CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

( COUP DE FOURDE )

THE UNMISTAKABLE SOFT lull of jazz drifts throughout the hospital room. The room is filled with a warm light, along with flowers and balloons wishing the Avenger a speedy recovery. Steve's eyes slightly drift open, his senses too drowsy to even register Amy signs of danger. Yet for some reason, he didn't feel endangered at all. Perhaps it was the familiar sound of the heart rate monitor and the sound of people milling around outside of the room that alerted him that he was in the hospital.

What surprised him was the music. It was unfamiliar to him, but he could identify it as a form of smooth jazz. Nothing like the jazz he grew up with. This was soft, endearing, and told a story. His jaw feels like hell, yet despite the sudden urge to claw at his cheek his arms remain at his sides.

His eyes drift over to his right side to notice the familiar stature of Sam Wilson sitting next to him, magazine in hand. The iPod perched on the bedside table next to him displayed the words "Trouble Man" in large white letters. He tried to smile but his jaw protests this action.

"On your left," he mutters out under his breath. Sam places the magazine down in his lap and lightly smiles at the wounded Avenger whose eyes remained shut. Only a few moments later he barely opens his eyes to take if his features. "I feel like hell," he mumbles, his voice still groggy from the medicine that was given.

Sam chuckles lowly. "You look like hell," he admits, gazing at the large gash that ran beside his mouth. His face also featured an array of bruises he had collected by several opponents. Steve attempts to let out a small laugh but fails to do so, only making the cut of his lip split by smiling.

He couldn't remember how he got here, but he specifically remembered bringing down Insight. That was a load off his chest. To know that millions of people were off Hydra's list and to attempt to eradicate Hydra. "How long have I been out?" he questions, stretching his arms out from underneath the thick blanket the hospital provided him.

Sam tilts his head from side to side trying to remember when Hydra's downfall took place. "'Bout a week," he answers, earning a groan from Steve. A week was too long for him to sleep and recover. He was in the ice for seventy years, sleep was the last thing he needed.

As he stretches his legs he feels something slide off of his knees and towards his feet. He attempts to catch it but his wounds protest him from any sudden movement. He winces in pain and grabs his left side, only to feel a large cotton piece of gauze covering up the area. It takes him a moment to remember what had happened. Bucky had shot him. Bucky. He turns to Sam with a questioning look. "Bucky?" his voice cracks in the process of the question. Sam sighs and merely shakes his head. "We couldn't locate him after the wreckage, it's unclear whether he made it out or not -"

"He did," Steve cuts him off abruptly. "I can feel it,"

Sam's lips press into a thin line before accepting Steve's stubbornness. "You saved a lot of people, Cap," Sam tries to assure him. "We saved a lot of people," Steve corrects him, causing Sam's brows to raise in surprise. "You were there. Don't cut yourself short," he comments, forcing Sam to smile. Even after everything he went through he wanted to focus on the positive. It was time he returned the favor.

"You know," he starts, earning Steve's attention once again. "We couldn't find Bucky, but we did find your girl," he announces, gesturing a nod in the direction of the item that had fallen to his feet. Steve peers down to the edge of the bed to find his leather jacket. He distinctly remembers giving it to Quinn before he headed off to New Jersey. "You've had a lot of visitors," Sam adds, addressing all the flowers and cards in the room. "But none visit as often as she did," Sam left out the fact that he had visited him almost every single day, knowing he wasn't interested in that aspect.

"How is she?"

Sam hums at the question. He's only seen her a handful of times but each time she comes in she looks better and better. Her eyes were no longer sunken in from sleep deprivation, she was happy. Or at least she pretended to be. He wasn't exactly sure how she could be after losing her memory like that. "Better," is all Sam can muster out at the time. He grunts as he readjusts in the uncomfortable hospital chair they had given him. "The effect of Hydra's brain manipulation has caused her some trauma," he admits. Steve furrows his brows as best as he could at the statement. "Trauma?" he repeats.

Sam let out a heavy sigh before answering, "She's lost parts of her memory. She can't remember anything if it's happened in the past few months. Including you,"

The news sends Steve back, he lays his head back down on the pillow and faces towards the door. She couldn't remember him? It hurt him on a certain level that he couldn't imagine feeling pain at. However, he comes to terms that if she hadn't been his instructor - if he hadn't been around her; she'd be fine, normal even. That was the life he wished he could give her back instead of this new one where she's scared and memory-less.

