#marveloneshot

“Thor had business on Asgard,” Vision answered. “He wasn’t able to make it.” Vision sat cross-legged on the opposite end of the couch with Wanda tucked into his side. They were reading a book together.

“Figures,” Clint grumbled. He rolled his eyes and huffed. He sat there for a moment longer before he got up and started walking towards the elevator.

“Where are you going?” Natasha asked. She was just as bored of waiting and wanted to stretch her legs.

“Getting some coffee across the street. People watch maybe. You wanna come?”

So they left. The coffee shop across the street had a couple people in there, but it was quiet. Everyone was going about their business, not paying any mind to the superheroes in the room. Natasha and Clint stood in line waiting for their turn to order. They were going to order their drinks, sit around for a little bit until they got bored, order Wanda something to drink, then go back.

The person at the front of the line, a relatively pregnant woman, got her drink and turned to go sit down. She started taking a sip and only a few steps away from the counter a man bumped into her, resulting in her drink spilling all over her. The man backed away and gave her a grimace, “Watch where you’re going.”

Natasha scoffed and spoke up, “You bumped into her you douchebag.”

“Like hell I did,” the man retorted. “She should have been paying attention. Better yet, she shouldn’t have left her house carrying that thing around.” He pointed at her stomach with a disgusted look.

“You know what, I think you need to leave.” Clint walked out from behind Natasha and stood in front of the man. While Clint got the man to leave, Nat went to help the woman.

“Are you alright?” she asked. 

“Yes, thank you. He’s probably right; I shouldn’t have gone anywhere like this,” she said, motioning to her large stomach. She frowned slightly but she didn’t seem to be upset about the mess that was covering her shirt or the fact that the man was so rude to her. “I just wanted to get my favorite coffee.”

“Your husband couldn’t have gotten it for you?” Nat asked, incredulous. ‘Men’, she thought.

“Oh, he’s um… at work,” she said. She nodded and looked away.

“Well he should be with you and this bun,” Natasha said.

Thirty minutes later, after helping the woman dry her shirt and getting free coffee in return, Nat and Clint were ready to go.

At seven o’clock at night Steve, Tony, and Bruce finally returned. The group had waited for ten hours and they were not happy. Especially Clint. They kept the debrief short and sweet so everyone could leave as quickly as possible. Steve in particular seemed to be in a rush and Natasha had taken notice. From the moment he stepped off the helicopter his brows were furrowed and his mouth was a straight line.

Natasha being Natasha, she had to know what exactly was causing Steve so much trouble. As soon as the meeting was over Cap told everyone goodnight and collected his bags. Natasha waited a few minutes before leaving too. She followed him from a good distance and waited as he went inside a chinese restaurant and left with a large bag of takeout. She knew Steve had an appetite but god, that was a lot of food for one person.

She continued following him for several more blocks until he arrived in front of a basic apartment building. Natasha had seen Steve’s apartment before and it wasn’t here. He went in and so did she a good amount of time later. When she walked into the lobby she saw that the elevator was headed to floor 5. She waited a minute before she started walking up the stairs to that same floor. When she arrived she peeked her head around the corner and saw Steve going into one of the apartments. Her curiosity was at its max.

She knew that if she knocked on the door and Steve saw her standing there he would be alarmed. It would be pretty obvious that she followed him. Which she did. But was it warranted? Was his behavior enough that Natasha’s decision wasn’t strange? She didn’t contemplate those things for very long before she was there, knocking on the door to apartment eight.

—

Y/n was sitting on her couch, about to eat Chinese food with her husband, Steve, when there was a knock on the door.

“I got it,” she said. Y/n stood up slowly and went to the door while Steve protested, but she just waved him off. She turned the knob and opened the door, wondering who would be coming over at nine o’clock at night. Her mouth dropped open when she saw who was standing in the hall. Natasha Romanoff, Black Widow, Steve’s coworker, and the woman that helped her at the coffee shop earlier that day. Natasha seemed to be equally as shocked, standing there saying nothing and just staring back at y/n.

“Honey, who is it?” Steve called.

