Safe and Sound (Steve x Reader) One-shot

You were laying on the couch in your living room watching a movie. Your head lay in Steve’s lap and while he was intensively watching the movie, you were throwing popcorn in the air and catching it with your mouth.

You had met each other during the attack on New York. You owned a little pastry shop in the middle of New York and it was the busiest time a day when a grenade went off just outside your shop. You were slammed into the counter hard and had broken several ribs. But even that couldn’t stop you from bringing everyone in your shop to safety before collapsing on the floor.

When aliens stepped into the remains of your shop you didn’t have the strength to stand on your feet. You had accepted you would die right there and then, but with a smile on your face thinking you had saved all those people from the same fate. You had closed your eyes and waited for them to take the shot. After several seconds and hearing some stumbling you dared open your eyes again. All the aliens lay on the floor and Steve was standing over one of them, knocking it unconscious.

‘Ma’am, are you alright?’ Steve had asked, just before you had passed out.

He had taken you in his arms and carried you to a safe place and had tried to stop the bleeding of the wound in your side. If you looked in the mirror now you could still see the large scar that made you feel so uncomfortable in just your underwear.

You had woken up in the hospital several hours after the attack was over. The only thing you remembered were Steve’s deep blue eyes looking down on you.

In the days you had to stay in the hospital, Steve had come to visit you several times to make sure you were okay. You had been best friends ever since.

‘Can I ask you something, Steve?’ you asked him, throwing another piece of popcorn in the air.

‘Hmm?’

‘How come you never go on dates? It’s Saturday evening… Why are you spending it with me?’

Steve snorted, smiling a little. ‘Look who’s talking…’

‘You got me there… But still. You’re Captain America. It’s not like you can’t get a date.’

‘I’m not dating for the same reason you’re not.’

‘Which is?’

‘It’s just easier this way…’ he sighed, turning his gaze from the TV to you.

‘Maybe… You’re just such a nice guy, Steve. You deserve to be happy.’

‘I was happy until you started talking through the movie,’ Steve laughed.

‘You know what I mean…’

‘I do. I guess it’s just hard to find someone that understands. Understands what I have been through and likes me for who I am as a person, not what the media makes me out to be…’

‘I like you!’ you cried out throwing popcorn in the air again.

‘Yeah, but not in the right way I’m afraid…’

Steve evaded his gaze from you and you got a weird feeling in your stomach. Did he just imply he liked you as more than a friend? You almost choked on a piece of popcorn as you realized that was exactly what he had implied. But you had been best friends for over two years now. For the large part of the first year you had been madly in love with him, but when it seemed like the feelings weren’t mutual you had accepted that. You had however never stopped loving him.

‘I think I’ll be going home,’ Steve said, pushing you from his lap softly. ‘It’s getting late and I have to get up at six again tomorrow.’

‘Alright, let me walk you out.’

‘Don’t be silly. I know my way.’ He pressed a kiss on your cheek and pulled his jacket from the rack. ‘I’ll see you next week.’

You walked with him to your apartment door and smiled at him as he was walking down the stairs. You closed the door when you couldn’t see him anymore. He lived only a few blocks away, so he would be home in ten minutes.

You switched off the TV and cleaned up the mess you had made by throwing popcorn at yourself. It had become late, so after you were done cleaning everything you went straight to bed. As you were laying under the sheets you couldn’t fall asleep however. You couldn’t stop thinking about what Steve had said and you were wondering if he really meant that he liked you as more than a friend. You were twisting and turning in your bed for most of the night, deciding if you should confront him or not.

The next morning when you woke up you immediately hopped under the shower. You had decided you could better not confront Steve. But giving him hints wouldn’t hurt, right? If he really saw you as girlfriend material he would pick up on the hints and maybe make the first move. And if he didn’t see you that way, well then no harm done. You could just tell him you were trying out something new.

While you were doing some groceries shopping you decided to text him if he wanted to come over for dinner later that day. You knew he loved your cooking and on Sundays he would normally just order some take out. You smiled thinking to yourself that maybe this would be the best night of your life.

After a few hours he still hadn’t texted you back. You figured he was working and he would probably just show up around dinnertime, knowing you didn’t mind.

It was around three o’clock when suddenly someone banged on the door hard. It startled you and you almost dropped the flat iron you were holding.

‘Who is it?’ you cried out from your bedroom, not wanting to open the door if it were just your neighbor’s kids again.

‘It’s Steve, open up!”

You frowned, looking at the clock. Steve? What was he doing here? You checked your phone, but there were no messages.

‘Is something wrong?’ you yelled again, quickly putting off your sweatpants and putting on the skinny jeans you had bought earlier today. You put on the white blouse you knew he liked and looked into the mirror for a few seconds to see how you looked.

‘No, nothing is wrong… just… just open up will you.’

His voice sounded weird, as if something had happened. You swallowed hard, thinking Steve was acting strangely. You had given him a key to your apartment nearly two months ago, so that, if something was wrong, he could always come into your apartment. Why didn’t he use that key now?

He banged the door again, while you pulled open your nightstand drawer. You opened the box that was laying in the hidden bottom and opened it. You took out what was in it and walked over to the door with shaking hands.

As you opened the door, Steve was leaning against the post. He turned his head to you and smiled a little looking at you. His smile quickly disappeared when he saw the gun in your hands.

‘Wow…’ he whispered.

‘Why didn’t you use the key I gave you…’ you asked him, watching his every move.

‘Key? I… I forgot to take them with me. Listen, something has happened. Please, you have to come with me. Your life might be in danger.’

You clicked the safety pin of the gun and pointed at his head, your hands still shaking.

