Seren lowered the newspaper in her hand with a heavy sigh.

"Another refill?" A young waitress stopped by Seren's table. The restaurant was almost closing so they were politely trying to get the lingering customers to leave.

"No, thanks," Seren sighed again and asked for the check instead. Just because she was having a bad night didn't mean the poor restaurant had to suffer with her. The waitress happily dropped the check minutes later.

Seren paid and soon left the place. She carried the newspaper tightly under her left arm. She shouldn't be paying attention to it but here she was, doing exactly that. She and Natasha had dinner together and while Natasha left an hour ago, Seren had stayed back reading the damn newspaper...so many times. In her defense, she had stopped going on the internet now. That was progress.

As soon as she arrived home, her cell phone went off. Seren fished her phone out of her bag and saw her grandmother's name on the screen. "Grandmother—" she said as soon as she answered, "—it will always creep me out when you call me like this."

Atria chuckled over the line. "Well, it's good you can make jokes."

"Eh," Seren let the newspaper drop on her coffee table. "It's sad that this is all I have going for me right now."

"Don't say that, you have plenty of things in your life. I would know." Seren rolled her eyes knowing that Atria had to be tapping her temple at that moment. Atria always said little things here and there that gave the impression she knew things from the far future, specifically about Seren and their family. Seren never really paid much attention, though. It wasn't very appealing learning about your future. It felt more like cheating.

"Is there a reason you called tonight?" Seren politely asked.

"How are you?"

Seren nodded. Of course her grandmother would know what was going on. "I guess you don't need to be a seer for that, huh? Not when the news keeps covering it." The public was in a deep divide between supporting or not supporting the Avengers. It felt like it had been years since the battle in New York with how fresh the newspapers and broadcasting kept talking about the whole thing. "I guess that's the bad thing about being exposed, huh? You didn't have to worry about that."

"No, because I was too busy hiding," Atria reminded her. "The old days made it incredibly difficult to move around."

"I know," Seren walked right into her room, feeling no energy to even watch television. "I'm trying, grandmother, I really am. I guess I've been hiding for so long that now that I don't have to..."

"You have no idea what to do, mhm," Atria sighed. "I'm sorry but look at it this way. You have worked very hard all your life for this Initiative, always paying your dues silently. Well, now you don't have to do that anymore. Now you get the gratitude that you deserve and more importantly, you get to relax. No more stressing about hiding who you really are. You deserve that. Be kind to yourself my little star soul."

"Yeah, I guess," Seren nodded, trying to convince herself. She came to her dresser and gazed at her portraits. "I'll try."

Atria doubted that. "Seren, take things easy, okay? And don't be so nervous."

"Huh?" Seren turned away from her dresser, confused. "Don't be nervous about what?"

"Just a question that you'll be asked," Atria said.

"What are you talking about now, grandmother?" Seren was no stranger to the cryptic messages her grandmother often left for her. Sometimes they were fun to solve but since tonight had been pretty gloomy, she was in no mood for a puzzle.

But, like always, Atria wouldn't tell her the answer. "You'll see. Just be honest."

Seren agreed but only to end the call. She put her phone down on the dresser and stared at her pictures again. Her childhood wasn't very pleasant to remember and, really, the only reason she had portraits of her younger self was because of her parents. As frightening and stressful as her childhood was, Seren loved her parents and knew that in the end all they wanted was for her to be safe. It was reasonable that they wanted her to keep those rare happy moments captured in pictures to be with her wherever she went.

~ 0 ~

When Seren walked into work the following morning, she was immediately called by Fury. Maria didn't give her any reasoning except that it was important. Seren couldn't help the nerves that built up inside her as she headed for Fury's office. The last time she was called into his office had been to tell her that they'd found the one and only Captain America frozen in some wreck. Now that seemed like it had been ages ago.

Fury was patiently waiting for Seren when she knocked on his door. She came in and took her appropriate seat across from him.

"Did we find someone else on ice?" The question tumbled out of Seren's mouth before Fury said anything. "Maybe Sargent Barnes? That would make Steve really happy."

Fury smiled for a brief second. "Wouldn't that be nice? No, no one this time. But it is somewhat related to what we need to discuss."

"I don't understand," Seren scooted forwards on her chair. "What are we talking about now?"

