Imagine If You Assembled The Avengers: Volume 2

I Know That Look (Rogers x reader)

A one-shot based on the gif set above that Wattpad won't let me load because it's too big...

The first time you were the focus of those eyes, the deep blue pools that were now raging and churning as they watched you, you were flat on your back in the center of Lagos, watching Captain Rogers get closer to delivering your fate with each crushing step. The sand beneath his feet grated with the slide of his boots, the sound echoing in your head with every relentless beat of your pulse after hitting it so hard against one of the rickety old tables when he threw you into it. When he saw you begin to sit up again, even as wobbly and uncertain as you were, it didn't take long for him to cross the small courtyard to try to stop you.

You knew that look, and this time it might actually be the last you would see of it.

But then by some divine intervention or miraculous surge of adrenaline at just the right moment, when his hand darted down to pick you up, you grabbed his wrist and cranked it around with a loud grunt, standing as his body spun so that you could maintain your hold. You brought the sharp edge of your boot's heel into the back of his knee, buckling the joint to drop him to the dirt, solidifying your grip on his arm so that when the heavy weight of his body pulled him down, he dislocated his own shoulder.

"You're...ugh, you're gonna have to...do better than that," he grimaced, teeth so tightly clenched that you could hear them grinding together even over the voices of the gathering crowds around you.

"Where's Romanoff and Wilson? Or the witch?"

"We got separated."

"That's not what I asked you, Captain."

"Well I don't know what else to tell you, (Y/N). Other than that I sure wasn't expecting to see you here." He shifted enough that it rang alarms in your mind that you might not have the advantage here, so you gave his arm your full energy to wrench it unnaturally away from his body, eliciting a whimpering, pleading tone that begged you to stop; you had never thought you would hear something of the like from the man, but it didn't convince you to release him.

"I'm going to walk away, Rogers," you warned in a low, dark tone as you leaned in closer, "and you're gonna let me, are we clear? You're right, I wasn't supposed to be here, so you never saw me, we didn't fight, none of this happened. You let me walk and I won't make your shoulders into a matching set."

"You won't get very far."

"Not gonna stop me from trying," you sighed heavily. The crowds were only growing denser the longer you stayed there, their intrusive stares boring into you with accusations and no understanding of what was really going on. If only there were more time, you could finish this the right way. If there were more time, maybe you could convince Steve and his team that you really weren't all that bad, and that letting you go wasn't such a big deal. You could maybe even offer him something that you knew he wanted just to get him off your trail. But of course, there was no time for that, and as you ran into the crowd to find your anonymity, you began to count the days until you would see that look in his eyes again.

~~~

"Oh, come on! It's been like three days!"

"Normally it doesn't take me this long to find someone," Steve snapped back, rapidly closing the gap between you, his feet stomping towards you with a new surge of determination from the last time you had seen him from this angle. The view was much the same, as were his eyes, filled with rage that you were in no way eager to entertain. But once again, you were at the disadvantage, only this time there would be no sudden attack from you; you were immobilized from your own injury, your leg broken in too many places to even consider stepping onto it. When he reached down to grab your arm and yank you onto your feet, your shout out in sharp pain halted him, instead swinging his arm behind you to lift you into him.

"Are you hurt?"

"No, I just like to test my range every now and again," you hissed, proud that you could still maintain sarcasm under the pain. "Trying to see if I can still hit that blood-curdling, death scream. Put me down."

"Like hell..."

"I can...hop. Anything to get your big dumb hands off me."

"You really think that I'm going to let go of you when I finally have you under control? I'm turning you in the first chance that I get." Steve stopped and turned to face the sound of Sam's voice, trying to call out to him but quickly silenced into a choking grunt. All that he could see was the hand reaching around the corner to grab him, easily tossing him away like a rag doll that weighed nothing. With you in his arms, Steve wasn't able to fight, but he also wasn't willing to put you down, even though your injury left it unlikely for you to actually try to get away. Instead, he started backing away and towards the elevator, hoping to make it in time.

"This isn't gonna end well," you warned, still trying to squirm away, "you don't want to take this guy on."

"And you do?! You're already immobile with that leg, so just shut up and let me figure this out."

"Hey, don't tell me to shut up, you ass."

"Don't call me an ass."

"Then stop acting like one."

"I swear, you are so infuriating-" Steve began, but he was abruptly cut off by the swing of an arm that he barely ducked away from, miraculously not dropping you in the process. He continued to evade each intended hit that came his way, but it didn't take long for him to find himself out of steps to take, and he was backed against the doors of the elevator, holding you more firmly than before.

"Steve, put me down and run or you'll regret this."

"I'm not leaving you here with him. He'll kill you. I know that look."

"He won't," you insisted, shifting your body within his grasp enough to be facing him, your hands on either side of his head and pressed against the door. It left you looking into those same blue eyes yet again, only this time instead of the rage and vengeance that they normally held for you, they carried worry and maybe even a little bit of regret, but it wasn't enough. "He'll save me."

"What do you mean-"

Before Steve could put it together, you pulled back and thrust your arms out at just the right time; a hand pushed against your back with enough force to slam the breath from your lungs at the impact, the shock of it pushing you both into the door to make it give way into the nothingness below. As Steve's body toppled back and into the elevator shaft, the same hand that hit you grabbed your shirt to snatch you from thin air when the Captain's grip faltered. When the dust settled and you could catch your breath, you allowed a quick sigh of relief at the feeling of safety in the Winter Soldier's arms and the silence from the hard floor so many stories below.