For the sake of my sanity, I will be ignoring IM3, Thor: TDW, and Avengers: Age of Ultron. And since I was terrified of writing this because it brings in the events of CA: TWS, this fic will be Caroline-centric and follow her. Which means.. there won't be as much action as the movie itself but fear not, Caroline won't sit out the entire time ;) She'll have her chance to fight for the good guys :)
Summary: Caroline doesn't like having Steve in D.C but with her vacation officially starting, well a girl can't complain too much since her vacation will be spent with him. But before she can officially leave, all hell breaks loose and no one knows who they can trust anymore as Hydra comes out of the shadows.
However, when events are all said and done, finding one on one time proves to be hard for Steve and Caroline.
No one ever said dating an Avenger would be easy. Let alone living with all of them.
Follows the events of 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier'.. and then some ;)
Caroline grunts as she lands harshly on her back, rolling across the matted floor a few times before coming to a stop. She scowls as she quickly clambers back to her feet in a crouch, one hand hanging at her side as the other one touches down on the mat between her legs to help her keep balance. Two braids fall over her shoulder as she stares down Iron Man nearly twenty feet away.
Face plate sliding up, Tony smirks triumphantly at her. "Come on, Little Bit, is that all you got? I know assassins one and two have been training you since lover boy left. Don't hold back on the vampire goodies."
Caroline's lips curl into a smirk and she gives him a terse nod. "You asked for it."
The whites of her eyes bleed red and the veins beneath her eyes pulse hungrily. "That's what I'm talking about," Tony chuckles. The face plate slides back in place and without warning, he's flying back from a powerful hit to the chest.
The thrusters in his suit are quick to stabilize him mid-air but as he's scanning his surroundings in front of him for his darling little vampire, a weight is suddenly dropping on his shoulders. All he sees next are thighs wrapping around his face and before he can shake Caroline off, his top is too heavy and he's falling forward. But before he can hit the ground, he feels a kick to his right boot, JARVIS is talking about damage in his ear, and then he's soaring through the air once more.
Hitting the far wall with oomph, Tony slides to the floor and is grunting as the face plate slides up and he finds Caroline crouching before him, a fangy smirk making him pout. "Did you really have to damage my suit?"
"You told me not to hold back."
"Sir," JARVIS cuts off any further gloating from Caroline. "It appears Mr. Odinson has arrived on the rooftop."
Odinson, Caroline mouths just as Tony answers, "Send him here, J. I wanna see if a vampire can match a demi-God's strength."
"Right away, Sir."
"Demi-God?" Caroline finally stands straight, offering Tony a hand so he could stand on his own two feet. "You mean Thor, right?"
"Got it one, Potts Jr. You up for the challenge?"
"I'm game. But if I die, JARVIS is telling Steve you peer pressured me into sparring with the lightning God."
Tony considers her words before shrugging, manually slipping off pieces of his suit. "Deal."
Caroline laughs at him, walking side-by-side with Tony until they reach their bench where their towels and water bottles are resting. As Caroline sips her water and blood mixture, she tucks the loose strands of hair behind her ears before wiping down her body and ridding herself of the sweat. Even in a sports bra and work out tights, she sweated up a storm sparring with Iron Man.
When Thor finally appears in the gym, Caroline has a split second of vulnerability where she's just in complete awe of the Asgardian in all his battle ready glory. His hair is just passed his shoulders, half being held back in a loose ponytail and glorious scruff covering the lower half of his face.
"Ah, Man of Iron," Thor greets jovially, his legendary hammer gripped lightly in hand. "It pleases me to see you once again."
"Yeah, yeah. Same here, Point Break," Tony waves him off, striding up to Thor so casually and patting him on the bicep. "What brings you back to Midgard so soon after your departure?"
"Lady Jane, of course," he smiles, gaze briefly darting to Caroline which causes her to discontinue her ogling and suddenly find her bottled water very interesting before returning his attention to Tony. "And my S.H.I.E.L.D brethren. I had hoped to see you all again before leaving for Asgard in a few days time."
Before Tony can reply, Caroline's easing her way into their space. "Sorry to break it to 'ya, Big Guy, but Steve and Natasha are away for a job."
Thor falls silent, his gaze now lingering on Caroline in confusion. After a few awkward seconds pass, Tony snorts. "Right, yeah, she's new here," he tells Thor. "Little Bit has helped out a time or two when we were in dire need."
"Helped?" Thor's eyebrow quirks in curiosity. "But she is tiny."
"There's a lot more to some people than what you see on the surface," Caroline tells him, her vampire visage slipping to the surface for a quick moment before melting away.
Thor's eyes widen in surprise, hammer twitching in hand, but Tony nudges him with a laugh. "She's on our side. Caroline's actually the Captain's lady love."
"Friend Steve is courting this mystical creature?" he asks, earning a snort from Caroline. "What exactly are you, little one?"
