Captain America boarded the helicopter flown by his personal pilot, John Jameson. John was the son of the Daily Bugle's editor, J Jonah Jameson. John was a Colonel in the Air Force and was the first man to touch down on Mars. Nick Fury had contacted John Jameson, himself, about joining SHIELD and becoming one of their elite pilots. The job of flying Cap to any destination that he wanted was sometimes a dangerous one. If not for his great combat skills he and Cap both would have been goners long ago. He was a national hero and he and Cap got along pretty well.
"I take it the mission was a success, Cap?" John asked as Cap sat in the co-pilots seat and buckled himself in.
"Affirmative. We were able to stop the group of AIM agents from getting their hands on the new top secret weapons being developed by SHIELD." Cap said as the helicopter slowly began to lift off of the ground.
The two flew quietly through the mid day air space for some time before anything was said to one another. John had learned that sometimes after a mission Steve just needed some time to reflect on the recent events. After an hour of silence Cap spoke up. "So how was your Thanksgiving, John?"
"Oh, it was nothing out of the ordinary. I went to my pop's house. We had dinner and talked."
"Your father cooked?" Cap said, knowing that John's mother had passed away many years ago.
"He actually had it catered. Neither one of us has much time to make that kind of feast."
"Was it just you two, or did you bring a dame with you?"
John smirked at Cap's use of the word dame instead of girl, but said nothing about it. "Me and Mindy actually called it quits a few weeks back. She just couldn't adjust to my busy schedule. It just wasn't meant to be, I guess. How about you, Captain Rogers? I know this was your first Thanksgiving back since you…um came back from the ice. Did you get to spend it with that blonde SHIELD agent? "
Cap frowned a bit on the inside as his thoughts raced back to the agent John was talking about. Cap had met her while on a previous mission. But per Nick Fury's orders she was not allowed to reveal her name. Fury felt that it was the best way to keep her identity as secret as possible, which made her all the more valuable to him as an undercover agent.
"Afraid not, John. Agent 13 is on another mission. Even I'm not sure where she is right now." Saying those words made Cap's heart melt. He had learned to come to care for her deeply, even though he did not know her name. "I was kept pretty busy with the Avengers, though." He said trying to shake off his affectionate thoughts.
"I wasn't aware that the Avengers were called on a mission."
"It wasn't a mission. But I almost wish it would've been."
"That bad, huh? They seem like they'd be quite a handful if you put them all into a room together."
"You don't know the half of it, Colonel."
"Well I'm actually really interested in hearing about it now. Feel like talking about it?"
Cap paused for a minute. Did Cap want anyone else to know about the craziness that took place over the weekend? 'Why the hell not?' Cap thought to himself. "Alright, since we've got a few hours before we make it back to base I'll make you a deal. You let me take over the controls and I'll tell you about how I spent my Thanksgiving weekend with the Avengers."
"Deal." John quickly replied. He watched as Cap put his hands over the controls. John then switched the command gears over to Cap's part of the cockpit, giving him control over the helicopter. John had been teaching Cap how to fly all of the vehicles since they started to work together. Cap wanted to be able to take off on his own, if he ever needed to, and was learning how to fly the Avengers Quinjet.
As Cap glided the airplane through the empty skies he began to reminisce of his past weekend. As the memories faded back to him he began to describe them to his intrigued friend.
It was 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning when Cap awoke. Like every morning, he began his day by doing his morning exercises. After a few hundred push-ups and sit-ups Cap took his shower and then got dressed. As he was putting his shirt on over his head he caught the sight of the picture of his mother, sitting on his night stand table. It was the only picture he had of his mother and he cherished it dearly. She had died when he was around fourteen years old, leaving him to fend for himself on the tough streets of Brooklyn.
He remembered the past Thanksgiving's that he had with her. They never had much on the holidays, but whatever they did have to eat his mother did a wonderful job of cooking it. He remembered waking up every Thanksgiving to the smell of the small turkey breast in the oven. He would greet his mother with a kiss on the cheek and tell her how great everything smelled.
Those thoughts echoed in Steve's mind as he finished getting dressed and made his way out of his room at Avengers mansion. He walked down stairs to see the Avengers gathered in a group, having what seemed like an urgent discussion.
