Imagine If You Assembled The Avengers: Volume 2

My Way or the Highway (Rogers x reader)

A little language

"Okay, so this is the locker room, there's the gym, and down the hall is the entrance to the hangar bay where we came in. Down one floor is the lab, infirmary, and library. Two floors down is the kitchen and dining room, and another down is the lounge and common room. All of our living quarters are on the floors above. Any questions?"

"Yeah," you sighed with a deep breath, looking around as Steve waited but his attention was drawn to the tablet in his hands, "what color are my eyes?"

"Excuse me?" he startled, finally looking up at you.

"You haven't taken your eyes off that damn tablet since I got here. I might as well have found my way around on my own. Tell me, is that how you run everything around here, Captain? Because I'm not sure how confident I'll feel going on a mission with a half-assed leader."

Steve stood silently with his mouth agape and at a complete loss for words. He reached down and grabbed your pack from the floor and handed it to you slowly, pausing with a hard swallow and casting his gaze away in embarrassment. "My apologies, (Y/N). Can I...um...show you to your floor?"

"I've got it, thanks. You clearly have more important things to tend to."

~~~

Natasha stopped her workout to watch Steve work with the punching bag, unable to concentrate with the incessant grunts and mumbling under his breath as he hit. He had gone through three bags so far, with five more lined up on the floor to take his punishment, and she knew that there was no way that she would be able to put up with this for that much longer.

"What the hell's gotten into you? Whose face are you imagining on that bag?"

"Have you met the new recruit yet?" he panted, not breaking his rhythm.

A slight smirk curled at the edges of her lips and she nodded in understanding, beginning to unwrap her hands at the realization that she wouldn't get anymore work done now. "Yes, I've met her. She's...different than what you're used to, am I right?"

"She called me 'half-assed'."

"Ah. You know, I think that this is gonna be good for you, Steve."

He stopped abruptly and grabbed the bag as it swung back at him, reaching up to push away the sweaty hairs that were sticking to his forehead. He squared his stance and turned to her, crossing his arms over his chest, "what is that supposed to mean?"

"Don't give me your 'Captain America' pose, you know it doesn't work with me," she chuckled, taking a seat at a bench next to him and tapping her hand for him to join her, though he didn't right away. "You haven't had a good challenge in a while. Someone to shake things up around here. Maybe put you in your place a bit, hmm?"

"I don't know what you could be thinking," he mumbled, turning back to the bag and resuming his attack, knowing full well that he knew exactly what she meant. He was always so immersed in his work that he often forgot to see the world going on around him. He forgot that there was more in life than that.

"Yeah, you know, you're just acting like you don't." Nat grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder, watching him for another minute before finally turning to leave. "This is gonna be fun," she said quietly to herself with a smile, giving him a small wave before the door closed behind her.

"I heard that," he groaned, stopping the bag again to rest his head against it, finally exhausted and no clearer about what to do than he was when he started. Sure, he had doubted his abilities to lead more times than he cared to admit, but now it was being thrown back in his face and he didn't know how to deal with it because it wasn't just him seeing it.