‘You don’t want to do this… Where did you get the gun anyway?’

‘Who are you?’ you hissed. ‘And what have you done with Steve?’ Tears were stinging in your eyes.

‘What do you mean. Look at me. I am Steve.’

‘Liar!’ you cried out, before pulling the trigger, hitting him in the shoulder.

The man fell to the floor screaming, grabbing the bleeding hole just beside his neck. A few inches to the left and you would have killed him.

You wiped the tears from your face as you saw the pain in the man’s eyes. Footsteps echoed through the stairwell.

‘You bitch!’ he screamed, trying to get up.

You fired a warning shot that only just missed him. Steve had learned you to use a gun, but you had never actually needed to fire one. ‘Stay down!’ you yelled.

‘[Name]?’

‘Oh, thank God…’ you whispered as Steve came running up the stairs in his Captain America suit.

‘What happened? You opened the box?’ he pointed at the gun in your hand.

You nodded, smiling through your tears. Steve walked over to the man that looked exactly like him. He kneeled next to him and pulled of a little device in his forehead, changing the appearence of the man. He padded him down and found two guns. Steve knocked him unconscious and gestured you should walk out of the way. He dragged him into your apartment and tied him up with duct tape. He stuffed him in one of your closets, barricading the door with a chair. All the while you sat on your couch in shock, the gun still in your hand.

After several minutes Steve came out of your bedroom. He had put on the clothes that were also in the box he had given you several weeks ago, in case something ever went wrong and he couldn’t return to his own apartment. As it turned out your apartment wasn’t safe either.

Steve seated himself next to you on the couch and pulled the gun out of your hand slowly.

‘Who was he…’ you whispered. ‘Why was he here?’

‘S.H.I.E.L.D. has been compromised… He is one of the S.T.R.I.K.E Team agents. His colleagues tried to kill me about an hour ago. I guess somehow they must have known how close we are and they wanted to…’ Steve swallowed hard. ‘I’m so sorry, [Name]. But… How did you know he wasn’t me?’

You sighed, biting your lip and raising your head up so that you could look at Steve. ‘What he said… he didn’t sound like you. And something in his eyes. It just didn’t feel right.’

Steve smiled, putting his arm around you and pulling you in his embrace. ‘I’m going to need a rain check on that dinner.’

You nodded.

‘And I think it’s best if you go visit your family. Be as far away from me as possible. At least until I have sorted this out. I care a lot about you, [Name]. If anything were to happen to you… I wouldn’t know what to do… I… I just can’t let that happen. You’re my best friend… My only friend.’

He stroke the hair out of your face and pressed a kiss on your forehead. ‘I have to go now. Be safe, [Name].’

His arms left your body and you watched him walk away, taking the gun with him. You wanted to run after him. Beg him to stay or take you with him. Tell him you loved him and that you needed him. But you didn’t. You knew that was the last thing he wanted to hear right now. He had to focus on protecting the world. Not just you.

After a few minutes you had finally calmed down and you started to collect things you wanted to take to your parents’ house. You walked by the closet the man that had pretended to be Steve was locked up in. If you hadn’t known Steve that well, started into his eyes for hours in a row, you would probably be dead right now.

You shook that thought out of your head and rushed out of your apartment. While running down the stairs you called your parents to tell them you were on your way over. As always they were excited that you were coming to see them. You could only hope you could pretend like nothing was the matter…


***** A FEW DAY LATER, BACK AT YOUR APARTMENT *****

You had just arrived home, finding the mess the man had left behind. He had broken out of the closet and searched through the entire house trying to find a clue of where you had gone. Luckily, he hadn’t found any.

At your parents’ house you had been able to pretend nothing was wrong. You had seen everything that had happened at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters on the news and you were scared something might had happened to Steve.

Upon seeing what had happened in New York, your parents had insisted you would stay with them a few more days. To not make them worry too much, you had agreed. You were happy however to be home and you couldn’t wait to see Steve again and tell him how much you had missed him. How much you loved him…

You were busy putting all your clothes back into your closet, when you heard your apartment door open and footsteps walking towards you.

‘[Name]?’ Steve’s voice echoed through your apartment.

You dropped the clothes you were holding in your hands and rushed out the bedroom. Steve was standing near the couch, looking at the mess in your apartment. His eyes locked on yours and he swallowed hard, smiling at you.

You ran over to him and jumped into his arms. He folded his arms around you and pressed you tightly against him.

‘I tried calling you, but you didn’t answer. I thought…’ he whispered into your ear.

‘I forgot to bring my charger,’ you laughed through your tears. ‘I’m so happy to see you…’

‘As am I. Look,’ Steve started, putting you back on the ground. ‘I was going to wait with telling you this, because… well, because I wasn’t sure you felt the same way about me. But for the last couple of days I’ve just not been able to stop thinking about how stupid I was for not telling you sooner. Life can be over in a minute and I need you to know that you’re the reason I’ve not being going on any dates. Because I love our movie nights and I love that you always know exactly what to say. I love that you think you’re not beautiful. Especially when you laugh. I love your smile… I love that you understand. I… I guess what I’m trying to say is that, I love you… more than anything.’

He took your head in his hands and pressed a longing kiss on your lips. You let your hands rest on his arms as he kissed you passionately, afraid that if you wouldn’t, you would fall.

‘Say something,’ he whispered against your lips.

‘I love you too, Steve. I always have.’

He smiled, pulling you into his embrace. You stood there in each other’s arms for several minutes, just feeling his steady heatbeat. Steve pressed a kiss on your forehead and sighed.

‘You do have to promise me something…’

‘Hmm?’

‘If I ever forget my keys. Don’t shoot me…’


THE END