The Super-Soldier's Engineer | Steve Rogers x OC

006 | Bloodied and Bruised

The next morning, I awoke to a cold and empty apartment. The spot on the couch where Steve had filled the night before was vacant. I couldn't help but let a small pout fall over my lips as FRIDAY's voice sounded through the apartment, "All Avengers and Dr. Mitchell report to the meeting room for briefing."

Sighing quietly, I pulled myself from the couch and decided to get on with the day, walking into the all-too-familiar meeting room a little later to find Steve and Nat already sat at the table.

"Good morning," I greeted them both, taking my seat beside Nat as I smiled at her.

"Hiiiii," Nat beamed as Steve muttered a quiet 'morning,' his eyes staying fixed on the projector in front of him, refusing to make eye contact with me. So it's gonna be one of those mornings, huh?

I nodded slightly and smiled at them both before beginning to greet everyone as they filed in, Sam took a seat beside me and Bucky beside Steve, Clint sitting on Sam's other side. Tony and Bruce were the last to enter the room. They both held keep cups of coffee as they ceased their seemingly engaging conversation, turning their attention to the 6 people sat in front of them.

"Morning everyone," Tony smiled as he nodded at us, taking out a laser pointer and flicking it at the projector, security footage of my apartment block appearing on the screen, "We have a suspicion that these people right here-" he pointed at a few hooded figures on the screen, "- are HYDRA agents. Steve, Nat and Bucky, you three will be passively entering the scene for the purposes of research only. Sam, Clint and I will be monitoring you from the control room and will notify you if anything goes south, okay?"

Each of the Avengers nodded as they moved off to their respective assignments. I, however, gave Tony and Bruce a small shrug, unsure of why I was called up. "We wanted to let you know what's happening - include you in it, since you're basically at the centre of it," Tony gave me a small smile before going to walk out, turning around before he did so, "You and Bruce will be in the lab awaiting their return." And with that, Tony walked out.

Bruce smiled and gestured for me to walk with him as he shuffled out of the room. I hopped up and jogged after him, my brows a little furrowed, "What're we doing today?"

"We'll be beginning the process of turning our serum into an injectable liquid," he nodded as we walked side-by-side to the lab. A smile spread across my lips as I nodded in response, ecstatic to be involved not only in one of the Avenger's missions, but also to be getting a taste of my dream job.

A few hours later, Bruce was deep into combining and stirring certain innocuous liquids in an attempt to recreate the serum into an injectable solution. While he worked, I busied myself researching vaccine components and assessing the risks. We had two vastly different ideas of safety - Bruce leapt right into the danger with little to no risk assessment, whereas I chose to sit back and do the assessing and researching for the both of us.

"Hey, do you think they'll actually manage to complete the mission passively?" I questioned, the safety of my friends playing on my mind as I shifted my gaze from the computer screen to Bruce.

"Ah, I couldn't tell you, to be honest. They've managed it before but it's pretty rare that they stay undetected or that something doesn't go wrong," he chuckled, glancing over his shoulder to me with a reassuring smile, "But they're the Avengers, they always manage to get out relatively unscathed."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," I laughed, looking back to the keyboard, beginning to quietly type again.

Before long, an alarm sounded through the building before FRIDAY's voice cut through it, "Captain Rogers, Sergeant Barnes and Miss. Romanoff have returned." Bruce and I exchanged worried glances as we waited in anticipation. Thankfully, we didn't have to wait long as the elevator doors rolled open and three bloodied and bruised figures appeared.

"Shit," I whispered, watching them for a second before starting to grab antibacterial wipes and other implements to clean the three up.

"Guessing the whole passive thing didn't pan out?" Bruce chuckled as he carefully sat Nat and Bucky on two stools, Steve resting on the edge of the counter.

"Yeah, who would've guessed," Nat laughed lightly as Bruce began to gently clean and soothe her and Bucky's cuts.

Picking up a few wipes, I made my way over to Steve, who seemed to be in the worst state of them all. "Hi," I gave him a small smile as he nodded in response, subtly returning the smile as I gently picked up one of his hands. Steve flinched as I began wiping over his knuckles with the alcohol wipes, "I'm sorry. It'll be over in a sec."

Steve hummed in response as I continued cleaning his lacerations, a small pout spreading over my lips as I realised just how beat up the super-soldier in front of me really was. Finally, I came to his forehead and gave him a small, apologetic smile, "This is gonna hurt. I'm sorry in advance," before gently dabbing at a deep cut.

His jaw clenched and his brows furrowed as he tensed, attempting to firm the stinging pain. His baby blues glanced up to meet my own as he watched the flickers of concern in them, appearing to get lost for a moment.

"Steve? Hi. I'm just gonna use this on your forehead, okay?" I spoke as he snapped out of his little day dream to see me holding Dr. Banner and I's serum.

"It's okay, it'll heal. I don't need that," he defied while attempting to stand up, seeming embarrassed by his engrossed gazing as he glanced between the serum and I.

"Steve, please just trust me. It's been tested and it works. Otherwise, you're gonna need stitches," I gave him a small smile as he continued to shake his head.

"Steve. Just put the ego to the side and trust me for once in your life. Please. And if you don't trust me, trust Doctor Banner," I sighed, resting a hand on his shoulder as I gave it a reassuring rub. He seemed to settle a little and his eyes met mine again as he nodded, mouthing a quiet 'okay.'

Taking a small amount of the serum on a cotton ball, I leant closer to Steve, still holding his shoulder with my other hand as I gently dabbed the sticky liquid on his forehead. He kept his eyes fixated on mine until I was finished and looked down to meet his gaze. He frantically looked to the side as his cheeks flushed a light shade of pink, clearing his throat, "Is it working?"

I smiled fondly at him for a moment before looking to his forehead again, nodding at the quickly healing gash, "Yeah, you're all good."

"Good. Thanks," he gave me a small smile before abruptly standing up and walking towards the elevator, letting out a heavy sigh as he did so.

Nat popped up beside me as she gently shoved me, giggling quietly, "Was that a moment or was that a moment?"

"That was absolutely not a moment," I scolded her before laughing myself, gently shoving her back. Nat pretended to stumble before we both started laughing as she dragged me out of the lab.

"C'mon. Tony's throwing a party tonight and I'm gonna get you ready," she laughed as we rode the elevator up to our level. Nat leant over and quietly whispered,

"It was definitely a moment."