“Um… come here,” she answered. In a few moments there he was. His eyes widened when he saw who was standing there.

“Natasha?” Steve asked. “What are you doing here?”

“What are you doing here? This isn’t your apartment.”

Steve sighed, “I’ve got some explaining to do.”

“It would appear so.”

An hour, and all the Chinese takeout later, Natasha sat on the couch with her mouth wide open. “So you’ve kept this a secret this entire time? You had a girlfriend? You got married? You’re about to be A DAD?!? This is crazy.” She shook her head in amazement. “Why didn’t you tell us? We could have helped you out?” Natasha asked.

“I didn’t want y/n or the baby to get hurt. I was protecting them.” Steve squeezed y/n’s hand and looked at her with a warm smile.

“I want to go.”

Loki lets out a sigh, crossing his arms. “I don’t know, you haven’t been to Midgard in years. It’s changed an awful lot since 1918.”

You childishly stomp your foot, letting out a huff. “Come on, Loki. I haven’t been anywhere in ages and I’m going crazy up here with Fandral and the others. Sif is off with Thor, I can’t believe she left here.”

“If we go, we might have to deal with Thor’s little team of Avengers. I’m sure you can handle most of them but they have this green beast. He is quite…” Loki trails off, looking quite horrified as he relives the memory of Hulk smashing him.

“Ah, Thor’s told me about his berserker friend, I’d love to meet him! Come on, Loki! Take me to Midgard. I want to know if their preferences in ice cream have changed.”

Loki shakes his head, knowing it was useless to try to change your mind. “I said come on, Loki!” You wrap your hand around his tie, tugging gently.

“Alright! Alright, stop rushing me and let go of my tie will you?” He places a hand on your shoulder, teleporting away.

A gasp leaves your lips as you take in the sight in front of you. “Oh, they definitely didn’t have this in 1918.” You pointed to the gigantic screens in the middle of Times Square. “I want ice cream, take me to some.” You demand, turning to Loki.

“So demanding, come along.” He takes your hand, leading you through the busy streets of New York.

“Midgard has changed in some ways but not as much as I thought. Tell me, do they still squabble like children of petty things? The last time I was here I fought in a war for them, I never knew they could be so cruel and violent towards one another for the simple matter of skin color, sexuality, and belief differences. They put some of our greatest enemies to shame with their torture and war methods.” You let out a sad sigh, suddenly losing your appetite for ice cream.

“If it helps, they are slowly progressing. They won’t change overnight. Even if they were to have one ruler t-”

“Oh, Norns not this again. Loki, your plan failed, you got your ass kicked let it go.”

Loki gives you a scandalized look as you go back to your ice cream, not wanting it to go to waste.

“Beg your pardon? If I was in my right mind, I would’ve won. I could’ve conquered Midgard, Y/N. I could’ve conquered and we would’ve ruled them with a firm hand. It would’ve been glorious.”

Your deadpan expression doesn’t change. “Loki, that plan sucked ass and we both know you truly didn’t want to rule Midgard, just as you didn’t want to rule Asgard. You just love to show up Thor and what better way to do it by conquering the realm his mortal lover lived on? Plus wasn’t that purple grape in your head along with the space stone? My love, you would’ve been a shitty ruler. Don’t get me started with my issues, first time someone pisses me off, I’m going to chop their head off. No questions asked. We’d get bored after six months.”

Loki is silent before deflating, “I suppose you are right in a way.”

“I’m always right. Now I want more ice cream and then take me exploring some more.”

The cashier gulps as he sees the pair of you coming back to the counter. “Please don’t pull your sword out on me anymore.”

Loki smirks knowing you pulled out your sword only to get free ice cream and scare the cashier for fun.

“I want more ice cream, this time on a cone. Hurry.” Your glare doesn’t lessen on the terrified cashier until his trembling hands are handing you and Loki your ice cream cones. Suddenly your expression changes, a bright smile on your face, “Thank you mortal! You’ve been a wonderful server. Have a good day.”

Loki hears the poor cashier let out a sigh, followed by a curse, “what the fuck was that? Was that Loki?”

“You are such a troll,” Loki says as the two of you make your way out of the shop. You pretend to look clueless, “what’s a troll?”

