X-men au: Jaune is up and about doing his usual of fighting crime and saving lives. Until he would run into a big operation from AIM which would end up being the moment he met SHIELD for the first time and their director Nick Fury along with agent Coulson and Maria Hill.
Jaune still had no clue who A.I.M. actually was, but one thing was painfully obvious: the MODOK guy had a head the size of a damn airship.
He stared at the massive floating face, which was knocked out, for a moment longer before rubbing at his temple.
"Pete would've made, like… six jokes about that by now," Jaune muttered under his breath. "Probably somethin’ about a parade balloon."
"The Rusted Knight. Didn’t expect to find you here."
The new voice cut cleanly through the noise of the damaged facility. Jaune turned immediately, instincts kicking in, only to find three people approaching him through the smoke and flickering emergency lights.
At the center was a dark-skinned man with an eyepatch and a stare sharp enough to cut steel. Beside him walked a clean-cut agent in a suit carrying himself with military precision, while the woman on the other side looked calm, alert, and very ready to shoot somebody if necessary.
Jaune blinked once. "Uh… sorry, should I know you?" he asked cautiously.
The older man let out a short huff that might've been amusement. "Heh. Figures Logan didn’t tell you anything." He extended a hand slightly. "Nick Fury. Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. These are Agent Coulson and Maria Hill."
Coulson offered a polite nod. Hill gave him a quick once-over, analytical and guarded.
"Right. Uh… nice to meet you?" Jaune replied, awkwardly nodding back. He gestured toward the wrecked hallway behind him. "Sorry if I messed up whatever operation you guys had going on here."
"All good, kid," Fury said easily. "Truth be told, you’re exactly who I wanted to run into."
Jaune immediately frowned. "Why do I suddenly feel like that’s a really bad thing?"
"In most situations? Yeah, usually is." A faint grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. "But Logan and I go way back."
"Yeah, I think Logan mentioned you once or twice," Jaune said cautiously. "Mostly warnings, honestly. Said I should be careful around you people since you’re all spies."
That earned a quiet chuckle from Fury. "Fair enough,” the director admitted. “We are spies. But mutants and superheroes usually aren’t our biggest concern. At least not unless one of you goes off the rails."
Hill crossed her arms while Coulson remained politely neutral beside her.
"Right now, our attention's focused on organizations like A.I.M. and people like Doctor Tarleton. Guys who think having a giant head somehow qualifies them to rule the world." Fury continued.
Jaune snorted despite himself. "Okay, good, so it's not just me thinking the head thing is weird."
Coulson coughed into his hand, very clearly hiding a laugh. Even Hill’s expression twitched slightly.
"But that’s not actually why I wanted to talk to you," Fury said.
"Oh yeah?" Jaune asked, folding his arms over his chestplate. "Then what exactly do you want with me?"
Fury studied him for a moment, the kind of measured look that made Jaune feel like he was being evaluated from the inside out. "You've got a strange habit of running into remarkable people," Fury finally said. "Take that team you put together recently. You and those three other heroes... What'd you call yourselves again?"
Jaune visibly winced beneath his helmet. "The Wildcards,” he admitted sheepishly.
"Right, the Wildcards." Fury nodded slowly. "Catchy."
“It was mostly Spider-Man's idea," Jaune said quickly. "And Squirrel Girl wouldn't stop voting for it."
"That tracks," Coulson muttered under his breath.
Fury ignored the comment. "Point is, you managed to bring together four completely different people and somehow make it work."
Jaune shrugged. "I mean... define 'work', cause last week Spidey accidentally blew up our jet's engine trying to rewire the coffee machine."
"You have a private Jet?" Maria asked, brow raised.
Fury smirked faintly before his tone became serious again. "I'm putting together a team, kid. A response unit made up of the best humanity has to offer."
Jaune's brow lifted beneath the Rusted Knight’s helmet. "Seriously?" he asked. "You need me for that?"
"Listen, kid, I need someone who can stand in a room full of powerful personalities and stop them from tearing each other apart," Fury told Jaune.
Jaune sighed, already sensing where this was going. "Look, if you're asking me to lead another team full of superpowered people-”
"We're not asking you to lead the team," Fury clarified. "Just help us build it."
Jaune narrowed his eyes slightly. "That sounds dangerously close to the same thing."
"It's not," Hill said flatly.
"Eh... Debatable," Jaune muttered.
Fury ignored him and continued, "Besides, we already have the perfect person lined up to lead."
That immediately caught Jaune’s attention. "Oh yeah?" he asked. "Who?"
A small smirk pulled at Fury’s mouth, like he already knew exactly what kind of reaction he was about to get. "I'm willing to bet you’ve heard of him," he said. "Captain America."
The words hit Jaune harder than expected, and for a second, his brain genuinely stalled out.
Of course, he knew who Captain America was. Ever since arriving on Earth, the guy's name had been impossible to avoid. Steve Rogers wasn't just some superhero people talked about online or on the news; he was a symbol! Soldiers respected him, kids looked up to him, and even other heroes spoke of him as if he were the gold standard.
Jaune blinked behind his helmet once, then twice. Finally, from behind his helmet, he looked at Fury with complete disbelief.
