CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
( THE MALLRATS )
THE TIRES SCREECH to halt as they enter the parking garage of the mall. Quinn clutches on to the bar above her head, along with the dashboard for dear life in fear of her safety. If the compromised S.H.I.E.L.D. agents didn't get to her first, Blair's driving would be the death of her.
She huffs out a sigh of relief as her chest heaves in ragged deep breaths. She thought they were going down for sure. Blair smacks her arm as she puts the car in park and hops out of the car, leaving Quinn to do the same. "My driving isn't that bad," Blair says her voice sounding insulted by how Quinn was acting.
All Quinn could do was merely groan in protest as she rounded the rear of her car next to Blair. She watches as Blair's fingers curl around the license plate and rips it off with a curt tug, leaving Quinn bug-eyed as she does so.
"Hey!" she shouts as Blair tosses the license plate away, it sputters to a stop underneath another car down the way. "We can't be traced, no doubt they're probably following us," she nonchalantly explains her actions with a short shrug.
Quinn narrows her eyes at Blair, mouth still agape as she points to her discarded license plate. "What kind of superhuman strength is that!" Quinn shouts, trying her best to wrap her head around what she had just witnessed. "Not superhuman strength, just abnormal since adrenaline is pumping," Blair shrugs off, grabbing Quinn by the shoulders and flipping her body to face the mall entrance.
"Focus and don't make a scene," she hisses under her breath, trying her best to look normal in her all-black attire - going so far as to slightly wave at passerbys in the parking garage.
Quinn turns her head back into the direction of her car, looking back towards the license plate and giving a small pout. She'd had that since high school. She grumbles to herself but feels the relief of the sweet air-conditioned mall as they step through the entrance.
Even though she's sure that no one in the mall was currently out to get her, her stomach twists in an awful way as she scans the mall, looking from person to person to see if they're a threat. Her hands become clammy as she follows Blair's lead.
She had never done anything illegal her whole life, she never dreamed that if she was caught fraternizing with Captain America she could get in serious trouble. Especially if S.H.I.E.L.D. was compromised, it's not like they'd hold her out in jail. It'd be a swift and effortless execution.
Her mind jumps to panic as soon as Blair leads them to a secluded side of the first level where the stairs were, with a mall full of escalators and elevators no one tended to use the stairs. That's why no one seemed to notice the small door underneath them that seemed to be forcefully unhinged.
Quinn tilts her head as she looks at the strange door along with Blair who is also examining the door. "Want to make a bet?" Blair coyly asks, a smirk growing on her face.
Quinn frowns and peers around the corner at a few groups of people that were milling about nearby. "No," she says flatly, causing Blair to let out a small chuckle. Quinn watches idly as Blair twirls over to the strange door and knocks on it a few times in a certain pattern before stepping back near Quinn.
The door opens, well, more or less falls off its hinges as Natasha and Steve stumble out of the tight closet. Steve tries his best to place the door back upright but it doesn't seem to work, he places it up against the frame and just leaves it, hoping it wouldn't fall and cause a ruckus.
"What were you two doing in there? Playing seven minutes in heaven?" Blair teases as Natasha strolls over to them. She smirks at the fidgety movement Quinn makes at the mention of the game. "Quinn," Steve's voice catches her attention, she raises her head up for a split second before she's being crushed by an enveloping hug.
It's so tight, she can hardly breathe but she wouldn't have it any other way. She smiles as she buries her face into the crook of his neck, attempting to wrap her arms around his shoulders. Tears threaten to overflow from her eyes as she tightens the hug.
This had been the first time they'd seen each other in a few days, and in that few days so much seemed to have happened, now he was on the run. If they couldn't stop this, there was no telling of when she'd be able to see him again without S.H.I.E.L.D. on their tail.
