I Can't Help It - Steve Rogers

Chapter 20

Steve and Rachel walk through the hospital hallways in their casual clothing, Steve wearing joggers, a white shirt and jacket while Rachel wore blue jeans, a black top and a jacket of her own. They approach the vending machine where they hid the drive only to find it gone. They both see Nat in the glass' reflection and see her pop a bubble with her chewing gum, the same chewing gum they hid the drive behind. They both turn around and Steve pushes Nat into an empty room with Rachel following behind.

"Where is it?" Steve demands. "Safe" Nat answers. "Do better" Steve orders. "Where did you get it?" Nat asks. "Why would I tell you?" Steve answers angrily. "Fury gave it to you, why?" she pieces together as she glances between Steve and Rachel. "What's on it?" Steve asks her. "I don't know" Nat answers instantly. "Stop lying" Steve says, getting angrier. "I only act like I know everything Rogers" Nat explains, getting annoyed with his aggression. "I bet you knew Fury hired the pirates, didn't you?" Steve assumes. "Well, it makes sense. The ship was dirty, Fury needed a way in, so did you" Nat elaborates. "I'm not gonna ask you again" Steve says as he grips her harder. "Steve" Rachel warns as she sees his grip tighten around Nat's arms.

"I know who killed Fury" Nat states as she looks between Steve and Rachel. "What?" Rachel questions in disbelief and Steve looks at her shocked and with a slightly emotional expression. "Most of the intelligence community doesn't believe he exists. Those who do, call him The Winter Soldier. He's credited with over two dozen assassinations in the last 50 years" Nat explains calmly. "So he's a ghost story" Steve summarises. "Five years ago I was escorting a nuclear engineer out of Iran. Somebody shot out my tyres near Odessa, we lost control, went straight over a cliff, I pulled us out. But the Winter Soldier was there, I was covering my engineer so he shot him straight through me. Soviet slug, no rifling, bye-bye bikinis" Nat explains as she raises her shirt to reveal the scar. "Yeah I bet you look terrible in them now" Rachel comments with an eye roll.

"Going after him is a dead end. I know, I've tried. Like you said, he's a ghost story" Nat states as she raises the drive in front of Steve's face. He looks at Rachel who gives him an assuring nod that they can trust Nat. He takes the drive from Nat before saying "Well let's find out what the ghost wants".

---

"First rule of being on the run, is don't run, walk" Nat warns the pair as the group of three walk through a shopping centre. "If I run in these shoes, they're gonna fall off" Steve replies, making Rachel chuckle. "The drive has a Level Six homing program, so as soon as we boot up Shield will know exactly where we are" Nat explains as she prepares the Apple laptop. "How much time will we have?" Steve asks as he glances around. "About nine minutes from... now" Nat answers as she inserts the drive and starts hacking.

"Fury was right about that ship. Somebody's trying to hide something. This drive is protected by an AI, it keeps rewriting itself to counter my commands" Nat explains as she types away on the keyboard. "Can you override it?" Rachel asks. "The person who developed this is slightly smarter than me. Slightly" Nat answers, being sure to emphasise the '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" Nat explains as a map appears on the screen.

"Can I help you guys with anything?" an Apple Store employee asks the group. Rachel quickly steps in front of Nat to hide the screen and allow Nat to continue typing. "Oh no, my maid of honour is just helping my fiancé and I with some honeymoon destinations" she quickly states as she wraps an arm around Steve to sell the lie. "Right, we're getting married" Steve adds with a smile as he wraps his arm around Rachel. "Congratulations, where are you guys thinking about going?" the employee asks. Steve quickly glances at the screen and reads 'New Jersey'. "Uhh, New Jersey" he answers with a nod. The employee suddenly has a look of realisation as he stares at Steve. "I have the exact same glasses" he states, causing Steve and Rachel to untense slightly. "Wow, you guys are practically twins" Nat comments as she continues to type. "Yeah, I wish. Specimen. You're a lucky lady" the employee replies as he gestures to Steve's physique. Rachel smiles back at the employee before he excuses himself.

"You said nine minutes, come on" Steve states as he looks at his watch. "Shh, relax. Got it" Nat says as the location appears on the screen. Steve stares at the screen and Rachel asks "Do you know it?". Steve pulls the drive out as he answers "I used to". They quickly rush out of the store and keep their heads down. "I'll meet you guys in the parking lot" Nat says as she quickly takes a detour, leaving Rachel and Steve to slip out by themselves. They only assume that Nat left so that they're harder to spot.

"Standard tac team, two behind, two across, two coming straight at us. If they make us I'll engage, you hit the south escalator to the metro" Steve summarises. "Put your arm around me and laugh at something I said" Rachel tells him. "What?" he questions. "Steve, just do it" Rachel orders and he does so. They lean into each other as they laugh and the Strike agents don't notice them. However, as they go down an escalator Rachel sees Rumlow coming up beside them. "Kiss me" Rachel says after thinking of her options. "What?" Steve questions again. "Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable" she explains. "Yes they do" Steve replies and Rachel pulls his face to hers and kisses him. They pull apart when Rumlow has passed and walk off the escalator. "You still uncomfortable?" Rachel asks. "That's not exactly the word I would use" Steve replies, making Rachel smile.