-Red, White and Not So Alone-
A series of Captain America one-shots that ship him with the many women of the Marvel Universe (Similar environment to 616 but no Sharon Carter as that is the OTP that messes up time and space just for these two people).
-Chapter 1: Miss Marvel, Carol Danvers-
Steve had often daydreamed, whenever he was introduced to a piece of modern technology like the new DeeVeeDee players or electronic Notebooks, about how life would be if were never frozen.
He'd stand in a field, an old man with his wife, laughing at their grown children as they stumble into the reigns of parenthood, precocious grandchildren making mischief at every turn.
Then the Captain would be interrupted at the clanging of his shield and be reminded that he was facing something way out of his league, a fire breathing dragon in purple shorts.
Good thing he wasn't alone.
"Avengers Assemble!" the familiar battlecry rang out of his mouth and into the open air.
In less than a second, a Blur in green carrying a woman in Red zoomed past the man, throwing punches and kicks and flinging blasts of chaos that the human eye couldn't register.
A second later, a Jade Giant dropped from a great height, followed by Crimson Armor, both collided with their resilient adversary.
Ten seconds passed, and a blinding bolt of light crashed down onto the earth, the God of Thunder swinging his mighty hammer emerged from the wreck.
In between the moments, arrows and bullets were fired, the Archer and Assassin moving in accord.
In this time, the Captain wondered, "Why am I even in charge?"
"Because you're Captain America," a confident answer came from behind, as its owner picked up the Sentinel of Liberty.
"You have a plan Carol?" the Man With A Plan asked with some hesitation.
"That's more your department, but I think you know where this is going," the blonde said with snark.
"Fastball Special?" the man asked as he held his shield forward.
"Fastball Special." the woman responded, flinging Steve Rogers, shield first, towards the dragon.
It was not the mightiest of blows, but like all that Captain America did, it counted.
The dragon, calling itself Fin Fang Foom, flinched, its guard lowered.
The Twins attacked with more ferocity, the male running miles around, over and under Fin Fang Foom, the sister focused on turning the flames from its breath into harmless things like rabbits and leaves.
The Asgardian struck, again and again, until the heavens cried out, streaks of power making their way to his enormous foe.
The Savage punched the ground, throwing the beast off balance.
The Armored Avenger unleashed volley after volley of his beams and missiles, the beast lowered its arm.
Bowman and Temptress moved, vital spots in clear sights, the dragon cried out in pain.
-A few hours later-
After the dust had settled and Damage Control moved in, the Avengers called it a day, Bruce and Tony ran back to their labs doing who knows what, Thor decided to visit his mortal friends who went to Europe, Clint and Natasha went out on a date, Pietro left for a walk while Wanda returned to the mansion for some rest.
"What's on your mind Cap?" Carol asked as she landed behind Steve.
"Hm?" the Sentinel of Liberty scratched his head.
"I'm talking about what you said earlier," the blonde crossed her arms.
"Oh," the well-built blonde sighed, "just thinking, we did have a good view of the city back there."
"You were thinking of the past again, huh?" Ms. Marvel frowned.
"More often than not," the man admitted as he sat down on a bench, "it's New York, just not as I remember it."
"..." the woman began thinking in silence, "I have an idea."
Without a second's warning, Carol grabbed Steve by the arms and began flying until New York looked like it was being viewed from a map.
"Any better?" the superheroine asked.
"Whaddaya mean?" Cap stared back confused.
"It's the same sky you grew up in, right?" Carol pointed out.
"Y-yeah," the Sentinel of Liberty caught on to the woman's train of thought, "I see where you're getting at here."
"Besides there's nothing to worry about," Ms. Marvel held the man closer as she dove into a cloud, "you'll always have the Avengers."
"Right," Steve chuckled, "is this how you usually spend your free time?"
"I was in the Air Force Steve, go figure," the woman giggled as she reminded her friend.
"Mind if you take me up here with you next time?" the man asked, "It's kinda liberating."
"If I didn't know any better, did Captain America just ask me on a date?" her inner fangirl squee'd.
"I think Captain America just did," Steve mumbled in third person.
"Sure anytime you want," Carol confirmed as she slowly descended back to Manhattan,"anywhere you want me to drop you off?"
"Well there's this place a few blocks from Grand Central that I've heard serves a good steak," Cap answered, "care to join me?"
"Didn't take you for the type that worked this fast," Ms. Marvel laughed in genuine surprise.
"You can blame Stark for that," Steve joined in on the laughter.
-After Dinner-
Thanks to a generous pension courtesy of Uncle Sam, Steve Rogers had more than enough money to live comfortably and thanks to some advice from Tony Stark, more than enough money to burn.
"You weren't wrong about the steak," Carol stated, "want me to fly you back to your apartment?"
"Nah, I like the night," Steve rejected the offer as he listened to the bustling populace of New York, "scenes like this remind me of when I was growing up."
"You gonna be okay?" the blonde woman asked in concern.
"Yeah," Cap answered, "reminds me that things aren't that different from back then."
The pair walked quietly past the New York crowd in peace that night.
