Non-Sequential [Ch. 6]
Pairing: Pre-Serum Steve Rogers/Steve Rogers x Reader
One night, Steve Rogers met a beautiful dame named Y/N. He hadn’t intended on letting her get away. But fate had other ideas. Y/N appeared and disappeared in his life so hauntingly that Steve started to wonder if she was an angel meant to watch over him.
Word Count: 2,770
A/N: Inspired by the film The Time Traveler’s Wife. But not one of those fics that just literally rips off the whole movie and plugs in characters where they please.
Chapter 5
Steve almost found it strange how quickly Y/N and him settled into normal. They had already been through so much together that it wasn’t hard to settle into their relationship. Steve felt like he could finally be intimate with her and Y/N finally felt like should could trust him.
The hard part was Steve trying to balance having his own life while still feeling responsible for protecting the world.
Living with the love of his life was all he ever wanted. But when he woke up in the 21st century, he didn’t think that would ever be a possibility. So he dedicated himself to selflessness and made a promise to look after everyone but himself.
But how could he do that now with Y/N being the biggest priority in his life?
“What’s going on in that head of yours?” Her voice brought him out of his thoughts.
Y/N was sitting on his couch with her glasses on, editing photos on her computer. With her condition and sporadic time travel, she couldn’t work a normal 9 to 5 job. She was a freelance photographer.
She hadn’t even looked up from her computer when she accused Steve of being caught up in his mind.
“What makes you think there’s anything going on up there?”
She still didn’t lift her gaze. “I can hear your thoughts. They’re ridiculously loud.” Then she finally looked at him, her gaze soft and patient. “Want to talk about it?”
Steve smirked at her thoughtfulness. He walked over to the couch and plopped himself down, lifting her legs so they were now sitting on top of his thighs.
“It’s nothing,” he lied.
Y/N watched him for a moment. Her eyes made it clear that she didn’t believe him.
“Hey, Tony wanted me to ask you to come to dinner at the compound tonight,” he changed the subject.
“Oh, yeah?” Y/N hummed as she went back to editing her photos.
Steve nodded his head.
“This doesn’t have anything to do with Tony, Bruce, and Vision trying to figure out how to cure me?” Her eyes narrowed as she asked the question.
“Y/N, come on. We’ve talked about this. Everyone’s just trying to help.”
“Steve, I’m tired of feeling like a lab rat. But more importantly, I’m sick of getting my hopes up. This thing…it’s a cancer, alright? It’s never going away.”
“Y/N, people get cured of cancer!” He tried to urge.
“But not everyone does, Steve!” She snapped.
Then she closed her laptop and quickly moved off the couch, putting distance between them. Steve instantly missed the weight of her body against him.
“Y/N,” he cooed, “I’m just trying to help you.”
Her eyes narrowed with challenge. “Help me or change me?”
Steve’s stomach dropped at what she was implying. That wasn’t what he was trying to do at all.
He quickly stood up from the couch.
“Y/N, I would never try to change you,” he whispered. “I’m just trying to keep you safe. For Christ’s sake, you almost froze to death because of me. What happens if you get stuck somewhere dangerous like that again? I’m not trying to change you. I want to help you control it so you can protect yourself.”
Y/N stared at him. Then her eyes went wide with panic. She looked down at her hands. They started evaporating.
“No,” Steve gasped. “No, no, no, no, no.”
But when he stepped forward to grab her, she was already gone.
Steve looked around at where Y/N once stood.
“God damn it,” he hissed angrily.
——————————
1944 - Italy
Steve had been staring at the map for so long that his eyes had become dry. Their next move had to be careful. They had cut it close on their last mission. HYDRA was becoming more and more aware of the threat that was The Howling Commandos.
He rubbed his eyelids roughly and finally took a step back.
“You OK?” Bucky asked, watching his friend closely.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m gonna go for a walk,” Steve sighed.
Their camp was in the middle of a forest. It was good cover and it bought them time to plan their next attack.
But it also started messing with Steve’s mind. He was a kid from Brooklyn who always wondered what it would be like to substitute the noises of a busy city with sounds of nature. Now he had finally found out, but it came with the cost of war.
The air was so fresh and clean, the birds always chirping.
It gave him a false sense of calm. He had to fight it to stay on his toes and make sure he kept himself and his men safe from a surprise attack.
Steve was lost in his thoughts when he heard a gasp and the sound of twigs snapping, just a few yards away. He immediately went on high alert.
His shield was always strapped to his back and ready for combat. He grabbed it from behind him and quickly placed it on his forearm.
Despite his large and heavy stature, his footsteps were almost completely silent as he tiptoed toward the sound.
He moved a heavy branch aside that was obscuring his view.
When he saw what was waiting for him behind it, his breathing stopped.
