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MAL DIDN'T KNOW how long she had been up on that roof, but when her phone rang and she saw the name Nat flash across the screen, she sighed. She couldn't just ignore her.
"Hello?" She asked, pressing the phone up against her ear.
"We got something that needs decoding. You in?" Was the simple reply, and Mal felt her lips quirk up a little in an attempted smile.
"Meet me in the bathroom." She said, ending the call. Mal sighed, nodding slightly to herself. "No more crying." She said out loud, voice firm. "You've got a job to do."
Exiting the roof, Mal descended the flights of stairs, before she reached the right floor. Ducking into the relatively busy hallway, Mal walked quickly, eyes searching for the bathroom. When she found it, she pushed the door open, only to be met with Natasha and Steve.
"Didn't know you used the girls room, Stevie." Mal joked with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. Nudging past them, she shrugged off her jacket (which Steve thankfully took from her) before sighing. Turning the water to go as hot as it could be, Mal turned on the faucet, sticking her hands under the hot water. She began scrubbing the dried and flaky blood off of her hands. The water turned red as is swirled down the drain, and steam was beginning to rise up. After a few minutes, the blood was gone, even if some parts of her hands were still lightly stained red. Her skin was pink and irritated from the scrubbing and the hot water now, too. Drying her hands, Steve held her jacket up so she could easily slip her arms in.
Frowning, Natasha ripped a piece of paper towel from the dispenser, wetting it and making Mal turn to face her. Natasha began wiping dirt and blood off of her face, careful around the still-healing cuts and bruises. It was so caring, so gentle, so motherly that Mal almost wanted to cry again. But she steeled herself, only smiling gratefully when Natasha finished.
"Let's go decode a flash drive."
–•–•–
"First rule of going on the run is, don't run, walk." Natasha stated bluntly, and Mal rolled her eyes, frowning. They had changed into civilian clothes, trying to blend in better with everyone else in the mall. Mal wore sunglasses with a deep burgundy sweater that was a size too big and some black jeans with a regular pair of black converse. She looked like any other teenage girl going to the mall.
"If I run in these shoes, they're gonna fall off." Steve said sarcastically, and Mal held back a laugh as she directed them to duck into a Mac store to use one of their computers.
"The drive has a Level Six homing program, so as soon as we boot up SHIELD will know exactly where we are." Natasha said, handing the flash drive off to Mal.
