CHAPTER ONE.
THE TESSERACT.

ALEXIOS SIMPLY BLINKED AT Nick Fury as he handed her a folder. They stood there, in a hallway outside an empty gym, only it wasn't completely empty. Alexios could hear the pounding on a punching bag and the grunts from the man inside. Though, despite the sounds of beatings and grunts, her focus remained on the manila folder that had SHIELD stamped on the front in red.

She peeked up Director Fury, her right eyebrow quirked up in question.

"Nick, I swear, if the world isn't in trouble, I will happily take my deal back and go off the grid." Alex threatened, glaring at him with her cold, blue eyes.

"The world is in grave danger, Miss Rhodes." Nick spoke, making Alexios groan at the name he called her. "Ever heard of the Tesseract?"

Alexios glanced back at him, simply staring at him. She shrugged. It wasn't a lie, she knew of the tesseract.

"A bit," she replied, "It's an infinite power source. It's been in SHIELD's possession for a few decades now since Howard Stark found it in the ocean. Why?"

Nick Fury looked to petite blonde, thoroughly impressed with her knowledge, but not too surprised. He knew she was a smart woman with too much time on her hands even added with the time to practice her powers. Alexios did not hesitate to prove that to him.

"Loki has taken the Tesseract, and two of our own. Agent Barton and Dr. Selvig."

Alexios exhaled deeply, rolling her eyes as well. She rewetted her lips as she shook his head.

She scoffed, "Lemme guess. For the power source. Loki is the Norse God for Mischief, doesn't really surprise me, Nick."

Nick grunted in response, glaring at the blonde beside him. Both of them already getting on each other's nerves within the twenty minutes they had been together.

Alexios jumped, hearing the pounding get louder then the force of the punching bag slamming against the wall. She cursed softly under her breath, wondering what had gotten into the man behind those doors in front of her. Nick scoffed quietly, stepping forward.

He opened the door silently, holding it open then looked to Alexios. She pursed her lips and rolled her eyes, going forward to enter the gym. Nick slipped in behind her, making sure to be unnoticed by the super soldier.

Alexios stood there, clutching the file to her chest in her arms, watching the super soldier put up a new bag. She bit her bottom lip, her eyes traveling over him. Alexios noticed the way his white t-shirt was too tight around his biceps, then the force he was punching with and then his slim waist.

"Meet Captain America, Alexios." Nick muttered in her ear, noticing the way she looked at him.

"Da–n," she whispered softly, "That booty be poppin'! They choose a good man."

Nick stepped up, leaving Alexios a foot behind him. He asked, "Trouble sleeping?"

Steve Rogers unclenched his fists, glancing at Nick. Steve paused from his punching for a moment.

"I slept for seventy years, sir. I think I've had my fill." Steve stated, resuming to punching the bag.

Nick stepped forward once again, continuing his way towards the super soldier. Alexios quirked her brow, slowly following behind Nick. Steve stopped, settling the bag before going at again. Alexios scoffed under her breath, thinking that the man was insane for going at it so hard.

"Then you should be out, celebrating, seeing the world." Nick suggested, clasping his hands behind his back and got closer to the man.

Steve stopped punching once again, staring at Nick and finally noticing the other blonde from behind him. His glance was quickly torn away from the woman and landed back on Nick. Steve panted softly, turning away and walking towards his gym bag laying on a table a few feet away.

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

"We've made some mistakes along the way," Nick stated nonchalantly and instantly, turning to stand before Steve. "Some very recently."

Alexios still slowly followed, then stood beside Nick. She watched Steve Rogers and the way he unwrapped his fists from the bandages. She swallowed, glancing at Nick briefly before clutching the manilla folder to her chest even tighter.

"Are you here with a mission, sir?" Steve asked Nick, looking at him before unwrapping his hand.

"I am," Nick answered.

"Trying to get me back in the world?" Steve then questioned.

Nick then handed the folder in his hand out to Steve. "Trying to save it."

Out of the corner of his eyes, Steve saw the file in Nick's hands. He looked at it skeptically, then slowly reached for it with his now bare hands. Steve grasped the file in his hands, sitting down and quickly glanced at.

Alexios knew whatever was in that file, was in her's as well. Same mission to save the earth from a god that she found a coward and pathetic.

"HYDRA's secret weapon," Steve stated.

Nick spoke, "Howard Stark fished that out of the ocean when was looking for you," he explained.

As Nick was talking, Alexios watch Steve flip over the first paper. Steve's eyes widened at the next sheet of paper, then lifted it up in his fingers slightly. With the lighting in the room, Alexios was able to see the black and white picture of the Tesseract through the paper.

Steve looked up suddenly, listening fully to Nick Fury. Nick continued, "He thought what we think. The Tesseract could be the key to unlimited sustainable energy. That's something the world sorely needs."

Nick leaned forward slightly as he spoke the male blond. Steve put the paper back in the file and closed the folder. He simply held it in one hand, holding it out for Nick.

Steve never tore his attention from Fury. "Who took it from you?"

"He's called Loki," Nick answered, grasping the file back. Alexios snorted from behind Nick at the mention of the pathetic god. "He's not from around here. There's a lot we'll have to bring you up to speed on if you're in. The world has gotten even stranger than you already know."

Alexios bit down on her lip, shaking her head. Steve glanced over to the side, straightening his posture and then looked back over to Nick and the other blonde in front of him.

"At this point, I doubt anything would surprise me." Steve said simply, standing up and turning around. Steve picked up his black gym bag, then headed over to the line of punching bags on the floor.

Without hesitating, Nick countered his statement. "Ten bucks says your wrong."

"I wouldn't bet with the man," Alexios muttered softly, earning a quick glare from Nick.

"There's a debriefing packet waiting for you back at your apartment," Nick continued, ignoring Alexios' comment.

Steve didn't say anything, just picked up the white bag that was first in line, swinging it on his shoulder. Alexios watched as he walked towards the doors that she and Nick came through.

Alexios rolled her eyes, "Wow."

Nick began to follow Steve, with little Alexios following behind him. She definitely wanted to keep up with this conversation between the two.

"Is there anything you can tell us about the Tesseract that we ought to know now?" Nick asked, pausing at his stop.

Alexios, once again, stood at Nick's side. She glanced at Steve, who still had his back towards them. Alex was eagerly awaiting his response, because she was eager to take down this god.

"You should've left it in the ocean," Steve answered, walking out of the gym.

Alexios scoffed at his attitude, looking towards Nick. She raised her eyebrow at Nick, with a million questions in her mind that seemed to bounce off the walls of her skull.

"Tough crowd, eh?" Alexios commented.

Nick quickly shrugged off her comment, once more. "I have great faith in Captain Rogers."

•  •  •  •

Oh my god, first chapter guys. Unfortunately, my bby Tony wasn't in it, only my bby Steve. Hopefully, the next chapter won't be as long, I just didn't want to cut off this scene.

Any thoughts though, on the chapter?

— Nicole 💕