He lets out a long sigh as he thinks about her. He had made a promise to her that he wouldn't put her in harm's way yet he had and the repercussions were what he deserved for getting that close to somebody in this day and age. "Why does she even visit?" he questions lazily.

Sam can see that even the renowned Avenger was going through some existential debate. He was troubled. He had lost his job, best friend, and the girl he fancied in the same day. "Because she wants to remember you," Sam answers, hoping to cheer him up. Steve rolls his eyes at the answer, only thinking that he was saying that to make him feel better. He didn't need anyone's pity.

"You were the focal point of her life for the past few months. Without you, she would be stuck trying to recollect those memories without any help," Sam pauses for a moment to lick his lips as he peers at Steve's disheartened face. He had to do something to make him get out of this funk. "She comes by every day. Tells you all the things that she's slowly starting to remember. Tells you stories about you and her that she's heard from her friend just in case you had forgotten her too. Hoping you'd wake up,"

"That's really sweet," Steve admires with a soft smile.

"It's really gross," Sam declares with a smirk. "And kind of sad. I feel bad in a way," he trails off thinking to the small blonde woman who had once attempted to attack them has now become innocent and almost child-like with the hope that was filled within her. "Will she come by today?" Steve questions, a hint of excitement in his voice. Sam smirks at the smitten super soldier and shakes his head. "Nah, said something about packing today since she and her friend are moving,"

Steve furrows his brows at this comment. Moving? Was this because of the downfall of S.H.I.E.L.D. She doesn't have a job to be moving around. "Where?" he asks, concern flooding his voice. Rightly so as the questions swarmed his mind about what she would be doing, where she could be going. "New York," Sam simply answers. "Says she's got family up there. Her mom, I think,"

Even though his mind was panicked for a moment the fact that she was moving to be closer to her mom seemed to relax him. Quinn was in desperate need of seeing her mother, especially after being manipulated by Hydra.

Although he knew their relationship was rocky there was no doubt that seeing her mother would make her feel better. Comforted even. And thankfully Mrs. Cruise lived in New York. He kindly smiles and nods his head at the statement. It made sense to visit family after a traumatic event. His attention turns to Sam as he watches him lean towards the bed, grabbing the iPod and pausing it so the music would stop.

"Between you and me," he whispers, causing Steve to strain to hear him. "You've got to make the first move," he finishes with a sly smirk, leaning back to his original spot. Steve lightly chuckles as he returns to laying down on the pillow, pressing down on the red button to call in a nurse. Sam smiled as he knew what he was doing. He needed to get out and fast. He had to see her before she left.

BOOK ONE: THE WINTER SOLDIER

"SO, LIKE, THE men in black, they're not real right?" Jo questions as Quinn rips off a piece of packing tape to shut a box. The blonde rolls her eyes at the question. It had been a week of non-stop questions about any government agency that Jo could think of. Were the majestic twelve real? Who actually shot JFK? Was Tupac still alive? Everything that Jo could think of she asked with no filter nor hesitation. "I don't know," she answers with a shrug, placing another piece of tape on the box labeled "KITCHEN". "All the information that was in S.H.I.E.L.D. was leaked out by Natasha. You know as much as I do -"

"Yeah, but do I?" Jo's tone had gone from a sweet questioning tone to an irritated, distrustful tone. Sort of a slap to the face to Quinn. She didn't want to hurt Jo by not telling her she just didn't want her to get in danger. Who knows who she would've told during her party days. There could've been break-ins and abductions. Even though that actually did happen due to her being close to Captain America. Quinn's eyes drop to the floor instinctively, her moderate pace of packing comes to a slow. "I was only trying to protect you, Jo," Quinn states, earning an eye roll from her friend. "I didn't want to put you in harm's way and I did and I'm sorry. I already apologized, I don't know what more you want me to do -"

"I need you to recognize that you weren't just endangering me, you were putting yourself in harm's way!" Jo finally breaks, dropping down to her knees in front of Quinn to look at her in the eyes. Quinn refuses to even look at her and begins packing things even faster. "I said I was sorry," Quinn hisses out. "And I know I put myself in harm's way, okay. And I paid the price!"

This hits Jo in a deep gashing way. She hadn't forgotten that she had lost her memory but causing a fight over her holding out about her job and the repercussions that affected her for being secretive wasn't mending their relationship. "Better me than you," Quinn states, as she slumps against the base of the kitchen island. "You wouldn't even remember Josh if you lost your memories,"

Jo had filled her in on the details of the past couple of months. How she and Josh were together and moving in together, how her mother's condition was worsening, how Maddox tried to bully her into dating him, all on top of her being around Steve.