"Morning, soldiers. What's the problem? Do we have an alert or a disaster at hand?" Steve asked.
"Aye, Steven Rogers. We are in a most dire situation. Our friend and butler Jarvis has grown ill and can not prepare the meal upon which we are to give thanks and giving." Thor said in a serious tone.
Steve began to relax a bit when he realized that there was no real threat. The team would just have to cook for themselves and go without being pampered for once.
"I don't see what the problem is." Tony butted in. "I have some of the best chef's in the world at my disposal. I'll have them come by and prepare a meal that you'll never forget. Maybe Gordon Ramsey is in town?" Tony said as he began to look at the contacts on his phone.
The Scarlet Witch stepped forward. She was a newer member to the team and was loved by everyone for her innocent nature. "No, Tony. This is our first year as a team…as a family together. I want this to be more than just eating a meal cooked by strangers. I want this meal to come from the heart."
"Sounds good to me. You ladies better hurry and get started if we want to eat by the time the game starts." Hawkeye chimed in, as he flopped onto the couch and sat his feet on top of the table.
"Well spoken, friend Hawkeye! I look forward to the meal thy find maidens shall prepare for us!"
Black Widow, Scarlet Witch, and the Wasp's eyes all narrowed at the same time. Jan placed her hands on her hips and then shrunk down to Wasp size and flew in front of Thor's face. "Listen here, Thor! Just because we're women doesn't mean we're gonna be the only ones who do the cooking. We'll ALL be responsible for preparing a dish."
Black Widow then walked towards Clint and pushed his feet off of the table. "And after we eat we're gonna have a little talk with you two about modern day gender roles, you dinosaurs." She said in her thick Russian accent.
The king of Wakanda, Black Panther, then stepped forward. "How shall we decided who will be responsible for each of the meals that must be prepared?" He asked.
Wasp then flew towards Black Panther in response to his question. "Simple! We'll each just make what ever meal we feel comfortable with. Wanda and I will take care of the Turkey. It'll be up to the rest of you to figure out what you're gonna make.
Hank Pym, also known as Ant-Man then spoke up. "I'm sorry, Jan. But I actually have a very important experiment I was-" He began to say before he saw an angry scorn from his girlfriend, The Wasp. "I mean…I'll make the potato salad." He said, changing his tone.
"That's what I thought you meant to say!" Jan replied.
"Hulk make GREEN bean casserole." The incredible giant said while keeping his eyes fixed on the comic book that he was reading.
Everyone quickly looked at the Hulk in surprise to his response. "I didn't know the Hulk could read comic books." Ant-Man whispered to Tony.
"I think he just looks at the pictures." Tony said.
"Excuse me. But did any of you even take into the account that some of us choose not to celebrate a holiday that is based on the slaying of countless Native Americans. I don't think that stuffing our faces is a reasonable thing to do over so much spilt blood." Said Quicksilver, the speedster of the team.
"Oh, Pietro. You always do have to go and ruin everyone's good time." The Scarlet Witch said.
Steve then stepped forward. "No, it's okay Wanda. I understand what your brother is trying to say. There is truth in what you say, and we'd be fools to try and deny it. But I choose to think of today as a celebration of people from different backgrounds coming together and enjoying each others company. There have been times when we have not all gotten along. Each of us have made mistakes in our lives, but today we shall honor the Native Americans and those that were done wrong by having a meal in their honor and making a promise that we will never forget what truly happened." Cap said.
Hawkeye rolled his eyes at Steve's attempt at a motivational speech. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, wing head. Hey can we get going before we really get Methuselah here started. If we have to hear another one of his speeches we'll all starve to death by the time he's done."
"Alright, it's settled then. Everyone go out and pick up whatever you need." With Jan's command the Avengers disassembled and headed their separate ways to pick up each of their dishes. Steve got on his motorcycle and headed into the city. He went to a local bread store and picked up a package of fresh croissants. He hoped this would be enough and would count as a dish because he really didn't know the first thing about cooking.
Steve tried to buy some time before heading back to the mansion. After walking down main street for a bit he finally got back onto his motorcycle and began his journey home. On the way to the mansion he ran into a bank robbery in progress. It was being committed by the super villain known as Electro. After changing into his uniform he made quick work of the super villain using his keen tactical mind and the water from a nearby fire hydrant.
