"First rule of going on the run is, don't run, walk." Natasha mumbled, wary of her surroundings. "If I run in these shoes, they're gonna fall off." Steve joked- watching carefully at every person around us. We walked along the marble flooring, making our way through the mall. I could see cameras everywhere- making my nerves heighten. The apple store came into view, causing the three of us to walk in its direction. I approached the MacBook table as Natasha got right to work.
"The drive has a Level Six homing program, so as soon as we boot up SHIELD will know exactly where we are." Natasha half-whispered, typing on the laptop. "How much time do we have?" I asked- keeping an eye on everyone around us. "Uh...about nine minutes from... now." She spoke quietly, plugging the USB into the laptop.
"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." Natasha struggled, furrowing her eyebrows. "Can you override it?" Steve questioned, watching her actions.
"The person who developed this is slightly smarter than me. Slightly." She admitted, not letting go her pride. "I'm gonna 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." She got to work, typing away.
"Can I help you guys with anything?" I jumped from the voice, looking over to where it came from. "Oh, no. My fiancé, daughter and I were just helping me with some vacation destinations." She was quick with her response, which I didn't expect. I kept my cool, right as Steve spoke.
"Right! Birthday vacation for this little one!" Steve followed along, pointing over to me. I nodded me head, smiling. "Sweet 16! Its gotta be special." He finished, causing me to roll my eyes slightly. I fake smiled, nodding again.
"Where are you thinking about going?" He looked at me, making me stumble on words. I looked at the screen, then spoke. "New Jersey." I lied, reading the obvious location displayed on the screen.
"Oh," The man paused, right before speaking again. "I have the exact same glasses." The man turned to Steve, observing his attire. "Wow, you two are practically twins." Natasha joked, causing me to quietly laugh. I felt my face turn red as Steve glared at me.
"Yeah, I wish. Specimen. Uh...if you guys need anything, I've been Aaron." Aaron spoke, right before walking back to the genius bar. "You said nine minutes, come on." Steve pressured, checking his watch.
"Shh, relax." She reassured Steve, still working on the file. "Got it." Right after she spoke, I felt chills erupt my spine. I shivered- looking all around me. But I wasn't looking for a reason. I knew exactly why.
"Guys- they're here." I warned, watching Steve clench his jaw. Natasha glanced at me, then back at the laptop. "You know it?" She asked Steve, pointing to the location on the screen. He nodded, before speaking.
"I used to. Let's go." He pulled the USB out of the laptop, right before taking off. I quickly followed behind them. "Guys, I think it's better if we split up." I suggested, receiving a glare from Steve. "I'm not letting you go by yourself." He spoke sternly, receiving an eye roll from Natasha.
"She'll be fine, Rogers. She's not actually sixteen." Natasha joked, causing me to chuckle a bit. "Yeah, add four years." I sassed- practically feeling him eye-rolling. I cut to the right, separating from them and hiding myself in the waves of people. I slowly raised my hoodie, looking down at my feet as I remembered land marks entering. I walked onto the escalator, seeing Steve and Nat exiting it at the end.
The air felt still- enemies lurked all around yet none recognized me. I was thankful for that, and the hoodie Natasha let me borrow. I walked off of the escalator, adjusting my eyes to the light coming through the exit. I kept my eyes on the floor- making my way out of the building. A dark blue truck pulled up in front of me- making me jump. I let out a sigh of relief, opening the door and hopping in.
"How are you holding up, mini Thor?" Natashas works make me laugh, still calming my nerves. "Couldn't be better." I lied, buckling myself in. Steve took off, as Natasha told him where to go.
-
"Rumlow was in there, wasn't he?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows. It had been an hour since we left the mall- my eyes had already fluttered shut a few times. I didn't want to fall asleep, though. My guard had to always be up- especially seeing we were being hunted down by trained agents.
"Yeah," Natasha laughed. "How did you know?" I shrugged, watching the trees go by; the constant green color blending together. "I don't know. I just felt it." I let out a sigh, leaning back onto the headrest. I saw Natasha smirk, right before speaking.
"Where did Captain America learn how to steal a car?" Her words made me smile slightly, waiting for his response. "Nazi Germany." He spoke, watching the road in front of him. Natasha mumbled, right before Steve spoke again. "And we're borrowing. Take your feet off the dash." Their little interaction was amusing- I smiled, watching the two.
"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're kind of answering it, you know?" Natasha spoke, making me furrow my eyebrows. Like many times before, I didn't truly know what was going to come out of her mouth next.
"What?" Steve questioned, clearly as confused as me. "Was that your first kiss since 1945?" Her words make me widen my eyes- my mouth agape. "That bad, huh?" Steve laughed. I shook my head, not believing their words.
"I didn't say that." She spoke softly, watching him from the passenger side. "Well, it kind of sounds like that's what you're saying." He replied, glancing at her briefly. "No, I didn't. I just wondered how much practice you've had." She teased, looking in his direction. "You don't need practice." He stated simply.
"Everybody needs practice." She badgered, receiving a quick respond. "It was not my first kiss since 1945. I'm ninety-five, I'm not dead." Steve continued. "Nobody special, though?" Natasha asked, keeping her eyes on him.
"Believe it or not, it's kind of hard to find someone with shared life experience." He smiled slightly, watching the road. "Well, that's alright, you just make something up." Natasha expressed. "What, like you?" Steve glanced for a second, then back to looking forward.
"I don't know. The truth is a matter of circumstances, it's not all things to all people all the time. And neither am I." She admitted, watching her surroundings. "That's a tough way to live." Steve stated, resting his face.
"It's a good way not to die, though." She muttered, smiling softly. "You know, it's kind of hard to trust someone when you don't know who that someone really is." He alleged, glancing slightly. I didn't want to intrude- they were having a moment. "Yeah." She paused.
"Who do you want me to be?" She questioned, looking in his direction. "How about a friend?" Steve spoke, plastering an innocent smile on his face. "Well, there's a chance you might be in the wrong business, Rogers."
As much as I disliked it, she was right. People like us can't have friendships like commoners do. We can't let go a blanket and have a picnic- we can't go to sleep without a worry in our minds, or a regret in our hearts. We can't live a happy, normal life; but we fight so others can, and that is what makes it worth it. We also have each other, and that makes the pain slightly easier to bare.
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Chosen | The Winter Soldier
Fanfiction"We don't know why we were chosen to be who we are, and we wish to be what we aren't. That is our biggest mistake."
