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Beep, Beep, Beep! ‘Ugh’ Steve groaned, slamming a hand down on his alarm clock. He peered at the time noting it said 6AM and with another groan he sank back into bed staring at the ceiling wondering what this new day would be like. Sure he was lonely but having the team around him helped ground those thoughts. It was normally a hectic day whenever the avengers were involved, especially Tony.
Lifting his legs over the side off the bed, he wandered over to the bathroom to get ready for the day. He grabbed his workout clothes like he did everyday and made his way out of his room.
At this time, Steve was normally the only one awake but no matter how much he tried he couldn’t break his routine. The one time he had a lay in, the team barged in thinking something was wrong. Lay ins just weren’t on the cards for Steve.
Jogging around the park helped ease Steve into the day, clear his mind and just forget.
Walking over to an empty beach, he sat down and took a breather.
“Umm, hello?”
Startled, Steve faced who had spoken to him. “Sorry miss, can I help you?”
“Do you mind if I could sit down next to you?, I can’t find another seat free”.
Steve nodded to the slim blonde woman and moved over to make some room for her.
Examining her more closely, he could see she had bright blue eyes and freckles covering her cheeks and nose. She was wearing what seemed to be a waitressing outfit.
“I hope you don’t mind me asking but you seemed a little zoned out there earlier, are you okay?”
“Yes I’m fine, thank you for asking” Steve smiled politely at the young woman besides him. No one had asked him that before, normally people recognised him and wanted a photo with the great captain America. This was a change, it was..nice.
“I love walking around here, it’s so pretty with the blossom on the trees…” as she talked Steve watched her, listening to her every word. Snapping him out of his trance she said, “oh I feel rude, sorry, my name is Beth by the way”.
Steve chuckled “that’s quite alright, my name’s Steve”
“Well it’s nice to meet you Steve! I better get back before my boss starts wondering where I’ve gone!” Beth explained, standing up from her position on the bench.
“I also better get going, it was nice to meet you” Steve gave her one last smile before jogging back to the tower.
On the journey back, Steve couldn’t remember when he had a simple conversation with anyone. Not about work, not about him but just on a random topic.
This day might start off not so bad.
Entering the tower, he was met with bangs and crashes coming from the communal area.
“Aww come on!!, where the hell is it!”
“Tony what on earth are you doing!” Steve approached the man that was tearing the kitchen apart. Tony was standing on the counter rattling through the cupboards not giving a damn about the mess he was making.
“I need a part for my invention, I swear I saw it in here!”
Tony yelled.
“So you thought throwing everything around would help you find it?” Steve rolled his eyes. “Just clean it up Tony, you’re not the only one who lives here”
“Sir yes sir!” Tony saluted to Steve which earned him another eye roll. Steve knew full well it would be left to him to sort the mess out but he could’ve be bothered to argue back today. Walking away he made his way to the living room where he was met with the rest of the avengers.
“Morning Steve”, “morning”, “good morn to you captain”
Greeted with the grumbled responses from his team mates, he replied, “morning guys, any plans today?”
“You know me Rogers i just go with the flow” Nat sat up from her position on the couch.
“Hey! there’s this new girl I’ve found for you! Her names Jane, very pretty” before she could go any further she got interrupted.
“Nat will you leave it, I don’t want to date”
“Oh come on Rogers, live a little, have some fun” Natasha winked at him and carried on scrolling through her phone. “One day you’ll say yes” she smirked.
Steve was honestly baffled by his team sometimes, he’s like their babysitter. “No, I won’t”.
“Sir, I have director Fury on the line for you” Jarvis said over the speakers.
“Send it through to my phone Jarvis” Steve said standing up to take his call.
“Ooh look at you all tech savvy” Clint said laughing.
Steve just sighed and kept walking.
“Director Fury, Sir, how may I be of assistance?” Leaning against the wall, Steve listened to what Fury was asking of him”
“Captain I need you to suit up and prepare for a mission, I need the whole team on this one” Fury explained.
“What’s the situation?”
“I have a rampaging creature I need taking down now! Get ready, I’ll send the coordinates”.
