Avengers The Captain's Secret

Part 1: Schwarma

CAP POV

Schwarma. It reminded me of gyros, like from the Gyro King in Brooklyn. One thing I realize about food is so much is similar. The difference is what kind of meat, of course, but it really comes down to what kind of spices are used.

Who would have thought The Avengers-my new comrades in arms-Thor, Iron Man, Hulk (now thankfully Bruce), Hawkeye, Widow and me, Captain America-could be found in a half destroyed Schwarma restaurant? I mean, I get it-we've just saved the world as we know it, as I'm still getting to know it, anyway-and Tony wants to do something we haven't done before, having cheated death and certain destruction. I had to hand it to the guy-he was willing to lay on the wire. He was also very different now.

"Ever died before or come close?" Tony asked, chewing thoughtfully. He came out of deep thought and glanced at us. We'd all come close before. Hawkeye and Black Widow in Budapest, Thor literally died and his father brought him back, Bruce was stopped when "the other guy" spit out the bullet he shot himself with, and me...?

A block of ice. I don't even think I felt dead or that I was dying, I froze so quickly. But I'll never forget that first breath, that first feeling of consciousness the second time around.

Hawkeye sighed, reclining in his chair. "Nobody in outer space like you, man."

Thor raised a hand just slightly but let it drop to his lap. Hawkeye raised a single index finger, and nodded. He stood corrected.

Tony was quiet then. I wondered what he saw up there, but I was too tired to ask, and he didn't look ready to talk about it. I knew that look. Some soldiers try to move past things too quickly, some drown in it. He looked like he was doing both. Even when traumatized he was an overachiever.

I just sat there, aching all over. I barely ate my food. All I wanted was a hot shower and a warm bed. Food could come later. It's not like I had to be battle ready anytime soon...I did a quick check of myself: cuts, bruises, but I could still fight if I had to. I took a deep breath and took a bite of my food. Not bad.

The sounds of stones and rubble moving brought all of our heads up from the feast. It wasn't the rhythmic sweep of the broom, that was making me sleepy.

"So how is it?" Nick Fury asked, his eye searching our faces for answers. He was assessing our conditions. I braced, unsure if there was still one more battle or assignment coming.

I gave a small shrug. "It's alright, but I'd rather have a cheeseburger."

"It's off the bucket list, that's for sure," Tony replied.

"Aye, I'll give you that." Thor threw the rest of his food on the paper plate. "I still don't understand what kicking a bucket has to do with death, though."

Hawkeye laughed, and Widow smiled. Bruce rolled his eyes, setting his food down on his plate.

"How is Loki?"

"Locked up nice and tight with a metal gag on, at the moment," Fury's smile was almost devious, but faded a little at Thor's frown. Loki was still Thor's brother. They acted as such, almost as if Loki went out to play with the wrong kids, and big brother was taking him home to Dad. Blood was thicker than...wait, no, they weren't blood, but they were brothers. I thought of Bucky, and I felt my heart wince. I missed that. "When we get him into a more permanent cell, we'll consider removing it."

"He and the Tesseract are going back to Asgard." Thor wasn't asking.

I looked at Fury, who nodded in agreement. I felt myself relax. We really had no business with that thing. We could barely handle the tech we had, were still studying it. The Tesseract was other-worldly.  I didn't want it here.

"Alright."

I did a double take at Fury.

"If there is something I've learned over the years, you can't argue with gods, you can only make deals with them."

Over the years? Who else had he been in contact with?