Chapter Fourteen

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 Quinn Greene tugged her blonde hair into a ponytail, swiping her keycard and entering through the employee's entrance into the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin. 

The sudden move from Washington D.C to Berlin had come quite suddenly and although it had put her further from home, it had been a welcome fresh start. 

The Natural History Museum was certainly a different pace from Quinn's usual preference of human history but when her boss had first mentioned the possibility of a short stay in Berlin to run the museum in the head Tour Guide's departure, Quinn had grabbed at the opportunity. 

For two months now she had been flying completely solo in Berlin and was loving every moment of it. It was the perfect mini work break. Her position at the organizer of all temporary exhibitions while it was something she loved doing, it took a lot out of her often. 

And with one of her proposed temporary exhibitions properly installed and managed by Spencer in her absence, Quinn had run away to Berlin for what was supposed to be a brief work break but had recently been extended by a further two months. 

Quinn smiled warmly at the visitors gathered around the Dinosaur Hall as she passed through, her smile widening when she saw the wide-eye stare of a child who must not have been much older than five as she looked up at the long-necked dinosaur in front of her. Quinn chuckled knowing very well that she must have looked the same way when she was younger, after dragging her Dads to a museum nearly every other weekend. 

Despite the fact that Quinn didn't have a paleontological degree although it was a field that had always interested her, she quickly found the Dinosaur Hall within the museum to be one of her favorites. 

Quinn had almost finished her way around the majority of the museum searching for anything out of place or missing, while also making sure that all Tour Guides were in place and had everything they needed to create the perfect experience for their visitors when her phone rang out, startling herself. 

"Hello?"

"Quinn?" Steve's voice came through the phone, cracking slightly at the end,  a concerned expression immediately crossing her face which caused the nearest Tour Guide, Margo to look over in concern but Quinn soon waved her off. 

"What is the matter, Steve?"

The friendship between Steve and Quinn had mostly mended itself after the brief period of fractured talking. Both of them soon realized that over the last few years talking with each other had become embedded into their daily routines and without it, they were both thrown off course. 

Since Quinn's realization about how much she had unintentionally fallen for Steve, nothing had really changed between them. 

Her career choice and study had often prevented Quinn from exploring the world that was dating and that had never really been a problem until now. She pretty much didn't know what she was doing and that scared her. Quinn had chosen to ignore what she felt towards Steve, believing that he was doing the same since he hadn't acted in that strange, flustered way like the day at Clint's farmhouse again. 

So with the two friends currently staying as friends and nothing more, their close friendship had never been closer despite the fact that they now lived in separate countries. 

Quinn was still the person Steve went to for everything, from minor problems to the big ones that came with life as Avengers and today, of course, was no different, Quinn just didn't quite know how bad it had got. 

"Are you at work?" Steve questioned, hearing the commotion from Quinn's end. "I can call back, I'll call you back."

"Steve, it's fine. I can tell there's something seriously wrong just from your voice." Quinn reassured. "Besides I'm kind of in charge of everything here, there's not a lot I can get in trouble for." Quinn joked before reiterating her previous question. "What is the matter?"

"It's Peggy."

"What happened? Is she alright?" Quinn questioned. 

"I just got notified that she's gone."

"What?" Quinn exclaimed a little too loudly causing many of the visitors to look towards her sudden outburst in shock. "I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault, Quinn. After all, you deserved to know as well." Steve replied, his voice cracking with emotion again.

"Is there anything I can do?" Quinn asked, her heartbreaking at the thought of Steve going through so much pain without her to do much at all other than talk to him.

"Can you make it to the funeral, it's on Tuesday, in London?"

"Just give me a second, I need to check my calendar." Quinn replied, taking the stairs up to the employee office two at a time. "But that's not all that's going on. I can tell, what else has happened?"

"I'm assuming that you've seen what happened in Lagos on the news."

"Yeah, I have." 

"Well, Tony brought in the secretary of state, Secretary Ross. They're taking away our ability to control ourselves, it's called the Sokovia Accords. We are all being forced to sign otherwise we have to retire. And I just can't agree with it, Quinn. It's against everything I thought I stood for."

"Shit," Quinn muttered staring at her calender in disdain. 

"Yes, everything's going to shit," Steve replied. 

"I completely agree with that but that's not it. Also language by the way." Quinn joked in an attempt to lighten the tension. 

"What is the matter, Quinn."

"I'm so sorry, I've got an important meeting on the Tuesday. I can't make the funeral. If I get flowers delivered can you pick them up?" Quinn continued to rant. 

"Hey Quinn, breathe. It's okay, and I'll pick up the flowers don't worry."

"Okay, thank you." Quinn sighed. "Now the Sokovia Accords, was it?"

"Yeah."

"Whose agreeing with them?" 

"Tony, Rhodey and it seems like Nat as well."

"How's Aquila taking that one?"

"She's still in shock like the rest of us. It's not right Quinn. These accords I'm worried that it's going to mean something worse for the team."

"But Steve?"

"Yeah?"

"I know it's hard but sometimes it's better not to get too involved with certain situations and this may be one of them."



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