Just a Hair Stylist - Chris Evans story \\✔️

Chapter forty-two

In the morning, you realized you didn't have the intestinal fortitude be a spy. Staring at the HYDRA t-shirt held up in front of you, you slowly shook your head at the anxiety twisting your gut. You knew Chris wouldn't be in the bathroom long. You quickly tugged on the shirt and layered your zippered hoodie overtop. Tidying up your suitcase, all you needed to do was put on your gym shoes by the time Chris reappeared in the bedroom.

"You all set?" he checked, looking at the time on his phone.

"Just a second," you promised, sitting down on the foot of the bed to put your shoes on.

Chris went on to the next room. When you caught up, he was waiting for you near the foyer of the door. He had a pair of water bottles under his arm, from the mini-fridge, and handed you one when you were close enough. You smiled your thanks and he gestured you out the door ahead of him. You fussed with you iPod, to find a good playlist to work out to, while you rode the elevator down. Sebastian was already in the gym, although you were right on time. He finished the set of hammer curls he was on, replaced the weights in the rack, and met you halfway.

"Hey," he smiled, staring pointedly at Chris, "you made it. Thought you were gonna punk out after all those beers."

"Very funny," Chris nodded, adjusting the bill of his hat a few times up and down, as he looked over the mostly empty hotel gym.

Around you, there was a woman on one of the treadmills in the corner and a few guys dotted randomly around the room on different machines. Sebastian clapped Chris on the arm, coaxing him to catch up with him and pointing him over to a bench. You waved, with a polite grin, saying you were fine by yourself and making a joke about not wanting to get in the way of their manly workout. Sebastian gave you a wink and subtle nod, as he followed Chris a half-step behind. You gave them a minute to get set up, pretending to untangle your earbuds and get situated.

While you turned to the mirror and reached an arm behind your head to stretch your tricep, Sebastian had Chris getting to work on a set of preacher curls. In the reflection of the room, you could see Sebastian facing you, standing beside Chris and shifting his gaze between you and down at Chris. He gave you a nod, signaling you that this was a perfect time. You slipped your phone out of your pocket and opened up the camera. You eyed the screen, making a quick judgement of how the picture would look and making a preemptive adjustment of the zoom.

The timing was ruined, when Chris finished his first set. Sebastian and Chris traded places. Chris looked around while Sebastian took his position in the seat and set his grip on the bar. Chris sent you a warm smile in the mirror, before turning his attention down to count Sebastian's reps. That was close. It's cool. Don't freak out. He didn't see anything. You still had your sweatshirt zipped. He doesn't know. You bent and stretched your other arm, to pass the time.

You watched the guys trade places again and Sebastian add a couple plates on the curling bar. He picked it up and set it into Chris' hands. Sebastian moved to his side and nodded to you again. You unlocked your phone and quickly pulled down the zipper on your hoodie. You lined up the shot, waited a second for the focus to readjust, and pressed the shutter button a few fast times. You pocketed your phone and hastily zipped up again. There was a hint of nervousness in your eyes, when you snapped your gaze back to the mirror. Chris was looking up at Sebastian and Sebastian frowned and shrugged, saying something you couldn't hear over your music.

Chris and Sebastian swapped again and you casually checked your phone. Opening up your photo album, you couldn't stop the, let's be honest, relieved smile that broke across your face. You managed to capture three photos; all of them framed well enough for their purpose and all in focus. You snuffled a laugh at the pics. With you and your official uniform of Team Crossbones in the foreground, Chris and Sebastian were just off to your right. Chris' head was slightly downturned, in concentration of his curls, and in the far side of his periphery, Sebastian stood with a stern scowl on his face and both fists held out in the HYDRA salute. Your middle finger was perfectly positioned in the corner of the picture.