CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
( GONE YONKERS )
"QUINN, YOU'RE GOING to be so very please with daddy!" Anthony shouts with his arms outstretched above his head, paper in each fist, as she arrives with an espresso from the espresso bar. She chokes at the name he's used for himself as the office goes silent as their peers look at them for a moment. She looks at him questionably and takes another sip of her espresso as the rest of the office returns to its normal milling around and laughing. As she approaches her desk, she places her espresso on a cupholder, while Anthony's arms begin to fall down as the flatness of his partner's face hits him. "What?" he asks in an accusatory tone as she stares at him blankly. "Don't ever call yourself daddy." she instantly replies, knocking the wind out of his lungs. He presses his hand to his chest, trying to give her a sauve smolder. "Oh but I think I should get that title -""You're disgusting," she snarls, with an eye roll.
"Because papa found us a lead." he finishes his statement with a devilish smirk. Taking pleasure in watching her mouth become agape. Her knees feel almost weak, she has to sit down in order to stop feeling lightheaded. She almost questions what she heard him say, however, his shit-eating grin said it all. "Are you joking?" she questions taken back. She can literally feel tears of relief threaten to show, however, she manages to calm herself down.
Anthony leans across from her desk, his smile not faltering. "No, it's all right here," he informs her, waving the papers he held in his head in front of her. "Take a look for yourself." He tosses the papers onto her desk, they flop down in an orderly manner, something she hadn't thought it would do as she had begun to glare at Anthony.
She flips open the file, looking at the photo attached to the inside of it. It displayed a man sitting at a dining room table with a child on his lap, overlooking a birthday cake with four candles lit on the top of it. The happiness in the photo is palpable. She finds herself absently smiling at the warmth in the photo. Her eyes glance over to the description of the missing person. Her brows knit together as she reads the file.
"Michael Carter?" she muses, flipping over the papers in his file. "Went missing about thirty-six hours ago. But you know what was found at his home?" Anthony questions in a tantalizingly seductive voice. He has her gripping onto the file with a death grip as she waits with anticipation. "What?"
"Signs of a struggle." his voice is filled with joy. Although the statement was something no one should be joyful about. It may seem morbid to some people but to them, it was one step closer to finding out what's happening. "No shit," she says under her breath, astonished. "His wife and son were visiting across town with her mother. When they came home she found the back window busted open and a couple of kitchen table chairs knocked down." Anthony informed her as her eyes grazed over the incident report.
No suspects other than the mother. She perks her brow up to question why she was even a suspect if she was the one who called it in. Did he not have any other connections besides her? She fought back the need to ask these questions, undoubtedly thinking that Anthony also had these questions answered as he didn't point this out to her first. After being in the field for ten years, she assumed he had seen it all and asked all the right things. "Well, did they break in through the window then and leave out the door?" she questions, closing the file shut and handing it back to him. "In the window, out the window," he answers confidently.
He quickly grabs his jacket from the back of his chair, slinging it over his shoulders. Quinn follows his lead, regretting even taking off her jacket in the first place. "We've got the clearance to go check it out. Mrs. Carter will be waiting for us at her home," he instructs her, grabbing onto a pair of keys that had been stashed away in his desk drawer just for this occasion.
"Clearance to go check out what?" A voice questions from behind her, startling her a bit. She turns to see Kat standing behind her with her hands on her hips expecting an explanation. Kat had visited ever so rarely after Quinn had started. It was jarring to see another woman in the division. Of course, she drew some attention from the other agents but she didn't let that bother her. Her dark eyes insisted on giving Quinn a once over, as she waited. "Jesus, Lazar, you travel like a ghost," Anthony growls, twirling the keys in his hand and then stuffing them into his pocket.
He nudges Quinn's arm slightly and she immediately knows what he wants. Pen and paper. Something that was crucial at a crime scene. She couldn't believe she almost forgot it. "Ah-ha yeah, so?" Kat brushes off, her gaze lingering back to Quinn expecting an answer. "Well, we just got a lead on our case. We're headed out to go investigate it," she answers the special agent, who examines her nails as if she'd rather be doing something else than standing in front of them at the moment.
"Yeah, I know, that's why I'm here." she merely sighs out, placing her hands back on her hips. Anthony narrows his eyes, his displeasure is visible as he scoffs at her. "What? Why?" he challenges her as if he didn't quite believe her story. Quinn follows her partner's movements, crossing her arms across her chest and narrowing her eyes at the outsider. Kat lazily points her index finger towards the ground, causing Quinn's eyes to follow. "Directives from Brown herself. I've got to keep my eye on you two." Kat states, earning another scoff from Anthony. "Is this because of the parade thing? Because I've already stated my claim -"
"Eh, yes but no." Kat interrupts him, shifting her hand in the middle of them as if to say it was more in the middle.
"Yes but no? What the hell does that mean. Why are you coming?" Anthony scrutinizes, throwing his hands up onto his hips. Kat didn't say a word. All she did was purse her lips and look at Quinn. That's when it hit her like a sack of bricks. Director Brown was enforcing Kat to tag along with them to keep an eye on her. Apparently, even after she graduated ahead of schedule and reported to work every day in a timely fashion, she was still being held under a microscope. Whether it was because she had left the academy or if it was to see if she had a Hydra breakdown was beyond her.
She instantly is filled with regret as she looks at her partner, whose eye had now filled with confusion once again. "Quinn?" he calls out to her, forcing her to bite her lip. She hated Kat and Director Brown for making a big deal out of this. Even after Dontai Muller had said it wasn't anyone's business but hers on who she wanted to tell. "Is there something you haven't told me?" The tone he takes with her breaks her heart a little. She can hear how hurt he sounds, which was something she didn't want to do with him.
She turns towards him but refrains from making eye contact with him. "Can we table this for another time?" she attempts to brush it off, watching his face go from expectant to lifeless within a matter of mere seconds. She finds her voice as he slightly shakes his head. "I just feel like we need to get out there to Mrs. Carter just in case something bad happens to her." she tries to excuse herself. Although she was right, they needed to get to the scene ASAP, it didn't stop her from feeling guilty about being a dishonest partner.
She found it irksome that Kat would even allude to her past in front of Anthony. She just wanted everything to go back to normal, forget that the Hydra take over happened. She knew that could never happen as long as there was someone there to remind her. And that someone was Kat. Anthony merely shakes his head, before clutching onto the set of keys again and beginning to saunter out towards the lobby of the division.
"Why would you say something like that?" Quinn snaps at Kat after Anthony is a good distance away from them. For a moment, Kat appears to be taken back by Quinn's sudden lashing out, however, she soon settles back into her coy, cat-like stance, smirking. "You can't trust anyone in this business, sweetheart," Kat answers smugly. Quinn balls her fists up inside her jacket pockets, twisting on her heel to catch up with her partner. If he even wanted to call her that anymore. The coldness that she was receiving from him was worse than any punishment she had hoped to receive from the agency.
As the elevator doors shut in front of them she made herself promise that she would let Anthony in one hundred percent.
~ACT TWO: AGE OF ULTRON~
THE DARK SUV cruised along the
wet pavement of the road, causing waves of slush to pile up in the wake. Quinn anxiously tapped the brim of the window edge, taking in the views of her surroundings as they passed through the rich area of the city, with skyscrapers as tall as the eye could see, to old run-down buildings and small brick homes, that honestly cost way more than they should, that were falling apart underneath overpasses.
Her mind ran to Steve, who said that he had looked all over Manhattan trying to find an affordable place for his money's worth. If he wasn't living in Harlem, then she knew this city was way too expensive. Whether she was thankful for that or not was still up for debate in her mind. For starters, she loved visiting Steve's apartment in the tower. It was a luxury apartment. However, he considered being in the tower work, and he wanted to escape from that. That was the only downfall of the free apartment he lived in. It was better than all the tiny homes on this side of the city, but these homes offered him a freedom that he couldn't afford.
