Imagine If You Assembled The Avengers: Volume 2

Anti-Social (Rogers/Evans x reader)

I just like the universe where Steve and Chris exist together

You hadn't been much for social media until you started working with the Avengers as their publicity manager, finding that it was a necessity to be able to do your job as well as to monitor what talk about the team had been happening in the world around them. Steve had taken to it fairly quickly once Sam pushed him into getting a few accounts, none the more troublesome for you than his Twitter account. Freedom of speech is one thing; but when Steve got on a hot topic that he was passionate about, it wasn't uncommon for you to have to step in and shut him down.

But now, it was just so much worse. He had one particular friend who joined in his enthusiasm for the media modality, and now that he too had been brought to life over a common political topic, Steve was spending more time on his phone Tweeting him than he was planning missions or any other team business for that matter. It was a worrisome sight to have Steve be so lax about his work, and even though he was becoming a strong voice to safeguard the rights of those less fortunate as he was always meant to, it was taking its toll on his teammates.

"Steve, put down the goddamn phone," Tony growled, slamming his tablet down on the table with a bang. "I'm gonna need you to pay attention, if you don't mind. If you can't do your job as Captain, at least humor me and pretend to follow along."

"Hmm?" he mumbled absentmindedly. "Sorry, but David Duke is going after Chris and I can't just sit by and not say anything."

"Yes, you can," Bucky joined in, "he's a big boy and can fight his own Twitter battles. You actually have a real battle here to focus on."

Steve stood up and kept his attention on the device in his hand, waving casually as he made his way to the hallway just outside of the conference room where the team had remained and sat still to watched incredulously. "Yeah, sure, just give me a few minutes...be right...be right back."

"Where's (Y/N)?" Clint asked, standing to look through the large windows that gave a clear view into the compound's living room in search of you. "Maybe she can pull his head out of his ass."

"They've been together for two years, Barton, and it hasn't popped out yet," Tony snickered, lifting the tablet reluctantly, knowing that once again, he was on his own to make the plan that was supposed to be Steve's. "But you know what we haven't considered here? Maybe it's not for (Y/N) to do."

"What you gettin' at?" Bucky asked, perking up for any idea that might get Cap back on track.

Tony sat quietly for a few minutes, looking as if he were searching his mind to complete his thoughts, when suddenly he grabbed his phone with a troublemaker's grin and swiped his thumb quickly over the glass in his search. "Anyone have Evans' number?"

~~~

"Chris, come on, I can help," Steve argued with his friend, doing his best to mask the frustration in his voice when he wasn't getting his way. "The last thing you need is some white supremacist idiot goading you into saying something that could ruin your career. He's pushing your buttons and you're letting him."

"Woah, since when has the trust died, Cap? Do you really think that I'm gonna be that stupid?"

"You? No. This guy..." he sighed, "yeah, this guy is more than you want to take on. You know, sometimes people just kinda...disappear..."

"No, Steve! I'm not about to let you fight this battle for me. Don't you have enough real fights to worry about?" Chris laughed, but it almost had a nervous quality that didn't escape his friend. "Besides, people say that I'm turning into you."

"That's what I'm afraid of, kid."

"Listen, Cap, if you have no opinion on a certain issue, that's your right. But if you do, and choose not to speak up out of fear of repercussion, shame on you." Chris sat silent for a beat and waited for Steve to give him a comeback that shot him down or berated him further for sticking his neck out just a bit too far and a bit too publicly, but it never happened. He could sense that his friend wasn't sure what to say, so in a quiet gesture, he let the guy off the hook. "Steve, I'm just doing what I thought you would do. I don't like bullies either."

"You're such a little shit."

"Language, man, come on! It just sounds weird when you do it."

"Really?" Steve grumbled, shaking his head, and even though his target couldn't see it, he knew that Chris would be able to feel his disapproval anyway. "No one is ever going to let that go, are they?"

"Nope, sorry...uh...hey, Cap?" Chris paused, his tone shifting to confused and a little worried about what he was about to hear. "Why is Tony calling me?" Before Steve could attempt a shot at an answer, he was abruptly halted. "Hold on."

The line clicked and went silent, leaving Steve to wonder if his friend had mistakenly hung up on him. While he waited to find out, you had made your way into the hallway to join him at the urging of his fellow teammates. It wasn't often that you were called in emergently, not being a formal part of this team, but when you were, you knew that they were at their wits end with your boyfriend and had reached desperation.

"What's going on with you?" you asked quietly, shrugging with a quizzical look when he slapped his hand over the mouthpiece of his phone.

"Chris is on the other line with Tony. I'm just waiting for him to come back on. What are you talking about?"

"Barton told me to get my ass up here, in those exact words, saying that you were flaking out on your job because you can't get off Twitter. What the hell is that about?"

"I was just trying to help-" he stopped, holding up a halting hand when the other end of the line came back to life. "Yeah...seriously? What did you say? He can't do that, Chris. Calm down."

"He can't do what?" you mouthed silently, but his hand was still up in front of him to keep you waiting.

"Chris, Tony isn't going to kick me off the team because of this. He's bluffing."

"No, he's not, Steve," Chris answered, his voice now carrying a higher pitch that hurt Steve to hear, thinking that he could cause it. "Downey just texted me too, saying that if I don't chill out with the Twitter fights, he gonna get the Russos to kill me off in the next movie. They're working together...not that I'm surprised."

"Weren't they going to kill you off anyway?"

"I haven't decided yet...but that's not the point, man. I'm not gonna get you in trouble because I can't keep it shut."

"But you're saying what so many are thinking," he readily argued back. "You have visibility and a platform to speak up. You have to use it. Just tone it down a little, maybe. Maybe don't go straight for Angry Orange and Leatherface."

"Yeah, maybe," Chris sighed, "but now we're throwing King in there and I just can't help it. It's too easy, man."

"Right?!" Steve suddenly perked up, laughing aloud at the sound of you slapping your hand over your eyes in frustration and defeat. "Did you hear what Sessions said today?"

It was pretty much useless now, trying to get through to either of them with any sense of reason. You were usually so thankful that Steve had found such a good friend in his counterpart, but then there were days like this one when they were nothing more than petulant troublemakers. "So, I'll just tell Barton that your head is still up your ass then?" you asked flatly, turning to leave before he could stop you, but he was too fast. The grip of his fingers digging into the soft skin of your arm almost elicited a wince of pain, but you held back; it only took a second for him to realize his strength and he released you almost nearly as quickly.

"(Y/N), come on, just wait," he practically begged, holding up the hand that had just held you. "Chris, I'm gonna go. (Y/N) has that look in her eyes and I can't chance it. We'll have to talk later."

"That's cool, because Stark pretty much threatened to lock me out of everything and send my ass back to the stone age, as he so eloquently put it. I'm starting to wonder if he actually thinks that you and I are the same person."