captain america one-shots/imagines

"Nice try."

You groaned as your back hit the mat for what felt like the millionth time. Natasha had taken it upon herself to train you to defend yourself. After all, if you were going to continue dating Captain America you needed to be able to hold your own in a fight. Nat's way of training however felt a lot like her beating you up while you let her do it because you were too scared to tell her to stop. You had a feeling you'd be covered in bruises tomorrow morning. 

She grabbed your hand and yanked you back up into a standing position. You stumbled a bit as you regained your balance. You placed your hands on your knees, trying to catch the breath you'd lost during the last fight.

"Again." Nat put her fists up and waited for you to do the same. You took a deep breath before following her lead. You prepared to lunge at her, but before you can, she kicked your legs out from underneath you and proceeded to pin your shoulders down with her knees. "What did I tell you about lunging?"

"Don't do it." You rolled your eyes. 

"Nat, I think you should stop taking your anger out on her. You might end up killing her." Steve, who had been watching a few feet away, walked in your direction. He'd been criticizing Natasha the whole time for being too rough on you, but she insisted she was going easy. If this was easy, you didn't want to know what she was like when she wasn't holding back. 

Steve gently shoved Nat off you and helped you stand up. Your ponytail had fallen out a while ago, the hair band holding it up snapped at some point, leaving your hair a knotted mess.  

"Relax. I wasn't going to kill her." Natasha rolled her eyes. "I know when to stop."

"You can't be that hard on her when she doesn't know what she's doing." It annoyed you that they were talking about you while you were standing right there.

"Thanks," You mumbled sarcastically.

"No offense," Steve looked down at you. "It's just that you haven't had any real training yet."

"What was I just doing?" Natasha grumbled, but Steve ignored her.

"I'll have you know that I took three months of karate in middle school." You crossed your arms and glared at him.

"I don't see how that's helping you now. Do you even remember anything they taught you?" Steve asked with a smirk.

"Of course I do. I bet I could win a fight against you."

Steve let out a loud laugh, to which you responded with an angry look. "I seriously doubt it."

You bit your lip and looked away before using some type of kick, that you didn't remember the name of, on him. Unfortunately, he saw it coming and grabbed your ankle before it made contact with his body. You hopped on one leg, trying to maintain your balance. 

"Nice try." He dropped your leg and you let out a huff of air. Once he opened his mouth to say something else, you reached out to punch him in the nose. 

Again, he knew your plan before you enacted it and caught your wrist in his hand which he used to spin you in a circle with your back directly against his chest. He used your arms to form an 'x' across your body, each of his hands holding one of your wrists. No matter how much you struggled, you couldn't loosen his hold. 

"I see now why you need training." Steve laughed and kissed the top of your head.

"You're so annoying." You rolled your eyes even though he couldn't see it. 

"Okay you two. This is cute and all, but I was in the middle of training which I'd like to get back to." To be completely honest, you'd nearly forgotten Natasha was there. She stood with her arms crossed, glaring at Steve. Without another word, Steve released you and you got back into position for the next round.

Before you even had time to think, Natasha had flipped you over onto the ground. This time you landed on your stomach and you were glad that you had neglected to eat dinner because at this moment you were sure it would have come right back up. You flipped over onto your back and stared blankly at the ceiling.

"I think we're done for today." Steve stepped in front of Natasha before she could pull you up for another go. "You can continue this tomorrow."

"I'm just getting started." Natasha pushed Steve out of the way and pulled you up again.

"No, we're done. It's getting late anyway." He grabbed your hand and started leading you out of the gym.

"Fine, but if we get attacked tonight, don't come crying to me that she couldn't defend herself." Natasha called after you as you left the room together. Steve chuckled and kissed the top of your head before the two of you go to sleep in your room.