The Younger Agent - Natasha Romanoff x OC

Chapter 42 - On The Road Again

It didn't take long at all to complete the walk to the mall, their apartment was situated in the middle of a populated part of the city, so there was easy access to anything really, a mall being one of them.

They did spot a few cars that they recognised to be SHIELD owned driving around, which was an issue, so they had to keep their heads down whilst walking, Captain America was quite recognisable, but hopefully in everyday, modern clothing he'd blend in.

It took them exactly eleven minutes to get inside the mall from their apartment, and now that they were inside, Steve was being absolutely useless. His pace was uneven and he kept looking around with slight panic on his face. He did not look like the average guy out on a shopping trip. He looked like a guilty man on the run, which is the opposite of what they wanted him to look like. 

"First rule of going on the run is don't run, walk", Nat tried to casually get him to take a chill pill as they walked past the fountain.

"If I run in these shoes, they're gonna fall off".

"Did no one teach you how to tie your laces?", Eleanor joked from beside Nat, earning an elbow to the arm. 

"Yes, they did, these just aren't exactly appropriate attire", Steve shrugged as they stepped up onto the escalator. 

"They're perfect for mall trips", Eleanor reasoned, they just needed to look casual, there was nothing to be complaining about. 

The Apple Store was relatively close to the escalator on the top floor, so they made a beeline for it. Once a laptop had been selected, Steve handed the drive over to Nat, "Wonder which one of us got the intel that Fury wanted", Eleanor quietly pondered with a smirk, clearly looking for competition. They had handed over two USBs but had only been given one back.

"We shall see", Nat smirked in return before getting back to business, "The drive has a level six homing programme, so as soon as we boot up SHIELD will know exactly where we are". The reason for being in the mall and not one of their homes. 

"How much time do we have?", Steve was still looking around the place, looking very on edge. 

"About nine minutes from...", Nat plugged the drive into the laptop, "Now". 

"Let the race begin", Eleanor muttered. 

Nat was tapping away at the keys at a fast pace, "Fury was right about that ship, somebody's trying to hide something". She opened a file, making Eleanor narrow her eyes slightly at the file name, it was one she recognised. 

"That's the file that had the extra protection I had to bypass to download", she mumbled looking at the information on the screen before her eyes widened slightly, "That means I win".

"Whatever", Nat scoffed with amusement as more things loaded up on the screen. "This drive is protected by some sort of AI. It keeps rewriting itself to counter my commands".

"Can you override it?", Steve asked as he trained his attention on the screen as well.

"The person who developed this is slightly smarter than me", she glanced at Steve before looking back at the screen, "Slightly". Eleanor held back a laugh knowing that now is not the time to bruise her girlfriend's ego. 

"I'm gonna try running a tracer. This is a programme that SHIELD developed to track hostile malware. So, if we can't read the file, maybe we can find out where it came from". Eleanor absentmindedly nodded along at Nat's explanation to Steve, she was familiar with that tracer, having used it before a few times. 

"Can I help you guys with anything?", an employee with an amazing beard and long hair came up to them. Eleanor turned around with a sweet smile, "No, thank you". She needed to get his attention away from the laptop.