“Y/N?”
No, not here. Anywhere but here.
“Steve?” Her voice shook as she covered her naked body as best as she could.
He rushed forward, instantly dropping his shield and ripping off his brown leather jacket to cover her.
“Goddammit, Y/N. You shouldn’t be here,” he grieved.
But he still pulled her into his body, scared that she was going to freeze to death. After the serum, he ran hotter than a normal human. Now he was hoping it would help warm her.
Y/N actually had the nerve to shakily laugh at him. “Not like I can help it.”
“Come on,” he started pulling her back toward the camp. “Let’s get you warm.”
She nodded and pulled his leather jacket tighter around her body self-consciously.
Steve snuck them through the camp, weaving around tents to void running into any of his comrades.
Eventually, he got her into his tent unnoticed.
He immediately shuffled around, trying to find any extra clothes he could find, which wasn’t much. In the end, all he could do was wrap his extra blanket around her, over his jacket. He tried not to think about how his leather jacket was touching her naked skin.
After they had settled, Steve realized how abnormally quiet Y/N had been this whole time.
When he looked at her, she was staring at the ground as she sat on his cot. But she was spaced out, lost in her head.
“Y/N?” he asked gently.
Suddenly, she snapped her gaze up to look at him. There was something in his eyes that made her own start to water up. She was crying.
Steve jumped into action. “Hey, hey, hey. It’s OK.” He sat beside her and wrapped an arm around her. She immediately buried her face into his chest and cried harder. “You’re OK.”
After a few minutes, Y/N managed to pull herself together and stop her crying.
The only other time Steve had seen Y/N cry was when his mother passed. She always felt like the stronger one between the two of them.
Y/N was embarrassed now, hastily trying to wipe away her tears. She probably looked like a crazy person to him. Here he was, in the middle of a war, and she was crying like a fool.
“I’m sorry,” she muttered as she sniffed.
“You’ve got nothing to be sorry for,” Steve promised as he helped wipe away her tears.
Y/N made no move to get out of his arms.
“Now, you gonna tell me what’s got you so upset?”
She looked up into his bright blue eyes. The same eyes she had just left moments ago in another time.
“I…I can’t really–”
“You can’t tell me,” Steve cut her off with his knowing tone.
She nodded gently.
“Well, maybe you can keep out the specifics,” he urged. “I hate seeing you upset.”
Y/N pulled the blanket tighter around herself. “My…My boyfriend and I got into a fight. I traveled right in the middle of it.”
Steve couldn’t stop his stomach from dropping at the word ‘boyfriend’. He knew it wasn’t fair to feel jealous. She wasn’t his. She never was and she never would be.
“Sounds like a bastard,” he muttered playfully.
It made Y/N laugh, which was his intention.
“No, he’s not. If anyone was being a bastard… it was me.”
Steve’s gaze softened. “Now I find that very hard to believe.”
“He was just trying to protect me and I basically ate him alive for it,” Y/N muttered, guilt finally settling in.
“Well…I can’t blame the punk for that,” Steve tried to tease, but there was a serious underlying tone that he couldn’t seem to hide.
Y/N exhaled and watched Steve for a moment.
“Does he love you?” He finally whispered.
Y/N let out a breath, but nodded. “Yeah, he really does. He loves me more than I ever thought someone could.”
That at least gave Steve a little peace of mind.
“And do…uhh…do you love him?” He asked.
Y/N could see his body tense as he waited for her answer. Then she finally realized how hard this was for him. Steve was jealous of his future self without realizing it. It had always just been him and her, no prospects between the two of them. But that had all changed now.
“Yeah, I do. I really, really love him.” Y/N finally answered.
Steve nodded, trying his best to control his reactions. “And does he know that?”
“Maybe. I don’t know.”
His eyes stared into hers then. “You should tell him.”
Y/N nodded. “You’re right. I should.”
“Hey, Steve, Agent Carter is looking–” Bucky’s voice cut off at the sight before him.
Steve shot to his feet, standing protectively in front of Y/N and obscuring Bucky’s view of her.
But Bucky leaned over to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. “Y/N?”
Steve held up his hands calmly. “Bucky, I can explain…”
Bucky glared at him. “Have you completely lost your mind? This is is a war zone. What were you thinking, bringing her here?”
Y/N stood up, holding the blanket tightly around her body. “He didn’t bring me here.”
Bucky looked her up and down, catching sight of her bare legs and feet. He put together that she was naked underneath the blanket and Steve’s leather jacket. Bucky looked at his best friend with slight shock.
“It’s not what you think, Buck.” Steve’s voice was hard and even.
“Then please explain because you’ve got a naked girl in your tent, Steve. And I’m struggling with how she got all the way over here from Brooklyn.”
