Edge of tomorow (Steve x Reader) Part 4

Day 2

You shot awake, feeling your heart beat violently in your chest. An alarm was echoing through the room and the memories of what had happened in the Hydra base were fresh in your mind. A dull pain spread through your chest and you quickly looked down, expecting to see stains of blood on your gear. Instead, you only saw the light fabric of your pajama’s. The loud sound ringing in your ears was your phone beeping at you to get up.

    You sat up in bed, wondering what was going on. A headache was pressing against your temples again, but as quickly as you could, you stumbled toward the bathroom. Bloodshot eyes were staring back at you when you looked in the mirror. Otherwise, you were completely fine. You took in a deep breath, leaning on the sink, before splashing cold water into your face. I must have been dreaming… You told yourself.

    Somewhere in the back of your mind, however, you knew that wasn’t true.

    You put your hair into a bun and changed into your workout gear. The fabric wrapped tightly around your body, protecting you against the cool morning air. You stretched your muscles and did a short warm up before starting your usual rounds around the compound.

    Despite thinking that everything that had happened yesterday was just a dream, you couldn’t help but wonder why you had even dreamed something like that. It had been so incredibly vivid. When you closed your eyes now you could still see everything clearly. You could feel the gravel move underneath your feet like it did now and hear the alarm in the Hydra base echoing inside head. You could even smell the iron in the air caused by the blood that stained the floor.

    It all felt so real that you slowly started to realize that maybe it was.

    You were so lost in thought that you didn’t notice Steve running up to you. When he wished you a good morning, you startled and tripped over your own feet, heading for the ground.

    With fast reflexes Steve caught you just before your head hit the gravel. Your knees had already scrapped the sharp stones and were burning with pain. The captain slowly pulled you back up, his eyes scanning your body to make sure you were alright.

    “I'm sorry,” he said when it was clear you were fine. Mostly anyway. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

    “It’s okay. I wasn’t paying attention.” You looked down at your scathed legs and cursed under your breath, seeing the blood run down your shins through the torn fabric of your pants. You sighed. As if a headache wasn’t enough.

    “That knee looks bad.” Steve touched the sensitive skin around your right leg and you hissed, feeling a shot of pain go through your thigh. “Here,” he said, offering you his hand, “I'll help you get back to your room.”

    “I'm fine,” you objected, declining his offer to help you. “I can walk myself.”

    He nodded slowly, watching you stumble away from him. When your knee caved a little, he was quickly by your side again, letting you lean against him to catch your breath. You sighed, not wanting his help but still needing it. Your right knee had taken most of the weight of your body when you had tripped and you could already feel it throbbing with each unsteady step you took.

    Steve held you gently as he helped you get back to your room. He even ordered you to sit on your bed while he went to the kitchen to get an ice pack. You didn’t realize how weird this all was until he returned and kneeled in the floor in front of you to press the cold pack against your knee softly.

    “Thanks,” you muttered, looking down at him. “I think I can handle myself from here.” Your fingers brushed his for a second as you took the pack from his hands.

    He looked up at you, eyes shifting over your features. Whatever he was looking for, you didn’t think he found it. He nodded again, pushing himself from your bedroom floor.

    “No problem. You know I'd do anything for you.”

    “Right…” You swallowed hard, evading your eyes from him.

    “I mean it, [Name]… Look, can we talk? Really talk?”

    At those words you quickly shot your eyes back at him. “Excuse me?”

    He let out a short breath. “I know I have made mistakes and I'm sorry about hurting you, but I–”

    “No, no, no…” you whispered, standing up from your bed. “This isn’t happening.” You stumbled past the captain, leaving him in the middle of your room as you made your way toward the kitchen.

    “[Name], wait. Please let me finish.” He caught up with you in a few quick strides and reached for your hand.

    You looked down at your fingers connected with his, unable to speak for a moment.

    “You’ve got to believe me when I say that I never meant to hurt you, [Name], and if I could, I would take that back, but–” 

    “But you’re not going to apologize for what happened…” you finished his sentence again. “I can’t do this right now, Steve.” You pulled your hand from his and walked away from him. “Not again.”

    “What is that supposed to mean?”

    “I'll talk to you… later.” You clenched your teeth at the last word, knowing you would indeed talk to him later.

    When you arrived at the kitchen, Steve on your heels, Tony already sat at the dining table, not looking any more amused than the two days before.

    “Great, you finally showed up. Sit down, [Name]. We need to talk.”

    “No, we don’t. I already know what you're going to say.”

    “This isn’t funny. Secretary Ross has a new mission and–”

    “And he wants me and Steve to do it. Yeah, so I’ve heard. Can we skip the whole ‘don’t screw it up and talk to him’ part so I can get out of here?”

    Tony looked at you in total confusion. His eyes shot to Steve for a moment, but you knew the captain wasn’t any better off than you father. You barely knew what was going on yourself. You needed to clear you head. Being inside the compound together with the others probably wasn’t going to help with that.