_____

The two of you spent the rest of the day touring New York, Loki taking you to popular sites. It was a truly peaceful day until the Avengers ruined it of course.

Loki gives the landing quinjet a disappointed glare as he pushes you behind him. “Loki, what are you doing? Who are they?”

“These are my brother’s Avengers. They’ve more than likely come to attack and arrest us.” Loki replies. He doesn’t see your hardened gaze as you watched the Avengers exit the jet.

“Loki, we need you to come with us.” The man in a bright, colored costume and shield says, extending a hand with a pair of cuffs.

“My apologies but are those bedclothes?” You asked from behind Loki. The question causes everyone’s eyes to turn to you. You hear the metal robot let out a snicker as the green beast grunts.

“Who are you? Are you an accomplice of Loki’s?” Bedclothes ask.

“I am Y/N, that’s all you need to know. Now, who should I start with first?” You question, holding out a hand, catching the arrow that was hurdling towards Loki's head. You snap it in half, letting the pieces fall to the ground. “It’s obvious you came here for a fight and that is what I shall give you.” Your seidr washes over you, banishing your Midgardian clothes for your armor.

You can see the mortal ready themselves for a fight but you only had eyes for the green beast. He gives you a nasty smirk, which you return. “Handle them and I’ll handle him.” You tell Loki before dodging the beast’s fist that it was seconds from hitting you.

“Guys, you’re seeing this right? Tell me I’m not the only one seeing this! Loki and whoever the hell this other Asgardian is, they’re kicking our asses!” Tony grunts out as he barely manages the dodge the shield hurled his way.

“Where’s Thor when you need him?” Natasha grunts out through the coms as the Asgardian throws her off her back and she lands a few feet away.

“This is the most fun I’ve had in ages! Come on, beast! I know you can hit harder than that!” The mad Asgardian cackles with glee, battling the Hulk.

“They’re fucking delusional and who was going to tell us Loki was this fucking powerful?! He wasn’t like this during New York!,” Clint says in disbelief.

Just then there’s a crackle of thunder, the familiar sighting of the Bifrost baring down. Loki lets out a groan, making his way to the other Asgardian side. “I think our fun is over. Thor has arrived.”

“BROTHER! STOP TH-” Thor cuts off staring at the sight in front of him. “Y/N?! Why are you battling my shield brother Hulk?! What is this madness?!”

Loki points to The Avengers, “Y/N and I were simply enjoying our day when they attacked us. You know how Y/N craves battle and I wasn’t going to leave them. Though Y/N handled them on their own.”

“Thor! You didn’t tell me your berzerker friend was such a worthy opponent!” You greet your long-time friend with a smile as Hulk lets out an angry roar.

“COME BACK AND FIGHT PUNY GOD!”

“In a minute, berzerker!” You called out, flying over to hug Thor. He returns the hug, looking at his team members confused.

“You mean to tell me that this is just fun and games to you?” Clint yells out, frustrated.

You turn back to him and the others, “Of course, you are mere mortals. I’ve faced down gods and won, what could you possibly do against me? And Loki with a stable mind on top of that? This was just a fun spare. If we wanted to truly destroy you, you’d know. Trust me.”

“PUNY GOD FUN TO FIGHT!”

Your eyebrows furrowed. “You sound … busy?” you said, not intending for it to sound like a question. “Is this a bad time?”

There was a thump on his end of the phone. “No, no! Not at all. It’s just … uh, late. Wasn’t expecting a call. I’m, uh, here though. Not busy. What’s going on?”

You moved the phone from your ear to peek at the time, and shit, when did it become 11:00PM? How long had you been reading in that coffee shop earlier? “Oh. I didn’t even notice it was getting late,” you said lamely. “And I locked myself out of my house, so … yeah.”

Peter scoffed on a laugh. “You locked yourself out? Again?” There was another bang on other side of the phone, this one accompanied by a slight groan.

“Woah, you alright?” You weren’t sure, but it sounded like he’d just been knocked over.

