"A lot of times freedom doesn't mean being free. It is not a right, but a choice. Anyone can be free if they want to. Telling someone to be free is taking away their choice to be free. You don't take away decisions."
A story in which Lilly Richards...
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Lilly joined Steve and Nat on their way inside the mall. All of them dressed up in civilian outfits, hiding their identities. Steve was looking around frantically. "First rule of going on the run is, don't run, walk," Nat said to them. "If I run in these shoes, they're gonna fall off." He tried to ease the atmosphere that was surrounding them.
Later they arrived at the Apple store. All of them searched for a computer. As they found it, Nat pulled out the USB from her pocket. "So this was what you were looking at," Lilly said to Steve. He looked at her, but she kept her eyes on the screen.
"The drive has a Level Six homing program, so as soon as we boot up, SHIELD will know exactly where we are." "How much time do we have?" Steve asked Nat. "Uh...about nine minutes from..." she put USB inside the computer. "Now."
"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 her. Lilly was looking at the screen. Whatever popped up was not familiar to her. "The person who developed this is slightly smarter than me. Slightly. 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." Natasha started typing something on computer, when an employee walked up to them.
"Can I help you guys with anything?" "Oh, no. My fiancé was just helping me with some honeymoon destinations," Nat said and put both of her hands on Steve's shoulders. "Right! We're getting married." "And she's my sister. You know, we need to get that dress with the help of our fellow friends," Nat improvised. "Congratulations. Where do you guys thinking about going?" Steve looked at the monitor and saw the signal traced to somewhere in New Jersey. "New Jersey," he said nervously. The employee looked at Lilly and smiled at her.
"It must be exciting helping your sister out with the dress," he said and Lilly nodded. "It is. Especially for the biggest and best wedding of all time," Lilly said and faked smiled at him. "If you don't have a date,.." he said and pointed at him. "She'll be fine," Steve said interrupting their conversation.
"Oh. I have the exact same glasses," employee said as he turned his attention to Steve. "Wow, you two are practically twins." Nat added in sarcasm. Yeah, I wish. Specimen. Uh...if you guys need anything, I've been Aaron," he said and held out his employee card. "Also, think about my offer," he added. "She already has a date," Steve told him. "Worth a shot." With that Aaron walked away.
"Steve, you don't have to be jealous. It would be fun if I could attend wedding with him," Lilly said and turned her attention to the computer. "I am not jealous."
"Steve, you know the place?" "I used to. Let's go." With that all three of them left the shop.
"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." Steve ordered. "Shut up and put your arm around me, laugh at something I said." Nat said back to him. "What?" "Do it!" Steve quickly put his arm around Natasha and laughed. Lilly slowed down and looked the other way. She didn't know why, but she felt left out. As if they didn't really need her, but she was there as a support group.
As all of them went down the escalator, Lilly noticed Rumlow. "Guys," she said and moved her head in his direction. Mat turned to Steve. "Kiss me," she said. Both of them were taken by surprise. "What?" Steve asked her. "Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable." "Yes, they do," he said to her and without hesitation she quickly pulled down Steve's head and kissed him making Rumlow look away as he goes past them on the escalator.
Again, Lilly couldn't comprehend what just happened. She was,... jealous of Natasha. She tried to look anywhere when they stopped. "You still uncomfortable?" "It's not exactly the word I would use," Steve said. Lilly thought that they forgot about her. She felt so uncomfortable.
When they arrived outside the mall, Steve and Nat headed for the car. Lilly went the other way. She walked faster, trying to not grab their attention as she disappeared. She knew where she wanted to go.
——— later ———
As the bus stopped at her station, she walked across the street. There was an apartment of her dear friend.
She knocked on his door and waited. After a few moments he opened the door. "Lilly?" "I'll explain everything, if you promise to let me in," she said and looked at Sam with pleaded look. He sighed and let her in.
"We are on the run." Sam didn't know what to say. "I think you heard the news about Nick," she said and looked away from him. "I did. And before you say anything else, there's a bathroom down the corridor on the left." She looked at him. "Get cleaned up and we'll talk later. You seem like you need a bath." She thanked him and went inside his bathroom.
She locked herself inside and leaned against the wall. "I can't believe this," she looked at her hands. The small sparks were flying from her fingers as she later turned them into a fist. She picked out a fresh towel and put her clothes off. She stepped inside the shower and turned the water on. She enjoyed the feeling of water running down her body.
In her mind, a picture of Steve and Natasha kissing popped up. Even if it meant nothing, this haunted her. "Steve," she said. A tear rolled down her face. She wanted to tell him so bad, but now it's not the time or the place.
After her shower, Sam waited for her in the kitchen. He prepared them some food and placed it on the table. "I took some of your clothes, sorry," she said as she walked up to the table. "No worries." "I'll be happy if I could use you washer to clean mine." "Of course," he said and smiled.
"I hope you this." She didn't mind eating anything at the moment. As they were eating their food, Sam asked Lilly "You're sleeping over tonight?" She nodded. "If I may," she added and Sam smiled. "You're always welcomed here." With that they continued eating.
Both of them went to bed at night. Sam, actually slept on the couch. Lilly was still thinking about today's events at the mall. First the wedding then the kiss. As if on replay, this was the only thing on her mind.
