Captain America: The Phoenix

5. Not a Hero

After Captain Rogers made a few phone calls back to headquarters, requesting a aircraft to come transport them back to Upstate New York and Quinn went to speak with the hospital about signing her off for self-care, Quinn was able to get her mom out of the hospital.

Steve watched from the truck as Quinn approached, pushing her mom towards him in a wheel chair. Her skin was graying and she looked frail, as if accidentally bumping into her could kill her.

"You gonna tell me what this is about, Quinnie?" The woman croaked out as she sat in the wheelchair, just glad to feel the air outside and see the sky turning into the pink orange hue of sunset.

"It's–um–" Quinn started. "It's a long story mom. I promise I'll explain everything, okay?" She asked as she wheeled her to the truck.

Lucky for Quinn, her mother had no idea of what Captain America looked like or who Steve Rogers was.

"Cap—" she stopped herself, "Uh, Steve, this is my mom."

"Hello, Miss Rivera, its very nice to meet you," he gently shook her hand, respectfully smiling.

"Likewise, Steve."

"I'm, um–uh," he paused, "Quinn's friend."

"Yeah," Quinn gave him a glare as if to tell him that he was an awful liar. "He's here to get us where we need to go."

Steve helped the ill woman into the truck. Then him and Quinn walked around to the other side of the truck, talking as they did.

"How do you plan on explaining everything to her?" He asked.

"I'll figure it out," she muttered as he opened the car door and allowed her to slide into the truck next to her mother. Then he climbed in himself and started their journey to the airport.

"You okay?" He heard Quinn mumble to her mom to which the woman responded, "A-okay!" In the most chipper voice she could muster up.

"It's nice being outside again. Just the air in the hospital makes me wanna die," the woman said, chuckling laboredly. Quinn, however, was not amused by the joke.

"You're very handsome, Steve." The older Rivera suddenly said.

"Mom!" Quinn interjected. Steve simply let out a sheepish chuckle.

"May I ask where you're from?" She asked, her voice dry and coarse, but very sweet, dissimilar to her daughter's robust and aggressive tone.

"Brooklyn, ma'am."

"I know a Brooklyn man when I see one. My father was from Brooklyn," she told him. "Served in the army during WWII."

"Hard times, those were." Steve ambiguously said, making Quinn glance over at him. She knew the super-soldier's interesting history.

"How did you find out about this new treatment, Quinnie?" The woman asked.

"Um, Steve actually told me about it. He, um," she paused, "has some connections in the medical field."

"Wonderful. So, what do you do, Steve?" The woman asked, coughing slightly at the end of her sentence.

"I was, um, actually in the military. Staying put for now, though," he said.

"How honorable!" The woman said. "And, Quinn, how did you two meet?"

"At the bank," Quinn said, not lying.

"How interesting," the woman said, sounding almost confused at every part of their story.

Then they arrived at the runway of an airport.