[A Brooklyn gym at night. Occupied by one man, beating a punching bag in the gym lights, alone in the floor, lost in the fight. The gym is old, as old as the man inside, Captain America, or Steve Rogers. He beats the bag harder, like physically hurting it will repress the memories.]

[FLASHBACK]

[Hydra base, Captain America is running through a forest, dodging mortar shells, gunfire and Tesseract energy blasts.]

STEVE: [Echoey] There's not enough time! I gotta put her in the water!

[In the present, Steve's punches become harder and more violent.]

[in the flashback, Steve places the compass he has, featuring a picture of Peggy Carter, on the dash as the plane plummets towards the ice.]

[The present, punches become violent and aggressive.]

PEGGY CARTER: [flashback voice] You won't be alone.

[Red Skull picked up the Tesseract, and vanishes.]

[In the present, Steve is breathing the bag with everything he has, destroying it and beating his fists.]

Everyone looked shocked and Steve just sunk down in his seat. 

SHIELD SCIENCETIST: [flashback] Oh my god!

[Steve is lying on a table, half frozen, and still partially trapped in a slab of ice. Two SHIELD scientists run equipment over him, checking for his vitals. Something flickers...]

SHIELD SCIENTIST: This guy is still alive!

"How" A lot of people asked 

"Science" Steve replied

[Present. Steve punched the bag, easily a hundred pounds, across the room with one swing snapping the metal chain and pummelling it back a dozen feet, sand spilling out from where he cracked the fabric. He stands up, breathing hard, and grabs another bag, resuming a more normal routine. Fury walks in.]

FURY: Trouble sleeping?

STEVE: I slept for seventy years, sir. I think I've had my fill.

FURY: Then you should be out, celebrating, seeing the world.

[Steve stops punching and walks over to the bench, unraveling the tape off his hands. He sits down.]

STEVE: I went under, the world was at war, I wake up, they say we won. They didn't say what we lost.

FURY: We've made some mistakes along the way. Some very recently.

STEVE: You here with a mission, sir?

FURY: I am.

STEVE: Trying to get me back in the world?

FURY: Trying to save it. [Fury hands Steve a file on the Tesseract, along with other files on HYDRA'S projects]

STEVE: Hydra's secret weapon.

FURY: Howard Stark fished that out of the ocean when he was looking for you. He thought what we think, the Tesseract could be the key to unlimited sustainable energy. That's something the world sorely needs.

STEVE: Who took it from you?

FURY: He's called Loki. 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.

STEVE: At this point, I doubt anything would surprise me.

FURY: Ten bucks says you're wrong. There's a debriefing package waiting for you back at your apartment.

"Never ever bet with Fury, he always wins" Clint says "I learned that the hard way" 

"I have actually only ever lost to one person" Fury says. Making all the avengers look at Fury with shock. 

[Steve turns and picks up a punching bag. Fury starts walking out of the gym.]

FURY: Is there anything you can tell us about the Tesseract that we ought to know now?

STEVE: [Without missing a beat] You should have left it in the ocean.

"Way to be blunt Cap" Tony said 

[Out in the Atlantic Ocean, Tony Stark, in his Iron Man suit, is cutting a pipeline transport with a laser cutter coming from his hand. He then places a Stark Energy Reactor. It lights up. Iron Man rockets out of the water and flies towards Stark Tower]

TONY: You're good on this end. The rest is up to you.

PEPPER POTTS: [on the other line] You disconnected the transition lines? Are we off the grid?

TONY: Stark Tower is about to become a beacon of self-sustaining clean energy.

PEPPER: Wow. So maybe our reactor takes over, and it actually works?

[INSIDE THE SUIT -- PEPPER APPEARS ON HIS HUD MONITOR.]

TONY: I assume. Light her up. [Iron Man flies to the Stark Tower Building, the power is switched on the Stark sign lights up]

PEPPER: How does it look?

TONY: Like Christmas, but with more... me.

PEPPER Gotta go wider on the public awareness campaign. You need to do some press. I'm in DC tomorrow. I'm working on the zoning for the next three buildings.

TONY: Pepper, you're killing me. Remember the moment? Enjoy the moment.

PEPPER: Then get in here and I will. [Tony arrives at his skyscraper penthouse and is in the process of taking off his Iron Man suit through a hi-tech gauntlet of gadgets.]

All the wand wielders looked in shocked especially the Slytherins.  

