A/N: What, you didn't think I wouldn't put something after the credits? I'm kinda disappointed that no one guessed this would be coming — or at least no one said anything.

Epilogue - After the Credits

When Iris entered her apartment, she was in a good mood. That good mood crashed in less than half a second when she realized that someone else was already there. This was one of her more secure bolt holes — a place that she could go in order to relax because no one knew about it. Well, she thought, no one was supposed to know about it.

Tensing, she closed her eyes and allowed her magic to extend outwards, enabling her to sense who and what was in the area. It wasn't exactly like radar, really it wasn't; but if pressed then "magical radar" would be the best analogy she could offer. She was loathe to use that label, though, because she knew that if she did, it would stick and she'd never get rid of it.

As her magic drifted through her apartment, she was able to catalog every thing that was out of place. A shifted chair... someone used the toilet... washed their hands, at least... bedroom door has moved... and... there! In the living room!

She located the intruder. Her magic moved more slowly now because even though muggles can't see or sense magic, pushing her magic through an area and against someone usually elicited a response.

She had asked someone once, before obliviating them, and they reported that they had felt the hairs on the back of their neck stand up, as if a threat were nearby. Naturally, this caused them to act as if a threat was indeed nearby, exactly the opposite of what she wanted. The point of using her magic like this was to be stealthy, not to set off people's internal alarms. Iris didn't want to repeat that mistake, so when dealing with people these days, even muggles, she pushed her magic much more slowly and carefully.

There — they were in her apartment's tiny living room, sitting with their back against the wall and facing the room's entrance. Just a bit further... and...

Iris' eyes snapped open when she realized who had broken into what she believed was a safe place. Fury! I probably shouldn't be surprised, she thought. I'll have to clear out this place in the morning and figure out how to better hide myself.

Abandoning stealth in favor of bravado, she marched into her living room, lit the room with a flick of a finger, tossed her overnight bag onto her sofa, and stood in the middle of the room. Hands on her hips, she glared at the figure sitting in the shadows of the corner. "Well, Fury," she demanded. "What do you want?"

"Is that any way to talk to your new boss, Ms. Potter?" Fury replied in an amused voice.

"I don't see why not," she responded flippantly. "I talked to my old boss this way all the time."

Fury snorted at that. "Yeah, so I heard." He tossed a file on the coffee table and motioned her to take it.

Picking it up, she read the front cover:

AVENGERS INITIATIVE | TOP SECRET

"What's this, and why are you bringing it to me here?" Iris asked. "If this is related to work, why not give it to me at work?

Fury stood up and moved into the light. "The Avengers Initiative is a new program I'm working on. I want to gather together a team of extraordinary individuals to meet major threats that our regular forces can't handle. I want a team of individuals who are all extraordinary on their own, but who will become something even greater by working together, pooling their skills and talents. You were already on a short list to be invited to join, but with your new willingness to use your full suite of abilities, you've been moved to the top of that list."

Giving him a look of despair, Iris responded, "Fury, look, I don't know if I can... you don't know what you'd be getting into. If I can't maintain control when using anything more than the most basic of magic, I could become a bigger threat than whatever it is I'm going after. You don't want that. I don't want that. There are good reasons why I stopped using powerful magic."

"You forget, Iris, you have a history of almost eight years with S.H.I.E.L.D. Granted, that history was as Natasha Romanoff rather than Iris Potter, but a change in names doesn't mean a change in character. I've had my eye on you ever since you joined, and I think I've got the measure of you. I have faith that you'll do the right thing, even when pressed."

Iris looked down at the file again, a bit humbled by Fury's faith in her and more than a bit scared at how much could go wrong if it turned out that his faith was misplaced.

"As to why I've brought it by here tonight," Fury continued, "This project is mostly off the books right now. I don't want to bring it out into the open until we have something substantive to show for it. I want to be able to go to the oversight board with a working team already committed to the project so they can better understand the full potential of the Avengers Initiative."

Iris nodded, not sure what to say.

"Now if you'll excuse me," Fury said as he moved towards the door, "I've got to go visit Tony Stark to make the same pitch to him."

Turning, Iris called out, "Are you sure he's right for this sort of task? He's kind of the poster boy for 'loose canon.'"

"That's a good question," he called back as he was about to open the door. "We could use an updated psych profile on Stark, preferably from someone who's worked closely with him."

Finally, after he stepped out and was closing the door, he said loud enough for her enhanced hearing to pick up, "Why don't you ask your girlfriend what she can do to help?"

Iris narrowed her eyes and a green glow started breaking through, but Fury was already gone.