steve and Y/N go on a duo mission to take down a HYDRA base and save the hostages when Y/N gets shot in the process. he becomes super overprotective afterwards lol
Fury had announced to the team that he needed two members to go south down to Jamaica to take down the HYDRA base there, along with rescuing the SHIELD agents that were being held hostage, and all fingers immediately pointed to you and Steve. It was no surprise, though---but it wasn't just because of your unmatachable teamwork skills, however.
Everyone was also secretly shipping the two of you together, hoping that by spending some alone time together you'd finally realize it for yourselves.
"You ready?" Steve asked, looking over at you from the pilot's seat of the jet as he carefully maneuvered it down towards the landing spot.
"As ready as I'll ever be, Cap," you nodded.
"Status update, Y/N?" Clint's voice crackled through your comm. "Have you landed yet?"
"No. We're currently descending down towards the landing spot," you replied, "Steve's got it. We should be down in a minute."
"Got it. Let us know when you're inside."
"Roger that, Barton."
The back gates of the Quinjet were beginning to open, and you and Steve stood up, walking towards the back and getting your weapons along the way. You reloaded your sniper and slid your katana into its sheath before quickly testing out your powers.
"I don't see why you need those weapons if you can practically breathe fire," Steve commented.
"Sometimes I like to stab people, Steve," you smirked before letting the flames in your hand flicker out. "Killing people, the old fashioned way."
"Valid enough point," he shrugged before the two of you stepped down the ramp, and he quickly tugged you along by the wrist behind a rock.
"Jesus Christ, it's hot here," you panted, wiping the sweat already forming along your brow and seeing that Steve was also sweating as well, "what is this place?"
Steve looked up and around at his surroundings before responding. "Uh...Jamaica. It's humid."
"Damn. Out of all the places to put their base, HYDRA has to make it here," you groaned quietly.
"Language, Y/N."
You scoffed. "Stop being such an old man."
"Stop being childish."
You rolled your eyes before tapping your comm on and letting the others know that you'd landed and were about to enter the base.
"You lovebirds need to stop flirting because this mission is very important and we're all relying on you guys to save the day," you could practically see Sam rolling his eyes as he spoke.
"Watch it, Wilson, or I'll make sure you become one of those lifeless corpses you saw on the streets of our last mission," you warned.
"Someone's embarrassed."
"Shut up and let me focus," you muttered under your breath, turning your comm off and taking your gun into your hands.
You and Steve quietly discussed your plan to break in before quietly aproaching the base.
"We exit through the southeast entrance," Steve whispered as you snuck around a corner, pressing your backs against the wall. "You're going to take the top floor while I'm at the bottom. Get the hostages out while I clear a path for us, and meet at the rendezvous point we established previously. Got it?"
You nodded silently.
"And stay safe, Y/N," he said in a softened tone. "Don't be reckless and get yourself hurt. We can't afford for that to happen."
"I could say the same for you, too," you rolled your eyes as you cracked a small grin. "Don't die, Steve, or I'll resurrect you before killing you myself."
With that, you two parted ways and you sprinted up towards the top floor. This was luckily a small base, so you only had to sprint up one flight of stairs and were grateful it wasn't one of those 6-story buildings that you had to take down with the team. You swore you couldn't feel your legs afterwards.
Taking down the HYDRA soldiers wasn't as hard as you expected, but as all missions had, there were always a few who bit back and took more effort to knock out.
You shot a fireball straight at one's chest as you ducked to narrowly miss a bullet whizzing over your head.
It didn't take long to find the SHIELD hostages. Once you'd freed them of their chains they immediately went to grab their weapons, splitting off into different directions to take down any more soldiers on the level, nodding a quick thanks to you before leaving.
"Y/N," Steve put his hand over his comm, "did you get them?"
"I got em," you responded, "the hostages are already making their way over to the rendezvous point. I got two going to plant the explosives so we need to hurry, because I don't think we have much time left before this place blows. Did you clear a path yet?"
"Just finished. Can you get down here? I need some backup."
"I'm coming," you breathed out, sprinting downstairs and using your katana against any guards that crossed your path along the way.
You heard several shouts and gunshots as you rounded the corner, seeing Steve thrust his shield and swing it out, knocking multiple guards unconscious at once until you noticed several more approaching from behind him and you lifted them into the air, purple light emanating from your fingers and slamming them against the wall.
"Hurry. We have five minutes," Steve shouted over the noise as he tugged you behind him, thrusting the shield over your heads to protect the both of you from a grenade tossed in your direction.
Once that was done for, you stood back up and looked around for any more guards and when you deemed it safe, you motioned for Steve and the two SHIELD members who'd just finished planting the explosives coming back downstairs to follow you out the southeast entrance.
"Cap," one of the SHIELD members called out from the Quinjet, "we have two minutes! You must hurry."
"Go, go, go!" Steve pushed you towards the exit and you sprinted out of the building. "We don't have much time left!"
It all seemed to happen in slow motion from there.
One moment, you were running beside Steve.
Then there was a gunshot, and silence following not long after.
Steve whipped around to see you on the ground, holding a hand up against your abdomen with blood seeping through your suit and staining your hands, and as your vision began blurring at the edges and feeling as if the world was spinning, you attempted to stand back up, but failed, slumping back down to the ground. He looked up to see one of the HYDRA agents that had escaped with a gun, and quickly used your gun to shoot them before lifting you up.
You didn't really have any energy left to protest when he scooped you up into his arms and held you close to his chest, sprinting the rest of the way back to the jet and quickly setting you down once you'd boarded. Steve knew that he didn't have much time left before you were gone for good, as he could already see the light slowly but surely fading from your eyes and it took him all he had left to fight back the tears upon seeing you so close to death.