As they turned down a street, her eyes caught a glimpse of something flickering at the end of it. Yellow tape outlining the driveway of a house, along with a couple of New York police officers posted out in front of the brick home. There was a small group of people that had formed outside of the house, standing clear of the yellow tape while subtly moving closer to snoop and see what was going on.
Anthony parked the SUV on the other side of the street, opposite the house. Quinn squinted her eyes as she gawked at how small the house was, but knew the general price of the neighborhood (well above her pay grade). "Is this the place?" she questions, as Anthony puts the car in park and gathered everything that he needed for the investigation.
The house, albeit small, had a homey charm to it. As if it had been in the family for generations. The fenced-in front yard and old Christmas lights still hung up on the roof gave it a warm feeling, while the police tape did nothing but violate it. "Charming, isn't it?" Anthony remarks, a frown on his face. It was clear that this neck of the woods made him as uncomfortable as Quinn.
She remembered the last time she was in Harlem was with Steve and Frank. It wasn't her ideal area but if this is where most of her cases were abducted then this is where she needed to be. "Well, at least the actual police are here too," she states as reassurance, earning a snort from Kat who sat patiently in the back, watching their every move.
Her presence over the past hour of being in the car and being around her was enough to drain her of all her energy. So much so that her eye involuntarily twitched a little when she heard Kat speaks up. "Right, because they make everything easier," Kat says sarcastically.
Quinn turns to give her a quizzical look as if she had no clue what she was talking about and was just talking out of her ass for the fun of it. Kat waves her hand at her as if it were nothing. "Oh, right I forgot, they do make everything easier for you." she points out, her smirk fading into a scowl as she watches Quinn put the pieces together.
Anthony turns around, whipping his arm to rest on the back of his partner's seat as he looks into Kat. "Agent Lazar, I appreciate you coming, I guess? But while you're here to babysit or monitor us can you please keep your trap shut?" he lashes out in a firm yet stern tone, one that made a shiver run down Quinn's spine at how authoritative he sounded. Almost like Steve. Kat crosses her arms across her chest, feeling offended by the comment. "For our sanity?" Anthony pleas with her, expecting an answer out of the agent.
She gives him a challenging glare that he rivals for half a minute before she rolls her eyes like a temperamental teenager. "I'll just stay in the car," she suggests, biting off every word as if it were like acid on her tongue. "Best idea you've had since the time I met you," Anthony praises her, as he opens up the door to the SUV, blowing in the cool winter air. "Call if you need backup," Kat informs Quinn, as she gazes at her in the rearview mirror. Quinn absentmindedly nods her head, while glaring at her. Another word out of her mouth and she'd be dragging her across the pavement and leaving her in Harlem to walk back to work.
The door clicks open as she steps out of the vehicle, being careful not to misstep on the slush ground beneath her. Anthony approaches her side, offering her a helping hand as she stepped through the three inches of snow that the car was parked on. Even though she graciously took his help, she could feel the tension radiating off of him. She didn't judge him for feeling upset with her, however, she did warn him that she wasn't going to be so open with him. Perhaps, after she told him about Steve he thought that was her big secret. In a way it was but the Hydra incident was bigger.
"So how exactly does this work?" she asks, sizing up the small group of people who had gathered to mill around and collect gossip or start rumors about their neighbors. "It's easy. I'll walk you through all the steps." Anthony informs her as they step up to the police tape, where an officer stood. The officer immediately holds a hand to Anthony's chest, forcing both of them to stop dead in their tracks. "Stop. No one is allowed to enter without restricted access," he states in a firm tone.
She watches as Anthony sizes up the man, pursing his plump lips into a thin line across his face before nudging her with his elbow. She watches as he takes out a black leather wallet from his jacket pocket and she instantly knows what he's doing. She follows suit, prying into her own pocket for her badge.
"Special Agent Masters and Special Agent Cruise with the Federal Bureau of Investigations. Dontai Muller sent us." Anthony lists off like he's done hundreds of times before. It almost had a rhythm to it. She unfurls her badge, along with Anthony, to show that they were here strictly for business. A small pit of pride swelled in her chest as this was the first time she had to unleash her badge. Of course, she had looked at it numerous times over the past few weeks, she even had to use it to work the elevator. But it was nothing like this.
The officers examine both of their badges from afar before lifting up the yellow tape. "Go on in," he commands. She ducks her head underneath the tape, not even daring to look back at the faces that were on the other side that couldn't get in. Her nerves were spiked through the roof, she could feel the excitement coursing through her. This is what she's been waiting to do all her life.
As they enter in through the front door, examining the pristine state of which the front living room held. It almost looked as if no traces of life lived within the house. Except for the dirty undersides of shoes that were being tracked in on the hardwood floor. No doubt those belonged to all the crime scene investigators that were coming through. On the far left wall, she noticed a staircase leading to the second floor of the house, dozens of framed photos were placed on the wall. Some looked new, others appeared as if they had decades of dust clinging on to them.
"Real, cozy place," Anthony remarks, wiping the edge of a photo frame with his finger and rubbing the dust between his fingers. "Anthony." she scolds him in a warning tone. If he touched anything else that had dust built upon it, it was going to look like he had abducted Michael. Her eyes drift through the room, watching as many as three crime scene investigators sent from the local station rustle through the house, trying to find clues.
In the far back, she can see an opening where, what she assumed was the kitchen, overcrowded by two more investigators. "See anything out of the ordinary already?" her partner questions, startling her with how close he was to her. "Not really. Am I supposed to?" she answers, causing him to suck a sharp breath between his teeth as he looks at everyone who was clustered in the small house. "We'll need to take a closer look at everything. But first, let's talk to the wife," he instructs her while tapping his notepad against his opposite hand.
He taps an officer on his arm and asks which direction the wife was in, to which the officer points out she's upstairs. She follows her partner's lead as he starts to wander upstairs to find the main witness. The stairs creak beneath the weight of them as they scale the upstairs staircase. As they turn the corner, they find that the entire upstairs is encapsulated with a brilliant light that seeped in from outside.
She continues to follow her partner's lead, listening to him clear his throat just before entering a room. As they enter the room, she notices that there's a large queen-sized bed in the middle of it, engulfed in light blue sheets. A small woman sat on the edge of the bed with a vacant expression on her face. Quinn winces as she looks at her. She knew that look all too well. It was usually splayed on her mother's face, it first appeared after the death of Max, and then it remained on her face permanently after her father's death.
"Mrs. Carter?" Anthony beckons. Her chocolate eyes flicker up towards them. They hold sorrow and distraught within them along with the slight glaze of tears starting to well up. She didn't greet them, she only sat on the edge of the bed with her mouth slightly agape. Anthony takes his badge out once again, this time she followed suit only mere seconds behind him. "My name is Special Agent Anthony Masters from the FBI. This is my partner Special Agent Quinn Cruise. We spoke briefly on the phone earlier. We just have a few questions." he addresses them as they both hold out their badges for her to examine for a quick second.
It only takes her a moment before she realizes what's going on and who they were. Her attitude instantly changes to somewhat hopeful but still lost to distraught. "Please call me Janelle," she states, her voice wavering just for a moment before she gulps down what Quinn can only assume is her nerves. "I'll tell you all that I can but it's nothing these leeches haven't drained from me already," she informs them with a dry chuckle, trying to make the best out of a horrible situation.
