Originally published 2012-11-25 on AO3. Based off of feriowind's Poke-'Venger fanart series.

"Has he asked you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?"

"Trading cards?"

"They're vintage," Agent Romanov said with a fond smirk. "He's very proud."

"I...uh...there's all this - stuff - about me, and..." Steve sighed. "I'm overrated."

"Don't let Coulson hear you say that," she said. "Or else he will subject you to his entire thirty-two-slide presentation about why you are anything but overrated."

Steve stared at her incredulously.

"...Thirty-two slides?" he asked.

"He got bored when he ran out of paperwork to do while on medical leave a few years ago. Working on that was his Gallade's way of entertaining him," she said. She turned away from him and started scanning the deck. "He spent two years as a kid looking for a Growlithe just because you had one."

Steve's eyebrows rose, "That's..."

She smiled at him, before gesturing forward. Steve looked to see a rather scruffy man standing around and dodging sailors, looking just as out of place as Steve felt in all the chaos, especially with a Jigglypuff of all things bouncing around beside him.

At least someone was as out of their depth as he was.

"Doctor Banner!" Steve called out, striding forward. The man jerked a little, but a polite smile formed on his face when he saw Steve coming up to him.

"Hi," the doctor said, holding out his hand. "They told me you'd be coming."

"Word is you can find the cube," Steve said, taking the doctor's hand.

"Is that the...only word on me?"

"Only word I care about," Steve promised. For all the army reports about him being a dangerous fugitive, he seemed nice enough and had a firm handshake, and at this point Steve was taking anything he could get.

"Doctor Banner," Agent Romanov said as she came up to them. "You might want to get your Lapras. And you both might want to step inside, soon - it's about to get a little hard to breathe."

Banner sighed and reached into his pocket, pulling out a Pokeball and approaching the edge of the deck (shouldn't there be a railing?). Peering over the edge, Steve saw a rather mournful looking Lapras just as the Light enveloped it, and then it was gone.

And then he heard a lot of clanging metal - loud and deep beneath his feet.

"Is this a submarine?" Steve asked in surprise.

"I don't think so," Banner said, looking upward. Steve followed his gaze, and saw that indeed, there seemed to be more and more agents releasing flying Pokemon.

"...this thing flies?!" Steve asked incredulously, turning around himself to see people strapping down jets and pulling on some sort clear gas-mask type thing, and...

"Yup," Banner said dejectedly. Again, Steve followed his gaze out to where something metal was coming out from under the ship, something that looked like a wing.

"...huh," Steve said, just staring and staring and not quite able to look away as the monumental seacraft became an even more monumental aircraft.

"This is such a bad idea," Banner said. There was some indignant chirping-squeaks, and all three of them looked down to see the Jigglypuff glaring back up at Bruce. "Yes, Julie, I know, you can put the Other Guy to sleep, I'm not doubting that at all. That doesn't mean bringing him out in the first place is a good idea."

The Jigglypuff latched onto Banner's leg in a huff, even as all three of the humans started heading inside as the air around them grew thinner, and the doctor laughed a little, reaching down to pat the little guy in the head before they all sped up their pace as the wind picked up around them.

"Thank you," Banner said. "I know I can count on you."

Steve couldn't help the small smile as the Pokemon preened under its human's attention.

Steve had to stifle an awkward sigh as he promised to sign Agent Coulson's trading cards.

On one hand, it was kind of funny to see the otherwise unflappable agent turn into such a boyish fan around him.

On the other hand - Steve never signed up to be a legend.

He tried to focus on the funniness of it, really, but it was...hard. He dug his fingers into Arcanine's fur for reassurance, and had his mind taken somewhat off the matter as he noticed Arcanine being followed by a rather starry-eyed Growlithe.

"Who's he?" Steve asked.

The old guy's ears twitched in exasperation as Steve got his answer a moment later when a sharp, "Blaze!" cut through the air.

When Agent Coulson called the Growlithe over, the puppy actually whined a little in Arcanine's direction, and Steve got the distinct feeling Agent Coulson was sympathizing with the canine even as he kept calling him over. The Growlithe slumped and dejectedly trotted to his human's side, the star-struck duo dutifully disappearing down a separate corridor from the one Steve and Arcanine were headed down.

Steve turned to his old friend. "Did you know there were trading cards of us, Sunny?" The old guy grunted an affirmative. "Well apparently, Agent Coulson has a vintage set. He asked me to sign them."

The old canine huffed in amusement.

"And judging by that Growlithe," Steve continue. "They might also ask you for a pawprint or something."

