Avengers X-Reader Volume 1

I wanna be like Cap 4

Next Day

"She still asleep?" Steve asked as he walked into common kitchen, and noticed (y/n) wasn't there with Tasha, "it's ten a.m.?"
"She's still out, and I wasn't gonna wake her up, it's probably the most sleep she's gotten since she came home, so your infamous training can wait," Tasha remedied, and smiled at Bruce as he walked in, "hey handsome. Look Steve, maybe you can give her another day...she still needs a tour of the facility, meet the rest of the team, and read over our files..Sam left to his group, but he's coming back tonight, just in case..that alone doesn't exactly give her time to train," she paused, and gave Bruce a chaste kiss, before grabbing a plate filled with scrambled eggs, bacon and toast.
"I agree, then I guess I'll go work out with Buck," Steve grumbled unconvincingly. He'd rather try to get some sleep, instead of working out. Last night, he spent his time going over (y/n)'s files, along with files on her father and grandfather. Both had long successful careers with the army and marines, but her grandfather was also tied to multiple companies and SHIELD. He had also did some consulting for Stark Industries in the seventies and eighties, for new weapons for the army. It didn't surprise Steve at all to see such an extensive background and the influence it had on (y/n), but it was her personal information that he spent most of the evening on.
Calling her a good soldier was an understatement, and he soon discovered she was more than that. It made him a little uncomfortable, and surprised to see some home videos, he assumed her grandfather made, of (y/n) using her shield, in the electronic files, but to see a teenager flying through the air, laughing, and mimicking movements he was familiar with, well had a smile stretching over his lips. She moved like he did, only a few seconds slower, but for a kid trying to emulate a supposed hero, she definitely achieved that, and he actually couldn't wait to see her in action.
Yet, she spent alot of time alone after her mother died, due to her grandfather's work, or want to be alone, and he couldn't help but wonder if her dire need to play make believe was more than that. She obviously needed a way to channel her losses, and picking up a shield seemed to give her that.
She had good grades, played sports in highschool, and was even offered some scholarships for softball and soccer, but had already started RTC training in school, and assessments for the local marine recruitment office during her senior year. She celebrated her eighteenth birthday on a jet on the way to Camp Pendleton.
(Y/n) excelled at boot camp, and caught the attention of her instructors when she passed every single test and war game placed in front of her. There was a dossier done on her capabilities to lead, as well as her intelligence and ferocity, and the marines made sure they used it. Of course her family background also played a part in that as well.
(Y/n/) was an excellent shot, and had an extensive background with a few other weapons, as well, a scythe in particular. It wasn't an official weapon, but she had found one on her first tour and played with it, only to end up using it once her envoy ran into some insurgents while doing a pass through Pakistan, and she'd been using it ever since. She did three tours in Afghanistan, and her last one in Kandahar, which sent her home.
There were psychological tests, which only displayed her loyalty and need to serve, but he was more interested in the markup done once she walked out of the small village in Kandahar.
His jaw clenched as he read through the fifty page briefing, pictures, as well as her testimony. Her grandfather mentioned it, but too see the aftermath, well, alluded to her ferocity, and the capacity she had in order to save her team.
Three days after (y/n) walked out of that building covered in blood, she didn't say a word, and instead of getting her medical attention for the obvious shock she was experiencing, the marines forced her to sit in a room for three damned days, with barely any food, or sunlight.
On the fourth day she lost it, and began destroying everything in the small room, beating at the glass till her hands bled, breaking the table, chairs. She nearly put two MP's in the hospital as they tried to restrain her, but one of the surviving members of her team was allowed in, and she finally broke.
His eyed watered as he read her testimony, and his heart cracked for her. There was blood drenching over those pages, and she killed fourteen people, on her own, including a kid her age with a bomb strapped to his chest, as he stood over one of her dead soldiers. Even in her testimony she couldn't remember exactly how she survived, but what she could recall brought a visceral reaction out of him.
He'd only just met her, and learned a few things from their short conversations, but he unfortunately saw a bit if himself in her, and he encouraged her to try, promising the team would help her.
The more he read, the more angry and conflicted he became about the young woman who had taken her place front and center of his curiosity. He blamed it on the fact that he understood her need to continue down the only path she'd ever known. (Y/n) stated herself she was disenfranchised with the notion, but he recognized the determination to keep going, even if she didn't know if she could.
Getting to know her, talk to her, had somehow forced him to think about his own future, for some strange reason.
Unbeknownst to everyone, not even Buck, he too began to question his role here, and the so-called life everyone seemed to mention he wasn't living. It's not that he didn't want time off, or a home outside of all this, but there was always work that needed to be done. He didn't have the same luxuries as Tony, and Clint, with their families taking up their time. Sure, he spent time outside, sitting at coffee shops drawing, or walking around, but even that had taken a back seat once Tony stepped back after Morgan was born. Steve didn't begrudge any of them for the lives they had, he was happy for all of them, but it made him question his future, and now he had a young woman heading down a similar path.
This whole thing made him more exhausted than he already was, filling his mind with just the image of (y/n).