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There was no way the Avengers Initiative could work.
Steve wondered what Fury could possibly have been thinking. He hadn't really seemed like an idiot, but this was going to end in disaster, and probably a bunch of stuff blowing up. And while Steve actually wouldn't be against that idea (there's only so much satisfaction you can get out of a punching bag, after all) it was a pretty selfish and irresponsible thing to wish for, especially if civilians could be caught up in the chaos.
Steve sighed staring absently at the files he had already read, and then reread, trying to find some semblance of sense. The files contained information on his teammates. As if this conglomeration of wild cards could ever coalesce into something resembling a team.
There was Bruce Banner. Genius scientist who tried to replicate the super soldier serum and failed in a truly spectacular manner. And of course, after Banner gained the ability (or curse) to turn into a completely indestructible, ridiculously powerful, giant green monster when he became upset or angry, that only gets stronger the angrier it gets, when all this happened the US army decided to hunt the man down and kill him, without any regard for his rights, whether or not he could be killed, or who would be caught in the crossfire. (Because even after seventy years the higher ups of the army are still all idiots. Yes, Steve realizes this opinion is over-generalization. And neither true, nor fair. And very unpatriotic of him. He doesn't particularly care). So one of the members of Fury's little group can turn into a giant rage monster. And, to Steve's mind even more crucially, has been on the run for years now and is almost certainly terrified of the government, or extremely bitter or both. Almost definitely both.
Then there was Natasha Romanov. Natasha was originally trained by the Russians from a ridiculously young age as an assassin. She was deadly and a master at interrogation and manipulation. She was also an expert in paranoia and there was no way she would come close to trusting anyone else on the team.
Last but not least was Tony Freaking Stark. Steve hardly had to look at his file, he'd already looked him up soon after he'd left the ice, and boy did that kid have issues. (Steve did realize the man was almost twice his age, but he was Howard's son. And anyway, he didn't exactly act mature, so...) Steve did look at the file, hoping he was misinformed, but...yeah, no. The media pretty much had it right on this one. Tony was a drunk, arrogant, incapable of working with people, crazy smart, thoughtless towards those around him, possibly well-meaning, but basically a walking nuclear disaster. (Yes, Steve had learned about Japan and the cold war. He was not happy about that, by the way.)
Sure, aliens were scary, War of the Worlds had taught him that. But a refugee slash rage monster, a paranoid spy, a genius disaster, and Steve? All in close quarters and told to work together and follow orders? That would be infinitely worse.
Seriously, what was Fury thinking.
But then all the puzzle pieces fell into place, creating a picture that Steve really, really hated.
No. Please no.
But it was obvious.
Not Steve, Captain America.
Captain America, the Iconic Leader, who could bring this team together if anyone could.
Captain America, the Perfect Soldier, who would obey every order to the letter, who would never question Authority.
Captain America, the Hero, possibly the only one the skittish Dr. Banner would be willing to trust.
Captain America, the Non Threat, someone benign, out of his time, unable to adapt to a newfangled world with inventions and culture he couldn't hope to understand, willing to latch on to and trust the first people or organization he came in contact with, easily manipulable, and quite frankly, stupid. One person the Super Assassin wouldn't have to worry about.
Captain America, the Annoyingly Perfect Do-Gooder, someone whose very existence Stark would find insulting, someone for Stark to berrate and argue with and antagonize, instead of turning his energies on the other members of the group or Shield. Someone who would take it all and not escalate the situation because Captain America did not have a fuse the length of a baby's pinky nail.
It was crystal clear, now that it had occurred to him.
Steve might be the straw that brings on the apocalypse for this little group, but Captain America could be the only thing that would give it a fraction of a chance at saving the world.
Steve very much wished he was the sort of person who could just sit back and let the world burn. After all, everyone he knew was probably dead, there was really no point in caring. Unfortunately, logical thinking like that never seemed to work out for him.
This was not going to be fun.