Arcanine actually stopped in his tracks to glare at Steve, who took one look at his side-long irritation and burst out laughing.

Okay, so, maybe focusing on the funny part didn't have to be all that hard.

Except the blood-splattered cards across the conference table in the bridge were anything but funny.

Steve picked up one of the cards. The image was of him and Liberty, his first Braviary. The painting was based off a picture clearly from his USO days, judging by the shield and the ridiculous uniform. Steve is pretty sure he knows when exactly it's from. It was Chicago, and he and Braviary had to carry more of the show than usual when several of the dancers had come down with food poisoning from dubious train fare.

It was amazing how steadfast and proud they looked in the painting when Steve only remembered how irritable the bird had been, how nervous he himself had been - it was the first time he'd had to give an actual speech during the performance instead of just a few witty lines while lifting up motorbikes and punching out Hitler.

His musings were interrupted by Tony Stark, storming off as Fury murmured, "He still believed in heroes."

With one last look at the cards, Steve stood up, too, as did Arcanine from where he'd sat with his head hanging behind Steve.

"We'll go talk to him," Steve said, turning before anyone could say anything.

It took a while. He didn't know where Stark went, and for a while he and Arcanine wandered around. Steve gripped his thick fur when they passed the triage area medics and healing Pokemon darting from patient to patient (victim to victim). He nearly grew ill when he saw Banner's Blissey tending to his Jigglypuff, who was still unconscious from when the Hulk had slammed it into a wall before tearing after Romanov.

He only moved again when Arcanine nudged his back, and Steve went. It took him a few turns to realize the old dog was leading him somewhere, but Steve followed numbly, trying to take everything - the shock, the attack, the adrenalin, the lost soldiers - and shove them where they belonged: down, where they couldn't hurt him anymore.

Steve eventually found Tony in the room that had held the Hulk's cell, watching with shining eyes as Coulson's Growlithe sniffed despondently at the bloodstain on the wall, the whimpers and keens bouncing throughout the large room.

Arcanine stepped around him and padded forth to Growlithe's side, trying gently to tug him away. But the Growlithe was having none of it.

Finally, Arcanine just snapped up the Growlithe by the neck-scruff in his strong jaws and lifted it up and away, ignoring the younger canine's sharp, protesting barks and flailing around.

"Was he married?" Steve asked as Arcanine prowled about a third of the way around the circle, settling between Steve and Tony.

"No," Tony said, watching the two canines. Arcanine sat down, his bulk between the Growlithe and the bloodstain as he sat the younger one down between his paws without letting go. "But there was a, uh...cellist."

"I'm sorry," Steve said sincerely.

Arcanine wrapped his forepaws around the Growlithe and let go of his scruff only to lower his great head on top of the small, wriggling puppy.

"He was a good man," Steve murmured. His words felt woefully inadequate, especially when Growlithe finally gave up struggling and instead curled into Arcanine's fur with a mourning howl that echoed around the room, a haunting melody that tugged at something tired and sore deep within his heart.

Steve was getting really fed up with losing people.

(It seemed Arcanine was, too. Steve had tried to convince Growlithe to stay behind when he and Barton and Romanov were heading out to bring down Loki, but ultimately it was Arcanine who had nudged the pup forward.

"Better let him, Captain," Barton said, tightening his quiver. "He can be really, really damn stubborn when he wants to be. Which is often."

"He got it from you," Romanov added slyly. Steve wondered if she had meant Growlithe or Coulson or both. But as he sighed and took both fire-types into his Pokeball, he realized it didn't matter.)

Arcanine had guarded Steve's post-defrosting room fiercely while Steve had still been unconscious, and it was clear Growlithe was looking to that for inspiration as he stood guard at the foot of Agent Coulson's bed in the medical wing.

Steve and Arcanine approved whole-heartedly, joining him in his vigil in Coulson's recovery room - or rather, the room where Fury had attempted to hide Coulson from them all.

(And though he wasn't about to say this outloud, he also approved of the deathglares Gallade sent at the Director every time he came near Coulson.)

The team always made sure at least one of them was with Coulson at all times, and usually there were more. It was in that small room Steve finally met Pepper Potts, and somehow found himself invited over to Stark Tower along with Banner - no, Bruce. It was also in that room that Steve got to properly meet Clint Barton, talking about 'Phil' and adapting to the 21st century. Steve would stifle his laughter as he watched Gallade moon over Tony's oblivious Lucario, and despite her Weavile's wariness bordering on hostility, Agent Romanov seemed to like Steve, and it wasn't long before she became Natasha.

