i think you might be my soulmate
pairing: steve rogers x reader
word count: 2,589
summary: Steve finds out a little more about Alexander Pierce.
prompt: ‘I think you might be my soulmate.’
warnings: swearing
a/n: This was written for @whirlybirbs Endgame writing challenge and the theme was nostalgia, so we’re going back to Winter Soldier and that infamous escape scene.
“Rogers.”
He stared out the window, his chin resting on his fist as he watched the clouds passing by.
“Rogers.”
It’d been a long time since he’d gotten to just sit and watch the sky. He could remember when he was young, back before the war and the weight the title of Captain America on his shoulders, sitting by the window with Bucky and picking out shapes in the clouds. It was as close as he could get to being outside when he was sick and despite how much it paled in comparison to actually getting to sit outside on the grass, his best friend had never complained.
“Rogers.”
He’s vaguely aware of someone saying his name, the way you’d be aware of a fly buzzing around your head. It was more of a nuisance than anything else and it wasn’t doing anything to bring him out of his daydream.
“ROGERS!”
The blond super soldier finally looked up as a hand slammed down onto the table in front of him, his blue eyes meeting the beady, bird-like ones of Alexander Pierce. The man who’d he been arguing with for over an hour now. “Pierce.”
Pierce let out a long sigh, rubbing his temples as he paced back in forth in front of Steve. “Why won’t you work with me on this?”
“I am. I’ve told you everything I know,” He said, his mind flashing back to Nicholas Fury breaking into his apartment just the night before. He’d been having a good night before it’d been interrupted by the sound of jazz music coming from his apartment. He’d even somewhat asked out the nurse that lived next door.
The nurse that turned out to be Agent Sharon Carter of S.H.I.E.L.D.
“Yet, somehow I don’t believe you,” the older man said, a piercing looking in his eyes as he rested his palms on the cool wood. “Are you really going to tell me that you don’t know why Nick came?”
“Is it so hard to believe that Nick Fury could have a friend?”
Both men looked up just in time to see an absolutely stunning woman walking in the doors. Your hair and makeup was done perfectly, not a single hair was out of place. Your pencil skirt and heels made Steve hesitate on identifying you as an agent. You were most likely an administrative worker, an assistant or something. He knew that if you were higher up, he’d have already met you.
His mouth felt dry as he watched you move to stand beside Pierce, holding out the file that was in your hands to him. “Rogers, this is Y/N L/N,” the man said absentmindedly as he opened up the file and began to flip through it, brows furrowing as he stared down at one page for a remarkably long time. “My best secretary.”
“How kind of you, Alexander,” you drawled, drier than the Sahara Desert and bringing a smile to the blond’s lips as Pierce remained unaware.
“Steve Rogers,” he said, holding out his hand for you to shake across the table. “Pleasure to meet you.”
Your hand seemed to slot against his perfectly as your eyes locked onto his. “The pleasure’s all mine.” Your eyes seemed to put him under some kind of spell as he stood there shaking your hand for much longer than what was socially appropriate. “And don’t let him fool you, I’m much more than a secretary.”
“I’m sure you are,” he said, and he winced as he realized how it could’ve been taken as a jab.
But your laugh said otherwise, your hand moving to cover your mouth. “They told me you were charming,” you said, before pointedly looking down at your hand, “Even if you are a little rusty.”
Steve yanked his hand away, his cheeks flushing as he realized just how long he’d been holding on your hand. He wiped at his jeans, hoping desperately that you wouldn’t think he was weird or gross because his hands were clammy and when the hell did that happen? “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” Your bottom lip was drawn in between your teeth as you eyed him. “It’s sweet.”
“Rogers, are you done flirting with my secretary or can we get back to our discussion?” Pierce asked harshly, though he hadn’t looked up from his papers.
Your eye roll caused Steve’s lips to tug up into a smile, though he tried to hide it before the man could see it. Your gaze turned back to him, flicking back and forth between you two. There was a sudden urgency in your eyes, and when you spotted the mug of coffee on the table, you nodded towards it.
He hesitantly picked it up as he tried to figure out where you were going with this. One second you’d been all smiles and flirty tones and the next you were on edge, as though ready to bolt at any second.
