Chapter 13: Recruitment Drive
In the Central American country of El Salvador, Rick Jones rode his bike down the streets of the town of San Miguel. It was a normal bike rather than a motorbike, which made it easier for the kid to blend in with everyone else. At present, he had managed to secure a delivery job with one of the many local restaurants. He didn't make much, but the tips were decent, and his boss didn't bat an eye about wanting to be paid in cash rather than checks. He zoomed down the street, heading to his last delivery for the day. Once reaching his destination, he pulled to a stop, lowering the kickstand, and getting off the bike so he could grab the food. He then went up to the house and knocked on the door.
"Hey, got a delivery, here!" he called out.
After a few moments, the owner opened up, grateful for the order. He paid for it and Rick went on his way. As he looked down, he groaned.
"Seriously? No tip? Come on, man…"
Moaning in frustration, Rick slipped back onto the bike and rode off.
"Guess it'll be a light dinner tonight. Better finish up with work and meet up with Bruce."
…
Meanwhile, Bruce decided to head out into the city, heading into a second-hand electronics store in the hopes of finding equipment for his next experiment. Since he couldn't risk any sort of trail that could lead Ross of the Hulkbusters to him, he had to make do with making the equipment himself, which meant buying a wide assortment of gizmos and gadgets from second-hand shops.
He managed to get a hold of a toaster and a few old cell phones that he believed could help him with his work. As he made his way to the counter, he accidentally bumped into a man who was in one of the aisles.
"Hey!" he let out in Spanish.
He grabbed hold of Bruce's shoulder and slammed him against the aisle. Bruce grunted in pain before breathing erratically, trying his best not to lose his cool.
"Watch where you're going, pal! I outta knock some sense into you!"
Bruce could feel his control slipping, especially when the brute began to pull back his fist.
"Please…" Bruce responded in Spanish. "don't make me angry… you wouldn't like me when I'm angry."
Thankfully, just before the guy's punch could land, someone slid between them both: Rick.
"Whoa, whoa," Rick interjected in Spanish. "Please excuse my friend here. He's got his head in the clouds. Here." He held out the wad of cash that was his tips for the day. "For your troubles."
Looking down at the money, the man snatched it out of Rick's hand before walking off. Bruce let out a sigh of relief in response.
"Nice timing," Bruce commended.
"Yeah. Unfortunately, that was everything I had on me." He sighed, leaning on the wall. "Think any of those leftovers are still good?"
"Our fridge broke last week, remember?"
Rick visibly deflated. "So that's a no…"
"Any chance your work has leftovers?"
"Checked. No dice today."
Bruce let out a sigh of defeat.
…
Later the two were walking down the street back to their apartment, disappointed by the outcome of the day.
"Maybe I should take up a job," Bruce suggested. "They're always hiring at the bottling plant."
"Yeah, let's stick you in a loud and stressful environment full of heavy machinery and cramped confines," Rick sarcastically declared. "That's a perfect idea, Bruce."
"... right. Well, we need to think of something. If not, it might be time for us to move on."
"And go where, Bruce? Without passports or ID, we're kinda stuck and forgeries are way too expensive."
"Well, we need to think of something. We can't-"
Bruce suddenly went silent as they got to the floor of their apartment.
"Bruce?" Rick let out, immediately on high alert. "What is it?"
Bruce pointed at their door, seeing that it was cracked slightly and the light was on inside.
"Oh boy," Rick let out. "You think Ross found us?"
"Feel it would be a lot louder if it were."
"True." Rick stepped forward. "I'll go first."
Bruce caught his arm. "Not a chance. If it's one of Ross' men-"
"Do you really want to risk letting the Big Guy out in here?"
Bruce cringed, then slowly let go of Rick. Taking a deep breath, Rick slowly approached the apartment. He inched the door and slowly pushed it open, allowing him to head inside. He could hear something inside, something that sounded like… cooking? He fully entered the apartment and went toward the kitchen, surprised to see Natasha, dressed in local attire and cooking some kind of pasta dish.
