"This is out of line, Director. You're dealing with forces you can't control."

"Have you ever been in a war, Councilman? In a firefight? Did you feel an over-abundance of control?"

"You're saying this . . . Asgard is declaring war on our planet?"

"Not Asgard. Loki."

"He can't be working alone. What about the other one? His brother . . .?"

"Our intelligence says Thor's not a hostile. But he's worlds away; we can't depend on him to help either. It's up to us."

"Which is exactly why you should be focusing on Phase II. It was designed for exactly this –"

"Phase II isn't ready. Our enemy is. We need a response team."

"The Avengers Initiative was shut down."

"This isn't about the Avengers."

"We've seen the list."

"You're running the world's greatest covert security network and you're going to leave the fate of the Human race to a handful of freaks."

"I'm not leaving anything to anyone. We need a response team. These people may be isolated . . . unbalanced, even. But I believe with the right push, they can be exactly what we need."

"You believe?"

"War isn't won by sentiment, Director."

"No. . . It's won by soldiers."

"There was an idea . . . Stark knows this . . . called The Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of . . . remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea . . . in heroes."

Stark got to his feet angrily, but didn't say anything. After a second or two of empty silence, he stormed off of the bridge.

Fury sighed.

"Well . . . it's an Old Fashioned notion."

"Director Fury . . . the Council has made a decision."

"I recognize the Council has made a decision. But seeing as how it's a stupid-ass decision I've elected to ignore it!"

"You're closer than any of our subs. You scramble that jet -!"

"THAT is the Island of MANHATTAN, Councilman! Until I'm certain my team can't hold it, I will NOT order a nuclear strike against a civilian population!"

"If we don't hold them here, we lose everything!"

"I send that bird out, we already have."

"Sir . . .? We have a bird in motion! Anyone on the deck, we have a rogue bird! We need to SHUT IT DOWN! Take off is NOT authorized!"

Fury rushed out of the bridge before Hill had even finished her order. The trip out onto the flight deck couldn't have felt longer, and the rocket launcher in his hand couldn't have felt heavier. Once outside, he spotted the fighter racing along the length of the deck and, without a moment's hesitation, took aim and blew that bird out of the sky. But no sooner had he stilled one threat that another plane launched just beside the other one.

This time, he had nothing but his pathetic sidearm.

It was too late. This conflict was officially out of his hands.

But not out of others' . . .

"Stark! You hear me? You have a missile heading straight for the city!"

"How long?"

"Three minutes, max. Payload will wipe out Midtown."

"Jarvis, put everything we've got into the thrusters . . .!"

He watched the video feed as the Avengers continued to battle on the ground, desperate to fight off the army that Fury had been so long fighting off himself. It took a great deal of self-control to allow them to take the spotlight, to take the responsibility. All he allowed himself to do was watch.

Iron Man entered the portal, carrying the nuclear bomb with him. He vanished from sight.

Relieved cheers and shouts broke from the bridge crew.

But Stark did not reappear.

After a moment or two everyone realized what was happening . . . or not happening, and fell silent again. Anxious eyes were glued onto every active screen throughout the room.

Finally, a tiny drop of red fell back through the portal as it collapsed in on itself.

Iron Man – alive.

Fury allowed a tiny smile to cross his face.

This conflict was over. He had proved his point.

The Avengers were a force to be reckoned with.

Now, there were only one or two tasks that remained . . .

"Where are the Avengers?"

"I'm not currently tracking their whereabouts. I'd say they've earned a leave of absence."

"And the Tesseract?"

"The Tesseract is where it belongs – out of our reach."

"That's not your call."

"I didn't make it. I just didn't argue with a god that did."

"So you let him take it, and the War Criminal Loki – who should be answering for his crimes."
"Oh, I think he will be."

"I don't think you understand what you've started, letting the Avengers loose on this world. They're dangerous."

"They surely are. And the world knows it. EVERY world knows it."

"Was that the point of all this? A statement?"

"A promise."

The ship was quiet now.

Fury had waited for hours, just to make sure that he would not be disturbed. The Human mind is such a fragile thing, easily manipulated into believing lies. Their trust was even more delicate, easily broken and twisted to others purposes. He saw that now. That was why this meeting must be kept absolutely secret. Let this world live in its innocence a while longer. Great forces were shaping the universe, and before long Earth – and the rest of this dimension – would be swept along with it.

But that time had not yet come.

So he waited.

At last, a light flashed on his desk, a signal that his compatriots on the other side were ready. He glanced at the switch on the other side of the room, and the projector suddenly came to life. A gentle whirring noise filled the room as, scattered all around him, appearing like phantoms out of a mist, a circle of figures appeared. To anyone else's eye, they would have seemed strange – even frightening.

But Nick Fury felt no such emotion. All he felt was peace.

One of the figures – an aged, diminutive figure that had appeared directly in front of him – was the first to speak.

"Late you are, Master Windu."

Nick cocked an eyebrow, bowing respectfully.

"My apologies, Master Yoda. But I was instructed to keep this communication secret from all – even my Human charges. We cannot risk being overheard."

"Hmm." The tiny figure steepled his hands, balancing his chin on them in that thoughtful way he always did. "Very well. What report to make have you? Resolved the conflict is at last?"

"Yes, Master. All went precisely according to plan."

"The Force was with you, Master Windu," another figure spoke up. His bright blue eyes and quick smile seemed to light up the room, as they always did.

"The Force was with all of us, Master Kenobi. But while this current conflict has concluded, more will follow. We knew this when I was sent to this planet."

"Yes, yes, with one battle won, others follow," the old figure said sagely, nodding his head. "Such is the way of things. But guides us, the Force still does, even if it is far away in a dimension outside of our own. Strong, the Humans are. Sure of themselves, they have now become, since Heroes now live among them. A pity it was, however, that Asgard should have involved themselves in this conflict. Fear, I do, for the lives of Thor and his brother."

"My observations of Thor have reassured me that he is capable of handling what is coming soon," Nick assured him. "As for Loki . . . evil stirs in him, but it does not rule him completely. I have often sensed . . . conflict in him. He is stronger than our enemy supposes. He, too, will stand to face them."

"Perhaps, but it will be hard-fought. Patterns are emerging in the Force. Sooner than we may know, the war is coming. Stay on Earth, you must, Master Windu. Protect the Humans, your duty is. But involve yourself directly you must not. In the dark and unsure, our enemy must be of the Jedi's involvement."

"If this is the will of the Council," Nick answered calmly, "then I will remain on Earth as long as I am needed. I forsee that SHEILD will still need Director Nick Fury for some time."

"Good. Good. Then remain there, you must."

"When shall I contact the Jedi council again?"

"Hmmmm . . ." The little man's eyes closed, his large ears twitching. "Difficult to see, it is. Guide you, the Force will, when you should speak with us again."

Nick Fury bowed, glancing at each of the council members in turn.

"Very well. Until my next communication . . . May the Force be with you."

"May it be with us all."

Ok, I wanted to give you all kind of an explanation as to where I got the idea for this cross-over story from. If you go on YouTube and look at some of the interviews Sam Jackson does for the Avengers, you'll notice he jokes around about the fact that the reason Nick Fury is so awesome is because "Well, I AM a Jedi." I always thought that was so funny! And then it got me thinking . . . do we really know who Nick Fury is? What if he really IS Mace Windu on a mission from the Jedi Council? Thus, this story was born. I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did!