Just Like We Practiced

An Avengers one-shot

Avengers HQ, Upstate New York, 8:54 AM

"Steve!"

Captain Steve Rogers swiveled around to see who called his name. The current leader of the Avengers set down his custom-made 800-lb dumbbells and walked over to the person asking for him. The patriot wore a plain grey t-shirt and black sweatpants, and his brow was dotted with perspiration.

The Avengers were undergoing their usual morning training in their newly furbished upstate New York headquarters. One of the first additions to the building was a large-scale gymnasium fit for use by superheroes, and the equipment was truly top of the line. The gym was centered around a regulation basketball court, as requested by Sam "Falcon" Wilson, who used to play in a pickup league before joining the Avengers.

Around the court, various machines and free weights could be found laying about, designed to accommodate Steve's ridiculous strength. He didn't truly need to lift weights to maintain his herculean strength- the super soldier serum ensured that his metahuman powers would remain for the rest of his life regardless- but the exertion served to help him relax and work out some stress.

It was indeed Sam who called Steve over. Sam wore a red tank with joggers, always having more of a fashion sense than Steve. He stood on the court with Natasha Romanov, the KGB agent-turned-Avenger, who wore similar garb. Her curly red hair had been cut short again, which Steve appreciated- he thought the look suited her better.

"Sam was just wondering if you'd like to kick his ass on the court today." She smirked wryly. Despite inwardly cringing at her cursing, Steve chuckled- Natasha's sarcasm belied her good nature.

Sam did not take the remark as lightly. "Hey, I managed to beat him two times- in a row!" He shot back teasingly. "Yeah, two times out of ten." Natasha replied good-naturedly. She enjoyed both verbal and physical spars with Sam, as he was her equal in both respects.

"You already know I'm down for a game whenever you want, Sam." Came Steve's smooth response. Playing basketball with his fellow Avengers evoked fond memories of playing with Bucky at Central Park in his youth.

"I thought we might switch things up this time. Natasha wants to play as well." Sam gestured to the ex-Soviet spy.

"Two versus one? I'm up for that. I didn't know you played, Natasha." Steve said with interest.

"I picked a few things up here and there. Still, I don't think that would be entirely fair. Even you can't be in two places at once, captain." She answered with her usual dryness.

"Who else would want to play? Rhodey's on a patrol mission right now, so that leaves Vision and Wanda." Steve scratched his chin in thought.

"No way you and Vision are on the same team, ya'll would be stupid strong on the court. He's probably busy meditating or something anyhow. I guess that leaves, um, Wanda." Sam could barely contain his laughter- despite her highly impressive mental prowess, Wanda could hardly be described as athletically inclined.

Steve sighed, realizing he had little choice but to ask her if she wanted to join them. "I'll go see if she wants to." He took off towards Wanda's room. Sam and Natasha chuckled, confident that this time, they would finally get the better of the great Captain America.

Steve knocked on Wanda's door as lightly as he could, unsure if she was still sleeping or not. "Come in." a heavily accented voice softly called.

Steve entered the room. Wanda's bedroom was painted in calming beige, and sunlight filtered in calmly through the blinds. Wanda sat on the bed wearing a maroon t-shirt and jeans, reading sheet music with her guitar in hand.

"Good morning, captain Rogers. What do you need?" she asked curtly. Steve cringed at her formality- it was clear that she still didn't feel comfortable with her place on the team.

"Hey, uh, it's totally cool if you don't want to or anything, but Sam and Natasha were wondering if you'd like to play a game of basketball with us. If you don't want to, it's totally fine." Steve said, walking on eggshells. He also felt a little awkward around the psychic girl.

Wanda set her guitar down, regarding Steve neutrally. "I suppose it would be rude to refuse. I remember watching my brother play in his youth all those years ago…" She gazed out of the window, her expressive eyes swimming with nostalgic memory. Steve's discomfort deepened.

"Uh, so would you like to play, or…" Steve pulled nervously at his collar. He always felt as if he was one wrong word away from provoking the gothic girl.

Finally, she stood. "Very well, captain Rogers. I will indulge this request." She answered.

"Awesome! I bet we'll make a great team!" Steve held out his closed hand for a fist bump.

She stared at him blandly. "What are you doing?"

"Um, I believe it was called a fist bump? I was going to go for a handshake, but Sam told me this is what the cool kids do these days." Steve replied earnestly.

"Stop it." She commanded. "OK." They shook hands awkwardly for a moment before departing for the gym.

Sam and Natasha were slightly surprised to see Steve actually return with his quarry in tow; neither of them believed that Wanda would truly take him up on his offer. However, they got over it quickly.

"We're playing half court, two on two. First to 15, win by two." Sam quickly explained. Steve and Natasha nodded sharply, while Wanda was simply left in bafflement.

Steve and Wanda were allowed the ball first, undoubtedly due to the perceived handicap of playing with Wanda. "Alright, Wanda, I'm gonna take Sam, you take Natasha. Don't use your powers until I give verbal signal. Once I jump in the air, you're gonna lift me to the net. Got it?" Steve exposited in a hurried whisper.

Wanda nodded, impressed by Steve's ingenuity. "Got it."

