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It was certainly a risk, but this was a mandatory assembly, for all classes. And wasn’t Midtown just so fortunate to have Captain America visit them as a motivational speaker? To talk about history, and doing the right thing?
Loki had sick days enough to take a year off; she had never used one. She was starting to think she should have today, as even her normally distant colleagues had begun to ask her questions, acting like they were such good friends and oh, I heard you know the Captain! And Thor, too! What are they like?
Sickening. They were no better than the students they complained about in the staff room.
Loki ignored them, making it through the first few classes leading up to the assembly. Which of course was during Mythology. And of course teachers had to stay with their students to supervise.
Well, perhaps she could manage to stay inconspicuous for once. Maybe he wouldn’t notice her, maybe her colleagues would leave her alone.
Loki was never that lucky.
“Alright class, no need to unpack today, we’re headed for the gym. Assembly time.”
“Avengers assembly!” Ned joked quietly, eliciting a chuckle from Peter and a glare from MJ.
Everyone stood back up to file out of the classroom. MJ overheard a few students not-so-subtly whispering that they were going to see their teacher’s boyfriend. MJ rolled her eyes. As if these kids would have refused a chance to see another Avenger, seeing how jazzed they were about Thor.
Their classroom was one of the farthest from the gym, so by the time they arrived all of the good seats were taken. Ms. Odinsdottir led the class to the top rows of the bleachers nearest the door, and farthest from the stage. MJ found herself next to Peter at the end of the row, with Ned on the other side of him, and Loki standing next to her, arms crossed, attention wandering. Or more like avoiding. The Captain hadn’t even come out yet, but it was clear that Ms. O was not about to feed into any more rumours if she could help it.
Finally the sound of Principal Morita tapping on the microphone quieted the crowd.
“Students of Midtown! It is my absolute pleasure to introduce to you our speaker for today, who has graciously volunteered his time to talk to all of you about service, sacrifice, and heroism. He’ll be talking a bit about his own story, but also about how all of you can make a difference. Please, everyone give a warm welcome to Steve Rogers— Captain America!”
Enthusiastic clapping came mostly from underclassmen, being a high school and all. Teenagers were hard to impress, and as cool as it was to have a superhero at your school, it was still an assembly, and most kids weren’t going to be paying much attention. That didn’t seem to affect the man on stage though, who was dressed in his full uniform, minus the helmet, and looking as if this was just another day at the office.
MJ sighed, while Peter squirmed restlessly next to her. Did he feel responsible for this still? The Captain didn’t seem upset to be here, so what was the issue?
“Quit shaking your leg!” She hissed.
“Sorry! I hate sitting on these bleachers.” He whispered back, earning a glare from Loki.
Captain Rogers’ speech was surprisingly nuanced, in MJ’s opinion. It was a shame most of her classmates weren’t paying attention. He spoke about how patriotism didn’t mean blindly following orders, and sometimes to do the right thing, you had to break a few rules. He launched into a story from the war where he did just that, saving a group of prisoners that included one Jim Morita, their principal’s grandfather. Any frowns the man in question had about how that topic started evaporated instantly when that came up.
He then went on to talk about service, in that everyone has their own abilities and can serve their community and even the greater good in their own ways. You don’t have to be super-powered to do the right thing, and stand up for what is right. He spoke of his distaste for bullies and how half of the fights he won came down to his own stubbornness.
MJ had to wonder who this speech was really for, as she kept stealing glances at her teacher. Loki was looking down, fists clenched, trying everything in her power to make herself invisible.
Except she didn’t have her powers, and as the speech was winding down, MJ saw her glance cautiously toward the stage.
Steve respected Loki too much to want to make her more uncomfortable. When he spotted her class in the crowd, mostly thanks to the wide eyes of Peter and his friends, he could see her looking away, avoiding his attention.
Which was fine, and he respected that.
He had done a few of these types of speeches before, and high school students were rarely a captive audience. So he threw in a few extra bits, the parts that they might have enjoyed to hear; where he was more of a rebel than most of them could hope to be. He thought of it as a treat for the ones who were actually listening.
As he was finishing the speech with the standard patriotic ramble he’d been giving since the ‘40s, he glanced back over to the far end of the gym, and this time he caught Loki’s eye. Completely without thinking, he felt his face twist into a stupid grin, and she quickly looked away. He realized too late and tried to redirect his attention, but as the speech finished he saw plenty of eyes now trying to find what had caused such a reaction from him.
He quickly left the stage, ashamed of what he’d done, however involuntary his reaction; he couldn’t help it! She was just the most captivating person he’d ever known. And he was an ass.
As the teachers started to try wrangling their classes back out of the gym before the lunch bell, he half listened to the platitudes he was getting from Morita and the other administrators about the speech. He kept glancing back, trying to see if Loki was okay. He realized he hadn’t been very subtle about it when Morita asked if something was wrong.
“No, no, everything’s fine. Just a little distracted today, that’s all. I’m sorry about that.” He tried to project a confident grin, one that usually worked when he wanted the questions to stop.
Morita looked unconvinced. “Captain, I am truly grateful for you being here. I hate to pry, but I do have to ask— are you in a relationship with one of my teachers?”
Steve started, realizing that of course there was no way the rumours hadn’t spread. Loki had said something about her job being at risk, hadn’t she?
He coughed. “Excuse me?”
Morita pulled him to the side, the vice-principals moving to disperse the crowd.
“Is Loki really Thor’s sister? She told me that when enough parents started sending in messages concerned about her classes.” Steve’s eyes grew wide at that, remembering the message she had sent him. “She’s a great teacher, but if we have to do an investigation at the behest of the board, which these parents have been trying to push for…”
“They’ll find out.”
“Exactly. I don’t really want to get into anyone’s personal life, that’s not my job. But I am getting the impression that you care for her a great deal. If she retires at the end of this year, she’s eligible for a full pension. The board won’t push for an investigation before summer, and once she’s gone, it’s moot. She hasn’t given me an answer yet, but maybe she’ll listen to you.”
Steve considered that. From her last message she had seemed to have reached the same conclusion, but perhaps she was afraid to commit to it. Was she worried about money? It didn’t sound like that would be an issue. Where to go next? She still had 70 years left on this planet, which, as he was all too aware, was a very long time.
“We’re… Friends. But I’ll try talking to her.”
“Thank you. And thanks again for the speech.”
“You’re welcome.”