Imagining Steve

Strobe Lights

This one shot is Reader x Steve, and I wrote it a while back, so it's not that great.

But I enjoyed writing/editing/reading this one shot while I created it, and I hope you like it too.

[A/N]

The party had lasted hours, and the strobe lights were starting to give you a headache. Tony had decided throwing a New Years party at the Tower was a great idea. You'd begged to be assigned on a mission, you did not feel like partying.... Ever.

He'd laughed, and told you to get ready for the party. You'd just grumbled about Cap getting to go on the mission, and how you shouldn't have to stick around for a party.

It was formal dress, and you took great pleasure in wearing your super suit just to annoy Tony. Clint had slipped away from the group of the rest of the Avengers and done the same. You'd exchanged a high five.

You sat on one of the leather couches in the loft area, trying to ignore all the loud obnoxious party goers in the lower part of the room. Natasha, one of your best friends, was playing bartender, and of course Bruce was downstairs flirting with her. Tony was partying things up, and Clint was nowhere to be found. Thor was some realm Odin knows where, and the Captain had gotten lucky. He assigned himself on a mission chasing down a lead on Bucky.

Steve was your other best friend, and you went together on every mission. You were the first person he'd been able to connect with after he was defrosted, and you'd been the greatest of friends. When SHIELD disintegrated you found yourself without a job. Steve had suggested you become an Avenger.

At first you'd laughed, there was no way they'd take you on. Steve had insisted that your physical skills were enough to rival Nat's, and you possessed mental abilities that you were mostly sure were unique to your brain. You could read minds, and memories, making you a huge asset.

Eventually Steve got you recruited, and you'd taken to the work well. You'd worn a plain black uniform in the beginning, but it'd quickly gotten trashed. You'd insisted on a better uniform, and Tony had attempted to play a joke on you. He'd turned you into another walking flag, and you basically matched Steve. You'd loved the uniform, much to Tony's annoyance. From then on, the group called you and Steve "team America", but neither of you cared.

This was the first time you hadn't accompanied him on a mission in over a year, and you were ridiculously nervous that he was going to get himself hurt without you there. You'd insisted he at least bring Sam, and he'd agreed.

You didn't want to tell him the reason you were worried about him. You couldn't, it would mess up your friendship, and the team. You could never tell him you had a serious crush on him. In the two years you'd known him, you'd fallen head over combat boots, but you never told him. You were too afraid he didn't feel the same way.

You paced alone in the loft, back and forth, aggressively chewing your lip. It'd been 34 hours since he'd left, and you were anxiously counting the moments until he would come back.

A rough knock on the wall pulled you out of your pace down memory lane, and your head snapped up.

"Hey." came a horribly familiar voice. It was (your/ex's/name). You internally groaned. You never should've dated that idiot. It'd been a bad breakup, and over two years ago. He had been recruited by Tony, as part of a group of SHIELD agents that had been offered jobs working with the Avengers. As soon as you'd found out he'd been recruited, you had threatened Tony until he agreed to never put you on a mission with him.

"Long time no see." (your/ex's/name) grinned at you, leaning against the wall, staring at you. It was more than a little creepy.

"There's a reason for that." you told him frostily. After dating for a month or two, you'd cut it off, not truly interested in him. He'd flipped, and stalked you for months. You'd filed a restraining order, but he followed you everywhere. You couldn't get him to stop, until you met Cap. He'd posed as your boyfriend to get the creep to back off, and from that moment you'd been friends.

"Oh c'mon, I can tell you're still interested in me." he moved closer to you, and you suddenly grew very nervous. You knew how to knock people out easily, and normally you could take care of this. However, (your/ex's/name) was also trained and you still would end up with some bruises.

"No one will ever know." he said, walking closer. You backed up a little, and he stepped farther, grabbing your left arm. You attempted to kick his elbow, forcing him to let go, but he anticipated the move. He grabbed your thigh too, stopping you. Your eyes narrowed, you did not appreciate being touched by the creep, especially not there.

"You've always liked me, you don't have to be ashamed, it's the way things are meant to be." his eyes were dark, his smile disturbing, and this was starting to really make you nervous. You slowly pulled a knife out of your pocket with your right hand, and got ready.

He kept his hand on your thigh, and slowly slid it up your leg. You panicked, what the hell was this guy pulling? You pulled your arm back and punched him square in the face, and he stumbled away, releasing you. You heard footsteps on the stairs, and sighed with relief.

(Your/ex's/name) lunged forward, pinning you against the far wall, he hadn't seemed to notice the people coming upstairs. His face pressed forward and he attempted to push his lips against yours. You recoiled, and attempted to push him away. He fought to press his mouth to yours, and you fought to shove him away.

Suddenly he was pulled away from you, and you fell to the floor, sliding down the wall with relief. (Your /ex's/name) was on the floor, but you couldn't see much of him as he was being beaten, by none other than Steve Rogers.

You stared, mouth agape as Steve punched the guy over and over. Punch after punch flew, turning the guy into a bloody mess. You couldn't believe the super soldier was even here, and that he was beating up your assaulter. You stumbled off of the floor, and out of your stupor, rushing forward. You hesitantly reached for him, and put your hand on his (ridiculously)muscled shoulder.

"Steve! Enough!" you said in your most commanding voice. He turned to look at you, his face visibly furious, eyes narrowed and angry. But when he saw you his turquoise eyes refocused and softened. He stood quickly, pulling you off of the floor with him. He held you by the elbows, and bent over to look in your eyes.

"Are you okay?" He asked concerned, and you found it extremely hard to focus when he was touching you. You tried to nod, unable to do much else. The fact that he was so concerned about you was so sweet, and it meant the world to you. It also left you unable to respond properly.

You tried to worked up the nerve while staring into his eyes. You finally(after 2 yearning years) leaned up to kiss him, but his lips were already on yours.

His response was immediate, and his lips came to life against yours. His arms slid around your waist, and you could feel the smile in his lips. Your hand slid up to his hair, and you intertwined your fingers in it. Your breathing quickened, and you leaned closer into him. His kisses were soft but passionate, and the way he held you was making the world go fuzzy.

"I've been waiting years to do that." he murmured into your lips. He pulled back, and you noticed the strobe lights and party music had stopped. You looked away from his eyes to look down at the lower half of the room to see the team, and various other guests. Tony had the biggest smirk of all, and you watched as people laughed, and literally exchanged money.

"Did they actually take bets on this?" You asked, turning to look back into Steve's eyes. He shrugged with a sly smile.

"I don't care what they think." he lifted a hand to trace circles across your cheekbones with his thumb, his blue eyes bright and happy.

"They just have to get used to it." he continued with a grin, bending down to kiss you again.