''Fury was right about that ship, somebody's trying to hide something.'' All sorts of information about the Lumerian Star pop up on the laptop's screen. So this was about the ship. Katya knew something was going on with that mission. ''This drive is protected by some sort of AI, it keeps rewriting itself to counter my commands.''
''Can you override it?'' Steve asked Natasha impatiently. His eyes scanned the store frantically, doing absolutely nothing to be subtle. Katya made a mental note to never go on the run with this guy again.
''The person who developed this is slightly smarter than me.'' Natasha saw Katya smile from the corner of her eye, happy there was finally something she couldn't do. Natasha loved bragging about her skills, always saying she could do anything, but this was finally a code she couldn't crack. ''Slightly,'' the redhead emphasized to try and get that teasing smile off Katya's face, but it only grew bigger.
''Guess we finally found something you can't do,'' Katya teased quietly, loving how amusement sparked in Natasha's eyes.
''Oh, shut up,'' she whispered. ''I don't see you doing anything.''
''I'm watching your back, Romanoff,'' Katya reminded her, ''Now keep typing.''
Natasha threw a dirty look her way, shaking her head and focusing on the laptop again. She got more and more frustrated by the second since whatever she wanted to do, wasn't working. ''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.''
Right as she finished her sentence, Katya felt someone behind her. She turned around in time to see an Apple Store employee opening his mouth to ask a question. ''Can I help you guys with anything?'' He looked kind, with glasses and a long beard. Not your typical employee, but hey, what did Katya know about working in a store?
She was quick to come up with an answer, grabbing Rogers from Natasha's other side and linking their arms. He protested against her touch, but Katya kept a firm grip, making sure the employee's vision of the laptop was blocked by her and Steve. ''Oh, no. My fiancé was just helping me with some honeymoon destinations.'' She left Natasha out of the conversation intentionally, to not draw attention to her doing weird things on that laptop.
When Steve didn't back her up, Katya pinched his arm. He shot up, putting on the best smile he could manage. ''Right! We're getting married.'' She wanted to fall through the floor right then and there. That sentence was as convincing as asking a child with chocolate all over his face if he had eaten the cake and the answer being no.
Lucky for them, the employee was as oblivious as you could get them. He smiled even bigger, his eyes flashing between Katya and Steve. ''Congratulations. Where are you guys thinking about going?''
Katya opened her mouth to say something. Probably the Bahamas or Bali or something, but Steve leaned over her to peak at the computer, where a location trace worked its magic. ''New Jersey.''
Katya groaned inwardly and she could see Natasha's smile reflect in the screen.
''Oh!'' The employee said surprised. But he didn't question it. Instead, he got distracted by something else, staring at Steve like he remembered something. Katya held her breath as the silence continued and she felt Steve stiffen beside her. What if the man recognized him? They had no time to deal with a screaming fan.
''I have the exact same glasses,'' he finally blurted out. Katya released the air in her lungs and Steve relaxed. They were good for another few minutes.
''Wow, you two are practically twins,'' Natasha said in a dry, sarcastic voice behind Katya, who had to bite on her lip to keep from laughing and insulting this guy.
''Yeah, I wish,'' the guy said, gesturing with his hands to Steve's obviously fit body. ''Specimen. Uh...if you guys need anything, I've been Aaron.'' He tapped his name card and backed away slowly.
''Thank you,'' Steve answered kindly, because Katya wasn't the nicest person in the world. As soon as Aaron turned around, Katya withdrew her hands from Steve and took a quick step back. She didn't like touching the guy. He felt the same way, brushing off the sleeve she had grabbed like her hands were dirty.
Katya took her original position next to Natasha, although she pressed her body a bit closer to her.
''Guess we found something you're not good at,'' Natasha echoed Katya's words from before.
''Shut up.''
Steve interrupted their joking, taking all the lightness and fun out of it. ''You said nine minutes, come on.'' His watch counted down the minutes and it had dropped under one minute. They needed to get out of here fast, or they would be boxed in this store and a fight would break out. Not the publicity they wanted.
Natasha tried to ease him. ''Shh, relax.'' The computer suddenly beeped, drawing Katya's attention to the screen. ''Got it,'' Natasha said with a satisfied and cocky smirk. Katya rolled her eyes before focusing on what location she had pinned.
Wheaton, New Jersey.
Wheaton? Katya had no idea what could be there, but Steve had frozen and his eyes widened, something that didn't go unnoticed by Natasha either. She turned her head to the right, studying Rogers' face. ''You know it?''
''I used to. Let's go,'' he muttered rapidly, yanking the USB out of its slot and stalking out of the store, not waiting for the two women to follow. Katya sighed, sharing a tired and annoyed look with Natasha, who felt the same way.
''Remind me to never take him on these missions again,'' she said to Natasha. They walked side by side out of the store, trying to catch up with Steve in a casual way.
Natasha smiled under her hood. ''I don't know, you make quite a team,'' she teased her.
''Pfff,'' Katya rolled her eyes. ''We were lucky that guy was completely oblivious.''
''I'd say blind. He screams Captain America even with those stupid glasses on.'' They both looked at Steve, who slowed down gradually after he realized they were far behind. Even without his red, white and blue suit, he was Captain America. At least, to them. Because they had seen him in normal clothes before and knew him.
But some had only seen the hero and not the man. So apparently, his disguise wasn't that bad? Or nobody paid attention to their surroundings. Let's just keep it at that.
