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"Wait, you're telling me that you and Steve have never gone on a date?"
Quinn sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, not looking at Mina. "No, we haven't." She kept walking down the hall of the SHIELD building they were in, intent on heading to the meeting they were both meant to attend and on not continuing this line of questioning.
Mina, however, was not easily dissuaded. "You two are essentially SHIELD's hottest couple at this point, I find that hard to believe," she continued, easily keeping pace with Quinn.
"We're not a couple," Quinn said flatly.
Mina grabbed Quinn's arm, stopping her. "Bullshit. Is it just that you haven't said to each other 'oh yeah we're dating now' or something like that? Because as far as I can see, and at least Silence for that matter, you two are dating."
Quinn shrugged, not meeting Mina's gaze. "He hasn't asked me out on a date, and I haven't asked him out on one either."
Mina narrowed her eyes at Quinn, clearly sensing that Quinn was hiding something. Quinn knew that Mina wasn't stupid, and that Mina was stubborn and persistent, but she didn't want to admit to her what the issue was.
"Ask him to go to the bar tonight, should be easy enough."
"No."
"Why not?"
Quinn pulled her arm free of Mina's grasp and started walking again towards the meeting room, not answering Mina's question.
"Quinn!"
"Mina, please."
Quinn heard Mina hiss out a breath of air, then her feet hitting the floor, quickly headed towards her, before she felt Mina grab her, spin her around, and press her against the wall of the hall.
"What the fuck, Mina." Quinn shoved Mina back, not impressed with being manhandled.
"I could ask you the same question. Anyone with eyes could see that you and Steve are into each other, and seriously so, so why the fuck won't you ask him out? You're being absolutely ridiculous!"
"Because of Bucky!" Quinn shouted back at her friend.
That seemed to catch Mina off guard. She stepped back, blinking her blue eyes rapidly, before asking, "Bucky?"
"Yes, Bucky."
"What does he have to do with anything?"
Quinn gave an exasperated huff. "He clearly doesn't like me being with Steve, and the two of them were best friends. I don't feel right intruding on that. They've both been through a lot, and I don't want to be the one causing them more stress or problems."
A crease formed in the middle of Mina's forehead as she frowned. She once again grabbed Quinn's arm and pulled her into the empty room that they were standing beside in the hall before shutting the door behind them. "First of all, you are certainly not causing Steve problems by being with him, he is happy when he is with you. Second of all, who cares what Bucky thinks?"
Quinn's eyebrows shot up, incredulous. "Who cares what Bucky thinks?"
Mina huffed and rolled her eyes. "Well obviously I do, but why do you care? About this?"
"I just..." Quinn looked away, unsure how to answer Mina's question. "I guess... Bucky is the only one Steve has left now from before he was frozen, with Peggy gone, and I know that Bucky doesn't like me. I don't want Steve to lose Bucky because of me."
Silence followed Quinn's statement. Looking back at Mina, Quinn found her with a serious look on her face, chewing her lip thoughtfully. Mina finally responded, "I don't think Steve will lose Bucky because of you. Sure he might not like Steve dating you, but Bucky will need to grow the fuck up and deal with it. He's with me, after all, there's no reason he should stop Steve being with you."
"Logically, yes," Quinn shot back, "but you and I both know that Bucky isn't very logical." Mina frowned at that, but Quinn pressed on. "Every time he sees Steve and I together, he gets sullen and moody and doesn't talk to Steve. What do you think he would do if we were officially together?"
"Nothing, because I will kick his ass if he does do anything."
"Mina, you kick his ass all the time, why would that have any effect?"
Mina narrowed her eyes. "Would it make you feel better to ask him then? Since you won't believe me?"
"What, like, ask his permission to date Steve?"
"Well, yeah. If he says yes, will you ask Steve out?"
Quinn thought about it. On the one hand, if she had Bucky's permission, then he would have no ground to stand on if he agreed and then got angry about it later. On the other, it was entirely possible that Mina would have pressured him into agreeing and then his permission would really not mean anything. "Maybe," she ultimately responded.
"Better than nothing, I suppose." Mina brushed past Quinn and opened the door, heading into the hall. "Let's go then."
"Now?" Quinn asked, incredulous, but still following Mina out into the hall.
"Yes, now. Why wait?" Mina answered dismissively.
Not really having a good answer for that, Quinn continued in silence, following Mina to where she assumed Bucky was. They were one hundred percent going to be late for their meeting.
The two of them continued in silence until they reached the gym. Of course Bucky was in the gym, Quinn thought, he had to remain buff to fight people, and fighting was his favourite pass-time. Entering, Mina shouted "Bucky!" and gestured for him to join them. Seeing Quinn, Bucky frowned, but ultimately acquiesced to Mina's request.
When he reached them, Mina said, "Quinn has a question for you," and then stared pointedly at Quinn.
Quinn glared at Mina then turned to Bucky. "I wanted to ask Steve out on a date."
Bucky blinked, but kept his face expressionless. And said nothing. Quinn rolled her eyes.
"Do you have a problem with that at all?"
Bucky looked like he was about to respond angrily, but he caught the look Mina was shooting at him out of the corner of his eye and quickly snapped his mouth shut. The pair stared at each other for a moment, Mina unblinkingly and determined, Bucky looking grouchy and grinding his teeth. Before Bucky looked back to her, Quinn had already formed an idea of his response.
"No," he ground out. Quinn's idea was correct.
She opened her mouth to respond, but Mina beat her too it. "Good," Mina spit out before grabbing Quinn's arm again, and directing her out of the gym. When they were far enough down the hall to be out of earshot, Mina said, "see? No issue with it."
Quinn rolled her eyes. "I'm pretty sure he would have had an issue with it if you weren't there."
"But now he's said it, he can't take it back. So will you ask Steve out now?"
Quinn chewed her lip ponderously. "I think I will."
"Good. Ask him after the meeting. Go for drinks tonight."
Quinn blinked a couple times, thinking about it. There really was no reason not to now. Her only large concern had been resolved - begrudgingly but resolved all the same. What the heck, right? "I will."
"Good." Mina nodded, then let Quinn go and took off down the hall towards the meeting, essentially dismissing Quinn. Quinn shook her head as she watched her friend leave. Mina could be blunt sometimes, and wasn't always the best at showing that she cared, but she certainly got results when it came to people she considered her friend. Quinn entered the board room feeling confident and happy. She caught Steve's eye and flashed him a brilliant smile, resolving to finally take the final step and spend the evening sharing drinks with him as a proper date.