CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

( HARD KNOCK LIFE )

THERE'S AN AUDIBLE thump as Quinn's head collides with the soft padding of the blue mat in the gymnasium. She groans as she rubs the back of her head, wincing in pain. She should have gotten used to it by now, she had been training with Blair for a month now and it was relentless. She hadn't taken it easy on her ever since she announced she was going to become an agent.

She remembers fondly of Blair's laugh when she told her. "You don't get to choose to be an agent, Fury has to choose you," Blair had informed her. Ever since Blair had tested her limits whether she liked it or not.

She never went home with visible bruises to her face but she had multiple on her arms, abdomen, her legs. She had been tested with guns, knives, various other weapons that shock, pierce or prod.

Including working with a staff, which she had become reliant on more than anything. Which shows incredibly during this session, as her hand to hand combat could use some more work.

She never truly wanted to rely on her strength alone, she wanted to rely on her wits and some sort of weapon but Blair has told her that that kind of thinking will get herself killed on the field.

Quinn tries to jab another punch at Blair but she's quickly swept off her feet once again by the agent, landing flat on her back. She can't stop the air escaping her lungs as she revels back from the blow.

Tears sting her eyes as she curls into a ball on her side to try to block any attacks while being on the ground. Blair hasn't attacked her while she was down but today she seems more brutal than ever, pushing her far past the limits that she had set.

She begins wondering if being an agent was even worth it if this is how it was going to be. A groan escapes her lips as she feels the burning sensation on her back from where she had landed, she tries to suppress the sound, as usual, this would trigger an unwarranted lecture from Blair.

Unfortunately, she does hear it, and Quinn hears her light footsteps padding their way over to her fetal position. Through half-closed eyes Quinn can see that Blair has stopped right in front of her, she let's out a rough sigh as she opens herself up from her cowardice stance, curled up on the floor, reaching out and grabbing ahold of Blair's hand.

She hauls herself to her feet, avoiding any eye contact with Blair as she knew she'd be disappointed in her. "As an agent who's been on the field for most of her life, I'm gravely discontent with your skill. I thought you'd bring up a new challenge for me, as you did have some experience in the past with law enforcement -"

"To be fair, we didn't beat each other senseless in class," Quinn pipes up, earning a presses lipped scowl from the agent. "Give me thirty for interrupting," Blair demands in a low tone. Quinn sighs as she drops to her hands and begins giving Blair a set of push-ups. It was killing her upper arms with how much she had been using them today.

"As an agent, I'm discontent in your innate ability to develop skills you're not comfortable with but, as your S.O. your stats have improved since we began. You've accomplished many goals I thought an I.T. couldn't. However, that means I'm going to push you harder,"

Quinn finishes the set of push-ups that Blair had demanded from her with a long sigh. Her arms were starting to turn into jelly. Blair catches the sigh and mistakes it as incompetence from her trainee. "You want to be an agent, well it's my job to train you to be the best agent," Blair lectures, earning an eye roll from her student.

Blair quickly sweeps one of her feet off the ground, sending her off her balance. As her center begins to fall backward, Blair's hand juts out and grabs ahold of the collar on her shirt. "As your S.O. I figured you'd at least give me the respect of listening to me. I don't technically have to comply to Fury and train you," Blair hisses out, glaring into Quinn's eyes as she struggles to get away from her grasp.

She manages to tear away, rubbing the sore, irritated, skin that was flushed against her collar. The words gnaw at the back of Quinn's mind, she hadn't meant to offend her, it also didn't cross her mind that Blair could have an array of emotions that delved to feeling hurt.

"I do respect you, Agent Norris," Quinn states formally with a pressed lipped smirk, hoping she'd gain her approval from the small apology. Blair's face begins to soften up as she gazes at Quinn, however, just as her mouth opens the gymnasium's doors swing open.

Her brows furrow in question as she sees Steve and Agent Romanoff sauntering their way across the gym towards them in full tactical gear. A light smile plays at her and Steve's lips as they catch each other's gaze, she quickly hides it from the two other agents in the room.

"Well, well, well," Blair hums out, turning to face away from Quinn and to the two newcomers. "To what do we owe the honor of having you two grace your presence in this gym?"

Steve's brow furrows as he comes to a halt to look at Blair. "This is my gym," he simply states before Agent Romanoff speaks up. "We heard there was a spar happening between the infamous Viper and a new girl," Agent Romanoff informs Blair, her voice sounding calm yet icy at the same time.

A snort rings out in the gym, all eyes turn towards Quinn as she tries to stop smiling. "I'm sorry," she apologizes for her outburst. It was the most ridiculous code name she had heard for an agent, however, that definitely meant that Blair had a record that was viable enough for them to give her that code name. At least, she was learning from one of the best then.

