𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 | 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬

On the Run

Natasha noticed the half sprints between Steve and Chloe on their way to the closest mall. The only reason they weren't able to fully run was because of Seren. For every step that Steve took, Seren only took half of it and he had to pull her the rest of the way. She was having the hardest time staying awake and, most importantly, staying focused on what was happening around them. The sedative had yet to completely metabolize through her system but unfortunately they just didn't have the time to wait it out. Steve wasn't letting her out of her sight and that's what he told Natasha when she suggested Chloe should wait with Seren outside of the mall.

"First rule of going on the run is, don't run, walk," Natasha muttered when it finally became too noticeable.

"Not trying to run," Steve said, keeping an arm tightly around Seren's waist. "If I run in these shoes, they're going to fall and I'm going to trip Seren." He couldn't stop himself from checking the immediate areas to see if anyone was coming their way.

So far, there was no public announcement that they were being hunted but he was no fool, at least not anymore. SHIELD didn't operate by the books as it was and now that they were finally, openly, going rogue, who knew how they would hunt. Anyone could be an enemy.

"Just look ahead," Chloe directed. "I've been on my own plenty of time to know a thing or two about blending in."

"Then stop trying to sprint," hissed Natasha.

"I just want to get to the store quickly!"

Fortunately, they made their way into a Mac store soon enough. Natasha found the first display computer and got straight to work. Steve stepped up beside her and with him Seren. She breathed easily, that much Steve could tell and was fully relieved that it hadn't worsened outside of the hospital. She leaned her head on his shoulder and brought her jacket closer around her. That, Steve noticed as well and it did worry him because Seren hardly got cold. It was part of her Celessian biology; her body temperature operated differently. Conditions had to be on the extreme side for her to be that kind of cold.

"We'll be quick," he murmured to her. She nodded silently.

"The drive has a Level Six homing program, so as soon as we boot up SHIELD will know exactly where we are," Natasha forewarned the group as she readied the laptop.

"How much time do we have?" Steve asked her.

"Nine minutes," Chloe blurted then promptly clapped a hand over her mouth. With her wide eyes, she told the group the answer did not come from her but from the Hivemind.

"They're right," Natasha plugged the USB into the laptop. "Anything else the Hivemind is saying right now?"

"Sort of..." Chloe admitted, "And I can understand them better too. They didn't really speak English to me before and now..."

"What are they saying about SHIELD right now?" asked Steve.

"Run," sighed Chloe. "The Ghost is coming." That was a real motivation to keep working.

"Fury was right about that ship, somebody's trying to hide something," Natasha's findings drew Seren's attention back to the screen. "This drive is protected by some sort of AI, it keeps rewriting itself to counter my commands."

"Can't you override it?" Chloe leaned closer to Natasha.

"The person who developed this is slightly smarter than me. Slightly. I'm gonna try running a tracer. This is a program that SHIELD developed to track hostile malware, so if we can't read the file, maybe we can find out where it came from."

"Can I help you guys with anything?" One of the male employees came up to the group, startling them like a domino effect.

Chloe sprung into action, reverting back to her secretive ways. Years of skills for hiding and secrets didn't just disappear after all. "We're just helping our friends find some honeymoon destinations!" She motioned to Steve and Seren with a joyous laugh to match the story. Then, Chloe threw a direct look at Steve. He better play along for their sake.