Katya chuckled quietly when they caught up with Steve, who tried to make his way to the escalators without being seen. Even though SHIELD didn't catch them at the store, they knew agents were in this mall. They had their location. Eight minutes was enough time to spread out through the building and have people everywhere.
So Katya's eyes swept everyone they passed and everyone walking their way. She looked into stores and dark corners while keeping her head down and walking normally. But Steve was the one who saw the agents first. It was probably to blame on his height. The guy was at least a foot taller than her.
''Standard tac-team. Two behind, to across, two coming straight at us. If they make us, I'll engage, you hit the south escalator to the metro.'' Katya rolled her eyes at his stress and soldier-mode. He needed to start thinking like a spy and not like a soldier. Spies only fought when absolutely necessary. They tried to lie and manipulate their way out first. Fighting would attract attention and that was the last thing they needed. Subtlety is key.
Natasha knew this too, cutting Steve off and ordering him to shut up. ''Shut up and put your arm around me, laugh at something I said.''
He looked deeply confused. Katya could see that from Natasha's other side. He was not used to doing this the quiet way and not used to being bossed around like that. She had thrown him off. ''What?'' he asked.
''Do it!'' Katya whisper-yelled at him. She had wasted no time doing what Natasha said. The agents got closer and closer and even though the trio wore disguises, they would be spotted immediately. There was no time for arguing and Steve realized that too. He finally gave in and produced the world's worst fake-laugh ever.
Honestly, it surprised Katya that the sound alone didn't attract the SHIELD agents' interest. What didn't surprise her was that the technique worked. Natasha had a lot of experience and could come up with things like this on the spot.
The agents passed them without a second glance, but this had been too close. They needed to get out of this mall quickly. It was a death-trap and they needed to get to the car and get out.
They reached the escalator without any problems, Natasha getting on first, Katya right behind her and Steve closing the line. This place was tricky. They were going down, which meant that the whole floor below could see them. It was a bad place to be and that proved to be right when Katya's trained eyes spotted the worst SHIELD Agent of all coming up the escalator next to them: Rumlow.
What were they going to do? He would pass them in less than five seconds with less than five feet between them. His eyes scanned everyone he passed, everyone on their side of the escalator.
Natasha suddenly turned around, as if stung by a bee. No doubt she had seen Rumlow too. ''Kiss me,'' she ordered Katya.
She did not have to say that again. A smirk formed on her face as she pulled Natasha closer by her hips. The fact that Katya was on a higher step forced Natasha to stand on her toes to reach her. ''Yes, ma'am.''
But just as she was about to connect their lips, Steve interrupted again. He just couldn't shut up, could he? ''What?''
Natasha didn't look at him as she answered, just kept her eyes on Katya's lips as she muttered, ''Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable.'' Grabbing Katya's face in the hopes of hiding it more, she finally closed the gap between them.
This was new, kissing out in the open. Most of the time, the kissing was done in private places such as bedrooms, bathrooms and apartments, not in public spaces like this. But the fact that they were both disguised and nobody knew it was them, gave them both the same feeling as the one at home. Well, what used to be home anyway. SHIELD was no longer their home.
Katya had to force herself not to get lost in her beautiful girlfriend who tried very hard to do the same. This wasn't the place or the time to start a heavy makeout session. Certainly not with Steve watching like a creep behind Katya, who felt his eyes on the back of her head. ''Yes, they do,'' she heard him mumble under his breath as a reaction to Natasha's explanation earlier.
This caused both Katya and Natasha to smile and break apart. The latter threw a quick glance over Katya's shoulder to make sure Rumlow had passed them and was out of earshot before teasing Rogers. ''You still uncomfortable?''
Her firm hand grabbed Katya's and pulled her down the escalator, past all the people and down to the ground floor.
''It's not exactly the word I would use,'' Steve said more to himself than both spies as he followed them, but they heard him anyway. Katya stifled the laugh that wanted to force itself out of her mouth at his unease. This was another thing they could tease him with. The guy was so easy to taunt. She could see why Stark liked doing it.
As he caught up with Natasha and Katya, making an escape towards the exit, Katya couldn't help but say something. How could she not? He asked for it, really.
''You're too old-fashioned, old man, you should loosen up a little,'' Katya teased him, ''Get a girlfriend! I'm sure Natasha would love to help with that. Her succesrate is high. I mean, look at me.''
Natasha's green eyes lit up and a chuckle escaped her. Her amusement only fueled by Rogers' disgusted and annoyed face.
''Or a boyfriend if you roll that way,'' Katya added. ''I don't judge.''
''No, thanks, I don't have time for any of that,'' Steve growled under his breath. He was done with this whole conversation and just wanted them to shut up. So as much fun as this was, Katya decided to stop talking. They needed Rogers in this mission, as much as she didn't want to admit that, so maybe trying to keep the peace would be a good idea.
They made it to the garage without any further trouble. They successfully escaped the mall and had to get to Wheaton, New Jersey fast. Whatever waited for them there, it was where the file came from and would hopefully give them more clues as to what was going on with SHIELD.
Katya had a bad feeling about it as she sat in the backseat, her head leaning against the window. She tried to distance herself from the awkward tension in the car by staring at the green grassland around them. She herself was more of a city girl, but she had to admit that the wide, open roads held a sense of freedom you could never find in a city. The tall buildings could sometimes feel like a giant maze, trapping you inside.
It made her wish she was at Clint's farm sometimes. If possible, she would visit every week. But for now, they were trapped in this car, which felt more suffocating than any city. The silence was somehow worse than the loud noise of traffic and sirens.
Wheaton, New Jersey couldn't come fast enough.