Anthony immediately takes out his pen and presses it to the paper as he nods his head in empathy. "I understand. Try to remember the story as best as you can," he instructs her. "Although, we may look the same as them -" he motions down the stairs where the police investigators were milling around. " -we're very different and we can't pass notes to each other without filling out seventeen consent forms that take ages and we don't have ages if we want to find your husband quickly."
"Okay," Janelle quietly responds, a few tears escaping over her lashes and elegantly rolling onto her cheeks. It broke Quinn's heart to see someone this hurt, however, she knew that it would be part of the job. She just didn't expect it to hit somewhat close to home with how people took in everything. She reaches into the inside of her jacket, clutching onto a small plastic wrap of tissues. "Here," she insists as she kneels down in front of the woman, offering her the package of tissues to wipe away her tears instead of using her hands like she had begun to do. Janelle looks at her cautiously, to which she responds by giving her a warm smile. "I brought some just in case. I know this is probably all very hard for you to go through." she empathizes.
Janelle hesitates for just a moment before taking the packet of tissues into her hands and wiping her face clear of tears. "Thank you, that's very kind," she mumbles before blowing her nose free of snot. "Of course, we're here for you," Quinn responds in a gentle tone, touching her shoulder for reassurance before walking back to stand at her partner's side. Anthony gives her a slight nod of approval before focusing his attention back on Janelle. "Now, Janelle, can you please walk us through what happened on January twenty-first? The night that you discovered your husband had gone missing." Anthony questions.
"I was at my momma's with Anton," Janelle begins to reiterate what had happened. Quinn attentively starts to list off every word that she was saying. "We had gone over there, just because he wanted to see her. We stayed for dinner. We had ham sliders. I helped her make them that day since we were over there for so long. Then we got to talking and by the time I had even realized it was seven-thirty. Anton goes to bed around eight so we packed everything up and drive home. Michael would've been home for at least an hour or two. His car was in front of the house and I remember Anton got excited to see his dad. He's a daddy's boy." Janelle hesitates, suppressing the urge to sob.
Quinn peered up to see several streams of tears running down her face. It takes her a moment to find her voice again after taking a break to let out a few shaky breaths. "We went through the side door since that's the closest to the driveway. The side door opens to the kitchen and that's when I saw the window busted open and the chairs knocked over." she takes another shaky breath before sounding sterner and following the exact motions of what she had done that night. "I picked up Anton and I called around for Michael but he wasn't answering. I called my momma first because I was freaked out and I didn't want to lose it in front of my son," she pauses briefly, her eyes pointed towards the floor as if she was zoning out, reliving the memories.
Quinn peers to Anthony who gives her an equally concerned look before Janelle absentmindedly wipes her nose once again. "After that, I called the police." Her lips start to quiver and more tears start to rain from her eyes, her face begins to become flushed as bottles up a cry. "Did you know my momma lives all the way in Washington Heights and she got here faster than the police did?" she asks the agents in a choked-out cry. "Acted like it was an inconvenience to come all the way out here. And then they tried to tell me that it's possible that Michael just could've dipped out."
It was clear that she was becoming frustrated with how the situation had been handled. Quinn had to agree with her frustration. No one wanted to be dismissed when it came to something as serious as this. "He isn't like that. I know my husband. He'd do anything for us. He wouldn't just abandon us." she sobs.
"We agree and that's why we're being called in to investigate," Anthony says, placing his notepad by his side and focusing all his attention on the hurt woman. "Janelle, your husband isn't the only one who had vanished without a trace. He is the seventh person in a month to go missing like this." he purses his lips, placing the pen he held in his hand behind his ear. "Your case is different though. While the others had literally vanished without a trace, your husband was smart enough to leave behind something that we could further our investigations."
"Whazat?" Janelle slurs together almost sounding incoherently between her labored breathing. Anthony places a reassuring hand on her shoulder and gives it a firm squeeze. His face held a look of comfort while also discreetly studying the woman's face and attitude throughout the whole questioning. "A crime scene," he mutters out, causing Janelle to take in a sharp breath.
"See, your husband, and I know you're not going to like this terminology but, he struggled with his attacker or attackers. Either he or they knocked over those chairs and left that window open like that." Anthony began spouting off, laying out what he had gotten from her story and trying to piece it together. Quinn can visibly see the gears grinding in his head. "The criminals who abducted your husband did so with such haste that they made a critical error and made evidence. Which was not shown at any other crime scene."
He licks his lips before looking at her once again, his eyes trained on her, never lingering away for even a moment, even as Quinn gave him a skeptical look. "You can look at this as a loss, it is a critical and substantial loss for you and your family but you have to know that your husband put up a fight to stay with you," he says the latter half of his tangent in a soft voice, still wanting to convey that he was sympathetic to the woman and her situation. "And that's exactly what my partner and I are going to do for you. We're going to spend every waking moment, trying to find your husband along with the other missing individuals and we're going to fight until our last breath. That was the oath that we swore when we became agents."
Quinn wants to scoff and immediately roll her eyes at this statement. They were taught at the academy to not give a false sense of hope to any victims or witnesses to any crime scene, in fear that something may not happen with the case or something worse, like the case getting dismissed due to lack of evidence. This was the most important rule and he just broke it. She was livid and now understood why he needed a partner.
She takes this brief moment of silence to redirect the conversation back to its main topic before Anthony made any more benign promises. "Mrs. Carter, do you know where Michael was or could've been before he came home from work?" she speaks up, surprising them both, earning a pointed glare from her partner. "Does he have a past with criminal activity?"
Janelle hesitates for a moment before letting out a heavy sight. "He used to work at a chop shop but he stopped after Anton was born." Her eyes dart back to Anthony who was watching Quinn's every move since she had decided to interrupt. Her eyes were full of desperation and she reached her hand up to engulf the agents, drawing his attention back towards her.
"Do you really think you'll be able to find him?" she questions, her voice breaking in the process. "This man, he's unlike no other. He's the love of my life, the father of my son. If anything happened to him I don't... I don't know what..." A sob rips from within her, none of which Quinn has ever heard before.
It's painful to watch her crumple over as she waits out, almost as she had just been shot in the abdomen. She throws Anthony a concerned look, who gives her an equally concerned look. They had officially, yet without a single word being spoken, decided it was best to stop poking and prodding the victim's wife with questions, as it appeared too painful for her to continue. Once Janelle is able to calm down, Quinn speaks up. "Janelle, due to us not knowing the intentions or the nature behind these disappearances, do you have another place you or your son could stay until the investigations are over?"
"I mean, I've been staying with my momma but how long until the investigation is over? This is my house. I bought it with my husband. My son's grown up here. I can't afford to lose it." Janelle exclaims, the wounds starting to reopen. Quinn quickly rushes to console her before she became hysterical again. "We're going to get to the bottom of this as fast as we can," she states in a firm voice. "In the meantime, stay with your mother until told otherwise."
Janelle nods her head, understanding the circumstances that she has been thrown in, her body shaking from the distress that she was causing herself. Quinn once again throws Anthony a concerned look, to which he shrugs his shoulders. It was time to move forward with the investigation. As they begin to step away from the bedroom, Janelle's voice calls out to them. "Wait!" The command forces the two agents to come to a complete halt, both turning on their heels to look back at her. "Sometimes. On the very few and select weekends he could. He would go to Yonkers."
Quinn narrows her eyes at the woman, trying to make out what exactly this information had to do with the investigation. "Yonkers, what's he doing there?" she questions aloud, causing Anthony to let out a small groan as he holds up his hand to stop her question. "Eh, Yonkers the city or Yonkers the casino," he asks Janelle. "The casino," she answers, gaining an eyebrow raise from Quinn. "But it's few and far between. He tells me every time he goes, at least I think."
