Echo

Chapter 31

Steve's POV

Quinn lay on her back with her head resting in his lap, her beautiful green eyes staring up at the passing clouds. Running his hand through her shorter locks Steve smiled when she let out a soft hum of pleasure at the soothing feeling. After a relaxing lunch at a park about an hour away from the Compound they decided to stay a little while longer to gaze at the clouds. With how peaceful this afternoon had been he could almost forget everything that's happened.

Almost.

In the back of his mind Steve was waiting for Quinn to pull away. For all of this to be too much for her and her telling him they were over. He could tell she had felt that overwhelmed this morning when he came in with breakfast, but she seemed fine when he met up with her later. He just couldn't help feeling on edge just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Because inevitably something always went wrong when he found an ounce of real happiness. Steve was trying really hard not to be pessimistic, but it was hard.

"Steve?" Quinn's soft voice pulled him from his deep thoughts. He looked down at her to see her hesitant to tell him whatever it was that was on her mind. "Hmm?"

"I wanted to suggest something for us to do." Curious, he nodded for her to continue. "I had a session with Dr Kent this morning. She suggested that I write up a list of things I'd like to do with you. If there's something on the list we've done you're not to tell me. This way we can make a new memory and there's less pressure for me to remember or for you to make it perfect."

He couldn't say anything for a moment because that wasn't what he was expecting her to say at all. Blinking up at him with her big green eyes she raised her brows expectantly and unconsciously bit her lip searching his eyes for his opinion. "What do you think?" Tugging her plump lip free she smiled down at her.

"I think that's a great idea." Steve continued to smile at her when she grins happily up at him as he stroked his thumb across her cheek. The relief in her eyes made his smile widen even more. She really did want to do a do over with him. Have a possible real future with him.

"Good." Pointing up, she said. Her eyes shift back up to the sky before glancing at him for a second. "Now you can't tell me that isn't a porcupine."

Glancing up, Steve chuckled at the cloud in question. "Are you sure, sweetheart? Looks more like a platypus to me." Tilting her head to the side she squinted her eyes before laughing.

"Fine. I'll give you that one, but that one looks like a janky Iron Man." Steve agreed without even looking up. He was too busy gazing at her beautiful face to care about the clouds and where they look like. She was like his Quinn again but somehow even softer. He wondered to himself if this was how she had been before she had gotten sick and had been through the Weapon X program. She never really talked about her life before except for stories about when she was little and that she had gone to school for art history, wanting to wanted to work at the MET, but her diagnosis had put that on permanent hold.

He had wondered if by fate they would have met eventually. If she had worked at the museum he might have run into her on one of his many visits. Steve liked to think that they would have. He of course would have wasted weeks or months of time before he worked up the courage to ask her for coffee. If she had said yes, what would their life have looked like? Would they have slowly gotten to know each other or would it have been a whirlwind romance? He knew he would have been nervously excited to meet her grandmother and she would have definitely loved meeting the team. She would worry about him on missions of course, but she would always be there for him at home when he came back ready to love him unconditionally. They would have fallen in love and maybe one day gotten married and had kids.