"Uh…" Rick let out with a cocked eyebrow.
"Oh good, you're back," Natasha noted. "You didn't have much so I picked up something. It's almost done if you want to get Mr. Bana. That is the alias he's using, right? David Bana?"
"Uh…"
Hearing this exchange, Bruce slowly walked into the room, a pained smile on his face.
"I guess I shouldn't be surprised," he remarked, sounding like a man walking to his execution. "Let me guess, you never lost track of us, did you?"
"We did for a bit," Natasha admitted. "But we picked you back up somewhere south of the border. We decided it was best to keep our distance for now. Even kept a few… interested parties off your scent."
As the two mulled on that, Natasha grabbed two bowls, doling out the pasta she had made before placing it on the coffee table. She then stuck two forks in the bowls before gesturing to them.
"Go on. I can assure you, the only thing you need to worry about is the cayenne pepper flakes."
The two gave each other looks for a moment before turning back to the food. Rick was the first to take a chance and have a bite. Instantly, he smiled in delight before beginning to wolf down the food. As he sat down and grabbed his bowl, Bruce sat next to him. Rather than eat, he pushed his food toward Rick before giving Natasha his full attention.
"Well… since we've established you're not here to kill me… why are you here?"
"We need your help."
"And what if I say no?"
"I can be pretty persuasive."
Bruce chuckled. "And what about the… Other guy. I don't think pasta will convince him."
"From our reports, you haven't had an episode since the Cube break out three months ago. I don't think you want to break that streak. Especially with Mr. Jones in such close proximity and the number of people in this building alone."
"She's gotcha there, Bruce," Rick said through a mouthful of pasta. He swallowed, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. "But here's the million dollar question… whose help do you need? Bruce's? Or the big guy's?"
"Fortunately we need the man more than the monster," Natasha replied, pulling out her phone. "We're facing a potential global catastrophe."
"Oh, those I actively try to avoid," Bruce commented.
Nat placed the phone on the table, showing a picture of the Tesseract.
"48 hours ago, a SHIELD research sub was attacked by HYDRA forces. They managed to make off with this."
"Hey," Rick let out, pointing with his fork. "Ain't that the cube thingy that Captain America was trying to get back in WWII?"
"You know your history kid. This is the same one. And now, HYDRA has it again."
"So, what do you want me to do?" Bruce asked. "Swallow it?"
"We want you to track it. Initial reports of HYDRA weapons taken back during WWII show that the Cube emanates a Gamma energy signature that's too weak for us to track. That's where you come in."
"And what's in it for us?" Rick proposed, finishing his bowl and setting down his fork. "The doc's too nice for his own good but we can't just go back to the States with you."
"Once we get our hands on the Cube, you're in the wind. We can place you anywhere you feel you can start a new life. We'll even provide regular funds so you're not relying on tip money to get by."
Bruce chuckled in response. "You know… you almost had me for a moment."
"I'm serious," Natasha insisted. "We need you on this."
"Need me in a cage, you mean."
"No one's gonna put you in a-"
"STOP LYING TO ME!" Bruce yelled, slamming a fist down.
Instantly, Nat grabbed her gun that was placed under the table and aimed it at Banner. Rick instantly got to his feet, taken aback by how quickly things had escalated. His eyes were darting around for an escape, only for Bruce to reach out and gently tap his arm.
"It's alright, Rick. That was a dumb move on my part. Just relax, okay? In fact," he turned to Natasha, "we should all relax. I'd much rather do this the easy way where you don't use that thing and the Other Guy doesn't make a mess."
Finally taking a breath, Natasha lowered her gun before moving a hand to her ear.
"Stand down," she said to the agents outside. "We're good here."
Rick peeked out the window, seeing several SHIELD agents stationed outside. He whistled, sagging onto the couch.
"I am seriously slacking if I didn't notice an entire army surrounding the place."
