AN: I know it's really short but I only had a little time to update. I decided to move the story along a little faster than I had originally planned so starting with this chapter, we'll be getting into the actual Avengers movie plot. Since I have an OC in this story, it'll vary a little from the real plot... also, I know on the bonus features, there's a deleted scene in which Steve finds Peggy's file and all that, we're just gonna pretend that didn't happen for this story, haha. Also, since I'll be quoting a lot of the movie from here on out, I want to reiterate, I OWN NOTHING ASIDE FROM WAVERLY! No copyright infringement is intended. I think that's it for now... I hope you enjoy. I'm not sure when I'll update again but it'll be following the movie from now on so hopefully updates can come a little faster.

I own nothing.

Chapter Seven:

Waverly knew stalking into her room and slamming her door shut was childish, but sometimes the situation called for childishness. Besides, Steve was acting like a child, running from his problems. Waverly knew she was out of line, violating Steve's privacy like she had, but she really felt like she had had no choice. Though she had grown close to Steve, he hadn't really opened up to her. She needed to break down his wall in order to help him deal with his demons and find his place in the world.

After a good deal of pouting and being angry with both Steve and herself, Waverly swung her legs off her bed and made to leave her room. She would apologize to Steve and hopefully they could put this behind them.

Waverly walked into the living room to find in empty. Turning to face the attached kitchen, she found it empty as well. Waverly turned into the hall and walked the short distance to Steve's bedroom. The door was closed. She knocked gently. "Steve? Steve can we talk?"

Nothing. Steve had left. Probably gone to the gym. Waverly sighed. Well, her apology would have to wait until Steve returned. While she waited, Waverly cleaned up the remains of their pizza dinner and scrubbed down the kitchen.

She was just about to run the dishwasher when her phone rang from her bedroom. Waverly abandoned the appliance and jogged into her room. She picked up the phone just before it went to voicemail. A brief glance at the screen told her it was Fury calling.

"Agent Barton," Waverly said into the phone.

"Barton, where is Rogers?" Fury barked from the other end.

Waverly sighed. "I don't know. The gym maybe?"

"Captain Rogers isn't answering his phone. We need him to come in."

"Come in? Now? What for?" Waverly's mind was racing. Fury was trying to hold back his emotions, but Waverly could hear the slight desperation in his voice. Something was seriously wrong.

"We have a level seven."

Waverly's stomach dropped. "Um… with all due respect, Steve isn't anywhere near ready. He still has episodes."

"And you let him wander off alone?"

Waverly bit her tongue, preventing herself from snapping at her boss. She did, however, say, "Sir, I am not Steve's babysitter. I told you. He's probably at the gym."

Fury huffed. "All right then. I'll see to Rogers. Pack up, we need all hands on deck for this one."

Fury hung up before Waverly could respond. She pocketed her phone and shook herself. Something big was going on if she was being called in. The usual pre-mission began wriggling in Waverly's stomach.


Steve needed to let off some steam. After his argument with Waverly, he grabbed his gym back and headed down the now familiar path to the small gym down the street. He nodded at the manager as he walked in and then headed down into the basement, which was rarely used. The soldier hung a punching bag from a chain in the ceiling and then wrapped his hands.

At first, he was just venting off his frustrations with Waverly. But, as his work out continued, he laid into the punching bag even harder. With each punch, he fought back a vision of his past; Bucky's death, taking the plane down, Peggy's last words to him, waking up after his 70 year sleep.

Drenching in sweat, Steve punched the bag so forcefully, it ripped off the chain and slammed into the opposite wall. Before stringing up another bag, Steve glanced at the clock near the stairwell. He had been down here for hours. It was nearing ten o'clock. Steve brushed the sweat from his brow and took a breath. Just a little while longer, then he'd go back home.

Just as he was getting into the rhythm of knocking into the punching bag, a deep voice called to him from across the room. "Trouble sleeping?"

Steve sighed at stepped away from the bag. He turned to see Director Fury walking into the room. "I've been asleep for seventy years. I think I've had enough rest."

"Then you should be out; celebrating."

Steve began unwrapping his hands. "When I went under, the world was at war. I wake up, they say we won. They didn't say what we lost."

Director Fury walked further into the room, a manila folder in his hand. "We've made some mistakes along the way. Some, very recently."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "Are you here with a mission, sir?"

"I am."

"Trying to get me back in the world?" Steve asked. He couldn't keep the irritation from his voice. He dropped down onto a bench and unwrapped his other hand. He put the tape back into his bag as Fury held out the folder to him.

"Trying to save it."

Steve opened the folder and glanced at the pieces of paper inside. The first had a picture of the Cube; Red Skull's source of power. "HYDRA's secret weapon?" He flipped through the other pages.

Fury nodded. "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."

Steve held back a snort. He knew what was coming. Steve wasn't a scientists, he wasn't knowledgeable in the realm of technology. Fury didn't want his help unlocking the secrets of the Tesseract. Steve was a soldier. Someone had taken the Cube from SHIELD and Fury wanted Steve to get it back. "Who took it from you?" He asked, looking up at the director.

Fury sighed and took a step back as Steve rose from the bench, putting the folder under his arm. "He's called Loki. He's," Fury paused, "he's not from around here. There's a lot we'll have to bring you up to speed on if you're in. Agent Barton will help. The world had gotten even stranger than you already know."

Steve let out a dry chuckle. He swung his back over his shoulder and picked up a punching bag. "At this point, I doubt anything would surprise me." Steve turned away from the director and began making his way out of the gym.

"Ten bucks says you're wrong," Fury called after the soldier. "There'll be a debriefing packet waiting for you at your apartment. Is there anything you can tell us about the Tesseract that we ought to know now?"

Steve paused at the foot of the stairs. "You should have left it in the ocean."