"You think?" Anthony repeats, stopping the movement of his pen against the paper.
"Oh, I've had my suspicions for the past few months but nothing to actually confirm it," Janelle admits.
The two agents exchange a look between each other. Anthony gives her a small smirk as she peers down to see the word "Yonkers" capitalized and circled. They had found yet another lead at this house without even investigating where the abduction happened. Quinn takes out her business card from behind her badge while also holding out her hand for Anthony's card. He instantly forks it over her as he glances through his notes once again. "We appreciate your time and your story. Here's my card and my partner's card. If you have any questions or new information that you think may be of use to us just call us or email us." Quinn concludes, passing off the two business cards to the woman who graciously accepts them.
"Do you mind if we take a look at where your husband was when he was abducted?" Anthony asks Janelle, pointing towards the downstairs with his pen. Janelle gives them both a bittersweet smile as she nods her head. "Of course,"
With that, they exit the room, Quinn was a bit hastier than her partner. Although she felt horrible about everything that was happening to the woman, especially since her life turned upside down overnight, she didn't know if she could handle watching her begin to cry once again without breaking down with her. She could only imagine that this is what she would look like if she ever lost Steve on one of his missions. It was ugly and she didn't want to think of herself being that upset. It made her want to vomit.
The police investigators clear the kitchen area as soon as they see them enter the kitchen, almost as if they knew that if they were to interfere with their investigations they would have a thousand more problems on their plate. The perks of being a special agent and ranking higher than a beat cop. The kitchen was small, however, unlike the rest of the house, this was the only area that appeared to be lived in as there were dishes stacked in the sink, waiting to be thrown into the dishwasher. There was bread strewn about over the microwave, and above all the kitchen table had been disturbed yet preserved by the police markers that laid beside it. The whole room had dropped at least a few degrees as the window was still adjacent from being muddled with. It sat on a tilt, with one side slightly below the other as it was held open as if it had broken during the abduction.
Quinn peers down at the two chairs that had been abruptly knocked over, examining the fabric from afar before looking back towards her partner. "You know, when you said the chairs closest to the window I thought you meant the two back ones. Not one back one and one side one," she notes suspiciously, causing Anthony to come over and join her by her side to look over what she was talking about. "That doesn't make any sense either," he mutters out beneath his breath, crouching down to be beside one of the chairs to take a closer examination of it.
Meanwhile, Quinn spun on her heel, doing a quick one-eighty to face the opposite direction, hoping to find more clues about the abduction somewhere further into the kitchen. There was nothing to suggest a sign of struggle near the fridge which was in the polar opposite direction of the window, yet she did notice something that was off. A scuff mark by the stove which was coincidentally the closest appliance to the kitchen table. It was hard to decipher whether this was made by an officer that had already stopped by to look at everything, lord knows she's heard stories about their sloppy work from Robin's brother, but she was convinced that it wasn't from an officer.
When she looks up at the stove, another thing catches her eye. Above it was a rack of knives that had been nailed to the wall, the knives were being held in place by several pegs jutting out from a thin strip of wood that made it easy to pull off a knife rather than grabbing a knife from a knife block. She makes her way back to the sink, digging around in the stacks of dishes before opening up the dishwasher.
"Why are you looking in the dishwasher?" Anthony asks as he looks back to see what all the ruckus was about. "Look on the wall," Quinn instructs him to do so without missing a beat. "The knives," she mentions as she shuts the dishwasher door and heads over to the knife display, joining her partner's side as he looks at the wrack unsure of what to make of it. "The chef knife is missing and so is the peg that it hangs on." Quinn points out, crossing over to it to point it out on the wall.
Anthony sucks in a sharp breath as he pieces the new information together, jotting it down in his notepad. "So let's say Michael came in from work and came straight into the kitchen to eat." Quinn lays out, having Anthony hang on to every word that was coming out of her mouth. She turns and points both her index fingers towards the window. "He sees something or someone on the other side of the window." she crosses over to the table before walking back towards the stove, trying to reenact what she thinks happened.
"He gets up because he realizes he's in trouble and starts to go for the knife as the intruder breaks in through the window." She reaches out towards the knife wrack, being careful not to disrupt anything just in case they needed forensics to come in and do a once over for more clues. "He either grabs the knife so hard or he's yanked away from the set. That the peg cracks and falls," her voice trails off as she scours the black and white tiled floor beneath her feet.
She spins in a complete circle before taking out her phone and turning on the flashlight. She bends down beside the stove and flashes the light behind it. There, laying in the small gap is the peg that the knife had once laid on. She's barely able to reach for it but manages to grab it by her pinky finger, pulling it out to show her partner. He plucks it from her hand, examining it as if he had never seen a peg before in his life.
"So where's the knife? Where's the blood?" he questions, his voice sounding dry as if he was believing her story. Quinn purses her lips for a split second, crossing her arms across her chest. "Hypothetically speaking, if Michael was being attacked and he had a knife I would suspect that the intruder would've grabbed him by the waist and tried to hoist him up, all the while Michael could've stabbed the intruder in the back," Quinn begins before her partner interrupts her.
"So you're saying -"
"That the knife is literally in the intruder's back? Yeah," she answers confidently, placing her hands on her hips as if this were all too easy for someone to understand. "It still doesn't make sense as to why there's no blood," Anthony says, giving her the benefit of the doubt by shrugging his shoulders. She taps her index finger to her lips while giving him a smug look.
"No blood that we can see," she answers stoically. Anthony gives her a confused look, watching her every move as she heads over to the kitchen table. She steps over the side chair that was knocked over, being careful not to disrupt anything. She takes her hands and places the fabric of her coat over them before lifting up the chair. She didn't want her fingerprints all over the chair, however, she had to see for herself if there really wasn't any blood at this crime scene. With everything that was adding up, it didn't make sense.
As her eyes examined the tan leather of the chair she notices something off about an area on the side of it. It's small, almost minuscule, however, when she flashes her phone's flashlight over top of it shows a dark crimson color. "What is that?" she points out to Anthony, beckoning him over. He crosses the room, squinting his eyes as he looks to where she's pointing. "No way," he breaths out, holding the chair in places as he further examines it.
"I bet it's even on the window," she challenges, raising up from her spot to inspect the window. Sure enough, when she sticks her head through and looks up at the bottom of the window she spots two droplets of blood laying on the bottom. "Yes, it is," she announces confidently, earning another surprised gasp from her partner.
"Hey, cop! Get a forensics team back in here. We found traces of blood and we need a sample." She hears Anthony beckon out towards the front area of the house where the officers had gathered, waiting for their turn to come into the kitchen. Quinn still hung out of the window, relishing in the cool air as she was still on the high of her discoveries. "Any sign of footprints?" her partner asks from within the kitchen.
She turns her body to look towards the ground, noticing that the ground had been freshly coated in a powder of snow. There was no way they'd be able to find their footprints like this. "Nah, the snow-covered them up," she announces, preening her head back inside, her cheeks rosy from the cold. She watches as Anthony shrugs his shoulders.
"Either way, great lead today." he beams. "We'll have something to go off of when the forensics teams comes in and gives us a sample of the blood," he informs her, ushering her out of the kitchen to make room for the police to come in and take whatever they can as evidence. "It should be ready by next Friday if we're lucky."
"Maybe we should head back to the precinct and put everything together. I don't think he's the only one with a criminal background." Quinn suggests, following her partner's lead as they begin to make their exit from the house. "No, he's definitely not. They all have some sort of criminal background from petty theft to larceny." Anthony answers.