“yes sir” Hanging up the phone Steve made his way back into the living room, “suit up! we’ve got a mission, leaving in 5”
“Aww man, can’t I ever get a day off!, one day off that’s all I’m asking!”
“Stop being so dramatic Clint” Natasha states brushing past him to get to her room.
“Ughhhhhhhh, here we go again” Clint trudged after her.
“Stark! Get a move on, we need to go!” Steve shouted.
“Okay, okay I’m coming, geez what got your panties in a twist” with a warning glare from Steve, Tony put his hands up surrendering before laughing and telling Steve to grow up.
On the jet, they went over the plan. “Thor, Hulk, Tony you’re in the air I need you to distract the creature, we can’t have any more civilian casualties. Myself and Natasha will be on the ground, whilst Clint I need you up high”
All nodding, they prepared themselves for their next battle. The jet landing down gently and the door slowly descended. Once they got out of the jet, they were met with roars and screaming alarms. Steve addressed his team “If anyone needs back up, make sure to ask! We’re a team”.
When they got to where they need to be, the scene was unreal, “Oh my god!” Tony yelled through the comms. “Where did this come from!” Whilst circling around the monster.
When Steve got up closer he could see a humongous green slimy creature tearing through a building to his left. The creature was tall, taller than he imagined but with his plan in play, the team mates in the air should be able to take it down.
“Alright, heads up! We have to take it down before it gets to another place in the city!”
“And how do you think we’re going to do that! This things massive!” Tony yelled
“On my signal, hit hard up high! We’ll aim for the legs! - let’s go!”
A chorus of voice came over the comms, agreeing to the plan their captain put together.
Steve checked to make sure they were all ready and with a move of his hand, the signal was given!
They all moved in on the monster, Thor and Hulk couldn’t wait to get their hands on it.
“You will not beat me friend hulk, for I am the strongest avenger” Thor shouted whilst hulk just gave a growl in response and jumped into the air.
“Not a competition guys!” Steve shouted from the ground.
“Widow, we’re going to have to take the legs out, it’s the only chance of bringing this thing down” Steve crept over to a place just below the creature, where it couldn’t see him. “Okay go!” All at once they attacked the creature earning a booming roar to be heard for miles.
“Ugh guys, I think we just pissed it off!” Clint said over the comms.
The monster turned its attention on them and started swiping the air at iron man, who only just barely missed being caught. All of a sudden something glistening caught it’s eye on the floor and it’s attention shifted, Cap’s shield.
“Cap!! Watch out!” Tony said trying to distract the creature.
Which one sweep of its hands, it threw Steve into a building with a horrible noise. “Cap! Report!” Nothing
“Cap! Are you alright!” Clint was welcomed with a groan as response.
“Ugh, I’m fine, I’m okay just took the air out of me” steve was peeling himself out of the building brushing off the dust and debris from himself.
Natasha made her was over to him “Steve! You ok?”
“I’m alright, let’s just finish this” favouring his one shoulder they made it back to where the creature was just in time for Thor and Hulk to hit it hard. As they hit the beast, it stumbled and then fell directly onto a building which hadn’t been touched yet.
“Help!”
“Can anyone hear me!”
“Please!”
Steve turned his attention to where the calls had come from “do you hear that?”
“Hear what?” Confused Nat stares at him. Steve’s face was of concentration, staring off into the distance. From what she could see, his helmet was cracked and blood was appearing just below his cheek bone.
“I think you may have a concussion cap! Let’s get back to the jet”
Without warning Steve sprinted away, warning shouts and exclaims coming through the comms wondering where on earth he was going.
“Steve!!”
“Cap! Where are you going?!”
“Jarvis scan where he’s headed!”
Jarvis searched until it was clear to Tony what steve was going to do!
“Cap! Turn back, that buildings coming down any moment!”
“I have to try!” With a push he reached the building just in time to reach the yells he heard earlier. He skidded into the building, having to crawl through beams that had fallen and concrete everywhere.
“Hello! Can anyone hear me! He shouted into the wreckage. Pausing, he waited for another voice to sound before knowing which way to go.
“Here!”
“Help, I’m stuck!”
After confirmation, he started to make his way to the yelling voice “keep tapping, I’m coming!”
