Captain America: The Phoenix

2. Interrogation

As soon as she felt a single hint of consciousness, the pain in her head hit her like a ton of bricks. She began to groan as she opened her eyes and raised her aching head. Her vision adjusted and she found herself in the middle of her tiny, old but neat living room. Then she looked around, spotting a shadow cast on the wall. The figure must have been in the hallway.

"What the hell?" She muttered as she found herself strapped down to a wooden chair in chains. She tried to move her arms but she couldn't as they were bound behind her back. Her legs as well were bound to the legs of the chair.

She then came to the realization that her bank heist had surely gone awry. But she wasn't at the police station...?

Her head shot back up as the figure's shadow then came out from the hallway, heavy footsteps creaking across her wooden floor.

What walked out was a tall, broad shouldered man, dressed in dark pants, a gray t-shirt and open black hoodie. Quinn knew by the circular metal apparatus from the bank that the man was exactly who she had suspected. That, however, did not keep her from being at a loss of words when he began to approach her, dressed in street clothes, but looking far from ordinary.

"What in the hell is going on?" She breathlessly said to herself as the man pulled up another chair from her kitchen and sat in front of her.

"Quinn Rivera. My name is–"

"–I know who you are, Stars & Stripes. Get this shit off of me," Quinn interrupted squirming in her chains, creating an awful lot of noise.

"Hey! Stop," he ordered, kneeling in front of her and placing two strong hands on her upper arms to keep her from struggling. She glared at him, eyes narrowed and brows furrowed. "I'll take the chains off." He calmly said to her, his bright blue eyes seemingly sincere. Though Quinn still didn't trust them at all. "I'll take them off," he said, pulling a set of keys from his pocket. "I just need to talk to you."

"Oh, is that why you knocked me over the head with your damn flag?" She asked as he unlocked the chains around her ankles.

"You shot at me," he countered.

As soon as the chains left her feet, she sent a kick into his face, strong enough to make him tumble back.

"Hey!" He exclaimed at her, grabbing at his jaw.

"What do you want from me?" She asked defensively. "How do you know where i live? Why did you take me back here—"

"Let me explain!" He exclaimed firmly, standing back up on his feet. "I'm not here to arrest you. I'm not working with the police. I'm here because I wanna know more about you."

"Not the worst pickup line I've heard," Quinn mumbled dryly, but the Captain pressed on.

"Who are you?" He questioned.

Quinn was quiet for a second, examining his face, looking for a trick or an ulterior motive, but unable to find one. "I'm Quinn Rivera." She responded, bowing her head as she felt a sudden tiredness come over her. "And today was just not my day."

"I know," he said. "But who are you really?"

Quinn's head shot back up, raising a brow at him. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"The fire breathing bandit." Captain said. "You've been linked to a couple dozen bank robberies and heists. Caught on security footage but never identified."

"Gotta work on that alias," Quinn thought out loud. Then she looked back up at him, eyes intense as she tried to figure out what he wanted with her. "How did you find out who I am?"

"My organization has its ways, Miss Rivera."

"Well what do you really want, then, Flagpole?" Quinn asked straightforwardly.

"I've seen your powers at work. They're remarkable." He told her. "You're also skilled in combat, in sharpshooting. We could use that–"

"–I'm gonna stop you right there."

"But Miss Rivera, you–"

"No, Captain. Thank you for not handing me over to the police, but I'm not interested in working with you and your little team."

He was unfazed however.

"Why not?" He asked, crossing his large arms in across himself.

Quinn's brow rose at him and she knew the answer, but also knew that she couldn't tell him.

"My identity," she paused, "my life is a secret and I'd like to keep it that way."

"What's keeping you here, Miss Rivera?"

She ignored his question and spoke, "remove these chains, now, Captain." She said to him. "And I will show you the way out."

"I have one more question," he asked.

She impatiently reverted her gaze back to him, raising a brow once as if to permit him to ask.

"You only took an extremely small fraction of the money that was in that safe. But you burned the rest of them money?"

She looked at him like she had been caught.

Then, honestly and bluntly, she answered, "it was the only amount I needed."

He understood this. Having studied the case files of her robberies and heists prior to his pursuit of her, he knew that she wasn't violent and it seemed that she never stole more than she needed.

"What's the money for?" He asked.

"This money is what I need to survive."

"You could help save the world, one day, you know." He said.

A look flashed across her face and he noticed it, just for a split second. It was almost a wistfulness and longing for something.

"Well, I'm sure the Avengers can manage without me."

He stared at her, almost as if to give her a second to change her easily made up mind. But she was firm in her stance he could tell that there was something there to make her stay. So he gave her a simple nod. Then he walked behind her and undid the chains around her wrists.

She rubbed the skin on her wrists before standing up to face the man. He towered over her quite a bit, but it was hard for her to find anyone who didn't with her small height.

"I'm sorry, Captain. You wasted a trip," Quinn flatly said.

He continued to look at her, Quinn feeling almost uneasy under his piercing gaze. "No, Miss Rivera. I don't believe I have." He simply stated, then giving a polite nod. "I'll show myself out."

Then he disappeared, through the door and seemingly as quickly as he came. Quinn stood there, feeling dizzy from the entire day. Unable to think about anything else anymore, not about the failed robbery or losing her job or even Captain America interrogating her, she begun to drag herself to the hallway and into her room, where she collapsed into her bed and slept until that next afternoon.