"Well, then that connects a lot of dots. Plus Janelle said something about a Yonkers," Quinn notes as they step out through the front door of the house. She notices that there are still people milling around. Some were new faces, some had left. She couldn't help but feel bad for Janelle who didn't need this unnecessary attention and gossip at this time. "Yonkers is a seedy criminal casino in Yonkers. A lot of troublesome souls go in there like Hammerhead." Anthony goes on to mention to her.
"Who?" she asks for clarification, as they approach the black SUV.
"Someone you don't want to piss off," Anthony answers with a dry chuckle, as he opens the driver's side door of the vehicle. Quinn plops herself in the passenger seat, looking back to see Kat lazily looking between the two investigators. "Any developments?" she questions them, perking up a brow. Anthony gives her another dry chuckle as he reaches behind Quinn's head to place his hand on the headrest. "Ohh boy, am I glad you gave me a good partner."
~ACT TWO: AGE OF ULTRON~
THE MARKER SQUEALED against the board
as Anthony drew the final letter underneath one of the pictures of the victims. Quinn squinted as she looked at the picture of the woman. She appeared to be no younger than her, yet, her age was twenty years old, a good ten years behind her. In bold green letters underneath her picture, her partner had written, "POSSESSION OF ILLEGAL NARCOTICS".
Quinn makes a slight humming sound as if to say that that made sense. Anthony turned around towards her, as he put the cap back on to the marker, his hands splayed out to his side as a goofy smile crossed his face. "Eh? What do you think?" he jeers, watching Quinn hold a pen up to her lips before she gives him an exhausted thumbs up.
They had been at this for hours ever since they returned from the crime scene. Gathering all the criminal records that could be found against the victims. And Anthony was right. They had all been charged with a range of crimes. From public indecency to assisted armed robbery, from drug dealers to weapons dealers. The range was far and wide on the spectrum and other than them having a criminal background, there was nothing else these people had in common.
Anthony turns back around to examine his work, his arms crossed against his chest, sleeves haphazardly rolled up to his elbows. "Okay so everyone who's been abducted has a criminal background and we haven't really gotten much further than that," he mutters out, causing Quinn to let out an annoyed sigh. "Super anticlimactic." she hisses through her teeth, only to have Anthony wave a hand at her to tell her to knock off the negative attitude. "These things take time. We'll go to Yonkers and try to figure it out," he shrugs.
There's a sudden electronic beeping that catches both of their attentions. Quinn reaches into her pocket to check her phone for messages. Hers did go off about twenty minutes ago, a message from Steve popped up asking if he could stop by after she got out from work. She quickly responded with a yes and that she should be wrapping up pretty soon since they were working later than usual. Although she had received a text a while ago, it wouldn't have caused the both of them to look up just a couple of seconds ago.
When she peers up towards Anthony, he's checking his phone, typing down something as fast as he could. It was apparent that it was his phone that had sliced them out of their stream of hypotheses. "But that'll have to be a different day because I'm late," Anthony adds before placing his phone in his back pocket.
"For what? A date?" Quinn snorts, earning a glare from her partner.
"No, I have to pick my nephew up from his new tutor. My sister's giving me an earful right now."
Her brows raise at the sweet sound of Anthony talking about his personal life, an ever-growing smirk appearing on her lips. "Sister? Nephew? Since when?" she questions coyly, watching him place his jacket on, and close his computer out. "I would tell you but it still seems like you're holding back from me." Anthony taunts, holding the same coy smile as she was. She scoffs, rolling her eyes as she gets up to put her own jacket on. "Are you serious? I told you I worked S.H.I.E.L.D. All of their records went public. You could literally just google me and figure it all out." she spouts off, gazing at her partner with a bored expression.
Anthony's eyes go wide before cocking his head to the side a bit in consideration. "I'm going to be honest that never crossed my mind and I'm still not going to do it," he states in a matter-of-fact tone, waving his index finger at her while they begin to walk out of the precinct together. "If you want to keep things secret then by all means keep them secret." he nonchalantly brushes off, causing her to purse her lips together as they wait for the elevator.
She felt a little guilty for not telling him about Hydra and being manipulated by them. But she thought it was justified not to tell anyone due to the treatment she's received in the past due to people knowing about her past. She didn't want him to look at her like a wounded puppy that he couldn't trust, she wanted him to view her with fresh eyes, as an equal.
As they exit the elevator onto the main lobby, they both notice that the area only has a handful of agents causally hanging around. The snow was falling down in sheets outside, causing her to anticipate even going outside. She already felt a shiver run down her spine. "Do you want a ride home? It's freezing outside and I'm sure it'll be faster than the metro," Anthony offers, as he comes to a stop beside her staring at what seemed to be a small blizzard outside. "I usually take a cab," she remarks.
"Less expensive than a cab," he adds, trying to encourage her to take up his offer. She figured after spending the entire day with her, he'd get tired of her but it seemed like the opposite. She looks at her phone to see the time and then absently sighs, looking outside. "That's fine. I actually have plans that I have this evening and I can't be late or else I'll feel guilty," she admits, agreeing to take a free ride. "Follow!" Anthony goofily says, waving his arm over his head in an exaggerated fashion to the left of them where the door to the parking garage was. Quinn snorts, commenting that she already was regretting this before waving goodbye to Rhea at the front desk.
Even in the parking garage, it was cold. Cold enough to make her wrap her arms across her torso to cover up for warmth. "Jesus," Anthony comments under his breath as the wind whipped through the garage, blasting them both with cold air. Her teeth started to chatter together as she followed her partner out towards an old muscle car, painted strictly black. It screamed that it belonged to him with how edgy it came off as.
She wondered how it did during this time of the season and why he was even using it at all being in the heart of New York City. She didn't complain, instead, she slid into the passenger's seat, clutching onto her sides for dear life as she shivered from the cold. "Hold on," Anthony groans as he ignites the car, bringing it to a purr as it started. "It'll get warm real soon." He blasts the heat, pointing the vents towards her before putting his own two hands over a couple of vents on his side to warm up.
He nonchalantly tosses his phone into her lap. "Just type in your address," he stutters out, breathing out a cold sigh and watching the heat from his breath swirl into the frozen air. Quinn almost whines as she takes her gloves off to type in her address. She hoped that Steve was going to either be driving or taking a cab to her place. Otherwise, she'd have to scold him for being out in this cold weather. Supersoldier or not, he can still catch a cold.
She passes her partner's phone back to him to listen to, watching his brows knit together as he stares at the address she had input. "Huh." he huffs out, before putting the car in reverse. The heat was starting to thaw them. "What?" Quinn asks, wondering if something was wrong with her address.
"Do you live near a cellist named Robin Cooke?" he asks.
"That's my roommate, why?"
Anthony lets out a small chuckle, "She's my nephew's tutor."
"What?" Quinn's voice sounded surprised yet irritated at the same time. There were kids running around her apartment? Were they going through her stuff? Were they treating her dog right? Her mind filled with endless possibilities of what was happening at the moment. "She didn't tell me she was tutoring kids tonight." Her mind stops functioning altogether. Steve."Oh, no..." she whispers underneath her breath.
Thankfully, Anthony didn't hear her curse as she frantically takes out her phone to open up the new message from Steve. "Be there in twenty. - Steve". As she begins typing out her response of "Please wait longer" her screen freezes, sending a cluster of nerves to erupt in her stomach. She taps the screen several times, masking how frantic and desperate she was being by hiding her phone under her right thigh. That's when the screen immediately fades to black and the giant text across the screen reads "Shutting Down".
Her brows furrowed in frustration. Her phone wasn't even close to being dead, however, the temperature was dropping rapidly and that has been known to short circuit batteries. "Are you shitting me?" she hisses out under breath before heaving out a massive sigh of frustration and shoving her phone in her pocket. She was only a few blocks away from her apartment but she felt as though this car ride was going to take an eternity.
