Ceci stood beside Steve as they watched the rest of the group drive away, Bruce sitting sideways and a bit scrunched over in the back of the car but waving and smiling at them.
"I really like your friends," Ceci said with a grin as she waved goodbye back at Bruce.
Steve let out a happy hum, the warmth in his heart for this woman had only grown while watching his friends interact with her. "I'm really glad. They're basically my family now. And I think it's safe to say the feeling is mutual. They loved you and I think Nat may try and adopt you."
Ceci giggled. "There are worse situations to be in I suppose... So," Ceci changed topics as she turned towards him. "Should we go get my car and start the drive?'
"You know," he drew out as he glanced between her and the sidewalk leading away from the cafe. An idea sprouting in his mind. "I'm pretty sure Bruce and Scott, with Nat's help, have things well under control for a few hours at the compound. What would you say to having that date right now?"
He watched her smile grow. "Hmm, you have something specific in mind?"
"Nothing fancy, just some more time together. I was thinking about a walk around Central Park and lunch from a food truck before we head upstate?"
Ceci nodded. "That sounds perfect."
Thirty minutes later they were walking through Central Park when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He slipped his hand in his pocket and pulled the phone out, taking a quick glance. It was a text from Scott.
Scott: Natasha says you should invite Ceci to stay over at the compound.
Steve chuckled and shook his head.
"What is it?" Ceci asked as she watched him slip the phone back in his pocket without responding.
"Scott is now a go between for Nat's sneaky meddling ways."
"Meddling?" Cecilia questioned.
"She says I should ask you to stay over at the compound. She had Scott text me since she's driving."
"Oh, I couldn't do that. I would just be in the way. Especially with this special project you're working on."
Steve hadn't told Ceci yet about their idea for time travel. He wanted to. He intended to, in fact he was thinking of sitting down here in the park with her and telling her everything. The whole world knew about Thanos and had a vague understanding of the infinity stones and the power they held. But he wanted to share it from his perspective. He wanted... no he needed... to share with her about the hurt that still settled in the pit of his stomach when he thought of that day in Wakanda when they lost to Thanos. He hoped things worked out with Ceci, he wanted a long term relationship with her, and that meant bringing her into the inner circle of trust about what had happened five years ago as well as what could happen in the next few days.
He had already felt strongly that he could trust Cecilia Quin, and that was before Nat had insisted on running a background check on her as soon as he had told the assassin about her several days ago. He'd argued with his friend about it and in the end they compromised–Nat would run the check, but promised she wouldn't share the details with him.
He was pulled out of his thoughts as her words sunk in. "You wouldn't be in the way." He corrected her. "The compound is a big place, and I think Nat is looking for an excuse to get to know you better. I wouldn't mind it either. I'd love it. I just don't want you to feel rushed into anything, and–"
Ceci stopped her forward motion so fast that Steve was several steps ahead before he stopped and turned to her as she looked up at him. "Steve, do you want me to stay overnight with you?"
Steve rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I mean, there are empty bedrooms. I wouldn't presume that you'd stay in mine."
Cecilia gave him a soft smile before pulling him over to a bench and sitting down. He quickly followed suit and sat beside her. She pulled one leg up under her and shifted to face him, scooting close so they could maintain some privacy even in the open public place. "That's not exactly what I was asking Steve. I want to know–do you want me there?"
Steve sighed as he thought about what lay ahead for the team. "The next few days are going to be big. There are so many unknowns." He reached over and took her hand in his own. "But I'd be lying if I said I didn't want you there. It may be selfish of me, but I want to spend as much time as I can with you, Ceci.I don't know what the future holds for any of us, but I hope you're in mine. Yeah, I want you there. I just don't want to mess this up, to make you think I'm rushing things."
"Steve–I don't feel like things are rushed. I may not know what you guys are planning. But I can tell from how you've been that it's big–that a lot is at stake. I think we can both agree with all that we've both lost in life, both five years ago and before that–we need to embrace good things when we find them. And this–what we have," she said as she squeezed his hand. "This is good. I think Nat was right. It feels like I've known you forever. This all feels so... natural. Don't you agree?"
Steve gazed into her eyes for a few more moments in silence before pulling her hand up to his lips and placing a gentle kiss on it. "I absolutely agree."
"Then, with everything else there is to worry about in this world, let's have us be the thing we don't have to worry about. Let's embrace every moment we have together when we have it. We'll figure it out as we go along. For now– I'd love to spend some extra time with you... and maybe with Nat too. So how about we go back to my place and I'll pack an overnight bag?"
"That sounds great. But we're not done with our date yet. First, we finish our walk and have lunch. Then we'll head back to your place."
*****
Ceci came downstairs with her duffel bag packed. She found Steve standing in front of the painting of himself, hands tucked in his pockets as he stared at it thoughtfully.
"You look awfully deep in thought, Steve," she said quietly as she came up beside him, setting her bag down and wrapping her arms around his bicep. "Anything you want to talk about?"
He took a deep breath and sighed. "I still have nightmares about it sometimes–that day, five years ago. We fought so hard. And we lost. Thanos was just too strong."
"I would tell you that you can't blame yourself, but I'm sure you've heard that plenty of times over the past five years. We can't always win, Steve. Not even super soldiers."
Steve turned and she loosened her grip on his arm so that he could freely, then rested her hands at his waist. "We're going to try and fix it."
