Titanium | Barnes (1)

7. On the Run

 Malka's leg hurts. The loose floor-length skirt Natasha stole for her helps hide the limp, but she can still feel the bone brushing against the bandage with every step. Is it soaked through yet? She glances back—no trail of blood.

She still cannot believe she was naive enough to feel safe in this cruel world. Her hands practically hug the large bag at her side, clutching the contents close to her chest as she anxiously watches for anyone daring enough to approach her. The only picture she has of her whole family is in there. The last picture of her sister's smile. The last ramblings of her father before he escaped. His last ideas that came to fruition.

If anyone were to know what she has spent months working on, even going so far as to contact Banner for the occasional help, she would be long dead. Whoever is after her, whoever killed Fury—they would kill for her formulas if they ever worked.

Malka bites her lip when Steve begins to speed up by her side, his arm wrapped tightly around her waist. "Slow down," she rasps.

Natasha sends them a look from Malka's other side. "First rule of going on the run is don't run, walk."

Steve rolls his eyes. "If I run in these shoes, they're gonna fall off."

"Stuff in some newspapers," Malka grumbles as she detaches from them both and hobbles into the computer store, finding a seat at an open laptop. "The drive has a Level Six homing program," she tells them. "As soon as I open this, SHIELD will know exactly where we are."

"How much time do we have?" Steve asks.

"From now?" She puts in the drive. "Nine minutes." Typing on the computer feels like second nature now. She remembers when she first was asked to type and code, she was lost. Now, it's home. "There's something about that boat job you two screwed up."

"Wow, thanks."

"It was all over the dark web, Golden Boy," Malka snaps. "Somebody's trying to hide something. The drive is protected by an AI, it keeps rewriting itself."

"Can you override it?"

Natasha glances around, saying, "You can learn anything. Learn this."

"Not in seven minutes, I can't," Malka sighs. "The person who developed this might be slightly smarter. I'm gonna trace it. If we can't read the file, we can at least find out where it came from."

"Can I help you with anything?"

Malka does not stop even when the employee approaches them. "We were just looking at honeymoon destinations," she says without looking up. "My sister and her fiancé want something special."

She hears Steve choke. "Right! We're getting married."

Malka glances up to see Natasha plaster a smile on her face and wrap an arm around Steve. "Marriage, so soon!" She coos, shoving her foot back against Malka's good leg.