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The mission was over. You glanced around looking for your teammates, but no one was in sight. A part of you was happy about it at that moment. You wouldn’t admit it out loud, but that hadn’t been your best performance. Perhaps it was because you weren’t used to those situations like the rest of the Avengers were, but you had made some stupid decisions in the battlefield.
“Y/N!” Steve suddenly called you, startling you a little. Now you couldn’t wait until the Quinjet arrived to take you back to the Avengers tower.
“Hey, Cap” You tried to smile through your tiredness and through the tension bubbling within you. “How’d I do?”
“How did you do?” He muttered, approaching you at a dizzying speed, his movements full of anger and determination. “That was so reckless! Someone could have gotten seriously hurt because of that little stunt you pulled”
“I bet it looked cool, though” You smirked in order to hide your restlessness. “Admit it, Cap”
“No” As soon as he was close enough to you, Steve took you by the shoulders with more force than necessary. “Is this a joke to you? You could have killed someone!”
“But-” You were interrupted when he angrily pushed you against the wall behind you.
“You can’t pull something like that ever again” He whispered, and despite his firm tone, he was breathing heavily as his chest raised up and down. “If you do you’re out of the team!”
His face was suddenly dangerously close to yours. If he were to inch closer, his nose would bump against yours. His lips were also a kiss of distance away.
“Is that understood?” He insisted in that slightly menacing voice of his.
“Yes, I...”
“Did you understand me?!”
“Steve...” You only muttered, astonished by that side of him you had never gotten to see before.
Something shifted in his eyes when you called him. That serious anger turned to reliazation and regret. His breathing seemed to even a little as he leaned back. Despite his clear anger, that closeness didn’t exactly bother you. It made your existent attraction to him all the more palpable.
“I’m sorry...” Steve immediately let go of you, taking a deep breath to further calm himself. “I’m sorry, I lost my temper, I...”
“It’s okay” You uttered, still pressed up against the wall. “I know I messed up”
“No, I...” He averted his gaze from a moment, nervously passing a hand through his hair. “You’re still learning, I just got scared when I saw you pull that stunt”
“You got scared?” You repeated in awe, surprised to suddenly see him being so vulnerable and honest.
“Yeah, it could have gone wrong. You could have injured yourself, and you got in the way of the team and put the civilians in danger and...”
“Rogers” You playfully pulled at the straps on his suit, forcing him to lean closer to you again. “It’s okay, I know I fucked up, it won’t happen again”
“Hey” Steve sighed, even if he was starting to smile. “Language”
There was a pause in which you realized how close you were again. Your eyes were locked together and you both talked in whispers, not needing to raise your volume in order to hear each other. Partly, it was also because that intimacy was oddly comforting and intoxicating. There was electricity in the air around you.
“You can tell me how to behave in the battlefield, Cap” You smirked again, giving his strap a gentle tug. “But you can’t keep me from talking however the fuck I want”
He gawked at you, intently staring at you as he struggled to reply. You could almost see the wheels turning in his head as he decided how to act. What would be his next move, almost like his brain was still stuck in battle mode.
“Well...” In the end, and much to your dismay, he urgently wrapped his arms around you and squeezed you against his chest. “Next time stick with me, okay?”
“You don’t have to tell me twice, Steve” You chuckled, deciding to at least embrace that and wrapping your arms around him as well.
Steve laughed a little too, softly tightening the hug. While you would have preferred for him to kiss you, a hug was enough at that moment. You embraced his warmth and the gentleness with which he held you as you told yourself that there would be plenty of opportunities for things to play out differently with him.