“Hey!” Steve snapped and took a step toward him. “Don’t talk about her like that!”
Y/N finally rushed forward and put herself between them. “Enough, you two.” Her hand was softly placed on Steve’s chest, calming him instantly.
She looked up into his eyes. “Peggy’s looking for you, Steve.”
His eyes widened. Bucky hadn’t said her first name, therefore Y/N shouldn’t know it. Suddenly, a wave of a guilt washed over him.
Did she know? Did she know about him and Peggy?
Y/N had just told him about the man he loved, yet Steve felt like he betrayed her by falling in love with another woman.
“Y/N…” his voice felt desperate as he said her name.
“It’s OK, Steve. I know. It’s OK,” she promised him. “Just go.”
“I was going to tell you…” he tried again.
“You don’t have to tell me anything, Steve. Go.”
Steve nodded slowly and opened the flap of his tent, turning around to give her once last look before he went to find Agent Carter.
An awkward tension filled the tent when Bucky and Y/N were left alone.
“What the hell is going on?” Bucky asked roughly.
She smirked at him. “I think it’s time we let you in on the secret, Buck.”
He narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”
But then her amusement vanished when she realized where she was in Steve and Bucky’s timeline. Bucky had already been taken by HYDRA and rescued by Steve. That meant that he had already been given the serum. He’d probably already started noticing the changes in his body, but kept them to himself. Bucky always would do anything to stop Steve from worrying about him.
Y/N stepped toward him with sympathy in her gaze. “I know what’s been happening. And I understand why you didn’t want to worry Steve about it. You’re going to be OK, Bucky.”
He let out a shaky breath and his eyes widened in shock. How did she know?
“Do you believe in time travel, Bucky?” She asked.
“What?”
“I’m not from your time. I’m from the future.” Y/N didn’t hold back. She said it all as straightforward as possible. “I can’t control when I leave or where I go. But I…I always seem to find my way back to Steve. He’s an…anchor of sorts for me.”
Bucky shook his head and took a step back. “Oh, come on, Y/N. This isn’t funny.”
She shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter if you believe me or not. Soon enough you’ll see it for yourself.”
“Is that so?” He asked, voice thick with sarcasm.
Y/N stepped forward and cupped his cheek. “You two keep looking after each other. OK?”
Bucky stared into her eyes, trying to find some source of dishonesty or ridicule in them. But there was nothing except sincerity. He gripped her wrist that was touching his cheek.
“You’re really not kidding, are you?” He whispered.
She shook her head.
Then her body started disappearing.
“Y/N!” Bucky gasped and took a step away from her.
She gave him a sad smile until she was fully gone.
Bucky jumped slightly as he heard the leather jacket and blanket hit the ground with a plump.
He ran a hand through his hair. “You’ve got to be kidding me…”
—————
“What’s got him so bent out of shape?” Tony asked Nat as he watched Cap beating the punching bag to a pulp.
Nat glanced over and shrugged. “This is the first time Y/N’s traveled since he found her in the present.” Then she sighed. “Probably doesn’t help that they got into a fight right before she left.”
“Well, that’s a relief,” Tony commented.
Nat glared at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Now we know they’re human. I was sick of feeling like I was watching a Nicholas Sparks’ movie every time I saw them together. At least we’ve now confirmed that they’re normal and not some lovebird freaks of nature.”
“Real nice, Tony.”
Then they watched Steve punch a rip in the giant punching bag. The super-soldier caught his breath as he glared at the sand now pouring down onto the gym floor.
“I’m gonna start charging you for that!” Tony called from the other side of the gym.
Steve glared at him and grabbed his gym bag before leaving to go to his room.
Fresh out of the shower, Steve heard a knock at his bedroom door.
Assuming it was one of his teammates, he didn’t bother putting on a shirt and answered it with only black sweats hanging low on his hips.
He didn’t expect to open his door to find Y/N standing on the other side.
Her eyes looked sad, yet apologetic.
It had only been a few hours since she’d left.
“Did we just have our first fight?” She asked quietly.
Steve gave her a sad smile and hung his head. “I guess so.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“I’m sorry too.” Then he looked into her eyes. “Where did you go?”
“It was during the war. Italy. I told Bucky my secret. And…you were with Peggy.”
Steve zoned out, trying to recall the memory. “You had told me about your boyfriend. Said that you loved him.” Then his eyes widened with realization. “You…You were talking about me.”
Y/N nodded shyly.
“You love me?” He gasped.
She stepped toward him and leaned forward to press her forehead against his. “Yes, you idiot. Of course, I love you.”
Steve kissed her slowly. “I love you too,” he managed to whisper in the few seconds he allowed their lips to separate.
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Chapter 7
I do not do taglists. Here is the series’ masterlist: Non-Sequential