Bruce put the second bowl of pasta in his lap. "Just eat up. We've got a bit of a journey ahead of us."
"Hopefully, with a lot less action."
…
An alarm rang out, cutting through the silence of the New York City night. On a rooftop, several masked men busted out of a jewelry store with stolen loot in hard, making a beeline for a helicopter that was landing on the helipad nearby. As the thugs made it to their escape vehicle, none of them noticed the red and blue figure landing on a metal beam overlooking them. Smirking under his mask, he held out his hand and fired a web at the foot of one of the crooks, tripping him up. As some of the others made it to the copter, one of the crooks was about to hand another a briefcase full of loot, only for another web to snag the briefcase, pulling it away and causing it another crook in the face. As another crook tried to start the copter, he looked to the side and saw their attacker, the upside-down hanging figure of the Spectacular Spider-Man. Spider-Man then webbed the crook and yanked him out of the chopper, causing him to hit the ground hard. Spider-Man then shot out another web and snagged another goon, pulling him hard and causing him to collide with the copter, knocking him out cold. This allowed Spider-Man to leap through the copter and land in front of the remaining goons.
"Alright, boys," he addressed. "I'm here to make quips and web bad guys… and I have plenty of both."
The goons all aimed their weapons at Spider-Man, opening fire and causing him to flip out of the way. He leaped onto the helicopter before jumping off it. Soaring over the thugs and firing webs at two of the thugs. As Spider-Man landed, he pulled hard on the webs, yanking the two thugs together and knocking them out. One of the bigger thugs quickly grabbed a nearby crate and chucked it at Spider-Man. Seeing it coming, Spider-Man leaped up and landed on the box, riding it as he fired a web at a nearby tower. Once the web was stretched to its limit, it snapped back, carrying Spider-Man and the crate forward.
"Special delivery!" he called out, knocking the crate into the thug and sending him flying. Spidey reacted quickly firing a web to ensnare the thug before he could fall off. Spider-Man then pulled him back, causing him to hit the ground hard. One of the remaining thugs kept shooting at Spider-Man, prompting him to backflip away repeatedly as the final goon made it to the copter. Spider-Man then landed on the wall, running across it as the thug continued shooting at him.
On a neighboring rooftop, Hawkeye was watching the events play out through a pair of binoculars.
"Not bad," he admitted. "Got potential… for a kid."
Spider-Man continued keeping ahead of the shots, leaping off the wall and firing a web onto a nearby tower for him to swing on. He swung around the helicopter before smashing through the door, shutting down the copter and knocking the pilot out of it at the same time. The pilot flew right into the gunman, knocking them both to the ground as Spider-Man landed on the side of the building, seeing the copter go down. Immediately he leaped onto it, firing weblines to try and stop the copter's descent. Web line after web line was shot out, connecting to the buildings close by as the helicopter's fall became slower and slower. Finally, the helicopter came to a stop before it could make contact with the street below.
"Well, that was fun," Spider-Man remarked before swinging back onto the roof.
A few moments later, Spider-Man had all the goons wrapped up in a net and even attached a note for the police that read "compliments of your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man". Once it was in place, he fired a web to swing away from. He didn't get far though as something sailed through the air, cutting his web and causing him to fall to the ground.
"What the…?" Spider-Man let out.
He looked around, seeing an arrow poking out of the wall. Cocking an eyebrow, he went over and pulled it out of the wall, finding a note attached to it.
"'Meet me at the Chrysler Building. Need to talk'," Spider-Man read off. "O…kay. Not the weirdest way someone's tried to get my attention… but still."
…
Sometime later, Spider-Man made his way to the Chrysler Building. On any other day, it'd be his place to get away from everything. Tonight though, he wasn't sure what he was going to find. As he reached one of the stone eagles he liked to perch on, he found Hawkeye leaning against the wall, fiddling with one of his arrows.
"You know," Spider-Man spoke up, perching on an eagle. "There's other ways to get a guy's attention."
"Well, you don't exactly have an email," Hawkeye retorted, putting the arrow away.
