WHAT IF...? has taken you to many different worlds, and has allowed you to see many different possibilities, all of which spring from one universe: the Marvel Universe with which many of you are familiar--the Marvel Universe that has presented those possibilities for over thirty-five years. This tale of WHAT IF...? will allow you to explore that universe even further, and learn a possible truth to a missing year, as it asks the question...What if the Avengers never broke up?

The Beginning:

From rooftop to rooftop she leapt, constantly looking behind her to assess how much distance she had put between herself and her hunter. The colorful red, white, and blue adornments of her pursuer gave him away, especially in the darkness of midnight.

"Who is this man," Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow, asked herself. "And what does he want with me?"

She had put at least two buildings' distance between her and this patriotic man. Her training as a Russian spy had given her much practice at this sort of thing; running the roofs of Hell's Kitchen with Daredevil didn't hurt either.

Natasha looked back one more time as she approached the edge of yet another skyscraper. The hunter was nowhere to be seen. Once she turned her head forward in preparation for another leap from the end of the roof, the concrete of the tower came loose beneath her feet, and she was forced to grab hold of the edge to save herself from falling more than 80 stories down. Damned Onslaught crisis had turned most every structure in New York into standing rubble. If she could not recover and resume her run, her stalker would be an even greater problem.

And speaking of that stalker...

"Take my hand, Widow. Please."

How did he get here so fast, Natasha asked herself as she looked into the featureless face of this star-spangled tracker. Did she know the face under his white mask? She was in no position to decline the man's offer, whether he was friend or foe. She took his hand and pulled herself to the top of the building.

"Who are you?" she asked, dusting off her dark grey outfit.

"My name is Citizen V, as in 'victory.' I apologize for any misunderstanding, Madame Romanoff. It's not my intent to hurt you."

"Oh? Then what is your intent, sir?

"I come to you with a proposal," Citizen V replied. "I'm looking to bring together a band of volunteers-heroes, if you would-to help the city recover in the wake of Onslaught. Lord knows that with the Avengers and Fantastic Four gone, this city needs heroes of some sort."

"Too true."

"So, will you join me, Widow?"

Natasha hardly considered the proposal. She had other plans. "I'm afraid not, Citizen V. You see, my duty is to the Avengers; that legacy must live on, despite-and because of-the fact that Iron Man, Captain America, and all the rest are victims of that madman Onslaught." Citizen V seemed discouraged. "Your aid would be invaluable to my team." "But my priorities lie with the Avengers, and no one else. I am sorry."

"I understand, Madame. Feel free to call on the Thunderbolts if you ever need help."

"The Thunderbolts?" Natasha asked, her voice ringing with curiosity.

"The name of the group I hope to form," Citizen V replied.

"Of course. And if you require my help, Citizen V, I'm sure you will be able to find me. It's good to know that I won't be alone in my mission to help the good people of the world."

"My sentiments exactly. Farewell, Widow." In a surprising move, Citizen V jumped from the building's ledge, in an apparent free-fall. Natasha rushed to the ledge to see the conclusion of his fall, and found that Citizen V had safely landed on a V-shaped transport, joined by a large man with the letter "A" proudly shining on his chest, and a smaller man wearing a gadget-laden pack. Apparently, this Citizen V had already found some new recruits. It was Natasha Romanoff's nature to be suspicious of any situation-especially when that situation involved her, as Citizen V's proposal did. She assumed that Citizen V was a decent man who only wanted to help, but she also knew that every man had his secrets to hide. Natasha was going to make it her goal to learn those secrets.

Chapter 1

Having soared through the uncounted sectors of space, and having lived surrounded by a glorious wall of stars, Wendell Vaughn still could not think of a more beautiful thing than a morning in Central Park. This morning, however, was different. This morning would be a reminder that his associates-his friends-were mortal, for today their deaths would be memorialized in this otherwise beautiful meadow of Central Park. And if they were mortal, then so was he!

