury walks in, though Steve doesn't notice him.

"Trouble sleeping?"

Steve now looks up noticing the Director. "I slept for 70 years, Sir. I think I've had my fill."

"Then you should be out, celebrating, seeing the world."

Steve stops punching and walks over to the bench, unraveling the bands on his hands. He sits down. "When I went under, the world was at war. I wake up, they say we won. They didn't say what we lost."

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

"You here with a mission, Sir?"

"I am."

"Trying to get me back in the world?"

"Trying to save it."

Fury hands Steve a file on Tesseract, along with other files of HYDRA'S projects.

"HYDRA's secret weapon."

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

"Who took it from you?"

"He's called Loki. 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."

"Ten bucks says you're wrong. There's a debriefing package waiting for you back at your apartment."

Steve turns, picking up a punching bag he hefts it onto his shoulder like it was a piece a paper, he then picks up his duffle bag and starts walking out of the gym.

"Is there anything you can tell us about the Tesseract that we ought to know now." Fury asks him.

"You should have left it in the ocean."

Out in the Atlantic Ocean, Tony Stark, in his Iron Man suit, is cutting a pipeline transport with a laser cutter coming from his hand. He then places a Stark Energy Reactor on the open pipe. It lights up. Iron Man rockets out of the water and flies towards Stark Tower.

"Good to go on this end. The rest is up to you."

On the other end of the line is Pepper Potts, Tony's better half. "You disconnected the transmission lines? Are we off the grid?"

Inside his suit, Pepper appears on his HUD monitor. "Stark tower is about to become a beacon of self-sustaining clean energy."

"Well, assuming the Arc reactor takes over and it actually works?"

"I assume. Light her up."

As Iron Man flies to the Stark Tower building, the power is switched on and the STARK sign lights up.

"How does it look?"

"Like Christmas, but with more… Me."

"We've gotta go wider on the public awareness campaign. You need to do some press. I'm in DC tomorrow. I'm working on the zoning for the next three buildings."

"Pepper, you're killing me. The moment, remember? Enjoy the moment."

"Then get in here and I will."

Tony arrives at his skyscraper penthouse and is in the process of taking off his Iron Man suit through a hi-tech gauntlet of gadgets.

Jarvis addresses him, "Sir, Agent Coulson of SHIELD is on the line."

"I'm not in. I'm actually out."

"Sir, I'm afraid he's insisting."

"Grow a spine, Jarvis. I got a date."

Tony walks into the penthouse, Pepper stares up at the monitors at the reactor device.

"Levels are holding steady… I think." Pepper tells him.

"Of course they are, I was directly involved. Which brings me to my next question: how does it feel to be a genius?"

"Well, ha, I really wouldn't know, now would I?"

"What do you mean? All this, came from you."

"No, all this came from that." She says pointing to the energy in his chest plate.

"Give yourself some credit. Please. Stark Tower is your baby. Give yourself… twelve percent of the credit."

"Twelve percent?" Pepper says giving him an incredulous look.

"An argument can be made for fifteen."

"Twelve percent? My baby?"

"Well, I did do all the heavy lifting. Literally, I lifted the heavy things. And, sorry, but the security snafu? That was on you."

"Oooooh."

"My private elevator…"

"You mean OUR elevator?"

"…it was teeming with sweaty workmen." He kneels down on the floor beside her. "I'm going to pay for that comment about percentages in some subtle way later, aren't I?"

Pepper pours herself and Tony a glass of champagne. She smirks, "Not gonna be that subtle."

"I'll tell you what. The next building is gonna say 'Potts' on the tower."

"On the lease."

"…Call your mom, can you bunk over?"

Jarvis interrupts, "Sir, the telephone. I'm afraid my protocols are being overridden."

"Mr. Stark, we need to talk." Agent Coulson's voice float over the phone line.

Tony picks up his phone and looks into it at Coulson. "You have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark. Please leave a message."

"This is urgent."

"Then leave it urgently."