"True. so, who are you? Wait, let me guess, Purple Arrow? William Tell-off? No, wait, bow boy."
"Funny. The name's Hawkeye."
"Hawkeye? I think I prefer Purple Arrow."
"Well forgive me for not taking advice from the kid who uses his school's photo lab to make his web fluid."
Spider-Man's eyes went wide under his mask.
"Uh… I don't know what you're talking about. Why would a hero like me use a-"
"Peter Benjamin Parker, age 17. Currently a junior at Midtown High School, as well as a freelance photographer for the Daily Bugle. Lives with your only living relative, your paternal aunt Maybelle 'May' Parker."
Spider-Man was floored by the info dump.
"How… how do you-"
"I work for SHIELD. We've been keeping tabs on you after you used your school computers to hack into SHIELD during that Chameleon incident last year."
"Well… what does SHIELD want with me?"
"Right now… we want your help. Some bad people are looking to make a mess of the world, and we're putting together a team to stop it."
"I'm not exactly a team player."
"Maybe not, but that doesn't matter right now. This goes south, a lot of people are gonna get hurt. Including people in your hometown."
Spider-Man paused for a moment, looking out at the city. He sighed before turning back to Hawkeye.
"I'd love to help, but I can't just up and leave. I need to stick around and help my aunt with FEAST, not to mention bills, and don't even get me started on the amount of whackos out there just waiting for me to show even a hint of weakness."
"We can give your aunt a cover story that you got a summer internship somewhere. Bills won't be a problem. And as for the supervillain issue, they've been quiet since your fight with that green whacko a few months back. I'm sure New York can last a week."
Spider-Man paused again, prompting Hawkeye to take off his sunglasses so they could meet eye to eye.
"Look, if it were up to me, I wouldn't even be asking," Hawkeye continued. "You're a little too… green for my taste. But my boss? He seems to think you've got what it takes for this job. Thinks you're capable of making a difference or something like that."
With that last word, something clicked inside Spider-Man. As if a decision had been made.
"... I'm in. but no one else knows who I am behind the mask. Especially not Aunt May."
"Sure, kid. We can arrange that," Hawkeye went to the edge and notched an arrow.
He fired the arrow, which had a grappling line attached that allowed Hawkeye to zip away on. Spider-Man watched as he sailed away.
"Yeah… this is gonna be fun," Spider-Man remarked, firing a web and swinging away.
…
"This cannot be your idea of fun," Janet's voice commented over comms.
Hank Pym, at the moment, was clad in his Ant-Man suit, traversing some meticulously dug caverns, seemingly in search of something.
"What makes you think that?" Hank asked, dropping down a hole into another part of the tunnel.
"Oh, just the fact that you're running around in what's essentially a dark dank cave, and I'm here, waiting for you to come out of said dark dank cave. Not my idea of date night."
"These equipment checks are important," Ant-Man replied, running along the tunnel and leaping across a massive gap before proceeding. "We can't risk a malfunction in the field."
"And I get that. I'm just saying, we can find a more enjoyable way to do this."
"I still don't see how this isn't-"
Suddenly, Ant-Man stopped, hearing something moving toward him. He took a step back, bracing himself for what was coming. Finally, the creature stepped out of the shadows, revealing itself to be a giant ant. Instead of feeling horror, Ant-Man smiled.
"Finally," he replied before placing a hand on his helmet. "Stop."
The ant just screeched before rushing forward, much to Ant-Man's confusion.
"Stop!" he instructed again.
There was no response. Seeing the need for action, Ant-Man ran forward and leaped over the ant, landing on the other side of it. The ant quickly turned around and tried to bite him, but Ant-Man grabbed him by the pinchers. The ant tried to snap at him, but Ant-Man slammed it against the wall of the tunnel, allowing him to put some space between himself and the ant.
"Helmet's not responding," Ant-Man reported, trying to reconfigure it. "Might need to adjust the frequency."
