Reality in Motion

wait another day

Q had come to a decision: she was going to tell Steve about Bucky. She had held onto her secret for entirely too long and at this point, it was now hindering her relationship with him more than anything else. Despite the massive secret between them, things were good. Settled. And she knew Bucky was doing well - from the brief letters she had gotten from him (he had apparently recently discovered the Harry Potter books).

This was the perfect time to tell Steve. She had no other reason not to. Only hoping that he wouldn't be as angry or disappointed in her for keeping Bucky away from him. Once he heard her reasoning behind her decision, certainly he would at least understand why she had kept it from him.

After their fight and make up regarding Wanda, things had been good between them. And as much as she didn't want to mess anything up, she knew that they couldn't move forward if she was still keeping such a large secret from him. That and she knew she was being a little hypocritical for getting angry at Steve for not telling her about Wanda when she hadn't told him about Bucky.

Despite how many people were in the Avengers' compound at all times, she rarely ran into anyone. Everyone's schedules were so different; from working on the mission to training to other things, there wasn't really a time she'd see all the Avengers together beside update meetings on Rumlow or a different mark.

Over the last week, she had done her best in lending a hand to track down Rumlow. It felt good to be doing something useful again, rather than selfishly searching for a long lost family member. Doing it with Steve felt even better. Before she left, they worked together a bit which was different than what both of them were used to, but it was a good different. If anything, it helped them grow together and discover new things to love.

Being back meant getting a second - or third chance. There was no way she was going to fuck it up again.

"Yo," Dawson's voice pulled her from her thoughts. She glanced over her shoulder to see him pushing himself off the couch so he could step over to where she was standing. "Uh, here." he handed out a small envelope toward her. Brow furrowing, she cautiously took it, seeing that it was marked with Steve's slanted handwriting: CLUE ONE. Confusion clouded her brain, making it impossible for her to focus on anything else except the reasoning behind the envelope and what the clue was for.

"I'm guessing you're not allowed to tell me what's going on?" she gestured to him with the envelope. He shoved his hands into his pockets, eyes squinting a bit as if she was the one who was being confusing,

"Clearly Rogers set up some sort of scavenger hunt for your birthday. The prize most likely being him." he spoke as if he was talking to a child and not a....now thirty-one year old woman. Her mouth opened a bit while her eyes went to the envelope again, turning it over in her hands. Her birthday. "Good luck." Dawson clicked his tongue against the side of his mouth. He turned to walk away from her but then doubled back, "And, uh, happy birthday." a half smile tugged at his features as he reached out to pull Q into a quick hug, "Let me know when you're done with that thing and I'll give you your gift." his finger waggled around the envelope in her hands, and then he walked away without another word - he had done his part, gotten the game started.

If she was being honest, she had completely forgotten about her birthday. So focused on dealing with her trauma and getting better, then the additional conversation she had to have with Steve took up more space in her brain than she cared to admit. Not that her birthday was something she looked forward to to begin with. She used to. She liked celebrating her birthday - not in a big way, but with something simple. Like the time she and Dawson shotgunned a couple of beers and had a rom-com fest. Then came the search for Bucky and the birthdays that passed ended up just being a painful reminder instead of a celebration. She was missing the one person she wanted to celebrate with the most. So she stopped celebrating and just let the day pass without making it a big deal - even though Dawson would always get her something small or do something nice without pointing it out. Why would this year be any different?