It was a miracle she could juggle all of that. When Jo informed her of how she and Josh met she couldn't help but laugh, she never thought she'd actually punch a man in the face, let alone knock him out.

Jo's heart saddens as she peers down at Quinn. She had no recollection of Steve, no way to tell if she even liked him. She couldn't even imagine what she'd do in her shoes. Rudolph circles the two women sitting on the light wooden floor of the kitchen, his tail thumping against the island as he approaches Quinn.

He nuzzles at her face with his cold wet nose despite her protests of wanting him to go away. He laps up the tears that threaten to spill from her eyes, causing her to hold back a sob. She had worked so hard for everything for the past five years and now it was like everything was disappearing like her memories. "I'm sorry," Jo apologizes, her voice barely above a whisper. "I'm just a little hurt is all. I thought I could trust you -"

"You can -"

"I do, it's just hard to believe you were an agent,"

Quinn snorts at the statement as she fluffs up the golden fur of the retriever who refused to leave her side. "I couldn't be an agent. I have you," she answers with a smile. This was the first genuine smile she had seen since before the accident. Actually, she hadn't seen her smile like this in a while, way before she met Steve.

This makes Jo start to tear up. She had been her best friend for years. She had always been there to help clean up after her messes, support her during college, she was a shoulder to cry on when her heart got broken. Now she was moving across the country. It starts as a small sniffle but then increases in volume.

Quinn peers at her questionably before she throws her arms around her. "What am I going to do without you?" Jo whimpers out, her voice muffled by Quinn's shoulder. Quinn's brows raise in surprise as it takes a moment to realize what was happening. She smiles softly before enclosing her arms around Jo as well.

"You'll survive," she whispers, a sob threatening to rip through her. They had been through so much together, it was painful to say goodbye to her and to everything that they had established within the last five years. The comfort of coming home to someone was going to be replaced by the sound of nothingness for her. She was truly going to be alone. At times she had wished for this, but in reality, she didn't want to be alone. She didn't know if she could handle it.

She lets Jo sob on to her shoulder as a few tears slip down her cheeks. She had to be the one to hold her composure. She always did. Jo pulls away, wiping her nose and eyes clear of any wetness. Quinn cringes at the thought of snot being on her shirt but shoves it aside to throw a comforting look towards Jo. "You'll be okay," she assures while petting the golden retriever that stood next to them, waiting for the right opportunity to lick someone's face. "Besides you have Rudolph,"

Jo pats the golden furred dog as he happily wags his tail at the attention he was receiving. "Yeah, about that," Jo's lips tug downward into an awkward smile, causing Quinn to look at her in question. "Our apartment complex doesn't allow dogs, so I was hoping you could take him. You just spend more time with him than me anyway,"

Quinn looks at the floor before looking towards Rudolph. An eighty-pound dog in a Midtown apartment didn't seem to go together, yet, seeing Rudolph in a pound or with another family didn't seem right either. Quinn nods her head as she pets the dog she had gotten too fond of. "Yeah, sure," she says shortly. "I don't think I can have dogs, but I'm willing to sneak him in," Jo seems a bit distracted by the sound of some engine coming from the outside, a smile appears on her face.

The sound is familiar but Quinn doesn't put too much thought into it. It could just belong to one of the neighbor's janky cars. "So you're going to take him?" Jo asks once again, earning a nod from Quinn for confirmation. She sticks her hand out and strokes the fur of the dogs back, relaxing her nerves a bit. This was something she was going to miss.

A few tears threaten to escape from her lashes as she thinks of when she first got Rudolph. More importantly who was there with her - Quinn. Two of her main rocks were moving away. "I'm going to call him every night," Jo teases earning a sigh from Quinn. "You know, if Miami isn't dog-friendly then why are you moving there? Why can't you move to New York?"

"Because Josh has family in Florida," Jo informs her. "Besides, he's got a big break teaching English at one of the schools,"

"Right. I forgot he was a nerd,"

Jo playfully punches Quinn in the arm causing her to laugh. Although she can't remember Josh and Jo's history together, she has seen them interact with each other in the past few days. Josh was different from the other guys that Jo dated. He actually cared about her and was willing to make her happy. She was leaving Jo in good hands. "We'll be up to see you whenever there's a hurricane," Jo reminds her, causing her to roll her eyes. "Even the small ones?"

