Captain America: The Phoenix

20. I Knew It

When she awoke next, it was violent, almost like a burst of shock and worry. She shot up, feeling a numbness in her extremities as well as the back of her neck, reminding her where she had been shot with what she assumed was some kind of tranquilizer. She looked around, seeing some kind of grimy dungeon, rough cement floors, unpainted and dirtied walls and all around her, thick bars of metal. She looked to her right, only to see another cell beside her, another body lying limp inside of it. She grew alarmed for a second, but she quickly noticed his chest rising and falling slowly. Taking a quick sigh of relief, she weakly dragged herself across the dusty floor, taking hold of the bars.

She instantly tried to heat up her hands, but nothing seemed to change much."Rogers," she called.

"Rogers! Rogers—Steve! Wake the hell up, damn it!" She took a breath before mustering up her strength to loudly yell. "Steve!"

He then shot up as well, taking in a large gasp of air. Looking around, then looking at Quinn, he quickly tried his luck at standing up. Seeing as he was possibly recovering from the tranquilizer faster, he was able to get onto his feet, but still looked weaker than he usually did.

"Quinn," he worriedly looked down at her as she pulled her weight up using one of her cell bars. "Are you—?" He stood in front of her, their cells far enough apart so that they couldn't reach out to each other.

"They pumped me full of something. My powers aren't working," she said as she finally got upright. "Who are they?"

"I don't know. I just," she grabbed the bars, trying to conduct heat through her hands, nothing coming of it. "Nothing's working."

"Just," Steve said as he also tried to pull on the bars with all the might he could muster, "ease up." He finished, giving up. "Try again later."

"That man. He lead us to the alley. He was their bait," she told him as she paced the floor, allowing the feeling to come back to her legs.

"Who's they?" Steve said as he leaned forward on the bars, watching as Quinn's mind churned. He looked around the room, until finding a camera connected to the corner of the ceiling.

"Terrorist group? Maybe they want ransom money," Quinn pitched. "But...If they wanted us dead, we'd already be six feet under." 

Before Steve could say a thing, the heavy metal door at the front of the room unlocked and swung open. Three of the darkly dressed men strode in. Quinn's brows furrowed, instantly examining them. They didn't look Italian, nor were they using weapons and technology available to European agents.

"Captain," the burly, well groomed man, protected by two armed men spoke. "Miss Quinn Rivera."

"Here to let us out?" Steve sternly asked. 

"Not quite."

"Who are you?" Quinn walked over to the man, as close as she could behind her bars.

"Give her some more," the man simply said, the two men beside him brought up these gun-like contraptions, from their holsters and then approaching Quinn's side of the cell.

"Wait-" Quinn backed up, all the way onto the wall.

"Stop! Hey! Don't!" Steve growled as his hands tried to destroy the bars that kept them apart.

However, the men only pointed at her and shot. Steve was frightened of what those weapons could do, but these odd dart-like bullets came out and shot into Quinn's abdomen and upper arm. She winced, but the darts only fell down the the floor, empty, their glass clinking as they did.

"What the hell?" Quinn's hands reached up to the areas that were shot, seeing only small needle-induced holes. She then looked up at the men who were putting their guns away, walking back behind their clear leader. He was a short, but very built man with a salt and pepper crew cut and calculated dark eyes that stared at her with satisfaction.