Steve Rogers sat by himself at the table, the only remaining undamaged one in the restaurant. All around him was the rubble of a massive battle, one that had engulfed most of the world. The destruction could be seen all over, a testament to the great crisis that had just finished.
But Steve didn’t dwell on it, instead taking a bite of his shawarma wrap. This small restaurant in downtown New York had the best shawarma that he had ever had. In fact this was where he first had shawarma, all those years ago after the Chitauri invasion. But back then he had the Avengers with him, the original line up. But now he was alone as this crisis was much larger, spanning the globe. That meant that the heroes of Earth had been spread thin as not just Avengers answered the call, with the Fantastic Four, X-Men, and Champions going out to save the world.
The reveal that Hydra had been in control of SHIELD since its founding had shook what Steve Rogers had held to be true. He believed that he had been doing heroics, but now everything he had done was tainted by the fact that villains had been orchestrating it. Just how pervasive Hydra was clearly evident as they had agents all over the world. This meant that the fight to defeat Hydra took place all over the world.
New York City had been one of the worst hit zones, as Hydra had a helicarrier over the city. Steve had led a team of Avengers to take the helicarrier before it could destroy the city. But in the confusion of the battle, the helicarrier had crashed smack dab in the middle of New York. The damage was massive as was the loss of life. In fact if you stood just outside the shawarma restaurant, you could see the helicarrier’s crash just down the road.
The thought of all that destruction shook Steve, as he had a hard time focusing on the delicious wrap. But before he could muse too long, the doorbell chimed as someone else entered the damaged pita shop. Steve turned to see who else would enter the restaurant amidst what was going on outside. It was a familiar man wearing big, black sunglasses.
“Captain,” said the man as he sat down across from Steve.
“Fury,” replied Steve, “Its good to see that you’re alive.”
“Just barely alive. My Quinjet was shot down over the North Atlantic.”
“How did you manage to get out of that?”
“I always have contingencies. And one of those contingencies is why I’m here.”
Steve took another bite of his wrap before asking, “And what is this contingency? I don’t see a way that SHIELD could survive this.”
“It won’t. SHIELD is dead. I’ll probably be dead as well if I don’t go to ground soon. Somehow I missed a massive conspiracy that was right under my nose. The world isn’t going to forgive me. I’ll definitely be a scapegoat, someone to blame for all this death and destruction.”
“I know this isn’t all on you. But they do need someone to blame.”
“Exactly, that’s why I’m going into hiding. I’ll be a ghost they chase while they rebuild and move past Hydra and SHIELD.”
“And what is this world without SHIELD going to be like?”
“A dangerous one. That’s why I have the contingency I mentioned. I figured that SHIELD could not last forever, so I came up with possible replacements.”
“Like who? There isn’t any other organization as massive as SHIELD.”
“Not yet there isn’t, but I know one group can become large enough. The Avengers.”
“What? We’re superheroes, not an intelligence agency.”
“But you’ve proved that you can be more. You Avengers have saved the world more times than I can count. After your take down of Hydra, you have all the public support. If you do the right actions in the following days, you could be the new SHIELD. A better SHIELD.”
“But who would manage such an organization?”
“Well that would be you, Director Rogers.”
“Look, this is a lot. I need time to think about it.”
“Of course,” replied Nick Fury as he got up from the table, “I’ll be in contact, but this will probably be the last time you see me in person.”
“Be safe Nick,” stated Steve.
The former head of SHIELD just smiled as he left the pita restaurant. Steve Rogers was left at his table, overwhelmed with ideas and emotions. While Director Rogers did sound nice, it was a lot of responsibility. But Steve knew that he did say he would take responsibility the day he became Captain America.
But the Avengers as Earth’s primary defenders was a big deal. Steve knew it wouldn’t be fair to the other Avengers if he didn’t consult them first about it. Steve thought to call Tony first, but decided to finish his shawarma first. Perhaps eating would help him sort out his thoughts.
