"No anesthetic?" The doctor asked, concern coloring his voice. Both because of the request and because he wanted to make sure he understood. The needle stayed poised above Dawson's hand even as Dawson shook his head.
"Nope, no way. I'm not letting you stick a needle in me filled with God knows what." he said matter-of-factly before repeating his request in Ukrainian to get the point across. The doctor glanced over to where Marina and Q were standing a few feet away as if looking for help or a different answer.
"You'll pass out from the pain." Q countered in English. Dawson shrugged, pulling down the corners of his mouth.
"Better that than being pumped with some sort of poison or whatever." his explanation made Marina scoff, tossing her hair back over her shoulder.
"Don't be so dramatic, dude." she crossed her arms over her chest, accent lilting her words, "Nothing like that is gonna happen." He had seen too many action movies.
"Right, because I'm not taking the anesthetic." he circled back to his original point, "Just let me have this okay?" he raised his other hand up with a sigh, annoyed with the argument that he started. Marina raised her hands up, making a face as she gave in. His eyes shifted over to Q, waiting for her response as well.
Instead of answering, she shifted her stance and grip on the semi-automatic in her hands. It was his hand after all. He could do whatever he wanted and deal with the consequences. And she understood his concern. They didn't know the man - he very well could do something like that to Dawson and he could lose his entire hand instead of having just a few mishealed fingers.
Nodding at her, Dawson turned back to the doctor. With a sigh, the man set down the needle back down on the tray and went back to examining the hand to find the breaks he needed to reset. Every so often, Dawson would wince or hiss in pain - which could've been avoided if he just took the anesthetic. They'd be doing a bedside reduction rather than inserting pins and plates into his hand. Mostly because the doctor they were visiting didn't have the required equipment needed to do so. And if Dawson was refusing anesthetic, he sure as shit wouldn't agree to being put under and letting the doctor open his hand up. Even with Q standing close by with her gun locked and loaded.
As predicted, once the doctor started to manually reset the breaks, Dawson immediately passed out from the pain. While it made it easier for the doctor to continue with the resetting, Q still kept a careful eye on him. She had felt herself get woozy at the sounds of bones moving together to fit back into place, but she forced herself to stay upright. She didn't trust the doctor Marina had taken them too, nor did she really trust Marina either. But she was grateful that Marina had gotten them to someone who could fix Dawson's hand, even despite how shady the place was.
The "office" was located in a deserted warehouse several kilometers away from the motel. Sheets of plastic made up the walls of the "room" and inside were a couple of makeshift appliances. The doctor himself looked nothing like the doctors both of them were used to - no white lab coat or stethoscope around his neck, just a man in plain clothes with a variety of medical tools at his disposal.
Marina and him seemed to be old friends, even though he called her by a name that wasn't hers. After greeting each other warmly, she had quickly explained the bare bones of the situation in Ukrainian, much too fast for either Q or Dawson to understand completely. But Q was able to catch a few words she understood and could piece it together. Thankfully, the doctor was willing to help - especially after Marina slipped him a thick stack of hryvnia notes.
Keeping one eye on the doctor, she kept the other eye on Marina. With her long, gentle curls of hair and bright, innocent-ish smile, she could see why she had connections with the likes of the doctor. Making herself easily trustable and non-threatening, she became likable no matter the circumstances which attracted people who were not. Adding her looks to her skillset, she had made herself sought after to be a liaison between unsavory parties who wanted to keep themselves and work secret, while also being able to use them for her own self-gain. Such as her relationship with the doctor.
The woman had settled herself at a makeshift table, opening up the laptop Q didn't remember her having when they first got to the warehouse. In fact, it looked suspiciously like Dawson's laptop. She had taken it from Dawson's bag while the doctor continued to reset the breaks.
"What are you doing?" she asked, moving over to hover closer by Marina. She didn't even pause in her typing, eyes never leaving the screen.
"I am making sure whoever got that notification of the silent alarm you idiots tripped doesn't find you." she responded airily, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Q resisted an eye roll. Confidence rolled off her in waves, not unlike how Dawson was whenever he was in front of his laptop doing something similar. Which meant now she had to deal with two asshole, egomaniacal, computer geniuses.
"Gee thanks." she droned out, grip shifting on the gun she was holding against her chest. Marina smirked, but continued on with whatever she was doing on the laptop.
"You don't believe me." she stated instead of asking which made Q pause. The beat of silence was enough of an answer for her as she turned the laptop around to show Q what she was doing.
The lines of code meant nothing to Q, but, unlike Dawson, Marina was quick to explain in a way that she would understand. Basically, if and when anyone tried to trace back to location would be bounced to a dummy source in a completely different country. She wasn't sure how Marina did it, but she was grateful she wasn't going to have to worry about Steve or Nat finding them quite yet.
"Thank you." she gave her a tight smile and a small nod after the explanation was finished. Marina nodded, turning the laptop back to her and leaning back in her chair.
"You don't trust me, do you?" that was the question that should've been a statement. Q was pretty sure she had made it quite obvious that she didn't trust Marina. The only reason they had followed her to the doctor was because they were desperate and it was their only option.
