Guardian Angel | Steve Rogers

4

"You were awfully quiet about the Winter Soldier." Nat whispers to Arden, walking beside her as they trail behind Steve.

"Yeah, well, I've got a bone to pick with him too." Arden replies.

"We need to find somewhere where we can look at this file without having a trail on us." Steve insisted, leading them out to the car.

"The mall." Arden suggested.

"Don't think we have time to shop, princess." Steve insulted, starting the engine.

Arden rolled her eyes getting into the front seat.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious. We stay hidden in a big crowd of civilians, and use a public laptop or computer. That will give us enough time to see what's on there before Rumlow and his goons find us." Arden explained.

Steve looked into the rearview mirror at Natasha, and she shrugged, agreeing it wasn't a bad idea. He sighed in agreement and drove off.

"You two love birds go in, I'll keep watch." Natasha advised.

Right when they got into the mall, they purchased some normal clothes to blend in.

"First rule of going on the run is don't run, walk." Arden advised, looking straight as she noticed Steve looking back multiple times.

"If I run in these shoes, they're gonna fall off." Steve commented, looking straight.

She led them into an Apple store, walking up to the first open laptop they found.

"The drive has a Level Six homing program, so as soon as you start up the drive, S.H.I.E.L.D. will know exactly where we are." Natasha advised them.

"How much time will we have?" Steve asks, looking around the store.

"Um, about nine minutes from... now." Arden answered, inserting the drive.

"Nat, you getting this?" Steve asks into comms.

His fake glasses were projecting what he was seeing right to Nat's tablet.

"Well, Fury was right about the ship. Somebody's trying to hide something." Nat commented.

"The coding on this drive is protected by some AI. It's trying to counteract any coding I put in to encrypt it." Arden mentioned.

"Can you override it?" Steve asks, leaning over her shoulder.

"The person who developed this is not nearly as smart as me." Arden smirked at Steve and he rolled his eyes.

"Try running a tracer. If you can't find out what's on the drive, maybe we can find out where it came from." Natasha suggested.

"Can I help you guys with anything?" An employee walked up to them.

Steve took a step beside Arden to cover the laptop, as the employee walked closer.

"Oh, no. My fiancé and I were just looking up some honeymoon destinations." Arden lied, putting her hands on Steve's shoulders, smiling at Steve.

"Right, we're getting married." Steve nervously smiled.

"Congratulations. Where are you guys thinking about going?" The employee asks.

Arden turned back to the laptop, trying to rush to finish the tracer, and the employee tried to look over Steve's shoulder.

"New Jersey." Steve answered, as he quickly read the screen.

"Oh." The man said, then he began to look deeply at Steve.