"Are you okay?" he questions her as he pulls away from the embrace, concern flooding his features. It brings a rosy hue to her cheeks but she doesn't try to hide it this time. "I'm fine. Are you okay? You're a fugitive,"
He opens his mouth to answer but Natasha interrupts, pushing him out of the way. "We're fine, we just have very little time before S.H.I.E.L.D. sweeps the mall. No doubt they traced you," she begins only for Quinn to speak up. "But Blair ripped my license plate off, they shouldn't be able to track us that way,"
"Norris did what?" Steve's voice sounds incredulous as he crosses his arms and looks over to the agent who shrugs in reply. "That doesn't matter," Natasha once again regains her attention, clasping on to her shoulders. "There are cameras that S.H.I.E.L.D. is no doubt scanning for Steve's face, so our time is precious,"
"Then what are we doing here? Why are we in public?" Quinn hisses out in reply, eagerly looking out and around for any signs of danger but Natasha quickly pulls her head back to the secure location of the unused stairwell.
"I need you to focus on the task at hand," Natasha states firmly, her gaze becoming more and more irritated each time Quinn looked away. This time her eyes stayed glued on the fiery redhead who could probably lay her out in one hit if she wanted to.
"We need your help," she says, confusing Quinn as she digs into her hoodie pocket. As she pulls her hand out she reveals a small device, a USB, and displays it to her. "Fury gave this to Steve, told him to trust no one, we need your help decoding it,"
"Me?" Quinn asks, placing a firm hand on her chest. She had never been assigned to a project this big, she became even more nervous than what she already was. She could hyperventilate at any given moment.
"Quinn," Steve's voice catches her attention as he places his hand around her upper arm, forcing her to look up at him. His eyes are more encouraging than what she had expected them to be, she more or less thought they'd look like Natasha's at the moment. "You're an I.T., you're probably the best coder I've ever seen -"
"Steve, you don't even know what coding is, how are you going to judge me on that?"
"Well, it's not like Stark is answering," Natasha says coolly, earning a frustrated sigh from Steve. "Can you help us?" Steve questions once again, his voice now becoming more irritated than what it was before.
Quinn presses her lips into a firm line as she gazes up at Steve, she had never been under this intense of pressure before. Nor did she want to let Steve down. "I can try," she answers under her breath, before letting her eyes retreat to the linoleum floor.
Quinn listens as Natasha instructs Blair to keep an eye out on the bench for any agents who want to sweep the mall. She plays with the USB in her hand for a moment, biting down on her lip. She was about to go against everything she ever learned in school and help a criminal, even though she knew Steve would never be one in her eyes, he was still labeled in the system as a criminal. She could get in serious trouble for this. She could put her mother or Jo in danger.
She feels Steve's hand rest upon her shoulder once again, giving it a firm squeeze. She looks up at him and gives him a half-hearted smile, even though worry is ever-present in her eyes. "I believe in you," he encourages while placing a baseball cap and glasses on.
Glasses were the last thing she'd thought she'd see him in but if it was part of his disguise so be it. Natasha places the hood of her hoodie over her head and tosses a red jacket from the lost and found they dug up in the closet to Blair for her identity protection.
Quinn excuses herself from not needing a disguise, no agent knew what she looked like, and frankly, she doubts they would know anything about her relationship with Steve. Natasha smirks at the word relationship but Quinn quickly corrects herself to use the word friendship.
They walk out from the safety of the stairwell and into the public eye, forming somewhat of a small group between the four of them. "The first rule of blending in is to walk, not run," Natasha informs the group although Blair has already become accustomed to this method of blending in.
Quinn thought she was the only one she was instructing but Steve chimes in from beside her. "If I run anywhere my feet are going to come out of these shoes,"
This causes Quinn to somewhat chuckle, she couldn't tell if it was because she was under intense pressure and anything related to humor seemed funny to her or if it was genuinely funny.
"I hope you guys know that this is costing me PTO time," Quinn states, trying to lighten the mood from the ever-looming panic that they were all going through. "I'm sure you'll be compensated once everything is out," Natasha replies. Quinn's face scrunches with confusion. "Everything is out? What do you mean by that?"
