Lessons in Rule Breaking and Other Reader-Inserts*Steve Rogers*Reader*

In the Strangest Place (We Just Might Find Love) - Pt.2/2

Your boss blinked in surprise and eyed all four of you; Falcon with his arms crossed on his chest, Tony Stark with a murderous glare and a hand raised towards him as if he wanted to point a finger and then Gregory's gaze fell on your hand connected with Steve's; you wanted to retrieve it quickly, but Steve wouldn't let you, his grip growing firm. Anger flashed through your boss' eyes for a second, before he composed himself and rose from his chair with an innocent confused expression.

You wanted to puke and you felt your legs turning into a shaking mess of jello. This was it. Now he would use his slimy words to turn this situation around and you were about to get fired and humiliated so much that jumping under a bus would be the most likeable option for you.

"Mr. Stark, it's an honour. Captain Rogers, Mr. Wilson. What do I owe the pleasure?"

Tony fucking Stark was not fooled by the charade though and you mentally sighed in relief, sure they must have heard the weight falling off of your shoulders in Jersey.

"I'm sure you heard me, Mr. Gregory. You quit and you'll be hearing from the HR soon. And you'll be damn lucky if this young lady right here won't sue you."

You honestly wished you were invisible when Gregory's gaze flickered to you. "I'm afraid I don't understand, Mr. Stark. If this is about the unfortunate feelings my assistant has for me-"

Tears of rage and baseless shame stung in your eyes at his words and you breathed in sharply to defend yourself, but Gregory continued.

"Though I can see they weren't very... honest. Obviously my inferior seems to be the 'love them and leave them' type, which I should warn you about, Capta-"

Breathless at his malicious made-out theories, you did not expect Steve to drop your hand in favour to tower over your boss and made him shut up with one single glare.

Alright, you could see why he had thought that simply appearing at your office would make Gregory tremble in fear. Your boss actually backed off and learnt onto a table, looking as if he was supporting himself under the weight of Steve's judgement.

"I met this woman for the first time not half an hour ago, as she was hiding from you, too scared of your dirty hands to return to her own workplace. Trust me, it left an impression, just like you are leaving one now. If I can give an advice, you pack your things as fast as you can, apologize to her profusely, crawling, and you don't set a foot in this building or speak to her ever again. Do we have an understanding?"

Your boss tried to reciprocate Captain America's glare, but he failed miserably. He visibly gulped and circled his desk, still watching the soldier as if he was expecting to get hit; then his eyes just dropped to his desk and he frantically started picking random things from it.

You watched the scene in front of you, paralyzed. Your heart was beating its way out of your chest, pulsing in your temples, your breathing stopping. Your vision started to swim.

Holy. Shit.

"Cap, I think you broke her."

Steve spun to you at instant, his eyes roaming your face; or you thought so. He looked worried now; or you thought so. Thinking and frankly evaluating the stimuli your senses were receiving was a bit difficult at the moment.

What the hell had just happened?

Gentle hands took yours, leading you out of the room. You blindly followed, unsure how to put one foot in front of the other, your body running on autopilot.

It was over. Thomas Gregory was no longer your boss and it had happened without you losing your job. And Steve Rogers had scolded him as if he was a five-year old kid – a very pervert one, but a kid nonetheless. Steve put a fucking fear of God into him. All of that happening within three minutes. And you just... couldn't quite process all that.