Reality in Motion

fall back into old ways

Since the remaining Avengers were all dealing with the ramifications post-Ultron, no one really questioned him when he said he was going to be taking a few personal days before returning back to the States. After all, they had almost just died. Some of them even did.

There were the textbook post-op things they had to do similar to what they had done after the Battle of New York: Tony would set up relief funds, Nat would look after the reuniting of families, and Steve - along with all the other Avengers, would have to have debriefs upon debriefs from all different branches of the government. Plus, there was the added bonus of figuring out what to do now that the stone inside of Loki's scepter was inside an android that had helped save the world. Not to mention trying to track down where Hulk had flown off to after saving Nat. But hell, all of them deserved a bit of a break before jumping into what came next. A chance to heal and rest and, in Steve's case, travel all the way to Split, Croatia to see his ex-girlfriend.

All he remembered about Croatia was that in World War Two, it had been fascist puppet state of Germany. Obviously, times had to have drastically changed since that was where Q wanted to meet. Though he didn't remember every single country he and the Howling Commandos had been to while taking down Hydra - the landlines weren't as clear in the middle of forests or in the valleys of mountains, he was sure that he had to have made his way through Croatia at least once. But the details were fuzzy when it came to specific details.

What with Sokovia being close to the country itself, he was expecting it to be similar to the country he had just risked his life to save Though he was pleasantly surprised to find that Split was a much more quiet, coastal town. The address Q had given him a few hours before he touched down led him to an apartment building that looked out across the docks and a very nice Croatian man named Tommo who was more than happy to lead him up to the apartment he was apparently staying in. Steve barely listened to a word he said about the town, being too tired to really focus on anything except getting to wherever had a bed for him to collapse into. Saving an entire flying city from a murderous AI took a lot out of a guy. That and he was also a little nervous about seeing Q again. Even if they had seen each other only a few days prior. A lot had happened in between those days.

Tommo left him in front of a door with a set of keys, a wish for a comfortable stay and a reminder to let him know if there was anything Steve needed. He waited until the man walked away to turn his attention to the door.

The keys in his hand were suddenly heavier than anything he had ever held before. He rolled them around in the palm of his hand for a moment, debating with himself. He could just not go into the apartment. There was no reason why he owed Q any sort of visit like this. But she had asked. She had made the effort. So that had to mean something, right? And maybe this wouldn't fix everything at once, but it would probably help the healing process. At least a little bit. He tried not to get his hopes up, remembering what she had done and what she had failed to do in order to keep him grounded.

The door to the apartment opened easily, allowing him to step inside and shut the door behind him. There was a bowl on the side table against the wall that already held another pair of similar keys. Which probably meant Q was already at the apartment, even though he didn't see any other sign of her. Or even her herself. Not that it mattered, it gave him a chance to do a quick sweep of the apartment. Partially for safety, mostly out of curiosity.

Right in front of him were two massive windows that gave way to a beautiful view of the docks and neighboring buildings. One pair of windows had a handle on it that led to a small balcony area that had two chairs and a smaller table set up. The front room was simply decorated with all the normal living room furniture plus a couple of nicely framed photos of random spots around the town. As he stepped more fully into the apartment, he looked to his right to see there was a small kitchenette complete with a breakfast bar that divided the hallway he was standing in from the rest of the kitchen. With a small table and a few chairs, he knew that was the dining area. Everything was white and almost sparkly, with only a few hints of navy blue and grey as accent colors, but almost no sign of being lived in.