Coming Down ➢ Steve Rogers

seven

Chapter Seven;

"An Apple store? You want to decode S.H.I.E.L.D. intel at an Apple store?"

Delaney stared incredulously at the modern store they were approaching. She hadn't questioned entering the shopping centre, but this store left her baffled. Why would they decrypt something so important in such a public place?

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "You have any computer nearby we can use?"

"Well, no -"

"Then the point's settled." Natasha grinned and hurried inside. Delaney glanced momentarily at Steve; he shook his head and she chuckled under her breath as they followed Natasha inside.

The computers were just waiting to be used. Delaney joined the others as they gathered around one. "The drive has a level six homing program, so as soon as we boot up SHIELD will know exactly where we are," Natasha muttered, considering the drive in her hands.

"How much time do we have?"

"Uh...about nine minutes from..." She inserted the drive. "Now."

Delaney glanced down at her watch. Her heart hammered against her chest as the seconds ticked down, seeming to go by unusually fast. She hoped Natasha knew what she was doing.

Several files appeared. Natasha's brow furrowed as she sorted through them. "Fury was right about that ship, somebody's trying to hide something," she hummed. "This drive is protected by some sort of AI, it keeps rewriting itself to counter my commands."

"Can you override it?" Steve asked.

"The person who developed this is slightly smarter than me. Slightly."

Delaney rolled her eyes. "It hurt to admit that, didn't it?" she teased.

Natasha responded with silence and a withering look.

"I'm going to try running a tracer," the redhead said after a few minutes. "This is a program that S.H.I.E.L.D. developed to track hostile malware, so if we can't read the file, maybe we can find out where it came from."

"Can I help you guys with anything?"

Delaney thought she had a heart attack: as it was, it took all her will not to jump into the air as a shop assistant approached them. The skin around her mouth prickled. Oh no. If there was one thing they didn't want, it was someone to accidentally catch a glimpse of what they were up to.

"Oh, no," Natasha, the smoothest liar, said. She placed her arms around Steve's neck and smiled. "My fiancé and my sister were just helping me with some honeymoon destinations."

"Right!" Steve said. "We're getting married."

Delaney winced. You could try and sound a little more enthusiastic, Steve.

Fortunately, the assistant didn't seem to realise anything was amiss. "Congratulations!" he exclaimed. He looked over at the computer. "Where do you guys thinking about going?"

Delaney glanced at the screen and groaned inwardly – the tracer had led them to, of all places, New Jersey.

"New Jersey," she piped quickly. "I keep telling them their love is more important than anything else."

"Oh." 

It was a relief when the assistant finally left. Delaney let out a breath and sidled closer to the screen. Her fingers drummed against the desk as she waited for the tracer to finish. The sound her fingers made against the desk sounded awfully like a clock ticking down time – perhaps that was a reason why Steve anxiously glanced down at his watch.

"You said nine minutes," he pointed out, agitated. "Come on."

"Shh, relax," Natasha muttered. A location focused on the screen and she grinned. "Got it."

Delaney peered over Natasha's shoulder. The signal came from Wheaton in New Jersey – and a camp called Lehigh. Her eyebrows furrowed. She hadn't heard of the location before.

Behind her, Steve sucked in a breath.

"You know it?" Natasha asked.

"I used to," Steve murmured. His voice was distant almost, like he had seen a ghost. Delaney reached over, a question ready on her lips, but Steve had straightened up with renewed purpose. "Let's go."

He yanked the flash drive from the computer and they hurried out of the store, sticking close together. Delaney had hoped they could emerge from the shopping centre without detection, however her hopes were shattered the second they set foot outside the shop – she instantly spotted several S.H.I.E.L.D. agents from amongst the standard shopping crowd.

"Standard tac-team," Steve muttered under his breath. "Two behind, to across, two coming straight at us. If they make us, I'll engage, you both hit the south escalator to the metro."

Delaney frowned as the two agents in front of them continued to draw nearer. "Or, you know, I could just reach out with my mind and convince them to look the other way."

Neither of them argued. Delaney took that as a sign she was free to go. She narrowed her eyes and focused on them, reaching out to touch their minds and ordered them to look the other way. They did so, and the trio walked past without a suspicion being raised. Delaney smirked, pleased with herself.

"Good job Lane," Steve said, as they headed for the escalators. She winked as she stepped on behind him, and Natasha on the step behind her.

They still weren't in the clear – Delaney spotted another agent on the opposite set of escalators, and it would only be a matter of time until he spotted them.

"You two, kiss," Natasha hissed.

Delaney ogled at her friend. "Is that necessary?" she squawked. "Haven't I already proved-"

"Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable."

"Yes, they do," Steve muttered, but before he said anything else Natasha nudged Delaney just enough so she lost balance and she leaned down toward Steve, making their lips meet.

She stiffened, momentarily stunned. Steve was frozen too; Delaney had no idea what to do next, what they were supposed to look like kissing while Rumlow approached. So she tried to imitate what they did in movies: she closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around Steve's neck. He too melted into the kiss.

Natasha cleared her throat. Delaney looked up and realised that they were almost at the bottom of the escalators. She flushed and detached herself from Steve and pulled her hood more securely over her head, to hide her face from the prying gazes of others.

"You still uncomfortable?" Natasha quipped, a twinkle in her eye.

"It's not exactly the word I would use," Steve muttered.

Delaney looked at him out of the corner of her eye. She wondered if he felt like she did: like her skin was buzzing with some kind of electrical current. She touched her lips.

My first kiss. My first kiss was with Steve Rogers. How many people would want to be in my position right now?

Hundreds, that was for sure. They'd be screaming with envy that she got to kiss the famous superhero. Though, Delaney almost wished it hadn't been her first kiss. She'd rather have her first kiss shared with someone she truly loved. Steve was a friend – they had just reunited, and they still barely knew each other. She didn't love him that way.

Though, Delaney did have to admit – there was a part of her that felt rather pleased.

And as far as first kisses went... She smiled.

It had definitely been a good one.

**********

Ok so Delaney and Steve basically just reunited and before that they only knew each other for about a week so even though they're comfortable around each other it's a little too early for them to start developing actual feelings... though, something is definitely developing between the two of them! ;)