The thought of stopping Steve mid-stride up her stoops ran feverant in her mind. But of course, the roads were horrible. For a city with seven million people in it, there sure wasn't enough snow plows. "Crazy, how small this world is right?" Anthony comments after a moment of silence as Quinn seethes in frustration with herself. "Right," she mutters out, trying to cover the fact that she was internally slapping herself repeatedly. How did a good day end up this bad?
"Hey so stop me if this sounds crazy, like at all," Anthony starts as the car slides to a halt at a red light. "Okay," she absentmindedly answers, gripping tighter onto the handle of the door to brace herself just in case there was an impact made. "So everyone who was abducted has criminal backgrounds, right?"
"That's the only thing that they have in common." Quinn comments.
"Right so this might sound really crazy but I'm still in the headspace of you and Captain America dating." Quinn snorts at the irony of his words. He was about to have his headspace become reality when he meets Steve at the pace they were driving. She could only hope that this weather also slowed down Steve.
"Do you think it's possible someone's out there creating like an Avengers program?" he questions. For a moment, Quinn has to look over at him to make sure she hadn't jumped in a car with Frank Shaw. Frank would be the only person she could think of to say something that ludicrous. However, her gaze is met with her partner's expectant gaze filled with question.
"What?" she judges, letting out the same dry laugh as she gave Frank when he mentioned this to her. "Everyone who was abducted doesn't hold any significant power or special ability like the Avengers. They're just average Joe people." she knocks the idea down, watching Anthony's eyes dance with embarrassment for even bringing it up. "Besides, when the Avengers program was initiated no one was abducted into it. They were -"
"Yeah, forced by the government to get along and save the world." Anthony chimes in. She had obviously hit a sour spot for him as his tone turned hostile. "Well, when you put it like that it sounds wrong." she shrugs, slumping further down into her seat to huddle for warmth.
She's glad that he doesn't engage on the topic further. She didn't know how to react when someone brought up the Avengers initiative. Yes, Steve was a part of the team; yes, they did save the world. But Steve also didn't like working under Stark. He held resentment for even taking the offer from the billionaire when he took over after S.H.I.E.L.D.'s unfortunate demise. Yet, at the same time, Anthony didn't sound like he held resentment for the Avengers, just how they came to fruition. Much like how Steve disliked it. She hadn't realized how much they had in common until now.
Anthony pulls the car into a space on the street, luckily a snowplow hadn't been through and he was able to get the muscle car into a spot, although the snow did begin to lighten up, only letting a few flurries fall from the sky. Hopefully, that'll be the last of the blizzard she'd see tonight. "This the place?" Anthony questions, looking up at the apartment building.
"Sure is," she confirms as she undoes her seatbelt, propping open the door so she can get out. Her feet dig deep into the freshly fallen snow, making satisfying crunching sounds as she stepped onto the sidewalk. A low whistle approaches from behind her as Anthony joins her at her side, taking in the look of the swanky yet old apartment building. It looked charming as the snow glistened from the porch and streetlights. "Hey let me sleep over some time?" he teases with a wink causing her to let out a scoff. "Absolutely not."
Steve would not be a fan of having a random man that she was close to staying over at her place without him knowing. Maybe if she ran it by him he'd be okay with it, but he would definitely want to stay over as well to make sure nothing went bump in the night. Not that she knew he didn't trust her, he did. It was the newcomers in her life that he didn't trust. He was still just coming around to get to know Rome after she let it slip out that he was the one that caused her to have a black eye and a swollen lip.
She leads him up towards the door, their footprints making fresh indents in the snow. "That S.H.I.E.L.D. settlement must've been good." he chides as she fiddles with her keys. "What'd they do to you?"
She almost drops her keys from her hands at the sudden question but, she's able to keep her cool and focus on jamming the keys into the lock. She finally unlocks the front door, prying it open to usher him inside. She gives him a blank expression that held almost a look of sadness at the mention of S.H.I.E.L.D. He waits for her, a shit-eating grin on his face that causes her to roll her eyes. "It's a story for another time. Come on I want to get out of the cold," she whines, stomping her foot down in frustration as she points towards the warm entryway of the apartment building. He chuckles and holds his hands up in surrender, accepting that he wasn't going to get an answer from her today. At least.
As she fully enters the building she can hear the faint humming noises of orchestra instruments coming from her floor. She scowls as Anthony snickers as they begin to climb the steps up to her apartment. The noises of the squeaky orchestra are amplified as she opens the door, listening to Robin keep a beat by saying "one, two, three, four" repeatedly.
It's surprising when she sees Rudolph make a beeline over the couch and towards his owner in five seconds flat. She winces before he even approaches them, completely forgetting to tell her partner that she had a large dog living with her that loved to meet people by jumping on them. She catches the golden retriever's paws in her hands, saying hello to him as he begins licking her face and whining at the new guest in the apartment.
The string music stops, as Robin peers over her shoulder to see Quinn and Anthony standing in the doorway, loving on Rudolph while also receiving a cautious yet annoyed glare from her roommate. Robin immediately runs over to the golden retriever, prying him off the two agents whose black outfits were now covered in his golden fur. Robin lets out an exaggerated gasp as she looks at the two agents then back to her teenaged tutoring class. "Oh! New friends! Everyone say hello to Quinn and her friend -" she sputters as she looks up at the dark-haired man who shoved his hands in his pockets.
"Anthony." he begrudgingly introduces himself. "Anthony!" Robin repeats in a giddy tone, one which Quinn had never heard her use before. It was like she was talking to a bunch of five-year-olds when in reality they were at least fourteen and up. "Robin, what the hell is this?" Quinn hisses out louder than anticipated. She didn't realize her voice was so loud as she started to lecture her roommate until she heard the group let out a chuckle at the curse word. Robin places a fraudulent smile on her face before turning around towards her students. "Everyone talk amongst yourselves," she instructs them in a sing-song voice before turning towards her roommate who held a statuesque unamused expression.
"I volunteered to help tutor orchestra kids from different high schools around the city. Isn't it neat?" Robin yips out, trying to sound over-excited in hopes of rubbing off her enthusiasm onto her friend. Instead, Quinn narrows her eyes at the cellist. "Neat? Is that what our living room is?" she questions while gesturing out into the room towards the plates and plastic cups filled with soda laying around in miscellaneous places. At least her bedroom door was shut, no one had dared to open it. "When does this end?" she questions, pinching the bridge of her nose in irritation.
"Listen I'm sorry I didn't tell you about this happening -"
Quinn abruptly cuts her off in a hasty fashion. "No, Robin, when does this end because a certain somebody is stopping by and -" As if on cue as if the universe had it out for her and her day into some sick joke, the buzzer to their apartment rings. "Oh my God, my life sucks. He's here already." she groans out, rubbing her forehead out of nerve.
Robin instantly knows who she's talking about, her already big eyes widen even more. She turns towards her students and claps her hands together, gathering the teenager's attention. "All right everybody, that's all we have time for today. Remember that we have a session next Friday at the same time." she bids them, giving them a slight wave before looking back towards Quinn. Quinn rubs her hands over her face, trying to run through everything that was happening all at once. Robin sees this as her way out and motions that she's going to help pack up a couple of her students who need help.
The buzzer rings once more, gathering her attention once again. Rudolph has now started barking and whining at the buzzer. She's halfway towards the small intercom before she's halted in her steps once again. This time by her partner, whose hands were clasped on the shoulders of one of the teenagers. "Quinn, I'd like you to meet my nephew Markus, he's a sophomore and he goes to Midtown High," Anthony introduces the teenager, who was barely shorter than his uncle.
