Written for the Marvelously Magical Fanfiction Bingo

Square: N4 - Pairing Prompt: Sam Wilson/Hermione Granger

Insecurity

Sam looked over at Hermione sitting in her favorite armchair by the window, with that ugly old magical cat of hers curled up on her lap. Sam wasn't really a cat guy, but apparently those two were a package deal. If you wanted one, you had to accept the other one, too.

At least Crooks wasn't the bad sort, not really – not unless you managed to piss him off in some way. Sam had learned that the hard way after he had accidently stepped on the old half-kneazle's tail once first thing in the morning on the way to the bathroom. He had consequently awakened the next three mornings to piles of cat puke left in strategic places. The first day it was on his slippers and the next day it was in his running shoes. His cell phone was the victim on the third day…and that one hurt the worst since he had to spend the entire day unable to check his messages while he left it on the back stoop to try to get the bad smell to dissipate. He swallowed his pride and made a point to formally apologize to the cat after that…and the piles of puke stopped appearing. Apparently, the damn cat was smarter than he was! Despite all of that, or maybe even because of it a bit, Sam found that he could not help but to admire the devious little devil anyway and always sneaked him an extra treat when Hermione was not looking.

However, as Sam continued to gaze at the love of his life, he noticed that, as usual, she was reading one of her ever-present books. Whenever she sat down, one always seemed to magically appear in her hands. The woman had a compulsive desire to know everything. Consequently, every available surface in his…no, it was now their…apartment was covered with books of all shapes and sizes…and in different languages, as well. What could he say though? His woman was as brilliant as she was beautiful!

That thought made him frown a little, as he wondered about something, yet again. What was an extraordinary woman like her doing with someone as normal as him? Yes, technically he was an Avenger…and that was pretty cool…but for the life of him, Sam just could not figure out what Hermione saw in him.

She was an Avenger now too, and worked with them all frequently, in one way or the other. Therefore, he knew without a doubt, that she could have her pick of any the male members of the team (and maybe even the female ones, as well!) if she really wanted to. Yet for some unfathomable reason, she had bypassed all of the obvious candidates and had chosen him instead. He just did not understand it.

He wasn't rich like Tony.

He wasn't buff like Steve.

He wasn't a genius like Bruce.

He wasn't a god like Thor.

He didn't have an expert skill set like Clint.

He wasn't a king like T'Challa.

...and the list could go on and on...

Yes, he could fly with the help of his wing suit…and that was awesome! However, flying was the one thing that Hermione would not hesitate to admit that she did not like. In fact, she always preferred to keep her feet firmly on the ground. Sam could not help but to realize the irony of that situation!

He wondered at the rationale of pointing out, to the woman that he wanted to marry one day and have beautiful little mocha-skinned and magical genius flying rugrats with, that she could do better than him. However, he took a deep breath and did it, anyway.

"Why me?" he asked out loud.

Hermione looked up from her book and her cat and in order to smile at the man she loved. "Why you…what?" she asked, already amused - even before she heard his answer.

"I'm just wondering why you chose me…unimpressive Sam Wilson…over the other guys?"

She shook her head and closed her book as he repeated aloud the supposed virtues of the other male Avengers that he had just quoted in his own head. "Sam," she said softly when he was finished. "You are definitely selling yourself short. Not only are you very good-looking, kind, smart, and loyal…and you like my cat even though you pretend that you don't…but you also have none of the flaws that the others do…

…Tony may be rich, but he is a bit of an arse.

…Steve may be muscular, but he is extremely old-fashioned.

…Bruce is brilliant, but he has a dangerous temper.

…Thor lives and works out of town…way out of town.

…Clint is married with children.

…and with T'Challa, Wakanda will always come first."

With that statement, she picked up Crookshanks off of her lap and set him gently back down in the now empty chair while she made her way over to Sam and slid into his lap, instead. "With you, I don't have to worry about any of that - especially that last one. In fact, I am quite fortunate that you always make sure that I come first – in every way that matters!"

Sam found that he could only grin as she proceeded to make her meaning perfectly clear to him as she waved her wand to magically draw the blinds and give them some privacy. Then she teasingly started to remove his clothing while she leaned over to whisper in his ear, "Oh, yes…there is also one more extra large reason why I am sure that the other guys just can't measure up to you."

Just like that, Sam's insecurity vanished...and was replaced with manly pride. He then took control of the situation and proceeded to undress his sexy little witch in order to prove exactly why he was the best man for her. In fact, they were soon both so preoccupied that neither of them noticed when Crookshanks stalked off in a feline huff. He did not need to see the humans doing that! He briefly considered breaking it up with a well-timed hairball. However, he finally decided that he would let them have their fun, instead. After all, the big dark man had given him bacon that morning. He had trained that one well…and judging from the noises coming from their direction, so had the female. At any rate, the big man made his female human happy. After all of these years with her, that was all that really mattered to Crookshanks. Well, that…and tuna. He really liked tuna!