Author's Note: I shall try to make all of this as quick and concise as possible: As far fetched as it might seem, I actually do have a very good excuse for why this update is well over a year late. In order: I passed all those old classes with A's, which felt pretty good. After that, I struggled with this chapter for a long time and it began to take a backseat focus to work, which got busier over the winter months, and eventually I was so dissatisfied with the half-chapter I'd written already that I just stopped working on it altogether. After that, I got engaged. Then I got married. And then I moved long distance, twice. And then I tried to log into my account, but it had been so long that I completely forgot not only which email address I had linked to it, but that the particular email address in question even existed in the first place. I tried every address that I remembered having, with every password I've ever used in my life, but since none of them were the right address, I obviously couldn't get in. Because of that, I felt disheartened about the stories I used to write, because if I couldn't access my account to share them with you all, what was the point in writing them? Well, a few days ago I found my forgotten email address, and am now back on the site.

So after that, I immediately read the old half-chapter for the next update, and discovered it was all junk. I re-read the original story to remember where I had been going with it, deleted the entire half-chapter and started over, and with my fresh perspective, I'm proud to present the first chapter of the long-awaited Act III.

Other things pertinent to the story: There have been a lot of new additions to the MCU since this story was started, so I want to further clarify: This story is an AU, set in an alternate universe where after the first Avengers movie, they all transitioned into more of an "Earth's Mightiest Heroes" setting, where they live and work together, and there are other Superheroes on the planet, such as the Fantastic Four, as referenced in the last few chapters as having been wiped out by HYDRA during the Avenger's imprisonment. So, MCU movies that did not take place in this universe include Iron Man 3, Thor 2, Captain America 2, Avengers 2, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Civil War. As well as probably most of Agents of SHIELD, (though some characters will be getting cameos or even roles if I do a good enough job of them). Consider this a parallel universe, that split off of the MCU in between Avengers and Iron Man 3, creating new circumstances and an entire new world in order to function for the mechanics of this story. (Sidenote: Another thing those movies have in common, aside from not existing in this story, is that I'm ashamed to admit it, but I still haven't seen any of them, so please no references to them in any comments, as I still totally intend to watch them all one day and don't want any spoilers. XD)

And finally, the last thing I need to say in this lengthy author's note is that before I left, I got a lot of questions about the separation of Bruce Banner and the Hulk. How they did it, how it will affect them, if it's gonna be like the cartoons, etc. So I just want to clarify again that this AU fanfiction is fanfiction set in an AU. So even though I might borrow mechanics or plots from comics and animated series's here and there, it's largely my own story, and I've taken creative license with the Hulk as well. Addressing the issue of the separation specifically, it is my understanding that in the Cinematic Universe, the Hulk is a separate entity sharing Bruce's body, as opposed to in some series' when the two are one entity, Bruce being the thinker and the Hulk being manifested emotions. So yes, for the sake of this story, they are two different beings, and can function as such. For how long, I can't reveal without giving away too much of the future plot, so I'll say no more on the matter, but please keep that in mind while commenting. Remember that this story is fanfiction, is an AU, and will probably have a different ending than what someone may have read or watched in another series. If you are one of those people who prefer to have stories stick as close to the source material as possible, then maybe Teenage Mutant Agent Avengers is not the right story for you.

In regards to how HYDRA did it, well, I'm gonna paraphrase Star Trek's character Bones and say "I'm a fanfiction writer, not a scientist!" So I can't even guess. I left it from the story purposely because I have no idea. Not to mention, I'm pretty sure it actually is impossible to deage someone, unlock mutant genes in them, and separate them on a molecular level, so I'm not sure what science is expected of me to explain how it happened. XD Any science lovers out there who would like to come up with a reasonable theory as to how any of this makes sense, feel free to do so, and leave me a message with your findings. If I like it and think it works, maybe I'll get to put it in as an explanation in the next chapter and make everyone else happy. If not, you'll all just have to be content with an "I have no idea how they did it," because I have no idea how they did it.

Anyway, now that all that's out of the way, please enjoy the long-awaited chapter and the beginning of the third and final Act of Teenage Mutant Agent Avengers!

LIST OF NAMES, for clarification.
Clint: Friend: Davon

Thor: Sparky: Paul

Tony: Light: Michael

Loki: Chill: Jasper

Natasha: Red: Ariana

Steve: Reg: Timothy

Bruce: Ghost: John

Hulk: Muscles: Nathan


The Quinjet ride back to the base was a silent one. As Coulson stood near the front, watching the pilot and copilot fly over the city limits, leaving the scarred battlefield behind them, he glanced over his shoulder at the Avengers.

