CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
( QUANTICO )
THE AIR IS wet and humid with the recent rainfall, the sun had been leaking out of the clouds just enough to make the air dense and suffocating. It was a miracle that anyone could breathe out here, especially the dozens of trainees that scoured the outside of the large building. The sound of their overlapping footsteps connecting with the pavement in unison filled Quinn's ears as she stepped out of the yellow cab.
She could've sworn for a moment this looked like boot camp. Technically it was but this boot camp wasn't just for anyone. Only the best of the best could be here, and somehow, by pure blind luck, she was here with the elite. She swallowed hard as she tried to take in this new reality she was in. This would either make or break her. If she were to fail at the academy, she would have no job to go back to, no funding for her mother. It's not like Apple would hire her back so soon. Maybe they would, they were a heartless corporation looking for lost souls to oik their machine.
She took a deep breath before exhaling, to try to calm her nerves that were rather shaken by the new change. Her hand clamps around her suitcase while the other throws the duffle bag over her shoulder, as she walks into the large building. She notices that most of the people - staff or agents - wore luxurious suits. They appeared to be something off if a movie, she just didn't realize how accurate they were until now. Her mouth struggles to not fly agape as she looks at the interior of the building, twirling around to see the large skylight overhead, with each floor circling around it like a honeycomb. With how many people in the building, it was surprisingly hushed.
"Quinn Cruise?" A voice calls out to her, drawing her attention towards the right side of the building. Her head whips around to see a woman, stalking towards her with a mound of paperwork in her hands. Although there's a smile plastered on her face, there's a sudden nagging ache in the back of her mind as she sees the paper. She really didn't want to fill out more paperwork, she had done that enough in the past month to compensate for the rest of her life.
She gives the woman a shirt wave before meeting her in the middle, her brow perking up in question as she approaches the woman. She notes that there's something almost cat-like in the way she walks, like she's careful but elegant. Her dark hair was pulled up in a beautiful bun, and her dark, cat-like eyes showed signs of friendliness but also were guarded. "How'd you know it was me?" Quinn questions as she finally gets in ear shot of the woman. She gives out a small, low, chuckle. "You look different than anyone here," she notes, nodding to the surrounding people in business-like attire.
A faint blush of embarrassment floods her cheeks, as she realizes she's the only one in the building in pants and a t-shirt. "Plus, your phones location let us know when you were entering the premises. Not that hard to detect,"
Quinn's eyes widen at the mention of her phone. Of course, they knew where she was because of her phone, a giant agency like this who is famous for tracking people down using their own tech and she was staying in the very hub where everyone was, she should've known better. "My name is Suyin Fang," the woman introduces herself, holding out her free hand for her to shake. "I'm the director for this division, I oversee the academy. I'm going to show you around,"
A tour from the actual director? This seemed like it was a perk from Tony. He must have a lot of pull here. She can't help but to look around at the building as she follows Suyin. It was immaculate, not a thing out of place. This made the Avengers tower lobby look like a complete pig sty. She didn't even want to compare it to her apartment - there was without a doubt no traces of golden fur just laying around on the floor here.
Suyin tried to make small talk with her as they wandered the hall. Questions like "how was your flight?", "is it humid outside?", all beat around the bush questions. Suyin abruptly stops as the enter a hallway, this time Quinn looks around, peering into the rooms. Classrooms, filled to the brim with students. Suyin knocks on the side of the wall of a classroom, waving an apologetic hand as she points towards a someone - a student obviously - before flashing the instructor another apologetic smile.
For someone who was in charge of everything and everyone here she walked around like she was stepping on eggshells all over the place. It was a change of pace from seeing someone in charge act so submissive. She gives her an apologetic smile as she crosses her way back over to her. "I'm sorry, I really wanted to give you this extravagant tour but, I am late for a meeting -"
"It was probably my fault," Quinn tries to brush it off. "I was sitting on the blacktop for a while after we landed. Storm and all," she nervously chuckles. She didn't want to disappoint the director but she wasn't entirely sure why. It was different when she worked for S.H.I.E.L.D. She had a built up respect for Fury, whereas now she just met Suyin. Maybe she was a people's pleaser. A kiss ass to the boss. It was a strange feeling. "Here's a map of the academy," Suyin states, as she begins piling papers into her hands. "Uniforms and dress codes, a syllabus on what you can and can't do, and your list if core classes,"
Quinn's brows raise in surprise as she collects all the paperwork and packets into her hands. She didn't expect this much to go into her first day. However, this was a government organization. They probably wanted to be thorough and cautious. They had every right to be ever since S.H.I.E.L.D. became compromised by Hydra. They didn't want another slip up. She added up the amount of people who were just milling around in the hallway with them. Sure they seemed to be chatting but something seemed off, like they were nervous to be in the same vicinity as her. She could easily make out the gun in holster in a man's suit jacket. A precaution. In her case, there was without a doubt at least five people watching her at all times, including Suyin. No wonder they looked uneasy. They were just waiting around to watch her to see if she was going to snap and attack everyone.
Maybe Kat's words of her being a hazard had been heard at the academy. It definitely damaged her morale of the place. She thought she could start over and move past Hydra but looking at everyone here was just a reminder of how dangerous she could be if she just heard the magic words.
A sigh escapes her lips. As she watches Suyin run to the door again, this time she was talking to a young girl with her hair pulled back. She can't help but press her lips into a firm line. She wasn't a monster, she didn't need to be followed. "Quinn," Suyin's voice catches her off guard from her own pity party. She tries her best to look alert as she stands there with the broadest and cheesiest smile across her face, her almond shaped eyes almost disappearing under her rosy cheeks. "I want you to meet Linnea," she points to the smaller woman beside her.
"She's a cadet, she's been her for almost four months," she guesses, her voice becoming a whine as Linnea nods in confirmation. "She's also going to be your dorm mate. She's going to take my place and give you the tour, the do's and don't's of the academy,"
The whole time while she's speaking she's looking at Linnea like this is the first time she was given the rundown. It probably was. Quinn immediately retracts her thought if Suyin being personable to each cadet, she was only interested in introducing herself so that she could possibly bring it up to Tony Stark and she'd get a pat on the back. She was just a pawn in her game plan just like Linnea.
"Linnea why don't I give you guys an ice breaker. Tell Quinn one interesting thing about yourself," Suyin encourages, giving her a firm pat of the shoulder and another fake smile before looking at her wrist for the time. "I'm going to be late. If you have any questions feel free to ask anyone. It was a pleasure to meet you, cadet Quinn,"
"You too," she bids, her voice faltering as Suyin walks away before she can even finish her sentence. "Hallo," a small voice rings from behind her. Surprised, Quinn turns around to face the small girl that Suyin had left in charge. As she scans her features she can tell she's at least seven inches taller than her. She could've easily been mistaken as a child. Her smile is small but it's warm, genuine unlike the directors. "Uhm," Quinn hums out nervously. "Hello?" she greets in a meek and unsure tone. "What's your name?"
