"So stand. Outwit the platinum bastard." Fury finished his rather in character pep talk. Dinner had finished and Laura had herded the kids to the den so the Avengers could have a proper discussion about Ultron. At the word bastard, a smirk came over Nat's face and her eyes slid over to Steve.

"Steve doesn't like that kind of talk." she teased. He pushed off the doorway he had been leaning against, but kept his arms crossed,

"You know what, Romanoff?" he raised his eyebrows at his friend, the threat otherwise empty as Nat tried not to laugh.

"Gonna make him put a dollar in the jar, Rogers?" Tony chimed in from where he was throwing darts with Clint while also listening to what Fury had been saying. Steve heaved a sigh and glanced over to him before remembering that Q was in the room. He bit his tongue on the snarky reply that was ready to go, instead glancing to one of the corners in the kitchen area where Q had been had been curled up in a random chair. He was curious to see her reaction to everyone now knowing their inside joke. Except her chair was empty.

Doing a quick scan of the room and only half listening to the plan to take down Ultron, Steve tried to place Q. But it was clear that she had left. Only to where, he didn't know. He let his arms drop to his sides as he glanced over his shoulder, hoping she was somewhere behind him. She wasn't. His immediate thought was that she had left again, gone back to wherever it was she had come from without saying goodbye again. Though another, logical part of his brain reminded him that Dawson was still there. Sitting diagonally across the table from Nat and not offering any input or snarky comments himself - out of character, but understandable considering the circumstances. But Q wouldn't leave without her best friend.

He leaned back a bit, noticing that the porch light was on, which it hadn't been before. Maybe she had gone out there. He quietly stepped away from the team meeting that was happening and slipped out the front door without a sound.

"Hey." he greeted her after shutting the door behind him. She was curled up on the porch swing, knees against her chest, looking out across the front yard at nothing. There was an empty beer bottle on the railing and another one in her hand. At the sound of his voice, she turned her head and looked over at him.

"Hi." she responded, voice still sounding as small as it had when she first arrived. It was a weird thing to hear; she always had a strong voice. Was always confident in what she was saying and didn't shy away from it. Now, it was like she was nervous as to how whatever she said would be received.

"Thought you left again." he slipped his hands in his pockets while frankly admitting why he had come outside. Even in the dim porch light, he could see her cheeks flush red with slight embarrassment.

"Yeah, no," she ducked her head down a bit, leaning forward to set the beer bottle down next to the empty one. The motion was enough to make the porch swing sway slightly, "I just, uh, had to step away for a second. Too many things going on." she motioned to her head as if that explained everything. It both did and it didn't.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" he asked out of instinct, then winced. He wasn't supposed to be doing that. Offering her help. Not after everything she had put him through. Still, she gave him an almost watery smile and then shook her head.

"No, no…" she trailed off, "This is something I have to deal with on my own." He bit his tongue on the sarcastic comment that was ready to be fired. Apparently there was a lot she had to do on her own. Dealing with the side effects of Hydra torture shouldn't be one of them and yet…

There was a moment of silence before he gestured to the empty space next to her on the swing,

"Mind if I…" he trailed off, leaving the question open ended and giving her an out. But she quickly shook her head and somehow managed to move over even more to give him more than enough space to sit. Which he did, settling down next to her and letting the swing gently start to rock with the newfound weight on it.

"You don't have to deal with it alone, Q." he said softly after another long moment of silence. She looked over at him from where she had been staring at a random spot on her knee. He kept his gaze locked on the porch floorboards, afraid he might lose his nerve if he met her eyes, "I saw what happened to you in the…" he swallowed tightly, having to finally speak it out loud, "Hydra facility."

"I know." she responded quietly, "I can see it in your eyes." he let himself finally meet her gaze, noticing how softly, how sadly even, she was looking at him. Not in pity though, just general sadness, "I just can't bear to hurt you anymore by telling you details."

"You're hurting me by not telling me." he argued back, the knot in his stomach proving it was true. He hated having to make up his own theories about what they did to her and why they did it. She stared at him, almost like she was calculating the different outcomes in her head. Trying to figure out what would happen if she told him and how he would react. "Just tell me what happened." he prompted her, almost pleadingly. She stared at him for a moment longer before looking away abruptly and taking in a deep, sharp breath.