Quasar glided down onto the grass, and looked up at the guarded memorial, still sheathed in cloth. He wondered what it would look like. How do you symbolize all that the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and all the rest did, in a simple chunk of rock?

Just a few hundred yards away, he noticed his friends, and remembered that he had been summoned to this place by the Black Widow, for reasons not stated. Among those gathered were Natasha, the god-like Hercules, the Armani-clad Jim Rhodes, and Quasar's fellow space fairer, Binary. He engaged in flight, and joined them.

"At last," Hercules exclaimed, "Quasar has arrived!"

"You'd think a guy with near infinite power bands could be punctual," Jim Rhodes joked.

Quasar chuckled, "And you'd think a guy with a suit of armor could at least show it off."

"Oh no," Rhodes replied, "I gave that War Machine thing up a few weeks ago."

"You're kidding," Natasha said.

"Nope. It's just Jim Rhodes, private citizen now. It's hard enough watching things for Tony, now that he's-"

Rhodes was interrupted by the silence that came with the mention of lost friends.

At last, the silence was broken. "It appears that we are all that are willing to show for the memorial at this early an hour," Hercules observed. "Do tell, Natasha, why have you summoned us here at such an early hour? The ceremony does not start until noon."

"We won't be attending the ceremony, Hercules," Natasha replied.

"What?!" came the rest of the Avengers.

"In fact, after this meeting, we can no longer be seen together in public again."

Of all those gathered, Hercules had the most confusion on his face. "We must attend the memorial. It is our duty to our fallen brothers and sisters!"

"We have a greater duty to the citizens of the world, Herc," Natasha replied.

"What are you getting at, Natasha?" Rhodes asked.

"You've all heard the news about the Thunderbolts in the past few weeks, no?" The Widow received all nods of affirmation. "I'm afraid to say, they are not all they seem to be. In fact, the Thunderbolts are the Masters of Evil!"

Quasar chimed in. "Hold it a sec, here. News travels slow in space. You're saying that a group of the Masters of Evil have disguised themselves as heroes, and are calling themselves the Thunderbolts?"

"I am," Natasha replied.

"How do you know this?" Binary followed.

"Citizen V-or should I say, Baron Zemo-approached me months ago, and asked me to join. It was my intent to form a new group of Avengers after the Onslaught crisis, so I declined. Nonetheless, I investigated Citizen V and his friends, and found the truth. Their heroics are nothing more than part of a scheme to conquer the world."

"Why would he want you to join?" Quasar asked.

"Much of Zemo's plan relies on attaining the Avengers' files. I am certain that once he coerced me to give them to him, he would have disposed of me rather quickly."

Hercules spoke up again. "I mean you no offense, fair Natasha, but are you certain of this? These are accusations most severe!"

Rhodes agreed. "You can't just go accusing the world's newest heroes of being the world's deadliest enemies!"

"Agreed," Natasha nodded. "Which is why I am forming a new band of Avengers-a secret band-with the sole purpose of putting an end to Zemo's ruse, without exposing him to the world. We have to stop these Thunderbolts without revealing ourselves or them."

"Why all the secrecy?" Binary asked.

"What would you expect from a former Russian espionage agent?" Rhodes replied.

"Zemo's plan relies on the absence of the Avengers. It will be easier to stop him if his plan is allowed to play out as he wants it."

Natasha looked on as these four Avengers reflected on her revelation. It was obvious that even they had fallen into Zemo's trap, and had come to trust the Thunderbolts. If this was how experienced heroes reacted, she could only imagine how normal citizens would respond to the truth behind the Thunderbolts.

She continued, "There will be a few things we need to settle. We will need a new headquarters, since the mansion has been claimed by SHIELD, and would give us away anyway. Also, there are two more people that-"

"Who's to say that we're willing to join?" Rhodes interrupted.

