CHAPTER FORTY

( PAPARAZZI )

"NO WAY!" HIS voice is more familiar than any of the other shouting voices. Quinn's eyes widen as she takes in his figure, her hands becoming sweaty and her mouth going dry. There was no way she could talk her way out of this. Of course, she was looking into the wide, dark eyes of none other than Frank Shaw.

Frank Shaw, the crazy conspiracy theorist that thought they were friends - the man who she had just confided her love life to not more than a day ago - was standing in front of her table with a camera in hand along with other members of the paparazzi.

She almost forgets where she is until Steve's grip on her brings her back to reality. She looks over to him to see him shielding his eyes and then back to Frank, who had greeted her with a flash of his camera. This was enough to send her flying over the edge. "You're a paparazzi?!" Quinn shouts up at him, her brows furrowing in anger. "You're dating Steve Rogers?!" he counters back, a wide smile on his face, clearly giddy from just being in close proximity with Steve. "You know him?!" Steve questions her as he shouts over the loud voices of the paparazzi clamoring to get his attention.

Quinn's lips purse as she looks down from Frank's gaze and shakes her head in denial. She wished she didn't know him. "We have to go!" Quinn shouts in Steve's ear. It's a miracle that he can hear her voice over the sound of the paparazzi assaulting them with questions. Steve just nods his head once, before pulling on her hand and tugging them out of the booth.

Polite as he can be, Steve excuses himself away from any of the paparazzi blocking their path. They part like the Red Sea, flocking away from Steve as he manages to get up from the table. It isn't until there's another flash directly in her face that Quinn is very aware that she's been seen by Frank with Steve.

She reels back to look over her shoulder to find Frank, keeping up with the other photographers as they make their way up towards the front of the restaurant. Of course, Steve was still going to pay but that didn't mean Quinn was going to stick around.

"Who is that guy?" Steve questions again as they reach the host stand. Quinn rolls her eyes at the question before looking back to Frank, who was lost in the sea of reporters. "I'll explain later," she says in his ear so he can hear. He nods once as he pulls out his wallet to give the host some money to cover their bill. While he was paying Quinn was out on a mission. She wanted blood for her ruined date.

She pushes her way through the crowd of photographers to find Frank standing in the back, typing something out on his phone. Her vision goes red as she realizes that he could potentially be texting more paparazzi her whereabouts. Her hand latches on to his arm, his gaze catches her.

At first, he has a smile on his face as he calls out her name, but it quickly dissipates as she begins dragging him through the crowd. "Where are we going!" he shouts from the middle of the crowd. "Out," she hisses back.

She gives Steve a small pat on his back to alert him that she's caught her prize and is ready to leave. He apologizes to the host once again before heading to the elevator where they ride down with Frank in absolute silence.

Frank can feel Quinn's anger radiating off of her, he didn't want to say anything that would upset her even further. He already knew he was in shit. His eyes connect with Steve's over Quinn's head. He tries to give him a wide smile of admiration as Steve nods in response to it. Even he was getting uncomfortable by his presence. Whoever he was had Quinn very upset. His fingers laced through Quinn's, giving her a squeeze to let her know everything would be just fine but she seemed unresponsive.

Quinn was in a state of pure, unadulterated, rage that she was keeping bottled up. As the elevator doors slid open, she stormed out in front of the two men, who were left with confusion riddled on their faces as they followed her out onto the busy sidewalk. New York at night was beautiful but it was also hell to get some peace and quiet. Especially since there were probably dozens of paparazzi headed towards the restaurant at the moment.

She quickly ducked into an alley, where the other two followed her until she abruptly stopped by a trash can to look around for a moment. "Honey, what are you doing?" Steve questions as she begins taking off her shoes and throwing them angrily on the ground. "Checking to see if there are any cops," she simply states. His brow perks up in question. "Why?"

"Because I'm going to kill him!" she yells as she lunges at Frank. Frank lets out a high pitched squeal as he staggers backward to get away from her, only to see Steve latch on to her waist to hold her back. "Okay, that's enough," he states, struggling to keep her still and away from the paparazzi. He manages to hold her back and place his hand on her shoulder, letting her calm down.

