Steve and I now had Natasha and the USB to hand. Our first step was figuring out what was on the drive in the first place. We made a dash to the mall planning to make our way to the Apple Store. From there, we could try and decrypt the data and find out what S.H.I.E.L.D. were hiding.
Of course we were all nervous, we were government agents running away from the government organization we were working for whilst walking through a public mall full of CCTV cameras, but no one was quite as nervous as Steve was.
He was walking at an exceptionally fast pace, one that would make us stand out amongst the general public. I grabbed Steve's arm to pull him back to mine and Nat's pace.
"The first rule of going on the run is don't run. You walk," I instructed. "It draws too much attention, and that's what we're trying to avoid."
Steve cautiously looked from left to right before answering, "If I run in these shoes they're gonna fall off."
"Don't complain. You picked them yourself," I reminded him.
"Guys, stop flirting. We have a job to do," Natasha butted in.
"We're not flirting," I argued as we turned into the store we were looking for.
"The drive had a Level 6 homing program, so as soon as we boot it up S.H.I.E.L.D. will know exactly where we are."
"So we're on a clock," I realized, "How long will it take?"
"About nine minutes from now," Natasha estimated, as she inserted the drive into the laptop.
She clicked away before informing us, "Fury was right about that ship. Somebody is trying to hide something. This drive is protected by some sort of AI. It keeps rewriting itself to counter my commands."
Steve peered at the screen through the fake glasses he found in the gym bag we raided earlier. "Can you override it?" He questioned.
"The person who developed this is slightly smarter than me...slightly," she emphasized.
"I'm going to try running a tracer. This is a program that S.H.I.E.L.D. developed to track hostile malware, so if we can't read the file, maybe we can find out where it came from—" Natasha explained before a worker came over to the three of us.
"Can I help you guys with anything?" The worker asked.
Natasha shielded the laptop by edging closer to the man. She pulled me to the side so that I was standing close to Steve.
"No. I was just helping my best friend and her fiancé over here with some honeymoon destinations!" She fabricated on the spot.
It was quick thinking but why was that the first thing that came to mind? Regardless, we both played along.
"Right. We're getting married," Steve smiled enthusiastically while he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me in closer.
"Congratulations. Where are you thinking of going?" He asked.
Why was he so interested? I thought to myself. I felt like the more we spoke to this guy the more he'd start to realize who we were and we couldn't afford to blow our cover.
Steve looked to the side to see a map of the East Coast flashing on the screen, "New Jersey." He blurted out, which made no sense.
I never really thought about marriage or my wedding day. I never considered it because I didn't think I had met the right person yet. That sentiment still stands.
The employee leaned in closer, a little too close for my comfort, his eyes rolling over both me and Steve. I gulped hoping that he didn't recognize us and cause a scene. Luckily he didn't:
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𝐀𝐈𝐑 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐃𝐄 » avengers x reader
FanfictieNaturally, you were one of the toughest and most skilled soldiers in the world, but being tossed into a world where the entire universe depends on you, you often find it difficult to come to terms with your own past whilst saving those around you...