When Steve got tired but couldn't sleep, Bruce would come by with his Jigglypuff and next thing Steve would know he was waking up in a corner, slumbering against the massive bulk of Arcanine curled around him.

Steve was there when Thor returned, weeping over Coulson's form and apologizing for his brother. He'd been furious about Fury's lying and manipulation, too, and Steve was just glad Raikou wasn't there as Thor tore into the director – the legendary and Arcanine got along a little too well, and Steve wasn't sure he'd bother trying to stop either of them if Fury made any sudden moves. That, and because the room was already claustrophobically crowded as it was without adding the bulk of yet another large Pokemon to it.

He was also there when Tony and Bruce dropped off Coulson's card set, most of the blood cleaned out via some complex chemical process that didn't touch the ink of the card itself. If Steve looked closely, though, he could see the faint copper-brown spots of blood that their combined efforts couldn't get rid of, and his gut clenched into a tight ball of acid for the rest of the day.

And Steve's constant vigil meant he was there when Coulson woke up.

("I watched you while you were sleeping-"

"I deserved that."

"-I mean, I stood over you while you were unconscious."

"...okay, I really deserved that."

"Damn right you did.")

Coulson reminded Steve of an upset kitten as he scowled at his discharge attire. Apparently business casual was just a bit too casual for him, especially since he was going to have to go through half the SHIELD base in order to finally go home.

The entire team was assembled there, all of them waiting just a little tensely as the nurses finished some of the final details and his paperwork was being processed. Gallade was packing up a small bag of things Coulson had somehow managed to accumulate here, while Growlithe sat by Coulson so the agent could lean on him while pretending he didn't need to as he sat up and slowly swung his legs over the side of his bed.

When Coulson finally turned his attention away from his shaky attire and shakier limbs, he was looking at Steve as he reached into his bag and said, "I don't suppose you'll still sign my cards?" It was a little ridiculous how much effort he seemed to be putting into stamping out the hopeful look in his eyes as he held onto the pen and the quasi-bloodied card set.

"Sure...I just might need something from you, first," Steve said, reaching into his pocket as Gallade and Clint narrowed their eyes at him from behind Coulson.

Momentarily oblivious to his friends' protectiveness, Coulson brightened. "Sure! What do you need?"

Steve smiled as he unfolded the little paper with Coulson's sketches of the design for Steve's new armor, notes on the materials and everything that helped keep Steve safe in the battle scattered across the page.

"Your autograph."

Gallade brightened considerably and Clint actually pressed his face into Natasha's shoulder to stifle his snicker as Coulson stared at Steve, dumbfounded at the request.

"Please?" Steve added. The rest of the team was grinning at Steve.

"I...my autograph?"

"You didn't have any armor or serum or super-training, but you went up against an alien god all on your own, anyway," Steve said. "Maybe not the brightest idea in the world, but definitely the bravest."

Coulson took the piece of paper and clicked his pen in a daze. He signed the designs, looking like he would've fallen off the bed entirely if Growlithe weren't there to keep him up, and Tony took out his phone and was doing something with it that Steve was pretty sure meant he was recording all this, somehow.

"If you cry," Clint started as Coulson finished signing.

"I'll have the footage!" Tony crowed.

"I'll delete it," Bruce promised as Steve took the pen, the paper, and the cards.

"We can add it to the presentation," Steve said, working his way through the cards.

"What presentation?" Bruce asked in confusion.

"About Coulson," Steve said. "A thirty-two slide presentation so Fury knows exactly why we don't want him dead ever again."

"...Natasha," Coulson said lowly.

"That's what you get for lying to us about being dead," she said.

"I only saw the print-out of it," Steve said. "I really like the colors you use, though."

He glanced up to see a red-faced Coulson glaring at Natasha, Clint, and Gallade, while they all looked back with serene amusement. On the other side of the bed, Tony and Bruce were laughing as they explained to Thor what a presentation meant and why it needed thirty-two slides.

Steve finished signing the cards just as a junior agent came by with Coulson's paperwork. Gallade took it, and when it was packed up, too, Coulson was all ready to go.

"Thank you, Captain," Coulson said as Steve helped him up. "That really means a lot."

"You're really such a big fan of Captain America?" Steve asked, as Gallade started helping Coulson into his sling.

"Yes...but that's not why," Coulson said. "Captain America is one thing. Captain Rogers, though - is so much more."

Steve grinned.

"Just so you know," he said. "That presentation is going to end up with thirty-three slides at this rate, if you keep saying things like this."

The delighted glint in Gallade's eyes and Growlithe's excited yips were worth the taser threats.