Steve lets out an annoyed sigh. "I'll explain it to you later," he grumbles out. The pressure of this seemed to be getting to him. Quinn wonders if this is what he's always like on missions, although this wasn't technically a huge mission like he'd go on for S.H.I.E.L.D. or with the Avengers, there was still a lot at stake.
"What do you need your PTO for anyways?" Natasha questions, attempting to be personable during the high-stress situation. "Natasha," Steve hisses in a warning tone. He always hated when she didn't act appropriate on missions like she never took anything seriously.
"It's fine, Steve," Quinn assures him with a nonchalant tone. "Yeah, I'm multitasking," Natasha teases him with a wink as she passes him to be by Quinn, earning a glare from him. He was always the responsible one out of the team.
"I usually take time off to go see my mom in New York," Quinn finally answers her question, causing Natasha to laugh. "You're a mama's girl?" she teases, only to receive a panicked yet nervous smile from Quinn. "No, I just like to keep promises," she answers, her voice sounding in edge in the process.
She didn't like this, she knew Natasha had a way of getting under people's skin and learning everything about anyone and used it against them one way or another. A blackmail kind of deal. Steve could visibly see how uncomfortable this was making her and decides to push his way through and hold Natasha back with Blair. That didn't stop the assault of questions.
Natasha directs them towards an Apple store, luckily there are benches outside of it so Blair can keep watch while being close by just in case anything happened. Quinn is surprised that people didn't recognize who Steve was even in his disguise as they entered the store, no one even batted an eye at him.
She shakes her head at the blatant disregard everyone was giving to them and heads over to a small laptop, similar to the one she had at home. Steve and Natasha flank her from both sides, keeping unwanted individuals attention away. "So your mom lives in New York?" Natasha begins the assault of questions once again, earning a grumble from Steve.
"Kind of," Quinn answers as she pulls out the USB drive. "It's a weird situation and you haven't earned enough credits to unlock my tragic backstory," Quinn teases, earning a small chuckle from Natasha. "And here I thought tragic backstories only applied to field agents," Natasha teases. Quinn bites her lip as she looks at the USB drive, giving out a sigh of worry.
"The drive will no doubt have some sort of security on it, once I plug it in they'll be able to trace us," she states in a low voice as she begins bringing up the laptop software. "How long do you think it'll take for them to get here?" Steve questions, his eyes scanning the crowd of people who were walking around the store.
"About nine minutes give or take as soon as I put the drive-in," she answers in a nonchalant tone, as she picks up the silver drive with the S.H.I.E.L.D. insignia on it. She runs her thumb over the insignia before placing it near the USB port. "I'm plugging it in now so be ready," she informs them, Steve gives a curt nod before drawing his attention to the crowd to make sure no one was looking.
Natasha calls to Blair over her commlink to tell her to be ready. Quinn inhales a deep breath as she places the USB in the slot on the second try, watching as black pop-up screens appear on the screen. She begins typing away trying to decipher whatever code that Fury had installed on this device.
She frowns as she tries to type in command over command only to watch the command disappear without a trace on the screen. She gives out a sigh of frustration, earning a worried look from Steve. "Whoever designed this drive was trying to hide something. There's an AI that keeps re-writing itself and keeps countering my commands," Quinn informs them, her fingers still typing away at the keyboard.
"Can you override it?" Steve questions, his voice low and close to her ear that she can feel his breath on her. It sends a shiver up her spine. If they had been under better circumstances she would've tried to make a move but his tone sounded more authoritative than anything. "Thankfully I'm a touch smarter than I appear to be, and I may be a touch smarter than whoever designed this," she replies with a smirk.
"I'm going to run a tracer, this is a program we recently developed to track hostile malware so even if we can't read the file we can find out where it came from -"
"Can I help you folks with anything?" A voice pipes up. Quinn's blood runs cold as she looks over to her left to see an Apple employee with a smile on his face and a large beard. She begins to stammer along with Steve until Natasha pushes her way over to Steve.