Quasar proceeded, "Yeah. We're just supposed to believe you, Natasha? If I'm not mistaken, you don't have the most credible past."

Natasha did not feel the need to defend herself. She knew how urgent the mission was, and could not afford the time to squabble. Instead, she said, "If I am right, Wendell, are you willing to leave the world in such peril? Some Protector of the Universe you are."

"How dare you--!" Quasar was ready to charge Natasha for her verbal assault on him, if not for Hercules' swift control over him.

"Come now, young Quasar. As troubling as Lady Natasha's story is, what reason has she to lie? She has served the Avengers most honorably in the past. I'll not speak for the rest of you, but I am willing to serve with her again."

"Herc's right," Rhodes said. "We have every reason to trust Natasha, and no reason to trust the Thunderbolts. I'm in too."

Binary nodded. "Same here. I got nothing better to do!"

Quasar looked around, and saw that he was outnumbered. Why were they willing to believe that the Thunderbolts were wolves in sheep's clothing? Why wasn't he? He just wanted to know that though heroes will come and go, good will live one. And if good lived on, than perhaps the protector of all that is good would as well.

"Let's do this, then," Quasar said, hesitantly.

Natasha patted Quasar's shoulder. "Thank you, Wendell." She looked around Central Park, and saw that more people had gathered in the past few minutes. "It would be a good idea for us to leave now. The ceremony attendees are beginning to settle here. I'll contact you later for the location of our next meeting. Farewell, Avengers."

Once Natasha's words faded, Binary dashed off into the sky, and Jim Rhodes started toward his Corvette Convertible. As Quasar reached higher for the clouds, he noticed that Hercules and Natasha lingered near the memorial. He watched them until they shrunk from view, then looked toward the blackness of space.

"I knew you would stick up for me back there, Herc," Natasha said, as she and the Greek hero walked away from the crowd accumulating near the memorial statue.

Hercules put his arm around her. "I'll always be at your side, Natasha. Worry not about that. Instead, I wonder if you are completely contented by this new band of Avengers. James appears to be without his War Machine armor, and Quasar is less than cooperative."

Natasha chuckled. "Wendell? He's nowhere near as uncooperative as the last two men I plan on recruiting will be. Right now, I just want to get some tea. Care to join me?"

"An entire morning sipping tea with the lovely Black Widow? It would be my honor."

Chapter 2:

"It's over, people. Show's over. Go home."

Officer Bethany Hallsworth had never known more relief than that which she felt right at this moment.

Only minutes ago, she received an urgent call over her police radio, saying that there was a disturbance in Central Park. Expecting a group of vandals or a purse-snatcher, she was more than discouraged to see that a headless creature had abducted young Franklin Richards, son of the late Reed and Sue Richards. She knew her bullets would do no good against the creature, and feared that she would have to resort to more desperate means to stop it. That was before the Thunderbolts arrived.

Oh what a sight. Meteorite, M.A.C.H.-1, and Songbird flew toward the creature with noble force, as Citizen V, Techno, and Atlas trailed behind on the majestic V-wing. Their first act was to move the battle away from the crowd that attended the unveiling of the heroes' memorial. She lost track of the battle after that point, but overheard on her police radio that the Thunderbolts had defeated the creature-somehow involved with the villainous Mad Thinker-at Four Freedoms Plaza. How she wanted to see the world's newest heroes in action! Instead, Beth was now working crowd control, and was relieved of the creature. All thanks to the Thunderbolts!

It was only months ago that Beth had to play superhero. No, she never traded in her police uniform for spandex. She kept her rank, and did not use a heroic code name. However, she did reveal to the world her hidden "superpower". All her life she had hidden her past-or at least the parts regarding the mystical secrets her Aunt Lucille had taught her.