They were all of them looking uncharacteristically pensive; Steve was sitting on one bench with his head in his hands, while Natasha, ever calm and collected, sat in silence with a comforting hand on Steve's shoulder. Banner was kneeling down on the floor next to Stark, who was still unconscious and had been laid carefully on the floor so as not to be jarred too much by the flight back. Banner was focused on keeping him secure, looking tired and worried as he did so.

Even the Hulk seemed to grasp the mood of the group, and sat quietly on the bench with a deep frown, as if he were planning what he would do if he ever saw the HYDRA agent again. Thor was the only one standing. He was by the door, looking agitated and anxious, constantly looking around at everyone as if he wanted to be sure they were all still there. Coulson supposed that Loki's being missing was affecting him the most, since it had been obvious that the two of them behaved like brothers even if they didn't realize it consciously. Thor was understandably worried.

Clint also seemed to be taking it hard, as he sat dejectedly on the bench, absently staring down at Stark. If Phil were to guess what the archer was feeling, he would say that Clint felt responsible for what had happened. Clint had sort of become the unofficial leader of the group, and the others trusted his judgement and leadership. So even though the mission had technically been a success and they had stopped the bomb from going off, they had failed to capture the HYDRA agent responsible, and on top of that, Stark was badly injured and Loki was missing. This along with the death of the two pilots that had been monitoring them, as well as Banner's almost having been shot down, had to be weighing heavily on Clint's mind.

Coulson sighed, wondering what he should say to them, or if he should say anything at all. He knew that sometimes after a hard mission, people just needed to be let alone, given the chance to think.

But he also had to take into account, these teenagers weren't like ordinary agents. They really were just kids. They had all the hormones and emotions of teenagers, and on top of that, they only remembered a few short months of their lives. This hadn't just been their first mission, this had been to them, a first step into a new world, and they had suffered a defeat.

He turned back to watching the flight for a moment, before he decided to speak.

"Listen," he said, turning back around. "I know, you guys feel like this could have gone better, which, it could've." He shrugged dismissively as the teens all turned to him, looking a mixture of dejected and scolded. "But don't beat yourselves up, alright?" He looked at Clint specifically. "There wasn't anything you could have done differently, and it isn't your fault. I know it doesn't feel like it, but everything accounted for, you all went above and beyond the call of duty, and you saved hundreds of lives."

This didn't seem to make much of a difference, and the teens simply returned to their previous activities of riding along in silence, and in fact, it seemed to make Clint feel even worse, and Coulson sighed again.

He'd really lost his touch.

After only about ten more minutes, they began to land, and Natasha finally spoke up.

"Where are you taking us?" She asked quietly, now looking on the alert and slightly suspicious. "We aren't back at the base."

"No," Coulson agreed with a slight chuckle. "No, Fury decided we'd be better off having you all a bit closer to the action than Romania. Plus, I didn't think that Light should ride a Quinjet the whole way there. This is a safe-house, we're going to bunk here for awhile. Fury even said that he might move SHIELD back to the states permanently."

"Back to the states?" Banner repeated. "So you used to operate here? I suppose I shouldn't be surprised." He turned back to Stark and frowned thoughtfully. "I mean, none of you have European accents."

"You're moving your entire base of operations to another country, because of one HYDRA attack on New York?" Natasha said, sounding even more suspicious now.

Man. He shouldn't have said so much. They were as sharp as ever.

"Don't read too much into it," he said, pulling his best poker face. "SHIELD moves bases all the time, depending where we're most needed."

This wasn't exactly true, as they had only moved bases whenever they were almost caught, until they'd moved as far as Romania because of HYDRA's heavy presence in Western Europe. But now that the Avengers had been found and HYDRA was beginning to target Northern American cities more and more frequently, Fury had announced a change in the wind, and had only given the order to move a few hours ago. Coulson could only assume the Director was planning something.

But one thing was certain, and that was that things were definitely about to change. It might have been his optimistic side, still talking even after all the attempts life had made at quelling it over the years, but Coulson was even nursing a hope that if they played their cards right, maybe the war against HYDRA was coming to a close.

His poker face must have improved since he'd last seen the Avengers. Either that or they were too upset to argue much, because they dropped it with a sigh as they prepared for landing.

"This is the safe house?" Natasha asked, looking around at the empty landscape and the single farmhouse with a critical eye.

"It's a bit open, isn't it?" Clint said, looking skeptical as well. "I know SHIELD's not doing so hot right now, but this seems a bit too easy to find."

"I promise, it's safe," Coulson said, as a couple of med agents hurried towards them, having been briefed on Light's condition before they arrived. "It doesn't have the amenities you're used to, and I'm afraid you'll have to share a room, but it's just until we get a proper base set up."