"I wouldn't call it a spar, she's letting me wipe the floor with her face," Blair goads Quinn, who just fidgets with her fingers, staring down at the ground in embarrassment. No visible bruises but her ego was certainly damaged with the comment.

"Why don't you try it with me?" Agent Romanoff suggests, ripping Quinn's pitiful gaze from the floor to her eyes. She swallows a lump in the back of her throat as Agent Romanoff smirks at her. She had only seen Agent Romanoff in person once before a couple of weeks ago. She was the most beautiful agent who she laid eyes upon, no wonder her skills as a spy relied heavily on seduction.

She could easily lure men into her trap. She could definitely lure Quinn in. "Natasha," Steve warns in a low voice, stopping her dead in her tracks. Her gaze dances to the corner of her eyes to see Steve shake his head once. Natasha shrugs at Quinn's disappointed expression. "Captain's orders," she mutters out unamused. "Doesn't want to see his girl get hurt," she muses, leaning back carefree.

"I'm not his girl -" Quinn states in unison with Steve, who merely gives her a surprised look and then glances away. "I'm a little too busy for relationships at the moment," Quinn tries to cover herself from the rejection, hoping it would throw Blair and Natasha's scent off her track.

She liked Steve, she admired him to a degree she didn't think was possible. But she had determined that he was far out of his league for her. Besides, it was better to just be friends with the legendary Captain instead of having any relations with him.

She'd be the biggest target on his enemies list if they ever got together. She couldn't have that with her mother, and with Jo. There were just too many people she cared about to not let her crush on Steve disrupt any of her somewhat stable life. Blair easily taps the back of her arm, bringing her back to reality.

"Let's show them what you've got," her smile is deceptive, it's a ploy to get Quinn to believe in herself to make a fool out of herself in front of Natasha and Steve. However, with the way, Blair was eyeing her and Steve she had to find something to distract herself.

Quinn firmly nods her head, stepping towards her normal spot on the tarp. "Do you guys mind? She could use a little outsiders opinions," Blair tries to convince the two agents. Steve simply nods his head while Natasha smirks towards them. "Put on a good show," she teases the two.

Blair instructs Quinn to use her staff as she passes it off. If anyone was going to give her tips on how to use an uncommon weapon in battle it was Steve. His shield was less of a weapon than anything and yet it still struck fear into some people's hearts at the sight of it.

Quinn takes the metal rod in her hands, stretching it over her head in an attempt to limber up. Her breathing deepens as she closes her eyes and stretches, trying her best to feel connected to her weapon as Blair had once instructed her. Once she had drowned out the rest of the world, she's ready.

She opens her eyes to find that Blair was doing the same as she was, and was now moving into a defensive position just like she was. They stare each other down for a moment, taking in deep breaths, sizing each other up.

Blair nods her head once, commencing the fight to begin. Quinn's the first to attack, leaving out all her defensive training behind. If she can get Blair off her feet first she'd be down. She lifts the staff upwards to bring it down with a force but Blair easily dodges it, along with Quinn's body.

Quinn quickly adverts all her force to barely skid off of Blair's back, clutching on to her staff once again she tries to jam the staff upwards to connect with Blair's face. Blair slams down hard on her worst causing the staff to go flying into the air and out of reach for her.

However, she quickly stops Blair's attack by sweeping one leg upwards trying to swipe at her head but Blair once again dodges is and knocks Quinn off her balance. Once Quinn regains her bearings she attempts to jab Blair in the face, not once but twice, each of her hands getting stopped by her instructor.

This gives her leeway to jam her knee up into her instructors gut, knocking the wind out of her with a groan as she staggers backward. Quinn sees this as an opportunity to cease the upper hand in the spar. She runs towards Blair, who is still recuperating from the blow and swipes her right leg towards Blair's head.

Once again Blair dodges this attack by ducking down and somersaulting away. Quinn attempts to knock her off balance once again by grabbing on to her forearm but Blair uses the brute force to propel herself into the air and flip over Quinn's head.

As she lands, she lands a direct kick into Quinn's side, earning a grunt from her student as she clutches on to the spot for a moment. As she's distracted by the pain, Quinn barely has time to avoid another kick from Blair. She jabs her fists out twice connecting them with Blair's collarbone and jawline.

Blair, in turn, flips over Quinn's head once again and lands a forceful kick to her back, knocking Quinn to the ground. Quinn's vision is blurry and her head begins to swirl from the exhaustion that she had put herself into.

She can't help by lie helplessly as Blair straddles her back, placing her in a chokehold. Her labored breathing is cut off momentarily sending her mind in a panic to try to wrestle her way out of Blair's clutches. "Dead," Blair whispers into her ear before releasing her tight grip on her neck.