Steve kept the uniform on and made his way back to the mansion, with the croissants safely tucked in the side packet of his motorcycle. He arrived at the mansion in time to see the Hulk with an apron on that said 'Kiss the cook' while he attempted to make his casserole. Instead of using a can opener he bit onto the top of the can of green beans and ripped the can open with his teeth. He poured the beans into the cooking dish and then held a can of mushroom soup over the green beans and began to squeeze on the can until the pressure caused the soup to explode over the beans. He took the dish and then threw it into the oven. He looked at a shocked Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch, who's jaws were almost touching the ground. He grunted at them and then walked back into the living room.
Suddenly Thor was seen kicking in the mansions main door. He was carrying a huge wooden barrel filled with beer on one shoulder and a dead boar with an apple inside of his mouth on the other one. "Greetings, fellow Avengers! How goes thy tasks of making the most splendid of meals?" He said as he threw the dead pig onto the kitchen table. Jan let out an ear shattering scream that could be heard halfway across the city.
After trying to give Thor a long lecture about not slamming dead animals onto the table Jan began to realize how fruitless her attempts were when the God of Thunder brought up the fact that they would soon be eating a Turkey for dinner. After hearing this Jan shook her head and stomped out of the kitchen.
After getting rid of the pig the Avengers continued to try and cook their meals. Black Panther made mashed potatoes mixed with a special herb from his native homeland. Quicksilver whipped up, and finished making, a banana pudding before anyone knew he had even started. Hawkeye made cranberry sauce and bragged about how it was going to be everyone's favorite part of the dinner. Black Widow made the stuffing and gravy. Ant-Man made the potato salad as he promised, in between his breaks of working on his experiment, that is. And Thor sat in the living room drinking cup after cup of the beer he had brought to the dinner.
Tony was the last to arrive. He was simply carried in a store bought pumpkin pie, that was already made. As he sat it on the table each of the girls looked at Tony. "Really? That's all your going to contribute to the dinner? After all the hard work every one else has put into their meals?" Black Widow asked.
"Hey, I offered to have one of the best chef's in the world come and cook for us. It's not my fault you wanted to do things the hard way."
As Tony said that Hawkeye entered the room along with the rest of the team. "So, how's it coming on that turkey? The game's about to start and I want to have a turkey leg in my mouth by kick off time."
"How about if I put my foot really far up your ass instead? My toes will give you something to suck on while you watch your precious game." Black Widow shot back.
"It won't be ready for a few more hours, Clint. It simply needs more time to cook." Wanda said.
"A few more hours?" Tony said. "I've got a better idea." He walked to the kitchen cabinet and clicked on a secret compartment. His armored glove then popped out and attached to his hand. "I'm gonna cook that bird the way a real super hero makes a meal." He said as he opened the stove and placed his hand inside of it.
"Tony! Don't! You'll dry it out if you cook it too fast!" The Wasp pleaded with him.
"I'm with Jan. I don't think this seems like a very safe idea." Steve said.
"Relax everyone. Remember, I'm a genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, and oh, did I mention genius? I think I can figure out how to cook a turkey to golden perfection." Tony said as the rays began to come out of his crimson gauntlet. "See? What did I tell you? It's doing just fi-" KA-BOOOOOOOM! The stove suddenly exploded and sent the Avengers flying to the ground. The room filled with black smoke and the coughing of each of the Avengers. When Tony looked up each of his team mates were looking at him in anger. "So…uh…anyone up for shwarma?" Tony said with a slight chuckle.
Back on the flying helicopter where Steve Rogers and John Jameson continued their journey back to headquarters the Colonel had broken out into laughter.
"Wow, Cap. So you guys really ended up spending thanksgiving at a diner?" John asked.
"The same one we went to after the alien invasion against New York."
"I had no idea anything like that ever happened between you guys. I think most people see The Avengers as this group of flawless people, who never argue or have anything bad happen to them. You sure put things into perspective for me." John said with a chuckle.
Steve Rogers looked at John with a serious face and said "Colonel, I'm not even half way finished with my story. Wait until I tell you what happened when we went Black Friday shopping."