"I'm Linnea," she speaks reaching out for her hand. "You must be Quinn. It's nice to meet you,"
Quinn's brows raise at the sound of her voice. "You," she says breathlessly. "You have an accent," she wants to slap herself from stating the obvious. If it wasn't rude, it was dumb if her to say. Linnea just lets out a nervous giggle in return. "I'm from Västerås," she informs her, only making Quinn more confused. "It's in Sweden,"
Quinn makes an "oh" shape with her mouth before awkwardly tugging her bottom lip under her teeth. Yes, the girl was sweet but the fact that she was being watched like a hawk made her feel anxious and unwanted. Linnea began to stroll down the hallway with her, meaning that the other agents were sure to follow eventually. They weren't that discreet about watching her every movement. "I'm also multi-lingual," Linnea continued to drone on as if she hadn't noticed that they were being watched. "I can speak Swedish, German, English, French, Russian, and Spanish,"
"That's a lot of languages," Quinn notes under her breath, trying her best to sound friendly. "My parents thought it'd be best to start at a young age,"
"That's the way to do it," she chirps back. She was only fluent in English which was her native language. She could speak parts of French and Spanish but didn't know that much. "Those must be your interesting facts, I take it," she hums out, gripping tighter on to her duffle bag as they passed a couple agents she knew were overlooking her. "Si," Linnea simply states, trying to showcase her skills. "What else do you know?" she questions trying to initiate small talk to the cadet.
Linnea sucks in a deep breath through her teeth as if she were having a hard time thinking. Quinn couldn't help but to judge. If she really knew all these languages she should be able to say something off the top of her head. "Мой день рождения семнадцать Июль," Linnea speaks.
As the sentence leaves her mouth a searing pain gathers in the back of Quinn's mind. Her hand instinctively reaches back to grab her head while hissing in pain. She couldn't understand why she felt an instant headache, it happened so suddenly. There was something familiar in what Linnea had said. She couldn't quite place it but she knew what she said. Or at least a part of it.
"Say that again," Quinn asks, finally overcoming the pain. "Мой день рождения семнадцать Июль?" she repeats in a questioning tone this time. Once again, another white hot pain slides from the back of her head to her spine. This time she conceals her pain much better, disguising it in a playful, out of breath chuckle. "That sounds so familiar," she chides. "You said the word July right?"
"It does," she responds with a curt nod. "I said my birthday is July seventeenth. Do you speak Russian?"
"No, it just sounds so familiar. It must've been on a commercial or something," Quinn guesses, trying not to alert the agents standing idly by. As they enter an elevator things become awkwardly quiet, perhaps it was just her nerves or maybe it was because Linnea knew who she was and didn't feel comfortable knowing that she's next to an ex Hydra sleeper agent. The elevator rings open, letting them pile out to a narrow hallway with a dozen doors.
"These are the dorm rooms," she informs Quinn, leading her down the hallway. From the looks of it, there were no agents here, leaving Linnea to fend for herself if she went rogue. She knew she wasn't going to go rogue but something inside her told her that her guide didn't feel that way. She opens a door revealing two beds on either side of the walls, one shared desk in the middle that was already taken up by a laptop and some books. "This is our dorm," Linnea states, letting Quinn walk in ahead of her as she looks around.
Both beds are pristinely made, no doubt a requirement of the academy. This was basically boot camp. She places her duffle bag on the bed against the left side of the wall, the one closest to the door, noting that the other bed had Linnea's belongings underneath. Laying on top of the thin, cotton bedding is a uniform that she was expected to wear. A basic grey t-shirt and navy blue gym shorts or pants. "Curfew is twenty-one hundred, wake up call is four hundred -"
"Four?" Quinn's voice quivers a bit as she reiterates her words. That early just for a few classes? Linnea nods her head adamantly. She sighs, she would just have to get in the habit of her rigid schedule. It was only for a few months. It would all be worth it. "Latrines are down the hall, we have to be at our first class by six hundred,"
"And breakfast?"
"Any time before six hundred," she affirms, watching Quinn's jaw tighten.
"I'm guessing the canteen isn't on this floor," she huffs out as she takes the grey shirt into her hands, reading the insignia that had been printed on its back.
"First floor," Linnea responds.
"Do you usually get food before class?"
"None of us really have time to," she nonchalantly responds, placing herself on the edge of her bed, shuffling her feet. "If you want to get dressed, I can tour you around the actual campus,"she suggests, watching Quinn as she picks up the grey shirt in her hands, and fiddling with it. She nods, quickly replacing her regular clothes as Linnea stares out the window to give her a little privacy (something she hadn't gotten much of since she arrived - and probably won't get until she leaves). After a few moments of examining herself in the mirror on the wall, and fiddling with her hair - the humidity had caused it to become frizzy - she was soon out the door with her dorm mate.
"So when did you start the academy?" Quinn asks, finally breaking their awkward silence. She couldn't stand being unpersonable towards her. "A few months ago," Linnea clucks after pondering for a moment. Her hand grips around the door handle, opening it to expose the outside area that she had called "the grounds".
The sun was beating down on her, the heat was swelling as she could feel her sweat start to head. Fall in Virginia was nothing like fall in New York. Her heart clenched in her chest. It was the first time she had actually come to think of New York since she arrived. A longing resonated inside her chest as if she were lonely. Not being near Rudolph, her mother or Steve made her feel anxious in a way. But this was no time for her to dwell on what she was missing, they were what she was fighting for. "When do you graduate?" she asks, continuing on with the conversation.
"Next year," Linnea hums out.
"Really? That long?" She was only supposed to be there for a few months, she didn't say this out loud in fear of upsetting the cadet who was silent as she took in the question before letting out a low chuckle.
"We have to train for at least a year," she answers before stopping shortly. "You're the special case. You worked for S.H.I.E.L.D. before coming here,"
Quinn raised her brows at this, before narrowing her eyes at the cadet. "How'd you know -"
"We were all briefed on you coming here," Linnea cuts her off, her tone shifting from optimistic to cool and harsh. "We know who you are, why you're here, and why you're only here for a few months than a year and a half,"
Quinn purses her lips. Her assumptions were correct. Everyone was staring at her like she was dangerous because they knew about her, they knew she was coming. No wonder she felt so out of place and unwelcomed. She was a special case meaning she was going to be treated like dirt by her classmates. Special case was the last thing she wanted to be. "So then everyone knows about -" Quinn trails off as she stops mid step, looking towards the ground embarrassed.
"Hydra? Yes," Linnea confirms, giving her a questionable look. "The class was torn about you being here. Some were opposed about your presence, while others thought differently," she states as she begins to walk beside Quinn once again, leading her throughout the academy grounds.
"What about you?" Quinn speaks up. "What was your opinion?"
Linnea hesitates for a moment before a small glimmer of a smile appears, melting Quinn's defensive structure just for a moment. "Well, I believe everyone deserves a second chance and cannot be blamed for things they had no control over," she answers honestly. Quinn can't help but take in a heaving breath through her nose. She knew it wasn't supposed to mean much but it felt like a great deal to her to at least have someone on her side and forgive her. A stranger nonetheless. "Wow," she mouths, the word barely audible. "Thank you,"
It wasn't something she was expecting to hear after how she'd been watched since her arrival. To know that someone doesn't think she's a danger was a blessing. "So," her new form mate begins. "What did you do at S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
Quinn's blood stops cold, she can feel the color drain from her face. Of course she knew that she was in I.T. but she still couldn't remember everything that happened to her in her last few months. Her mouth feels dry as she tries to find the right words to explain herself. "I-I," she hesitates, her voice becoming somewhat shaky. She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth, gnawing on it nervously. Even though she was in a strict environment and they knew about Hydra she couldn't help but to be anxious about every new face she came I contact with. "I was in I.T.," she simply answers as if it had just come to her naturally. She just needed to convince herself that everything was fine and that no one noticed her inner panic.
Before she can say anything else a melodic beeping comes from within the building. At first Quinn begins to panic, thinking it's an alarm to alert her that something dangerous has come but Linnea nudges her arm. "Class is in session," she remarks, leading her towards the building where more cadets were trickling out of. Most steered clear of her, not even bothering to acknowledge her with a simple nod in greeting. She shrugs it off though, seeing as everyone was trying to get somewhere in a hurry.