"Cap, I'll man the jet from here. We're taking her back to the medical wing," a SHIELD agent informed him as she went to sit down at the pilot's seat, explaining to Tony and the others what had happened.
"Y/N? Say something, please," he begged, taking your hand in his and squeezing tight.
You coughed and squeezed his hand tighter in response, lacing your fingers together, and with each inhale you felt a sharp, stabbing pain through your chest and it was making it rather difficult for you to breathe properly.
"Y/N, please don't die on me, okay? Stay with me. You're going to be just fine," he said softly but his voice came out in a hoarse whisper, cracking on the last word with each one sounding heavier than the last. "Please, I love you. You can't do this to me."
The world began spinning again, before everything went black.
...
When you woke up you'd touched down at the compound and were immediately whisked away to the emergency room to be operated on in the medical wing, much to Steve's protests. He insisted on staying by your side but when the time came for you to go under he was left with no choice but to wait.
"Jesus Christ, Steve," Tony said as he walked into the waiting room to see an exhausted Steve with dark circles heavily lining his eyes, slumped in a chair before sitting down next to him, "what happened to you? When's the last time you've slept?"
"Two days ago," he spoke in a monotone voice, staring blankly at the doors leading to the operating room.
"You need to sleep," he pointed out. "You're going to hurt yourself if you keep staying up for prolonged periods like this."
"I'm not going to fall asleep until I know she's okay," he said quietly, "I can't."
"She's not even your daughter, yet you care about her as much as I do," Tony commented, his voice surpisingly calm compared to how he usually spoke. "But I'm being serious here when I'm saying that you need to rest. I'll wake you up when you're allowed to see her so in the meantime, do all of us a favor and get some sleep, Cap. At least sleep for three hours. You need it."
"Alright," Steve let out a sigh of defeat. "Thanks, Tony."
"Sure thing," he nodded as the super-soldier let his eyes close and leaned back in his chair, falling asleep within seconds.
...
Instead of three hours, it felt like three seconds when he felt Tony gently shaking him awake.
"You can go see her now," he informed him, and Steve stood up almost immediately at his statement.
As he entered, he saw that there was an IV drip was hooked up to your arm and you looked exhausted out of your mind, with several cuts on your face and bruises littering your arms, bandages wrapped around your torso. But when you saw him enter, your face immediately lit up and the corners of your mouth turned up into a grin.
"Hey," he greeted, stepping forward and pulling a chair up next to you, watching you for a moment before brushing a few stray hairs away from your forehead.
"I'm sorry," you croaked out, "I didn't know, I didn't mean for that to happen, I was just tyring to get back and then the shot came out of nowhere and then---"
"Hey hey hey," Steve soothed you, taking your hand in his again, "it's okay. You didn't know what was going to happen. It's okay, alright? What matters now is that you're alive and well."
"Just alive, Steve," you corrected, letting out a weak laugh, "not well."
"Thank god you're alive," he breathed out, pressing his fingers against his temples and rubbing his forehead, "if you hadn't made it, I'd never forgive myself for it. I'd never be able to get over that."
"Steve---"
"No, Y/N," he cut you off, "I felt responsible for everything that happened out there. As your mission partner, I was supposed to stick by you and made sure you were safe but I was careless and only focused on getting myself back safe and sound that I didn't see what happened to you and by the time I did, I was almost too late. How would you like to live with that guilt, the fact that if you'd been even a second later, your teammate, your best friend, your everything, would be dead at your hands?"
"I'm sorry," you whispered, looking down at your hands, "I didn't mean to hurt you or worry you. It's my fault for being reckless."
"Hey," his voice suddenly softened from the stern tone that he'd just used previously, "it's not, okay? If anything, I should be apologizing."
"Steve? Can I ask you something?"
"Hm?"
"Before I blacked out..." you trailed off on your sentence, "you said something. What did you say?"
Steve's face and ears flushed bright red at your question, but he quickly regained his composure. "What are you talking about? I don't know what you're trying to ask of me," he lied.
"I was half-conscious, Steve, not stupid. What did you say?"
"Uh...I love you."
Now it was your turn for your face to turn a bright red. "What?"
"I love you, Y/N."
"I love you too."
He bent down to press a gentle kiss to your lips and you leaned into his touch, wrapping you arms around his neck and holding on tight as his carefully wound around your waist,
"Steven Grant Rogers, get your hands off my daughter!" Tony shouted as he burst into the room with the other Avengers, and both you and Steve quickly pulled away before he started laughing uncontrollably.
"I'm kidding. Who wouldn't ship you two together? Fury even told me he kind of ships it too."
"You know, he even came up with your guys ship name," Wanda chided in. "Who knew? Fury the shipper. Kind of interesting."
"Aw look, they're blushing. Cute," Sam coughed.
"Hey! My OTP has finally come true!" Peter clapped excitedly, hopping up and down.
"Kid, you were right this whole time," Tony patted his shoulder. "I just didn't expect for the to profess their undying love for one another after a duo mission in a really hot jungle. Guess things really do get steamy in---"
"Daaaaad!" you whined, burying your head into Steve's chest as everyone burst into laughter.
"Hey, can I be the best man at your wedding, Steve?" Bucky asked, raising his hand.
"Buck---"
"I ship it!"
"Ship ship ship shippity ship!" Peter and Pietro sang as you and Steve exchanged a knowing look, grinning at each other and shaking your heads at how immature everyone was being.