"The Avengers' Initiative was relatively a success," Fury stopped when Seren's gaze fell to his desk. "Agent Soul?"

"I'm just not sure we can exclusively call it that, sir," Seren swallowed hard. "Have you seen some of the people against us? Important people."

"Well, you can't expect everyone to be on our side. The fact remains that without this Initiative, we would've lost and no one can deny that. Not even politicians."

Seren nodded. That's what she thought too but seeing the constant negativity about them made it difficult to stay convinced all the time.

"Being the first to volunteer for the Initiative, I think you are more than qualified for this new mission."

"What — a solo mission?"

"Yes and no. I have proposed an extension of the original Initiative that I created back in the 90s. The intention of it would be to have a specific group of Avengers for each country."

"But isn't S.H.I.E.L.D.'s main priority to look over our own country's security?"

"Yes, but seeing that we have had two major fights against aliens has made the world truly realize that we are not alone. Not to mention Stark's own battles against other enemies. The fact remains that we all need to be ready and some countries have agreed to test out the Initiative on their own lands. Britain, for starters, is very interested in forming their own version."

"Okay, but...where exactly do I come in?"

Fury deliberated with the answer. He stared at Seren for what seemed like hours to her. It just made her fidget like a child. "Your grandmother, Agent Atria Soul, was in command of the first round of recruitment and granted the numbers weren't what we hoped for, but Atria was a fine leader. Seeing you train all these years without a single distraction leaves me with no doubt that you will follow in Atria's footsteps."

Seren blinked automatically. All of Fury's words were colliding in her mind so that everything came at warp speed. "Wh-what...hold on…" Suddenly, her air seemed to be on low. "You...you want me to be in command of a new team?"

"The idea is that you would go to England first and with their own tactical team, you would seek out viable candidates to form an elite version of what we formed here."

"With all due respect, the 'team' you speak about were crammed together," Seren said, trying her best not to laugh out of sheer respect. "Chloe, for example, was not supposed to be part of the Avengers. I thought, and I still think, that she's too young and yes" — she raised a finger at Fury just as he opened his mouth — "I know that I was way younger but I was trained specifically for this. Chloe wasn't. And should I even touch the fact you brought in someone as volatile as the Hulk into this? Banner has all of my respects but the Hulk is, at best, a wild card. The fact he didn't rip you to shreds in his first five minutes is still a miracle to me."

Fury remained calm in the face of Seren's criticism. "Yes, that's all true but we did what we had to do because we weren't fully prepared."

"You mean because I was taken," Seren countered.

"You would not have been able to take down all of the Chitauri on your own, Agent Soul. A good agent doesn't look down on the numbers of their team."

"This has nothing to do with being in a team, sir," Seren frowned. "I like working with other people, and I can work on my own just fine. My point is that you scrambled to put together a team and you got lucky. Put Steve and Tony in the same room for an hour again and tell me if you can recreate the success story again. Put the Hulk in here and see if that'll work again. My point here is that in order to form a good team, you need—"

"Time," Fury nodded, leaving Seren silent for a moment. "Yes. I admit that. But in the end, it worked out which means we had to have done something right. And I think that was you."

"Me?" Seren made a face. "No—"

"The team was falling apart until you took charge. You led them and they worked. Which is why I want to go ahead with this new project, putting you at the head of it. You know the Initiative better than anyone. No one understands the concept, the goal, of the Initiative more than you. You can go to England, recruit the best of the best, and form a new version of the Avengers."

Seren shook her head. "I don't know about this. The idea is noble and cautious, but can we really replicate what didn't exactly work in the first place?"

"With your skills, I believe so," Fury nodded, leaving Seren dumbfounded that he had that much faith in her.

"What would happen if I agreed? What would really happen?"

Fury cleared his throat before he explained, "You would leave for England for an indefinite period of time. They already have a list of candidates that they believe would be a good fit with a new team but you will have complete control of who gets in and who doesn't. You will be able to call the shots and, if you feel like it's necessary, you will have complete access to all records of their people to make your own search for better candidates. Once that is done, you will train them. You will take them on missions until they can function on their own. And then you'll move onto the next." Fury watched Seren process it all - she was trying to but she seemed more overwhelmed than anything else. "If you're concerned about being on your own, don't worry. You'll have full support in England and we'll be sending our own Agents in from time to time. Agent Romanoff is an expert at combat, after all. Agent Winters may have a thing or two to teach concerning mind attacks."