"They - they drugged me. Took out my comms and tracker so Dawson couldn't find me I - I was all alone in there." she started to fiddle with her fingers, staring off into space as she remembered what happened to her while she was strapped to that chair, "Then they started to...to do things to me." her brow furrowed slightly as she continued, "Strapped me down, pumped me full of some sort of blue liquid, then started to...to run tests I guess. See what my body could handle." he glanced down at her wrists, noticing the angry, bluish purple lines that were wrapped around like bracelets she could never take off, "I thought it was just general SHIELD v. Hydra torture, you know?" she glanced over to him with tears in her eyes, "Some sort of sick game to try and get information out of me, but...now, I think it was something deeper." A lump started to form in the back of his throat as he thought back to the video footage he had seen of the various torture she had undergone at the hands of Hydra. None of that looked like it was normal torture - not that he was in any way, shape or form aware what "normal torture" consisted of. She took in a deep breath, like she was preparing to drop a bomb on him, which she certainly did a moment later, "Dawson thinks that they injected me with some form of the super soldier serum." she glanced at him quickly, trying to steal a look at his reaction but not wanting to focus on it, "A low dosage." she continued with a gesture of her hands, "But it makes sense." she followed up.

"How in holy hell does it make sense?" he asked thickly. His entire world was crashing down around him even more than it had the first time when she had left him. Her words made his brain both fizzle out and jump into overdrive. Eyes flicking around her frame, he tried to pinpoint clear examples of the effects of the serum. It had to be the same serum that had made him become Captain America, right? So it had to have the same effects...right?

And yet, there were no signs of intense muscle gain, or a height difference between her before and her after. He couldn't tell if she could suddenly lift things that weren't easy for her to lift before or if she could run faster than she could because they were sitting on the porch swing. Her eyes were a bit sharper than they used to be, but maybe that was because of the situation they were in. She seemed to have a nervous tick now - playing with her fingers, but that could be because she was nervous, not because of the need to focus like he had.

"Because we did tests, Steve." she tilted her head at him, lower lip trembling as she thought back to all the tests she and Dawson had run over the few months after got back to the beach house, "It affected me differently than it did you. I didn't get the muscles or the speed or transform into some sort of god." he tensed at the slight dig at his former appearance pre-serum. "My head just got all fucked up." her voice broke on the last part of her sentence and she quickly moved her hand to wipe under her eyes, "It's going a mile a minute. Like a fucking dam broke. Analyzing everything, noticing everything." her voice was strained when she emphasized the everything's "God it's like no matter how hard I try - and I try. I try so fucking hard. But the noise, the - the static, inside my head will not quiet. I can't take it anymore, Steve. I can't." she shook her head, tears freely spilling now, "They - they took me and they played with brain and then put it back in my head and now - now I have to live with it." she was visibly shaking now. Steve had never seen her like this before and it was more scary than sad. It was terrifying to see such a strong woman act like this. His heart was breaking even more than it had when she left him, while a thick slab of guilt settled onto his shoulders. And also made him extremely angry. He hated it. Hated what they did to her, how they broke her down and rebuilt her up but had fucked with too many of the pieces so they just started jamming them together until she was somewhat whole again. "I don't think I can live with it, Steve." she finally, softly admitted, voice wavering.

For about maybe the second or third time in his life, Steve was at a loss for words. He had no idea what to say or even if there was a right thing to say. A part of him wondered if he should even be comforting her despite what she did. He wanted to be mad at her, yell at her for being so stupid to do something that would get her in that sort of situation. But at the end of the day, it wasn't her fault. It was Hydra. Hydra did this to her. So of course he should be comforting her.

After everything, he still cared about her and hated seeing her in this kind of pain. It was a new kind of pain. Pain inflicted by the same monsters who took and tortured someone else he cared about, twisting him into the weapon they wanted. They had tried to do the same with Q. God, he really was an unlucky son of a bitch, wasn't he? What with Hydra taking two of the most important people in his life and breaking them into a tiny million little pieces all so they could use and abuse them before sending them back out in the world. He couldn't save Bucky or comfort him after everything that happened on the Potomac, but he could sure as hell do it for Q.