Linnea guides her into a classroom that a few people had showed up to. She notes that the projection screen says Hostage Negotiation, in big bold letters along with a hypothetical question underneath. Something she truly didn't have an answer for. This would be a class that she'd have to cram for. "This way," Linnea's voice sounded different as she started to ascend the steps of the lecture room. Quinn follows behind like a lost puppy, unsure of where exactly they were headed.
Linnea offers her the seat to the left of her, next to a young woman who was already answering the question on the board. She gives her a smirk. She knew what she was doing, what she was trying to say. Make friends. She came to the academy with no intention of making friends but it would be helpful to try to get caught up with her classes, she knew she couldn't just rely on Linnea.
Although, her nerves were struck as she sat down next to the strange woman, the words of Linnea ringing in her mind. Not everyone wanted her here. Hopefully, she was kind like Linnea. A sheet of paper slides in front of her from the right. "Here's your schedule," Linnea speaks up, tapping her pencil to the side of the page. "There's six periods in one day, your first is physical training -"
"Do not eat before that class," the girl from beside her speaks up finally.
She peers over to see her chewing on a pen cap as she lazily looks over at the two. Quinn perks her brow up in question at her statement. "You're new, you'll vomit right away if you eat,"
"She has a point," Linnea sheepishly sighs out, gaining Quinn's attention. "It's best just to wait it out until lunch," she says with a half smirk, leaning back in her spot. Quinn merely nods her head taking in the helpful tip. Although she found it very ineffective to not eat before basic. IF she wanted to bring her A-game then, shouldn't she eat?
She shakes the fleeting thoughts of worry and doubt. She needed to find a new trust in her classmates. So far she knew she could trust Linnea, she couldn't help but clutch on to the fact that maybe Lena was okay with her too. However, she hadn't quite had enough conversation with her to know. She peers down at the board trying to read the question that she didn't quite understand. Squinting she could make out some of the words but none of it made any sense.
She grabs ahold of the stack of papers that Linnea was dragging around for her, Linnea watching her in question as she looks frantically to the board and then to an overturned sheet of paper that had her schedule on it. Linnea couldn't help but smile. This is what they had intended on her to do, come in, be quiet and learn. There was no fussing, there was no conniption, she just wanted to get this done. Linnea passes her a pencil, giving her a genuine nod of approval before watching her scribble down the question.
Her eyes dart over to Lena who wasn't paying attention to anything but the book in front of her. She had always been one to go further in the curriculum than what the professor had intended. She reached behind Quinn, giving Lena a solid tap on her shoulder, that had Lena looking towards her in a matter of seconds with a disgruntled look on her face. She tilts her head downwards, motioning towards Quinn who was still trying to figure out everything that was written on the board.
Lena makes an "Oh" shape with her lips, finally understanding what she wanted. She clears her throat before sliding her own notebook on to Quinn's desk. Confused, Quinn tilts her head up to see Lena, extending her notebook to her. An olive branch. "Did you want to copy my notes? I know you're new and you're coming into the middle of the term. I just thought it'd be helpful," she trails off. It was obvious that she wasn't used to this. Quinn takes the notebook, flashing her a friendly smile. "Thanks, but I don't have my notebook -"
"That's okay," Lena speaks up, throwing her off guard. "You could at least write the answer down on the board. Then I could give it to you when you actually have your notebook,"
"I'm sorry, I should've been more prepared. I didn't know I'd actually being going to class on my tour," she sheepishly apologizes. Lena shakes it off as if it were no big deal. "You could take it after classes are done today to get caught up, who's your dorm mate?"
"Me!" Linnea speaks up, flinging her hand up in the air as if she were proud. Quinn can't help but let out a nervous chuckle. "Okay, I can swing by your dorm and drop off anything you need to get caught up on," she offers with a humble smile. Quinn in turn tries to return the smile, thanking her in the process, before getting distracted by the group of men that had come in the classroom loudly, perching themselves in front of them.
Quinn quickly establishes that these might be the meatheads that could be found in any class, especially once she does a quick glance throughout the room to see that almost everyone except the men in front of them were keeping to themselves. She tries to duck her head, trying to go unnoticed by them. These people were, without a doubt, probably the people who didn't want her here - classifying her as dangerous.
Her discreetness doesn't last long as they begin cooing at Lena, begging her for her attention. Quinn can't help but to give her a glance as they catcall her, she was wearing a mildly panicked smile on her face. "Get lost, Rome," Lena states defensively towards the blonde man in the middle, making the most catcalls. "Come on, I thought you liked me," he whined in a thick accent, making Quinn twitch.
Everything about him and how he acted towards Lena wreaked of what Maddox was like towards her - she was just too blind to see it. However, she wasn't going to sit idly by and convince her to go on a date with him like Jo had with her. She could tell that she was uncomfortable. She quickly slides her sheet of paper towards Lena, drawing her attention away from the predatory man. "Hey, I'm not understanding what it means to find commonality between the fugitive and yourself. Can you help me?" she speaks up, quickly warding away any lingering conversation that the man had with Lena.
She didn't have to glance up to know he was throwing daggers at her with his glare. Lena huffs out a sigh as if she were trying to restart anew. "Certainly," she states, placing her hair behind her ears nervously as she tries to look over her question. Before she can even speak, a hand slams down in between the two, causing Quinn to jump in her seat. "Ahoy-hoy," the man - Rome - speaks up, a devilish smirk growing across his face. "Who's you're new friend?" he asks, trying to scoop up under Quinn's chin to get a better look at her. She quickly tears away from his grasp defensively, shooting him a glare. Unwanted touches by strangers were not welcome. "My name is Quinn," she spits out.
"Quinn?" he repeats, placing his arms across his chest, his gaze becoming more piercing and more deadly than before. "The girl who we were briefed about? The one who was possessed by Hydra?" he spits them out like questions that were too dirty to keep in his mouth, as if her name tarnished him by just saying it. Her cheeks become heated at his tone, his judgement of her was unparalleled by the kindness that she had received from earlier. "I-I wasn't possessed -" she stammers out, trying to clear the air of tension that Rome had created. He lets out a cruel chuckle before looking back down at her, "So you betrayed your country and the world purposefully?"
"N-no, that's not what I meant," she begins to stutter out of pure rage, trying to conceal the fact that she was seeing red at the moment. She tried to calm herself down. If she got into a fight with a guy her first day there was sure to be consequences, probably expulsion. She licks her lips as she tries to explain, "See I was brainwashed -"
"That's original," he snorts. "'I was brainwashed into doing bad things and now I'm the nice girl'," His friends begin to let out small snickers of enjoyment as they watched him ridicule her.
"But it's true -"
Her voice is cut off by the sound of a bell, letting them know that class was about to begin. Rome snickers as he places himself in the seat in front of her. "Oh jeez, all right," he concedes, throwing his arms up at his sides as if he were backing down. "Whatever you tell yourself to get you to sleep at night,"
Quinn opens her mouth to retort with a snarky remark but Lena beats her to it. "Rome, sweetie," she calls in a sickeningly sweet tone, begging for his attention. Once she receives it her modest and flirty facial expression turns into a scowl. "Do you ever know when to shut your mouth?" her tone is hot, like she was mad at him for Quinn, maybe she was judging.
