Is This How It Ends?
Steve Rogers x Fem!Lab Tech!Reader
Summary: Your hopes of Steve reciprocating your love come crashing down when Peggy shows up in the modern world.
Warnings: angst, reader is very insecure, belief of unrequited love, swearing, implied sex (nothing explicit)
A/N: lot of Steve love on my blog recently, but I’m not mad about it. Thank you to the sweet Anon who left this request
The day Tony Stark hired you was the day your life changed forever, in more ways than one.
You were employed as his lab tech, a vital role in developing new suits and weapons - with this title, you worked closely with all the Avengers, learning their abilities and powers intimately to be able to optimise their equipment. It was the chance of a lifetime to work alongside the genius which was Tony Stark, but what you hadn’t counted on was the way your heart fluttered every time a pair of ocean blue eyes, which belonged to Steve Rogers, met your own.
This is extremely unprofessional, you thought to yourself every time you caught yourself staring. You were hired to do a job, not ogle at the tall, broad Super Soldier whose toothy smile melted your resolve.
You couldn’t help your heart skipping a beat every time Tony instructed you to work with Steve - unfortunately this didn’t happen as often as you hoped. You soon discovered his vibranium shield couldn’t be improved, the strength to weight ratio superior to any other metal or alloy you had available, so you settled for his infrequent trips to the lab to make small improvements to his stealth suit.
Overtime, few and far between professional meetings lead to quick coffee breaks where Steve would insist on paying every time, even when he bought yesterday; then coordinated lunch breaks where Tony would jokingly scold you for losing track of time and tell you to get back to work.
Your interactions evolved into Steve sneaking into the lab while Tony was out, initially popping in to ask quick questions such as reminding him how to download new apps onto his phone, or what an OS update was. But with time he would stay longer, inquiring about what you were working on, and occasionally inviting you out for drinks with the rest of the team.
He no longer came to the lab solely for testing or equipment checks, and you found yourself deeply disappointed on days where he didn’t stop by. He visited so frequently you could now tell it was him who entered the lab just by the sound of his distinguishable footsteps.
Your ever growing crush on him became your most closely guarded secret. However, you couldn’t help but hold eye contact with him for a beat longer than normal when saying goodbye as he left for missions, attempting to innocently ask Tony how classified assignments were progressing, just to ensure he was safe, and your hugs lingering when he came back - all of which were noticed by every other member of the team except Steve.
When he returned, Steve would sit in the corner of the lab for hours on end as you worked, updating you on what occurred during the mission and asking what he missed out on while away. Your heart swelled at the thought that he only ever came to you for this sort of update - he could ask anyone in the facility, Tony or Fury would have a more complete summary to bring him up to speed, but he still came to you.