"I'd be moving to a whole other country..." Seren said quietly. Things were slowly donning on her and she wasn't sure whether to be surprised or not that she wasn't immediately against the idea. She was thinking of the possibilities...if it worked out.

Minutes passed by where Seren said nothing. Fury decided to leave it at that. He had said everything he needed to and now it was up to Seren. "Think about it, Agent Soul. It would be a good opportunity for you. You have been with S.H.I.E.L.D. for a very long time—"

"My entire life," Seren corrected with a quiet tone.

"Well, this would be the chance to become the leader of the Initiative overseas. What you have learned, you would get to pass on to a new generation."

Seren nodded. "O-okay, I'll...I'll think about it."

"Of course," Fury motioned that she could leave. "I will be waiting, but not forever. If you won't take the mantle, I'll have to look for someone else."

Seren got up from her chair and made an awkward walk for the door. Her mind was racing with different ideas and thoughts about the proposal.

~ 0 ~

"Fury wants to put you in charge of a whole new team?" Natasha seemed more bemused with the news, something Seren didn't quite understand. Nothing was funny about this whole thing.

The two women were in the training room practicing with one another in combat. It was the perfect place to have a conversation like the one they were having...at least Seren hoped. She sort of just blurted the whole thing to Natasha.

"Why do you look like you're about to throw up?" Natasha bluntly asked. "Isn't that like your...dream...or something?"

Seren's deep sigh showed just how torn she was. "Before any of this, yeah...but now…"

"Now what?" Natasha sounded almost tired which made Seren wince. "Don't tell me that you're still hung up on the stupid people protesting against us?"

"Why shouldn't I?" Seren dropped her fists to her sides. "People are protesting against us, Natasha. What if this just makes it worse?"

"Who cares," Natasha said sharply. She wasn't surprised that Seren was still so hung up on the people against them. She simply wouldn't be Seren if she wasn't. "I don't know how many times we have to say this but it is not your fault."

"Believe me, if it was that easy, I would've done it already." Seren hated that her mind was this cruel with her. She laughed sadly. "You have no idea how badly I wish I could stop overthinking things."

Natasha smirked. "Yeah, and what would you do if you were able to?"

"What?"

Natasha started circling Seren with the same eyes she'd use on a real enemy. "What would you do if you stopped overthinking things?"

"Like...in general? Or-or this case?"

"Well, take your pick," Natasha stopped in front of Seren to wink at her. "If there's something else you're overthinking — maybe about someone — then feel free to admit to that too."

Seren rolled her eyes. "Natasha—"

Natasha suddenly clapped her hands together loud enough to cause a sharp echo. "Seren Soul, what would you do with the proposal?"

Seren tilted her head to think which was exactly what Natasha told her not to do. So, in response, Natasha smacked Seren upside the head.

"OW!" Seren spun around to meet Natasha's smirking face. "What the hell!?"

Natasha laughed. "I said not to think!"

Seren rubbed the back of her head, wincing every now and then. "Remind me to never become your enemy."

Natasha hummed. "You wouldn't be so stupid, nor would I. But c'mon," she motioned Seren to get back into their fighting stances. Natasha folded her hands into fists and raised them to fight. "What would you do?"

Seren slowly prepared herself for another round. "I would…"

"Don't think about it!" Natasha warned then swung her fist.

Seren acted on impulse and threw a leg up to block the fist. At the same time, she yelled, "I'd take it!"

Natasha laughed. "Woah, there it is!" It was even funnier when Seren realized what she said. "That was easier than I thought." Natasha straightened herself up and pushed her hair behind her shoulders.

Seren bit her lip and swallowed the urge to justify what she said. She didn't have to. If she took the position, she knew exactly why she would do it. "If I could train people, regular people who just want to protect their people, then maybe it would help alleviate the response to us. Plus...it would be nice to expand the Initiative, but on my terms."

Natasha raised an eyebrow at Seren, a playful smile tugging at her lips. "Oh, what's that mean?"