"Who is he?" he questions before quickly turning around to the paparazzo. "Who are you?" he questions, a little more defensively towards the unfamiliar face. He puts himself between Quinn and him just in case something were to happen between either of them. "This is Frank, the hyper conspiracy theorist I was talking to you about," Quinn answers exasperatedly, placing her hands in her hips, swaying from side to side in an attempt to calm herself down.

Steve's mouth makes an, "Oh" shape before the silence is overtaken by Frank's wildly irritating voice. "You told him about me?" he asks Quinn, who was now starting to gather her shoes. Steve gives her a confused look before Frank speaks up again. "Wow, Captain America knows about me. This is so cool. I'm a really big fan." he states, holding out his hand for him to shake.

Steve's lips purse into a frown as he nods his head and shakes his hand, Quinn coming by his side in a matter of seconds. He wraps his arm around her waist just in case she tried to assault him once again, he could restrain her. "Frank, what are you even doing here?" she asks frustration filling her voice as her gaze rests upon the conspiracy theorist.

"Oh I was tipped off, a woman said there'd be an Avenger at this restaurant," he answers whole-heartedly. Tipped off? She hadn't told anyone where they were going except for Steve. Quinn and Steve share a glance with each other. There was only one person they could think of who would go as far as to sabotage their date. "What'd she look like?" she tries to delve further for an explanation.

Frank nervously taps the side of his camera while sucking in a hissing breath of air. "Oh, I don't know. I got a call from a private number," he answers causing Quinn to roll her eyes. "I thought it was fake but I'm not in a position to deny any chance I can get at making money. Turns out she alerted every newspaper and magazine and blog she could. Photos are probably worthless now," he merely shrugs off.

Quinn perks up after hearing this. "And being worthless I think you should probably delete them since you did take them without our permission," she chides, trying to convince him. She couldn't afford to be the talk of the town while starting a new job. "Sorry, Quinn, no can do -"

"You little -" she attempts to leap forward and throttle his little neck but Steve prevents it from happening."Hey!" he shouts at Quinn in warning that she needed to calm down before speaking or doing anything.

He turns back towards Frank as Quinn turns the opposite way, trying to walk off her frustration. "Listen, Mr. Shaw, we really need those photos to not go anywhere. We're supposed to be seeing each other in "secret" for now and if those pictures leak then we can't have a normal date night," Steve attempts to explain, keeping his cool, unlike Quinn.

Frank bites down on his bottom lip, fiddling with his camera before looking back up at Steve. "I'll delete them -"

"Great, thanks -" Steve attempts to say before Frank cuts him off. "On one condition,"

Steve merely blinks at the new demand for the picture to be deleted. He merely hums as he tries to disguise his frustration. "And that is?" he asks. "I get to interview you," he demands, causing Steve's brows to raise. "Ha!" Quinn humorlessly chuckles as she begins to make her way back towards the two. She tries to grab on to Steve's hand to lead him out of the alley. Nothing was worse than having an "interview" with Frank.

"Please!" Frank begs, clutching on to Steve's arm. "I just got let go from the Bugle and if I can get an interview with you I can potentially get my job back," he pleads. The sob story is enough to get Quinn to roll her eyes but Steve stops mid-step and looks at Frank with kind eyes.

"The Bugle, huh?" he starts, causing Quinn to sigh in a desperate attempt to tell him it's time to go. "You got let go? Why?" he questions rapidly. "F-freelance writer," Frank stammers as he realizes just how big Captain America really is being this close. "I was hoping to have a permanent position but I guess there were some budget cuts,"

It's too late to consider this date still thriving as Steve begins to chuckle at Frank's story. She knew that he was a sucker for sob stories, it's probably why he liked her. She wanted to slap Frank for using the sob card on Steve. "Well, that's Jameson for you," Steve simply states. "You got yourself a deal, but we have to go where I won't be recognized,"

Quinn lets out a loud groan if frustration as she crosses her arms and glares at Frank. "Worst. Date. Ever." she grounds out between her clenched teeth.
"Maddox," Steve simply calls out, not even turning around to look at her outraged reaction. "Second worst date ever," she quickly corrects herself.