-Weeks Later-
Carol's flying had been therapeutic for Steve and the pair barely noticed that they were spending more time with each other. The other Avengers however, were a little more observant.
Tony threw Steve a cheeky grin as the Super Soldier passed by the lab.
Bruce, who was Hulked Out at the time just raised a thumbs-up at the Star-Spangled Man.
Thor was usually busy watching TV, but Steve's eye always caught the Norse god glancing whenever he or Carol entered the room.
Pietro just did double takes when either of the two walked in the room.
Clint however, was more blunt.
"So when we're you going to tell us guys that you two have been going out?" Hawkeye asked aloud.
"It's just been a few weeks Clint," Steve countered.
"Hulk think Flag man in denial," the Green Goliath stated as he took a whole pizza from the microwave.
"A slice, friend Hulk?" the God of Thunder requested as he faced the Captain, "I agree with our large friend."
Hulk threw a slice of Peperoni Pizza in the Asgardian's direction, which the Norse God caught without a blink.
"Thanks for opening up the discussion Clint," Tony said in the role of mediator, "yeah, when were you going to tell us you've been going out with the Air Force Bombshell?"
"She's helping me adapt to your new and strange technology like this," Captain America redirected the discussion to the microwave.
"Right, your going all Nietzsche and introspective over a microwave?" the Archer scoffed, "I call bull-"
"Language Barton," Steve reprimanded, not too comfortable with profanity.
"Sorry Dad,"Hawkeye said sarcastically, earning a laugh from the others, "does that mean we get to call Carol, 'Mom'?"
"Friend Pietro, why so quiet?" the Thunder God looked in the direction of the mutant who was simply observing the group.
"I'm just watching this play by itself," the speedster admitted as he ate a handful of popcorn, "it's better than Game of Thrones."
"Game of what?" the Sentinel of Liberty looked at the silverette with a confused look.
"It is a most entertaining play you Midgardians watch on your mystical flatscreens," Thor explained.
"Yeah, lot of Starks in it too," Tony said proudly, "haven't gotten a call from my agent, but I'm still waiting for it."
"Hulk like Tyrion better," the Jade Giant said flatly, "Hulk also think we steer off topic now."
Realizing that their large green friend is right, the male Avengers turned to confront their Captain, only to find that he had already left.
"He completely used Game of Thrones to throw us off," Stark complained, "damn he's good."
"New episode is on in five minutes by the way," Pietro reported as he flipped the channel to HBO, the others making their way to the couch.
-Meanwhile-
The three female Avengers were having a spa date in Manhattan.
"So Carol," Natasha began the conversation, sipping from a coconut husk, "what's it like dating a man out of time."
"Bwah, Wha-" the Air Force pilot did a spit take before facing her companions, "We just hang out, I'm helping him adjust to the modern era."
"So that's what they're calling out now?" Wanda raised an eyebrow.
"Haha," Black Widow smiled, "I didn't know you had it in you Wanda."
"Not funny guys," the blonde huffed, "Steve's having a hard time, he thinks he isn't fit to lead the team okay."
"Just because he's lost in time or because he carries a garbage lid while wearing light armor when going against dragons and such?" the Russian was intrigued.
"A bit of both actually," Carol answered, "he's so, so, awkward that you wouldn't think he's really him."
"The way I see it," Wanda raised both hands to make some gestures, clearly having had too much to drink, "No one would be better qualified than Steve, if it were Clint or Tony, we'd wake up one day in their beds, at the same time even. If it were Thor, we'd die of liver failure. Hulk, would probably get us all killed. And my brother, pfft, no chance in the world am I going to accept that."
"You didn't mention us?" Natasha pointed out.
"We're too smart to fail," the Witch answered confidently as she raised her coconut in manner of a toast.
"We should get Wanda wasted more often," the blonde whispered.
-Three Nights Later-
4:40 A.M.
Carol often stayed in her apartment, life at the mansion being too chaotic for her. Tonight however, she was spending it in Steve's apartment after finally owning up in front of the rest of the group that the two military personnel that they were dating.
"You always up this early?" the blonde mumbled as she rolled in the sheets.
"No," Steve replied quietly, "New York just looks different from this window. I used to get beaten up in that street over there."
"Really?" Carol was wide awake at that point, "You?"
"I was a real lightweight before the serum," the Captain revealed, "that guy in that frame, that's me."
Raising her right hand and willing the energy to flare, Ms. Marvel used the lighting to view the photo.
It was in black and white, no surprise, however, the woman saw a small and very undernourished child in it.
"How old were you here, eleven?" the pilot asked.
"Fifteen," was Steve's brief reply.
"Serum must have been magic or something," the woman stated.
"When I came out of that pod, it felt like it," the man answered, "I could bend steel with my hands, I used to struggle with opening jars, now, I have to make sure I don't break them."
"That's a fresh perspective," Carol admitted, "still, pretty good view."
"Well, I like what I see," the man grinned as he slowly walked back to bed.
"You need to stop talking to Stark," the pilot joked before letting the light in her hand fade.
The two superheroes slept peacefully in each others arms, Steve now able to sleep soundly as he was no longer haunted by the past, now that he was looking forward to the future.