Judging by the prominent frown on her face, it was apparent that she was irritated by the conversation. "It's called a raw and unfiltered, baby," he replies with a simple shrug of his shoulders and a wink. "Uh-huh," she sighs out, her frustration getting the better of her. "So you've deduced what on Quinn exactly?" she questions pointing her pen between the two of them. He locks his eye onto Quinn, showing how vile he was as he began defacing her character in front of everyone. "That's she's dangerous, with a high chance that she's faking it,"
Quinn lets out a dry laugh before challenging his intense glare with her own. "Faking being abducted and brainwashed by Hydra? Why would I be here then?" her tone is getting rather hostile and somewhat loud. "Because you're good at lying. Either to yourself or the all powerful Tony Stark who bought you a ticket here," he hisses causing her to roll her eyes.
So that's what he was more upset about. Her fast pass because of Tony Stark. She knew it'd boil down to this with some of her class mates, she didn't think it'd actually be said straight to her face, more like behind her back which she could deal with. However, her level-headed nature went out the window as soon as Rome started talking. "You do understand that I would have to be the dumbest Hydra agent to wind up in the academy right?" she hisses back at him.
"Or you could be the first of many planters. First S.H.I.E.L.D. now the FBI," he merely states, seeming bored with the conversation already. As soon as he turns around he whispers to his friend, loud enough that she could hear him, "They're really letting everyone in nowadays,"
"Oh," Quinn takes in a sharp inhale, the pen in her hand is shaking from how hot her blood felt in her veins. Linnea gave her a concerned look and then to Lena who returned it. "I'm going to fucking throttle him,"
"Save it for basics!" Linnea coaxes her, placing a hand on her shoulder to ease her. Quinn takes in a deep breath, trying not to lose her absolute cool. She notes everyone has been seated and has quieted down as a man in a suit walks into the room, a cup of water clutched in his hand. Or at least she thought it was water. He looked scrawny, small, but more intelligent than anyone else in the facility. She couldn't believe he was an agent let alone a professor. Actually it made sense he was a professor, he had a scholarly look to him. But agent? Maybe he wasn't a field agent. But suggesting that this is a hostage negotiation class, he must've had field work.
"Good afternoon," he greets in a raspy voice, before taking a sip of his water. "My name is Professor Caulfield or Special Agent Bryan but most of you know that already," he introduces himself, a few heads perking up wondering what's going on. "I only say that because there's a new face in the class. I would introduce her but you guys already know who she is and we only have a limited amount of time to go over everything today,"
Quinn relaxes instantly in her seat. She didn't like the feeling of being put on the spot, it made her feel like she was back in school. Being an army brat she was used to presenting herself to the class, but it was always nerve wracking. It would've been more unnerving to do it during this class, since almost everyone seemed to dislike her presence or was at least wary of her being here. Following Linnea and Lena's cue, she begins taking notes on the lecture that Professor Caulfield was droning on about. Thankfully, the lights dim as a power presentation begins, demonstrating the power dynamics of negotiating with a fugitive.
Her head snaps up as he asks the first question of the class. "Can anyone tell me what's wrong with this picture?"
She squints as she looks at the old black and white news photo of a police officer, hiding behind the door of his car with a bullhorn. She looks from side to side to see the anxious yet waiting faces. She understood why she didn't understand it, she was new, but the class had been there for longer than she had, perhaps a good three or four months ahead of her. However, when she looked over at Lena and Linnea they both held bored expressions. Perhaps they did know the answer yet they didn't want to draw any attention to themselves.
Professor Caulfield purses his lips as he looks throughout the sea of confused or bored faces before moving on. A bit of his pride dying inside him. He clicks to the next slide to show a large red circle around the police officer. "This is clearly an untrained professional, trying to negotiate the terms and agreement that the fugitive is demanding, notice the bullhorn," he points the laser pointer in his hand, circling around the bullhorn clutched by the officer. "If you have arrived and an officer is doing this, take over immediately because this is how we lose control of a situation," he warns.
Out of the corner of her eye she can see Linnea writing down the information. She quickly follows, trying to keep up with the information. She knew Lena had offered to let her copy her notes down but she wanted to at least look busy and try to understand her notes herself instead of deciphering them. "In order to get into the perps mindset, we must think like him. Let's role play a little," Professor Caulfield states, plopping himself on the edge of his desk as he flips to the next slide. Quinn raises her brows as she looks at the image of the fugitive. The man looked disgruntled, with crazy eyes popping out of his skull and a poorly shaven beard. "This man has skipped out on several days worth of his medication, is prone to drinking," Professor Caulfield begins telling the story.
"There's a call of distress saying he's running rampant through a neighborhood with a rifle. The police are the first on the scene and he shoots and kills an officer. They shoot at him twice, it misses the first time and hits him in the thigh a second time. He grabs a ten year old child who is watching the scene unfold nearby and puts the rifle to his head and he's holed up in a suburban neighborhood infested with women and children," he lists off.
Quinn is surprised by the realness that he conveys. Either the story was true or he was really good at story telling and acting. "What's the first thing we must focus on?" he questions the class, once again looking optimistically through the crowd of faces who didn't look too eager to respond. His warm smile fades as he sees no one is apt to raise their hand. "If no one's going to volunteer, I'm going to start calling on people randomly," he sighs out frustratedly.
Quinn sinks lower into her seat. She knew he wouldn't pick on her but just the mere threat he was making made her anxious. This was just like school. In the front row a man timidly raises his hand, quickly followed by Professor Caulfield pointing at him. "Yancy?" he calls.
"Getting the hostages out?"
"No, that's the overall goal," he dismisses. "Rome?"
She narrows her eyes at the blonde haired man in front of her with his hand up. "Deescalation," he answers, earning an eye roll from her. Even his accent made her irritated. "Very good," Professor Caulfield praises, as he begins to stand up to emphasize his meaning. "Deescalation is key in these scenarios. We want the fugitive to remain calm and not make any rash decisions especially since there are lives at stake,"
Quinn tries to write down the information as fast as she can but the professor keeps droning on, giving her little to no time to write the answer down. "Let's go back to the chief of police," he states, flipping back a few slides to the police officer hiding behind his car door. "He starts bull-horning to reprimand the fugitive but instead this agitates him. The first mistake was, coming in with an "I'm right, you're wrong" attitude," he sips on his water as he flips forward to a new screen, labelled "I'm Right You're Wrong".
"This lets fugitive thinks he's on the same level of sane mind as the average person. What's the second thing we do?" Once again his eyes scour over his students but his gaze is met by a volunteer who's hand is raised high in the air. "Ren?"
"Establish communication,"
"Correct!" he yips out in excitement. "Non threatening communication. You'll be given a list of demands by the fugitive. But there's a rookie mistake that I can guarantee you all will make if you're not paying attention," he turns to face the class once again, placing his hands on his hips. "What do you think that is?" he questions. A girl in the front raises her hand. "Celia?"
"Give into the demands?"
"And?"
"Not actually listen,"
"Correct," he says, flipping to the next slide. "Conceal nothing, reject nothing, just listen. Listen to what they have to say. Try leveling with him instead of trying to dominate him. Look for common ground, find commonality. And if it feels like you're buying time, well, that's because are. But it's the key to making any perp feel heard -"
Professor Caulfield stops mid-sentence as the bell rings, alerting the cadets that it was time to move on to their next destination. According to Quinn's schedule she was headed to physical training. She shuffles her way through the row of seats, following closely behind Linnea. "Cadet Cruise," Professor Caulfield calls out to her as she descends the steps to head out of the door.