When Beth was twelve years old, Aunt Lucille revealed that as a young woman living in Beth's birthplace of London, she was forced to use her blinding teleportation powers in order to escape the bombs falling on the city at the hands of Nazi Germany. Eventually, she was discovered by Captain America, and briefly worked with the American icon and his associates called "The Invaders". Soon after, she began using her powers for a more "vigilante" cause after her husband was mysteriously murdered.

Being a young girl, Beth was fascinated by her Aunt's wartime adventures, and could not be expected to resist the powers that Aunt Lucille gradually instilled in her through knowledge of the mystic arts. In retrospect, Beth would just as soon not have those powers, for they gave her nothing but trouble throughout her teen years. School children hassled her out of fear and jealousy, and supercriminals saw the vulnerable child as a potential tool. After a few months, Beth and her aunt were forced to move to the U.S.

Beth grew up to become a respected officer in her department, and never once used her teleportation powers while in the United States...until Onslaught. When the heroes were massacred, she realized that the world was in dire need of super-powered champions. No matter the cost to herself, she had to take her fight for good one step further. "Bethany Hallsworth, NYPD Officer" became "Bethany Hallsworth, Super-Powered NYPD officer".

For weeks, she used her powers to aid in the capture of looters and scavengers. And, just as if she were a teenager in London once again, she became alienated by her "normal" co-workers-sometimes nearly at the cost of her badge. Just as the stress became too much, and she was prepared to leave the force in favor of the life of a superhero, the Thunderbolts arrived in New York.

The city was once again protected by heroes, and she could go back to her old life-almost. As she assumed, her co-workers and friends failed to forget those weeks that she crossed over into the world of superheroics. She would forever remain alienated.

Sometimes she wished that she could go back to the life of a superhero, and sometimes she just wanted to teleport back to the station, instead of driving. She knew that such acts would further estrange her from her friends. Even more, she remembered the feeling she had every time she teleported into a dangerous situation, with no back-up and no real strategy. That feeling was fear-fear of injury, and fear of death. She didn't want to feel that again, unless she absolutely had to. She would rather leave such feelings to the pros who could handle it, like the Thunderbolts.

The crowd that had gathered for the memorial-and the ensuing Thunderbolts appearance-had finally dispersed. Beth let out a mixed sigh of relief and exhaustion, and took a seat on the curb. That was when she heard the sudden squeal of tires, and the cry...

"My car!!!"

A man lay in the middle of the busy New York street, his car having just been stolen from him. Beth's vision shifted from the anguished man to the black Porsche speeding recklessly away. Immediately, she knew what she had to do; unfortunately, that was the exact thing she that she did not want to do!

She stepped further out into the street, and squinted in order to get a last look at the descending vehicle. Like a camera, all she had to do was "point and click". In a blinding flash, she was...

"...in my car! How did you get in my car!" exclaimed the frightened carjacker.

Beth pulled her gun from its holster. "Pull over and I'll tell you."

"Blow off, lady!"

"Pull over, before I make you." From the backseat, she pointed the gun closer to the man's head.

"I...I...I hear ya. I'm pullin' over right now." The car edged closer to the curb.

"Good boy. Now, take your hands off the steering wheel and put them where I can see them."

The man slowly pulled his hands away from the wheel and toward his chest. "Good luck lookin' for a date after today, lady," he said threateningly.

"Excuse me? What's that-" Before Beth could finish her thought, her head was sent into the rear window, and the man stepped on the accelerator.

"I'm outta-hey! I'm not movin'."

"How could you, when the Prince of Power has hold over your conveyance?" Hercules further lifted the rear of the car off the ground, and began to hoist it over his head when the Black Widow stopped him.

"Hold it, Herc," she said as she pulled the carjacker from the car through the driver's side window.

"Please lady, don't hurt me! I'll go easy. Just don't-"

Black Widow set the man on the ground. "You're not who I want." She looked into Beth's half-conscious eyes, and said, "You are, miss."

"M...me? You...you want me? Great..." Beth's head collapsed onto her shoulder.

TO BE CONTINUED!