Your Eyes Brought It All Back - Steve Rogers
Pairing: Steve Rogers x F!Reader
Word Count: 1616
Summary: Steve and you took some nasty hits. While you're stuck in a coma, Steve's healing but having a hard time remembering you. All he knows is that you deserve better than an absent fiancé as he watches over you.
Warnings: amnesia; hurt/comfort; head injuries
A/N: This was probably one of my most favorite pieces to write last year for Steve Rogers bingo. It's absolute crack fluff, and I'm not sorry in the least for how silly and fun this one was to write. Really used a few lower rated rom-coms for this one.
Steve Rogers Masterlist | Character Masterlist
Steve wanted to pummel your fiance.
The man had some nerve to leave you alone at a time like this.
All Steve knew was the man had a lot to answer for if he ever dared show his face.
Three days.
Three goddamn days.
That's how long you've been asleep in the bed next to him within the medical ward of the Tower.
Well, sleep wasn't quite right.
Coma would be more appropriate.
The doctors had ordered it to better help you heal your injuries, especially the nasty knock you'd taken to your head. They've been monitoring your progress ever since, and they're all relatively optimistic you'll make a full recovery. You just needed time to recover, and that's what they were giving you.
Having taken a heavy knock in the same incident that's led to your current predicament, Steve hadn't needed to be induced. His serum would take care of any healing his body needed, and it has for the most part.
The only hiccup had occurred when he woke up and couldn't recall the past couple of years.
It'd been a real shock to learn that not only had they won against Loki in New York, but his best friend hadn't died that day on the train as he'd thought for so long. He'd also made friends with another guy, who'd been sitting at his bedside as much as the others. That same man had been an integral part in assisting him and Nat to get Bucky back.
Steve found he really liked Sam, who seemed to always have a knack to lighten the mood. Sam also had a special knack for driving Bucky crazy, which was equal parts exasperating and amusing.
He'd also met Sharon Carter, another who'd helped to save Bucky from Hydra and taking Hydra down after they'd infiltrated SHIELD at all levels. She was definitely nice enough, and he really liked the spark he saw within her that reminded him so much of Peggy.
While she had checked in to see how he was doing, it was actually you that had drawn her to the room.
You were apparently good friends with Sharon, having served as an agent alongside her for a few years before you joined the ranks of the Avengers. She quickly filled Steve in on how you'd gained psychic powers after exposure to the Mind Stone. With some help from the others, you'd quickly risen into their ranks and helped them on several missions.
Hearing Sharon talk about you really made Steve sad that he couldn't remember you.
You seemed like someone who cared about the team and them for you in return.
He wanted to remember you. He really did.
Before Sharon left, he couldn't asking, "Why hasn't her fiance visited her? What's got him so hung up that he can't be here when she clearly needs him?"
"Well, it seems he's a little lost at the moment. I'm sure he'll come as soon as he can," Sharon said with a not-unkind smirk spreading across her features. It softens into a genuine smile when she glanced at you again, still sleeping so peacefully. "He really loves her. I've seen it firsthand just how much. They're both so lucky to have someone who cares so much about them. I know he'd never leave her alone unless something kept him from being at her side."
Steve wasn't so sure about that.
He couldn't be.
From what the others had told him, he'd been ready and willing to burn the world down to get Bucky back. He'd done everything he could to keep his other friends safe. He'd almost died doing so, but then, that sounded like him.
Something seemed off about this fiance of yours.
If it was him, he knew he'd never let anyone or anything keep him from your side.
Even if he couldn't recall who you were, something about your presence calmed him. It made him want to stay at your side and keep you safe. Your fiance was a lucky guy alright, but did he really deserve you? Steve couldn't keep that question from repeating itself as the days wore on.
The only other thing bothering him were a pair of eyes that haunted him in the few hours of sleep he got. He never saw more than these eyes, no other defining features, but they were so distinct that he doubted he could focus on anything but them. They were so distinctive and lovely. He'd seen them through a myriad of different emotions, too, as though he knew them.