His eyes lit up with a fraudulent sense of happiness as he lifts his hand up awkwardly in response "Hi." he greets shortly, before awkwardly shifting his gaze to the floor. There was something about him that didn't make sense to her. He seemed older than the other students, more relaxed and at ease as if this tutoring session meant nothing to him. He looked like he didn't belong with the group of kids with their unique flairs and quirky attitudes. His chiseled features and dark outfit made it look like the bad boy was being forced to take violin lessons. She assumed she was right as he didn't attempt to make niceties with his fellow peers.
"It's very nice to meet you. I'm your uncle's partner at the uh...the uh..." Quinn glances behind Markus's tall stature, watching Anthony with a firm look as he crossed his hand across his neck, telling her to drop it as she stammered for a word. Anthony rubs his cheeks as he mouths out two words to her that she has trouble understanding. "Claw...worm?" she hesitantly says under her breath, earning a feverish head shake from her partner as mouths the word one last time. Markus gives her a strange look as she utters out the words "claw worm".
He opens his mouth to question what she said before she cuts him off. "Law firm!" she shouts startling her partner's nephew. "I work with him at the law firm. That's right. The law firm. Because I'm a lawyer, practicing...law." she trails off, giving him a finger gun and winking, only confusing Markus even more. His dark eyes held confusion as he eyed her. She felt as though he could see right through her lie. She laughs nervously as the buzzer for her apartment rings a third time. "I better get that!" she excuses herself, making a swift escape from being made. "I didn't know they could assign partners at a law firm," Markus remarks, as she waltzes away.
"Oh ho, then you don't know anything about law firms!" she chides, giving him a broad smile before she turns towards the intercom. "And neither do I," she whispers to herself before taking in a deep breath. All the chaos that was happening to her seemed to be coming at her all at once. She couldn't help but wonder what karma she did to make her deserve this. She clears her throat, pressing the brown button.
"Hey, Steve, honey, can you wait -" she abruptly cuts herself off as she hears a high-pitched ringing and a slight vibration coming from underneath her finger. She lifts her index finger only to suck in a sharp inhale as she reads the words "Front Door". She had just let Steve Rogers walk into a trap.
"Shit!" she curses, quickly twisting on her heel and hurrying towards her roommate who was conversing with one of her students. "Um, okay, how long until everyone wraps this up?" Quinn barges in, interrupting their conversation. Robin looks up at her in shock at first before answering, "Well it takes a little time for some of the kids to put away their instruments."
There's a sudden rapping at the door that causes everyone to silence themselves and look towards the front door. Rudolph whined in anticipation as he went to sit directly in front of the door. Quinn and Robin exchange a look amongst each other. It was as if Robin had already known who was standing on the other side of the door. "Why does he knock like a cop?" she questions her roommate who immediately hushes her. The sudden outburst causes several of the teenagers to begin talking amongst themselves, creating a large enough diversion for Quinn to shrug her shoulders at her roommate before crossing over towards the door.
Quinn quickly opens the door, pushing her way out into the hallway through the narrow passage and bumping into Steve's chest while doing so - forcing him to back up. When she looked up at his smiling face it felt as if she had lost track of what she was thinking of. He was finally here to save the day for her. All she wanted to do was embrace him and never let go.
However, she quickly snapped out of it when she heard something fall within her apartment, making a solid thud on the floor to where they both could feel the vibrations in their feet. Steve throws her a concerned yet questioning look to which she places her right hand on his chest, letting out a defeated sigh. "Hi, so you're about to be berated by like six high schoolers because I wasn't told we'd be having teenagers practice orchestra in our apartment," she informs him in a calm monotone voice, it was a velvety tone that exudes that she was tired and ready to give up. Instead of asking the logical question of why, Steve merely takes her hand in his and gives it a firm yet reassuring squeeze. He could tell just by the look of her eyes that she had had it with today.
"It'll be all right, I got this covered," he assures her, placing his index finger under her chin and tilting it upwards. She's surprised when their lips don't meet and she instead gets a soft stroke of his thumb across her chin before she feels the absence of his skin against hers. Steve grips the door handle, flinging it open to reveal the orchestra students and the only other two adults in the room.
"Hello, fellas!" he greets in a hearty tone, grabbing on to Rudolph and lifting him up in his arms before crossing the threshold and standing in the living room. "Oh my God, Captain America, is that you?" Robin questions in a high-pitched tone. Quinn makes a weird face, trying not to laugh at Robin's horrible acting. The students begin to gawk at Steve as he places the golden retriever down on the ground to let off steam by doing his usual lapped zoomies around the apartment.
"That's right fellow orchestra instructor, I'm Captain America," Steve replies, his voice full of gusto. She couldn't tell who's acting was worse, Steve's or Robin's. "I heard the music from outside and it was so good that I had to come up and see it for myself," he adds, pointing out the front living room window. Quinn shook her head slightly from side to side, staring out the window in absolute shock that this was happening to her. She could feel Anthony vibrating with amusement as he watched her go through the motions.
"What do we say to Captain America? Thank you for taking an interest and listening to us." Robin states along with the rest of the class, acting as if they were kindergarteners. "Would you like to hear a song?"
"They were almost done packing up." Quinn points out in a whine.
"Well, I don't know about Captain America but I would love to hear a song," Anthony chimes in with a broad smile crossing his face. Quinn tosses him a scowl, which he refuses to acknowledge. "Uncle Tony..." Markus sighs out in a defeated tone, equally as annoyed as Quinn was. "Oh, you're just enjoying yourself, aren't you?" she hisses up at him. "Uh bup bup, go play us a song." he encourages his nephew, pushing him out to be seated along with the rest of his class. Markus throws his uncle a glare while putting the violin up to his chin.
Steve steps closer to her and Anthony. She wants to reach out and touch him. Hold his hand, wrap her arm around his waist, something, however, she forces herself to control herself. She didn't want the teenagers to spark any rumor about them online. She was already making the mistake of being in the same room as him. Robin taps her foot a few times as she counts the beats out towards her class before striking a pose to start the song.
They all wince in unison as the first few chords are scratched out. Once the scratches are out of the way, the tune begins to sound familiar, however, Quinn still couldn't guess what it was by how off-tune it was. "Oh nooo," she sighs out, trying her best not to move her lips to show she was talking instead of intently listening to the massacre that was happening. "It's bad," Anthony mutters out, attempting to suppress a giggle but fails to do so, earning a couple of glares and self-conscious glances from the students. "Just try to be encouraging and just smile and nod," Steve encourages them, giving the orchestra a smile and a thumbs up while swaying a little to the music to show he was interested. He was doing a much better job of masking his pain than she was as she winces at a couple of high-pitched notes that weren't exactly hit correctly.
After what felt like ten minutes, in reality, it was only three, the music stopped and Robin spun around with a gleeful smile looking at the spectators. Of course, they were clapping, they didn't want to be rude as they followed Steve's direct orders. "So what did you all think?" Robin asks as the rest of her class beams with happiness, almost begging for positive reinforcement.
"Lovely," Quinn commented.
"Wonderful," Steve added, giving them all a thumbs up.
"We feel so honored that you'd play that song privately for us," Anthony says, trying to hide the sarcastic remark but Quinn was able to hear the distinguishing tone in his voice which caused her to let out a breathless chuckle. "I honestly don't know why you guys need tutoring," Quinn added on for extra reassurance, watching Anthony stifle a laugh out of the corner of her eye. "With a little more hard work you could be as great as Beethoven," Steve encourages once again before looking towards Quinn. "He played the violin right?"