Caroline fidgets, nervously biting her lower lip as she looks to Tony. And with a shrug of indifference from Tony, Caroline turns back to Thor. "What I am is being held a secret between Director Fury and the Avengers. I hope that you will keep the secret now since you are a part of this team?"
"Of course," Thor straightens, his right hand forming a fist and touching the breast plate over his heart. "Any secret of yours is safe with me."
Caroline grins at Thor's brief little bow, trying to keeping her giggles in when she sees Tony rolling his eyes. "Okay, well, I'm a vampire."
"A vampire?"
"Yeah, you know," Tony gestures with his hand offhandedly. "Creature of the night. Drinks blood. Super strength and hearing. Burns in the sunlight. Can only be killed by a stake to the heart, fire, or decapitation."
Thor looks impressed, his eyes gaze darting up and down Caroline's form. "And you are a vampire?"
"Yes."
"Sure is," Tony assures him. "If you don't believe us, try sparring with her. It's fun. My suit just got put down for the day," he gestures to where his suit lays in pieces.
Thor chuckles. "I believe, Man of Iron," he says as he gestures to his own face. "The eyes and teeth made me a believer but I am curious."
"About?"
"About your strength," he smiles as he answers Caroline. "It would be an honor to spar, little one."
Caroline beams at Thor's easy acceptance, capping her water bottle and nodding. "No hammer. I can probably take the punches but I doubt I can survive a hit from mj- ml-"
"Mjölnir." Thor chuckles.
"Yeah, that. I can take being tossed around but a hit from mj- ml-," Tony and Thor look absolutely amused by Caroline not being able to pronounce mjölnir, so she stomps her foot in retaliation and crosses her arms over her chest in annoyance. "Oh, you know what I'm talking about!"
Thor beams, setting the hammer on the floor by his feet. The moment he reaches back to unclasp his flowing red cape, the armor from his arms just magically disappear, leaving him ready to spar.
Thor and Caroline walk towards the middle of the mat, and Tony giddily settles down to watch the demi-God and vampire.
The two opponents circle each other when they hit the middle of the gym, both smiling at what's about to go down. One second they're cautiously circling and the next, both forms collide together. Arms lock onto each other, Thor's hands on Caroline's shoulders while hers only manage to reach his biceps, and for a moment Caroline wonders how hilarious they must look given their height differences.
Thor obviously has more strength seeing as he keeps pushing Caroline back but the vampire is not giving up without a fight. The second she digs deep for her strength, her fangs descend with a snarl and her eyes bleed red. Thor chuckles as Caroline's feet finally find grip on the mat, she stalling his process of pushing her back and with a grunt, she sends him scrambling a few steps back.
"For a petite thing, you're mighty strong," Thor booms. "Steven has chosen a worthy mate."
"Yeah, well, you haven't seen anything yet, my friend."
And before Thor can laugh at Caroline's attempt to overpower him, she's suddenly jumping up and planting her feet on his thighs. Thor's eyebrows rise high in surprise and when Caroline's hands move to clasp behind his head, she's immediately falling back and pulling him with all her strength.
Caroline hits her back on the mat, continuing to roll Thor with their gathered momentum, and sends him sailing back and over her head.
She continues to roll backwards over her own head until she's crouched back on her feet, using her vampire speed to turn around in time to see Thor crash to the floor a few feet away.
With a jovial laugh, Thor climbs to his feet while brushing his hair out of his eyes. "Most excellent. Again!"
There's no dancing around each other this time, and instead, both are eager to meet in the middle. Thor swipes with a fist first but Caroline's quick to block, her tiny knees meeting his sides in a quick succession but not doing much damage. In fact, every hit Caroline's knees make have the Thunder God chuckling. And every time Thor attempts to catch Caroline in a hold, she dodges his grasping hands with her vampire reflexes and surprises him on the other side with a series of hits from her small fists.
Thor laughs through their entire spar and Caroline finally makes the mistake of jumping on his back after dodging his many attempts of catching her. She tries climbing up but Thor reaches back with a grin, one large hand clamping on the back of her neck. As she curses softly, she swears she sees Tony in her peripheral vision with his phone pointed at them, and then she's the one sailing through the air.
She feels like a cat trying to twist her body in mid-air to land how she wants but she doesn't have the time and lands on her back and elbows, a sickening crunch! echoing in the air.
Caroline yells out of instinct, her face scrunched in pain as she cradles her now inverted elbow. She can hear Thor and Tony running towards her so she's quick to sit up, her good arm cradling her broken one.
"I am truly sorry," Thor frowns. "I did not mean to cause you harm."
"It's fine. I'm okay," she grimaces.
"You need to be looked at as soon as possible."
"Nah, s'totally fine, Point Break," Tony swats the Asgardian's chest. "She'll heal."
"She'll.. heal?"
"I'll.. heal." Caroline nods. Taking a deep breath, Caroline locks gazes with Tony. "I need you to pull on my arm."
Tony's smile quickly vanishes. "Pull your," he nervously chuckles. "Yeah, no."
