Street Magic

On The Run

Natasha had given you the job of checking the building for any more Shield agents, telling you it was an important task. You knew she was just trying to keep you busy but did as she told you anyway. You even checked in on Agent Campos who was still unconscious and handcuffed in another room. You were a little surprised he wasn't up yet but since you double-crossed him it would be best you were long gone by the time he did.
 
Finally satisfied with your search you teleported back to where Natasha had been waiting for you. "Hey, so the place looks clear- Oh am I interrupting something?"
 
You watched as a man had Natasha pressed against the wall. They both turned as you awkwardly stood there. It took you a moment but as you looked at him closer you recognized the man as the one you had seen earlier today when leaving Pierce's office. You were currently in the same room with none other than Captain America himself.
 
The Captain backed away from Natasha and then turned to face you clearly trying to determine if you were a threat. "Have I seen you before?"
 
"Uh guess we saw each other outside of Pierce's office I was walking with Agent Campos," you told him. He had a certain authoritative aura that made you want to stand straight and salute him, but you forced it down not wanting to embarrass yourself.
 
At the mention of Pierce's name, the man in front of you seemed to tense. He had just been through an unpleasant experience with the man and didn't trust anyone associated with him. Luckily, Natasha stepped in. "They're with me. Pierce was blackmailing them but they're willing to help, and they have some impressive skills. They've also had an encounter with the Winter Soldier."
 
Just like that Captain offered you his hand, "Steve Rodgers."
 
"(Y/N) (L/N), it's a pleasure." You shook his hand trying not to freak out.
 
"We should get going," Natasha told him, "They'll be looking for us, we're all fugitives of Shield now."

"Definitely not how I wanted to spend my weekend," you murmured, making both of them smile amused.
 
"Think you can take us somewhere far from here?"
 
You shook your head, "I can barely travel far myself much less with two other people. The furthest I could take all of us is the parking lot."
 
Steve was unsure of what you and Natasha were referring to. "What are-"
 
"That's good enough," Natasha cut him off.
 
You nodded and grabbed her right hand as she put her left on Steve's shoulder. Before he could ask what you were doing you snapped your fingers and you were all now standing in the middle of the hospital's parking garage. Steve stumbled looking around confused while Natasha, now used to your powers, calmly walked over to her car. You shook off the fatigue that was trying to overcome your body, you've used your powers today a lot more than you normally did. You have be careful in not straining your body too much, the last time you did you ended up passing out. Running out of energy while on the run from the government isn't ideal. 
 
"How did you do that?" Steve asked, gaping at you.
 
"No time we got to go, get in the car," Natasha ordered.
 
During the car ride, Natasha mentioned she was driving you all somewhere they could look at the information stored in the flash drive you had gotten for her earlier. You assumed she meant some secret high-tech liar, instead, you were walking in a crowded mall trying to get to an electronics store.
 
"The first rule of going on the run is, don't run, walk," she whispered to Steve.
 
"If I run in these shoes, they're going to fall off," Steve told her as you all walked into the store. 
 
You felt a little silly as you were wearing some clothes that were too (small/large) for you that Natasha had in her car. She said it was best if you wore something different than what you actually wore. It was easy for her to say as she was just wearing a hoodie and Steve had some fake glasses and a baseball cap. They stood out less than you did as you all walked over to one of the many computers available for purchase.
 
"The drive has a level six homing program, so as soon as we boot up Shield will know exactly where we are," she explained.
 
"How much time do we have?" Steve looked over her shoulder at the screen as you pretended to look at a different one next to them.
 
"About nine minutes from..." She popped the flash drive into the MacBook, "Now."
 
A ton of files and programs opened on the screen. You didn't know their significance or could even begin to decipher what it all meant. Natasha read it as if it was basic knowledge. "Fury was right about that ship, somebody's trying to hide something. This drive is protected by some sort of AI, it keeps rewriting itself to counter my commands."
 
"Can you override it?" Steve asked thankfully looking as confused as you.
 
"The person who developed this is slightly smarter than me. Slightly. I'm going to 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."
 
As Natasha kept typing you noticed a store employee make his way towards them. You quickly walked up to him blocking his path and tried to distract him. "Hey, can I ask you some questions?"
 
The employee whose name tag read Aaron smiled putting up his customer service facade. "Sure, what can I help you with?"
 
"I'm thinking of getting this laptop, but I don't know if it's convenient, I'm on the move a lot because of work."
 
"Mind me asking what you do?"
 
"I'm a magician... I perform in a lot of places; you know parties and stuff." Instead of coming up with a lie you panicked and went with the truth. 
 
That spiked Aaron's interest, "Woah that's awesome. I recommend this model then, it's great for business and travel. If you want, I can show you others."
 
"No, I think you've sold me on it, just have to talk to my friends."
 
"Well if you need anything," he pointed at his nametag, "I'm Aaron."
 
"Thanks." 
 
Aaron then walked away to help someone else who had called him over. You sighed relieved and turned back to Steve and Natasha. "I thought you said we had nine minutes."
 
"Shh, relax," Natasha told you, "I got it."
 
It appears the signal she had been tracking was coming from Wheaton, New Jersey. Steve seemed to recognize it.
 
"You know it?"
 
