On The Run

Shopping

Chapter 8: Shopping

Steve and Bucky managed to be in and out of the grocery store in half an hour. They got distracted a couple of times-Bucky proclaimed mid aisle that he suddenly couldn't live without throwing a couple of two liter bottles of Sprite in the back of the cart and they made spontaneous purchases of frozen pizza and KRAFT mac and cheese as well, but they were in and out reasonably quickly. Two hours before everyone else was due to be done shopping.

"What do you want to do," Bucky asked, examining a map of the city on Steve's GPS app.

Steve shrugged, "I don't know. Any ideas?"

"There's a movie playing at the theatre I wouldn't mind seeing. It's an hour and a half. We could go see it and still have time to go and pick up the others."

"Sure," He was reluctant to take himself off the clock when everyone else was still out and about, but Bucky probably hadn't had time to go to a movie in ages-and besides, the others would be able to take care of themselves for a couple of hours. Hopefully. "But after that we get right back in the car."

~🅰~

Clint and Wanda split up as soon as they stepped inside the department store, wordlessly; Wanda would go shop for herself while Clint shopped for everyone else.

"Don't buy too much dark makeup," he added as she walked off. "Steve's credit card isn't unlimited, you know."

She rolled her eyes, "Just the essentials." Knowing her, that made at least two bottles each of foundation, eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara, and whatever else caught her fancy.

"And try to avoid talking to people if you can. Your accent is a dead giveaway," She nodded and took the escalator up to the next floor; he would have to have Scott give her a crash course in talking American using the television shows Tic Tac was almost certainly going to pick up.

Clint breezed through the clothing aisles with a practiced grace; the grace of someone who'd been on the run before. He knew, for example, to find things that could be washed easily, fit in a suitcase, and blend in with the world around them-mostly neutral colors, jeans, and plain t-shirts. He only picked out a few outfits for everyone; it would be all the easier to transport in case they needed to leave in a hurry.

In fifteen minutes he was ready to go. Wanda was not. He gave her another twenty and when she still wasn't back he decided to go up to the next floor and see what was taking her so long.

He found her immediately, casually browsing a display of black jeans. He chanced a look in her basket, which was overflowing with dresses, skirts, tank tops, and pants that were all black. "Are you sure you're not goth," Angsty teenager much? No way she was twenty two like she kept saying she was. He'd never seen her birth certificate; he doubted she had either. She could easily be making things up.

She shook her head, taking another pair of jeans and shoving them into the basket, "Black is just my color. It blends in more easily."

"Are you sure you can't get anything a little more...colorful," She just gave him a withering look and returned to browsing. "Besides, these look like a little more than just essentials."

She looked down almost sheepishly,"I got a little bit carried away."

"You know it's all going to need to fit in a suitcase, right? And not a big one, either-a small one that you can carry."

Reluctantly, she emptied out half of the basket with a small sigh. He noticed the way she spent a little longer than normal eyeing a dress with black lace around the arms and hemline before she put it back; as soon as she turned around to head to the checkout line he surreptitiously slid it inside his own cart, buried under a mound of jeans. She deserved some nice things.