Honesty ♧ Bucky Barnes

Industrial Espionage (part two)

The pair reached American University right on time, and Erin swiped them both in using her identification card with no problem. 

She was riding on a high of adrenaline. This was the most illegal thing that she'd ever done besides eating a pot brownie at University when she was nineteen.

The Soldier was decidedly less pumped.

"Could you stop bouncin' up and down like a kid on Christmas, Jefferson? You're puttin' me on edge."

She snorted at him and flashed him a smile as she walked down the deserted corridors towards the Chemistry department.

"You didn't let me wear the balaclava, at least let me get excited."

There was a chuckle from behind her.

"Who wears a balaclava in the middle of the day, Erin? You may as well have written 'I'm off to break into a building' on your forehead."

"They wear balaclavas in the films." Erin didn't help but notice the fact that he had called her by her first name, for the first time. That was good, he was starting to feel more comfortable around her.

"You're not in a spy film."

She didn't need to see his face to know that he was rolling his eyes.

It was weird walking around the University with nobody there. Creepy, almost. Erin had worked here for the last three months, and there were still places she hadn't seen. The Chemistry department was one of those places. She'd popped into the prep room on occasion to pick up a few chemicals for practical experiments that she had done, but it had been a long time since she had actually set foot in the lab. She rounded the corner, the Soldier still on her heels, and scanned her way into the room, pushing the door open.

The scent of chlorine hit her almost immediately, causing her to wrinkle her nose in distaste. Someone had been in here yesterday messing around with halides, and the whole place stank of it. She heard the Soldier let out a small huff of air behind her, and she turned to look at him, confused.

"You alright?"

She didn't fail to notice that his metal hand was clenched tightly, his face stony.

"That smell... it smells like HYDRA," he said, wrinkling his nose. Of course, the strong tang of chlorine would have been rife at a place where antiseptics were used all the time to clean up pools of blood. She gave him a stern look.

"If you want to stand outside-"

"No." He cut her off instantly, "I'm okay. I can handle it."

She nodded, and the corner of her mouth lifted up into a sly smile.

"You sure you don't want to stand guard?" she joked, "You never know who could catch us in the act."

He actually let out a smirk at that, despite the fact that his shoulders were still tense.

"We're not in a spy movie, Erin. You don't need me to 'stand guard'. The worst person that's going to come through that door is an old cleaning lady. I reckon I'd be able to take her."

"You're no fun."

Erin raised her eyebrows, humming a low tune under her breath as she got to work. Her hair was already tied up, but she managed to find a set of safety goggles in a drawer. There weren't any lab coats, so she was glad she wasn't wearing a good shirt.

"If that's the James Bond theme tune I'm going to walk right out of this lab and go find my memories somewhere else." The Soldier deadpanned from the side of the room. He was leant on the wall, his hip popped, arms crossed over his chest.