Frank's lips twitch up into a lopsided smile at Steve. "I know just the place to go,"

~ BOOK TWO: AGE OF ULTRON ~

"WOW," IS THE only polite word that can escape Quinn's lips as she gazes at the small diner. The cracks in the glass and the broken blinds were enough to deter anyone away yet she could still see a few people gathered inside. Frank had taken them across town, to the belly of Harlem, just to get an interview with Steve.

She knew the consequences of dating Steve had hidden dangers but she never thought it would come out so fast. A nervous pit started to coil within her stomach. Her heart jumps inside her chest as she feels a warm fabric cover her shoulder. Steve gives her an apologetic look as she turns to see who her assaulter is. She tosses him a confused look as she sees him shrugging off his suit coat, and untying his tie and tossing it in the back of Frank's car.

Her hands latch on to the fabric that was tossed around her shoulders. A raggedy and worn out deep green shirt rested upon them. One sniff to it was enough to make her want to gag. The pungent smell was enough to burn her eyes as well. Was she supposed to wear this? "What happened to this?" she questions as she holds it out just by her index finger and thumb as if it were toxic.

Frank looks over the hood of his car to see what she was talking about and shrugs his shoulders. "I accidentally got gas on it,"

"So I'm going to be flammable while wearing this?" she asks, her tone sounding accusatory. "You don't have to wear it," Frank simply states as he rounds the front of his car to get her near the couple.

"Why do you even have this?" her tone is riddled with judgment as she sniffs it once more, her nose crunching at the putrid smell. "I don't know, just toss it back," Frank says as he rips the cotton material out of her hands.

She gets that it was supposed to disguise her and help her lay low thanks to the abundance of paparazzi that were bound to follow them but she would rather face them than wear the shirt. Steve hands her his leather jacket, something that comforted her but would also help mask her identity a little.

She couldn't help but notice that he had unbuttoned the top of his dress shirt and had rolled up his sleeves. Although it wasn't a technical disguise, he did look different. He looked normal to her, for sure, but thankfully the paparazzi wouldn't really be on the lookout for Captain America without a suit coat on.

She can't help but notice the thin material of the shirt and how it somewhat conceal his biceps but she could still definitely make them out. For some reason this was more appealing to her than just seeing him in that grey shirt she liked that actually exposed the muscles. She has to shake her head to clear her thoughts and distract herself away from Steve as she had been staring at him for quite some time. It had started to get somewhat embarrassing. A light hue comes to her cheeks as she hears him chuckle before ushering her to follow Frank inside the diner.

The diner's florescent lights were too dim to even read what was on the specials menu but it appeared that Frank had already known what it was. This must be a usual spot for him. Of course, he could always head downtown for a nice place to drink coffee and work but cabs were expensive and this was close to home. Frank seated them in a small corner booth, away from any other patrons in the diner just in case they recognized Steve.

Not that Quinn had any faith anyone would recognize him. Most of the patrons were old or either inebriated. A chill ran up Quinn's spine as she realized that the ball of nerves resting in her stomach were still ablaze from the sudden sense of uneasiness she was getting. "Can we start?" she asks anxiously looking outside to the almost barren street, which held one solo streetlight that people seemed to avoid. "The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can leave,"

"Relax, you're safe here," Frank coaxes her as he begins to take out his phone. "I live a couple of blocks from here, it's not so bad,"

Just as he was trying to upsell the neighborhood Quinn looked outside to see an old man, obviously homeless, vomit on the side of the street and just continue walking away like he didn't do it. He was obviously on something as he appeared to be yammering to himself since no one else was on the street. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up from how alert she was just becoming of how dangerous the neighborhood was. All she can do is nod while letting out an anxious sigh.

Steve's hand coils around hers as a sign of steadiness and ease he was trying to bring her as Frank rattled off his usual introduction on the recorder of his phone. A squeeze from Steve was enough assurance to make her somewhat relax, she knew he wouldn't purposely put her in danger and if she was in danger, he'd be there for her.