"Worried about Light," the Hulk grunted, frowning as the agents carried Stark into the base on a stretcher.

"Don't worry, Muscles," Bruce sighed, giving the Hulk's arm a pat and looking plenty concerned himself. "I'm sure he'll be fine."

It was still so strange, watching the two of them interact with each other like that.

"Sir Coulson," Thor spoke up then, still looking agitated. "Have you heard from the other team yet, the one sent to investigate the bomb?"

"Not yet... Paul," Coulson told him, trying to slip back into calling them by their new names. "I'll tell you as soon as I hear something. Now then, everyone, let's get inside."

They all followed the paramedics into the farmhouse, as the pilots and a couple more agents began to push the quinjet into the nearby barn, which housed a hidden small hanger. Inside the safehouse, the old living room of the farmhouse had been emptied and a make-shift base had been set up, though some of the living furniture remained in the South-West corner of the room, along with a fairly large TV. There were potted plants everywhere in the room, and the entire place was cluttered with coffee cups, soda cans, empty chip bags and fast-food containers.

Through a large arch along the East wall of the room, a spacious room that might once have been a parlor had been turned into what appeared to be a mission planning room, with notes, maps, papers and various whiteboard graphs littering the walls. A large round table was in the center of the mission room, surrounded by various dining chairs, lawn chairs, and even an EZ-Boy recliner. Back in the living room, the paramedics began taking Stark up a staircase that also ran along the East wall, leading up to the second floor of the house.

A group of computers along part of the North wall were being run by a man Coulson had worked with before, while through a wide doorway between the computers and the staircase, he could see the woman who was always with the man, working in the old kitchen, part of which had been set up into a lab of sorts.

"Coulson," The man said, smiling up at him without turning away from the computers completely. "Glad to see you made it."

"Any trouble on the way in?" The woman called. "You weren't spotted by any locals with that plane of yours, were you?"

"Nice to see you too, Fitz, Simmons," Coulson greeted. "And no, we were careful."

"You lot are always 'careful,'" the man, Fitz, sighed. "And yet you always manage to attract HYDRA. This little pocket of the globe is actually secure, however, and that means that your easily-recognized quinjet can't stay here for very long."

"I'm sure you've already been given your orders," Coulson said. "We're moving Stateside, which means you're going to have to start answering to Fury more than you have been. He's been turning a blind eye because of the work you do here, but that's going to change."

"Speaking of Fury's blind eye, and I'll excuse your pun because I don't think you intended to make it," the woman, Simmons, spoke up, entering the room fully and looking over the Avengers. "Are these them?"

Shoot, they weren't supposed to know the Avengers had been rescued. How had they even found out?

Sending a warning look to the two agents, Phil nodded. "You mean the HYDRA prisoners we rescued? Yeah, these are them. Or most of them. The, uh, cyborg was injured, I'm sure you saw him on the way in. And one other is still missing."

"Oh, they just found him," Fitz spoke up from the computers. "They're bringing him in now."

"What?" Sparky said anxiously. "What state is he in? Sir Coulson," He turned to Phil accusingly. "You said you would alert me as soon as you found out!"

"My radio didn't go off," Coulson defended. "Fitz, I assume you did this?"

"Oh, those things don't work in the Greenhouse," Simmons stated dismissively. "It makes us harder to find that way."

"Those radios are SHIELD standard issue," Coulson sighed. "They're not going to compromise your security."

"Yes, especially if their signal is jammed," Fitz said.

"The Greenhouse?" Steve, or, Timothy, as he was now supposed to be called, spoke up, looking curious.

"Oh, that's just what we call this base," Fitz told him, turning around more fully.

"It's our little nickname for it," Simmons added.

"Why do you call it the Greenhouse?" Natasha asked.

"Well, because Danny's plants sort of take over the place, don't you think?" Simmons noted, reaching up and examining the leaves of a hanging fern by the kitchen door.

"Danny?" Coulson repeated, raising an eyebrow. "I don't remember that being the name of any agent posted here."

"That's because, he's not a SHIELD agent," Fitz said, sighing and standing up.

"...Who is he, then?" Coulson asked. "And why does he tend a garden in a secure SHIELD facility?"

"I care not of this," Thor interrupted with a frown. "What of Chill? You say he has been found," He turned back to Fitz. "What state is he in?"

"Well, according to the transmission," Fitz said, turning back to the computer. "He is in pretty rough shape." He bit his lip. "But I'm sure he'll be fine once he's rested up a bit."

"Wait, how can you be getting a transmission if you jammed the radios?" Coulson asked.