She gives Linnea a wavering look, as if she wanted her to stay with her which she responds with a nod, hanging back with Lena to wait by the door. "Professor Caulfield," she greets, extending her hand to shake his. "It's nice to finally meet you, cadet. We've heard a lot about you in the past couple of weeks. Preparing for your arrival,"
Quinn's lips press into a firm line. That's all she's been hearing all day. It was starting to become irritating. "I didn't know I was so special," she snorts out, trying to lighten her comment with a nervous laugh. She shifts uncomfortably as her professor eyeballs her, like he was analyzing her. She took note that even though he was a professor, he didn't seem much older than her. He may as well have been Steve's age, but resembled nothing like him. He was slim, lanky, with shiny dark hair that swept over neatly.
"I know it may not seem like a very warm welcome but I wanted to let you know that I'm willing to help you catch up in my class if you have time," he offers, forcing himself to seem more open than anyone else who she's met. "How do you like it so far?" he questions, leaning on the side of his desk.
"The class?" she wonders aloud, watching him nod his head. She perks up immediately. "It's interesting. I didn't know there was so much psychology going in to understand everything," she comments.
"You'd be surprised how many people we've caught because if psychic evaluation. How many fugitives we've stopped because they all have a somewhat similar pattern," he trails off, looking wistfully up to the rows of desk, throwing her off. "Just imagine what we could do if we had someway of knowing who was going to develop into being a criminal. How much time we would save if we could stop it immediately,"
Her blood freezes at the mere mention of the description. Her heart sinks a little in her chest. She thought he genuinely was looking out for her but it turned out that he was just like the rest of the people here. He wanted to know more about her time with S.H.I.E.L.D. and what exactly her experience was like being brainwashed with Hydra. Her lips pull into a small frown."Like Insight?" she spits out, her tone hot with judgment.
It forces him to look over to her to see the scowl on her face. He returns her pursed lipped frown, almost seeming embarrassed that she had caught on so quickly - or maybe his eyes hinted that he was sorry for even bringing up her past on their first meeting. He turns around behind him, and spins back around with a thick book in his hands. "Here," he offers her. She gives him a cautionary glance before grasping on to the book. "This will help you in the long run to get caught up,"
Quinn nods her head as a thank you, looking over the slick cover of the book. "And if you ever want to swing by and let me pick at your brain -" he watches her eyes widen before shooting him a defensive glare. His mouth opens and closes like a fish gasping for water before he can find his voice. "Not literally of course, it's awful what they did to you," he adds with an apologetic tone. She doesn't stop glaring at for a few moments, it was his turn to feel uncomfortable under her gaze and in her eyes he deserved it. "Thanks," she mumbles, placing the book under her arm with the rest of her paperwork.
She gives him a slight wave before heading back to Lena and Linnea who were in a casual conversation near the door. They perk up as they see her approach, Linnea giving her an odd look as she reads her confused facial expression. "What?" she questions Quinn as they follow her out of the room. She shakes the thoughts of Professor Caulfield giving her the creeps. "That was...weird? Does he seem off to you guys?" she questions, following their lead, out of the building.
"Eh, he's always like that. You'll get used to it," Linnea shrugs off as if it were no big deal. As soon as she steps outside she's greeted with the humidity once again, swallowing her whole and leaving no room for her to breathe without it sounding like a gasp. She always hated the thick air that came with the territory of being in the south, she couldn't understand how people lived like this - how she lived like this at one point in time.
"Can I ask you an important personal question?" Lena asks, drawing her attention to her instead of focusing on how hot it was outside. "Uh-" is the only sound she can make before Lena jumps into the conversation. "What's up with you and Captain America?"
There it was, the million dollar question. Linnea hits the side of her arm, causing her to hiss in pain. "Lena!" she scolds in an authorive tone. Lena sticks her bottom lip out in a half pout, looking between her and Quinn with pleading eyes. "What? That's what everyone is wondering. It's all the buzz around the campus," she exclaims defensively as if she hadn't done anything wrong. Quinn tries to stifle a low chuckle as she looks at Lena who looked like a toddler about to throw a temper tantrum. Linnea pinches the bridge of her nose and lets out an exasperated sigh, "But that's her relationship -"
"It's no problem, Linnea," Quinn interrupts, holding a hand up to stop her from talking - she didn't mean this to be rude. She shrugs her shoulders at the comment. "Things between Steve and I are fine. Nothing is official or anything. We're just two friends who like each other," she replies nonchalantly, as if this were a routine thing for her.
"So you're dating?" Lena pries, making Quinn's cheeks hot with embarrassment as she thinks about Steve wanting to be with her. A little pang of sadness rings throughout her chest as she remembers that he's at least a thousand miles away at home, awaiting her long return just as she had with him. Was this what homesickness felt like?
"I mean, I guess. We haven't put a label on anything yet. It's still developing," she explains, suddenly missing the comfort of being around or near Steve. This was different than when he went on missions. She never had control of where or when he could go, here she did and she chose to come here with his blessing. He wanted to see her happy, he wanted her to be here. He was going to be fine without her for the next few months, her mother was getting taken care of, Robin was fine. Yet there was something else holding her back, she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
"So give us the deets on him," Lena pries for more information on him, like it was school girl gossip. "What?" she says aloud, her mind running blank on what more she could possibly expose of her and Steve's relationship. "Is he as hot in person as he is in pictures? Is he as nice as he seems? On a scale of one to ten how muscley is he?"
"Lena!" Linnea scolds, watching a frown unfurl on her lips. "What! I'm just curious,"
"It's fine, really. I've had more invasive questions asked," Quinn shyly remarks, trying to calm them down. Maybe if she rattle off more information about Steve they'd calm down. Even though Linnea acted as if she wasn't interested she knew she was just as hungry for information as Lena was - she was just more polite and patient. "He's probably the nicest and most genuine person I've ever met. He's not afraid to admit when he's wrong and apologizes immediately if something is wrong - even if it's not his fault or if it's beyond his control,"
"So how'd you meet?" Lena continues to ask freely. Quinn swallowed hard as she tries to wrack her mind for any information or even glimpses of what had happened when she first met him. No matter how hard she strained, she couldn't remember a damn thing. "S.H.I.E.L.D. The exact happening, I'm not to sure of. It's still kind of fuzzy. But from what he's told me we kind of had this student teacher thing going on -"
"Scandalous," Lena teases with a brow wiggle, causing her to let out a nervous snort in laughter. "Not like that. I don't know. When I met back up with him after everything that happened it just felt like we had this pre-established connection that felt so warm and safe. I didn't want to let it go and apparently neither did he," she sighs out thinking about Steve. She appeared to be lost in thought causing the other two women to roll their eyes at her. "That's like one of the cutest things I've heard," Lena states, interrupting her daydream. An obvious blush crosses her cheeks. "It's really nothing. Just your typical relationship stuff," she attempts to divulge the conversation into something else.
She was used to getting questioned about Steve but she didn't feel right without being near him as well. It made her mourn for her place back in New York. She hugged the sides of her shirt, trying to ease her comfort as she edged closer to what appeared to be an obstacle course with Lena and Linnea.
Tall walls, swinging ropes, nets that prevented anyone from going across unless they shuffled their body underneath. Robin was right when they said it'd be like training at a police academy but stricter. Just looking at the sheer faces of the wooden structures that they would have to attempt to shimmy up made her hands ache. She could practically feel the blisters starting to burn now.
"Welcome to Basics," Linnea whined out under her breath, clasping her shoulder and stifling back a chuckle as Quinn's frown grows larger. So Basics was basically boot camp - or basic training. This would be a challenge since she didn't really have that much experience in this field. It had been years since she's seen an obstacle course. "Just follow everything Agent Whitman says and then you'll fly under the radar," Lena advises while stretching her arms behind her shoulders. Quinn can't help but narrow her eyes at the cadet.