"That I would try to change what they did to me," Seren ended the training session on the spot. "I was recruited as a child and worked over until I became this," she made a gesture at herself. "You and I both know what that does to people. I wouldn't overwork them, I would insist on building a normal life outside of all this. I'd instill the importance of the Initiative but...I would try my honest best not to let it consume them like it consumed me."

Natasha dropped all her playfulness at once. She smiled honestly at her friend. "I like that idea."

"...so do I," Seren confessed with a laugh that followed. The ability to do all that she said gave her an excited tingle that she couldn't just push away.

"So you're doing it, then?" Natasha asked one more time just to make sure they were on the same page.

"I...I think I am," Seren nodded. Suddenly, the air she breathed in was a harder task to do.

"Oh no, don't go all pouty again," Natasha crinkled her nose. "We're not doing that again."

"No, no, it's different this time," Seren waved her off. "I have to tell my family...I have to talk to Fury again. Then there's Steve too."

"What about Golden Boy?" Natasha's lips quirked fast.

Seren avoided the taunting stare by heading over for her water left on a bench. "He's my friend, I have to tell him too."

"Right," Natasha turned on her heels in Seren's direction. "But then so is mostly everybody else here."

"Natasha, don't do that. It's just different, alright?"

"Oh yeah," Natasha snorted, almost laughing in Seren's face if the ginger had turned around to see it. "What are you so concerned about? That he might meet a cute girl while you're gone?" Natasha swayed her way over to Seren.

"Get out of here, Natasha. Of course I don't care about that," Seren turned the lid of her water bottle just a bit too harsh. "I was the first person he got to know when he woke up. Naturally, we're close."

"Pretty sure he met Chloe second and they're not close like you are."

"It's just different and I don't feel like explaining myself to you about this," Seren said with a huff and stormed out of the room.

"Aw, don't worry, I'll take care of him!" she heard Natasha yell after her. "I'll make sure nobody gets their hands on him!"

Seren begged God to intervene and make Natasha stop yelling such things in the hallways. The last thing she needed, nor wanted, was for rumors to fly in the building.

~ 0 ~

One of the places Steve came to love were the coffee shops of the modern world. The quaint shops on the street corners always smelled so nice and the atmosphere they had...it was just so relaxing. It was one of the first things Seren showed him and now whenever they had time, they would stop by.

"I'm thinking cinnamon rolls," Seren said as soon as they stepped inside. The dulcet cinnamon scent was simply too sweet to pass up.

"I think you're right," Steve agreed. "I'll order."

"I invited you," Seren reminded him and made way for the line when Steve grabbed her arm.

"Not so fast," he gently made her step back to where she was. "It's my treat."

Seren smiled at him knowing that she wasn't going to win. "Fine," she raised her hands in defeat. "But don't come to me when you're out of money because I ate like 20 cinnamon rolls."

Steve watched her leave to find a table. "I'll take my chances."

She waved him off and found a table by the glass wall. She slipped into the open seat and waited for him to come back. Her fingers fiddled on the table; it was the only nervous tick that she couldn't quite play down.

"I can't believe how many different options there are now for these things," Steve returned a short moment later with two plates for them.

"Yum," Seren eagerly grabbed her plate. "The best option is pecans."

"I'm more of the original kind," Steve took his seat across her. He'd gotten a plain cinnamon roll while she had the pecan version.

Seren laughed. "How surprising."

"Not everything has to be updated in order to be good."

"Another unsurprising thing about you." Seren said quietly. Her gaze slowly lowered to the dessert in front of her. "So I've been talking to Chloe and, um, she's coming back in a few months."

"Really?"

"Mhm, for a few weeks. Then I hear she's off to Japan this time."

"She really does like all the travelling." Steve couldn't quite remember the last time he spoke to Chloe but he was always happy to have her around. She and Natasha shared a pretty amusing relationship. "I just think she's a bit young to be on her own."

Seren looked up with an arched eyebrow. "I wouldn't tell her that."

"I'm not that clueless."

"It'll be nice having her around—she can show you the Breakfast club movie. I don't really like it but Chloe insists that it's an iconic movie and whatnot. Course she did do the whole high school experience. Did you know she was head of the cheerleaders?"