She encases his shoulders in a hug flashing the employee with a dazzling smile. "Hello, that's okay, my fiancé and I are just trying to find honeymoon destinations, his sister is helping us," Natasha lies effortlessly, causing Quinn to become envious on how easy she can do it.
"Yes, that's right, we're looking for honeymoon destinations, with my sister," Steve stammers. It was clear to see that he was never the one to go on missions where he had to spy, he was sent on ones where he would rescue people and fight the bad guys and return home. Natasha had more experience in this field.
"The power went out at my place, and my computer died. So I had to come here to show these lovebirds their honeymoon destination," Quinn adds, trying to throw off the retail associate and to show off that she can lie just as good as Natasha. Or at least try. "And rightfully to do so in public," Natasha speaks up with a giggle. "Because if we were alone I don't think I'd be able to keep my hands off him," Natasha's hands roam across his chest.
The motion, even though being for show, sets Quinn's blood on fire with jealousy. She gives off an annoyed cough to let Natasha know to stop touching Steve who undoubtedly was feeling uncomfortable as well.
Quinn kept returning her gaze back to the laptop where the pop-up displayed a map, which she was able to try to get the coordinates of where the A.I. was transmitting. Her eyes widen when they finally triangulate towards a state.
It's fuzzy at first but she recognizes that it's on the east coast near New York. "We were thinking of going somewhere tropical, like -"
"New Jersey," Quinn chimes in her voice filled with accomplishment, interrupting Natasha's act. The associate gives them both a strange look, as Steve turns back to look at Quinn and the screen. As he returns his attention back to the associate, he shrugs.
"No judgment here," the employee says with a small chuckle. Steve forces himself to chuckle as well. The employee narrows his eyes at Steve, causing Quinn to panic for a moment as Natasha quickly comes to her side to reassure her and to look at the map. "I have the same exact glasses!" the employee points out, snapping his fingers and pointing at the glasses placed on Steve's nose.
Steve nervously smiles in response, trying his best to take a step back away from the employee, a sheepish blush appearing on his face. "You're practically twins," Natasha schmoozes, looking over her shoulder at the two.
The associate laughs at the compliment, Steve also forces out an uncomfortable laugh. "I wish," the employee pants out before sizing up Steve. Quinn has to bite the inside of her cheek to refrain from laughing. "If you need anything, my name is Aaron," the employee states before leaving them alone and letting all three of them relax.
Steve finally is able to lean in and take a look at the screen, eager to see where exactly they're going to be headed. The color drains from his face as he looks at the exact location. Wheaton, New Jersey. "You know the place?" Natasha questions after seeing Steve's unsettled expression harden. His jaw clenches before he answers, "Used to."
Quinn looks up at him with worry in her eyes as she can see his eyes filled with sorrow. It's like he had been told that a puppy had died randomly. Her lips purse as she takes the drive out, letting the computer screen fade to black completely, drawing Steve out of his trance.
She places the hard drive in Natasha's hand, where she watches her place it in the pocket of her hoodie before looking up at Steve. He gives her a small reassuring smile, before pressing his hand on the small of her back, urging her to leave the store.
As soon as they do, Blair nonchalantly shoots up and begins walking in the same direction as them. "Figured it out?" Blair questions as the group begins to walk away from the Apple store. "Kind of, get ready for a road trip," Natasha answers taking the lead.
Quinn has trouble keeping up with how fast Steve and the rest of the group were walking. Her foot gets caught on a crack in the floor, causing her to skip forward and bump into Steve who grasps on to her to steady her. "We're lying low, you can't draw attention to us," Blair hisses as she passes the two.
Quinn bites down on her lip nervously, she honestly didn't mean to trip - it's not like she had a choice. Steve's grip on her tightens to assure her it's okay, a warm smile on his face. It hurts her to feel him pull away from the awkward embrace she had thrown them into.