As he made his way over to the person he could tell the space was getting tighter and little groups of fire could be seen scattered around the place. The creaking of the building didn’t go unnoticed.
“Sound off!”
“Here!” As Steve approaches he could see a young woman lying on her back stuck with debris on her. There was a sense of familiarity to her.
“Oh thank god! I can’t get up, please help” the look in her eyes could tell Steve she was petrified.
“Okay, I want you to keep still okay. Im going to get this off you but we have to move quickly” the woman nodded her head rapidly and tried not to panic. Working at it, Steve removed the concrete and debris surrounding her which to him was as light as a feather but unmovable to her.
“Right, I think that’s it” Steve quietly said to himself.
“Are you injured? Are you hurt!”
“No I think im okay, thank you so much”
“Okay I want you to move slowly, any fast movements could trigger another colapse”
In that moment the woman stared at the captain before her, wondering why had he just dived into a collapsing building to save her.
After moving the debris from her she could now move her legs up and towards her.
“Thats it, slow movements” Steve encourages
“You’re going to be fine, I’ll get you out of here”
But with that the building trembled and shook.
The woman snapped her eyes to his and they stared at each other knowing this was going to be bad.
She’s never seen a man move that quick before but before she knew it he was pinning her to the ground, laying on top of her before everything came down at once.
“Ahhhhhhhhhh” she screamed as Steve pulled her head close into his body to avoid her getting hit. And then there was darkness.
“CAPTAIN!”
“Steve! Where are you!”
The noise on his comms woke him to find he was pretty stuck. As the building was coming down it had split this helmet in two revealing his face to the woman beneath him.
Shaking his head a bit, to clear his focus, he turned all his attention to her.
“Miss (cough) Miss are you hurt (cough)”
Being this close to the woman he could now see who it was. It was the lady who had spoken to him so nicely this morning, she had dust all over her and wasn’t responding.
He tried to shift his weight a bit so he wasn’t crushing her but hovering above her but there was a slab of debris on his back preventing him from making any movements.
Assessing the situation more closely, he could see the way he came in was blocked, there was no way he was going back the way he came in.
Snapping him out of his thinking, the woman came to it with a groan.
“Beth? Miss are you okay? I need you to keep your eyes open for me”
With that she peered up to him slowly and help his gaze.
“Steve?”
“Ye that’s right, are you okay?”
“I can’t move”
“I know sorry, we’ll get out of here I promise”
She looked up at the handsome man that was blocking her from harm and saw what was on top of his back. “Omg!! Are you hurt?!”
A big concrete slab had landed on him, it’s lucky he had his shield on or he would be in a lot of pain.
“You’re bleeding!” She exclaimed, looking closer she saw his helmet had disappeared and there was blood trickling down from his head.
“I’m alright, don’t worry about me. I need you to tell me if you’re hurting anywhere” his eyes searched her face whilst she stared back up at him with concern.
“No I’m okay, I think I’m okay? I don’t feel pain anywhere” she scrunched her nose trying to search her body for any injuring before returning her gaze to the captain above her.
“You should have left me, now you’re hurt, I’m so sorry” tears formed in her eyes.
“Hey, listen I wasn’t going to leave you here”
“But your Captain America! Why would you risk your life for mine!” Rapidly searches his face to find a reason he simply replied with “every life is worth saving”.
“If only I’d know I was speaking to captain America this morning” laughing she stared up at him.
“And now I’m being saved by him”, “you should of left me captain”
“Beth, I’m here, I’m not leaving and if I do we’re both going together”
“You remembered my name?”
“Sorry Miss…”
“No it’s fine! You can call me my name!”
Stunned the great captain America remembered her name he giggled and Steve couldn’t work out why. Here they were, stuck in the middle of a collapsed building and she was making light of the situation.
“So… can I call you Steve, or should I call you captain”
“Steve is fine” he smiled at her before shifting his facial features to one of pain.
“Steve! What’s wrong?”
“There’s something in my thigh” Steve grunted, the weight on top of him was also getting heavier by the second.
“We have to get out of here” he explained. She sensed his urgency and became more alerted.
“Steve, can I help? What can I do? I may be able to get out from under you.”
