Finally.

In spite of what had apparently been a Turkey mutant on the loose in the middle of Manhattan, duty on Thanksgiving had been pretty low-key. Quin had been a bit depressed in the morning, because it was her first Thanksgiving away from home, but as time had gone on she’d gotten excited. Maybe it was the first holiday she had to spend away from her parents…but she was spending it with Nate…and that was a first, and a good one.

Things had been…touch and go since the incident in her apartment. It had been days before she’d been allowed back in, and even then she’d shied away from the place a little. It was too hard to sleep knowing that someone had been there. In the shadows. Watching. It was too comfortable to sleep with a gun by her bed, and too uncomfortable to simply walk in like everything was okay. Nate had been supportive through the whole thing. He’d let her stay with him…and been a complete and utter gentleman. Almost too much of a gentleman. That was fine though. He’d been giving her time. Time was good.

Time went too fast.

Stepping off the bus at the stop down the street from Nate’s place, Quin checked her phone to make sure that Ashton hadn’t changed his mind and decided to come over and share the late dinner she was about to eat.

Nope. She’d offered, and he’d declined. With Ashton, she supposed that was all there was to it. Still, it sucked that he was spending the holiday alone…maybe she’d bring him some left overs in the morning...

Approaching Nate’s door with slightly wary eyes scanning all the dark corners in the hallway for movement, Quin knocked on Nate’s door and waited. And waited. And waited.

Weird. They’d planned to meet as soon as she was off, and she’d texted as soon as she left the station.

Alarm bells went off in Quin’s head and she dropped her purse on the ground next to the door jam, pulling the service revolver she still had holstered at her hip. One hand groped in in her pocket, producing the key that Nate had given her when she’d stayed with him for a few days and slipping it into the lock.

Quin was relieved to hear the lock click open when she turned the key, but was still not willing to take any chances. In she went, following standard protocol for entering a building.

There was nothing of immediate concern as she entered the building, so Quin continued, calling out Nate’s name and looking for signs of a struggle. There were none, and to be honest, the place smelled delicious. Confused, Quin lowered the gun, wondering if Parker was in his web room, or if he was wandering around somewhere.

What was going on? If everything was normal…why wasn’t Nate in the apartment?

Nate was trying to put himself in a better mood, because it was Thanksgiving and he was going to spend his night with his gorgeous girlfriend. It was the first year in ages that Thanksgiving mattered and he kicked Thanksgiving dinner's ass when it came to cooking.

Everything would have been going well if he had not taken a stroll to pick up a pie. This small decision through him in the thick of a battle with a Turkey Titan. He was returning to his apartment drained of energy, with his hoodie torn and the scent of poultry lingering on him.

To make things worse, he was running late and his phone was in the apartment. Considering the time, it was likely she might have beat him home, so it was lucky that he gave her a key. (Sure, it meant keeping his "equipment" locked up, but he had not been using it as of late anyway. He opened the door, which was unlocked. Great, I'm late. "Quin?"

Everything was simply too quiet. From shadow to shadow Quin swung her focus and her gun, waiting for a figure to materialize from the shadows or hit her from behind.

She needed to leave. She needed to get out of the apartment and try to call Nate again. Surely he would answer. She turned to look around the apartment one more time.

And the unlocked door opened. A voice called out her name.

Quin swung, gun at the ready.

”Freeze!” she shouted out of instinct, gun leveled at….Nate.

”Oh God.” she groaned as recognition dawned and her arms dropped limply to her sides.

”And uh…welcome home?”

There was a gun pointing in his direction, squarely at his face. If there's one thing that being a thief prepares a man for, it was the threat of gunfire. He calmed down the initial voice in his head which wanted to panic. Rational mind, calm, non-threatening voice until the situation was assessed. "Listen buddy, there's no need for--"

The fuzzy image of the situation was beginning to settle. The gunman that was threatening his life was... Quin. His gorgeous girlfriend. The ONE THING that was supposed to make his day better. "Oh. Hi Quin. It's nice to see you."

Know what? Screw it, there was no reason to be phased by this any more. He kissed Quin on the cheek and walked toward the washroom. "I'm sorry to be rude, but I smell like a giant turkey. If it's fine by you, I'm gonna take a fast shower. Mind getting the turkey out of the oven?" At this point, it might give me PTSD.

Nate was…surprised. For a moment, he must have thought she was someone else, because he got so calm... Quin tilted her head a bit and frowned. It was almost like he knew what he was doing.

That didn’t matter though, she winced, waiting for her boyfriend’s reaction to getting a gun shoved in his face the moment you walk through his own front door.

He kissed her on the cheek.

And he was taking a shower? Because he smelled like poultry?

Puzzlement warred with relief for the foremost emotion in her mind and Quin set down her gun on the table as she made her way to the kitchen as Nate made his way to the bathroom.

Why did he smell like poultry?

Nate entered his washroom and stripped off his clothes apathetically. I want to survive this day. If I last the next few hours, I'll order myself a goddamn medal. He stepped into the shower, rinsing himself off quickly; he did not want to leave Quin waiting. She might point a gun at him again.