A small blush lines her cheeks. She shakes her head to clear her thoughts of running away with Steve and how this would be the perfect time to do it. There was no way he would run from a fight, and neither would she.
As she catches up with the rest of the group she hears Blair mutter that they have company. Quinn looks up at Steve with worry as his face turns stone-cold while he looks around discreetly. "Standard tact team, two behind, two across, two straight ahead," he informs the group in a low tone, each of them lowering their eyes to the ground.
Quinn's blood runs thick with panic. If she gets caught then it's over, and knowing that S.H.I.E.L.D. was compromised and these agents were working against them she was sure they'd be happy to make it seem like she disappeared without a trace. She can hardly pay attention to anyone as the pace of her heartbeat begins to quicken.
"If they take us I'll engage and you guys take the south escalator all the way to the metro," Steve instructs the group as they begin to near the first set of two agents.
Blair tugs on Quinn's arm, pulling her back a few feet away from Natasha and Steve. She forces her to quickly turn into a clothing wrack that was strewn up outside of a store. "Just do what I say," Blair warns her as she pretends to start picking out clothes from the wrack.
Nervously, Quinn nods her head. She can feel the sweat building up on the back of her neck. "Quick, laugh at something and then turn into the wrack," Blair instructs her. Even though her heart was in her throat as she laughed.
It wasn't a normal laugh, it was obviously forced for her but to people who didn't know her, it seemed real. Her eyes widen as she sees the two agents clad in all black pass by without care to even look over at them.
Quinn wants to let out a sigh of relief but she knew there were a dozen others in the mall that were just as threatening and could be headed their way. Blair grabs a hold of her wrist and pulls her towards where Natasha and Steve were last seen.
Her heart falters for a moment as she notices Steve's arm around Natasha. Was something going on between them? Quinn didn't like the small pang of jealousy that hit her as she knew that it was probably only for them not to be noticed.
They didn't necessarily run to catch up but walking at a fast pace while looking leisurely looking around like a tourist seemed to get them up to speed as they were able to finally meet with them on the second floor. "How do we get out of here?" Quinn asks, her nerves getting the best of her. "I have Jo to get home to, she'll be worried if I don't come home," Natasha shoots her a glare from over her shoulder, letting her know to lower her voice. She couldn't help it, she was panicked. "I'm figuring that out as we go," Steve informs her as they begin to approach the escalators back down to the first floor. "We've given them somewhat of a runabout, if we lay low we can get to the car garage, get a car, and go to New Jersey,"
"I can't go to New Jersey," Quinn protests, only to be hushed by him as they climb on to the escalator. Her heart rushes as she sees an agent on the opposite escalator, they were bound to meet in the middle at some point. Her knees begin to tremble at the sign of danger.
Natasha turns around and looks between the two of them. "Kiss," she demands, throwing both of them off guard, both of their cheeks turning a heavy shade of red. "What?" Steve questions, rubbing the back of his neck nervously just as Quinn says, "Pardon?"
Natasha rolls her eyes as she looks between the two of them standing awkwardly above her. "Public displays of affection make people feel uncomfortable," she states. Quinn shifts uncomfortably, she could barely wrap her head around what was happening and now she was being instructed to kiss Steve. They were friends. It would ruin them.
"Yes, it does," Steve replies, his voice curt and cold as if he didn't want to do it. Natasha narrows her eyes at Quinn, watching her fidget under her gaze. "Either you kiss him or you kiss me," she coyly states. Quinn's lips press into a firm line as her brows furrow, feeling as if she were to kiss Natasha that would only draw spectation from the many wandering eyes who was into that kind of thing. Natasha wasn't an option.
Her gaze then finds its way to Steve who is already looking down at her, his eyes looking towards her with an almost pleading look. If she didn't know better she'd have thought he wasn't opposed to the idea. "Let's just do it," he mumbles out under his breath, causing Quinn's face to become a vibrant shade of red.
