Chapter Text
Quinn rubbed at her forehead, annoyed, but she knew better than to talk back to Ma when she was upset. This had happened before, back when Quinn went and enlisted to be a nurse without any word about it, and…wow, what do you know? She finally understood that this had started to become a habit because it was the exact same situation as when she’d enlisted.
Well, at the very least, Ma's fury wasn't directed at her this time, it was more toward the woman seated next to her. Quinn was pretty damn sure that Ma was even madder because she didn't see a lick of fear in the eyes of her victim.
"Think the place is still—what'd you call it—quaint?" Quinn murmured under her breath. One Miss Carter merely sipped at the cup of coffee from their finest china in response. Quinn bet Ma wasn't too happy now about how she'd broken that china out for their now-unwelcome guest.
Liam, the little traitor, had abandoned ship as soon as Pegs had laid out her offer on the table for Quinn and ran down to the DuPont house to spend time with Sophia. Pa, trained after his years and years with Ma, had smartly shut the hell up and let Ma rant.
"She just came home," Ma snarled and threw her dish towel onto the counter. "Do you realize that, young lady? You'd not feel the least bit sorry if you took her away from us, would yah? I can't believe this. Get my baby back from one war and you wanna take her off to another. Besides, last I check, ma'am, the war's over."
"Pegs doesn't want me in a war, Ma," Quinn pointed out. "She wants me with her in New York, with the SSR—y'know, the people that I was with—" of course Ma knew because she'd read Quinn's letters and the sharp look she sent Quinn told her to move on. "But there is a war, with Hydra still, whatever’s left of it." Ma quieted at that. "And I'm sorry, Peggy, but I'm not cut out to be a spy. I can be a soldier, though."
Ma, desperate to keep her home, rushed around to plop down in the chair on Quinn's other side and hold her hands. "Quinn," she whispered. "You've already lost so much. You should be here, with your family, in a place we can help you—"
"Ma," Quinn squeezed Ma's hands and smiled bitterly. "You look me in the eye, you tell me that if you were in the same situation, if you lost Pa, that someone could help you." Pa, on Peggy's other side, sighed and shook his head, expression resigned. "I love you, all of you, but...you can't make this better. No one, except the two people Hydra took away from me, can fix this and that's not bound to happen anytime soon."
Aw, damn it, Ma had started to cry. It wouldn't change her mind, but it did make Quinn feel even more miserable—a shock that she could feel more than she already did, honest. "I'm sorry, Ma," she whispered. "But Hydra has to burn for what they've done to me, to everyone. And...I have to be the one to do it, to light the match, and to piss on the ashes."
"That's my babby," Pa murmured and he smiled, but it was sad and forced and he looked about close to tears, too.
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Quinn walked Pegs outside, looped their arms together, and then escorted her down to the dock in front of the lake. While they walked, Quinn explained, "They've babied me since I came home. Ma's...real, real protective, if that ain't obvious by now. So, uh, 'm sorry about her."
"Your parents love you very much. There's no need to apologize to me about that. I think I can understand their feelings. They don't want to see you leave after you’ve…lost so much to one war. I never really gave my mother a choice about the matter, but I'm sure she would have had a similar reaction," the other woman shot back.
Guiltily, she admitted, "I would've left soon, one way or another. I can’t stand to be here. I don’t think I can do it…not after I’ve changed so much" She stared out at the lake and rubbed the back of her neck, sighed. "I'm sorry to turn down the SSR gig, but it's true, what I said. I'm not a spy. I'm a nurse, but I'm damn sure I can be a soldier, too. I'm better with fists and guns than sneakin' around." She felt bad that Pegs had come down to Kentucky, when she should've been in New York, for jack squat. "I already cleared it with Phillips. I'm still a nurse, all things considered, but if they hand me a gun…well. I ship back out to meet up with the Commandos who stayed behind in two weeks.”
“Would you like to come to New York with me, until you leave? I’d love to have someone brave the streets with me, you know.”
She chuckled. “Sure, Pegs, I’ll come with you.”
Silence stretched out between them until, finally, Peggy softly reminded her that, "There won't always be a war on, Quinn. What do you plan to do then?”
Quinn didn't answer because she honestly had no idea what she'd do when there was no more wars to be fought.
Well, there was a lot of time ahead of her to figure it out, she guessed.