"No, but I'm not surprised," Steve said, sharing a chuckle with her. "She seems like the kind. But I'm sure we can find something we all like afterwards." Something about his words unsettled Seren. Steve watched her fidget in her chair and realized she wasn't looking at him anymore either. It was like she couldn't. "Seren, are you alright?"

Seren couldn't find it in her to actually lie, not even to buy her some more time. "I, uh...Fury talked to me a couple days ago."

"Okay," Steve nodded. So far, he followed.

"It was about the Initiative," Seren was chewing on her bottom lip like it was gum. "He...a few counties want to try and expand the Initiative to cover their own lands."

"Like International Avengers?" The idea was amusing but logical.

"Yeah, and Fury has asked me to take charge of it...in England." Seren watched Steve's eyes widen to the brim. It was a genuine shock and, slowly, he came to actually process what Seren had said.

"In England…"

"They've asked me to move to England," Seren started explaining. "I'd be searching for new recruits to train them until they could function on their own as a team."

"Wow…" Steve had no idea what to say right now. Too many things were swirling in his mind. Seren moving? To a different country? Something hurt...

"Say something?" Seren sounded like she was begging and for that, Steve snapped out of his moment.

"I'm shocked by it," he laughed lightly, and by force so she wouldn't suspect. He wasn't happy, he wasn't happy at all, but if this is what she wanted he wouldn't take it away.

"Why? Because I'm...not the best option?" Seren actually seemed very nervous about his answer. He almost laughed.

"What?" Steve couldn't believe his ears, much less the fear on Seren's face. "Are you kidding me? Who better to be in charge of this new proposal than the one who started it all? I...I can understand why Fury would ask you of all people. You were a good leader back there..."

"It was more like co-leading, don't you think?" Seren swallowed hard. Something in her chest felt too tight, and there was an ache. "You used to lead your own team too..."

"Yeah, but last time I did that, everyone was human. Around these parts, you're the Captain." Steve enjoyed the soft smile that grew on Seren's face.

"So you think I should go?" Her fingers started fiddling on the table again.

No, I want you to stay. Steve swallowed hard. "If it's what you want, then yes." He searched Seren's face for the truth and the truth was quite clear. She was excited about the whole thing.

"I want to make it different for these new teams, Steve," Seren said, leaning forward on the table. Her smile wouldn't stop spreading. "I don't want them to go through what I had to. I want them to understand that what they're doing is important and for a good cause but it's not something that they should be doing 24/7. Most of all, I want this team to feel like a real team, a group of people who know that they'll always have each other's backs."

"I think that there's definitely no one better than you to do that," Steve said. "We really could've used you back in my day, you know."

Seren laughed lightly. "God, can you imagine? I think I'd be crucified for my hair alone."

Steve's eyes gazed over her bright ginger hair and that adorable side-swept part. She would definitely draw some eyes. "Once you made your print, nobody would've batted an eye at the hair."

"Last time I remembered, though, women weren't exactly allowed to command anything. I think I'm okay here," Seren said, shrugging.

Steve nodded. "And I get to be your friend here. Believe it or not, I'm still less awkward than I what I used to be."

Seren chuckled again. "I think you're just fine. So...you're not...you're not mad?"

"Mad? At what?"

"Well, not 'mad' as in 'angry' but just...upset that I didn't tell you beforehand."

"Seren, you don't have any obligation to tell me anything you don't want to. I am your friend, and whatever you want to keep a secret is your right."

"I was just scared that you would be upset. I talked to my parents about it and they weren't all that happy about it. I guess it just made me nervous how you would react." Wrong. Seren was nervous before telling them.

"So, uh, when do you leave?" Steve wanted to know exactly how many days he had left with her.

"Saturday morning. I'm packing everything I need and want to take with me tomorrow."

That was only three days from now. Steve felt his heart aching, actually aching, but looking at Seren and her excitement for her new opportunity, made it impossible to even try to talk her out of it. Even if he had the chance, he wouldn't take it. He wanted her to be happy no matter what.

A/N:

Yeeeah...

For the review: I think Seren will need a LOT of help here lmao. Girl can't say off the newspapers and tv for the life of her.

P.S. As always, I have an AO3/Wattpad account under "noblecrescent" and a tumblr account under "saiilorstars" if you'd like to follow :)