Cosmic [s.r.]

1:10

 After a quick change, Steve and I returned to the hospital to grab the USB from the vending machine. But when we walked up we saw that it was gone. But when a bubble snapped from behind us, we turned to see Natasha, chewing the gum be hid the USB behind. Steve grabbed the redhead by the arm and pushed her into the empty room across the hall, pressing her to the wall.

"Where is it, Nat?" I asked.

"Safe." She smirked.

"Do better." Steve pushed.

"Where did you get it?" She eyed the two of us.

"Why would I tell you?" Steve demanded.

"Fury gave it to you. Why?"

"He gave it to me. Well, it was intended for me." I corrected her.

"What's on it?" Steve pushed again.

"I don't know, Cali was the one getting the intel." Steve looked over at me.

"I don't know either," I explained.

"Look, I only act like I know everything, Rogers." She glared.

"I bet you knew Fury hired the pirates, didn't you?" He asked.

"Well, it makes sense. The ship was dirty, Fury needed a way in, so do you."

"I'm not gonna ask you again."

"I know who killed Fury," Nat admitted.

There was a small pause before the redhead decided to continue. It was obvious that the story she was about to tell brought pain on her. Nat was never one to talk about her past, so talking about this was a big deal for her.

"Most of the intelligence community doesn't believe he exists." She started. "The ones that do call him the Winter Soldier. He's credited with over two dozen assassinations in the last 50 years."

"So he's a ghost story," Steve stated.

"Have you encountered him?" I asked Nat to earn a hesitant nod.

"Five years ago, I was escorting a nuclear engineer out of Iran. Somebody shot out my tires near Odessa." She told us without even a small stutter. "We lost control, went straight over a cliff. I pulled us out. But the Winter Soldier was there. I was covering my engineer so he shot him straight through me." She explained, lifting up her shirt to show a scar of the bullet wound. "Soviet slug. No rifling. Bye-bye, bikinis." I rolled her eyes at her comment.

"Yet you still look better than me in them."

"Going after him is a dead end." She shrugged off my comment. "I know, I've tried." She lifted up the USB in front of our eyes. "Like you said, he's a ghost story." Steve took the stick and looked over to me.
"Well, let's find out what the ghost wants." I nodded at his comment before the two of us left the room.

Now in a different set of clothing, Steve and I made our way through a local mall with one goal in mind. We were going to find the Apple Store and search the intel on the USB and find out what's on it. With our hands in our pockets, and hoods up we kept a low profile.

"Number one thing I was taught during training, the first rule when you go on the run is you don't actually run; you walk," I explained to the Captain who looked over his shoulder, a little paranoid about being so in the open.

"If I run in these shoes, they're gonna fall off." I laughed at his comment about his modern footwear.

I quickly settled down at one of the laptop computers and inserted the USB stick. I began to tap away at the keyboard and made use of the trackpad to search the files.

"Seems like this drive has a Level Six homing program. Once we boot it up S.H.I.E.L.D. will know our exact location." I explained to Steve, remembering what I was taught in my training.

"How much time will we have?" Steve asked, keeping an eye out.

"A little less than 8 minutes," I said as I continued to search through the intel. "I guess Fury was right about that ship. Somebody's trying to hide something. This drive is protected by some kind of Al. It keeps rewriting itself to counter my commands." I tried to ignore how close Steve was standing as he was leaning over me. I had to focus on this.

"Can you override it?" He asked, his breath moving my hair ever so slightly.

"The person who developed this is more tech savvy than I am," I muttered. "So I'm gonna run a tracer. It's a program that S.H.I.E.L.D. made to track hostile malware, so if we can't read the file, maybe we can find out where it came from." I said as I zoomed in on a map on the screen.

"Can I help you guys with anything?" One of the employees asked as he came over to us. I put on a fake smile that seemed somewhat convincing.

"Oh, no. My fiancé was just helping me with some honeymoon destinations." I said sweetly as I pulled Steve over in front of me, holding his hand.

"Right." Steve nodded trying to play the part, glancing over as I continued to work on the tracer. "We're getting married."

"Congratulations. Where are you guys thinking about going?" He asked us with a warm smile. Steve looked down at the screen quickly to find an answer.

"New Jersey." He read off the map as I continued to zoom in.

"I have the exact same glasses." The employee commented.

"What a coincidence." I smiled looking over for a second.

"If you guys need anything, I've been Aaron." He smiled before turning to leave us alone.

Steve quickly turned back to me, looking at the screen as I continued to work at the tracer.

"You said eight minutes. Come on." He checked his watch, getting antsy.

"Hold on, I've almost got it," I mumbled. "Wheaton, New Jersey," I said proudly. I looked over to Steve who had to take a double take at the map. "You know the place," I noted.

"I used to. Let's go." I removed the USB before turning on our feet, leaving the store.

As we walked through the central part of the mall, I kept my head down as Steve took note of the agents in the area.

"Standard tac team." He explained. "Two behind, two across, and two coming straight at us. If they make us, I'll engage, you hit the south escalator to the metro."

"I have a better idea." I took my right hand and laced it with mine, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. "Laugh at something I said." The two of us both let out a rather convincing laugh as if one of us said something funny. When the agents passed us I let go of Steve's hand and he continued to leave his arm around me for a second before dropping the act.

Steve and I briskly walked to one of the escalators and once we were midway I noticed Rumlow going up the opposite one. I quickly turned to Steve before he could notice me.

"Kiss me," I muttered stepping a little closer to the Captain. I can't believe I was doing this, thanks for the advice, Nat.

"What?"

"Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable," I explained quickly.

"Yes, they do." He nodded before dipping his head and pressing his lips to mine.

I swear I almost died inside. My stomach did flips, and I kinda felt like I was going to throw up but in the best way possible. His hand found it's way to my hip and I cupped his jaw with my smaller hand. When we pulled away I turned around trying to hide the blush on my cheeks.
"Still uncomfortable?" I asked.

"It's not exactly the word I would use." He responded.