Avengers Imagines

Steve X Reader

You leaned heavily against the door frame to your room and sighed heavily. The bed was so close but you could drop right where you stood and not give it a second thought. You forced your legs to work and dropped your bag just inside the door. It had been a long and hard mission that you returned from and all you wanted to do was curl up and never come back out from under the covers. However you forced your self to peel off the burn and tattered clothing and grab a pair of Steve's gym shorts and a tee before collapsing on the bed.

You curled up and pulled the blankets up to your chin while you stared into the darkness around you. With all your might you tried forgetting the mission so you could sleep, but the smell of smoke filled your nose and your lungs burned with every breath you sucked in.

To say the mission failed would almost be an understatement. All three of you had been completely unprepared for what you faced. It was just a tiny Hydra base, something you Tony and Steve should have been able to handle. No one expected the place to be over run with agents, and worse, Bucky was there so Steve wasn't all that helpful to you and Tony.

You were half asleep when you felt the bed dip slightly behind you and felt an arm slide around your waist. You rolled over to curl up against Steve, but he wasn't there. Yet somehow you knew he was, even if not physically. You imagined the way he would hold you after a mission and if he saw you now how he would gently run his thumb over the cut on your jaw that was bound to scar. You opened you're eyes and a glint of red caught your eye. In the pile of discarded items by the door lay the now ownerless shield, you could still hear the sound of the shield hitting the concrete and sliding.  You rolled over again as the scene played out in your mind for the hundredth time that night.

~~~

You and Steve made you way to the nearest building. The plan was to simply cover him while he cut the power and Tony delt with keeping an exit clear. Steve was already entering the building while you were still about one hundred yards away when it happened.

The sound was as if someone had fired and rifle right beside your unprotected ear followed by the blast of heat. You were thrown farther back and rolled across the ground. Your ears rang and your body felt numb as you tried to catch your breath. The shield skidded to a halt a few feet away as you pulled yourself to your hands and knees.

'No.' You don't know if it was spoken or thought. Your gaze snapped back to the burning building hoping to see him walk out. It didn't take long for the fire to spread to other buildings, but you saw it, someone was walking past the flames.

You closed your eyes for a long moment of relief, but when you opened them your blood ran cold. The angry flames reflected off the cold metal arm as he approached you.

"No!" You're pretty sure you screamed it this time as you pulled your gun and fired point blank at him. Someone from behind yanked you to your feet and the feeling if the knife across your jaw brought you out of your numb stooper.

Tony came then, grabbed you and the shield and flew off. You stared at the flat line of Steve's vitals when you sat in the jet. Your eyes never left the gage, even after the connection was lost.

~~~

Whether or not you actually shot James Barnes is unknown, but as you stared at the wall across from you, you vowed to track him down and kill him the first chance you got.