"No." she answered with a slight raise of her chin. Why lie? She didn't know the woman and Dawson barely knew her as well. Marina showing up out of the blue with a fix to both of their problems was more than a little unnerving to Q. Especially considering it was right after they had gone to the Hydra base where they had supposedly tripped a silent alarm that only Marina was able to fix.
"Listen, I get it." Marina put her hands up after she had finished voicing her thoughts as to why she didn't trust the woman, "I wouldn't trust me either -"
"Then why are you trying to make a case to show we should?" she cut her off sharply, wanting to get straight to the point.
"Because you need me." she answered with a slight shrug, repeating what she had said earlier, "With D-bag out of commission and you knowing nothing about this -" she gestured to the computer, "You're gonna need someone to help you track down whoever you're trying to find. I have connections with people you're not going to like, but are going to need in the long run." Again, she was making the same case she had made before they had left for the doctor. Q fixed her with a look, not finding that it was enough.
"You'll have to do better than that." she kept her voice even, "Just because we need you, doesn't mean we have to trust you."
"I don't need you to trust me." Marina let out a slight laugh and shook her head.
"So then why are you here? Why are you helping us and sticking around?" she asked, keeping eye contact with the other woman for a long beat of silence before her eyes shifted over to where Dawson was passed out. Q followed her line of vision, half listening to her and half focusing on how the doctor was wiggling Dawson's fingers around to try and replace them correctly compared to his other hand.
"I have been trying to track him down for a long time. Ever since he disappeared actually." she admitted with a raise of her eyebrows, "And so when that alarm went off and I had an actual source, I wasn't going to let that go." she finished with a shrug and an almost sad smile. Q glanced back at the woman only to study her for a moment, trying to figure out if she was lying or not. Her eyes met Q's for a moment more before dropping down to her lap where she tangled her fingers together, quietly adding, "He didn't tell anyone about me." she lifted her head up to look at her again, "Didn't sell me out or anything like that when SHIELD took him. And he very well could've. So I feel like I owe him one." she nodded, raising her eyebrows up, "I guess that's why I'm here." she ended with a sigh. A brief moment of humanity and heart chipped at Q's automatic distrust for her, though not enough to completely melt it away.
"Well, he can be a good guy when he wants to be." Q agreed with a shift in her stance. Her eyes moved over to where the doctor was finishing with Dawson's hand. And while she certainly didn't trust Marina quite yet, she understood where she was coming from. A debt needed to be repaid and if that meant they would have an extra hand or two to help out, then so be it.
After Dawson woke up and his hand was reset and stabilized, the doctor gave them a prescription for painkillers and antibiotics along with strict instructions for Dawson to follow to make sure the bones healed correctly. It would take upwards of two months until he could use his hand like he did before the break. Obviously, he wasn't happy with the diagnosis, but he had to admit it did feel better than it had before.
The sun was rising while the group made their way back to the motel. It had been a long night. From Hydra infiltration to a smashed hand to surprise guests, the night had felt like three days combined into one. The last time either one of them had gone this long without sleep was months prior when SHIELD collapsed. That felt like a lifetime ago compared to what they were dealing with currently.
Only stopping at the pharmacy to fill Dawson's prescriptions, the three made it back to the motel without any issues. A small breakfast of day old pastries and microwaveable meals was put together as they all found various spots around the small room to sit or lay.
"So what now?" Marina asked after a moment of silence, staring up at the popcorn ceiling of the motel room. Letting out matching sighs, Q and Dawson exchanged a look before Dawson answered her,
"Not much, probably. The two of us gotta at least get out of town before anyone traces that alarm back to us." she waved her hand in the air, looking unconcerned.
"I took care of that when you were passed out at the doctor's." she took a bite of her pastry before continuing, "We don't have to worry about that anymore."
"Oh, so it's a we now." he asked, eyebrows raising up. She sat up on her elbows, giving him an amused smirk before her eyes flitted over to Q momentarily then returned to him,
"I'm not leaving now, Dawson. Not when you're out a hand and need to stay three steps ahead of whoever you're running from."
"We're not running." Q cut in sharply, jaw clenching at the insinuation that they were running from Steve and Nat. They weren't. They were just...avoiding them.
"Fine, fine." she raised her hands up, not wanting to get into a fight, "But still. You'll need help."
"And you're offering your services?" he sounded unconvinced, "For what price?" he asked the important question, but she laughed a little as if it were a ridiculous question.
"No price." making Dawson scoff in disbelief. She kept what she had told Q to herself, already have one heartfelt moment to fill up her queue for the month. Q hid the upward tug of her lips behind a bite of her microwaved egg muffin. Seemed like, for whatever reason, the woman didn't want Dawson to know that she felt indebted to him. Pride maybe. Or maybe just wanting to look like she was better than him. But Q knew the truth - or at least part of it.