At that moment the elevator door opens and Coulson appears.

"Security break." Tony looks to Pepper, "That's on you."

"Mr. Stark."

"Phil! Come in." Pepper tells him standing up and walking over to greet him.

"I can't stay."

"Phil? Uh, his first name is "Agent."

"Come on in. We're celebrating."

"Which is why he can't stay."

"We need you to look this over." Coulson holds out a file towards Stark, "Soon as possible."

"I don't like being handed things."

"That's fine, cause I love to be handed things. So, let's trade."

She passes her glass of champagne to Coulson and takes the file from him, then takes Tony's glass and hands him the file.

"Thank you." She says sweetly.

"Official consulting hours are between eight and five every other Thursday."

"This isn't a consultation." Coulson tells him.

"Is this about the Avengers?" Pepper asks before looking sheepish, "Which I… I know nothing about."

Tony walks over to his bank of computers, "The Avengers initiative was scrapped, I thought. And I didn't even qualify."

"I didn't know that either." Pepper said.

"Yeah, apparently I'm volatile, self-obsessed, don't play well with others."

"That I did know." Pepper said smiling.

"This isn't about personality profiles anymore." Coulson tells him.

"Whatever. Miss Potts, got a second?"

Pepper walks over to Tony who places the files' into his own databases. He looks at her as she stands next to him, "You know, I thought we were having a moment."

"I was having twelve percent of a moment. This seems serious. Phil's pretty shaken."

"How would you know if it's… Why is he "Phil?"

"What is all this?" Pepper gestures to the monitors.

"This is, uh…" Tony expands his arms and different profiles appear in holographic form floating in the air in front of Tony and Pepper. "This."

Screens appear of Captain America in action, the Hulk roaring as he attacks the army at Culver University, Hawkeye and Black Widow exchanging gunfire in Budapest, Thor and Arabella fighting the destroyer in New Mexico and another is of Loki and the Tesseract, to which Stark and Pepper look on in awe.

"I'm going to take the jet to DC tonight." Pepper says staring at the screens.

"Tomorrow."

"You have homework. You have a lot of homework."

"Well, what if I didn't?"

"If you didn't?"

"Yeah."

"You mean when you've finished?" Tony nods his head. "Well, um… then…" Pepper whispers in his ear, earning a gasp from Tony, Coulson looks away in embarrassment.

Tony smirks, "Square deal. Fly safe."

Pepper kisses him. "Work hard."

As Pepper leaves with Agent Coulson, Tony grabs the Tesseract hologram, staring at it, worried.

Director Fury knocks on the door of the high rise penthouse, he didn't imagine her to be living in a place like this, it wasn't her style. Hearing no response, he simply let himself in.

Twenty minutes later the door opens to reveal the stunning red-head he had come here to recruit. She enters the living room, not at all surprised to see him sitting on her couch.

"I never did know you to warrant an invitation. I assume you are here about the Tesseract."

The Director cocks his head, "You had a vision."

"More like a nightmare." She moves to the couch sitting down. "Can I get you anything?"

"I'm fine. Thank you." He looks around the room, "How are you adjusting?"

A sadness flashes in her eyes for a moment, but only a moment. "Considering it has been only a year. I'm still… adjusting. So why don't you cut to the part where you tell me what you need Director."

"I need your help."

"I gathered. Why else would you be here?"

"The Tesseract has been stolen, I need a team to get it back."

"And you want me on this team," she asks, already knowing the answer. He nods. "Why?"

"Because you have first hand knowledge about the person who stole it." She gives him a raised eyebrow, waiting for him to continue. "His name is Loki."

He sees her eyes widen, tears forming in the deep blue pools. Her mind races, 'Loki is alive? How did he survive the fall?' It only takes her a split second to make her decision. "Alright, I'm in."

"Good." Fury stands heading for the door, he stops in the doorway glancing back at her, "I'll send a jet for you."

She smirks, "Thanks. But I've got my own wings."