"So Steve," Frank's voice drags her attention back towards his mouse face. "I'm just going to get right into the hard-hitting questions. Do you think there could be another possible attack with aliens in New York?"

"In New York?" Steve reiterates. His mind runs blank for a moment as he tries to remember the events of New York and how ill-prepared they were. A slight shake of his head takes his mind off it and back to the actual question. "I'm not sure. But we are taking extreme precautions with Tony Stark creating the Iron Legion. If any threats do come back they're our first line of defense and we'll be there to help as well,"

"How do you become an Avenger?"

Steve huffs out a frustrated breath of air from his lungs. He wasn't quite sure of how the Avengers actually formed. He knew he was selected by Fury a few months after coming out of the ice. That was a dark moment in his life. Where all he could focus on was what had happened in the past. He never looked to the future. He didn't want a future with anyone, team, friends, a lover. Until now.

"I'm not sure. The initiative was picked up by Nick Fury, the head of S.H.I.E.L.D but after his passing, the Avengers initiative was taken in by Tony Stark," Steve shrugs. "Originally, we were handpicked by Fury as a group of extraordinary individuals. We haven't picked anyone else to be a part of the Avengers since the program was adopted by Stark."

"Do you think he's looking for new people to join? I mean you do say extraordinary individuals but you have Natasha Romanoff and Blair Norris who are just a couple of spies,"

"Natasha and Blair are more than just a couple of spies. They're the best of the best and that's what you have to be to get into the Avengers," Steve defends, his voice sounding a little hostile.

Frank continues to write his reactions on a small notepad to further help develop his story when it came down to writing it. He wanted to give Jameson every little detail. "Do you think that Tony Stark could potentially groom people into being an Avenger?"

Steve's eyes narrow at the man, confused by his choice of words. "Groom? You mean train?" he clarifies, causing Quinn to snort. Of course, Frank would use that word. "Yes," he simply answers, watching Steve's shoulder roll up and down. "Well, I don't see why not but it's not in the works at the moment but who's to say it won't happen in the future. The more people who want to protect the planet the better,"

"Do you think there could potentially be more super-soldiers out there like you?" Frank questions while tapping his chin with his pen. Steve humorlessly chuckles at the bike question. "If there were we'd know about them, but, as the history books state Doctor Erskine's formula was lost when we were attacked by Hydra,"

"The same day you were transformed, right?"

Quinn could see Steve's jaw clench at the mention of his past. Even she didn't want to delve into as she could tell it was too painful for him. "Yes," his tone is cold as he answers but Frank doesn't seem to notice as he continues on to his next question.

"Is it true that the Stark's contain a vile of your blood so that they can make duplicates of you when you die?"

"What?" Steve hisses out, moderately confused and concerned by the question. Quinn smirks at how outlandish the question is. Finally, she was able to show someone what she had to go through every time she ran into him. "N-no. Not to my knowledge they don't. Where did you hear this?" Steve questions, his brows furrowing as he narrowed his eyes at him.

"A forum on the internet," Frank states, writing down notes on the notepad. "Were you really trapped in ice for seventy years or are you lying and you jumped out of the plane before it went off and you somehow found the hollow earth entrance and the beings inside granted you demi-god like life?"

Steve's fingers tap the table in annoyance as he looks onto the reporter. There were pictures plastered all over about him being trapped in the ice with him actually frozen inside the ice. Steve's brain tries to wrap around the logistics of the question, although it made his headache with a terrible a pain. Why would he leave his whole life behind like that?

"Quinn," Steve mumbles out in a groan as he caresses his head, looking away from Frank. "Yeah, I know, I got this," she coaxes him while placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Frank, are these questions really necessary to whatever you're going to put in your article? Maybe we could get back on topic about the Avengers instead of his past," she attempts to persuade the conspiracy theorist, although his eyes remained hollow and blank as she finished her statement. It was like she had done something wrong by suggesting they actually tackle real questions instead of these fake ones.

