A Call to Action (Avengers Fan Fiction #1) | REWRITING

Chapter 32

AN: This chapter is dedicated to @MarvelousMe101 for being an awesome commenter and voter! :)

Steve ran behind me. The wind brushed through my curly dark hair and cooled us off. I thought it would have been cooler than this at six in the morning. We were running for an hour already, following the tracks through parks and the streets. We passed by trees and felt bits of sunlight shining through the leaves. The emerald green grass glimmered in the light from the early morning dew.

"Come on, old man," I called out to Steve. I made sure not to trip on the bumpy dirt path and steadied my breathing. "Pick up the pace."

"Parker, you don't want to do this," he warned. His breathing was ragged as he ran, moving his arms up and down to keep his momentum.

I laughed, "I see those seventy years have caught up to you, Steve."

"Don't get me started..."

I interrupted him and teased, "Awww, does slow poke wanna take a nap to rest so you can finally beat me in a race later?"

"Alright. You asked for it," Steve picked up the pace and shot out straight ahead of me.

Oh, no you don't. I sped up and tried to catch up to him. I had never seen him run so fast in all of the time I've spent with the Avengers. If I would have known he could run that fast, I would have saved my energy and ran alongside him, not in front.

After a few more miles, I gave up. I dropped down onto the grass and flipped onto my back. My legs were on fire and all of my adrenaline vanished. I peered up at the blue sky, squinting from all the sunlight shining in my face.

Steve came around the corner from his last lap. He set one hand on the tree to steady himself and breathed for a moment. His light blue running shirt clung to his skin and sweat sprinkled his face. His black track pants hung loosely around his legs. "Come on, put your back into it! If you have good posture while running, you'll make it farther."

I groaned and scrunched my face up in pain, "We ran fifteen miles already. I'm done."

"Where's your sense of spirit and energy?" He mimicked my jokes from earlier.

I put my arm over my eyes to block the sun. "You absorbed it all because you're still up and going. I'm dead."

Steve glanced at his phone before putting it back in his pant pocket. "We still have a few hours before everyone completely wakes up. How about another round?"

"Hello?" I waved my arms around and looked up at him. "Don't you see me here? On the ground?"

"Get up and let's go," he ordered and started to stretch in place.

"To where?"

He answered as he reached for his toes, "We have to train, so another round around the park. Otherwise, we are not going to be ready for when Loki and Red Skull strike." Steve paused and stood up. He put his hands on his hips and shook his damp hair out. "You're just too old to do this."

"Look who's talking," I shot back. I exhaled loudly before getting up and leaning against the tree. "Give me a head start."

"I'll give you thirty seconds," he decided and squinted his eyes in the sunlight. He smiled slyly as I passed him and waited. I drew a line in the dirt, indicating the starting point. I took in a sharp breath before running as fast as I could down the path, hearing him counting down out loud.

I hit my own foot and stumbled, barely picking myself up in the process.

"One!" He yelled.

Oh, God.