Her eyebrows furrowed. "How?"
"Time travel."
Ceci's eyes went wide. "Woah."
"We can't change what happened five years ago, but we're thinking maybe we can go back, get the stones before he does, and use them to get everyone back that we lost five years ago."
"Wow, that's... that's..."
"Crazy? Yeah, I know."
Ceci slipped her hand into his, intertwining their fingers together. "Well, yeah–crazy. But, there was a time when a lot of people would have said aliens coming through a portal into New York City was crazy, and yet it happened. As did an alien ship coming down out of the sky into New York. Oh yes, and half the world's population turning to dust So, time travel? Suddenly it doesn't seem so unbelievable."
Steve chuckled. "Well, you have a point."
"Not to mention the fact that I just went on a date with a super soldier who wears red, white, and blue that was born before 1920, and had breakfast with an assassin, a giant green man, and a funny guy who can turn into the size of an ant. I'm pretty much prepared to believe anything at this point," Ceci added with a laugh.
Steve grinned. "Well, when you put it that way."
Ceci looked back at the painting and sighed. Suddenly, she grew pensive, and Steve mirrored the frown on her face. "What's wrong, Ceci?"
"I–I should–There's something I want to tell you about... need to tell you about."
"Okay," Steve said slowly as he watched her carefully, suddenly worried about her change of behavior. "You have me a little worried, Sweetheart."
She looked down at her feet as she dropped his hand. "Follow me. I need to show you something."
*****
Soon they were standing at her bed. She sighed and bent down, pulling a black metal box out from under the bed. "I–I hope this doesn't change how you feel about me. I–I promise I wasn't hiding anything, I just–it–"
"Ceci," Steve said calmly. "I trust you. We're just getting to know each other. There's bound to be things I'll continue to learn about you if our relationship continues to develop the way I hope it does. You can tell me anything."
The woman who'd captured his heart took a deep breath and nodded, flipping open the latches on the case. "My father, grandfather, and great-grandfather all came from the same line of work. Had my parents bore another child, perhaps they would have gone into the same line of work. My father hoped I would. But as I grew up, despite my grandfather taking me to the shooting range every week, and my father insisting I keep in good physical condition and take self defense and martial arts, by the time I turned twenty-one he realized I was a lost cause. I was born to be an artist, not an agent."
"An agent?" Steve questioned.
Ceci nodded and opened the case, rooting around to pull out three small black wallets and laying them on the bed. Then, she flipped them open as she called them out. "My father...grandfather... and great-grandfather... all SHIELD agents."
Steve looked down at the IDs, clearly each was older and more faded and yellowed than the next. "Wow."
"I swear, Steve, I wasn't hiding this from you, I–"
"Woah, Ceci," Steve said, placing his hands gently on her shoulders and turning her to him. "Why would I be upset about this?"
"You've been through a lot with SHIELD. A lot happened."
"That was Hydra, not SHIELD."
"Yeah, I know," Ceci said, looking down at the IDs again and running a hand over the one that belonged to her father. "My father died during the Project Insight fiasco. He was on one of the helicarriers."
Steve's jaw dropped. "Oh God... I'm so sorry, Ceci."
"You have nothing to apologize for. Time and time again, you have done what had to be done to save the world. That day, my father died trying to help you. He was shot by one of the Hydra agents that had infiltrated SHIELD."
Steve nodded, keeping one arm around her as he examined the IDs with her. "If your great grandfather was in SHIELD, that means he was around when..."
She nodded and leaned forward, digging into the box. "My grandfather was more a scientist than a cop. He worked very closely with Howard Stark." She pulled a photograph out and handed it immediately to Steve. There before him was a black and white photo of himself, on one side was Peggy, on the other Howard, with a few others around them. Steve had vague recollections of this photo or ones like it being taken. Ceci leaned in and pointed to the man standing next to Howard. "That's my grandfather, Raymond Quin."
"This is incredible, Ceci. I–I must have met him."
She chuckled. "Oh, you did. The story was passed down through the family. He was there the day Howard made the shield. You ever wonder why the Quinjets are called Quinjets?"
"Quin–as in your great grandfather?"
"I'm fuzzy on the details, but he had something to do with the technology of the earliest models, apparently."
Steve shook his head, still not quite believing how close he'd been to a member of Ceci's family all those years ago. He pulled her into his side and turned, wrapping his other arm around her as well and holding her close. "Thank you for sharing this with me."
"So–you aren't upset?"
"I still don't understand why you think I would be?"
"Well, I just–didn't want it to seem like I'd lured you in because of some family obsession."
Steve chuckled. "Unless you somehow lured me into the coffee shop that day when I was on my way to group therapy. I was the one that blatantly flirted with you."
She grinned. "That's true."
Steve cupped her cheek in his hand and made sure she looked at him. "I'm glad you opened up and told me. You have nothing to worry about. It's... kind of... neat, actually. Kind of makes me feel like we've been connected all these years without even knowing it. I trust you, Ceci. It was unexpected to come upon you that day in the coffee shop, but I'm so glad I did. And something about you... I knew I could trust you. And that night, when you showed me that painting downstairs, just cemented it. You're amazing, Ceci. I'm so grateful to have you in my life."
Ceci smiled and leaned into his touch on her face. "I feel the same way. And I look forward to seeing where this relationship takes us. But first, I have to get you upstate. You have very important work to do."