Red Widow {Sam Wilson}

6. ON THE RUN

| CHAPTER SIX |

ON THE RUN.

VERONICA WASN'T EXACTLY SURE HOW, but somehow the trio ended up being on the run. From the tiny amount of information Steve told the two women, it seemed as if SHIELD was infiltrated. 

The three of them got themselves some new clothes before walking through the mall, blending into the civilians as well as they could. Veronica shoved her hands into her hoodie, she kept a cap on her head, hiding her bright red hair as well as she could, sunglasses covering her piercingly green eyes and some grey jeans, some trainers cladded her feet and it was definitely a strange feeling for the redhead, especially since she was used to wearing boots and only boots.

"First rule of going on the run is, don't run, walk," Natasha informed.

"If I run in these shoes, they're gonna fall off," Steve muttered as the trio walked into the Mac store. Natasha stayed in front of them, finding a laptop which wasn't surrounded by people, "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 left?" Steve questioned as they huddled closer together, keeping the laptop from any curious eyes nearby. 

"Uh...about nine minutes from..." She plugged the flash drive right into the MacBook as she got to work, "Now, Fury was right about that ship, someone'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?" The super-solider asked.

Veronica smirked, "Of course she can," She grinned proudly, earning a wink from Nat

"The person who developed this is slightly smarter than me. Slightly," Natasha stated, she kept her eyes locked on the laptop screen, her fingers working tirelessly, "I'm gonna try running a tracker. This is a program that SHIELD developed to track hostile malware, so if we're can't read the file, maybe we can find out where it came from."

"Can I help you guys with something?" An employee asked, approaching the trio with the widest grin Veronica had ever seen on his face.

As Natasha kept her eyes on the screen, Veronica placed her hand on Steve's shoulder, smiling brightly at the employee, "Oh no. My sister was just helping my fiancé and I with some honeymoon destinations."

Natasha snickered to herself as Steve nodded frantically, "Right, we're getting married," He smiled.

The employee's grin widened even more, "Congratulations. Where are you guys thinking about?"

Veronica and Steve both glanced over Nat's shoulder, the redhead bit her lip as Steve looked back at the employee, "New Jersey."

"Oh," The employee nodded. Veronica shared a confused look with Nat when the man stared intently at Steve, "I have the exact same glasses," He suddenly stated, pointing at the spectacles that were resting on Steve's nose.

Veronica sighed in relief whilst Natasha snickered, "Wow, you two are practically twins," She said sarcastically.

The employee scoffed, "Yeah, I wish. Speciman. Uh...If you guys need anything..." He pointed to his name badge, "I've been Aaron."

"Thank you," Steve said politely as they watched the employee walk off, "You said nine minutes, come on," The super-solider stated, looking back at Nat.

"Shh, relax. Got it," She pointed at the screen. Veronica and Steve simultaneously looked down at it, the signal was coming from Wheaton, New Jersey, "You know it?"

"I used to. Let's go," He pulled the flash drive out of the laptop before they all walked out of the store, keeping their heads down and trying to look as inconspicuous as they possibly could, "Standard tac-team. Two behind, two across, two coming straight at us. If they make us, I'll engage, you hit the south escalator to the metro," Steve informed, his voice barely above a whisper but both Veronica and Nat heard everything he said, and most definitely saw the agents coming their way.

"Shut up and put your arm around me," Natasha ordered, "Both of you laugh at something I said."

"What?" Steve asked, looking confused.

"Do it," Veronica and Nat hissed at the exact same time, resulting in Steve throwing his arm around both girls as the three of them laughed hysterically at literally nothing.

The two agents walked straight past them, entering the Mac store and looking around. Veronica let out a sigh of relief as the trio got onto the escalator going down, the younger redhead stood in front of Nat and Steve when suddenly her eyes landed on a familiar face, Rumlow, "Shit, he's here," She whispered, sending Nat a discreet look.

Natasha turned to face Steve as Veronica kept her stance sideways, "Kiss me. Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable."

Glancing up, the younger redhead noticed Steve's confused face, but before he could argue Natasha reached up and pressed her lips against his. Veronica let her eyes look over her shoulder slightly, sighing in relief when she spotted Rumlow with his head turned away from their escalator, clearly uncomfortable. 

"You still uncomfortable?" Natasha smirked at the super-solider as the trio rushed off the escalator.

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