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when he never gives up on
her and she realizes she feels
more for him than she thought
she did
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as you know I am running out of ideas once again. I came up with this as I went along so yeah it's gonna be really trashy hahah
also excuse me for literally always making y/n a stark...but I'm a sucker for tony and the relationship between them is just so wholesome I canttttt
also sorry this turned out a bit longer than i thought
★━━━━━━✩━━━━━━★
Several days had passed and not one of the Avengers, nor Agent Coulson and several other SHIELD agents, had given up in search of you, working day and night to figure out what went wrong and what exactly went down that night you were captured. It didn't matter to them if they were taking any risks by doing so, as they were willing to go any length to get back one of their most skilled assets and and fighters.
It was 3 in the morning on a Friday, and everyone was still wide-awake, finalizing plans to come and get you after almost a week of nonstop research and working. After multiple failed attempts to get Steve out of the lab with Bruce and Tony, Natasha was finally able to drag him up to the lounge to take a break because it had been 37 hours since he had last slept, much less sat down and rested.
"I know we're going to find her soon," the super-soldier spoke quietly, shaking his head as he stared blankly out at nothing in particular and rubbed his eyes from the fatigue that was heavily weighing them down. "Coulson and the others were able to get a lock on her location and all I need to do now is finish stuff up, then---"
"Steve, you need to relax," Natasha interrupted, a gentleness in her tone as she looked at him with worry, "you haven't been sleeping and you've been worrying yourself sick. Don't you think you deserve a break for once?"
"I can't rest when she's still out there somewhere. Don't you feel the same?"
"Of course I do, she's my best friend. Look, my point being is you need to stop overworking yourself, or you're only going to feel worse later on."
He let out a long sigh. "I just hope she's okay."
"Do you love her?" she suddenly questioned, gazing intently at the super-soldier across from her. "Y/N."
"Yeah, of course," Steve shrugged, confused as to why she would bring this sort of topic up all of a sudden, "why?"
"No, I mean, do you love her as in, not just in a friendly way."
"Why would you ask such a thing? We're just friends, teammates. I'm doing my respective job, and she's doing hers."
"I'm asking because I can clearly see that you want your relationship with her to become something more," the ex-assassin stated as she leaned back against the couch, "and it isn't hard for me to tell after working with you for so long. How else can we explain your protectiveness over her?"
"I think you're overthinking things."
"I think I'm right," she countered, folding her hands in her lap and raising an eyebrow at him, propping her feet up on the coffee table. "But do you want to love Y/N?"
"Yes---no," he sighed, pressing his fingers to his temples and rubbing his forehead, "I honestly don't know. It's so easy to love her and that's exactly why I don't want to take things any further than friendship."
"So you're already in love."
"No, not really."
"There are many things I know how to do and know how to do well, one of them being able to tell whether someone is telling the truth or not, and I know for a fact that was a lie."
"I can't feel this way towards her, Natasha."
"And why is that?"
"I'm not willing to run the risk of that when I don't even have a clue about how she feels towards me," he explained, "nor am I willing to mess up what we have together right now."
"Oh, that's absolute bullshit," Sam snorted from beside Natasha, finally setting down his phone to give his best friend a hard stare, "there's something more between you two and that's a fact, whether y'all would like to acknowledge it or not."
"And you're telling me to---"
"Suck it up, buttercup, and grow a pair, will ya? Just tell her how you feel. Work things out, man."
"What he said," Natasha agreed.
Steve rolled his eyes. "I'd rather not."
"Wimp."
★━━━━━━✩━━━━━━★
When you looked around at your surroundings all you could make out were masses of grey and black. Your vision was blurry and fuzzy at the edges from whatever the hell that man had drugged you with to knock you out cold, and your body was aching immensely from head to toe from all the lashes and cuts and other torture that you received.
Every inhale and exhale was painful because of the deep cut on your stomach and your arms felt numb, as if they were going to fall off at any moment from the restraints that were wrapped tightly around them.
You blinked several times and rubbed your eyes, and the moment you tried to escape or loosen your restraints, you felt a white-hot shock run through your body before the restraints tightened more, and let out an ear-shattering scream.
"See, this is what happens when you try and resist us," your HYDRA kidnapper sneered as he rounded the corner and entered your cell holding a small control pad with several buttons. "Sweetheart, there's no use in trying, or even dreaming about it, because you're never going to make it out of here alive."
"Fuck you," you shot him a death glare, spitting out blood between your teeth. "It doesn't fucking matter what the hell you do, because you won't be able to pull any information out of me no matter how hard your pathetic self tries to do so. Tony, Steve, and the rest of the Avengers are coming to kick your sorry little ass and there's nothing you can do to stop them."
Another shock jolted your body and you screamed once again.
"Let's see, maybe that'll teach a feisty lady like you to listen, hm?" he taunted, his voice dripping with venom as he struck the side of your face, causing your cheek to sting and it took all you had not to lash out at him for the third time already. "Step out of place and see what happens...we aren't done with you yet."
Those were the last words you heard from his disgusting mouth before he struck you again and everything went black.
★━━━━━━✩━━━━━━★
"Guys, I found her!" Steve yelled as he approached your cell and busted the bars down, gesturing for the others to hurry up and come over. He rushed over to you and stopped short when he turned you over and got a good look at you, feeling nauseous at the sight.