"But," Marina continued, "it would be easier to help if I knew who exactly we were looking for." her gaze flitted in between the two friends, eyebrows raising ever so slightly. Almost challenging them to try and weasel their way out of an explanation again. Dawson glanced over to Q, silently wondering if she was okay with telling the other woman the details of their quasi-manhunt. They communicated silently for a moment: eye contact, slight head tilts and shakes before Q sighed and turned to Marina, taking the lead on explaining it.
"James Buchanan Barnes." she responded curtly, "Otherwise known as the Winter Soldier." she shifted in her seat, leg crossing over her other knee. Marina's eyes widened slightly at the name; she had heard the name before in conversation with a few of her...clients.
The Winter Soldier was rumored to be one of the world's most dangerous ghosts, haunting those who were a threat to Hydra's bigger plans. At one point, she half-expected him to come after her, which was what spurred her relationships with people who were in the good graces of the Nazi organization.
"And why are you so interested in finding him?" she asked trying to cover up her reaction with innocent curiosity, not realizing Q had caught it.
"He shot my ex-girlfriend." Dawson immediately answered. It wasn't the true reason they were after Bucky, but it wasn't a full lie either. Q cleared her throat, making him sigh and add on, "And Q." Marina perked an eyebrow, smirk tugging at her lips as her attention shifted,
"Ex-girlfriend, huh?" she asked, much more interested in that tidbit than the reason behind their search. He rolled his eyes,
"Not the point." he muttered out before fixing her with a serious look, "But that's who we're looking for."
"And by starting with Hydra," Q continued with a raise of her hand, "we're hoping to figure out his timeline, what he did and why, and hopefully it'll lead us to him." she was banking on her abilities she gained at her time in SHIELD to help her find a pattern of some sort or something that was a constant in his past that he would return to in the present time. Something familiar, whether it be a basic action/reaction, a person, place or routine. If they could find it, then maybe it would lead them to where he ended up after that day on the shore of the Potomac.
"What did you find here?" Marina asked, trying to get more information. Q reached over into the bag on the table, snaking her hand in and grabbing the journal she had taken from the locked desk drawer.
"We haven't gotten the chance to look through what was on the database, but there's a full notebook of information in here." she explained, "I mean we can't translate all of it, but -" before she could finish, Marina had gotten up from the bed she was sprawled on to take the book from Q's not so tight grasp, "...'Kay." she glanced over to Dawson who simply raised his hand up and then let it drop in an exasperated manner; that was just who Marina was apparently. Lacking in some social skills like most kids who grew up doing nothing but hacking into servers and corporations for hours on hours. Both watched as she flipped through the first few pages, reading the entries.
"What's the Soldier Program?" she asked, looking up from the notebook, understanding the language it was written in but not what was referenced. Getting up from her chair, Q moved to take the notebook from her.
"It's a Hydra experiment series. During the second world war, they used Bucky - James as a test subject for a super soldier serum." she explained what she knew, which wasn't a lot, but she had put the pieces together during their time both in DC and in Dnipropetrovsk.
"Like Captain America." Marina offered a similar comparison, not noticing how Q's grip on the notebook tightened at the casual mention of him. Of course she would know about Steve - he wasn't just an American superhero; he was the world's first superhero. But, not wanting to give away face, she nodded and Marina pulled down the corners of her mouth, thinking to herself for a moment, "Is this program still going on?"
"I have no idea." she sighed, putting the book back on the table, "My hope is that since SHIELD collapsed, so did Hydra but…"
"That's wishful thinking." Dawson cut in with a sigh. Marina nodded like she understood. Her eyes flicked to the book before glancing over the other's faces.
"Where do you think you'll go next?" she asked, slightly changing the subject and bringing the conversation back to where it started.
"Odessa." Dawson leaned forward in his chair, resting his arms on his thighs. Before Marina could ask why, he continued, "It's the most recent, last place he visited that we know of. Shot my ex there too." he stared off at a point on the bed as if putting the two together.
"Wow, he must really hate your ex." Marina joked, placing her hands on her hips. Neither one of the other two laughed. The amused smirk from her face dropped and she ended up crossing her arms over her chest instead of leaving them on her hips, "Okay, yeah, Odessa. I can go through my contacts and see if I can find anyone who knows anything." Marina nodded to herself as she thought over what the two had divulged. Though she didn't know the full story - what with Q's familial relationship with him or personal connection, she knew enough for the time being. And it was enough for her to have some insight into what their next steps should be. In response, she got matching nods from the other two.
Even if Q didn't fully trust Marina yet, it would be good to have someone on their side who knew people. Odessa was their last original lead and it wasn't really a full lead to begin with. Just one from a late night pillow talk between Nat and Dawson about some scientist Bucky had been tasked to shoot and kill. And after they found out the full story, that would be it; there probably wouldn't be much to go off from there.
But with Marina's help, maybe they could find something more than just dead ends and abandoned bunkers.
A/N: Ugh I'm sorry for the short chapter. I've been lacking motivation for this story lately and I kinda feel like it's because no one seems very interested in this story anymore? The lack of reviews is really disheartening, so please please tell me all of your thoughts and concerns and cries of outrage. I really would appreciate it!