"Okay, yeah, sure," he mumbles out before clearing his throat, skipping in his mind all the questions he had about the theories on Captain America. "This one is kind of recent, have you ever been approached by a man with magic hands?"

"Frank-" Quinn warns but is quickly cut off by him.

"N-no. Seriously. This isn't just a conspiracy question. This is real. We've had several people call in reports of this,"

Quinn and Steve share a look between each other like they had just found out crucial information. "Loki?" Quinn whispers to Steve only for him to shake his head. "According to Thor, he's dead. This isn't Loki."

"Then who is he?"

"He calls himself the Taskmaster," Frank jumps in, pulling both of their attentions towards him. "They say his only motive is to destroy the Avengers. No one knows what you guys did to him but he hates you guys. I heard he's making an army to overthrow you,"

Quinn's eyes widen at the revelation and then they instinctively wander over to Steve who appears to be glaring at the reporter, like he's trying to calculate his next move. "Have you ever seen him before?" he asks Frank.

"Uh, no but there's been a couple of reports on him, no word from the police, a lot of talk through the grapevine. It's how I heard it -"

"Ah so like another one of your conspiracy theories," Quinn interrupts with a wide shit-eating grin - one that read "I know you're full of shit". Frank's brows furrow at the statement. "No, Quinn, this guy is real. And he's dangerous, from what I understand he's making an army -"

"Okay, well, until you have physical evidence of him like a picture or a letter from him stating that he actually hates the Avengers and wants them dead, then this is nothing but an old wives tale," she says in a condescending tone while looking at her phone and scowling. It was later than what she had anticipated. "Now if you excuse me, I have somewhere important to be tomorrow morning and I need to get some rest," she bids while scooting her way out of the booth and waving at Frank for a split second.

"Quinn, you've gotta believe me!" he desperately calls out to her, only to see her walking towards the door. "Captain America?" he looks to Steve, who is now standing up to follow his date, for approval but only finds him pursing his lips. "She's got a point, kid. People are distrustful and you can't take news at face value. There's got to be some sort of evidence to make a story. That's why there are no reports of the Stark's carrying around viles of my blood," Steve turns on his heel and begins to follow Quinn out of the door.

They're not alone outside for two seconds before Frank bursts through the door behind them. "How do you plan on getting home?" he asks them as he approaches his car. Quinn lets out a soft scoff as she sees him dip his head in the back door and retrieve their belongings. "We'll call a cab, don't worry about us," Steve interjects before Quinn can even say anything.

"It was good to meet you, Frank," Steve charms the reporter by shaking his hand once again in an attempt to say farewell. "It was nice to meet you, Captain America," Frank smiles like a giddy child up at Steve while shaking his hand. Steve has to clear his throat after a moment as Frank was not letting go of his hand. Embarrassed, Frank drops it like it was poisonous. "And the pictures?" Steve questions before leaving to join Quinn's side. "Deleted sir!" Frank shouts back at him, giving him a small salute before getting in his car.

Steve's hand snakes its way across the small of Quinn's back, making her shiver at the sensation. His hand grips tightly on to her waist, holding her closer to him, making her painfully aware of how much her body ached for his touch that whole time. Steve chuckles as he makes his way with her to the side of the street, holding up his hand for a cab. "You know I really don't see what you mean about him. He doesn't ask invading questions at all," Steve teases causing Quinn to scoff and roll her eyes. "Shut up,"

~ BOOK TWO: AGE OF ULTRON ~

THE RIDE BACK to her apartment is awkwardly silent. Both of their minds drifted towards Frank's words about a man who calls himself the Taskmaster wanting to destroy the Avengers. However, each of them had separate views on it. Even though Quinn couldn't help but this it was malarky her mind instantly panicked about Steve's safety. Vice versa for Steve.

The dangers of dating him we're coming into effect immediately instead of slowly as she had thought. They both wanted to speak to one another about the man but with another person present, who was a stranger, they both silently deemed it wasn't a good idea to talk about it now.