    “Good.” You nodded, when neither one of them spoke. You turned towards the exit, seeing Sam, Rhodes, Wanda and Vision walking into the living room. “I’ll see you tonight,” you called over your shoulder toward Steve. You could see Natasha approach you from the corner of your eyes, lost in her phone. You took a step to the side, letting her pass without bumping into her.

    Several steps outside of the living room you started running, getting your phone from the pocket of your jeans. You dialed Marcie’s number, mumbling into the microphone for her to pick up.

    “This is Marcie, I can’t come to the phone right now, but if you’ll leave a message after the beep I’ll call you right back! Bye!”

    Beep.

    “Marcie, it’s me. Meet me outside that yogurt shop you talked about last week. We need to talk.”

An hour later you were sitting behind the same table in the same yogurt shop you had been to the past two days. Not that your best friend remembered any of it. She was still as excited to try out the new flavors as she had been the first time. You rubbed your eyes in frustration, realizing this actually was the first time. At least for her.

    “Are you sure you don’t want one?” Marcie asked, taking a bite from her flavored yogurt covered in sprinkles, savoring the taste of it, her eye closing for a moment each time she put a spoonful into her mouth.

    “I’m good,” you nodded.

    “Are you okay? You seem a little stressed.”

    You sighed, letting your head rest on your hand. “I have a lot on my mind.”

    “Which you wanted to talk about, right? Come on, spill.”

    “Promise me you won’t laugh.”

    She raised an eyebrow at you. “Okay?”

    “I think I’ve lived this day before,” you said, swallowing hard. You played with the seam of your shirt, pulling at the loose threads to calm the growing uneasiness in your stomach. “I think I’m stuck in a time loop.”

    “What do you mean? Are you having some sort of déjà vu?”

    “Not exactly. It sounds crazy, but I know exactly what is going to happen. I’m going on a mission tonight and I’m going to get shot and then the day starts over again.”

    Marcie looked at you seriously, seeming uncertain. “That does sound crazy. Did you hit your head? Wait…Does this have something to do with Steve?”

    You grunted, shaking your head. “Why does everyone seem to think my life revolves around Steve?”

    “I don’t think you want me to answer that question.”

    You scowled at her, crossing your arms. “No, tell me. I’m curious now.”

    “Well,” she took in a deep breath, putting down her cup of yogurt, “you do talk about him a lot.”

    “He annoys me.”

    “He was your friend, [Name]. I get why you were mad at him at the beginning, but this is getting ridiculous. I think you know that too.”

    You huffed out a frustrated breath, evading your eyes from her, seeing Steve cross the street through the large windows of yogurt shop. You looked down at your watch, registering the exact time he walked through the door. There had to be a reason why you were stuck in time. There was something about this day you needed to do differently. Something that would make things right and prevent your death.

    Perhaps you just needed to be faster during your mission. Or maybe it had to do with Steve, since he seemed to pop up everywhere today. You bit the inside of your cheek until you could taste the iron of your own blood on your tongue.

    “Look,” Marcie continued, waking you from your thoughts. “I’ve known you since kindergarten. I know all your habits, all your quirks, all your secrets.”

    “We both know why you’re really still mad at him,” you echoed her words, seeing Steve order his cup of cold, flavored dairy.

    “How did you–”

    “I told you, Marcie, we’ve been here before. We’ve had this conversation before. No, I’m not in love with him and please don’t ask him to come over this time,” you said, seeing her eying the counter of the shop.

    Her eyes shot back to you. Clenching her teeth, she looked at you with an uneasy frown on her face. “This isn’t funny anymore, [Name]. What’s going on?”

    “I’ve been trying to tell you. I’m stuck… in a time loop.” You ran your fingers through your hair, knowing it was a mistake to think anyone would understand. “I should have known you wouldn’t believe me.” You pushed yourself from your seat, leaving Marcie behind as you walked towards the exit.

    “[Name], wait.” She quickly followed you, pushing through the line of people at the counter to keep up with you.

    When you stepped outside, turning left, you didn’t see the man standing just beside the sliding doors. You bumped into him, making him drop his cup of yogurt. “Shit,” you cursed softly. “I’m so sorry.”

    “It’s okay. It wasn’t that good anyway.” A familiar voice echoed in your ears and when you looked up, you saw Steve standing before you, wiping the yogurt from his shirt. “I only got it because–”

    “There you are,” Marcie interrupted, laying a hand on your shoulder. “Why did you run off like that? We can just–” She stopped, suddenly aware of the captain standing beside you. She looked up at him, a sweet smile soon curling her lips. “Oh, hey Steve. What brings you to this part of town?”

    You could see the way she was looking at him and that was when it hit you. You had intervened the last two times she was trying to ask him out. The first time you had pulled her out even when Steve wanted her to come with him and the second time you hadn’t even let her get that far. Maybe that was why you were being send here again. To fix your mistakes and make right what you had broken. Or, better yet: what you had prevented.

    “I–uhm–I have an appointment.”

    “Anything fun?”

    You watched them silently, their conversation going exactly like it had done the first day. This time though, you stayed out of it, letting them talk and make arrangements to spend the day together. You tried not to think about how that made you feel, but as their conversation dragged on, you couldn’t help your stomach from contracting a little. Maybe that was a signal that you were doing the right thing.