"Whatever you're doing, do it fast. I don't think the staff at the University would appreciate one of their workers being ant chow."
"Noted," Ant-Man replied. "Okay, I think I finally got it."
The ant charged forward again, prompting Ant-Man to brace himself as he tried the helmet again.
"Stop!"
Mere inches in front of him, the ant came to a stop, much to Ant-Man's delight.
"Down."
The ant lowered itself, allowing Ant-Man to climb on and ride it.
"Forward."
The ant obliged, carrying him forward through the tunnel.
"Again, how is this not fun?"
…
Jan sat in front of a large ant farm, leaning on the table looking bored out of her mind.
"Well, for one thing, you're not the one staring at an ant farm for who knows how long," she retorted. "Seriously, watching paint dry is more entertaining than this."
"Alright, alright, point made. How about after I get out of here, we go to dinner or something?"
Jan smiled at the idea, musing it over. "It's a start."
…
A few moments later, Ant-Man finally made his way out of the ant farm, leaping onto the ground and growing to normal size, much to Jan's delight.
"Bout time," she remarked.
"Sorry," Hank replied, slipping his helmet off. "Got turned around on a few of the tunnels."
"That's fine," she remarked, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I'm still holding you to dinner tonight."
"I know," he replied, smiling.
"I'm afraid dinner will have to wait," a new voice chimed in.
The two pulled away as they turned to the doorway, seeing an Asian-American man in a suit walking into the lab.
"Uh… can we help you?" Janet asked.
"Jimmy Woo," he introduced, showing his ID. "Agent of SHIELD."
"SHIELD," Hank noted. "Why am I not surprised? What is it that you want, exactly?"
"You," Woo explained. "Both of you. Rather, your heroic alter-ego's."
"Not even surprised you know about that," Jan remarked.
"We like to keep tabs on people of interest. Heroes that can shrink and grow on the turn of a dime? Definitely someone we wanna keep our eyes on. Especially with Dr. Pym's previous work with us."
"So, what is it that SHIELD wants with us?" Hank inquired.
"HYDRA has resurfaced. And with it, an incredibly dangerous artifact. They plan on using it to take over the world. We need Dr. Pym's scientific mind to track it down, as well as both yours and Miss Van Dyne's skills to retrieve it."
Hank and Jan looked at each other for a moment.
"Give us a moment," Hank asked as they turned away for a moment.
"So, what do you think?" Janet asked.
"The situation does seem dire. All the same…"
"You don't fully trust SHIELD."
"They have the potential for great good… but I don't want to risk them weaponizing my work."
"I know," Janet conceded. Still… if HYDRA really is as big a threat as he says, then they're gonna need all the help they can get. I mean, what's the point of having superpowers if we don't use them to save the world?"
Hank paused for a moment, thinking before looking back at Jan and seeing the earnestness on her face. Hank just sighed in response.
"You're not gonna let this go, are you?"
"Not really, no," Jan replied before grinning.
Hank sighed in reluctance before turning to Woo. "Alright. We're in."
"Excellent," Woo replied. "Rendezvous is in 12 hours. We'll be back to collect you then."
Woo then turned to leave as Hank and Jan looked on.
"You know… I'm glad they came to us for this," Jan admitted.
"Really why?"
"Because if it weren't for us… they could've gone to Stark."
…
In the Hudson River, Tony Stark, AKA Iron Man, was in the midst of cutting into some piping at the bottom of the river. Once he finished cutting off a section, he placed a device that encompassed where the piping once was. With his task done, he took off toward the surface, breaching the water and soaring high above the skyline before rocketing into the city itself.
"Good to go on this end," Tony reported. "The rest is up to you."
"You disconnected the transmission lines?" Pepper Potts asked on the other end.
"As of ten seconds ago, we are completely off the grid."
"Now we're gonna see if that's a good thing."
"Trust me, Pepper. Stark Tower is going to be a beacon of self-sustaining clean energy."
"Assuming the Arc Reactor takes over and actually works."