Still, he wracked his brain for some sort of comforting statement, but nothing seemed to do the job. He couldn't tell her everything was going to be okay because how could he possibly know that? He didn't want to promise that he would help her through it because at the end of the day, she was still leaving again. She had to, he knew this from the moment she stepped onto the homestead. They had limited time.

So he settled for reaching over and taking her hand in his. She wasn't looking at him, but immediately tensed at the motion, knowing it was coming yet still hating how her body reacted to the simple gesture. Like a tiny little shocks of electricity shot up her hand from where his skin touched hers. Squeezing his hand tightly, she tried not to focus on the slight thrill she got from the touch, but instead on the comforting action. The most he could do without saying anything.

"But you are." he pointed out, the words sounding lamer than they had in his head. She took in a deep, shaky breath, then nodded.

"I am." she tried to give him a strong smile but it fell flat. They shared eye contact for a long moment before she looked away first. That was the first time she ever looked away first.

"How did you escape?" he asked, slightly changing the subject. The slab of guilt on his shoulders became heavier, knowing that if he was just a half a second sooner, he could've gotten her out of a place she never should've been in in the first place. His question made her turn to face him and even through her watery eyes, she managed a scoff and an eye roll - the first thing he had seen on her that reminded him of the Q he had fell in love with.

"Fucking Spencer." Steve's eyebrows rose at the mention of her ex-boyfriend. The one who caused her to be thrown in jail. He didn't know a lot about the ex, but enough to know that he hated him and what he did to Q.

"Well...that's ironic." he made a face, making Q give a small laugh.

"That's exactly what Dawson said." she gave him a semi-amused smile that just looked out of place on her otherwise tear stained face. Still, he humored her and returned the smile as hers faded, "Spence was working for Hydra." she continued, all traces of the small joke they had shared gone, "Said something about having a partnership with them." her brow furrowed as she tried to remember his exact words. Then she let out a heavy sigh, "Doesn't surprise me, honestly." It didn't surprise Steve either, but he did wonder what happened during the time she had spent with him. Weirdly, a flare of jealousy lit up in the center of his sternum as he thought about her being with her ex-boyfriend. Why was he jealous? After all wasn't like he and Q were still together, but he didn't like the idea of her being with him.

"Nothing happened." she eyed him like she could tell what was going on inside his head. After all, there was once a time where she could. Cheeks burning a bit, he dropped his gaze down and away from her, but she didn't seem angry or upset with him, "He's dead now too, so you don't need to worry about him coming back or whatever." she said it so casually that it made his eyes flick over to hers, mouth opening slightly to ask a question she immediately answered, "I didn't kill him." her eyes were serious, enough to let him know that she was telling the truth, "But after...I got out of there. Ran into Sam." she tilted her head to the side, indicating that they were about all caught up, "And I assume he told you." he nodded in response, making her sigh, "Can't blame him, I guess." she looked away from him and out across the homestead.

"He cares about you just as much as I do, Q." Steve reminded her. A small smile peeked out on her features as she nodded a bit,

"So not much then, huh?" she had to tease, lighten the mood a bit. He gave her an unamused look which she matched with an innocent one, "I'm surprised he's not here." she glanced over her shoulder to the house where the meeting was finishing up. Another subject change.

"Yeah, yeah, he's…" Steve trailed off, trying to come up with an excuse-slash-explanation without having to get into how they were searching for Bucky. He was allowed to have some secrets too, "not technically an Avenger yet…" she raised her chin at him, obviously not believing him.

"Uh-huh, sure…" she trailed off, corners of her lips twitching with a grin, "Maybe one day."

"Probably one day." he agreed with a nod. She let out an amused scoff and rolled her eyes.

"Did you guys figure out what you're gonna do about Ultron?" she asked, switching gears and getting the focus off of herself. She had said enough. They had the Hydra conversation. At least part of it and it was hard enough to do so. She couldn't bear to talk about any of the other things that had happened to her there (the visions she had seen) or what she was doing in the Ukraine (still searching for Bucky and other answers).

"I think they're in planning mode now." he answered with a glance back into the house. At his answer, she pulled her hand away. The motion created a sudden coldness and emptiness in the space where her hand used to be.