"Even the tropical storms," Jo promises with a smirk.

"Great," Quinn huffs out teasingly while smiling. She knew that this had to be a joke. Jo would eventually get used to the hurricane's and would only evacuate when there was a particularly large one. Or she would document it and send it to her and she'd worry for several days until she received confirmation that she was alive and well. Jo looks towards her phone and makes a humming noise before standing up. "I have to go to dinner with Josh. Are you okay with packing for a little while?" she announces, causing her friend to scoff.

Quinn begrudgingly nods in agreement. She didn't want to be the only one packing. Rudolph runs towards the door, tilting his head as he listens to the outside, no one seemed to notice this. "I'll be sure to bring some back," Jo adds, putting on her jacket and grabbing her keys. "I want an invite to your wedding," Quinn calls over her shoulder jokingly. She hears the door open and listens to Rudolph whine for a moment before calming down.

"Yeah, I want one to yours too," Jo throws back confusing Quinn.

She whips her head around to see Jo exiting the loft with a large grin on her face for only a second before the large stature of Steve Rogers with Rudolph in his arms covers her up for a speedy escape.

Quinn stands immediately, backing away from the Avenger in a defensive way as Rudolph continues licking his face. She studies his figure from a distance. His hair, his stature, the kind demeanor he displayed towards Rudolph in his arms - like it was some sort of routine; Jo and Blair weren't lying.

She and the Captain America were friends.

Her muscles became relaxed. If Rudolph was enjoying his company instead of angrily barking then he was welcome in the loft. However, Rudolph enjoyed everyone's company, he was a golden retriever. She watches as Rudolph hops out of his arms with ease, tail wagging behind him as he crosses over towards her and then paces back to Steve. At first, they didn't speak to each other. They just looked at one another, examining, analyzing to see what they were comfortable with.

Steve didn't want to upset Quinn by acting like his regular self at the time, it may cause her to react badly. Quinn didn't want to be too open with Steve, knowing how badly she was hurt by doing that in the first place. She watches as Steve slowly reaches into his back pocket, her mind runs with panic for a moment, her muscles start to tense up as she thinks he's going to pull some sort of weapon out.

She feels incredibly stupid when he pulls out a paperback copy of Magnificent Desolation. It wasn't just a copy of the book, it was hers. He slowly approaches her, book in hand, his eyes looking towards the floorboards of the kitchen. He looks into her eyes for a mere moment to read the confusion, it almost hurt him to see her like this. "I finished," he announces, as he hands the book back to her. Confusion and wonder spreading all over her face. "I had enough time while waiting to be released,"

Quinn makes an, "Oh," sound as she realizes what he meant. "Thank you," she replies, pushing a strand of her hair back behind her ear. She can feel her face starting to heat up with the closeness of the Avenger. She must've been close to him before or else the butterflies in her stomach wouldn't exist. She wasn't the type of person to just get a crush just by looking at someone.

She was the type of person who fell for someone's personality, their morals, not just looks. Having him stand in front of her awake was different than talking to him while he was sleeping. She felt somewhat intimidated, nervous. Her tongue felt too dry to form any words. "It was Neil Armstrong, by the way," he speaks up, catching her off guard. Her brows knit together as she tries to piece together what he was saying. He quickly realizes that she may not understand, his hand nervously touches the back of his neck.

"When we had our first official lesson, it was about the moon landing," he informs her. "You said it was Buzz Aldrin to first step on the moon. It was actually Neil Armstrong,"

Quinn nervously chuckles. Had she said that? You wanted to internally scream at her stupidity but repressed it for another time. "It was at that lesson that I found out you liked space," he teases her with a gentle smile. So he knew she liked space. Way to show him your inner nerd on the first lesson weirdo, Quinn thought to herself. "So New York, huh?" he nervously pipes up, not wanting the conversation to go stale. "Ever been?"

"Yeah, once or twice," she admits, nodding her head. "I know it's expensive but I feel like I need to be closer to -"

"Your mom?" he finishes her sentence, causing her to step back creating some distance between them. She had told him about her mother too? Was she too open to him? The fact that he stuck around after she unloaded her emotional baggage was a blessing. Maybe he wanted to help her.