Sam and Steve checked the ball, and the game began. At first, the mood was casual, minor jokes and quips being thrown about. Sam barely managed to keep up with Steve while Natasha easily outpaced the inexperienced Wanda, keeping the competition somewhat even. Soon, however, the pace began to quicken.

Sam was a shooter, his years of service in the military and more recently as a superhero granting him impeccable accuracy on the free-throw line, not to mention the fact that he was the only one of the four to have actually played the game in high school. Natasha's agility, flexibility, and dexterity made her a fluid defensive player and passer. Even Steve, with his battle-hardened reflexes, found it difficult to guard her.

Steve's dominating physicality helped counterbalance his stiff movements and awkward passing. He was a fighter, not a sportsman, and that showed when he frequently overshot both Wanda and the hoop, landing the ball on the upper levels of the compound. The patriotic hero found himself climbing many a flight of stairs to retrieve the basketball, much to Sam and Natasha's amusement.

Wanda was, to be blunt, pretty terrible at the game. This was understandable, as she had never played before, and had never been a particularly athletic person to begin with. This made Steve appreciate her effort on the court more; it was clear that she only did this out of a desire to please her friends, and respected her for it. To make up for her lack of skills, Wanda would, at times, influence an air ball just enough to land in Steve's hands. She did this masterfully, so much so that he himself did not realize that she was helping him.

After nearly fifteen minutes of play, the score was 14-12, with Sam and Natasha having the lead. The three main players were dog-tired and panting for breath- Sam and Natasha from trying to keep up with Steve, and Steve from holding off two skilled players nearly on his own.

Natasha and Sam bumped fists as they checked the ball to Steve. "Let's wrap this up, girl." Sam said with no small amount of cockiness. They both lined up to guard Steve, not thinking that he would bother passing to Wanda with the game on the line.

They were wrong.

"I don't think you should count me out yet, bird brain." Steve smirked while Wanda made her way below the hoop.

Sam laughed. "Don't tell me 'bird brain' is the best you can come up wi- oh no." His laughter froze in his throat as Steve pitched the ball right past his shoulder towards the waiting witch.

Natasha bolted towards Wanda, but it was too late; the scarlet witch had already caught the ball and made the easy layup, bringing the score to 13-14.

Natasha shook her head. "So cheap." "Hey, it worked, didn't it?" Steve replied cheekily. The next round came along, and Steve managed to retrieve the ball once again- Natasha took a shot only for it to bounce out of bounds.

Before checking the ball to his nervous opponents, Steve turned his back to them and nodded to Wanda; it was time to put their final phase of their plan into motion.

"Wanda, initiate Operation Waving Flag!" Steve roared before leaping into the air from the free-throw line. "What the hell are you doing?" Natasha exclaimed, and Sam gaped as well- jumping from the free throw line was normally so outside the realm of possibility that they were completely gobsmacked.

The captain was cloaked in a red, fiery aura, and his jump morphed unnaturally into a mode of pseudo-flight. Wanda waved her hands in twisting, spastic motions, doing her best to ensure a smooth flight to the hoop for her teammate. For dramatic effect, Steve bellowed at the top of lungs as he brought the ball above his head.

Sam and Natasha were slack-jawed speechless, so much so that they didn't even bother trying to stop Wanda from working her magical abilities at all.

Gloriously, the captain brought the ball down in a dunk, holding back none of his strength. As soon as the ball made contact with the net, the backboard and rim exploded from the meteoric force of Steve Rogers.

Using her powers, Wanda held all of the broken glass in pace so that no one would be in danger of getting hurt. She repaired the backboard, rim, and net using her powers, precisely fusing the glass back together and knitting together the ropes and metal of the hoop. Steve crashed on the floor, a bright grin on his face.

"Well, I believe that makes us the winners!" The captain declared as Wanda helped him up. Sam looked disgruntled, even downright salty, but Natasha was more appreciative.

"You know, that could make a decent battle strategy…" She rubbed her chin, calculating how Wanda's powers could be used to the team's benefit.

"Nice! We do make a good team after all!" Steve clapped Wanda on the back, a wide smile on his face. A blush crept up her face, and she nodded. "Indeed." Was her terse, yet warm, reply.

"Man, next time I'm bringing the wings and Redbird!" Sam complained as he and Steve walked over to the water fountain. "Then I'd really be the next Larry Bird."

Steve laughed. "I get it- it's because you frequently associate yourself with various kinds of avian creatures."

"That was the thought process behind the joke, yes." Sam replied wearily, rubbing his forehead. "Hey, I think Wanda's really starting to come into her own. She acted all grumpy, but I could tell she really appreciated being included today."

"Hey, if we're gonna be a team, we might as well act like one. I know as long as we stick together, we can do anything we set our minds to." Steve said optimistically.

"Amen, brother."

A/N

I thought it was rather funny how Cap and Wanda mentioned practicing her launching him into three-story buildings in the movie, so I though I'd show where that idea came from! At least, this is my personal headcanon. It's a shame that the Avengers are as fractured as they are now; still, Civil War was an amazing film. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this rather silly story. Happy Summer to those in the northern hemisphere!