Retirement. No more fighting. No more stress. No more worrying about whether your idiot friends would get themselves murdered. Steve had always looked forward to it. At least he did, until Loki Odinson took the mantle of Captain America.
He thought it would be ok at first. He had seen Loki grow, adapt, and overcome. The day Steve handed him his iconic shield was a landmark day for them both.
Steve thought of that moment as he watched Loki attempt to fight six fully armed men. He had received a call from Natasha, worried that Loki would screw up on this mission. It was almost funny, actually. Loki was an amazing fighter, incredibly intelligent, and extremely charismatic. But none of the books in the universe could make Loki not fucking stupid. Steve winced as Loki attempted a witty one-liner, but was instead met with a right-hook to the face. "This," he sighed, crossing the hallway to save the red white and blue clad dumbass. "This is my legacy."
Grabbing the shield from Loki, he used it to knock out the man in front of him. He fought the rest of them, not pausing until he heard a groan from behind him. Spinning around, he witnessed Loki fall to the ground, a man standing over him with a gun focused at his head. He threw the shield across the room, knocking the weapon out of the enemy's hand. Steve's jaw clenched as he ran across the room, his fist greeting the face of the man that stood over the god.
Breathless, he held out his hand to the god laying on the floor. Loki took it, grunting as he stood.
"Well, that hurt." He brushed his hands off on his suit, recovering. "I think I did great, don't you agree?"
Steve sighed, and mumbled under his breath. "Why did we let this happen?"
He walked off, grabbing the shield as he went, Loki hurrying to join him by his side. "You don't agree?"
Steve gestured to the object in his hands. "This is a shield. It shields you. Use it."
"I know that." Loki scoffed. "I wasn't using it because .. I was practicing. Besides, you took it from me."
"I took it from you to save you, since you were too busy chatting with the armed terrorists." Steve emphasized, shaking his head." And practicing? Practicing for what? Getting punched in the face? "
Loki made a look of disgust. "Of course not! I was practicing … for emergencies! I can't always rely on the shield. What if I got into a fight and didn't have it?"
"Well ideally," Steve glared, stepping out of the building. "You'd train for emergencies in a controlled environment where you couldn't get murdered."
"What's the fun in that?"
After stepping into the quinjet, Steve turned to Loki. "Listen, I'm retired. I can't fly in to save you every time you fuck up. This'll be the last time I do.'
"I understand."
They both knew that was a lie.
.