He didn’t even have time to think before you reached forward, knocking the mug from his hand and spilling it over his stealth suit. The hiss of pain that fell from his lips caused Pierce to finally look at you two, a glare etched on his features.
“Y/N, what has gotten into you today?” He demanded, snapping the file shut.
“Captain Rogers, I’m so sorry,” you said, rushing around the table to him. You dabbed at the brownish wet spot on his suit with your sleeve, not looking up at him. “If you come with me, I can get this out in a jiffy.”
Steve was getting more and more suspicious, but the look in your eyes made him nod. “Yeah. Yeah, that’d be great.”
“What about our discussion?” The other man asked, watching with wide eyes as you began to lead him out of the room.
“I’ll have him back in five minutes,” you reassured your boss, flashing him a bright, disarming smile before the two of you were out the doors and you were taking him down the hall.
It was easy to keep in step with you as you marched down the hall. The smile had dropped from your lips, other than when you nodded at a coworker in greeting. He was yanked into a spare room once you rounded a corner, the door shut and locked.
“Are you really trying to play seven minutes in heaven right now?” He asked, feigning confidence even though his hands were still clammy.
The small smile you granted him made it worth it though. “I didn’t even know you knew what seven minutes in heaven was.”
“I’m not that old.”
“Oh, really?”
“Really.”
“Then what’s Tinder?” At his dumbfounded expression, a triumphant grin spread across your face. But then you seemed to remember the urgency with which you had dragged him out of there. “You can’t trust Pierce.”
He stared at you incredulously, a million thoughts running through his head. “What?”
You were nervously glancing at the door, as though expecting people to break in at any second. “He’s always been secretive, has been since I started working for him two years ago. But lately…” A shiver ran through your spine. “He’s been getting these secret meetings late at night, with people I don’t know and he won’t introduce me to. He tells me to go get coffee for myself at eight fifty-five every night, and when I come back, his office is locked. They’re still there when I leave for the night at ten.”
“Any idea who it might be?”
“I don’t know who they are. They’re not on any record, any meeting schedule I have for that time is blank,” you said, fear rolling off of you in waves.
Steve reached out and took your hand, squeezing it in an attempt to soothe you. “How often do these meetings happen?”
“It used to be twice a month but now…” You swallowed thickly around the lump in your throat. “Now it’s every night.”
“Could you hear anything they were saying?”
You bit your lip as you tried to think back to all those times you’d sat at your desk, hands shaking even though you didn’t know why. The meetings your boss had held had always given you an uneasy feeling and it had only grown as the meetings became more frequent. “Something about Project Insight… And hail.” Your hand rubbed your elbow anxiously. “I don’t know what they were hailing, but I know they said hail.”
His heart was beginning to pound in his chest as he remembered Fury’s message just the night before. His message that S.H.I.E.L.D. was compromised and he couldn’t trust anyone. But something in his gut told him he could trust you. You weren’t an agent, you weren’t affiliated with S.H.I.E.L.D. other than the fact that you’d been hired as Alexander Pierce’s secretary.
And something told him that part of the reason you’d been hired was because you were normal. You held no loyalty to S.H.I.E.L.D. and therefore, most likely wouldn’t report any strange meetings.
Oh, how wrong your boss had been.
A sense of admiration and respect bloomed in his chest as he looked down at you. You had no reason to tell him any of this, other than the fact that you had a good heart and suspected your boss, one of the most powerful men in the world, to be up to very not good things. It took a certain type of bravery that not many had.
“Why are you telling me this?”
You swallowed, but you stared up at him resolutely. “I don’t know what he’s doing, but if it’s something that could hurt others, I have a duty to try my best to prevent it.”
And fuck, that was kind of hot. “Okay,” he said slowly, trying his best to not let his worry show. If he did, it would only make you panic more and he couldn’t have that. “I need you to do exactly what I say, okay?”
You nodded, relief flooding your face as you realized he was going to help you. “Okay.”
