Bird Set Free | Natasha Romanoff ✓

Chapter Twelve

Aquila's eyes were cast down, yet still remained observant as she scanned the people lazily spending their day at the mall. 

A zip-up hoodie, a vast difference from her usual style but providing a perfect way to hide her face, because she and Natasha were now working with Steve, they were now also on the run from S. H. I. E. L. D.

Steve walked beside her, his nervous behavior during attention to them. "First rule of going on the run, is don't run, walk," Aquila said under her breath but loud enough for Steve to hear.

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

Aquila let a breathless chuckle escape from her lips. 

"What?" Steve asked. 

"That sounded like something an old man would say."

"Oh, shut it," Steve responded, just as the three of them entered into an Apple store. 

"The drive has a Level Six homing program, so as soon as we boot it up, S. H. I. E. L. D. will know exactly where we are."

"How much time do we have?" Steve asked, his tone laced with concern. He was already on the run but he had now gotten Natasha and Aquila into the mess as well. 

"About nine minutes from now," Natasha said, connecting the flash drive in the computer.

"Fury was right about that ship," Aquila muttered barely loud enough for Natasha and Steve to hear her. "Somebody's trying to hide something."

"This drive is protected by some sort of AI, it keeps rewriting itself to counter my commands."

"Can you override it?"

"The person who developed this is slightly smarter than me," Natasha said. "Slightly." She continued when she caught Aquila looking at her

"Whatever you say, Nat," Aquila said in return.

"I'm gonna try running a tracer,"  Natasha muttered to the two of them. "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."

Aquila took a few steps away from Natasha in order to give her space just as an employee walked up.

"Can I help you guys with anything?"

"Oh, no," Natasha said, pulling the person closest to her into her side. It was Steve. "My sister here is just helping my fiance and I with some honeymoon destinations."

Aquila felt a scowl appear on her face and a weird feeling in the pit of her stomach. Something didn't feel quite right, in fact, she almost wanted to push Steve out of Natasha's arms. 

Oh no. Aquila knew exactly what was happening. At some point, she didn't exactly know when she had fallen for Natasha. So much for the whole no commitments, no strings attached thing. 

Aquila watched, the scowl still embedded on her face as she watched Steve struggle to come up with an answer.

"Right, we're getting married."

"Congratulations." The employee smiled at Natasha and Steve before sending a weird look to Aquila. "Where are you thinking about going?"

The employee tried to peek at the screen but Aquila having finally gotten a hold of herself, quickly blocked his path and his view of the screen. 

"I think they should go to New Jersey, personally," Aquila said, her voice strained. 

The employee nodded at her before turning to Steve and began staring at him intently. Aquila's eyes opened wider in fear, hoping he didn't recognize them. 

"I have the exact same glasses." He said as Aquila let out a silent sigh of relief before turning back to Natasha. 

"You alright there, Quila? You looked a little uptight." 

"Oh, no. I'm peachy." Aquila said, trying her best not to stutter through her words. 

"Sure," Natasha responded, a small smiling gracing her face. 

"Natasha," Steve said slowly, trying to get her attention without making it too obvious. "You said nine minutes, come on."

"Shh," Natasha responded. "Relax, got it."

Wheaton, NJ

Aquila looked at the look of realization on Steve's face. "Do you know it?"

"I used to. Let's go." Steve said, pulling the flash drive out of the computer, leading the two girls out of the store. "Standard tac-team. Two behind, two across, two coming straight at us. If they make us, I'll engage and you two hit the south escalator to the metro. 

Aquila observed the two agents coming towards them before turning to Steve. "Shut up, but your arms around us and laugh at something I said."

"What?" Steve asked.

"Do it!" Natasha hissed as Steve wrapped his arms around the two girls as they laughed together, their faces hidden from the agents. 

The three of them quickly made their way to the escalator, as Aquila's eyes widened as she noticed Rumlow coming up the other way. 

"Kiss me," Natasha said quickly turning towards Aquila.

"Pardon?" Aquila asked. 

"Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable, especially if it's between two people of the same sex. Steve, read this magazine." Natasha said grabbing a magazine out of the woman in front of her's backpack. 

"Yes, they do," Aquila responded just as Natasha grabbed her and pulled her down for their lips to meet. 

The kiss was vastly different from the ones, Aquila had experienced before. Her own lips were soft against Natasha's, almost holding a sense of longing. 

Natasha was clearly the one leading the kiss and the two of them didn't break apart until they could feel the escalator coming to an end beneath their feet.  

"You still uncomfortable?" Natasha said smugly asked, her fingers lightly tracing her own lips, ridding them of any smudged lipstick. 

"Well, not exactly," Aquila said, a strange, warm feeling bubbling in her stomach. 

Aquila sat in the back of the car with Steve in the driver's seat and Natasha in the passenger seat. 

Silence surrounded the car, which held a slight awkward air. Natasha had propped her feet up on the dash, Aquila's fingers lightly tapped the window in boredom and Steve solely focused on driving. 

"So where did Captain America learn how to steal a car?" Aquila said, leaning forward, breaking the silence. 

"Nazi Germany," Steve replied. "And we're borrowing." Steve continued, turning to Natasha beside him. "So get your feet off the dash."

Aquila watched as Natasha rolled her eyes good-naturedly before taking her feet off the dash. 

"So, Aquila?" Natasha asked, a smirk gracing her face. 

"Mm?" Aquila asked, leaning forward once again, her elbows resting on the center console. 

"Was that your first kiss ever?" 

"That bad huh?" Aquila teased. "But, no, not my first kiss, I've had my fair share but not for a while. 

"Really?" Natasha asked. "Well, I'm more than happy to help you come back up to speed."

Aquila let a flirtatious grin spread across her face. "I may just have to take you up on that offer."

"Alrighty, once you two have stopped gazing into each other's eyes, you might realize that we are actually here," Steve said. 

The two of them broke apart, matching smirks dotted across their faces, before exiting the car in sync, leaving Steve in the front. 

"Are you coming, Rogers?"