"How'd you know?" she questions, it comes out defensive but she didn't mean it to sound like that. Steve absentmindedly closes the distance between them once again, making Quinn's cheeks heat up by the close proximity. "We were close, we were really close," he emphasizes. His eyes were filled with sorrow as he looks down upon her. "I'm sorry for what they did to you," his voice is barely above a whisper.

Without any hesitation and any thought, her hand touches the solid bruise on his eye, almost making it swell shut. Then she scans over the gash on the side of his lip. She grumbles to herself in self-hatred. "Did I do any of this?" she questions him in paranoia.

He can see the worry in her eyes as she won't stop looking at all the cuts and bruises on him. To be fair, she had already done that in the past but this time was different. This time he could tell she was blaming herself for every little scratch. He places his larger hand on top of her hand that touched his bruised eye, gently nudging her away. "No," he states firmly. "You didn't do any of this,"

Quinn's lips tug into a frown. "But Blair says we -"

"We did," he confirms. "You did. Blair taught you well," he tries to chuckle to lighten the mood but Quinn's face remains sour and hurt. This was not a side that he was used to seeing. He has seen her mad, he's seen her sad. He's never seen her like this. It was a combination of both of those emotions plus despair, desperation, depression, hurt.

"I'm sorry, I can't remember the things that happened between us," Quinn whimpers out, her bottom lip threatening to quiver. She takes in a deep breath as she returns her gaze to the floor. She was stupid in hoping that seeing him awake would jog her memories back. It was like she was a child wishing for a present she wanted but never got.

"This is my fault," his voice drops from it's cheerful tone to downright depressing. Instinctively, Quinn places her hand on his shoulder to comfort him. As he gazes up towards her he notices that she's forced a small smile on her face. "Hey, I'm sure it's not all your fault. It must be mine too," she states, attempting to cheer him up. It fails but he likes that she's trying to help out. That was Quinn. Putting other's needs and feelings before hers.

"Do you remember anything from the past few months?" he pries, something that was odd for him to do. He watches as Quinn shake her head once while pursing her lips. "Not even the mall?"

"No, I'm so sorry. Did something important happen?"

Steve purses his lips as he looks down at her, looking towards her lips then back towards her eyes. "No," he states, calmly. "Don't worry about it,"

Quinn feels horrible. Something definitely happened during that time or else he wouldn't have brought it up. She just didn't know what and it was starting to bug her. For some reason, she hated to see him frown.

She sucks in a deep breath trying to calm her nerves as she decides to tell him what's going on. She had never been good at admitting feelings. She gazes up at him, giving him another soft smile. "I'm sure we can become friends again," she sympathizes, causing Steve to perk a brow up to find out what she was toying at. "We did it before, we can now,"

Her hand outstretches from her body as she takes a couple of steps back, placing the two at a much more comfortable distance. "My name is Quinn Cruise," she introduces herself with a small smirk.

For some reason witnessing her try to start from square one makes his heart clench. His heart was telling him that he didn't want to start from square one again, not when he had gotten so close to her before. His mind, on the other hand, wanted to give her distance. After all, it was her closeness with him that got her memories wiped. Worse things could happen if they got closer. Quinn bites her lip at the hesitation that Steve was displaying, her fingers could only be outstretched for so long before it started to hurt. In a moment's notice, Steve's hand was latching on to hers, shaking it. His small smirk matched hers. "Steve Rogers,"

A/N

TGFI! I've decided to actually put up the last chapter. This wraps up Winter Soldier and will eventually lead into Age of Ultron starting with act two which will be available January 3rd. I want to personally apologize for the hiatus as I just wanted to take a break for the holidays. Also it's NaNoWriMo so during this month I will be posting an original story of mine up on Wattpad every single day (hopefully I can crank this out).

I'd also like to thank all of you for your appreciation of this story! Seeing your reviews and favorites and follows makes me happy and it makes me want to write more of Quinn's story.

I must say I have this whole series planned out all the way through Endgame and I have outlines of each chapter reaching to just the beginning of Endgame. I personally think this story isn't just about Steve and Quinn's relationship, it's mainly about Quinn. I don't want her to just be a potential love interest hanging on to Steve, every step he takes during the MCU, I want her to be a fully well-developed character who doesn't rely on him. In Age of Ultron you'll be able to explore her character even more as changes happen since she moves to New York (some good, some bad).

Anyways, I hope you'll stay tuned and come back on January 3rd when Book Two: Age of Ultron becomes available! And remember to have a happy holiday season! - Moonie