Captain America (Steve x Reader) One-shot

You had never been in the Smithsonian museum before. You marveled at the big building as you made your way inside. You lived in a little town near Washington, so you had heard a lot about what had happened a few months back when S.H.I.E.L.D. fell. You had also heard a lot about the tragedy of New York, now almost three years ago, but you were still to go to the exhibition about the hero of it all: Captain America.

You knew his real name was Steve Rogers and that he was born in 1918. He had served in the army during the 1940’s and had disappeared around 1945. He had been in the ice for almost 70 years, but somehow he had made it out alive and now you were standing in the large room that explained everything that had happened to him.

You worked as a teacher in your hometown and the kids in your class had been asking you for weeks if you could tell them about Captain America: the hero of New York. You had declined at first, because there were no real facts about what he had done back in the 1940’s. You didn’t want to tell them some made up version of the truth that had been going around in the media for years. But he was a great soldier who had prevented the world from falling into chaos. They needed to know the truth about him.

So here you were, walking through the exhibition, taking in every detail and writing important things into your notebook. You were paying close attention to everything that was being said at the information boards and made pictures of everything – even if it wasn’t allowed. You smiled imagining the faces of the children when they learned you had been escorted out of the museum for taking too many pictures.

You walked away from the information board of James ‘Bucky’ Barnes, the captain’s best friend, but just when you wanted to turn around, someone bumped into you. You dropped your notebook and you cursed softly.

‘I’m sorry, ma’am,’ the man that had bumped into you said apologetically. ‘I didn’t see you. Are you alright?’

He lowered himself to the floor and grabbed your notebook from the ground, handing it to you when he straightened himself. His deep blue eyes gazed at you from underneath his baseball cap. Even though the cap shadowed his face, you could see he was handsome.

‘It’s okay,’ you smiled, taking the notebook from his hands. ‘I’m fine. I didn’t see you either.’

He smiled back, but looking at the notebook in your hand. ‘You’re writing everything down?’ he frowned, nodding at the book.

‘Yes,’ you said shamefully, realizing it must look weird. ‘I’m a teacher and my class has been asking me for ages to tell them about Captain America. I don’t know much about him myself, and I wanted to tell them the truth. The real truth.’

The man smiled again. ‘Well, don’t believe everything they tell you here. He wasn’t all that heroic as they make him out to be.’

‘Really? Sure looks that way… He saved a lot of lives.’

The man sighed, looking away from you, to the pictures of the Howling Commandos. ‘Maybe, but not the lives he wanted to save.’

You nodded, following his gaze towards Bucky. ‘I can’t imagine how much it must hurt, losing everything you have fought for, everything you love… My heart aches for him. He never asked for any of this.’

The man turned his gaze back at you, frowning. ‘Yes, exactly…’

‘But I guess everything happens for a reason,’ you continued, looking into his eyes. You couldn’t stop but think that he had something special about him. ‘If he had died back then, who knows what would have happened. We might have all been dead.’

‘We’ll never know…’

‘We won’t.’

‘It was nice meeting you, miss…?’

‘[Last Name], but you can call me [Name]. Miss [Last Name] is what my class calls me.’

A small smile curled his lips again. You decided you liked his smile and you couldn’t help yourself from smiling back.

‘I’m Steve. Maybe I’ll see you again someday,’ he said, shaking your hand. You stood in silence for a moment, before he nodded at you and walked away.

You watched him for a second or two, but then realized you were staring at a complete stranger walking away. You quickly turned around and regained your stroll through the exhibition. You stopped at the information board about the super soldier serum, seeing a picture of a small Steve Rogers, slowly morphing into the strong man everyone would later know to be the great Captain America. You looked into his deep blue eyes and swallowed hard, turning around to look behind you.

Steve was standing at the end of the exhibition, looking at you from a distance as you realized who he was. He smiled at you, before walking out of the museum and into the warmth of the summer sun. You stood there for several seconds, holding your notebook tightly into your hands. You had just spoken with the Captain America... Would you ever see him again?



Extended Ending
‘And that is how I met the Captain without even realizing it,’ you concluded, looking around the classroom, seeing the children looking at you with big eyes. They had never been so quiet. They had hung on your lips, listening to every word. You sighed, thinking back at that moment in Washington when you realized you had been unbelievably stupid.

‘Miss [Last Name], miss [Last Name]!’ one of the children suddenly spoke, lifting his finger up higher than you thought was even possible with his short arms.

‘Yes, Jonah?’

‘The Captain… Did you ever meet him again?’

You smiled, looking at the notebook you had used to write everything about the Captain in. You hadn’t opened it since that day. When you were about to say something, the bell rang.

‘I’m sorry everyone, but you’ll have to wait until Monday to hear the rest of the story.’

Disapproving sounds came from the classroom, but all the children got their bags nonetheless and within a few minutes they were all gone and you let yourself slide back into your chair. You were just about to grab your own bag, when there was a knock on the door.

‘Is this a bad time?’ someone called out for you, slowly opening the door.

You smiled, seeing Steve standing in the door opening, holding flowers in his hands. A cap shadowed his face, but you would have recognized him anywhere.

‘Not at all.’ You got up from the chair and walked towards him. He took you into his arms and pressed a longing kiss on your lips. He had been away for two weeks to go look for Bucky, but judging by the look on his face, he still hadn’t found him. ‘Why the flowers?’

‘I thought we’d do something special tonight. I know I haven’t been around a lot lately, but it’s been a year now, remember?’

You did remember. Of course you remembered how you had slowly followed Steve outside of the museum. You had walked faster and faster the closer you got to the exit, until you had stormed through the door, looking around you, trying to spot him somewhere.

‘Are you following me, miss [Last Name],’ he had spoken softly, walking up to you from the shadows.

‘Not at all, Captain,’ you had replied, looking at him, as he got the cap from his head and gestured you to walk with him.

‘Do you really want to know the truth? The real truth?’ he had asked you hesitantly, looking deep into your eyes, trying to see if you could be trusted.

You had nodded at him quickly, following him as he made his way down the stairs.

‘It’s not a pretty story…’

‘It never is,’ you had told him, ‘but I’d still like to hear it.’

‘Alright,’ he had said, before telling you his whole story, leaving out none of the details. You realized later that he had been wanting to tell someone his story for a long, long time. There just never had been anyone that wanted to listen.

When he was done, you had taken his hands into yours. You had looked into his eyes and all you had said was: ‘I’m sorry.’ He in turn had stayed quiet, letting you comfort him in silence. That had been a year ago and you had seen each other almost every week after that, until a few months ago he had finally plucked up the courage to kiss you.

Now you were walking out of the classroom hand in hand. You didn’t know what you had done to deserve a man like Steve, but you didn’t spend much time thinking about that. Some things just happened for a reason, and you were both glad this was one of those things. Whatever where to happen in the future, you were both happy now. That was all that really mattered.