"You should probably get back in there then, huh? Make sure you know what they're doing." he met her eyes. The proper response was to agree with her. She had given him an out. Though he didn't move; when he would go back into the house their limited time would become shorter. One of them would have to leave first. He didn't want that yet. Not after everything she just told him and the clear state of pain she was in. More so than he originally thought.

"I think they can manage without me for a second." he responded, surprising her. Out of all the outcomes her brain offered her, that one was the lowest on the list. She tried to hide her smile, ducking her head down and reaching out for his hand again. He let her take it, relishing in the small, almost intimate touch.

It had been a while since he had felt her skin against his. The differences were clear. Skin colder than it used to be, her fingers were a lot more bony. There was a roughness to her palm like she had forgotten to moisturize. The marks around her fingernails had to be from something they did when she was strapped to that chair. He didn't want to think about it.

Sitting there together, the quiet allowed him to think about the what if's of life. What if he had saved her from the facility? What if he found her even before then - she wouldn't be struggling like she was right then. What if they had a simple, quiet life like this? Could they ever have something like that? Probably not.

The screen door suddenly clattered open, effectively ruining whatever small moment of normalcy that was going on between the two of them. Both of them looked over to see Dawson step out onto the porch, eyes already flicking in between the two of them. If he noticed the hand holding, he didn't say anything. His eyes settled on Steve and he motioned his thumb over his shoulder,

"They need you inside." he told them, effectively explaining why he had come outside. This time it was Steve who took his hand away from Q's. She flexed her fingers out and in, adjusting to the feeling of her hand without his.

Getting up from the porch swing, he stepped over to Dawson. He pulled himself to his full height, towering over him with his Serious Captain Expression on his face. Dawson, much to his credit, stood his ground. He tilted his chin up a bit so he could meet Steve's eyes and the two of them had a tense stare off. Dawson was dying to say something, anything - Q could see it in his eyes, but he kept quiet.

It was a tense moment between two ex-probably-best-friends. As much as he blamed Q for what she did and how she hurt him, Steve was also pretty angry with Dawson too. After all, not only had he left Nat, but he had left Steve too. Losing a friend was just as heartbreaking as losing a romantic interest. Hell, it may have hurt even more; Steve didn't have very many friends to begin with.

Without a word, Steve stepped past him and went back into the house. As soon as the door shut behind him, Dawson relaxed. Slumping his shoulders down and letting out the breath he was holding, he stepped over to the porch swing. With a heaviness, he sat down in Steve's recently vacated spot. The swing began to gently sway with a push of his toe against the porch floor.

"You were right." he said after a moment of easy silence. A different silence than the one she shared with Steve. More comfortable. She liked her silences with Dawson; there was no pressure.

"You'll have to be more specific." she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. He sighed, looking down at his hands and tracing one of the lines on his palm with his finger.

"About coming here." he paused, shoulders hunched a bit as if he was carrying some sort of weight. It was a bit off putting. For as long as she knew him, he always carried himself like he was above it all. Never being affected by anything - or at least pretending he wasn't, "We shouldn't have come. This sucks." he blew out a breath, looking out across the homestead before sitting back and shoving his hands through his hair. She held back on her I told you so moment, even though she really did want to say it. There were only ever a few times she got to lord over him and they were so infrequent. But she knew this wasn't the time to throw it in his face.

"Did you at least get a chance to yell at Tony?" she asked, trying to lighten the mood. He scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Doesn't seem worth it anymore. And Fury already chewed him out pretty good so…" he trailed off, "They're thinking Ultron's building a body out of some vibranium he stole." he tried to put it simply, but the underlying meanings and the questions that came with it was enough to make her head pound. She winced, then shook her head, deciding not to get into the thousands of questions she had. She didn't need that extra headache that came with trying to understand it all.

"That sounds...fucking horrifying." she settled on. He grunted in agreement, then sat back on the swing, extending his legs out a bit to control the slight swinging motion that was happening. "Do they want our help?"