She tries to stammer out a positive reply but she can't form any words, finally huffing out a sigh and closing her eyes. She nods her head as she bites her lip, only gazing up at him to see his normally serious face turning a slight pink.
Within a moment's notice, and before she can even process what to do next, Steve's hands are on either side of her cheeks, cupping her face upwards to meet his lips. A warm wave of pleasure washes over her body. It was like she was in need of this the whole time. She notes that his lips are surprisingly soft as he holds on to her cheeks. She can't even think of anything else, only that she was kissing Steve.
She pulls back hesitantly, looking into his eyes to see if she had just made a mistake. Her brows furrow as she bites down on her bottom lip to stop herself from smiling. First things first, they were friends. Secondly, he had expressed that he was not interested in doing anything related to romance ever since he left the ice.
His eyes look confused at first, almost as if they were hurt as she pulled away without warning. She wants to hit her head against the wall, she had definitely messed up somehow. She didn't want this to affect their friendship. "Well that was steamy," Blair teases from behind in a coy tone, a smirk playing on her lips.
Quinn let's out a sigh of frustration as she steps off the escalator behind Steve and Natasha, thankfully they had gone undetected by the agent on the escalator. She stays a few paces behind Steve, her eyes locked on his figure as he marches towards the entrance. She thought she had a small kindling of a crush but now she knows she's done for, it had developed into a raging fire of wanting him to be with her.
She shouldn't be thinking that way about Steve, she couldn't drag him into her life. He knew about her problems, he would be repulsed by her.
They follow Steve out into the parking garage where they don't find any signs of agents or any other danger. Their footsteps echo as they follow Steve's lead. He brings them to a stop at a pickup truck, where he easily picks the lock of the driver's side, not even alerting the alarm.
Quinn raises her brows in surprise as she watches him rip off the underside of the steering wheel as playing with the wires. Natasha easily slides into the passenger seat, while Steve continues to hotwire the car, unlocking the back door to let Quinn and Blair hop in.
Quinn's stomach is still knotted as she places herself behind Natasha in the back, trying her best to avoid looking over at Steve as the wires spark the engine to life. "Are we all headed to New Jersey?" Blair questions as Steve hops into the driver's seat, buckling himself in. Quinn bites her lower lip as she thinks of the danger she's putting herself in. She had to keep her promise.
It's silent for a moment as he begins to drive away from the mall, leaving the danger behind along with Quinn's car. It feels as if everyone had let out a collective sigh of relief. "Not everyone," Steve breaks the silence with his answer, his eyes connecting to Quinn's in the backseat.
She hears Blair scoff from beside her. "I've trained her, I think she can handle herself," she protests, sticking her neck out for Quinn. "I was thinking about dropping her off in New York first or at least close to it, to be with her mother. It's the least we can do since we drug her into this," Steve nobly states, his voice firm and authoritative. "She can come to Jersey first -" Blair tries to stick up for Quinn only to be interrupted by her.
"N-no," she stammers out, earning a questioning look from Steve in the rearview mirror, along with Blair. "I-I have to warn my roommate, tell her it's not safe to stay in the loft,"
"Absolutely not, you're putting your safety at risk -" Steve objects, using the same authoritative tone that she was subtly becoming accustomed to. "I'll be fine. Who cares about my safety anyways?" Quinn argues.
"I do!" Steve raises his voice, catching everyone in the truck off guard with how loud he had gotten. Even Natasha raises her brows in wonder. He didn't get worked up this easily, how was she able to get under his skin like this?
His foot becomes like lead on the gas pedal, speeding up at the thought of Quinn being in danger and there was nothing he could do about it. "I think she'll be fine," Natasha speaks up, earning a sideways glare from Steve. "Besides it's not like we have much time to argue about who's going and who's staying, and we don't know if we're endangering her by taking her with us if that's your concern. Drop her off and we'll head to Wheaton,"
"We can't just -"
"Steve," Natasha interrupts him, her tone more serious than it was before. "She's an innocent bystander that we drug into this. Let her go home,"
Steve's eyes connect with Quinn's momentarily in the rearview mirror. He becomes filled with guilt as he sees her eyes filled with panic and distress that all of this is causing her. He didn't want to bring her into a constant state of fear but he had and as long as she's with them that's all she'd be living in.