"Well… yeah," Tony admitted as he spotted the aforementioned tower in the skyline. "Light it up."
As Iron Man approached the building, the lights on the outside began lighting up floor by floor. Finally, the top lit up, including the large letters that read "STARK" across the top.
"How does it look?"
"Like Christmas. But with more… me."
"We gotta go wider on the public awareness campaign. This needs more press exposure. I have you scheduled for announcements in DC, LA, and Boston, and zoning meetings for the next three buildings-"
"Pepper, you're killing me," Tony remarked as he reached the tower and flew up the side of it. "You gotta learn to enjoy the moment."
"Well, get in here and I will," she replied in a slightly flirtatious tone.
He finally touched down on a platform near the top of the tower, walking inside as machines rose up from the ground, removing his armor piece by piece.
"Sir, Agent Coulson of SHIELD is on the line," JARVIS reported.
"I'm not in," Tony replied as the machines removed his helmet. "I'm actually out."
"He insists it's urgent. What shall I tell him?"
"That if it's important, it can wait. Right now, I got a date."
With the last of his armor removed, he made his way inside. As he entered the main room, Pepper Potts was looking at a monitor checking on the power levels for the Arc Reactor in the building.
"Power levels are holding steady," she reported. "... I think."
"Of course they are," Tony insisted, walking over to her. "I saw to that personally. Which leads me to my next point, how does it feel to be a genius?"
Pepper chuckled as she turned to him. "A genius? I don't know if I'd go that far."
"Hey, come on. You selected the building, wrote up the proposal, and came up with the initial design specs. All of this," he wrapped an arm around her lovingly. "It came from you."
"No," she insisted. "All of this," she pointed at the arc reactor in his chest. "Came from that."
"Come on, please. Give yourself some credit. Stark Tower is your baby. You deserve at least… twelve percent of the credit."
Pepper did a double take. "Twelve percent?"
"Argument could be made for fifteen."
"Twelve percent for my baby?" Pepper scoffed as she pulled away.
"Well, I did do all the heavy lifting," Tony insisted as they walked over to a sitting area that had a bottle of champagne and two glasses in front of it. "I mean, literally. I lifted all the heavy objects," Pepper just chuckled as she took a seat. "And I'm sorry, but that security snafu? That's on you."
"Oh so that's it," Pepper remarked with a playful edge as she poured their drinks.
"My private elevator-"
"You mean, our elevator?"
"It was teaming with sweaty workmen," Tony retorted, slowly realizing that he wasn't gonna win this fight as he sat down. "I'm gonna pay for that comment about percentages in some subtle way later, aren't I?"
Pepper let out a hiss as she handed him his glass. "Yeah, I'm not gonna be that subtle."
"I'll tell you what," Tony promised, taking the glass. "Next building is gonna say 'Potts' on the tower. What do you say?"
"I say I want it on the lease," Pepper retorted.
Tony winced a little. "Might take a little negotiating. Call your mom. Can you bunk over?"
She chuckled as the two moved in close. The two looked as though they were about to share a kiss before a noise rang out.
"Sir, the telephone," JARVIS let out. "I'm afraid my protocols are being overwritten."
"Mr. Stark," Coulson's voice called out over the phone. "We need to talk."
Tony just sighed as he answered the phone. "You have reached the Life Model Decoy of Tony Stark," Tony replied in a monotone manner as Pepper chuckled. "Please leave a message."
"This is urgent."
"Then leave it urgently."
Just then, the elevator opened up, revealing Coulson inside as he hung up the phone.
"Security breach!" Tony called out before turning to Pepper. "It's on you."
"Mr. Stark," Coulson addressed. "We need your help."
"I already told Fury," Tony replied, setting his drink down before standing up. "SHIELD wants weapons, talk to someone else. I'm out of the game."
"We don't need weapons. We need you," he held out a tablet for Tony. "We need you to look this over."
"I actually don't like to be handed things," Tony told him. "It's kind of a peeve of mine."