Quinn gasps for air as she lies motionless on the floor, her body tingles yet stings from the brawl. She feels her face flush a bright red with embarrassment as she realizes that she had just sorely lost in front for Steve and Natasha. She could only assume their gazes were critical on how she handled the spar.

As she rises to her feet, she hides her face away from the two spectators in fear of showing any sign of weakness. It doesn't last long as she catches Steve's concerned gaze in a side glance. "She's getting better," Blair announces as she saunters her way over to the two agents.

"You should stop by more often, she's willing to put up a good fight if you're watching," she comments, waving a finger over at Steve with a smirk. Quinn quickly adjusts her hair and defends herself by adamantly denying the statement. Although, she did try maybe a little harder knowing Steve was watching.

He was the reason she was taking these lessons, she wanted to show him she was good. She finally gains the courage to actually face the two agents, even if her neck was a vibrant hue of pink and her ego was damaged.

"You're heavily reliant on that weapon of yours," Natasha speaks up, gaining her full attention. "I suggest hitting up hand to hand a little more. Your weapon can easily disappear on the field but you'll always have your body, "

Quinn nods her head in agreement to the constructive criticism while noting that that's what they're working on today. Her eyes then flicker up to Steve, as he gives her a worried look. The edges of her lips twist up into an innocent smile as she awaits his criticism.

"Anything, Cap?" Blair questions, trying to see if there was anything else she could work on with Quinn. Steve let's out a sigh as he gnaws on his bottom lip for a moment, before placing his hands on his hips and giving Quinn a stern look.

"I agree with Nat, hand to hand is shaky," Steve states. "You took the offensive and that's a critical skill to know if you're going to make the first move. Use the staff as a defensive structure, don't use your body to block hits. It'll hurt worse hitting a metal rod than someone's ribcage,"

Quinn nods her head as she takes in his words, agreeing with him to a degree. She didn't want to block Blair's attacks with her body, but Blair had thrown the staff away. They were right about her learning hand to hand but she couldn't help but hold herself back as she tried to punch at Blair. She didn't want to purposely hurt her. "You hear that," Blair says to Quinn. "It's not every day you get training advice from Captain America himself,"

The statement is enough to make Steve roll his eyes as Quinn bit down on her lip and nodded her head. "I appreciate the advice," she says thankfully towards Steve. "Although, I do have to ask why you're dressed in your uniform,"

Steve raises his brows at the out of the blue question before his cheeks turn a tinge of pink. He gives Natasha a sideways glance and she barely nods her head at the silent question. The agent grabs ahold of Blair and wanders off, talking about their old missions, leaving Quinn and Steve alone for a moment.

There's a bit of an awkward silence between the pair as no one wants to address the elephant in the room as to why Natasha was addressing her as his girl. The idea of being with him made Quinn happy but she knew the consequences of it and she couldn't risk everything for him.

She absentmindedly clears her throat bringing both of them back to reality. "You did a good job for a rookie," Steve muses an attempt to compliment her. Quinn's cheeks also change to a twinge of pink at the compliment. She rubs her knuckles and chuckles with embarrassment. "Thanks, I'll try to keep working on hand to hand as long as you keep giving me pointers,"

"So the teacher becomes the student," Steve muses with a wide smile, making her scoff at the statement. The very idea of challenging Captain America to a fight seemed suicidal and a little psychotic. "So the suit?" Quinn questions once again, plucking at the navy blue material on his forearm.

Steve raises his brows at the gesture before finding the right words. He bends down to grab ahold of his leather jacket, watching Quinn's eyes grow saddened at the sight of it. She knew what this meant by now.

She plucks the jacket out his hands and presses it firmly against her as she tries to make sense of it. "When?" Is all she can mutter out. "As soon as possible," he answers her, earning a saddened sigh from her.

She couldn't help it, she had grown too fond of him to just let him go on dangerous missions all the time. He was Captain America but she wished they could use someone else for a change like Tony Stark or even Bruce Banner. "I'll be back soon hopefully, I don't think this will take long, a day at most," he tries to explain.

Quinn shakes off her sorrow and looks Steve in the eyes, giving him a forced smile. There were people who needed him, it would be selfish of her to ask for him to stay. "I'll see you soon then," she whispers out, her voice cracking in the process.

She steps back as he attempts to step forward to embrace her, she wanted to keep her distance from him, she had already gotten too close. He throws her a confused look as her eyes press towards her feet, avoiding any eye contact with him. "Good luck," she bids him before turning on her heel and heading towards the blue cushiony mat.

She hears him call for Natasha before exiting the gym to head off on his mission and her heart sinks. It's been getting harder and harder for her to just watch him waltz around fighting people. It hurts her when he comes back with stitches on his forehead or cuts on his arms.