“It’s too dangerous, if anything falls or another collapse happens…”
“It’s okay steve, I’ll be fine”
Searching her face, he could see this was the only way out.
“I can’t move much the debris on my back is weighing me down, I may be able to hold it until you get out”
Beth nodded her head and agreed to what the captain was proposing.
“You need to move slow or we could cause a further collapse”
“Right okay, I’m ready”
“3, 2, 1” Steve whispered, he grunted holding the weight of the building on his back, his face a full picture of pain. “Now” he grunted.
With his instruction Beth started to wiggle out from underneath him but the rubble above them started to shift.
“Don’t move! It’s coming down!” Steve growled
He tucked himself further into Beth trying to protect her from anything that could fall and injure her but he didn’t expect her to wrap her hands around his own head to try protect him best she could.
“Tuck your arms underneath me, you might be injured” Steve gasped.
“No, you don’t have anything to protect you!”
“It’s fine!”
“No you’ll be hurt too!”
“I can take it”
“But you don’t have to!! I’m not moving!”
They clung to each other as the building fell around them protecting each other the best that they could. All that could be heard was their gasping and groaning when something would fall a bit to close for comfort.
Meanwhile outside the building the avengers were trying to get their captain out.
“He’s such a wreck less fool, when will he bloody listen!” Nat screamed
“I need medical on stand by! We need to get to him now!” Tony yelled at the agents standing by.
“Thor can’t you do something”
“What would you like me to do man of Iron?” Thor said angrily.
“I dunno your a God, do something godly”
“Guys we should be focusing on Steve” Nad exclaimed.
A rumbling interrupted their bickering and everyone turned to the building where their captain was. The building was caving in on itself and was going down.
“Steve!!!”
It seemed like forever but it stopped, the noise stopped, and there was just silence.
Inside the wreckage was just the heavy breaths of two individuals trying to survive.
“Am I dead?” Beth whispered
“Nope, I’m in too much pain to be dead”
“Where is it hurting? can I help you at all? I’m so sorry, this is all my fault I shouldn’t of said anything”
Steve looked towards the her and put on his captain America face.
“It’s my job, I will get you out of here I promise”
Steve went quiet assessing his injuries, he could tell there was definitely something in his thigh and the pressure above him was pushing it further through his flesh, he could only think it must be a metal rod.
His back was in pieces and his arms were beginning to shake.
“We need to try again” Beth said looking up at him. Groaning steve nodded his head slowly “I can’t hold this much longer but I can hold it long enough for you to try get out”
Steve realised that all the weight above him was going to come down whether he liked it or not. If he could hold it together until she was out, she’d survive.
“But what about you?”
“My team are coming, they’ll find me”
“You’ll die!”
“I’ve got a better chance of living than you” looking into her eyes, he could see she didn’t like the idea. “Please, there’s a gap you can get through over there, you can make it” he pleaded. He couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t go, if this was anyone else they’d be gone, they wouldn’t give a second thought about him.
Staring up at him she could see in his eyes, the moment she’s out, he was going to give up.
“Don’t you have anything to live for”
Steve’s eyes widened at the question, how could she see straight through him.
“I uh I have my team”
“Well live for them” she smiled sadly up at him and began to shimmy further down beneath him.
“What’re you doing? You’re meant to be going that way!?”
Beth carried on and lifted her legs up around his body and planted her feet on the slab above him and put all her efforts into holding some of the weight.
“If you’re not leaving neither am I, I can try my best to help some way”
Steve was quite uncomfortable in this position as her legs were either side of him but surprisingly it did help a little. He could see her gritting her teeth and using all the strength she had just to keep a bit of weight off him.
“We need a plan” Steve breathed out
“Now.. you’re.. talking” she gasped out “how on earth are you holding this up!?”
“You know, you’re one of the only people to stay, most people just leave you know”
“I’m not leaving you Steve, you came in here to save me, god knows why but I’m not going to leave you, get.. get crushed!”
“Okay” he sighed, giving into her finally. He could tell she wasn’t going anywhere so now the plan had to be changed to get the both of them out safetly.
“I have a metal rod in my thigh.. I need you to try get it out” Beth stared disbelievingly at him with shocked eyes.
“You want me to what?”