"Well I love being handed things," Pepper spoke up, walking over to them. "So you take this," she handed Phil the glass before taking the pad and turning to Tony. "and you can take this."
Tony rolled his eyes before taking the tablet. "So, what's this all about?"
"Long story short, HYDRA's making a move. SHIELD needs the best for this."
"So Fury's still putting together that super secret boy band, huh?" Tony noted, opening up the tablet. "I thought I didn't qualify."
"Really" Pepper questioned sarcastically. "Wonder why?"
"Apparently I'm… what was it?" Tony asked, turning to Coulson. "Volatile, self-obsessed, and don't play well with others."
"Sounds accurate," Petter noted.
"This isn't about personnel profiles anymore," Coulson replied. "HYDRA got ahold of something that your father did research on back in the 40s. We feel your expertise could help us track it down."
"Right," Tony replied. "Uh, Miss Potts, a moment?"
Pepper nodded before heading over to him. Coulson turned away to give the two some privacy.
"You know… I thought we were having a moment," Tony noted.
"I was having twelve percent of the moment," Pepper retorted, getting a look from Tony. "Besides, this sounds serious. Phil sounds pretty rattled."
"How would you know it's serious?" Tony asked before doing a double take. "Why is he Phil?"
"Phil. That's his name."
"Uh, his first name is Agent. Besides, looks like they have an all-star lineup. They don't need me."
"You honestly don't really think that, do you? He wouldn't be here if they didn't need you."
"They just want Iron Man in their back pocket. And nobody wants that."
"Then don't. Look, I'm gonna take the jet to DC tonight and-"
"Tonight? I thought you were doing that tomorrow?"
"Yeah, well, you have homework. Besides, the sooner you help save the world, the sooner we can… have our moment."
Tony smiled at the idea. "Alright, fair. Fly safe."
Pepper smiled before planting a kiss on Tony's cheek. She then turned and walked over to Coulson as Tony looked over the data.
"I'll walk you out," Pepper offered as they went off. "So, are you still seeing that Cellist?"
"Yes, and no," Coulson replied. "We haven't broken anything off, but she moved back to Portland."
As they left, Tony continued looking over the data. His eyes stopped, however, on a profile regarding Steve Rogers.
…
"This is out of line, director."
Nick Fury stood in a monitor room as he spoke to five shrouded figures on screens. They were the World Security Council, the secret heads of SHIELD.
"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?"
"Nevertheless, HYDRA is too great a threat to be handled this way. Your efforts should be focused on the phase 2 prototypes."
"You know phase 2 is useless right now?"
"What about the super soldier serum?" a female council member suggested. "Now that you found Captain Rogers-"
"That would take too long. Our enemy is ready now. We need a response team."
"Perfect," the first councilman remarked. "You're running the world's most covert intelligence organization in the world, and you're leaving the fate of the free world to a handful of freaks."
"I'm never leave anything to anyone."
"This council has never approved your 'initiative',"
"I'll admit these people are isolated. Unbalanced even. But with the right push, they can be exactly what we need."
"You honestly think this will work?" a third councilman wondered.
"I believe so, yes."
"War isn't won by belief, Director," the first councilman told him.
"No… it's won by soldiers."
…
Back at the Triskelion, Agent 13 made her way toward Steve Rogers' room, hoping to speak with him on an urgent matter. As she opened the door, however, she was surprised to find he wasn't in there. She looked around, seeing some files on a table nearby. She picked them up, seeing that they were all files on the Howling Commandos. She skimmed through them until she caught sight of the last file Rogers seemed to be looking at. The name on it read "Margaret Peggy Carter".
…
After walking around, Steve had found the Triskelion's training room. Once there, he set up a punching bag and began wailing on it. With every punch, his mind thought back to everything that he had lost. Peggy, Bucky, his friends, his entire world. Gone in the blink of an eye. His punching continued, his thoughts suddenly went back to the last words he heard before disappearing into the ice.
