The Blip Bae

Just Passing Through

Ten months had passed since that first visit. Ten months of coded messages, burner phones, weird postcards and shaky alibis when certain non-fugitives would ask about any contact.

Zoe thought about that last night often. She never got the opportunity to finish her discussion with Steve, as they got an alert that someone needed their help and they cleared out the next morning. No information meant plausible deniability if anyone came looking, per usual.

She would spend lazy outings at an extravagant beach house in Malibu, only to go back to work and find a new burner phone delivered from some strange post code. She would talk to Sarah Wilson and her boys, feeling beyond guilty that she couldn't at least let her know that Sam was okay. She even had dueling Holiday invitations, one in Louisiana, and one at the compound in upstate New York.

She was still deciding between the two offers when a padded mailer showed up at her house. There was no post mark, no return address, no identifying information. Just her name and address. At first she was hesitant to pick it up, all these years dealing with the fucking super friends had made her a little paranoid. Instead of bringing it into her house, she decided to walk down to the park to open it, that way, if it was suspect, she could toss it in the lake and hope the water would dampen anything harmful.

As she sat down on the grass at the water's edge, she put her ear to the package to listen for any ticking or liquids. She definitely watched too much television, she chuckled to herself as she decided just to open it.

As she ripped open the adhesive seal, a stack of letters tied with string fell out. There was also another burner phone and a sealed envelope taped to it.

She tore open the envelope and recognized Sam's writing. It was instructions for accessing the phone and a list of what was in the parcel of paperwork.

She turned on the phone and saw that the voicemail box was full. She sat and listened to messages from Sam, telling her stories about their misadventures on the run, a few from Nat, and none from Steve.

The stack of letters contained some things she was not ready to see. Sam had been planning in case things went further south. There was a copy of the deed to the house in DC, with instructions to give it Sarah to sell for legal fees if needed. A will that he must have had drawn up the last time they were in the US, as it was notarized in a small town in North Dakota. A list of people to call in the event of his death, including a few old girlfriends he wanted to "make cry knowing they never landed the big fish."

She couldn't help but smile at his ability to still make her giggle while preparing for the worst. Then there was a sealed envelope for her that said to only open "in the event of a world without Sam Wilson," that she could hardly bear to look at.

While she tried to keep it together, the burner phone rang.

"Sam? Oh my god, please tell me you are okay..." she couldn't help it and sobbed. "Please!"

"We're okay Z., just had a couple of close calls, so I wanted to get a few things in order." Sam reassured her, hating to hear her cry. "You think you can handle another visit from your favorite fugitives?"

"Yes please!" She smiled through her tears. "When should I have the fridge stocked by?"

"Is tonight too soon?" Sam laughed. "We're gonna try to cross the border and should be up there by sundown. You and the old man gonna be okay? He's been extra blushy whenever your name comes up..."

"We'll be fine, Sam. Just get your ass across the border!" Zoe scrambled to gather her things and head home to prepare. "What do you want for dinner?"

"Surprise me." Sam chuckled. "Just none of your weird vegetarian shit, please?"