"Tony, come on! I need the bones to be straight so it'll heal."
"Yeah, it's a no go, Little Bit. You can go to the medical wing."
"I'm not going to medic, Tony," she argues. "Thor? Can you lend a helping hand here? I just need you pull my arm straight so it'll heal right."
"A-are you sure?" he questions. "I do not wish to further injure you."
"I'm sure," she grits out. "Just don't use too much strength. I want to keep my arm."
Thor prepares himself as Caroline instructs him where to grab hold and when to yank, and when he does as told and there's yet another sickening crunch!, Caroline can't help but smile through the pain as Tony pales behind Thor's shoulder.
"There," she sighs and gently bends her elbow only to straighten it back out again. "All healed."
Thor takes Caroline's outstretched arm very gently, hands smoothing over her elbow. "Truly marvelous," he murmurs. "Are all vampires like you?"
"You mean do they all heal like me? Yes," Caroline answers and Thor's grin widens. "But not all vampires are good," she admits and his grin falters. "Vampires are very intelligent and deadly creatures. It's rare that you find one on the good side of things."
Thor solemnly nods in understanding, finally offering his hand for Caroline to take so he can pull her up to her feet. Once they're all situated, Thor kindly smiles down on her. "Then I am glad the Captain found a good one."
"Well, technically, Pepper found her-" Tony interrupts but Caroline's quick to jab in the ribs with her elbow.
"Me too, Thor. Me too." Caroline smiles sweetly and ignores Tony's pout.
XxX
Tony, Thor, and Caroline end up having an early dinner; the trio forgoing any type of cleaning up in favor of slumping at the kitchen bar on the communal floor and stuffing their faces.
That was where Bruce and Pepper found them, Tony smiling around a mouth full of food as Thor talked battle tactics with Caroline who- bless her undead soul- was actually taking very seriously. But the second Tony started pouring drinks, Caroline called it a day and fled to the elevator before Tony could get her wasted. Though it took a bit more alcohol than usual to get Caroline drunk, Tony didn't mind wasting the good stuff as long as tipsy!Caroline had come out to play.
And now standing alone in her bedroom, Caroline's tiredly collecting clothes to lay out on her bed for after she's bathed. But before she can find anything comfortable to lounge around in, her phone's ringing out with the lyrics 'Cause I don't need this life; I just need somebody to die for.
A smile instantly blossoms and she's racing for her phone, the song having made her instantly think of Steve the first time she heard it. And then when she played it for him on one of their stay-at-home date nights, well, the night ended with the both of them pushing their super soldier and vampire stamina to it's limits.
It was a really, really good night.
Finding it before the call can go to voicemail, Caroline quickly answers with a breathy, "Hello?"
"Hey, doll," Steve chuckles. "Bad time?"
"No, no," she grins from ear to ear even though he can't see. "I just couldn't find my phone. Found it at the last second."
"You and that darn phone. I'm surprised Stark hasn't just implanted a device in your brain yet that acts as a phone since you keep losing yours."
"Yeah, well," she laughs nervously. "-would you trust Stark to implant new technology that's never been tested in your head? I don't think so." Hearing Steve chuckle on the line is soothing to Caroline's being so she settles down on the couch and lets herself sink into the cushions. "What are you up to?"
"Nothing. A bit sore so I'm catching up on rest."
"I see," Caroline sighs. "Bad mission?"
Steve's quiet for a moment but then he, too, sighs. "Not entirely. It had its twists and turns but it was still a success."
"I'm glad to hear that," she murmurs honestly. "I knew what I was in for when we started dating but it still sucks."
"I know, sweetheart."
"How's Natasha doing?" she then decides to ask. "She staying out of trouble?"
"She likes to think she is." Caroline can practically hear the exasperation in his voice, a grin already curving her lips because whatever Natasha did obviously annoyed her boyfriend. "She keeps throwing out possible date candidates in front of the team to make it seem like I'm a loner. And trust me, there a lot of single ladies in this agency."
Caroline snorts, mentally praising Natasha for annoying Steve. It was also one of her favorite past times.. especially if she could make him blush. "Suck it up, bub. She's doing you a favor of making people think you're still naïve about the modern world."
"I know, I know. But if she doesn't slow down, I'm going to put Sam on her tail. He seemed interested the other day."
"And who is this Sam you speak of?"
"Oh, uh," Steve startles. "He's a guy that I've been crossing paths with recently while on my morning jog. Good guy; a veteran. He saw me as Steve, not Captain America."
"Ooh, nice. I like him already," Caroline says. "Just don't get him killed. Or yourself. Nat's totally gonna kill you if you get him to chase her like a puppy."
Steve laughs again, low and throaty, and Caroline closes her eyes at the sound. She's really missed him these last few months that he's been away and is glad that vacation for her starts just in two days. Steve might still be on call but at least she'll be there to welcome him home if the mission didn't last longer than her stay.
Just two days and they'll be reunited in D.C.
Just two more days.