"Well, I only jammed the radios, didn't I?" Fitz said with a smile. "Satellite communications are still running."

"Aren't satellites less secure against HYDRA threats?" Phil pointed out.

"Yes, but we don't get as many HYDRA threats here," Simmons spoke up. "We mostly have to deal with local law enforcement and criminal gang activity. That's why it's more important to keep up our local facade."

"Local law enforcement?" Natasha spoke up. "I thought SHIELD made their own rules."

"Yes," Coulson agreed before catching himself. "I mean, no, we have to answer to people the same as anyone," he admonished Natasha before turning back to Fitz-Simmons. "What threat does the local law enforcement pose against a quiet SHIELD safe-house?"

"Oh, never mind that now," Fitz waved his hand dismissively. "They're going to be arriving with the other one in around ten minutes."

Thor immediately turned and headed back outside to wait on the porch, while Banner and Clint took the opportunity to head upstairs and see after Stark.

Coulson sighed, making a mental note to look more into what Fitz-Simmons had been doing holed up here with so little supervision, but there were more pressing matters to deal with right now.

"I assume that there's a medical room of sorts upstairs?" He asked.

"Oh, yes, but be sure not to confuse it with the bedrooms," Simmons said. "Here, just follow me, I'll show you around." She hurried over to the staircase, and Phil nodded, following her.

"The rest of you, come with me," he said to Natasha, Steve, and the Hulk. There was no point in leaving them to see anything they shouldn't see, and until he got the chance to tell Fitz-Simmons, in private, that the teens couldn't know they were the Avengers, he didn't want to leave them alone together.

Besides, it wouldn't hurt to show the teens their rooms.

Reaching the landing of the staircase, Simmons waved her hand to a few different doors, explaining what they were as she did so.

"Bathroom's this one here near the middle," she said, indicating the door nearest to the stairs. "That door," she pointed. "Is the room for any travelling female agents. That one is for the males." She turned to them, smiling at Natasha. "You'll be living alone, then," she said. "Phil, you and all the boys will have to split the boy's room. There are only six beds, but since two of the boys will be in the medical room, it fits just perfectly."

"What about those rooms?" Steve asked, indicating some of the other doors on that half of the hall, that Simmons hadn't mentioned.

"Oh, that room is mine," Simmons said. "And the other one is where Fitz sleeps, and where Danny and Luke crash when they stay the night."

"Danny and Luke?" Coulson raised his eyebrows at this addition. "Another frequent visitor without SHIELD clearance?"

"Oh, lighten up, Phil," Simmons said. "We've had to learn to stand on our own two legs, while all you lot went off to Europe and stationed us out here. Part of that involved making a few new friends along the way." She turned away dismissively, starting to walk down the other side of the hallway. "This room is for Agent Burke, Agent Grant, and Agent Lace," she said. "And this one is where Agents Smith and Williams sleep. And this," She opened the door on the far side of the hall. "Is the medical wing. We don't use it very often, so we almost got rid of it, but SHIELD policy requires every base have one, and lucky thing we kept it, too, seeing as how you lot need one."

Coulson looked around the room, which was small, but a proper medical station at least.

"How's he doing?" Natasha asked, looking over to where Stark was still asleep on one of the only two beds in the room, Bruce and Clint standing nearby while an agent was tending some of his wounds.

"He'll be alright," the agent said, looking up at the group with suspicion and curiosity. "But uh, this room is pretty small, and with another one on the way, I'm going to need you all to clear out."

"Got it," Phil nodded. "Alright everyone, you heard him. Let's head back downstairs."

"Actually, Coulson," Simmons said. "If you could hang back a moment, I need to ask you a question."

"I was just about to say the same thing," The agent by the bed added.

"Right," Phil nodded, having expected this. Even if Fitz-Simmons hadn't already known about the Avengers somehow, there would still be a lot of questions, and on top of that, the medical agent had clearly seen the Arc Reactor. He had a lot of explaining to do. "Go on back downstairs," he told the others. "I'll be down soon."

"Oh, be dears and send Fitz up, would you?" Simmons said.

"Sure," Clint nodded, looking at them suspiciously before exchanging a glance with Natasha.

Why Fury insisted they not be told was beyond Coulson. They would find out eventually, and knowing them, there would probably be a bit of a blow-up when they did. Especially once they realized that SHIELD had known all along.

The room emptied, and Coulson sighed.

"Alright," He said. "Here's the situation."

"Ah-ah, wait a moment," Simmons said, raising her hand to stop him. "Wait until Fitz gets here. No point in you having to explain things twice."

