Marvel One Shots

My Childhood Hero

Halloween night, 1978, was crisp and clear, perfect for trick-or-treating. Children hurried from house to house, clinging to the hands of parents or older siblings. Every girl in sight was wearing a glittery fairy princess costume, twirling a wand in one hand and carrying a grocery bag or pillow case in the other. Many of the boys were dressed as various characters from the newly released Star Wars film, dueling with different colored light sabers while their mothers reprimanded them.

One little boy stood out in the crowd of Jedis and Sith Lords. A blue helmet that was one size too big was strapped to the boy's head, with white wings painted on the sides. The navy blue polyester pants and combat jacket were also a little loose on his thin frame. Standing proudly in the midst of all the rest, his painted shield glinted in the flourescent street lights as he made his way to the neighboring house of an elderly woman with an overabundance of cats.

Ding, Dong.

A loud meow and scratching sound followed the ring, and the boy waited, listening as a woman scolded the cat for being such a hissy. Finally, the door opened.

"Hello, dear," the woman said, bending down to the boy's height, a large bowl of candy in her outstretched hand. "And who might you be?"

The boy grinned goofishly and straightened with pride. "I'm Captain America," he answered. A wide smile spread across his face, revealing two missing front teeth and dimpled cheeks.

The woman put a hand to her heart in surprise. "Oh, I've always wanted to meet you! Such an honor!" She reached out and shook the boy's hand, making his smile grow even bigger. He took a handful of candy from the bowl, and stuffed it into a pillowcase with an American flag stitched to the side.

Just as the woman was closing her door, a glowing red light saber smacked the boy on top of his blue helmet. Taken by surprise, he raised his shield instinctively, successfully countering the next blow.

"Come and get me, Tony!" The boy with the light saber sang.

"You are dead, Jimmy! Don't make me set Jarvis on you!"

And the chase began.

~~~~~~

Tony Stark was the founder of a multi billion dollar company, the inventor of thousands of weapons and machines, he had saved the world on multiple occasions- and for heaven's sake, he was Iron Man. What did he care if someone found the Captain America costume hidden deep in a secured storage closet underneath Stark Mansion, or his vintage set of first-issue Captain America comic books?

Apparently, he cared a lot.

The first time he found Natasha rummaging through boxes in said storage vault, he had shooed her out of there faster than a bat out of hell. From that moment on, he added an extra layer of security to that section of Stark Mansion, something which did not go unnoticed by the master assassin, he was sure.

Tony was sitting in his office one rainy afternoon, feet propped on the desk, scanning designs for his latest project. An alert popped up on his desktop, flagging his attention momentarily.

Breach in Sector 3, Storage Room 21

"Friday, bring up a visual."

"Yes, sir."

A live video feed appeared on the screen, showing none other than the Cap himself, emptying the contents of a large bin onto the floor at one end of the room.

How did he get past my security?

Tony scrambled out of his chair and practically flew out of the office.

"Code 18, Friday, Code 18!" he said as he raced for the doors.

"Code 18 is still in progress, sir. I'm afraid you haven't uploaded it to my hard drive."

Tony cursed in a way that would have made Steve's face turn red.

"Open elevator 11." The doors had barely slipped apart before Tony stumbled inside, pressing the down button repeatedly.

"Come on, come on, come on...."

~~~~~~

Steve had had enough.

Whatever Tony was hiding, it couldn't be good. The master engineer had been acting suspicious ever since he found Natasha rummaging through the storage bins in the basement, looking for a new gun holster.

Finally he'd decided to unravel the mystery for himself. As the leader of the team, he had a right to know what was going on, didn't he?

Steve had managed to bypass most of Tony's security outside the vault. After forcing entry by breaking the lock, he slipped inside the room and disabled the alarm. He suspected Tony would be alerted soon, so he got to work.

"Come on, Friday," he said. "I know you can hear me. Just give me five minutes."

"I'm sorry, sir, my system is cleaning. I couldn't quite hear you."

Steve cracked a smile.

"Thanks," he muttered, and resumed searching through boxes.

What could Tony possibly be hiding? Bin after bin was filled with what seemed to Steve like nothing more than old junk. Spare screws and pipe parts were thrown carelessly into the containers, rattling in the bottoms of the bins as Steve rummaged through them.

Suddenly a red light beeped to life beside the door, flashing every second or so.

He's coming.

He hurriedly scanned the room, searching for a likely spot to hide something from prying eyes.

Finally, his eyes fell on a shallow, long box, tucked away underneath the bottom shelf.

Perfect, he thought.

Sliding the box out from under the shelves, he tore open the packaging, ripping off the sticky packing tape. His hands fumbled as he struggled to open the box before Tony arrived. Finally, he managed to pry the cardboard apart.

What was it? New technology? Another program for a killer robot, perhaps?

Inside the so carefully concealed box was-

A Captain America costume?

Carefully folded next to a navy blue helmet was his very own uniform, but in a much smaller size. A shield lay on top, the aluminum material carefully painted in red, white, and blue.

Unfolding the costume, Steve shook the dust from it. As he did so, black lettering on the inside tag caught his attention, and he held it closer so he could read the fine print.

Property of Tony Stark, it read.

That can't be right, Steve thought.

"I can explain."

Steve looked up sharply to see Tony standing in the doorway, a look of embarrassment Steve had never had the pleasure of seeing before etched upon his face.

"Well, well," Steve smirked. "Guess I just met my biggest fan."