i know who i am.

Let’s talk about a lesser known relationship that Steve was in during V4 : him and Rebecca Quan. Rebecca Quan’s a cancer survivor and a graphic designer / artist from Seattle and she moved to Red Hook, where she met Steve at a diner they both frequented. Their relationship and her character is pretty obscure because they were only a couple for a few issues before they broke up, and their relationship wasn’t very important or key to the plot. But regardless : Steve’s relationship with Rebecca has to be one of my favorites. It was quite literally a meet cute. 

She comes into the diner, he invites her to sit with her since there are no more tables left, and then they get to talking. And she knows who he is right off the bat, but instead of talking about captain america, or being impressed by who he is, she talks about his shield instead, and how great of a design it is, and how she appreciates the simplicity but depth of it since she’s an artist. Rebecca was never awestruck or intimidated by Steve and his identity as Captain America : she brushed past it as if he were any other ordinary person, and made it easy for Steve to feel comfortable with her, because he was talking person to person, not person to idol / symbol.

The fact that she knew right off the bat that he was Captain America but only cared for Steve Rogers is a huge difference from the other women that Steve’s dated in his life. Peggy Carter knew him when he was Captain America, but also knew the man underneath, and she cared for both. Sharon knew him as Captain America first from Peggy’s stories, and then as Steve Rogers once she got to know him. And then we have Bernie, who was also a civilian like Rebecca but who Steve kept his superhero identity hidden from. She knew Steve, and didn’t find out he was Captain America until she got a close look at him during an anti-Semitic protest he broke up, and she was surprised at first and had to adjust to coming to terms with the fact that her boyfriend was Captain America. He hadn’t told Bernie of his identity because he didn’t want her to be in danger, but most of all : he didn’t think Bernie would want to pursue a relationship with him anymore if she knew, because she’d think it was too problematic or dangerous.

Rebecca on the other hand knew both Steve Rogers and Captain America from the start as one person, only didn’t care much for Captain America. She was more focused on Steve as a person, not as the symbol.

And Steve was in turn really, really comfortable with Rebecca too. There was an instant chemistry between the both of them that Steve didn’t try to push aside or deny. He didn’t have to hide anything from her. He could be completely honest. His relationship with Rebecca was a lot like the ideological kind that Steve had wanted for so long, where everything was very normal and he didn’t have to worry about making excuses or keeping secrets, or worrying about her getting killed or being in danger because she was on a mission herself, or that she wouldn’t be comfortable with him being Captain America.

At one point he even takes a call from her while he’s in the middle of being held at gunpoint, and has her get him out of trouble. The best part is, she figures it out and goes along with it. 

Rebecca took Steve out to a lot of places, got him out of his home and enjoying new things, instead of only focusing on the job and on being Captain America. Something which Steve in V4 had been struggling with a lot. He’d been trying the entire volume so far to come to terms with the man vs the symbol, and Rebecca made it easy for him to just be the man, even when he was being the symbol. She took him out to parties, to art galas, they explored the neighborhood, and she even had security access to enter his place even while he was away. 

Unfortunately their relationship came to a quick end because even though Rebecca had no problem with Steve being Captain America, the risks that came with being romantically involved with Captain America was way too great, especially after she was almost killed by Becky Barnes and had to ‘kill’ Becky in order to survive. It’s the deal breaker for Rebecca, and Steve doesn’t argue against it. He gets it, and he understands : It’s a thought he’d been through when he hadn’t revealed himself to Bernie yet, and it’s even a thought he has when he’s with Sharon, the fear of one of them not coming back from a mission. He doesn’t want Rebecca to be in that position, and Rebecca refused to be put in that position, and so they break up. (But not before going on a time travelling adventure together to stop the still - living Becky Barnes.) Sad as I am still to know that they broke up, it’s sweet how they still remained sweet on each other, and even after not having seen each other for a couple of months, Steve keeps up with Rebecca’s life to make sure she’s okay, and when they talk for the first time since breaking up, they pick up the conversation like nothing had happened. 

They were good for each other, despite their short run. Rebecca knew what she wanted and knew what she needed, and although she wanted Steve a lot, she knew she didn’t need the danger that came with his occupation, not after she’d fought so hard to live up to that point. As much as I wish they would have stayed together, there’s no way it would have worked out with that in mind, not while Steve was Captain America. Which is a bit sad to think about, considering the fact that it HAD worked despite Steve being Cap, because Rebecca quite literally did not give to flying shits about who or what he was. She just thought, okay, that’s cool I guess, but let’s talk about you, Steve. And Steve, for once, had no problem doing so. He was very open with her. When things were classified, they were classified, but he didn’t have to hide or lie about where he was or what he was doing.