"Well then, how about you explain some of this, while we wait?" Phil said, feeling his headache come back. "I know Fury's let you do pretty much whatever you want up here, but from what I've heard, my guess is that you're involved in some kind of vigilante uprising, and I don't think the Director's going to be too pleased about it."

The door opened then and Fitz entered, leaning against the wall, followed by one of the other agents who had carried Stark into the room.

"I believe I was summoned?" Fitz said, crossing his arms and looking around. "What's going on?"

"Oh, Coulson's just warning us that Director Fury isn't going to approve of the Street Avengers."

"The what!?" Coulson repeated. "You have a name for yourselves? And it's Avengers based?"

"We'll tell you all about it in time," Simmons said, much to Phil's frustration. "In the meantime, we're all dying to hear about your own set of young Avengers. We heard that SHIELD had found them-"

"And we know all about their new forms," Fitz added.

"But you've been very careful to avoid steering the conversation that way," Simmons finished. "And judging from the way they've been acting, I assume they don't know?"

"You assume correctly," Phil nodded. "And it's going to stay that way. Fury's orders. So don't even mention the old Avengers, understand? As far as they know, SHIELD has no knowledge of who they were, or what happened to them. They're completely new entities, and that's how you're going to treat them." He paused. "How did you even know about them!?" He demanded. "No one knows they even exist, save level sevens and up, and the only people who know their true identities are myself, Fury, and Hill."

"Oh, well, that's kind of a long story," Simmons said. "How do we start?"

"Well, to explain it, you have to know that I routinely hack into SHIELD's classified database," Fitz said casually.

Phil sighed. "Why do you do that?" He asked.

"To make sure no one else can," Fitz answered. "We wouldn't want HYDRA finding their way in, so I find any holes that I can access and close them from the inside."

"Well that's all very helpful," Phil said, mainly to humor the man. "But the new Avengers files aren't on the computers, we kept them all on paper."

"See, I told you that's why you couldn't find anything," Simmons said, nodding her understanding. "They wouldn't let information that risky get onto something that could be hacked so easily."

"Ah, you went old school, then," Fitz smiled, looking pleased. "Smart. But yes, we didn't find anything about your teenage Avengers on SHIELD computers. But, about a month ago, I was performing my usual check-up when we intercepted a message from HYDRA."

"He followed it back to the trace," Simmons said. "And hacked into their computers, to see what was going on."

"You hacked HYDRA's computers?" Coulson asked in surprise. If they had managed to get any information out of it, they could prove invaluable to stopping HYDRA once and for all.

"Yes," Fitz nodded proudly. "But most of it was encrypted. There was a breach in the security, though, so we were able to download most of what they had, before the signal was lost."

"You downloaded their database!?" Coulson gaped.

"Yes, but like he said, it's all encrypted," Simmons sighed. "We've been working on decoding it, but so far we've only got about half of it done. So that's how we knew of the Avengers."

"What have you found?" Coulson asked immediately. "Is there any information you can tell us about the Avengers or about the experiments done on them? Or HYDRA, what have you learned about HYDRA? Why didn't you contact us about this? Do you realize how important this is!?"

"Oh, we were going to," Fitz said. "We've just been busy this past month."

"With your vigilantism?" Phil asked dryly, feeling another surge of irritation. "Alright, that's it. We're going down to your conference room, and you're going to tell me everything that you've been doing here, and everything that you know about HYDRA and the Avengers. I assume the room is secure?"

"Oh, yes," Fitz said. "We can say anything there, it won't get out unless one of us talks."

"Good," Phil sighed, leading the way out of the room and rubbing his forehead. "We can't let any of this fall into the wrong hands."

"I'll get some snacks," Simmons said.

"Snacks?" Phil repeated.

"You told us to tell you everything," Fitz said. "That's going to take a long time."

Phil nodded with yet another sigh. "Forget the snacks," he said. "Order a pizza."


Author's note: Well, I sincerely hope this was worth the wait. XD Also, I hope I got Fitz-Simmons well enough, I actually only saw like, four or five episodes of Agents of SHIELD before I got to busy to keep watching. And that was awhile ago, too, back when it was Season 1, so my portrayal of them is based solely on what I remember from back then. XD Now, I have a question to pose to all you readers: from what I've written above, do you think that I should keep Fitz-Simmons on as integral characters in this story, as well as bringing in Iron Fist, Luke Cage, and some of their friends? Or should I leave their cameos as cameos, and write Fitz-Simmons out after I'm done with what I needed them for? Let me know in the reviews!

Also, to anyone who's been following this story from the beginning, thank you for sticking through my unannounced and sudden hiatus! It means a lot that you still care to read, and I hope that Act III will be everything you were waiting for. :)

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