"Keeping a low profile for me is going to be hard," she grumbles out, trying to mimic what she was doing as she looked and saw other cadets stretching as well. With all the stress she was carrying in her muscles it was hard to get loose and limber like her fellow cadets. Even if she tried all the various poses she could think of to stretch she couldn't get all the cricks out of her system. If anything it only caused her more stress.
She was becoming a little less worried about the obstacle course until she heard a familiar chuckle coming up from behind her. As she stretched her leg, she looked behind her to see none other than Rome and his collection of goons that had grown in their numbers since her last class with him. She scoffs and rolls her eyes, evading their glares and snickers.
"Ah, god," she hisses out under her breath, shaking her head slightly as she hears footsteps approaching. "So, rift-raft, any good at the physical labors of being an agent?" Rome's irritating voice questions her. She couldn't contain the frustration in her voice as she whispered, "Sonuva bitch."
She turns to see that he was standing directly behind her, a smug, judgmental, smile on his face while his arms were crossed against his chest. She huffs out an irritated sigh as she gives him a bored look. "Hello, Rome," she says in a monotone voice, not wanting to spite him or create any more bad blood between the two. She just wanted to be left alone. He bites down on his bottom lip, gauging her unenthusiastic tone to his advantage.
He hooks his arm around her shoulders, taking her by surprise as he forces her to look out into the obstacle course. She squeaks in protest at the sudden movement. "You see that scoreboard over there?" He points out into the course where a dark board with at least twelve name were written across it in bright white chalk, along with a numeric rankings system. She nods her head as she curiously looks between him and the board. "That's the rankings of the top cadets and their scores. The higher you are, the more of a chance you have at becoming an agent,"
"As opposed to what?" Quinn questions, hastily throwing his arm off of her and taking several steps away from him. He shrugs and puts his hands in his pockets nonchalantly. "A professor, a secretary. Only the best of the best get on that board. See who's at the top?" He points out to the board a second time. Her eyes narrow, trying to see who's scribbled in to first place. She rolls her eyes as she realizes she shouldn't be surprised that he's marked up there.
"Cadet asshat?" she remarks as she sees the initials "A. Rome" engraved on the top. "Very good," he patronizes in a cooing baby tone. He gives her cheek a small pinch, which she quickly slaps his hand away, giving him a glare in the process. This man had it out to get it. If there weren't so many witnesses around she'd have half a mind to put an end to this relentless teasing with a quick pop to his jaw. "I'll enjoy not seeing your name up there, rift-raft," he huffs out a taunt. "Unless daddy's money can pay your way into have a position as an agent,"
"Are you implying that Tony Stark is going to make me an agent?" Quinn growls.
"I'm not implying anything. The only thing I'm implying is that you're not good enough to be up there," he shrugs off his comment as if it were nothing, as if it didn't leave a searing pain in her chest. She already felt bad enough as it was to skate through the interviews and application process of getting into the academy, she didn't need it rubbed in her face.
A small part of her wonders if he was right though. If she never got her name up on the board would she still become an agent? Was Tony truly that powerful with the government? A sharp piercing whistle sounds off, drawing the students attention to form a single file line up in the grass overlooking the course.
Quinn was quick to follow everyone's lead, coming in between Lena and Linnea once again. Their posture was straight to the point they almost looked like statues, their gaze facing forward and not breaking their eye contact from whatever point they were looking at. She tries to mimic them as best as she could but she didn't have the trained concentration that they did. An older man passes by them, eyes narrowing at her as he passes by. This must be the professor of the class, getting a good look at her. He was definitely older than Professor Caulfield, more intimidating to say the least.
"Good afternoon cadets," he barks out, surprising her with how deep his voice was. Everything about him radiated power. Power that he knew he possessed. He was unbelievably intimidating from afar. The group responded to his greeting, leaving Quinn mumbling out the words with them. He scans the line up of cadets, looking for an easy target. Of course, it'd be her. She notices him stalking over towards her, a scowl across his face. She starts to panic internally. She didn't feel like getting ridiculed in front of everyone.
She doesn't take her eyes off of the obstacle course, even when he's standing directly behind her. "What's your name cadet?" he questions out loud, his voice surprisingly soft considering how intimidating he looked. "Quinn Cruise," she answers in a softer tone, barely audible. He furrows his brows as he looks at her, clearly she was nervous about the proximity he was in. She didn't dare make eye contact with him. "Quinn Cruise, what?" he reiterates, placing his hand to his ear as if he were deaf.
"Cadet Quinn Cruise, sir," she answers obediently, in a strict tone almost as if she were a soldier. He gives her a once over before placing his hands behind his back and continues prowling the line up. "I may be considered a professor here but the cadets call me Sarge or Sargent Whitman because I sound like a drill Sargent," he continues to inform her while look at each individual he passes.
"It's important for you to know that it is my job for me to whip you and every other cadet into shape in order to serve for this great nation. I will do that by my terms and if you don't like them you don't pass," he says as he starts to stalk his way back to her. She can feel his presence as she can smell the sweat building up on his brow and under his arms. The Virginian sun was not kind to him. His skin was starting to look like a brown leather bag. Yet she kept her eyes facing forward.
"You can run to Director Suyin all you want but she'll tell you the same as she's told the others who have come to her, it's not her problem dealing with the directions of Basics. She has more on her plate than to listen to a cadet whine to her about how mean I can be. Keep your comments to yourself. Am I clear cadet?"
"Yessir," she barks back obediently. Focusing her gaze on the obstacle course was starting to put a strain on her eyes but she didn't dare take her eyes off it for a moment. Whitman's jaw clenches for a moment before he turns on his heel to walk the opposite direction. Quinn tries to hold in her relief. She had no idea Basics was going to be that intense nor did she know the kind of punishment she'd receive if she didn't act like a perfect cadet.
"All right, cadets, you know the drill. Complete the obstacle course. Remember no dirty play, I will be watching you. Don't be afraid to help others but also remember that your initial time is on the line," he rolls through the instructions. All cadets stayed in their neat, single file line up, not daring to look to one another even with the professors relaxed tone. "We'll go in groups of five. I'll count out the teams. Cadet Johnson start it off," he commands the first man on the left, who quickly follows with a taut, "One!"
Quinn notes how the obstacle course is set up, trying to come up with the best strategy to overcome it as fast as she could. Her eyes flicker over to the scoreboard that the charming Rome had pointed out to her earlier. If she wanted to be as successful as any other the leaders on the board she'd have to give it her all. She didn't even see Lena or Linnea on the board.
"Five!" she sounds out as the professor points his finger at her in succession. She lets out a soft grumble to herself. Lena or Linnea wouldn't be on her team, she'd be racing against them - along with members of her own team. However, she was happy though, she was on the last squad to go, she could see exactly how everyone navigated the field, determining whether what she should do or how she could handle it.
She could finally see how good Lena and Linnea were, hopefully they'd outshine Rome. What she would give to see his reaction to being bested by one of them, or even herself, the thought made her giddy. "Square up into your squads. Get acquainted. These people will either make or break your time," Sargent Whitman commands, breaking the line up.
"Squad one. Step up," he states, pointing to a position near his foot close to the beginning of the course. Linnea gives Quinn a quick pat on the back as she heads forward to join her squad. As she turned she could already see Lena running ahead to join her group as they started to collect in single file lines, waiting for their turn to run. Quinn purses her lips as she forces herself to move forward.
She couldn't help but once again feel anxious, not knowing how many people would like her presence in their group. If anything, Rome had made it apparent that least most of the cadets didn't like her being amongst them. As she strolls down to the very end she can hear snickering coming from part of her group. She questioningly looks over at her group only for her curious stare to diminish into a glare. Her eyes resting on Rome's conceited face as he laughs with two other members of the group while the fourth member just stands behind them, not paying attention.
