captain america one-shots/imagines

"Hold my hand."

"Duck," Steve said, gesturing to his shield as he threw it in your direction. 

You crouched just in time for it to miss you, hitting the HYDRA agent behind you instead. You pulled Steve behind a nearby pile of rocks to discuss your next step to get inside the base. 

"Why don't we try that new move we did last week?" you asked.

"Here?" Steve raised a brow. "I'm not sure that's really appropriate, but--."

Realizing where his mind was at, you smacked his shoulder with the back of your hand. "Steve, no, I'm not talking about that. Get your mind out of the gutter."

Steve's face burned crimson and his mouth flopped opened and closed several times, making him look like a fish. "That's not-- I wasn't-- I knew what you meant," he stuttered.

"Mhm, I'm sure you did." You smiled and stood from your hiding spot without looking to see if there were any hostiles around you. 

Steve's eyes widened. He grabbed your arm quickly to yank you back down, but it was too late. The gun had already been fired.

You'd heard the gunshot, but where the bullet had ended up hadn't registered yet. Steve stood then and flung his shield at the gunman, knocking him out immediately upon impact. 

It was only then that you became away of the searing pain in your abdomen. You stumbled forward half a step, trying to keep your legs steady, but they felt like jello beneath you. Your hands gripped your wound, but not tight enough to stop the blood flow. 

Your eyes met Steve's just as your knees gave out. He was close enough to catch you before you hit the ground, laying you down gently before kneeling beside you. 

He cursed under his breath, barely audible. "Why'd you do that?"

You ignored his question, opting to instead state the obvious. "I was shot," you said through gritted teeth and quick breaths.

He ripped off the bottom half of your sleeve before wadding it up. He bit his lip and pressed the cloth down hard onto your bleeding abdomen, causing you to scream in agony. He whispered apologies, but didn't lessen the pressure. Your breaths were shortened and you could feel the trickle of tears down your temples and around your ears as they fell to the ground under your head.

"This is all my fault," he muttered under his breath, just loud enough for you to hear it. "I should've been looking."

"It's nobody's fault except mine." You shifted slightly under his hand on your wound to try to decrease the pressure, but he only pressed harder making you groan. "And maybe the guy who shot me."

Steve didn't even smile at your joke. Instead, he moved a hand to his ear. "We need evac," he said into his comm before giving them your coordinates. Afterwards, he looked back down at you. "You'll be alright."

You tried and failed to reach a hand out to him, but it fell back to your side after moving an inch. You were utterly exhausted at this point due to the immense blood loss. Your eyes watched Steve scan the area for more agents, focusing on him helped you forget the pain from your wound.

"Steve." Your voice was nearly silent as you tried to get his attention, so quiet you weren't actually sure if you'd said it out loud or merely thought his name in your head. 

You winced again as the pressure on your wound increased. The clean fabric that was being used to stop the bleeding wasn't doing it's job, it was already soaked through with the red liquid, covering Steve's hand.

"They're on their way, just hold on." Steve's eyes flashed to your face. His eyebrows were knit closely together, forming a deep crease between his eyebrows.

"I don't think I can," you said slowly. You could feel your toes growing colder by the second, the same feeling spreading quickly up your legs until your whole body felt like it had been doused in ice water. "I don't think I'm--."

"You're gonna be fine," he interrupted.

"I love you," you stuttered out, ignoring his glare when you did so. "I love you so much, Steve."

Steve's gaze softened. "Why are you talking like you're dying? You aren't going to die."

"Tell everyone else that I love them too and that I'm sorry--."

"Stop that," he cut you off again and your tears started falling faster when you noticed his watery eyes. "You aren't dying. Do you hear me?"

You drew in a few short, raspy breaths before speaking again. "Hold my hand."

His shoulders slumped slightly and he sucked in a sharp breath. "I am holding your hand."

"What?" Your bottom lip quivered. You mustered all the rest of the energy in you to push your head up, seeing that Steve was in fact right. His right hand was clasped tightly onto yours, but at no point had you realized he'd grabbed it. "I can't feel it." 

Steve shook his head quickly, finally allowing himself to release the flood of tears that'd been threatening. "What do you mean you can't feel it?"

You couldn't answer him as you started coughing, the coppery taste of blood overwhelming you as it sprayed from your mouth. Your lips were coated in the red liquid when your head finally collapsed back against the ground. The pain in your stomach had now nearly dissipated, it was more of a dull ache, but you were convinced that was a bad thing. 

"You're okay, (Y/N)," Steve said, but he knew he was mostly talking to himself and that his words weren't true. He couldn't do anything as he watched your cheeks drain of color. "I'm here and I love you. Breathe, just breathe." You blinked several times, lids staying shut for a few seconds longer each time.

"I can't," you forced through gasping, heavy breaths and coughs as your eyes finally fluttered closed, plunging you into darkness.

"Open your eyes," Steve demanded with a slight voice crack. You felt his fingers graze your cheek, but it seemed distant. "Don't do this to me."

The numb, cold feeling had now spread to the roots of your hair, numbing you to any and all feeling you had previously. The slight throbbing you'd felt in your abdomen was now gone entirely.

"Please, don't go," he pleaded, but he knew you were already gone.