Chapter 7
By: MysticFantasy
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"Hit it. As hard as you can." Clint declared.
"That thing looks like it can break my hand." Steve replied looking at the bulky punching bag.
"Bruce told you your powers. This is nothing to you. Hit it!"
With a sigh, Steve raised his clenched fist, raised it and hit the punching bag with all the strength he could gather. He jumped back when the bag flew off its chain and hit the back wall, leaving large webbed cracks in it.
"See?!" Clint mused. "This is nothing for you. You go through these kind of punching bags like almost every day."
"Every day?" Steve repeated looking shocked.
"Cap, you really are into working out and staying in shape. Even though you don't need to. You make the rest of us look bad doing it too. You try to help us learn fighting styles you're a master in. Tony is a pain to try to get into the gym to begin with but, personally, I enjoy the sparring matches you and I have. Help me learn a few things in case I'm ever without my bow and arrows."
"How skilled am I exactly?" Steve asked rubbing the back of his head.
"Seriously skilled." Clint answered. "Your presence alone around the bad guys makes them shaky in the knees. They know better than to mess with you. Hell, we know not to mess with you."
"Guess that profile and what Bruce said are true. I'm a super soldier." Steve said a little dazed.
"D**n right you are." Clint agreed. "Best in the world. Other soldiers following you without question and they'd do anything for you. Got a lot of fans like that too."
"Fans?"
"Oh yeah. You're a huge favorite around the world Steve. Kids, veterans, ladies." Clint said with a suggestive tone.
"I think I'll wait until I'm a little more 'there' to consider that." Steve replied.
"Alright. Just know that Tony doesn't like that you're more popular than him."
"I am?"
"Oh yeah and he hates it." Clint answered with an amused look.
"He doesn't seem like the jealous type."
"Oh, you'll learn. You will learn."
Steve lightly chuckled
"Alright. Enough practice time." Clint said. "I say we spend the rest of the day having fun."
"What does that mean exactly?" Steve asked as they left the gym. "From what I can see, it doesn't seem like we all might like to do the same thing."
"You're right about that but there are a few things we enjoy as a team." Clint answered as they got in the elevator that took them to the main floor the Avengers used. Sure enough, the rest of the team was scattered in the living room.
"Did he believe?" Tony asked.
"Only when the punching bag cracked the wall." Clint answered with a smirk.
"Is there a hole?"
"No."
"Then he held back." Tony said.
Stve looked to Clint, wanting confirmation on what Tony said.
"Maybe." Clint suggested. "I have seen you hit that bag harder."
Steve gave Clint a look that said he wanted an explination later.
"So, I came up here to see if you guys wanted to do something with the Cap and me." Clint said. "Get him familiar with the area again."
"Do I hear a shopping spree being suggested?" Tony asked with an amused look on face that told Steve that the day was going to be very long.
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"Is this place always so loud and crowded?" Steve asked.
"Not always." Natasha answered as they walked through the mall. The early afternoon saw the mall quite busy.
"Do we come here often?" Steve asked.
"This is the first time actually." Tony answered. "We never really have time to do this kind of thing even though you're the one always telling us we need to do stuff together as a team to bond and stuff."
"Me?"
"Yep. You're always telling us that as a team we should know each other well enough to help when we can and to become closer. Like a family I guess." Tony explained.
"Does it work?" Steve asked.
"Half the time." Clint answered. "We're never really together as a team for very long. At least one or two of us are on a mission every week or so. But there is at least one day where we can hang out together. And it usually ends with someone promising to kill Tony while he's asleep."
Steve wanted to laugh at that but he wasn't sure if Clint was serious or not. He decided to stay silent as they continued to make their way through the mall.
They passed by a sports store and Steve slowed his pace to a stop when he noticed a Dodgers flag hanging in the corner of the display window.
"Reiser heads to third. Durocher's going to wave him in...The Dodgers take the lead, 8-4. Oh, Dodgers!"
"The game. It's from May 1941. I know, cause I was there."
"Steve."
The blond soldier snapped out of his trance and realized Tony was talking to him.
"Huh?"
"You alright?" Bruce asked looking at Steve with a concerned look.
"Yeah." Steve answered turning back to the sport shop. "It's just..."
"What?" Natasha asked.
"That Dodger's flag...Was I a fan of theirs?"
"Yeah. You are." Tony answered. "They're your favorite team. Always have been."
"When was the last time I went to one of their games?" Steve asked.
"Well, we're not too sure actually." Bruce answered. "It was before we met."
"I think I remember the last game I went to."
The four Avengers were silent for a moment. How were they going to explain to Steve that the last game he went to was back in the forties?
If, by chance, Steve remembered the year of the last Dodger's game he'd gone to then they were in big trouble.
"What do you remember?" Bruce dared to ask.
"Something about the score being eight to four." Steve answered. "And then me saying something about being at that game."
He must remember when he first woke up in this time. Bruce thought to himself.
"Like he said, the last game you went to was before we met." Tony said.
Way before we met. he added to himself.
"Well, at least I remember I like sports." Steve said as he turned away from the shop.
"The American pass time too." Tony said with a mental sigh of relief that the soldier hadn't remember more than his favorite team.