    “[Name], you’re welcome to come too,” Steve said after they had agreed to take the subway to Central Park and walk the rest of the way to where he needed to be.

    “Oh, no,” you smiled, waving away his offer. “You kids have fun. Call me when you get back,” you said, winking at Marcie. “And I’ll see you tonight.” You turned to Steve, who looked slightly disappointed.

    You looked left and right before crossing the street, leaving Steve and Marcie to go on their semi-date. She would probably call you in an few hours, when she was back home, to gush about the captain. That was exactly what she had done the first time she had met him and then you had been right there. You couldn’t imagine how much worse it would be now that she’d spent some time alone with him.

    Despite knowing that this was the right thing, you couldn’t get the nagging feeling in the back of your mind to go away. You silently made your way back to the Avengers headquarters, thinking about the mission you still needed to finish for this nightmare to be over.

A few hours later, the sun slowly creeping toward the horizon, your phone rang. Marcie’s number flashed before your eyes and you quickly answered.

    “Hey,” you said, dropping yourself onto your bed.

    “You won’t believe what happened!” she exclaimed, almost screaming in your ear. “Oh, wait… Do you already know what happened?”

    “I don’t actually. I never let you get this far before.”

    “What?”

    “Never mind, just tell me what happened.”

    It was silent on the other side of the line for a moment until you could hear her sigh happily. “He kissed me. Or, well, I kissed him I guess. I don’t know… I still can’t believe it!”

    “Oh,” was all you were able to say. You heard her ramble on about what else had happened, but you had stopped listening after she said Steve had kissed her. You hadn’t expected things to go so quickly. The captain wasn’t really the guy to move fast, but maybe you were as mistaken about that as you had been about everything else.

    You swallowed hard, staring at the ceiling, not really sure what to think. You guessed you should probably be happy. If this was what you were supposed to have done, than you had succeeded. Hadn’t you?

    Then why did you feel so empty?

    “Marcie, I’ve gotta go. The briefing is about to start,” you lied, interrupting her story about where they had been and what they had done. You hadn’t heard most of it anyway and it was in fact time to get ready for your mission. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay?”

    “Oh, yeah of course,” she said. “Hey, [Name]?”

    “Hmm?”

    “Are you okay? I mean, I know I wasn’t a very good friend earlier, but if you are dealing with something serious, you know I'll be there for you right? And if you don’t like me and Steve together, just tell me.”

    “I’m fine. I really gotta go. Bye.” You quickly hung up the phone before she could say anything else. Reluctantly, you pushed yourself from the comfort of your bed and changed into your Avengers suit, ready for the briefing of the mission that might very well get you killed again.

Another few hours later you were running through the Hydra base with Steve. The agents were popping up left and right and even with your knowledge of where to go and how to move, you still weren’t moving fast enough. You cursed under your breath, ducking underneath an arm, evading a fist as it came for your head. You kicked one of the agents back while you shot the other through the head. He collapsed against the wall while the other grunted his anger in a low growl, pointing his gun in your direction. Just before he fired, Steve appeared by your side, pulling up his shield to deflect the bullets.

    “Are you alright?”

    “Never better.” You breathed heavily, feeling your heart beat in your throat. “We need to move faster. We'll never make it to that damned control room in time if we continue like this.”

    Steve clenched his teeth in frustration but eventually nodded in agreement. “What do you suggest?”

    “Let me make a run for it.” This was the first time you had discussed your plan with him and as soon as the words had left your mouth, you regretted them.

    “No way,” it sounded in your head, Tony telling you and Steve of the stupidity of your plan. “You'll get yourself killed.”

    “Maybe,” you whispered, “but we've got to do something. Our way out is blocked. If I can get inside that control room, I can get us out.”

    “I don’t know, [Name],” Steve said, shooting at one of the agents that appeared from one of the rooms. He threw his shield through the hallway, knocking down all of the others that followed. “It’s too dangerous. We have a better chance together.”

    You watched as more agents poured out of the rooms ajoining your way to the control room. You aimed your guns at a few of them, taking them down in a blink of an eye. Your chance to break free from the group was getting slimmer. And with it your chance to finish your mission. If you wanted to reach the control room, you needed to act fast.

    So, instead of falling back to Steve’s side, like he told you to, you ran toward the end of the hall, sliding to the floor and positioning yourself on the other side of agents.

    “What are you doing?” It sounded in your ear. You could hear Steve's voice echo in your head, desperately trying to get your attention. But you had already gone too far to turn back now. You needed this nightmare to be over. The only way that was going to happen was if you finished this mission and got those cursed plans. If only you would be able to dodge the bullet this time.

    Literally.

    “[Name], don’t do this!”

    You looked back at the captain once before continuing your way to the control room. Before turning the corner to that haunting hallway you had seen twice already and made a shiver go down your spine—before continuing your way toward death.

Several minutes later, you were staring into those tear-filled blue eyes again as you were bleeding out on the floor of the Hydra base. You cursed yourself for failing as the light slowly turned back and you were sucked back in time.

    Again.


TO BE CONTINUED....