Yet she couldn't be the person to tell him he couldn't go, even if she did she would push him away. He's always prone to danger. Blair pats the back of her arm, causing Quinn to jump back into reality. "So, what's the deal with you and Steve?" she openly questions, making Quinn's heart skip a beat.

Her cheeks flare up with embarrassment. Her crush was too obvious and it was starting to become more apparent to people. Quinn purses her lips as she tucks the jacket tighter to her chest. "Nothing's happening between us,"

~ BOOK ONE: WINTER SOLDIER ~

CAR HORNS BLARE loudly from all over the freeway, as rush hour begins. Quinn scolds herself for being stuck in it, knowing she could've taken another way to avoid this traffic jam. She turns on the radio only to hear them with the traffic update that it's all sitting ducks because of an accident, it may take up a forty-five-minute delay.

She lets out another frustrated sigh as she switches the station to an upbeat song that she could at least attempt at tapping her feet too. Nothing seemed to help with the stress that was building upon her.

Steve being out on so many missions worried her, along with Jo leaving her at home alone most of the time now. Things had gotten really serious with Josh, she knew it was only a matter of time where either Josh would move in with them or Jo would move out with Josh. Then she'd be left alone to deal with the stress of her mother, her job, and Steve all by herself. At least she could vent to Jo about a bad day at work, living alone she couldn't do that.

There's a sudden ringing sound coming from her phone she had tucked into the center console. Its vibrations caused the whole console to vibrate.

Quinn cursed as she tried to pick up the phone in time, along with steadily moving forward with traffic. She answered it quizzically, while at the same time her tone sounded irritable from the traffic.

"Miss Cruise, this is Doctor Woodruff, how are you today?" The voice over the receiver questioned in a posh accent. Quinn's brows raise in shock as she desperately tries to turn down her radio to pay attention to her mother's doctor. "Doctor Woodruff, I'm fine," she begins with pleasantries on how her day was and what the weather is up in New York City.

Quinn hesitates for a moment after she forced a giggle out for the doctor. "How-how is she?" she curiously questions. She can hear Doctor Woodruff take in a pensive gasp as she nervously waits for an answer. "She's doing better," Doctor Woodruff starts, sending a wave of relief throughout Quinn's body. "She's not in the busy ward of the hospital as she was prior but she's still in the hospital,"

"Well that's good," Quinn chimes in, moving up with the rest of traffic before coming to a complete stop again. She hears Doctor Woodruff take in another pensive breath before starting back up again.

"Miss Cruise is very pertinent that your mother is transferred to my facility out of the city. She will have all of the help she needs whenever she needs it and I can't guarantee that'll happen here,"

Quinn slams her eyes shut with frustration as she completely halts as someone tries to cut her off, her teeth dig into her bottom lip as she tries to resist the urge to shout at the driver and to Doctor Woodruff.

"I know, Doctor Woodruff," Quinn starts with an edge to her tone. "That she needs to go to your facility to be watched over and I am very for that but I'm really tight on money, even with your financial assistance program that you offer. I just got a new promotion and I will be making more in the coming months but right now I just don't have the funds,"

By the end of her rant, she's out of breath and out of patience at the traffic. If she heard any more bad news from Doctor Woodruff she may lose her temper. Thankfully, Doctor Woodruff hears the frustration in her voice and attempts to diffuse the semi-hostile situation.

"Very well," she says in a soft, calm tone. "I will treat her here with the same care she's been getting but Miss Cruise, I highly advise she go to the facility, you may have to make a sacrifice here," her voice is icy by the end of her request, sending Quinn's temper sky high. Although she is angry with the doctor she tries her best to remain calm for traffic's sake.

"Thank you for that advice, Dr. Woodruff, is that all you were calling for?" Her tone isn't as pleasant as she was hoping but it did get Doctor Woodruff off the phone fast enough for her to finally throw her temper tantrum. She slams her phone down on the passenger's seat beside her as she hangs up.

"'You'll have to make sacrifices'," Quinn mimicks Doctor Woodruff's accent along with making it sickeningly sweet time. She grunts in frustration as every nerve in her feels electric. "Yeah, thanks for that advice!" She shouts, blaring on the horn as the person in the next lane over almost hits the front of her car, trying to pull into the lane.

She turns the radio on to try to calm her nerves once again, then fishes for her phone in the center console only to remember throwing it in the seat next to her. She gazes at the brown leather jacket sitting comfortably in the seat, her phone perched on top of it.

She sighs in frustration. She had her mother and Steve to worry about. Her head curiously peaks up at the sky, watching an aircraft fly effortlessly overhead. She couldn't help but wonder if he would be on it, on his way to his mission or if he had already been sent out earlier. Either way, it makes her heart clench.