Once he catches her gaze, his normal, cheerful eyes turn into a positively nasty glare, the smirk on his face growing wider and wider as he eats up her figure as if this was the first time seeing her. He whispers something to his friends, while looking at her, causing her to scoff and cross her arms. She merely directs her gaze somewhere else, anywhere other than directly in front of her. She couldn't take looking at Rome.
He reminded her of Maddox but more aggressive, less friendly. Another asshole that Steve was sure not to be fond of. He would certainly disapprove of her treatment. "I thought this wasn't high school," she hisses out as she feels Rome's presence standing behind her now instead of leading the group. "It's not," he simply responds. The first time he isn't snarky to her. She felt as though it was a trap. "Then why are you acting like every privileged jock in a high school movie?"
"Why are you acting like you're above it all?" he counters, as he casually sways to stretch behind her.
"Since when have I acted above it all?" her tone is just above a whisper but high pitched, as if she was recoiling from an insult. "Didn't need to," he replies. Every word coming out of his mouth sounded vile, demeaning every inch of her character. She wasn't stuck up, she knew she felt out of place here. The constant reminder of Tony Stark getting her in here burned in the back of her mind. Maybe she wasn't cut out for this.
Sargent Whitman narrows his eyes over to their squad, shaking his head with disapproval with how unorganized they were. Immediately everyone steps into form a line behind whoever was in front, Rome rounding out the back half. It was almost their turn to run the course. Her blood was boiling, she needed someway to relieve herself from this stress or else she'd end up punching Rome.
"Don't mess this up," Rome's voice whispers in her ear, she can feel his hot breath on her neck. An involuntary shiver ran down her spine. She didn't like the close proximity of him, but she knew he had noticed the shiver as he chuckled lowly to himself. It must've been delicious to him to see her shifting uncomfortably at his presence. "I wasn't planning on it," she hisses back, trying to focus on what squad four was up to.
"I hope you're as good as you're leading on,"
"I haven't been saying I'm terrific at anything. Where is this coming from?" she questions exasperatedly, turning around to glare at him.
He returns the glare with a slight smirk. "Well, the all mighty Tony Stark sees something in you -"
"Okay, bring up Tony Stark one more time. I dare you," she spins around to face him, face to face. A scowl appearing on her face, her face beginning to get hot from the frustration and irritation he was causing her. "Or what?" he responds, one of his brows perking up at the questioning tone. "You'll punch me? That's the fastest ticket out of here. So please by all means, have at it," he challenges, spreading his arms open for her to take the first swing, as if he welcomed it. And oh how desperately she wanted to punch him right in his square jaw. She craved to hear to crunching sound of his nose under her fist. But she couldn't bring herself to do it. She could only image the disappointment in Steve if he found out the reason she was expelled from the academy and living on minimum wage while trying to support her mother wasn't going to get her very far.
After a moment of debating on it, while glaring at the blonde haired boy, she spun around back to face her normal position towards the front. "You're a prick," she mutters under her breath. "And you're a diva," he mutters in response just as squad four arrives back, muddy with tussled hair. Lena looks as if she had been through hell as she hunches over, collecting herself as she takes heaving breaths to get caught up, her cheek was sure to be bruised underneath the mud that was scraped across her face.
Quinn couldn't help but swallow the large nervous lump in the back of her throat. She hadn't planned on such physical activity her very first day but there was no way to opt out, especially with Rome's judgmental eyes on her. "Squad five, hustle," Whitman barks at them, whistle dangling in his mouth. It was as if she had blacked out from adrenaline that was starting to pour in because she couldn't recall how she got to the actual starting line. She was taken back by the sheer size of the obstacles course and how many areas it had.
The first one was probably where everyone was getting their bruises, as she looked at the netted surface that she had watched the cadets before her squad crawl under. Not exactly like crawling under barbed wire like she had thought they'd done in the movies, but still intimidating. Especially since the next obstacle was a sheer wall she would have to shimmy up and over. She instantly felt as if she was going to vomit as she shifted down to the starting position just as everyone else had. She wasn't prepared for this, she wasn't prepared at all.
Her mind kept going straight to panic mode as she tried to shift her focus on the course ahead. But this was something she had to do, something she was required to do. She couldn't pass this up and go home. She needed to be on that board. Maybe not today but eventually. Her eyes focused back on the muddy terrain in front of her, littered with countless footprints of the other cadets.
The shrill piercing sound of a whistle rang out through the air, causing the hair on the back of her neck to stand on edge. And just as she did back in D.C. with racing against Maddox, she took off. Only a few of her fellow squad mates were in front of her, one happened to be Rome who was crawling halfway through before she could even begin. Her jaw clenched. He had been right. He was more athletic than her but she couldn't let that weigh her down at the moment. She was too busy trying not to be suffocated by the mud that was surprisingly deep underneath the net. No wonder everyone had mud stains all over their uniforms.
She would definitely have to wash her hair clear of the dirt when she retreated back to the dorms. She pushed herself further until she was clear of the net, passing by two of her squad mates. Her eyes sized up the wall, before she jumped up, barely clinging on to it's surface as she shimmied sideways across it. She struggles to move her body across it, finally her grip releases, sending her falling to the mud below. She lets out a surprised yelp before wincing at the shattering pain coming from her tailbone.
"Cadet Cruise, get a move on!" she can hear Whitman's voice all the way from the beginning. A feverish blush of embarrassment climbs up her cheeks as she realizes she's the center of attention during this race. She was the newbie that people weren't accustomed to seeing, aside from Rome being in first people had to be watching her face off against him. She grimaced as she stood on her feet before tackling the next obstacle. The two poles laying vertically and elevated were an easier target than the wall. All she needed to do was build up enough speed to hop across the two beams, and stick the landing. Which seemed easier in theory but when her foot connected with the beam, she hadn't taken into consideration that it was shopping wet with mud from the previous cadets stomping on it.
Her body involuntarily wobbles for a moment, before she steadies herself and looks towards the higher beam. She stretches across to it, hoisting herself on top and straddling it before jumping back down. A tactic she hadn't seen other cadets use and for good reason, she was barely coming in third at the moment. She pushes herself forward, not letting her time discourage her. She needed to prove herself worthy to be here. She able to get through the next step with ease - hurdles. She had done track and field back in school and hadn't quite forgotten how high she was to jump in order to not get tangled up in the mess. Her feet barely skim across the last hurdle, but luckily she's made up some time and was nearing the cadet in second place.
Her eyes widen at the next obstacle though, a wall of braided rope that she had to crawl through. Rome had just begun his accent on the rope course. If he was able to do it, she was able to as well. That was her mantra that she kept chanting over in her head. "Honestly," she hisses under her breath in frustration as she clings on to the flimsy rope cord which bounces with each step. It didn't help that Rome and the other cadet were also on the obstacle, it made it more difficult with the tugging sensation coming from in front, causing her to lose her footing a couple of times.
She lets out a brief sigh of relief as she hops off of the obstacle along with the cadet in second place. She pumps her legs as fast as she could to get in front of him, barely passing him as they approach the next step. An odd looking staircase that lead up and immediately down, which was quite easier than she thought as she was able to skip steps with the momentum she had built up. The tires were also an easy triumph for her as well.
She was almost catching up to Rome. A smirk places itself on her lips as she remembers the nasty words that he had said to her. How she shouldn't be good enough to be here. She was about to prove that she was. Her lungs burned as she reached the ropes. She didn't have time to stop for them. She had to pass the other cadet, she had to beat Rome and the rest of the cadets weren't too far behind.
