Vengeance [Avengers Fanfiction]

[Chapter 43]

[Steve]

    Silence permeated the air, but my ears were filled with the thundering thrumming of my heart.

    "Cap? You okay?" Natasha asked hesitantly, looking at me as if I were a wounded animal.

    It was then that I noticed how tightly I was clutching the armrests of my seat, the plastic twisting and molding under my hands. Removing my hands quickly, I saw that the imprints of my fingers were imprinted into the plastic.

    "Play it again." I ordered sharply, and everyone looked at me as if I were insane. Hell, maybe I was.

    "You can't seriously want to watch her be tortured again." Barton breathed in disbelief, shaking his head in bewilderment.

    "No. At the end, that was a message to me. The price of freedom isn't free." I insisted, turning to face Fury. "There was something I missed that she was trying to tell me. Go back to the end."

    "I'm pretty sure if there was something, I would've caught it." muttered Tony, irritating my already fraying nerves.

    The Director eyed me skeptically, but he gestured for it to be done. Agent Coulson played back the video, fast-forwarding it until the end.

    "The price of freedom isn't free." whispered Quinn slowly. Instead of focusing on her eyes, my gaze flickered over her chained body for any sign of movement.

    Her pointer finger traced something onto her palm, then the video ended.

    "There!" I exclaimed. "Her hands! Go back!"

    Coulson did so, zooming in to get a clear image of her hands that were stretched above her head. He slowed the video down so that it was easier to catch.

    The Phantom's right pointer finger dipped into the fresh blood on her wrist, burned from the vibranium, and then drew a closed half-circle facing downwards onto her open left palm, then a line moving up from the top of it.

    A sudden realization hit me like a blow to my stomach. Brilliant. She drew the dome on top of the Fycon City Hall. Is that how Vermont is somehow going to carry out his plans?

    "Okay, so the girl drew a toilet plunger?" quipped Stark, staring at the image on the screen. "How the hell is that going to help us?"

    "Maybe if you would shut up and think instead of making jokes, Stark, you would realize that Quinn drew the top of city hall." I snapped at him harshly.

    "Oh, well excuse me." Tony snorted condescendingly. "I'm sorry for not thinking that the insane, suicidal girl who abandoned you in an underground tunnel and who got herself captured is lucid enough to leave so called signs to her little boyfriend when it's clear that she's going to die in some basement because she's so stupid to abandon all plans and therefore RISK ALL OF OUR LIVES!"

    A strangled yell tore from the back of my throat as I lunged from my seat, punching Stark in the jaw and then slamming him against the wall. I ignored the startled exclamations from everyone around us, my teammates trying to convince me to let the inventor go.

    "What the hell is WRONG with you, Stark?" I growled, teeth clenched in anger as I glared at him, his dark eyes cutting into mine, daring me to punch him again.

    "I should be asking what's wrong with you, Captain?" laughed Stark, an infuriating smirk on his lips. "You have a little crush on the Phantom, don't you?"

    My eyes darkened further with anger, my hands trembling as I fought the blinding urge to hurt him, to hurt someone, anyone. 

    "Ooh, how scandalous!" crowed Tony gleefully, taking in my expression. "You love her, don't you? Tell me, have you two done a little on the side of your nightly bonding sessions?"