“Hm? Yeah, I just—I just walked into a pole. How’d you lock yourself out this time?” Peter asked, sounding slightly winded. For his sake, you decided to brush past his embarrassing tumble with a pole, admittedly with every intention of making fun of him for it later.

“I left my keys at the school. And I wasn’t locked out last time, you jerk. I’m pretty sure you had my keys and I got them back,” you insisted, shifting in your spot. The cold was settling in deep in your bones but you resolved yourself to ignoring it.

“Yeah, yeah,” Peter said dismissively. “Look, your house is off 15th, right? I’ll swing by, just give me a few minutes.”

You sat up straighter. “A few minutes? Peter, no, I don’t need you to swing by. What’s the point of us both being locked out?”

Peter let out a huge breath of air and you could hear wind warbling through the speaker. “Y/N, it’s nearly below freezing right now. You can’t sit outside your apartment all night. May won’t mind the company, I promise.”

You froze. “Your house?”

You could hear a quick breath on the other side, as if Peter just realized what he said. “Uh, yeah? I meant, uh, if you don’t mind? You know. Just for the night. Because it's—because it’s cold.”

“I couldn’t ask you to do that,” you denied. “Your aunt doesn’t know I’d be coming, plus it’s just a night. I can run back to the coffee shop—”

“No!” Peter cut you off quickly. Your eyes widened and you moved the phone away just slightly. “I-I just mean that it’s dark. And the coffee shop is nowhere near your place. You shouldn’t be-be walking a-alone, you know? In the dark. When it’s … dark out. Look, I’m almost there.”

You furrow your eyebrows. “Peter, you live like 10 minutes away. How could you almost be here? You didn’t get a ride, did you? You really don’t need to come by, it’s fine.”

“I was already out,” Peter said. There was another thump on his end, and then some rustling. When he next spoke, his voice was distant. “Seriously, give me like, 30 seconds. And then we can walk back to my place, yeah? I’ll text Aunt May, she’ll be cool with it.”

“Peter,” you groan, but by then he’d already hung up the phone.

True to his word, you could see him jogging through the parking lot half a minute later, his backpack over his shoulder. You rolled your eyes, knowing he wouldn’t be able to see it anyway, and then stood up and jogged to meet him.

“You didn’t need to come for me,” you said, flicking his shoulder. He just shrugged and gave you a wan smile, looking oddly nervous. “Even if I was going to your house, I know where it is.”

Peter jerked his head in the direction of his house and began walking. “Sure, but like I said, it’s dark. No one should walk alone in the dark.”

“You walked alone in the dark,” you point out. “And I just walked to my apartment. It’s not even midnight yet, Peter, you’re being silly.”

Peter was about to respond when a gust of wind blew through both of you. You couldn’t help shivering through your hoodie, which certainly wasn’t warm enough for the weather.

“Oh, crap,” Peter said, already throwing his backpack on the ground. “You’re freezing. How long have you been outside like that?” Before you could even get a word of protest, he had taken off his jacket and dropped it over your shoulders.

“No!” you insisted, brushing it off. “You’ll just be cold then. That doesn’t make sense.”

“I wore the jacket the whole way here,” Peter shrugged. “It’s your turn. You look frozen, Y/N, just take it. I-I promise I’ll take it back as soon as I get cold.” He wasn’t going to take the jacket back and they both knew it.

You wanted to reject the offer, but the warmth of the jacket was doing wonders and he didn’t look cold at all. You put your arms in the sleeves and wrapped it around yourself.

“Okay,” you breathed. You smiled at him softly for a second. “Thanks, Peter.”

-

“Peter, maybe I should just go,” you said, backing up from the front door. “I really don’t want to bother your aunt.”

“C'mon, Y/N,” Peter said, grabbing the sleeve of your jacket (well, his jacket) and pulling you closer to the door. “She already said yes. I’m pretty sure she’d kill me if I let you walk back now. It’s just for the night and it’s on the couch. We’re not even going out of our way.”

“I haven’t even met her before, Peter! For all she knows I’m an axe murderer!” You pulled your sleeve back and crossed your arms over your chest, eyeing the door warily.