Eight Months Later
Jim Hammond flew over the skyline of New York, flames streaking across his body. He was amazed at how much they had rebuilt in the last couple of months since the Hydra crisis. One of the first things they had done was to clear out the helicarrier wreckage. This had been aided by Iron Man and his fleet of drone worker suits. In fact most of the Avengers had helped rebuild the city.
This had all helped the popularity of the Avengers, especially domestically. While the name SHIELD was hated, the Avengers were seen as the saviors of the planet. Thus there was less push back to the Avengers expanding into a global defense agency. It seemed like Director Rogers had navigated the politics perfectly to allow the rise of the organization.
It was thanks to this expansion that Jim now found himself an Avenger. Perhaps it was due to his past with the Captain, or maybe his time with SHIELD, but Jim was one of the first picks for new membership. Jim was also surprised that he had been assigned to the New York branch of the Avengers, one of the more notable bases.
Operating out of the old Avengers Mansion, the New York branch was one of the first ones formed. The team of eclectic heroes was made up of veteran Avengers and newcomers like Jim. But Jim trusted Steve Rogers to make a team that could work together well.
As Jim passed by over the streets of New York, a few citizens pointed up at him and shouted, “Hey look! It’s the Human Torch! Let me get a picture.”
“Actually, I’m just the Torch,” Jim shouted before realizing that they couldn’t hear him, “Whatever, I just happen to be the original.”
While Jim knew that he was probably only known to hardcore world war two buffs, he still wished that he was as popular as the Human Torch of the Fantastic Four. But perhaps if he was an Avenger long enough he would gain some attention.
And speaking of the Avengers, Jim noticed that he was nearing the mansion. Figuring that his daily flight had gone on long enough, Jim decided to land in front of the mansion. As his flames extinguished, Jim was scanned by a laser, confirming his biometrics. The doors to the mansion then opened up.
Walking inside to the front lobby, Jim still found it weird that everything here was automated. He had been told that in the past that the Avengers had a butler who maintained the building. But now everything was handled by various AI systems, courtesy of Tony Stark.
Jim would talk to one of these AI systems as he entered an elevator, “Entertainment floor please.”
The elevator then descended rapidly, but there was no rumbling as it moved silently and still. In only a few seconds the door opened revealing the sub basement that served as the entertainment floor. A lot of the things on this floor were leftovers from when Tony Stark had lived in the mansion. There was various gaming rooms, filled with pool tables and arcade machines. But the room Jim was looking for was the movie theater.
Since being assigned to the Avengers Mansion, Jim had spent a lot of time in the theater. Thanks to the Stark Enterprises cloud service, he had access to almost every film ever, to which Jim was thankful. He was making his way through all the great films of the past decades he missed while in stasis. He had gotten the idea from Steve Rogers who had done the same thing when he got off ice.
The current focus of Jim’s movie habit was late seventies/early eighties science fiction. He had thoroughly enjoyed Star Wars, and even Alien even though it was more of a horror film. These films made Jim want to go to space, an action that seemed impossible back when he was created. But since then man had been to space and even other planets, meeting aliens like the Kree and Skrulls.
Jim’s musings over what to watch was cut short as something began to beep in his pocket. Pulling out his Avengers ID Card, the face of Steve Rogers appearing in the top right.
“All New York Avengers, please report to the situation room. You’ve got a mission,” stated Steve before disappearing off the card.
Jim sighed as the movie would have to wait, but excitement replaced it as he finally had a mission. Truth be told Jim was going a little stir crazy without any bad guys to fight. It was with this excitement that Jim reentered the elevator.
“Situation room,” Jim said to the AI.
The elevator moved quickly as it lowered deeper under the building. When the doors opened, Jim found himself in a large room lined with computers. In the middle of the room was a round table with some kind of holo display resting in the center of the table.
Jim saw that he was the first to arrive so he took a seat at the table. He wasn’t sure if there was supposed to be assigned seating, so he was prepared to move. With nothing else to do but wait, Jim began whistling an old radio jingle from the forties.
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