Imagine If You Assembled the Avengers: Volume 1

Stay Down, Kid (Rogers x reader)

The last time you took a moment to look at the clock, it was 2am. The next time you looked, it was 4am. You hesitated and looked once more, shaking your head when it showed you nearly 7am and you felt no smarter than you had at 2. Pulling an all night study session wasn't exactly the best idea, and you knew that the odds of success from one power session were low, but that didn't stop you from trying to cram every last detail into your fatigued brain before your final exam in a mere six hours.

It wasn't until now that you realized that you had been sitting in almost the exact same position for every one of those hours that had passed since you began, and even with conscious effort, you couldn't be sure that you felt your feet. Gingerly uncurling your legs, you swung them over the side of your bed and rested your feet against the floor, waiting for the blood to flow back into them. As the familiar sting of returning sensation began, you tried to stand but lost your balance from the numbness, teetering over and falling onto the floor with a thud.

"Crap," you mumbled, pushing yourself up. "Glad no one saw that."

You stopped trying to pull yourself up when a knock came across your door, sounding almost frantic. "(Y/N)? (Y/N), are you okay? JARVIS said you fell!"

With a loud exhale, you raised your head towards the ceiling with your eyes squeezed shut in frustration. "JARVIS," you groaned through clenched teeth, "you don't have to tell them everything. I'm not even hurt."

"Sorry, miss. I have protocols built in to report tripping, falling, sliding on ice, slipping on spilled liquids-"

"Okay, okay, I get it. Tony likes to embarrass everyone."

"Can I come in?" Steve called to you again, "do you need help?"

"I'm fine, Cap. You can go." You made another attempt to stand, but the painful tingling in your feet prevented you once again. You didn't want to ask him for help; that would be even more embarrassing that the fall itself, but you didn't foresee a way from the floor on your own and you had more studying to do.

"Um, Steve...actually...maybe just a hand would be nice."

As soon as the door swung open you heard his snicker, failing miserably at keeping it quiet. Your head snapped in his direction with a warning glance, but all it did was make him laugh out loud, not caring about the wrath he might be inciting from you. He finally raised his hands before him and stopped as best as he could, but you could still hear the humor in his voice. "Alright, I'll behave."

"Jerk."

"Or I could just leave you on the floor?" he huffed, turning to leave.

"No, no, Steve, please. I still have so much studying to do, and I'm just losing valuable minutes down here." You looked up at him with a slight pout across your lips and gave him the best sad eyes that you could muster. "I'm sorry." You held your hand up for him to take it and pull you to standing, but he surprised you and scooped you up from the floor to lay you back on your bed, your books tumbling over on top of you.

"So let's just get these out of the way..." he mumbled as he began to gather them up, but was stopped abruptly when you grabbed his hands and slapped them away. "Hey, what's that about? What did I do?"

"I have more to read, my test is in a few hours. I need to use every minute that I have." You restacked the books neatly beside you and in the order that you would need them, looking around cautiously so that none were missed. "Thanks for the help, Cap. I owe you."

Steve stepped back and crossed his arms over his chest, watching you as you settled in to read, standing motionless as he regarded you while deciding what to do. "(Y/N), when was the last time you slept?"

"I'm fine, Steve."

"That's not what I asked."

You paused, burying your face in your book to both avoid the topic and to protect yourself, you lowered your voice below a whisper, "26 hours ago..." You cringed at the sound of his shaky and angry sigh, refusing to turn your head to look at him out of fear of the look on his face. Because you hadn't looked his way, you jolted in shock when the book was yanked from your hands and thrown onto the floor with a harsh slam.

"No," he barked, "that's unacceptable, (Y/N). I don't care that you need to study anymore. You're done." He continued to throw your books to the floor, several at a time, with a glare in his eye that you didn't dare to challenge. "Your test isn't until, what, 1 o'clock, right?"

"Steve..."

"Is that right, (Y/N)?"

"Yes, Captain."

"Then you will sleep until noon, at which time I will come back to take you to lunch before your final. Those are my orders." He wrapped his arm around your back and lifted you slightly off from the blanket so that you could slip your legs beneath it. He then pulled the blanket up to cover you and turned to leave. "JARVIS?"

"I will monitor Miss (Y/N), sir."

"Traitor,' you mumbled to the A.I., watching as Steve crossed the threshold of your room and closed the door behind him. You slowly reached down to the floor to grab a book, but before your fingers could wrap around it, the Captain was back in your doorway.

"Disobeying a direct order is warrant for punishment, (Y/N)."

"Ugh, Steve! I need to study! This is the hardest final that I'm going to take, and I can't screw it up!" you said, your voice almost a whine. "I'm scared that I'm going to completely bomb this."

Rather than joining you again at your bedside, Steve leaned against your door frame with his hands deep in his pockets, this time holding an unassuming posture as he spoke. "(Y/N), if you don't know if by know, you don't know it. And sweetheart," he paused, pointing at you, "you know it. I've heard you studying and having the team quiz you. You've got it. But if you don't sleep, that's what will fail the test for you."

He was right, but you weren't about to give him the satisfaction of saying so aloud. You leaned back against your pillow again, sliding down so that your head rested gently on it, pulling your blankets up to your chin. "Fine," you sighed, "if you're going to order me, then I guess I have no choice."

"That's right," he nodded with a small smile at his victory. After reaching up to turn off your lights, he pulled your door nearly closed and peeked in one last time just before pulling it shut to see you already drifting off. "Stay down, kid."