She leaped, latching on to the swaying rope and fell to the ground after letting go, causing her right shin to get scraped up. She cries out in pain and tries to examine it. "Cadet Cruise! Hustle!" Whitman's voice pierces the air, causing her to feel the embarrassment heating her cheeks once again. She hauls herself back up as she begins running with a gait. Her injury was causing her pain but eventually she goes numb to the pain but can still feel the limp in her run.
By now she can see Rome and the other cadet standing behind the finish line. Rome looking like a tyrant king as he gives her a shit eating smirk. A wave of disappointment floods over her as she crosses the finish line. She had failed her goal.
"Time! Seventeen-thirty-seven. Nice work cadet," Whitman comments, his eyes still trained on the two other cadets on the course. Lena and Linnea, swarm to her aid as she collapses to the ground, trying to assess her scrape. It's not deep but it's seeping with blood that must've been pushed out by her legs pumping as hard as she could.
"That looks wicked," Lena notes causing her to roll her eyes. "Thanks," she mumbles out, attempting to touch her wound but the searing pain causes her hand to retract back as a flinch. She hisses in pain. It would've been nice to know that this could happen on her first day. She would've prepared better for any physical activity before coming instead of eating whatever she wanted. "What was your time?" Linnea questions.
"Seventeen-thirty-seven," she answers breathlessly.
"You're in ninth," she announces.
"What?" Quinn asks, still panting as confusion litters her eyes. She quickly looks over to the board that Rome had pointed out to her earlier. The one she had labelled as the agent board. She squints as she looks at the time in ninth place. Seventeen-forty-two. Three spots above last place and however many more ahead of those who haven't made it on the board. A smile makes its way to her face but it's quickly diminished by Rome's irritating voice.
"That's bullshit!" he hisses out, his arms crossing against his broad chest. "She's only up there because she worked for Hydra,"
Rome's harsh words had caught the attention of other cadets who seemed to be looking at him with approval, and then to her with unsteady and judgmental gazes. This is exactly what she didn't want to happen. To be the center of attention, to be known as a danger to the academy. Rome stalked closer to her, his lips pulled in a frustrated frown. He then gazes around to the cadets watching him have a moment, taking in their attention like it was vital for him. "Would we have even let her in if she wasn't sleeping with Captain America?" he questions, his voice progressively becoming louder and louder.
Quinn gnaws on her bottom lip. Of course, everyone knew that she was dating Steve now thanks to the paparazzi. Whoever tipped them off was on her shit list. "We've all worked hard to be here and I'm not going to let you just skate on by like life is just so easy for you," Rome informs her, his voice dropping in tone. This sounded more like a threat than anything.
Her mind wandered to the possibility that she could be injured or assaulted in her sleep. Or worse. She didn't want to stick out like a sore thumb, she didn't mean to. She just saw an opportunity presented by Tiny Stark and she couldn't refuse. She had to keep in mind that she wasn't doing this for herself, her mother was on the line. That didn't stop the tears starting to prickle her eyes.
"I-I-" her voice was caught in her throat. She couldn't even form a single sentence to defend herself. She was totally caught off guard by the disapproval of her classmates she was receiving. "Cadet Rome!"
The cadet falls silent, his face softening at the commanding tone of the Sargent beckoning his name. It was as if he were a child who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Sargent, sir -" Rome tries to explain himself as he whips around to face the older agent whose face looks too bored to care for his explanation.
"We all acknowledge she worked with Hydra," Whitman cuts him off curtly with an authoritative voice. His eyes flicker between the top cadet and Quinn, who was sitting behind him, attempting to cover her wound. "But you will not demean another cadet on my watch. Am I clear?" he spits out, waving a finger in front of his face.
"Yessir," Rome replies in a firm tone, not looking into his eyes, but his posture becomes rigid and straight as if he were a board. Whitman's eyes glaze over the rest of the cadet's that were standing around. "That goes for the rest of you as well. New times will be posted tomorrow,"
Whitman dismisses his attention from Rome while taking a couple steps closer to Quinn. She looks up at him with a slight frown of discomfort. The nagging feeling of being in trouble itches at the back of her mind as his eyes bore down on to her. "Cadet Cruise. I'll be damned you impressed me. You're not as little as you look but don't expect me to fight all your battles," he states, in as nonchalant of a voice a drill sargent could have.
"Cadet Nilsson escort Cruise to the medic," he instructs her dorm mate, pointing down to her. In one swoop, Linnea wraps her arm around her shoulder, hoisting her up to her two feet. She may not have been that injured but it wasn't like she was going to refuse Linnea's help. She pauses as she reaches her full height, looking at the sargent with confusion. She couldn't understand why he stood up for her. Especially since no one really wanted her there. Perhaps it was the principle that he was trying to make. "You may be a good solider after all," is all he can say as he dismisses the two.
"Thank you, sir,"
Oh my, I'm sorry for how long this chapter is but there was a lot that needed to happen in this chapter. I wasn't going to let Quinn just go through the academy without any trouble.
Bam! Now y'all know what one of Quinn's Hydra trigger words are. Also another showing of Quinn saying (ง'̀-'́)ง these hands are rated E for everyone.
Get professor Caulfield's name? Get it? Because it's a hostage negotiation class. And people who watch Mind Hunters know the the hostage negotiators name is Holden Ford - and another famous Holden is Catcher in the Rye Holden Caulfied. And and and his first name is Bryan because the other hostage negotiator I know of is Connor from Detroit Become Human and the actor for Connor his name is Bryan Dechart. And yeah. Woo.
Now for the nitty gritty. I know this time has/is still going to be difficult for everyone, with the virus and all. I live in New York and my state along with most other states have been placed under a shelter in place order. We are the leading state with the most cases and deaths, right now we're almost at 150 thousand cases. A lot of people have taken the shelter in place order to write a whole lot but unfortunately my real job as a medical assistant requires me to still work. I know I said I was going to come back regularly starting this week but I don't have time to continually post weekly at the moment. I will try to post what chapters I already have written but I don't have that many written ahead.
I'm probably going to sound like a broken record to everyone at this point but, the virus is transmitted through contact so keep social distancing. Do not go to the store unless you absolutely need to and when you do take precautions, wear gloves, wear a mask, and wear eye wear. I also know there are a shortage of masks for people to wear, the CDC has posted an article on how to fashion your own mask together, I've been telling people to wear jackets that zip all the way up to their chin so they can pull it up past their nose. Wash your hands past your wrists, recite the alphabet or the birthday song - ANYTHING that last 20 seconds or longer. The CDC has also posted an article on good washing techniques (do not forget to thoroughly wash the backs of your hands because that's the main place people skim over). Don't be that person who is stocking up on toiler paper or hand sanitzer, or the kind of person who coughs or sneezes to get their way - I don't know if it's a thing in other countries but you can now be arrested and fined for coughing on someone in public. If you're travelling, and this only applies to essential employees, have your employer write a letter excusing you for driving so you don't get a ticket because that's a thing now as well.
Other than that, stay inside, stay safe, don't be in voluntary groups (your family of four+ does not count, you're stuck with them) larger than three people and you all have to be six feet apart. If you want something to do in quarantine binge watch shows, watch movies - right now is a great time to binge the entire Marvel franchise, read a book, write a book, paint and draw freely, do a paint by numbers, learn how to dance - specifically the Goblin King dance from Labyrinth, play a video game, learn an instrument, spend endless amounts of time watching funny videos. Do anything but actually be around people because there are people's lives on the line.