𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋 | 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲

𝟎𝟑. 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭

"𝐈 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓 you said we couldn't go to S.H.I.E.L.D. for help?" Steve questioned, confused by his familiar surroundings once Crystal had finally taken him out of her bag.

Finding an arrangement had been difficult and awkward at first, but she elected to set him on her right shoulder. Although it wasn't easy to maintain his balance at first, Steve was slowly getting the hang of it.

"I did," Crystal replied, checking her shoulder then the hallway ahead of them, "but I left behind some stuff that I don't want them to get their hands on. S.H.I.E.L.D. can't help you, but maybe my tech in storage can."

Once she had determined that the area was clear, she proceeded forward toward one of the helicarrier's more hidden labs. After Hydra had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. and both organizations went up in flames, S.H.I.E.L.D. gathered what they could and the helicarrier was all that remained of the secret agency. Despite Agent Romanoff's attempt to reveal all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secrets to the world, there were a few that Fury managed to keep hidden under wing. No matter how much she wanted to flee from the organization, Crystal understood that her only chance of fixing her mistake was the tech she had created, stowed somewhere aboard the helicarrier. Hopefully it hadn't been moved.

So, she had resorted to sneaking around behind security's back hoping to remain unnoticed. Stealth would have been easier to achieve if she was capable of using her watch to walk around invisible to the naked eye; however, the water from the storm had fried the circuitry. When she revealed her wings to the captain, that was the last equation the Watch accepted before it shorted out. Besides, she didn't want to risk mixing the visibility equation with the captain's current state,  especially since she didn't know his exact measurements. She couldn't afford to make things worse.

"Are you doing alright?" she gently asked, looking over at her right shoulder.

"I've been worse," the captain replied vaguely.

She raised an eyebrow, but only received a shrug in response. Moving on, she stopped at the end of the hall and slowly peeked around the corner. Two guards stood in front of the lab doors ensuring that no one entered. She slowly pressed her back against the wall, trying to remember the rotation schedule. It wasn't her first time sneaking into the lab unannounced. She glanced up at the clock on the wall and counted the minute down on the beat. As the time changed to 3:00 a.m., the guards straightened at their posts. The agent on the left released a long yawn before nudging his partner to begin the surveillance round.

Unfortunately, the yawn was contagious. Crystal quickly clamped a hand over her mouth to conceal the sound as her mouth opened with a yawn she couldn't control. The guards paused and glanced at one another, but were clearly too exhausted to inquire any further.

Once they turned the corner, Crystal was quick to act before another pair of guards arrived. She stepped out from around the corner and carefully jogged over to the pair of lab doors. Without hesitation, she entered the code to open the doors then slipped inside. She released a sigh of relief once the doors closed behind her. However, she hesitated once she recalled that the captain had been on her shoulder during her quick decision. She looked over with an apologetic expression, but he was too busy clinging to the fabric of her jacket to notice.

"Sorry."

Without waiting for a response, she carefully made her way around the lab to where her personal devices had been stored. She began to mutter under her breath, listing off the function and names of the devices as she scanned the area. "Transporter, DreamCatcher, Time Modulator... Where is it?"

Unfortunately, most of the devices had no success rate, otherwise she would've tried to escape much sooner than her current predicament called for. She continued to scan the area until her eyes found the device that her heart desired.