Steve's hand was still wrapped around Quinn's, perched in the middle between the two who's eyes lingered on the streets outside to avoid each other's gazes. Quinn silently shakes her head to herself. This was Frank who was passing information on to them, she always had to take what he said with a grain of salt.

None of his statements seemed to be true, just rumors and theories. However, it didn't stop her from wondering. But there would more than likely be a police report of this man, and potentially a lookout for him, especially if he was threatening the Avengers. Hell, it'd probably be them sent out on the goose hunt looking for him. Maybe that's what he wanted though.

She clears her head as the cab stops right outside of her apartment stoop, letting the couple he out before taking off, even though Steve had wanted it to linger around for a moment so he didn't have to catch another one. He shakes his head as he listens to Quinn giggle from beside him, a small smirk plays on his lips as she giggles.

As he approaches the top step of the stoop he lingers back, unsure of what to say after their failed date. Would they see each other again? He didn't want to put her in harm's way if this "Taskmaster" was real.

She notices his hesitance and pauses from opening her door. Her hand Absentmindedly cups his cheek, forcing him to look up at her, as he leans into her small hand, a look of defeat on his face. "Do you think what he said was true?" she finally asks, breaking the silence. "About this Taskmaster guy. I don't want you to get hurt -" her emotions were starting to get the best of her.

It was hard letting him go before on his missions but feeling this way towards him made her heartache horribly. "I think it's nonsense talk. A lot of people don't like us," Steve clarifies. "But I'll have Tony look into it. It'd make me feel better knowing you wouldn't be a target while I'm away,"

"I'm sure I'll be a target for someone. Whether it be because of you or because of my job. It's just going to take some getting used to," she attempts to soothe him by rubbing his cheek with her thumb.

He turns his head and plants a small peck to the inside of her palm before trailing his lips up her arm and finally to her burning lips. This was the moment they both had been anticipating over the course of the horrible date night they had had. At first, the kiss is feverish, deep like this was the first time in decades that they had seen each other. It's enough to send electricity running through her veins.

The kiss does become more tender halfway through, it's sweet and lingering but enough to still leave her breathless. Her pulse is racing and she can't help but let out a whine of protest as he pulls away too quickly for her liking. She immediately follows his absence by chasing his lips, moving up to her tiptoes to catch his lips one last time.

His head slants, his hand sliding from her cheek to the back of her head to deepen it even more. Something jolts in him to stop, he breaks away almost immediately once he feels it, leaving both of them panting in the wake. He rests his forehead against hers as he tries to calm his heart rate. "Too fast?" she whispers, her heartbeat drumming in her ears.

Steve lets out a small chuckle before taking a step back and shaking his head to clear his thoughts and tell her that she was okay. It didn't matter what pace they were at he didn't mind. "You have a big day tomorrow, Hun," he smirks. "You need to get some sleep,"

A feverish blush crosses her cheeks as she thinks of the implication of her refusing to sleep and what would most definitely happen. She hadn't really thought about it until now and at this rate, she didn't want to not think about it. However, the absence of Steve's figure leaves her as he drifts back a couple of steps on the stoop. He gives her a boyish smile, one that had the implication that he knew he had her wrapped around his finger. "Good luck tomorrow,"

Quinn merely nods her head in thanks before she shakily takes out her keys and enters the door to the building. A large huff of air escapes her lungs as she tries to wrap her mind around what had just happened. She was lovestruck now, wholeheartedly.

~A/N~

First and foremost, Quinn said (ง'̀-'́)ง these hands are rated E for everyone. Also, she has a thing for arms apparently.

I'm sure you've recognized the name Taskmaster as the new villain for Black Widow's new movie. Which is great, I personally think Taskmaster is one of the coolest anti-heroes out there. I also think he'd work well in this story, especially if you've read the comics and know that he doesn't like the Avengers (maybe that's his goal in Black Widow?).

Besides, I've had this version of Taskmaster for this story for the past year now and I was shocked to find out he was the main antagonist in Black Widow. So I've tweaked his character to fit this story and to not rip off the MCU's version. You'll get to meet him before the new movie comes out.