JARVIS: Sir, Agent Coulson of SHIELD is on the line.

TONY: I'm not in. I'm actually out.

JARVIS: Sir, I'm afraid he's insisting.

TONY: Grow a spine, Jarvis. I got a date.

[Pepper Potts stares up at the monitors of the reactor device.]

PEPPER: Levels are holding steady... I think.

TONY: Of course they are, I was directly involved. Which brings me to my next question: how does it feel to be a genius?

PEPPER: Well, ha, I really wouldn't know now, would I?

TONY: What do you mean? All this came from you.

PEPPER: No. All this came from that. [Points to the energy in his chest plate.]

TONY: Give yourself some credit, please. Stark Tower is your baby. Give yourself... twelve percent of the credit.

PEPPER: Twelve percent?

TONY: An argument can be made for fifteen.

PEPPER: Twelve percent? For my baby?

"He paid for that didn't he" Natasha asked Pepper 

"So much" Pepper told Nat. 

TONY: Well, I did do all the heavy lifting. Literally, I lifted the heavy things. And sorry, but the security snafu? That was on you.

PEPPER: Oooooh.

TONY: My private elevator...

PEPPER: You mean our elevator?

TONY: Was steaming with sweaty workmen. I'm going to pay for that comment about percentages in some subtle way later, aren't I?

[Pepper pours herself and Tony a glass of champagne.]

PEPPER: Not gonna be that subtle.

TONY: I'll tell you what. Next building's gonna say 'Potts' on the tower.

PEPPER: On the lease.

TONY: Call your mom, can you bunk over?

JARVIS: Sir, the telephone. I'm afraid my protocols are being overwritten.

COULSON: Stark, we need to talk.

[Tony picks up his phone and looks into it at Coulson.]

TONY: You have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark, please leave a message.

COULSON: This is urgent.

TONY: Then leave it urgently. [At that moment the elevator door opens and Coulson appears.] Security breach. [To Pepper] That's on you.

COULSON: Mr. Stark

PEPPER: Phil! Come in.

TONY: Phil? Uh, his first name is Agent.

PEPPER: Come on in, we're celebrating.

COULSON: I can't stay

TONY: Which is why he can't stay.

COULSON: We need you to look this over. [He holds out a file towards Tony] Soon as possible.

TONY: I don't like being handed things.

PEPPER: That's alright, 'cause I love to be handed things. So, let's trade. [She pases her glass of champagne to Coulson, takes the file from him, then takes Tony's glass of champagne while passing the file over to Tony] Thank you.

TONY: Official consulting hours are between eight and five every other Thursday.

COULSON: This isn't a consultation.

PEPPER: Is this about The Avengers? Which I...I know nothing about.

TONY: The Avengers Initiative was scrapped, I thought. And I didn't even qualify.

PEPPER: I didn't know that either.

TONY: Yeah, apparently I'm volatile, self-obsessed, don't play well with others.

Tony looked over at Nat. Natasha sunk down in her seat, because even if she would never admit it that is not what she sees Tony like now. 

PEPPER: That I did know.

COULSON: This isn't about personality profiles anymore.

TONY: Whatever. Miss Potts, got a minute? [Pepper walks over to Tony who places the files into his own databases.]

TONY: You know, I thought we were having a moment.

PEPPER: I was having twelve percent of a moment. This seems serious, Phil's pretty shaken.

TONY: How did you notice? Why is he Phil?

PEPPER: What is all of this?

TONY: This is, uh... [Tony expands his arms and different profiles appear in holographic form floating in the air in front of Tony and Pepper.] This.

[Screens appear of Captain America in action, the Hulk roaring as he attacks the army at Culver University, and Thor fighting the Destroyer in New Mexico. Another is of Loki and the Tesseract to which Tony and Pepper look at in awe]

PEPPER: I'm going to take the jet to DC tonight.

TONY: Tomorrow.

PEPPER: You've got homework. You've got a lot of homework.

TONY: Well, what if I didn't?

PEPPER: If you didn't?

TONY: Yeah.

PEPPER: You mean if you finished? [Tony nods his head] Well, um...then. [She whispers something in his ear. Tony gasps. Coulson looks away in embarrassment.]

TONY: Square deal. It's the last date.

[Pepper kisses him.]

PEPPER: Work hard.

[As Pepper leaves with Agent Coulson, Tony grabs the Tesseract in holograph form, worried.]