Vengeance [Avengers Fanfiction]

[Chapter 24]

[A/N]: I changed Quinn's outfit from a t-shirt to a sweater to fill in a small plot hole. All will be revealed soon! *wiggles eyebrows* Don't forget to comment, I want to hear what you think!

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[Steve]

    Where is everyone? Silent reigns in the still air, only broken by my movements. I carefully descended the metal steps, my footsteps echoing lightly in the metal coated hall. Everything is metal, it is cold, hard, unforgiving. She's down here somewhere; I know it. I am alone in the HYDRA base, just me versus the Red Skull, no Howling Commandos to back me up. It doesn't matter, I will find her no matter what happens. Schmidt has Peggy, and I have to rescue her before it's too late. Suddenly, I'm at the end of the long hallway with no recollection of ever walking there.

    My fingertips meet the slick surface of the polished doorknob. The door swings open with the lightest of touches. Unlocked. I creep into the room, wielding my shield and poised for any threat. There is none. The room is dark, the same metal walls and floors as everything else in this building, but it is empty. The corners are shrouded in darkness, the room dim, even for my super enhanced eyesight. My shadow flickers across the floor, the stream of light from the hallway slinking across the floor, diminishing, as the door slams shut behind me sharply.

    The sound reverberates in the stillness, the darkness, the chilling coldness that has crept into the room. I stumble around, trying to find something, anything, to hold to get my bearings in this obscure, caliginous room. There is a burst of blue from behind me and I turn sharply on my heel to see the Tesseract glowing on a table in the center of the room, casting wavering, quivering, pale sapphire light in the room. Blinking against the sudden brightness, I continue my search.

    A movement in the corner of the room catches my eye. Fear grips me as I freeze for a second, seeing the thin, pale figure of a woman slumped against the wall, what appears to be chains around her wrists. I inch closer. Peggy, it's her, I've found her.

    "Peggy?" My hoarse voice cracks as I kneel in front of her. Her head is down, ringlets tumbling in a curtain in front of her face. Her hair is longer than I remember. And darker. She says nothing, does nothing.

    "I'm here, I'll get you out. It's over. Please, look at me." I plead. Suddenly, her head snaps up, pale lips parting slightly as her face is bathed in blue light. Silver meets blue.

    "Quinn?" I ask, shocked. The air is now biting, freezing.

    Her mouth opens like she's going to talk, but she says nothing. A gurgling erupts from her throat as her eyes sink in, become empty, lifeless. Her hair falls out, lightens in color, hangs greasy and limp from her scalp. A shriek, excruciating and piercing, slices through the air harshly like a knife, I watch in horror as Quinn's once flawless skin begins to rot away, graying and decaying until I can see tendons sticking out of her scabby skin, muscles peeking out.

    Black, tar like goo begins to drip out of her mouth as her teeth lengthen, sharpen. Her mouth twists into a smile, the skin stretching tautly as she grins. No, not she. It. Her frame sags, bones cracking and shifting, legs disappearing as four new arms emerge, long nails scratching the floor as if it were a chalkboard.

    The last thing I see is the creature lashing out towards me, the chains now gone. My shield is in my hand, but it is useless, clattering to the floor as my arms lock in place, unable to move. My feet stick to the floor, held by an invisible force. I feel hot, rotten breath on my skin, a contrast from the freezing room, and then-

    Ice. Nothing exists besides the coldness, burning my skin like fire, dragging me deeper, deeper. My mouth fills with water as I cry out, the liquid invading my lungs. Choking, suffocating, no light, being oppressed by the coldness, the ice, the frigid, glacial water cutting straight to my bones. I slowly stopped struggling. It was useless. I was going to die. My thoughts blurred as I sank lower, lower. Then nothingness.

    I never got to say goodbye to the world I once lived in.

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    Gasping for air, I shot up in bed as a cold sweat erupted on my skin, chilling me. The palms of my hands pressed into my eyes as I crouched over with my elbows resting on my knees, taking deep breaths as I shivered. I could still feel the icy water of the ocean seeping into my bones, my very being, as my lungs desperately burned for air and the light slowly faded.

    For lack of something better to do; I was positive I wasn't going to be able to sleep; I slowly raised myself from my twisted covers and dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt before making my way up to the roof. I took the stairs, climbing at least thirty stories before I even felt the side effects of the rigorous climbing. A perk to being a super soldier, I guess. The howling wind swirled around me as I opened the door at the top of the stairwell and stepped onto the roof, leaving it cracked behind me incase I got locked out. Piles of slush clumped in the corners of the roof as I trudged to the railing,

    Goosebumps prickled on my skin as my hands met the frigid metal of the railing separating me from the roof and the open air. Lights that studded the S.H.I.E.L.D. compound glowed brightly through the darkness, bathing me in a yellow haze as I watched a few agents and guards scurry around outside, looking like ants scavenging for food.

    "Couldn't sleep?" A voice rang from behind me, causing me to jump and turn, body tensing as I immediately surveyed the area for a threat. My body slowly relaxed as Quinn materialized out of the darkness, wearing gray, cloth shorts and a slightly baggy blue sweater. She wore tattered, red sneakers that had seen far better days. My eyes lingered on her shoulder for a second on the dark red stain that had dried there. The cut from her dagger. The one she got while saving me from the demon.

    What is this, the second time she's saved my life in three days?

    "The same question goes for you." I said, turning back to the railing. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Quinn lean against the railing, too, pale skin glowing in the darkness.

    "Nightmares." She stated, not looking at me. I wasn't sure whether she meant that she had nightmares or that I had them. I assumed both.

    I tilted my head to the side as I observed her. Her arms were casually folded against the freezing metal bars, her loose, dark ringlets ruffling as the wind blew, my sensitive sense of smell picking up her spicy scent as the breeze carried it to me.

    "Aren't you cold?" I asked her, observing the goose bumps rising on her skin. It was freezing outside, especially on the roof, and she was just wearing a sweater and shorts.

    "Always." Her voice was barely above a whisper, a cloud of white vapor swirling in the air from her breath. I had a feeling she didn't know I could hear that. Her fingers wrapped around the bars, clenching almost imperceptibly. "Aren't you cold?" She said, louder, observing my thin shirt. "Or does Captain America not get cold?"

    "No, I am. I-I mean, I do." I stuttered, catching my mistake as I felt her eyes shift to me. Her words reverberated in my mind. Always. Always freezing, always feeling suffocated by an ocean of icy waves, drowning in my own body, in my own mind.

    Silence permeated the air as we stood there, the only sounds coming from a few agents below. I stared straight ahead as I fought the urge to look at her, her silver gaze burning into me.

    "What's your favorite color?" I asked suddenly, immediately regretting the words as soon as they left my mouth, warmth spreading lightly across my cheeks.

    Quickly glancing over, I saw that one of her eyebrows was raised, a small smirk of amusement tugging at the corners of her lips as she muttered, "What is this, Twenty Questions?"

    Now it was my turn to raise an eyebrow in confusion. "What's that?"

    "It's a game...never mind." Her fingers lightly drummed against the frost slickened railing as a moment of silence washed over us. "Blue." Quinn murmured as the moon emerged from its curtain of clouds, drenching us in its silvery glow, ice crystals glimmering in the moonlight.

    She looked up to meet my eyes, an unreadable expression on her face. The moonlight hit her face, causing her eyes to blaze silver, pearly skin illuminating in the darkness. The breath caught in my throat as for a second, I forgot how to breathe. She looked ethereal as her eyes flitted across my face, as if searching for something.