Mirror, Mirror ↠ Steve Rogers

Chapter Four

Leila records while Camden explains how he hacked into the SHIELD server. She can only follow some of it, but she understands enough to know how exceptional it is for a teenage boy to do what he did.

As he explains, he starts to come alive a little, like just talking about hacking has brought him back into his comfort zone.

"And that's how I did it," he finishes, leaning back in his chair.

"That's very impressive," Leila notes, because it's true, and because his entire demeanor is begging for an attaboy, and even if it's for breaking the law, Leila can tell it's not something he hears a lot. Maybe if he did, he wouldn't go around hacking intelligence agencies. Who knows.

Camden straightens up a little at this, but shrugs, like he's trying to act like it doesn't mean anything. "I'm good with computers," he says, and there's something like hope in his eyes. "Always have been."

He wants to be recruited. And honestly, Leila can't find it in her to condemn him for childlike whims when she had the exact same thought. SHIELD doesn't hire people under 18, but that's only two years away for him, and as he told her about his hacking, she'd considered coming back for him then. Or having someone else do it, anyway.

"Okay," Leila says. "A few more questions. Your teacher's mother said you showed up on her doorstep in the middle of the night a few weeks ago. You wanna tell me what that was about?"

Camden goes red. "I had a fight with my parents," he says, shrugging. "And Harker wasn't at home. So I did some digging and found out where his mom lived. I thought he might be there."

Leila almost smiles sadly. Because of the fact that he was driven out of his own home in the middle of the night, and because Harker, apparently, kept his own troubled family life a secret from his protege. Presumably he figured Camden had enough of his own shit to deal with, and he was probably right.

"Did you know Harker's name was in the SHIELD server?" she asks.

"Literally how would I know that," Camden scoffs, and then seems to remember himself. He shakes his head. "Sorry," he says quickly. He's still trying to make a good impression. Leila can feel a part of her melting. She quickly buries it.

"No," he continues. "I just saw his name in it and I thought he should know."

"So it was a coincidence," Steve murmurs, and Leila glances at him and nods.

"I have a question," Steve continues, turning back to Camden, who seems to sit up even straighter under the gaze of his hero. "Did Harker...coerce you at all into hacking the server?"

Camden shakes his head quickly. "No," he says. "He didn't even know I was doing it until I already did."

Leila glances at Steve to see if he has any more questions. He doesn't; he leans back, arms crossed, and nods. "Okay."

"Do you know who else had access to the information on the server?" Leila continues.

Camden shakes his head. "I only showed Harker. But...."

But he doesn't know who Harker showed it to.

"That's okay. I believe you," Leila says. "Do you know how Harker could've gotten ahold of chitauri tech?"

"I've heard rumors that they're all over the black market," Camden says, as if they don't know that already. "Otherwise..."

Leila nods, and considers something. If Harker was looking to score chitauri tech off the black market, he'd need significant cash to do so. More than a school teacher would make.