Your body was littered with cuts and nasty bruises, and there was dried blood smeared across parts of your face and several stray hairs were stuck to your forehead from it. He held back the tears threatening to well up in his eyes and swallowed hard, scooping you up into his arms to take you back.
He almost flinched when he felt how thin you had gotten, looking down once more at your once tan but now pale face, with your cheeks sunken in and bright red from where the man's hands had met your skin.
"Hey, it's okay, I got you," he murmured in a soothing voice when you stirred slightly and woke up, looking from side to side frantically. "You're gonna be okay. Just trust me and relax, alright? Can you do that for me?"
You let out a small yelp when his hand brushed against your stomach and his eyes darkened in anger upon seeing the deep gash in your side.
"What the hell did they do to you?" he growled in between clenched teeth. "I swear, once I find out---"
"Steve," you choked out, gripping his forearm, "please hurry, I don't have much time left---"
"Okay, okay," he breathed out as he resumed sprinting back to the Quinjet. "I got you, I got you, come on---"
You were fighting to stay awake now as you felt yourself slipping away from reality, and he felt his blood run cold at the life slowly but surely, fading from your eyes.
"No, Y/N, please," Steve choked on a sob as he picked up his pace, "don't die on me, don't you dare die on me now, you can't do this---"
"I'm sorry, Steve, I'm so sorry---"
"Shh, please save your energy, I can't have you dying on me now," he said gently, placing a finger over your lips, "I need you to stay alive---"
"Captain?" Thor flew up beside the two of you, briefly looking you two over. "Are you and Lady Y/N in need of assistance?"
After a few moments of thinking Steve gave you up to him, placing you in his strong arms. "Please take care of her and get her back safely, I can't lose her," he pleaded, but then his tone suddenly turned cold and hard. "Tell Tony to wait for a few minutes. I have something to do first."
"I promise," Thor gripped his shoulder firmly, "but now you must focus on doing what you need to do and getting back yourself if you would like to make it home in one piece."
Feeling overwhelmed with frustration and fury, Steve took his shield off his back and began running back in the other direction, never stopping even once although every part of his body was aching and his brain was screaming at him to stop.
He was going to take revenge on the cruel captors who'd almost taken your life by putting you under immense pressure and pain.
Even from hundreds of yards away, the others onboard the Quinjet could clearly hear his sounds of vengeance and violent rage as he completely wiped out the remaining soldiers in the base---which they were sure would not be forgetting about anytime soon.
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After many arguments with your overprotective father (Tony) and Bruce, you were finally released from bed rest and were allowed out of your room, but strictly forbidden from training until fully recovered.
You'd ended up with three cracked ribs, declared underweight from being starved (At 5'5 and a half you were around almost 113, but dropped to a mere 106), a concussion, the deep gash in your side needing stitches, and a twisted ankle.
Sliding out of bed and giving Bruce a quick thank-you hug, you made, or more like limped slightly, your way down the hall and to the lounge to simply relax and probably watch some TV if you felt like it.
Steve was sitting on the couch and reading his book, but when he saw you come in out of the corner of his eye, set it down and stood up, taking a step closer to you.
"Y/N," he spoke, his brows furrowed together in concern, "You seem exhausted. How are you holding up?"
"Yeah, I mean, that's what being kidnapped and tortured for six days does to you," you joked, but the sarcastic grin on your face faltered as you remembered what they'd done, flashbacks of what they'd done to you while you were captive, "it's not exactly my kind of thing."
"Oh, come here," he said in a gentle voice, gaze softening at the look of fear and pain in your eyes, outstretching his arms towards you.
You took a few steps closer to him, allowing him to pull you into his warm and welcoming arms. He kissed the top of your forehead before resting his chin on top, one hand rubbing your back while his other arm encircled your waist in a protective manner and you let out a tired sigh, resting your head against his chest.
(a/n: So I may or may not be basing this on the fact that I want this to happen to me with a taller guy... @lolitslia u kno whats up hehe)
Steve gently pressed his hand against your cheek and you turned your face into it and leaned into his touch, allowing your eyes to flutter shut as he simply held you there.
"I know I say this often but you're going to be just fine," he reassured you when he felt you begin to tremble slightly, smoothing your hair back, "the entire team has your back and there's nothing they won't do to help you, and I'm always going to be here for you no matter what happens."
"I love you," you mumbled, barely conscious because you were so exhausted.
"I love you too," he smiled down at you before scooping your fatigued self into his arms and carrying you back up to your room, tucking you in. You knocked out almost instantly and he lingered by your doorway for a few seconds before turning around and leaving.
"You're always hovering over her," Tony's voice behind him made him almost jump ten feet in the air, "and I'm beginning to question who acts like more of a father: me or you?"
Steve shook his head, but he couldn't help the smile inching up the corners of his lips. "Tony, she's like my little sister."
"More like a lover, or future wife if you're asking me, judging by the way you look at her and how you look right now."
"No."
"Just treat her right," he said calmly, the smirk now gone from his face, "I trust you, Cap, that you'll take care of her for me when I'm not able to."
"Yeah, I will."