"If they do, they haven't asked for it." he glanced at her, "And I have a feeling they won't." he admitted. She nodded; that made sense. So much so that she tried to use it as a way to ignore the sour taste in her mouth that came with knowing that they didn't want their help. Not that they needed it, but still. She thought back to the times she was involved with all of Steve's missions while he worked for SHIELD. The planning that went into it and the recon she did. Dawson creating the tech that was needed to help take down the marks. Especially Nat's spider bites. Now, they didn't even pretend to want their help. Times had changed. For the worse.

Q's head found its way to rest on Dawson's shoulder while his arm came around to her side. The two of them sat on the porch in silence. Both mourning pasts they couldn't go back to no matter how hard they tried. Whatever reasoning they had behind coming to the homestead for had shifted with the reunions with the people they loved. The people they abandoned. One of them had been more prepared for it than the other. Both of them realized it hurt a lot more than they had previously convinced themselves. Hard conversations needed to be had, consequences had to be faced and now their time was up. Hopefully it was enough, but it most likely wasn't.

Several minutes later, the Avengers started to filter out of the house. Just by the looks of it, Q could tell they each had their separate missions. Fury exited first, giving both her and Dawson a nod before saying,

"Either of you want to help me pull off something dramatic?" Q and Dawson shared a look before Dawson answered for both of them,

"We already did something pretty dramatic today. Quota's filled." he raised his eyebrows up at their former boss. Fury eyed them for a moment before nodding and stepping off the porch without another word.

Tony stepped out next, flipping the collar of his jacket up while he glanced at the two of them. He let out a breath, saying: "Caltech, Cuckoo's Nest." referring to Dawson - and poking fun at how he didn't go to MIT unlike others, and Q respectively. Dawson glared at him, not a fan of the joke,

"At least I didn't create a killer robot, Stark." he sassed back, finally getting his chance to dig at him.

"No, you just refined a program that almost wiped out half a million people in one go." Tony tilted his head at Dawson, referencing Project Insight. He clicked his tongue against his teeth, then shook his head as he walked off.

"Dickhead." he mumbled under his breath. Q suppressed a snort.

Clint, Natasha and Steve walked out in a group. All three of them were dressed in their op suits. It had been a while since she had seen Steve in his Captain America suit and she couldn't help but give him a once over. Still as form fitting as ever.

At the sight of Nat, Dawson immediately got to his feet. He pulled down his t-shirt in an effort to straighten it out and make himself a bit more presentable. Q watched him step over to the group, only to be blocked by Clint and his rather intimidating expression. The silent exchange between the two of them was loud enough to let everyone know what was going on. Then Nat put her hand on Clint's shoulder, getting him to step to the side.

While Dawson and Nat talked quietly at one end of the porch, Steve moved over to the porch swing Q was getting up from. She ran her fingers through her hair before slipping her hands into the back pockets of her jeans. Steve kept his hands on his belt buckle - in the familiar, strong Bucky-like stance.

"You have to go, huh?" she asked the obvious with a glance over his shoulder at the other two saying their goodbyes.

"I do." he responded, nodding firmly. His eyes danced around her face for a moment. There was something else he wanted to say, she could tell. Yet he settled with, "Look after yourself." she gave him a small smile, arms coming to wrap around her midsection.

"Be safe." she told him and he matched her small smile and nod.

If they were anywhere else, any time else, this would be the part where she would lean in and give him a kiss. A reminder of what was waiting for him when he returned. But both of them knew nothing was going to be waiting for either of them after this. Q wouldn't be at the homestead when he returned and he wouldn't be coming back to her.

So that was all they said to each other. That's all they had. Time had run out.

As the quinjet took off into the sky, Laura stepped up to her. She rubbed a comforting hand against the small of Q's back. At the touch, her grip on the porch railing tightened. But after a second, she relaxed into the motion; it felt nice.

"It never gets easier." she told Q, obviously speaking from experience. Q swallowed the lump in her throat, finally beginning to understand how Steve felt when she had left him.

At least she had gotten a semi-goodbye.

A/N: And thus, reunion over...I hope you guys enjoyed the mini reunion these characters were able to have! Please let me know all of your thoughts and comments - I love hearing from you all! Plus, it was my birthday last Wednesday so reviews would be a fantastic belated bday gift haha

Thank you again for reading/reviewing/following/favoriting! I appreciate you all so much!