He hated to admit that Natasha was right and he hated leaving Quinn behind. Steve lets out a frustrated sigh and begins to cross lanes to bring her home.
~ BOOK ONE: THE WINTER SOLDIER ~
QUINN HOPS OUT of the truck with a slight ache in her ankle. She winces as she grabs on to it, trying to massage away the pain. She must've sprained it when she tripped over the tile at the mall.
All the running around and keeping up with three S.H.I.E.L.D. agents didn't help either, it put more stress on it. As she grumbles to herself she notices Steve's large stature rounding the front of the truck to come talk to her or help her. She wasn't clear on his intentions. All she knew was that he wasn't exactly happy with her decision to stay behind. The tight-lipped frown that rested on his face confirms it as well.
"I'm sorry -" she begins to speak only to be interrupted by him.
"Make me a promise," he simply states, his voice still in its authoritative state.
Her brows raise at this demand. She had never seen him act this way before. Perhaps it was because they were in danger and their time was pressed. She nods her head once as she stares up quizzically at him.
"Promise me that you'll be safe and that you'll go to New York as soon as you get Jo and Rudolph out of the loft," his hand wraps around hers and squeezes it. She wasn't sure if it was because his nerves were shot from being on the run or if this had something to do with their forced kiss at the mall.
Either way, she wouldn't back out on his promise. Jo needed her and so did her mother. Now he needed her too. "I promise," she responds lightly, squeezing his hand back in reassurance and forcing herself to smile even though she wanted to cry.
She didn't know if she'd ever see him again after saying goodbye. What was going on was dangerous and it seemed like something that all of the Avengers should be doing together not just Steve and Natasha. Their odds were outnumbered. It shook Quinn to the core but she remained calm while being in his presence.
She lifts herself up on her tiptoes and leans to press a peck on his cheek, something that catches him off guard. "Promise to come back," she whispers out, watching his cheeks turn a vibrant pink as his eyes widen with shock. She looks towards the pavement in embarrassment for a moment. Perhaps it was too soon of her to give him a peck on the cheek since they were forced to kiss at the mall.
Undoubtedly she had feelings for him but she knew he wouldn't have any for her, she didn't understand why she was putting herself out there for a painful rejection. Her eyes tingle as she feels tears start to well up. She blames her stupidity for whatever she was about to go through with their friendship.
He lets out a soft chuckle and engulfs her in his arms, holding her tightly against him. At first, her body is stiff as she's caught off guard by his action, but she quickly melts into the hug and wraps her arms around his waist. She can hear his heartbeat rapidly within his chest as he places his cheek on top of her head. "I promise," he says, she can hear the smirk in his voice.
They're both reluctant to let go of one another as Natasha proceeds to honk the horn of the truck, alerting them that it was time to move on. Quinn gives Steve one more reassuring smile before he hops into the truck.
Quinn rounds to the passenger side of the truck where Natasha rolls down her window to give her a small smirk. "Be careful," Quinn urges the agent who hums in response. "You too, look out for yourself," she states before Steve shifts the truck into drive.
Quinn stands behind the truck, waving goodbye as she watches them speed off towards the exit. She wonders if Steve even looked back to wave goodbye as well, or if he felt mournful that he was leaving her. She knew she felt empty watching the truck leave.
Even though the danger put her on edge she still lived for the thrill, and she couldn't help but to still be in some sort of a trance from the touch of Steve's lips on hers. All that ran through her mind was the way her body became electrified like a live wire as they kissed, the sense of tingling still rang vividly through her mind.
If only she could've explored the feeling a little longer with Steve and without the company of Natasha and Blair or the imminent threat of danger lingering around them. She sighs dreamily as she unlocks the door, unprepared to be thrown into the harsh reality of the real world.