But he couldn't ever place them.
He tried, too. He really did.
Every new person that came into his room, he studied their eyes in the hopes of finding the pair that haunted him.
The notebook Bucky had brought him quickly filled with every iteration of those eyes. He couldn't stop drawing them, hoping they'd spark something. Anything.
When the doctors tried to release him after his first day, Steve refused to leave.
Your fiance still hadn't shown up, and he couldn't let you stay in this room by yourself. It wouldn't be right. You deserved to have someone watch over you and keep you safe, even if you couldn't be safer than in the Tower's medical ward.
"Hey, man, she'll be fine," Sam had said, but Steve had shaken his head.
Nat and Bucky tried to back Sam's assertion up with Bucky adding, "You could use a real shower, punk. It's not like we can't visit her later."
"I'll use the shower here. Just bring me some things from my quarters, please," Steve said softly, his gaze remaining on you. "She shouldn't be alone. She doesn't like it."
"How do you know that?" Nat asked, her curiosity piquing. "Are you remembering?"
Steve shook his head.
How he wished he was, but no, he just simply knew. It wasn't something he could explain; it was instinctual, almost like knowing the sun rose in the mornings and set in the evenings. He just knew that you hated waking up alone, and he couldn't let you do that when the time came.
The doctors said it could be any time after they'd weaned you off all the medications that kept you in the coma. Your signs remained stable, so it really was just a matter of when you would come back to them.
Over the next few minutes, they finally convinced him to take an hour. Get some of the food Tony had ordered in, take a shower in his quarters, and then he could come back. Bucky had even set an alarm on his watch while Nat promised not to let to your side until Steve returned.
To his credit, he did take the shower, insisting on it first. The shower did actually help him feel better as he wiped away the last couple of days from his skin. What wounds he'd had already healed up, leaving it easier to clean up fast.
Sam and Bucky, having waited on him in his little sitting area, followed him to the common areas where they loaded up their own plates. Whenever Steve would try and bypass something else from the massive amounts of food, they'd redirect him until his plate practically overflowed. In fact, they made sure he had enough food that it required a tray, which Bucky insisted on carrying for him while Sam handled both his and Bucky's plates.
"You know she's not going anywhere," Sam teased even as he quickened his steps to keep up with Steve's purposeful stride. "Your hour is definitely not up yet, man. Just relax a little."
While he knew Sam had a point, Steve couldn't shake the thought of you. He definitely couldn't shake his desire to sit beside you. It didn't matter that no memories had stirred in the last couple of days. All he knew deep down is that your presence soothed him even as his ire had risen at your absent fiance.
Low voices and the occasional giggle reached his enhanced hearing as he neared your medical room.
Figuring Nat was probably on the phone, Steve wasn't anywhere near ready to see you actually awake and interacting with Nat.
When your face slid his way, he nearly fell to his knees.
Your eyes.
He knew those eyes.
They'd been the exact same ones that had haunted him these past few days. The ones he hadn't seen you open yet had seen so clearly in his dreams.
The longer your gaze synced with his, the more everything started coming back to him.
The total cliche of a B-rated rom-com that you enjoyed watching.
"Ah, there it is," Nat said, clearly thrilled at seeing recognition lighting up his features once more as he stared at you. "Was wondering when he'd finally remember. He's been sitting in his bed next to you, ready to beat up your fiance. No idea at all that he was that fiance or that he'd been here with you the entire time."
Maybe he should've felt a little silly for not realizing it sooner, but he couldn't care at that moment.
No, all that mattered was he remembered you. That you were awake and seemed just fine, too. That he hadn't lost out of his future because the two of you would pull through.
"Morning, beautiful," he said softly, finally closing the distance between you. He placed a gentle kiss against your wrapped forehead. "I trust you slept well."
Your smile, always so beautiful, beamed up at him as you came back with your usual reply. "I always do with you around. Thank you for being here with me."
"Nowhere else I'd rather be."