While cleaning out his hair, he called out since the door was open. "By the way, I met someone you probably work with! Jorge, I think? We fought a giant undead bird together."

He stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist, heading to the bedroom to toss on new clothes. He came back to the kitchen and grabbed the mashed potatoes to bring them to the table. He had to set the rough day aside; letting outside stress into a relationship was the beginning of the end, and besides one little threat at gunpoint, things with Quin were still good. "I'm just happy to be having Thanksgiving with you."

Quin had brought the turkey out to the table and was doing a great job of standing and staring at it while Nate showered. He called something out to her, and the redhead blinked as she worked to process the words.

He’d met Jorge ”Yeah.” she called out. ”He’s one of the more senior officers in MRC. If I’m not with Ashton, I roll with him.”

Wait….

”Did you say zombie turkey?” she asked as he emerged from the bedroom and got the mashed potatoes. The food looked awesome…and that reminded Quin.

”Oh, and we need to make sure we save some for Ashton. He wouldn’t come, but I decided I’d bring him some leftovers tomorrow.”

Yep. Zombie turkey. That was how today was going. He brought over stuffing and corn; he did a pretty damn good job of whipping up dinner, it had to be said. "Yeah, there was a giant turkey in the center of town. It was pretty crazy stuff. I met Jorge and some X-Men. It's been a great day," he added flatly.

>> ”Oh, and we need to make sure we save some for Ashton. He wouldn’t come, but I decided I’d bring him some leftovers tomorrow.”

Nate almost dropped a plate of cornbread. "Ashton? You invited Ashton?" Nate was not usually the jealous or possessive type, even with a guy who has proven not to be his biggest fan and spends most of his time with Quin. Still, this was their first Thanksgiving. He was expecting it to be a quiet, intimate night shared between the two of them. It was going to be the one thing that made his miserable day better and she was going to invite a Ashton.

Maybe Nate should just quit and go to bed.

X-Men. Quin scoffed. ”Did you meet a goofy Asian kid? He likes to play cop in his spare time. Wanted me to teach him how to shoot a gun.”

The table was almost set, and Quin could finally feel the tension from a few moments earlier melting away as the corn and stuffing made their way to the table. Nate had made cornbread, which was weird as opposed to regular rolls, but all in all he’d done a damn impressive job.

Everything was going to be great.

Until she mentioned Ashton.

Something about the way Nate spoke, and the way that all movement suddenly ceased told Quin she’d said something wrong.

” Well yeah. He didn’t have any plans.” she answered, confused all over again.

So he did not have any plans. That was tough for him. Nate had gone without Thanksgiving for years and years, so Ashton could deal with it like a big boy. It did not end up mattering, since Ashton was unable to make it, (or did not want to show up; Nate did not care either way.) There was no point in arguing about what did not happen.

But it was a seed that did not easily leave the back of Nate's mind.

"Huh. That's too bad." Nate set down the silverware and plates, so the table was officially set. "Well, table's ready." Nate tried to make his voice sound unbothered, but after his day, he had no energy for acting.

Yeah. Nate wasn’t happy about the fact that she’d invited Ashton. Quin frowned as he set the plates and silverware down on the table and took a seat, watching to see if he would be ok.

Nate spoke, and from the tone of voice it was obvious that was not the case.

”Is that not okay?” Quin asked.

>> "Is that not okay?"

Nate should have just bitten his tongue. The night could still be salvaged! It honest to goodness had not become a total trainwreck just yet. He had to take his tone down a peg and avoid being blunt or sarcastic.

"Of course it's okay; why wouldn't I want a guy who doesn't like me over at my apartment for my first Thanksgiving with my girlfriend.?"

Attention folks, this is your conductor. Unfortunately the train is off the tracks and we are heading toward a rockface. And the brakes are stuck. Because I broke them. Enjoy the fireworks.

And there was the snark.

Quin looked at Nate, eyebrow raised and shrugged her shoulders.

”I don’t know…because he’s my partner and he didn’t have any plans for Thanksgiving.” she said. Mild irritation creeping into her voice.

“And I don’t think he dislikes you anymore than he dislikes anyone else.”

Her tone was not exactly "pleased" now either. She was defending her decision to invite her partner. They were not meeting eye to eye, and his tone only got more defensive with her reply. "He has no plans so you invite him to dinner at my apartment without even mentioning it to me?" If this was going to be an argument, he was going in with his aces; every conman is smart enough to keep about six on hand.

Doesn't... is she joking? "Are you sure we were in the same hospital room that night? Because I have never felt more unwanted by someone; he said maybe a dozen words to me and he looked at me like I was a tax collector." Alright, not his strongest metaphor but it was better than nothing.

Quin stared across the table a Nate, more than a little dumbstruck and frustrated by what was going on. Obviously she had broached some sort of boundary that she hadn’t known existed.

”I didn’t know that I needed permission to bring someone.” she said, the edge in her voice glaringly obvious.

”I was under the impression that this was Thanksgiving dinner. You know…all about good will and all that jazz.”

As to his comments about Ashton. Quin rolled her eyes.

”I told you Nate. He’s like that. Besides, apparently you forget. He killed a man that day. For me. So yeah, he probably wasn’t in the best mood. ”