"I think he was a pianist, hun, but I'm sure he played violin, cello, um viola, and bass," she affirmed, giving him a slight pat on his arm for effort. Robin presses her lips into a thin line across her face, a slight disappointment dashes the glimmer in her eyes. It was as if she assumed that they were poking fun at her students. "Okay kids, let's pack it up for real this time," Robin instructs her class as she turns around, shaking her head slightly at Quinn.
As the volume of the room increases and everyone's attention is diverted to somewhere else besides Steve, Quinn turns to look up at him. She gives him a nervous yet apologetic smile. "I'm sorry. I pressed the wrong button but I tried to tell you not to come up. And my phone died on me because of how cold it was so I couldn't call you to let you know ahead of time." she attempts to apologize, her eyes drifting throughout the room to watch the kids pack up their instruments.
Aside from everything happening in the room, all she could focus on was the mess that Robin's students had created. She but her lip, hoping that Steve wouldn't mind if she cleaned up a little after everyone had left. He runs his hands up and down on her upper arms, hoping to stroke out her anxiety. "Why are you sorry? This was the first time we've ever been serenaded by a quartet." he teases, causing her to let out a frustrated sigh. "Please don't rub it in." she groans earning a chuckle from him.
Someone clears their throat from behind her, forcing her to swivel around to look into the dark eyes of her partner and his nephew. He looked rather excited as his eyes drifted from her to Steve then back to her. Her mouth made an "oh" shape before turning to Steve. "Actually, I'm glad you're here because you get to meet Anthony, my partner, at the law firm." her voice is incredulous as she repeats the last part for added measure.
She couldn't believe he'd tell his own family a lie like that. However, she wasn't one to talk or judge. For years she kept Jo in the dark of what she did for a living and she was still currently keeping her job discreet from her mother as to not cause any panic.
"Anthony, it's good to meet you." Steve greets, his voice sounding firm as if he were meeting with a government official that he'd be taking orders from. Or as she likes to call the tone in his voice his "captain" tone. He extends his hand towards her partner, who immediately shakes it firmly.
"Likewise, bud. Heard a lot about you. Heard about the Christmas incident where you got her that bracelet and she got you some shoes." Quinn shoots him a glare before she can interject Steve speaks up. "I love the shoes. I'm wearing them right now actually. I wear them almost every single day and I think that's what should matter and not the price of the gift." he conveys, pointing to his shoes for an extra added measure.
Quinn still gives him an apathetic look. "I could pay the rent with my gift," she says under her breath. One by one, Robin's students begin to leave, saying goodbye to Steve as they walk out the door. She turns back towards Anthony watching as her partner looks at his phone before hastily shoving it back in his pocket. He claps his nephew on his shoulder. "Well we have to get going before Vanessa Princessa bites my head off wondering where we're at." he extends his hand out for Steve to take once again. "It's good to meet you and I promise she's in good hands when she's at work."
"I don't doubt that." Steve chirps.
As the two turn to leave they both can hear Anthony banter with his nephew. "Say goodbye, Markus," he instructs the teenager as he opens the door for them. "Goodbye, Markus," the teenager sarcastically says before letting out a small chuckle, that makes Quinn and Steve give out a breathless laugh. "You little shit." Anthony curses just as the door shuts, leaving the apartment completely void of sound.
Peace and quiet. Like she had expected when she got home. After the day that she had at work, it was nice to finally be able to hear her own thoughts as they danced throughout her hear. It was even better now that Steve was at her side.
"Very sorry that happened to you guys," Robin speaks up, throwing out an apology to them as she comes in from ushering out her last student. Her face was red from embarrassment and even Quinn could tell she's had a rough time, even before she got into the apartment. One can only imagine what it'd be like to teach a small group of teenager's let alone a whole class. She was actually pretty proud of Robin, taking initiative to lend a hand out to the kids. Also, it was an extra paycheck in her pocket she assumed.
"It's not all your fault. I let him up." she shrugs off, finally wrapping her arm around Steve's waist to comfort herself. Just touching him made her feel more energized. "Robin, what I think you're doing is phenomenal. These kids could very well be selling drugs but they'd rather be here trying to learn how to play." Steve empathizes with her, causing her to let out a snort. "Let's be honest, I can't see any of these kids selling drugs outside of school but I'll take the compliment regardless."
"Do you need help cleaning up?" Quinn offers as she watches Robin pick up a plate with a piece of pizza on top of it. "No, no. You guys do your couple thing. I can clean up the mess of snacks the kids left out." she insists, waving the stack of plates at them.
For a moment, Quinn panics, as she looks as if she's about to drop all the garbage that was laying on top of the top plate. One crust of a pizza falls to the ground, and as if he were waiting for the right opportunity, Rudolph runs over to it, trying to choke it down before anyone could stop him. Steve immediately jumps the gun, clapping his hands as he approaches the dog. "Rudolph! Drop it," he demands, waving his finger at the animal. Rudolph obediently drops half of the crust while the other half is gulped down by the dog.
Steve gives him a stern look as he wags his tail innocently, looking up at him and panting. It was as if there wasn't a single thought behind his puppy dog eyes. Steve gives him a soft smile, patting his head as he reaches for the second half of the crust. "Good boy." he praises, placing the half-eaten crust on top of a plate that was perched in Robin's hand. She gives them a forced smile before turning her back to continue cleaning up the living room, remarking how gross teenagers were.
Quinn gazes up at Steve, who looks down at her endearingly before embracing her in a tight hug and kissing the top of her head. She closed her eyes taking in the moment. Feeling every square inch of him, memorizing how he felt in her arms, the scent of him was clean and smelled of fresh linens as if he had just washed his clothes.
"So what do you want to do? You want to make dinner and watch a movie? Do you want to go for a walk with Rudolph? What's the plan?" she questions, not daring to break apart their hug. He pulls back a little to meet her gaze as she rests her chin on his chest.
"The plan is I make you dinner," he begins, swaying from side to side while placing his hands further on her hips. "And we'll talk about our day," he lists off while she wraps her arms around the back of his neck, swaying with him. "And we'll have a little kiss," he teases by puckering his lips causing a giggle to escape from her. He stops their small dance session, unzipping the jacket he still had on and placing it on his two fingers, dangling it out for her. "And then I'll have to give you this," he says in a somber tone.
Her eyes roll into the back of her head as she takes one look at the leather jacket. Her day was getting worse by the second. If she could fling herself onto the couch and sob she would, but never in front of Steve. Plus she didn't think she had the energy to. She exhales deeply as she takes the jacket in her hands, running her thumb across the seam of the sleeve. It was still warm from being wrapped around him.
"Where to?" she questions in a monotone voice as if she had asked this a million times before. He bites the inside of his cheek. He hated seeing her upset like this. It would only last for a few moments but it still tore him up inside. He was well aware of the uncertainty she felt whenever he went out on a mission. He presses his lips into a thin line. "Sokovia," he answers honestly.
"For?" she pries for further information. For the past couple of weeks, they had been more open about how closed off and secluded their jobs had forced them to be. They only could trust each other with the information about what was happening. "Got a lead that Strucker might be there," he informs her in a low tone, trying to keep it discreet between himself and her. "Hopefully with Loki's scepter."
Quinn's jaw clenches as she hears this. Once they find Strucker and the scepter it's all over. He can finally start a normal life aside from going on tasks with the Avengers from time to time. If the world is threatened then he'll get the call but until then, he's a free man. She tries her best to mask the excitement, thinking if she wishes any luck to them they'll strikeout and he'll have to deal with scouting out Hydra for the rest of his days.
"Well, I think you'll know what I'll ask you to do by this point," she coyly comments, her lips twisting up into a welcoming smile as she closes the distance between them. "Come back to you in one piece," he states, his breath hot against hers as he presses his lips against hers. She smirks into the kiss. She couldn't have said it better herself.