Peter laughed but suppressed it to a smile when he saw your expression. “You’re not an axe murderer. She knows your my friend, Y/N, I’ve told her a lot about—” he cut himself off and flushed red. “O-okay, let’s go.”

You didn’t have time to protest before he opened the door and dragged you in by the sleeve. You quietly let out an alarmed “Peter!” as you crossed the threshold but it was too late, the door already slamming behind you. A young brunette woman who must be May was sitting on the couch and stood up as soon as you arrived.

“Y/N!” May greeted, walking up to you. “Peter told me you were coming!”

“It-it’s not too much trouble, right?” you asked. You didn’t mean to sound so nervous but there was something nerve-wracking about meeting Peter’s family so soon. Not that it meant anything. At all.

“No, not at all! I’m May, by the way. Peter’s aunt.” May said brightly. She put a hand on your shoulder and pulled you further into the room. “Peter can show you around, but there isn’t much. You can sleep on the couch if that’s okay. There’s a guest room but it’s a bit of a mess.”

“The couch is fine,” you breathed.

“Great!” She smiled again. “I’ll go grab some blankets from the closet. Peter, can you help me out?”

You awkwardly sit down on the couch as Peter and Aunt May head to the back of the house.

You’re not sure, but amongst the immediate whispering that takes place between the pair, you could have sworn you heard May say “You were right, Peter, she’s just as pretty as you said!”

NAVIGATION

Bucky Barnes

Loki Laufeyson

None of your students knew about Chris for many, many reasons. Most kids knew who Captain America was and if your students knew that you were living with ‘America’s Ass’ (something that fans called him), they would go ballistic. So when you were having an online class you made sure that Chris was aware and steered clear of the camera.

Sometimes to tease you he would walk into whatever room you were having classes in and start dancing, which was his best effort to get a smile and laugh, but also distract you. The kids would sometimes ask what you were looking at, but you would have to tell a little white lie and say that it was your dog playing with a toy.

The school year was nearly over, and all the students were ready for summer. You weren’t giving your kids too much work to do and on the Zoom calls you were mainly just talking to them about their plans for the next two months. 

Everyone was so absorbed in listening to all the stories that you didn’t even realize your last class had gone over the regular time. It was nearly four o’clock and normally you would just be working on lessons, so Chris didn’t think anything of strolling behind you and wrapping his arms around your shoulders.

“Hey honey,” your boyfriend said.

It only took a few seconds for your students to process who was standing behind their teacher. “IS THAT CAPTAIN AMERICA?!?” one of them shrieked. “OH MY GOSH IT IS!” another one said.

You turned around and looked at Chris who could only give the kids a bashful smile and wave. “Hi guys.”

“HI!” they all responded with enthusiasm. They were more excited about seeing Chris than they were when they saw your dog for the first time. The kids were so adorable you didn’t even bother to tell ‘Captain America’ to get out of the camera. More than one student had told their parents about the celebrity that had appeared on their Zoom call, and you could see them taking their phones out and recording.

“Are you married to Captain America, Ms. Y/N?” a young girl asked.

You didn’t even get the chance to answer when Chris chimed in with, “Not yet, but someday.” He kissed the top of your head, leaving you speechless.

“OOOOO,” the students said.

“Okay guys I think it’s time for Captain America to go fight some bad guys.”

“Aww,” they pouted.

“You’ll see me again, don’t worry,” Chris said before giving them a big smile and waving goodbye. He took three steps away to be just out of the camera’s view and looked at you and mouthed “sorry.” You shook your head and mouthed, “it’s okay.”

“It seems like Captain America needs my help! I gotta go but I will see you all tomorrow!” you said to your students.

“Bye Ms. Y/N!”

You ended the Zoom call and shut your computer. When you turned to Chris he was bashfully standing just a few feet to your left. “You are sooo done.”

“They’re never going to let me live that down, are they?” you asked.

“Nope. Those kiddos are going to ask you a million questions. Be glad you aren’t teaching much because they aren’t going to be paying any attention to school work.”

“I would just tell them that Captain America said they had to get their work done if they wanted to see him again,” you said.

“Isn’t that blackmail?” Chris laughed.