Captain America: The Phoenix

9. Her Choice

"That was insane."

Natasha stated as she sat on the couch. The team was gathered back in the common room, all of them in shock of the magnificent show of power they had just witnessed.

"I presume that fire she created was close to the temperature of the sun. If any of you had stared directly at it, you would have possibly gone blind,"  Vision factually told them. 

"With that kind of power, she could obliterate a whole army in one go," Sam remarked.

"If she comes out with us on a mission, the government won't be happy." Natasha said, frowning.

"They'll be scared of her," Wanda agreed.

As they spoke however, Steve stood quietly by the window, pensively staring out of it at the neighboring building, where her quarters were. He wanted so badly to talk to Quinn, to see if she was okay.

"She's scared of her power. Frightened," Wanda said, seeming to easily understand. "I don't blame her."

"Well, I'm sure she can learn to control them. Right, Steve?" Natasha looked up to the man, his back turned to them.

"Steve?" She repeated.

He didn't turn to face them, but he answered. "She can. I just don't know if she'll even let herself." 

"She doesn't want her powers." Wanda said.

"But she would be willing to use them," Vision finished.

"It's clear she feels strongly about injustice. That last projection affected her," Sam said.

"Yeah, well she grew up in a city where the government and the police, the people who were supposed to keep them safe, were the ones condemning them." Natasha told them. 

"Did you know they don't even have free healthcare there anymore? They've cut off all the government funding that benefits the inner city people."

"So they're trying to eliminate the poor." Sam said, shaking his head at the mere thought of that kind of injustice.

"To make more room for the rich." Natasha finished.

Steve, unable to add anything to the conversation, turned and briskly walked towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Natasha asked.

"I have to go talk to her."

He walked through the many twisting and turning corridors of the facility, then taking an elevator trip. It wasn't long before he was at her room's door. He rung the buzzer next to her door and waited a second, before hearing it unlock and open for him. Pushing the door open, he looked around her quarters, seeing that she was nowhere to be seen.

"Rivera?" He called out.

"In here," he heard her voice, fainter and more of a whimper than her usual robust tone. It was coming from the bathroom.

He walked over to the door which was slightly cracked open. Gently pushing it open, he peeked in to see her in the tub, submerged completely up to her neck.