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The first thing Alex realized when he woke up was:

a) he was in restraints

b) he was strapped to a bed

c) someone was staring at him

Then there was a sound of a door opening and someone walking in, then the door closing behind them, "Hey Agent man, did he wake up yet?" It vaguely sounded like Tony Stark, why would he be in here?

"No, Tony, I'm still trying to figure out who he is and how he got here." Recent memories flooded back to Alex as he discreetly slipped out of the restraints. He was suppose to be here on the helicarrier, since Joe called him up last week with the new assignment.

"Oh, okay." Tony said with a disappointed tone in his voice.

"You know if you were curious you could just ask me," Both men jumped when they heard Alex speak and slowly sit up, swinging his legs to have them hang over the side of the bed.

"How are you awake? You were sedated." The official looking man asked.

"That's a secret."

"Who are you?" The agent asked.

"You first, along with why I was restrained?"

"Agent Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D, how did you get here?"

"Depends on where 'here' is. If you're talking about the helicarrier, that's one thing; why I am here in this room is another."

"I'll go tell someone that the kid is awake." Tony said making his way to the door, quickly leaving. Agent Coulson looked at Alex, as Alex looked at the agent. Alex was 6' 2'' with an athletic frame that was all muscle, his dark brown eyes pierced the agent, his short blond hair and faint scarring on his face did not help soften his intimidating stature. Agent Coulson guessed there were more scars under the plain grey sweatshirt that Alex was wearing.

"You didn't tell me your name."

"I didn't." Knowing that the person Coulson was questioning wasn't giving that information up at the moment, he changed the subject.

"How did you get on the Helicarrier?"

"I was invited, Agent Coulson. I presume this would be a holding cell, why am I here?" Coulson was a bit surprised at the response, this guy was a guest?

"You were found in a restricted area by one of our agents, you were without an ID."

Alex smiled, "Oh yeah, I guess Fury must've forgot to give me my ID when we split up, he had some meeting he had to rush to, I was out for two hours right?" Alex looked at a clock, two hours exactly since he was knocked out.

"You've met the Director?"

"Who do you think invited me here?" Alex said like it should have been obvious.

Then the intercom woke up "Avengers, meeting on the Bridge" Agent Coulson got up and Alex followed suit.

"Let's go get some answers," Agent Coulson said before leading Alex out of the room to the bridge

"I think you forgot my ID, Nick." Alex said when he saw Director Fury standing there by the table on the bridge, when he said that all heads turned to him, which included the members of The Avengers, as he called the director by his first name. Fury tossed him a badge, "Thank you," Alex said as he clipped the badge to his sweatshirt.

"I guess that's why four of my men are in the infirmary right now," Fury said with a small chuckle.

Alex shrugged, "Just some misunderstandings." He said.

"Who are you?" Tony asked from where he sat at the table beside Dr. Banner.

"Avengers, this is Agent Rider, my personal guest and possible recruit for S.H.I.E.L.D." Director Fury said and Alex nodded to the Avengers.

"Nice to meet you, son." Captain America said as he stood to shake Agent Rider's hand, which Alex gladly shook back.

"Same here, Captain." Alex said with a smile.

"Call me Steve," Steve said in response to Agent Rider's smile.

"Alright, Steve." Steve was almost startled by the soldier eyes that the young man he just met had, even with a smile on his face.

"Have you served?"

"Yes, sir. I've trained with the British Military,"

"Great, a Brit," Tony mumbled.

"Wait; Agent Rider?" Natasha questioned, getting up from her seat to stand in front of Alex, staring and analyzing him, looking into his dark brown eyes, taking in every detail of him that she could, including the small amount of stubble he had growing, staring at him like she was trying to find something not easily reached in him. His stance was a balance of a soldier's and a spy's, no emotions were detected on his face or stance. "The last time I saw a person with the name Rider was when he was going into space."

He analyzed her as well, her frame, her voice, her eyes, it all reminded him of a CIA agent he once knew, he tilted his head to the side as if he was trying to get a better look, with a raised eyebrow he asked, "Tamara?" she gave a small nod. He smiled, tempted to laugh, "What, no kiss?" Her face quickly became flushed.

"What?" Many of the men in earshot asked in shock, making him actually let out a laugh and her face to match her red hair.

"You heard 'kiss' but not 'space'?" Alex asked.

"I presume you two have met before?" Fury asked.

"Yes, sir. On a mission, I bet you can recall that Ark Angel incident. Ms. Romanoff, or as I knew her, Ms. Knight, was supposedly CIA and I eventually ended up in the Pacific."

"They never did tell me what happened to you after you escaped." Natasha said in pure curiosity.

"Well I was picked up and worked for ASIS, went undercover as an afghan refugee and had to stop an artificial tsunami from hitting Australia."

"You're still an agent?" Steve asked.

"That was only one mission, not the worst I faced." Alex shrugged.

"Alex," Natasha said softly.

"As I said, it happened, now it's over, I moved on. I work as an independent agent, Fury contacted Byrne who contacted me and here I am."

"Why did you bring him here?" Natasha practically hissed at Fury, who was unfazed by the action. The others were a bit wary since they were not as familiar with her protective side.

"Is there something you think that I am unaware of, Agent Romanoff?" Fury asked, knowing where exactly her concern for him laid. She caught the warning glance Alex was giving her and said nothing more on the subject.

"Why did you kiss him?" Tony asked.

"He was going into space! While being for good luck he obviously was freaking out a bit as he was being sent up to take down a space station."

"Keep telling yourself that," Alex mumbled behind a smirk, which he got a punch on the arm for from Natasha as a result.

"How long ago was that mission?" Clint asked.

"Probably four years ago." Alex answered.

"That would make you how old?" Tony asked.

"I'm not telling." Alex crossed his arms over his chest and took a seat in a vacant chair at the table. "So what exactly did you need me for, Nick? You were a bit vague earlier on the tour,"

"I will explain that later in private, we are going to be landing at the Hub in an hour, where the Avengers will be debriefed from the mission they just completed. So you all have an hour of free time. Go." Everyone left the table, Dr. Banner and Stark went back to the lab, Clint had to almost drag Natasha away since she wouldn't stop staring at Alex and Steve went back to his quarters. Alex followed Fury to his office and was tailed by Coulson.

Once they were in Fury's office it was only then that Alex dared to ask the question that had been on his mind for the last week. "So what is my assignment?"