“If we’re both getting out of here, I need it out”
“I knew you were planning on giving up!!”
“Sorry, cause of habit” Steve smiled at her.
“You need to get out from underneath me though”
“Will you promise me not to give up?, I know I don’t know you but please, just don’t leave”
“I promise” Steve braced his arms ready for her to move “you ready?” She nodded and started moving.
Moving her legs down she managed to scoot her way underneath his arm and out into the little air pocket they’d miraculously found themselves in. Finally out from under Steve she could see him shift his weight and go lower to the floor now he knew he couldn’t crush her.
“Oh..my..god” she shockingly looked back at his face and said “that’s been there this entire time!”
Inspecting his thigh she could see a metal rod connected to the slab above him was impaling his thigh.
“I don’t know what to do.. Steve.. what do I do?”
“I need you to pull it out…”
“No!” She interrupted “I can’t, it’ll hurt you so much”
“I can take it, look pull the end back through my thigh and I’ll move my leg further out so I’m out of the way of it” Steve looked over his shoulder and could see the panic on her face.
“Beth look at me” he said softly “I can’t hold this weight and take it out myself, you can do this”
With shaking hands she reached the metal road and laughed nervously “you want me to count or….”
“It’s okay just pull, I’ll stay as still as I can”
“You’re crazy”
Steve huffed a laugh, a real laugh, how could humour be found in this situation but here he was laughing with this woman he’d only seen this morning.
“Okay here we go…” she wrapped her hands around the rod and pulled with all her strength
“Ahhhhhhh” Steve couldn’t hold in the scream that left him, “keep going!” He said through gritted teeth. “Ughhhh”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry I’ve nearly got it!” She could see all the blood coating his uniform and it was making the metal slippery and hard to keep a good grip on it, but she knew she couldn’t let go. If she let go, it would go straight back into his thigh.
“Nearly there… okay!.. move!.. move now!!”
Steve painfully scraped his knee across the floor moving his thigh out of the way.
“I can’t hold it!”
“It’s okay let it go I think I’m out of the way”
With one hand she tried to carefully put it back to the position but with the other she quickly put on Steve’s inner thigh to push his leg more to the left.
Steve grunted from the uncomfortable position he was it but let her guide his leg to the correct place. It had been forever since he’d been this close in contact with someone.
When that was done, their heavy breathing was loud. Steve was still grunting and gritting his teeth from the pain but now it was time to think of plan B.
“Thank you” he whispered “I know that must of been hard”
“I’m sorry I hurt you” Beth faced her face towards him and thought about the fact that without him here right now risking his life she would for sure be a goner.
Looking towards her, Steve could see she was frowning at him, like she was studying him but there was a sense of worry in her eyes.
“Don’t be sorry, it needed to be done”
He looked exhausted, he was injured, tired and borderline giving up. She didn’t know how long they’d been trapped here but it felt like an eternity. At a push, she’d guess it was about 2 hours of hell.
“What now?” She asked him
“This part you won’t like”, grimacing he carried on “you need to get through that gap over there….”
“No!”
“It’ll be fine, I’ll be right behind you, I promised remember I don’t intend to break it”
“Steve I swear to god if you don’t make it, I’ll make you wish you were dead”
Chuckling he said “let’s make sure nothing happens then”
Both smiling at each other, Steve shifted his weight and knew if he was doing this he’d have to move quick, his strength was fading after all this time.
“You’re stuck aren’t you” pulling a face at him
“I may be a little stuck but once you’re clear I’m going to try run”
“What about your leg!?”
“You’re just going to have to trust me I guess. I’ll need you to try your best to clear the path out a bit”
“I’ll try Steve, please don’t leave, because you know I’ll just feel awful! I don’t want to be responsible for the death of captain America! I mean…”
“Beth your rambling”
“Sorry.. I just, I talked to you this morning” huffing a laugh “and now I’m stuck in a building that nearly crushed us! And you saved my life”.
They both looked at each other and the decision was made. In that moment they knew this was the only option they had.
“Okay captain, I’m ready”
“You’ll be fine, just follow the light out”
“After we make it out of here, I owe you a drink” she bravely said
“I’ll take you up with that offer, cmon we don’t have much time”
With one last look she pushed through the burning rubble and debris, trying her best to make room for Steve to run through. Beth weaved through and with one last push fell into the grass on the other side of the building.