She hadn't spoken with Jo since she announced she was moving out. Even though she had been reassured by Steve that they would get through this, confronting her still seemed terrifying to her. But what was even more terrifying was the thought of compromised agents coming into their home and endangering Jo.
"Jo!" she calls out into the loft in a worried tone, swinging the door haphazardly open. She had hoped she would be home, she wouldn't have to work today. She thought she'd be packing with Josh. Her senses heighten when she notices the lack of sound within the loft.
If Jo wasn't home, then Rudolph would be here, at her feet, dancing happily that someone was home. Her stomach flips uneasily as she enters further within the loft, calling out for Jo once again.
Panic was starting to rise in her voice. She didn't have time to go out and find her. "It's nice to see you again," a voice calls out from behind her, making her jump in fear. Her heart clamors in her chest as she spins around to see Alexander Pierce along with a masked man and a few other agents.
Her head spins as if she was having Deja Vu, then her world comes crashing down as she sees Jo and Rudolph laying down on the love seat, bound to one another. Not one of them showing any signs of consciousness. "Jo!" Quinn calls out to her, rushing forward to her, only to stop once she hears the sound of a gun being cocked.
She stops midstride and places her hands up by her sides slowly. She eyes Pierce, tears starting to line her waterline. "What do you want?" she breathlessly asks, trying her best to control her tears. Showing someone that you were terrified went against everything Blair had taught. She was surprised her voice came out clearly without a crack or stammer.
"Have a seat," Pierce instructs her, gesturing to the couch in front of him. Quinn slowly steps over towards the couch, making sure not to make any fast movements to trigger any agents from shooting her. She couldn't die just yet, not with the people she loved in danger. "You have a nice loft, I see your friend is packing up. Are you moving?" Pierce tried to lighten the conversation.
Quinn hesitates with answering, her hands still shaking and they stick out from her sides in surrender. "She's still alive if that's what you're wondering," Pierce shrugs, pacing towards Jo who lay on the loveseat, looking down at her still face.
"What do you want?" she questions, getting straight to the point. Her voice trembled a bit but it still held a low rumble of rage. Seeing Jo in harm's way due to her being careless made her irritated with herself. "Obviously, I want to know where Rogers is,"
"How would I know?" Quinn answers defiantly, tossing a glare up at the Undersecretary. "Please, cut the shit," Pierce states, rolling his eyes. "We know you've been seeing Rogers outside of work. He trusts you, so did Fury. So where is he?" As he finishes his statement Quinn hears, yet another gun cock and then feels the cool metallic muzzle of a gun pressed against the side of her head.
She wants to cry out in fright, she wants to burst into tears in front of everyone but her face still holds it's hard and cold expression. "I don't know," she bites out. It felt as if she was choking on the words as they formed within her mind, what made her spit them out was nothing but pure anger and spite.
She couldn't betray Steve, not for the greater good, and if she died this way she knew she'd go out holding his location a secret and not giving them what they wanted. She braces herself for the loud sound of the gun and the stinging sensation of a bullet to cross through her skull and yet she feels nothing. Nothing but hesitance.
She hears Pierce huff out a sigh of frustration before she opens her eyes to look up at him, pinching the bridge of his nose. The agents were waiting for his order to place a bullet in her head and yet he was thinking? "Agent Reeves?" Pierce beckons one agent, the barrel of the gun restrained her from looking anywhere but in front of her.
She didn't want to take any chances. She does feel a presence place itself beside her, judging by the squishing on the cushions beside her. She cringes, hoping that they wouldn't do anything incredibly horrible to her like rip her nails out or any other form of torture.
Instead, she hears the agent speak in a foreign language. Russian was the language. For some reason, she could understand exactly what he was saying but she had never learned the language before. Her head feels dizzy and woozy as she listens to the agent repeat several words over and over again. Then her world goes dark.