“After we go back to the conference room, I want you to go back to your desk as normal. Don’t let anyone think anything is wrong, alright?” Steve’s hands moved to rub your shoulders comfortingly. “If you seem on edge, the people working with Pierce are going to notice and that’ll tip them off.” When he saw the way your hands were trembling, he added, “I’m going to make sure you’re safe. I promise.”
His words seemed to soothe you as you took in a deep breath, nodding your head once. With one final look at him, you opened the door and led him back towards the office. He could see Pierce through the glass doors, his arms crossed over his chest as glared out the window. Your desk was right off to the side of the doors and you shot him one last worried look before taking your seat.
“Everything will be okay,” he said, even though it was a promise he didn’t know he could keep. All Steve Rogers knew in that moment was that he needed to protect you. You, this beautiful, wonderful woman who risked a lot for the good of others.
If he wasn’t currently about to make a run for it, he’d even consider asking you on a date.
When he stepped back into the office, Alexander Pierce’s beady eyes fixed on him immediately, though he quickly looked down at the coffee stain still on his suit. “I thought Y/N was helping you with that,” he said, his eyes narrowed.
“Her Tide stick ran out,” Steve said quickly, grateful that he’d seen Pepper with the little contraption enough times to know what it did. “Really, it’s no problem.”
He didn’t seemed pleased despite his explanation, taking off his glasses and peering at them before putting them back on. “So, about our discussion—”
“I told you, I don’t know anything about Nick Fury or why he was in my apartment,” the blond interrupted, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible. “If you don’t mind,” he said, motioning towards the door. “I have plans.”
“You have a date or something, Rogers?”
“Something.”
Pierce laughed, the sound harsh and cold. “Steve Rogers on a date. I’d say it’s about time, but I doubt there’s a lot of people in your age range looking to date, am I right?” He smirked as he took in the man’s appearance. “But you might want to leave the shield at home.”
Steve hoped his grimace came out as more of a smile, and he nodded. “Yeah, right.” He reached out and shook the man’s hand. “I’ll sure I’ll see you soon, Pierce.”
“I’m sure you will, Rogers,” the older man said, his grip a little tighter than what could be considered necessary, though he didn’t notice since he had super soldier strength.
The blond exited the office, nodding at you in acknowledgement. It seemed to be enough as he watched your shoulders relax just a bit. But as he headed towards the elevator, he suddenly became aware of the S.T.R.I.K.E. team filing in with him, lead by Brock Rumlow.
“Before we start, does anyone want to get out?”
Steve wasn’t sure how he got himself into the situations. Bucky always used to say he went looking for trouble, but he’d actually been trying to stay out of it lately and somehow he still ended up in a mess. He didn’t start his day planning on taking out the entire S.T.R.I.K.E. team and then jumping out the window but sometimes things happen.
He had just crashed through the roof of one of the buildings of S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters when he heard your voice.
“STEVE!”
His head turned, a rush running through him as he saw you running from the elevator. You still had on your heels and your pencil skirt, yet didn’t seem to care as you ran towards him. “Y/N, what are you doing?!” He asked as he ran to you.
You pressed a set of keys into his hand, squeezing it tightly. “Your bike.” Your cheeks were flushed, your hair in slight disarray as you stood in front of him, and fuck, you looked so beautiful. “Go.” When he didn’t move, you pushed at him, trying to get him to snap out of whatever stupor he was in. “GO!”
“This might be a bad time and might sound weird,” he said quickly as he stared down at you with radiant blue eyes. He was completely captivated by you. Your beauty, your bravery, your desire to do good even if it cost you everything. All of it. “But I think you might be my soulmate.”
“If you get out of here alive, I’ll let you take me on a date,” you said, before pushing at him again. But there was a little bit of mirth in your eyes as your hands pressed against his chest, fully aware that if he didn’t want to move he wouldn’t. Trying to move him was like trying to move a mountain.
A smile spread across his face as he nodded, running towards the exit. But as he neared the exit he turned so he was running backwards. You were still standing in the same place, seemingly not caring that a horde of S.H.I.E.L.D.—or HYDRA, he wasn’t sure if there was any difference now—agents were running towards you, guns up and ready to fire. “I’M HOLDING YOU TO THAT!”
“I’m counting on it!”