There was no one here but sirens could be heard from the side Steve had originally entered from.
“Okay! Steve! I’m out!” Shouting into the used to be building Beth whispered to herself “I hope he makes it out”
Right at the edge of the opening she waiting and called his name. “Steve!?”
Steve was left alone in the building but he’d made a promise and he intended to keep it. His last one didn’t work out so well with Peggy and this was another chance for him.
With all his strength and a bellowing yell he pushed up with all his might and lifted the rubble above his head. His leg was in agony and he favoured his other one but knew it would be painful getting out of this situation but Beth was safe and that’s all that mattered to him. Stones and rocks fell around him and clattered on the floor creating a dust cloud. There was nothing left to do but run before this building fully comes down.
With a gritted face he threw the debris and dashed towards the exit. Load roars from the building surrounded him as it finishes it’s last collapse.
“Steve!! Get out of there! Run!”
Beth screamed trying to get a closer look within the opening she just came out from but a huge dust cloud obscured her vision.
All of a sudden the air was stolen from her and something barrelled into her knocking her back onto the grass.
“Awwwww that hurt”
“STEVE!!” With a cry she hugged him and was so relieved he’d made it out.
“Told you I don’t break my promises” he grinned but remained on his back, on the grass staring at the sky.
“You can’t move can you”
“Just give me a moment”
Laughing Beth stared at him with humour dancing in her eyes making Steve laugh along with her.
“Help me up will you please?”
Steve stumbled to his feet trying not to put a lot of pressure on his injured leg. Looking at each other in the light they could see they both had quite a few superficial injuries. Beth had blood down the side of her face and all over her hands and Steve, well he just looked a mess. His hair was all over the place, blood flowed from his hair line down his cheek. He was far from his neat captain America persona.
Hobbling together Steve and Beth slowly tried to make their way back to the other side of the building where he knew everyone was. Both clinging to each other to hold each other up they were thankful to have both made it out.
Back with the avengers, they had lost their cool shouting at everyone to do something, when in all reality what can you do when a building is rapidly collapsing.
“Where is he!?”
“We need to find the captain now!”
“It’s been ages! Who knows if he’s still alive in there!”
Medics were on alert waiting for any signal to move in to try recover their missing captain.
All of a sudden everyone heard a loud yell.
“Cap!! We’re coming hang on!” They screamed
They knew that was their captains voice and now became extremely worried.
As soon as the yell came the building imploded in on its self, everything came crashing down.
“no” Nat whispered, had the avengers just witnessed the end to their captain?
Unknown to them, their captain was making his way back around to their location.
All the avengers had tears in there eyes, they needed to find him quick and get him out of there no matter what state he was it.
They all stood there standing, watching the space the yell came from.
From around the corner Steve and Beth limped towards the avengers.
Movement caught Natasha’s eye and she let her tears run down her face before loudly whispering “Steve?” Before running as fast as she could to his location.
The other avengers caught on and also ran over to him.
As soon as Nat reached him she embraced him with a crushing hug “I thought you had gone”
“Ah careful, I’m sore” trying to curl in on himself.
The medics all ran over desperately trying to get the captain to accept medical assistance.
“I’m fine, help her” Steve said indicating to Beth.
“You should be seen first Steve, your hurt”
“Not until you’re seen to”
Reluctantly nodding she walked to him, trying not to be so intimidated by the avengers surrounding them.
“I need her checked over!” Steve shouted to the medical group.
With one last look she followed the medic trying to usher her over to the waiting ambulance.
“Come on Steve let’s get you back to the tower” Tony said relived to see the captain in the flesh.
“I want to wait to make sure she’s okay” insisting on staying, the avengers tried their best to get him into the jet but when Steve Rogers has set his mind on something, nothing and no one will change it. He’s stubborn like that.
Making his way to the ambulance, he caught Beth’s eyes and gave her a soft smile.
“Sooo.. that promise huh?” She teased
“Well where would you like to go?” Leaning against the ambulance his smile was infectious.
“Take me anywhere cap, I’ll follow you”
“It’s a date”