Arachnophobia :Captain AmericaXReader:

Steve Rogers had seen quite a lot of things in his lifetime.

However, a woman cowering on top of her desk, cellphone clutched desperately in hand, was a sight that was all too new to him.

Especially when said woman just so happened to be you, (first name) (last name).

The Captain rose one blonde eyebrow as he stepped into your office, staring down at his own cellphone and the "text message" that was currently open on the screen. Though it had taken some time (about two months, give or take), Steve had managed to learn the basics of operating the cellular device under your supervision.

"Steve, get your ass in my office, I need your help! PLEASE."

As soon as his phone had gone off—his ringtone, of course, being "America The Beautiful"—and Steve had seen your text, he had sprinted straight from his room at the top of the Avengers Tower all the way to your office on the first floor. You were a receptionist hired by Tony Stark to help Pepper Potts manage certain things within the Avengers Tower, and you certainly did your job to a T. You were never late, took the day off only if you were deathly ill, and always willing to help those living in the tower with certain technology problems—meaning Steve Rogers, of course. It wasn't like you to send such a message, and Steve wasn't the type of person to allow a woman to be in trouble when he could possibly offer a solution.

"Er…(name)? Is everything…all right?" the Captain asked slowly as he continued to survey your office for anything that could be suspicious, his blue eyes scanning the area as painstakingly as possible. He saw nothing out of the ordinary—save for you crouching atop your desk—and confusion continued to well up inside him as he scratched his blonde hair in thought.

"N-No, everything is not all right, th-there's a g-goddamn…s-s…s-s…spider!" you managed to stammer out, (e/c) eyes wide as you pointed to the carpeted floor, body stiff in fear.

Somewhat alarmed at your basically terrified tone, Steve's eyes followed to where your finger was pointing, and there indeed on the floor scurried a small, black arachnid, almost invisible against the carpet. He glanced back up at you, taking in the site of you shivering and pale as a ghost.

This certainly hadn't been what he had expected from the seemingly fearless (name).

"Ma'am, are you…afraid of spiders?" Steve asked curiously. "That doesn't seem like much of a…rational fear for someone like you to have, I apologize to say."

"S-Shut up and just kill the damn thing already," you snapped in a hoarse voice, now holding up a stapler and aiming it in a position which seemed as if you were going to use it on the creepy crawlie itself. Your desk was a bit of a mess, presumably from the struggle of you getting up on it to protect yourself from the dangers of such a terrifying beast, and various most likely important papers were scattered all across the sleek wooden surface.

Steve would have complied with the request immediately on a normal circumstance. However…this wasn't normal to him—not exactly. The Captain often found himself feeling odd…sensations…when being around you, lately. From nearly a year of you teaching him the odds and ends of twenty-first century technology after the whole Loki scandal, the two of you had formed a friendly bond. Despite your business-like attitude that seemed to hide your true feelings at times, Steve honestly found you to be a delightful individual. He was very pleased that Tony had offered you the position of receptionist as opposed to the long list of other girls he had seen.

Of course, once he had conceded these thoughts to the Iron Man himself, Tony had instantly pegged the "odd sensations" as a…crush. Well, to be truthful, Tony had used a more blatant and risqué term, but having come-of-age during the 1940's, Steve preferred to use more child-friendly words. After all, he was Captain America—he wasn't going to be accountable for corrupting the mind of the children.

After Tony had told Steve he had a crush on you, however, the Iron Man had said something else as well. "If you wanna get her to notice you, then you need to flirt with her, Cap. Turn that charm onto overdrive. (Name) may not act like it, but I bet she's the type of girl ready for a hero to sweep her off her feet. So…don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

In all actuality, Tony's advice was probably complete crap, but it didn't hurt to try.

Steve's lips curved into a somewhat sly yet somehow completely innocent smile, and he crossed his muscular arms across his chest. "No, ma'am, I'm being completely serious. You don't come across as the type to be frightened of spiders at all! I've seen you talk back to Tony and call him certain…names…which he definitely deserved. I've seen you admonish Thor for leaving his unmentionables in the dryer, and then trying to get the static out of them by using some sort of method with that hammer of his. If you can be fearless around people like them, then why does a little bug scare you so badly, if you don't mind me asking?"

You didn't answer at first, instead aiming the stapler at Steve with a venomous glare. When you pushed down on the top and a staple-bullet shot out towards the Captain, he instantly ducked, his smile wavering somewhat.

Was he doing this completely wrong?

"If you must know, Captain," you snarled vehemently, (e/c) eyes now trained on the movements of the spider as it continued to innocently crawl around in the carpet jungle, "I have severe arachnophobia. Spiders are the only thing I feel uncomfortable with, and I would really appreciate it if you could be your usual gallant and stout self and just kill the goddamn thing already!"

When your voice rose to that octave that even the densest of people would know you were, for lack of a better term, pissed, Steve immediately jumped into action. He swiped a tissue from the box on your desk, leaned down, located the harmless spider, and scooped it into the confines of the thin material. He closed his fist around it, wincing slightly at the sound of the squishing noise as the spider was crushed in his hand—just because he had been created as a super soldier did not mean he took pride in killing things that couldn't defend themselves from him, but you had asked, and Steve could not refuse a lady.

He tossed the tissue into the trash can and took a few pumps of hand sanitizer to get rid of any remaining spider guts on his skin, and turned his face back to you. "You going to be all right now, ma'am?"

You were visibly calmer now, (h/c) hair not sticking up on end as it had been before, and the nervous and edgy atmosphere around you was dissipating as you slid off of your desk and into your chair. With a sigh, you rubbed your forehead and groaned, staring at the chaos you had created on your desk—papers and utensils scattered around in a messy fashion. "Great…now I have to reorganize everything…stupid spider, coming in here and interrupting my work…I should have Bruce devise some sort of all-powerful insect repellent or something…"

You sighed once again and looked up at Steve, fidgeting somewhat in your chair. To his surprise, your cheeks flushed a rosy pink as opposed to the pallid hue they had been only moments before, and you muttered something he couldn't quite make out, even with his advanced senses.

"Er…come again, ma'am?" the Captain asked politely, not wanting to risk your wrath once more. Though the two of you were friends, he wasn't the type to play around with a person's feelings—screw Tony's "advice," he would continue to be civil and respectful to you if he wanted to. After all, it was only proper.

"I said…th-thanks, Steve. I'm…sorry if I troubled you. I just really, really, really…" you shivered for emphasis on the last word, "hate spiders. So, um…yeah. Thanks. C-carry on with whatever you were doing before."

Despite himself, Steve felt a grin creep across his lips, unable to help the next words that came out. "So…could you say I was your hero, (name)?"

You stared at him blankly, cheeks still bright pink, before pointing at the door and saying in a blunt tone, "Go punch some punching bags, Captain."

A feeling of disappointment flashed through him, but Steve nodded compliantly and turned to make his way out of the door. Before he completely exited the room, however, he heard you add something else; words that made his heart give a little jump out of his chest for a moment.

"But yeah, Steve…you were my hero. And I'm glad I have you around to save me…Captain America, sir."

The smile was obvious in those words, and Steve couldn't help his own smile from forming once more as he left your office.