"The world needs Captain America more than Bucky Barnes!"
Finally, Steve punched the bag as hard as he could, sending it flying across the room and spilling out the sand inside as a result. Steve breathed heavily as a result before walking over to a row of bags on the ground, grabbing one before looking up and seeing Agent 13 in the doorway.
"You should be resting," she told him.
Steve just carried on, hanging up the bag and beginning to hit it again.
"All due respect, ma'am," he replied. "I rested for almost eighty years. I think I've had my fill."
"I can only imagine what you're going through," she spoke as she walked over to him. "Being here… losing so much…"
After another punch, he finally stopped. "That's… putting it mildly."
"I… saw the files beside your bed… including Agent Carter."
Steve paused for a moment, still reeling from the truths that he'd learned. "I knew it was a long shot, but… if even one of them was still alive…" he walked away toward a bench. "It doesn't matter."
"You had to try. No one blames you for that."
"It's just…" Steve continued, taking a seat. "Hard to wrap my head around. Seeing name after name… gone. And when I got to Peggy…"
Agent 13's face fell as well, taking a seat next to him.
"If it's any comfort… it was peaceful. In her sleep. She didn't suffer."
Steve turned to her. "Did you know her?"
"She… taught me everything I knew," Agent 13 responded, some hesitancy in her voice. "Losing her was… hard."
"I can imagine."
"But she wouldn't want us to wallow in loss," Agent 13 continued, regaining her composure and standing up. "She'd want us to continue on. Keep up the good fight, no matter what."
Steve took note of her choice of words. "And I assume you have a fight in mind?"
Agent 13 smiled before handing Steve a new file.
"You weren't the only thing we found in the ice that day."
Steve took the file and opened it up, seeing information regarding the Tesseract.
"HYDRA's secret weapon," Steve noted.
"Strucker managed to escape with it during your tussle on the sub. You of all people know what HYDRA is capable of with that kind of power. I… know this is asking a lot of you right now…"
"Well," Steve replied, getting to his feet and putting on a brave face. "It's not like I have anything better to do. If you're going after Strucker," he held out his hand. "I want in."
Agent 13 smiled, shaking his hand in turn.
"Alright. But there's a lot we'll have to get you up to speed on. The world has… gotten a lot stranger."
"At this point, I doubt anything would surprise me," Steve replied, heading off.
Agent 13 turned as he walked out of the room. "Ten bucks says you're wrong."
…
A ten-dollar bill was slammed down on the bar counter, prompting the bartender to pass another mug to a waiting Logan.
"Damn, son," the bartender remarked. "I gotta say, man, you can hold your liquor like nobody's business. What's your secret?"
Logan finished taking a drink before wiping his mouth. "Call it a superpower."
As he continued downing his drink, a man in a sharply dressed suit sauntered up to the bar, a walking stick with a blue jewel on the top in his hand as he took a seat next to Logan. He noted the number of empty glasses in front of Logan.
"Most ordinary men would be heavily inebriated by this point," the man noted. "You possess quite the talent."
"It's nothing," Logan replied, taking another sip.
"Then again, you seem like a man of many talents. Isn't that right… Wolverine?"
Logan's eyes slowly opened at that, before he slammed his mug onto the counter.
"You wanna run that by me again, bub?"
"I could use a man with your skills. It will aid me greatly in a little… endeavor I am working on."
"I ain't nobody's tool, pal," Logan challenged.
"I was thinking more of… a puppet."
Logan instantly snapped out his claws and aimed them at the man, causing the bartender to dive for cover. The man however remained undaunted.
"I'm gonna give you till the count of three to back off. One. two-"
"Three," the man cut off, pressing his stick against Logan's chest.
Just then, a strange blue energy began to travel from the tip of the stick into Logan's entire body. His eyes suddenly turned bright blue as his posture straightened out, his claws retracting into his hands.
"I trust there will be no further issues?"
"No issue at all… sir," Logan replied, causing the man to smile maliciously.