Reality in Motion

changes

Things were changing.

By the time Steve returned back to the States, he was informed that the Avengers had moved to upstate New York to what seemed to be some sort of facility. Spread across a large chunk of land by the water, he learned it was previously a Stark Industries warehouse that was used to store Stark Industries equipment, but was now the new Avengers base. According to the press conference Tony had the base was going to be used for scientific research, military training, weapons development, and the New Avengers program.

If anything, it reminded Steve of Camp Leigh and it seemed to be almost a modern day version of it. Being welcomed by recruits in uniform running drills around the outer area of the compound, to the busywork of scientists and analysts. A fuse of SHIELD and the Avengers had happened. All under Tony's command.

It took him a few days to learn the layout of the new compound. There were labs where he was subjected to post-op tests. A rather large conference room where government officials spent a full day debriefing him about Ultron and Sokovia, then another conference room where he gathered with the remaining Avengers to talk next steps. Of course, Tony had put in all the amenities he could think of; a gym, a shooting range, and even a movie theater - which Steve thought was a bit much.

He was given a room assignment, which was more like a furnished studio apartment just without a kitchen, at the end of the winding, connected compound. While his personal items had already been moved from the Avengers Tower, nothing had been unpacked. Nor did everything fit in the smaller space he now had. He spent a few days deciding what would be useful to keep and what could be put into storage. A lot of Q's stuff finally went into storage, but there was a little more of a realistic hope put on the idea that she would be returning one day, some day.

Q, much to his surprise, had helped keep that small flame of hope lit. He didn't talk to her daily, but over the course of the month after Croatia and moving into the compound, they kept in casual contact. Quick, late at night, or early morning texts were sent - always from an ever changing number, even though Steve couldn't care less about tracking her anymore, containing small life updates or brief callbacks to their time in Croatia. It wasn't the best, but it was certainly much better than the absolute radio silence he had been getting before. Though he missed her like hell, it was comforting to know she was doing okay.

Things were changing.

Throughout the month, there were meetings with the other Avengers about what had happened in Sokovia and what that meant for the team. Bruce, or rather the Hulk, was still missing after taking off in a cloaked Quinjet. Thor wanted to go on a search for the rest of the Infinity Stones. And both Tony and Clint had decided it was time to retire from the Avengers. Clint to go be a father to his newborn son and his other kids, Tony to deal with his guilt at causing the whole Ultron fiasco in the first place. Steve was expected to be surprised by one of the decisions. But he understood the guilt Tony had been harboring. He couldn't fault him for wanting a chance to make up for what he had inadvertently done.

And then there were two. As much as he wanted to take this opportunity and run with it - get out just as the others had, meet up with Q wherever she was and help her find out what happened to her family member, he knew he couldn't. He had missed his chance. He couldn't desert Nat, leave her to try to save the world on her own. Even though he knew she very well could. And if he was being honest, he needed a new distraction. There was only so much he could do while he waited for Q to come home.

With certain team members leaving, there were spaces that needed to be filled. Despite leaving, everyone was involved in the decision making process. Though there wasn't much of a decision making process to begin with; the names on the list of options were just a natural progression. The current Avengers had all interacted with, fought alongside and trusted them. It was just a matter of giving them the official invitation.