"I used to. Let's go." Steve pulled the flash drive from the computer and you all walked out of the store. He looked around and recognized members of the Strike Team. "Standard tac-team. Two behind, to across, two coming straight at us. If they make us, I'll engage, you two hit the south escalator to the metro."
 
You saw two people walking towards you that just screamed government agents. You started to panic a bit not sure if you could teleport without giving yourselves away. Natasha realized the same thing. She gestured for you to walk behind them and then looked over at Steve who still wanted to split up and confront the agents. 
 
"Shut up and put your arm around me, laugh at something I said," she ordered him.
 
"What?"
 
"Do it."
 
Steve quickly put his arm around Natasha and laughed. The agents walking right pass all of you as you pretended to look at the shop windows. You all then made your way to the escalator but halfway down you noticed another agent taking the one going up. 
 
Natasha turned to Steve, "Kiss me."
 
"What?" Steve glanced at you, but you just shrugged.
 
"Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable," Natasha explained.
 
"Yes, they do." Natasha pulled Steve down and kissed him despite his protest, making you and the agent look away as he passed you in the escalator. You tried not to laugh as you noticed Steve's ears go red.
 
Natasha pulled away, "You still uncomfortable?"
 
"It's not exactly the word I would use."
 
Once you were all clear you went back to Natasha's car and grabbed all your stuff as she and Steve hotwired a truck. As a former bank robber, you assumed it was best you didn't question them and hopped in the back seat. When Steve finally got it to run, he started the long drive to Wheaton, New Jersey. It was silent most of the way there until Natasha who had quickly gotten comfortable in her seat turned to Steve who was focusing on the road.
 
"Where did Captain America learn how to steal a car?" She asked him.
 
"Nazi Germany," he answered. Natasha hummed in amusement.
 
"And we're borrowing. Take your feet off the dash."
 
Natasha did as he told her but continued to look at him as you sat in the back seat distracting yourself with some playing cards, she had no idea how you got them. "Alright, I have a question for you, oh, which you do not have to answer. I feel like if you don't answer it though, you are kind of answering it, you know?"
 
"What?"
 
"Was that your first kiss since 1945?" she asked grinning.
 
Steve glanced at the rearview mirror and saw how you were grinning as well while looking at your cards. "That bad, huh?"
 
"I didn't say that."
 
"Well, it kind of sounds like that's what you were saying."
 
"No, I didn't. I just wondered how much practice you've had."
 
"You don't need practice."
 
"Everybody needs practice," Natasha turns to you, "Right (Y/N)?"
 
"Everybody needs practice," you repeated making Steve roll his eyes.
 
"It was not my first kiss since 1945. I'm ninety-five, I'm not dead."
 
"Nobody special, though?" Natasha asked.
 
Steve chuckled, "Believe it or not, it's kind of hard to find someone with shared life experience."
 
"Well, that's alright, you just make something up."
 
"What, like you?"
 
Knowing the conversation was about to get personal you turned back to your cards trying not to feel like you were intruding in a private moment. It would help if the two people sitting in the front would remember you were in there as well.
 
"I don't know," Natasha answered Steve, "The truth is a matter of circumstances, it's not all things to all people all the time. And neither am I."
 
"That's a tough way to live."
 
"It's a good way not to die, though."
 
"You know, it's kind of hard to trust someone when you don't know who that someone really is."
 
"Yeah. Who do you want me to be?"
 
"How about a friend?" Steve asked, making Natasha laugh softly.
 
"Well, there's a chance you might be in the wrong business, Rogers."
 
There was a long tense silence in the car after that. You shifted uncomfortably in your seat before holding your deck in between them. "You guys want to see a magic trick?"
 
Natasha raised an eyebrow, "Is it really a trick if you're using your powers? Isn't it sort of like cheating?"
 
"It's not cheating... it's just a beneficial advantage," you defended.
 
Steve watched from the corner of his eye as Natasha picked a card from your deck and then put it back. You then shuffled the deck and took out a random card. "Is this your card."
 
"Not even close," Natasha grinned.
 
You looked at your deck acting confused and then turned to Steve. "Mind checking your pockets for me?"
 
Keeping his eyes on the road and one hand on the wheel Steve reached into his right pocket. He knew there was nothing but ended up surprised as he felt a card in there. He took it out and held it up to you. You grinned and handed it to Natasha.
 
"You used your powers," she accused.
 
"Did not. It's called misdirection Ms. Romanoff. I'm a good magician with or without my powers, you were just distracted."
 
"How did a magician end up getting caught up in this mess anyway," Steve asked.
 
"I used my powers to help out the less fortunate," you explained trying to make yourself sound good in front of them, "I was sloppy so then Pierce just shows up one day with that guy with the metal arm-"
 
"Winter Soldier," Natasha added.
 
"Uhm yeah, that guy. Anyway, next thing I know I have the choice of either going to jail or helping Pierce. I took the latter. I didn't know he was crooked though; I swear."
 
"So, you're some type of Robin Hood?" Steve asked, amused.
 
"A real Ace," Natasha murmured sarcastically.
 
"I gave most of the money away, though I kept a little for myself . Being a street performer doesn't pay all the bills."

"Maybe after this Shield might give you an official job."
 
"How much do they pay," you asked, making them laugh, "That wasn't a joke."