Forgotten Ghost | Natasha Romanoff

Chapter 33: Cat And Mouse

''Fury was right about that ship, somebody's trying to hide something.'' All sorts of information about the Lumerian Star pop up on the laptop's screen. So this was about the ship. Katya knew something was going on with that mission. ''This drive is protected by some sort of AI, it keeps rewriting itself to counter my commands.''

''Can you override it?'' Steve asked Natasha impatiently. His eyes scanned the store frantically, doing absolutely nothing to be subtle. Katya made a mental note to never go on the run with this guy again. 

''The person who developed this is slightly smarter than me.'' Natasha saw Katya smile from the corner of her eye, happy there was finally something she couldn't do. Natasha loved bragging about her skills, always saying she could do anything, but this was finally a code she couldn't crack. ''Slightly,'' the redhead emphasized to try and get that teasing smile off Katya's face, but it only grew bigger.

''Guess we finally found something you can't do,'' Katya teased quietly, loving how amusement sparked in Natasha's eyes.

''Oh, shut up,'' she whispered. ''I don't see you doing anything.''

''I'm watching your back, Romanoff,'' Katya reminded her, ''Now keep typing.'' 

Natasha threw a dirty look her way, shaking her head and focusing on the laptop again. She got more and more frustrated by the second since whatever she wanted to do, wasn't working. ''I'm gonna try running a tracer. This is a program that SHIELD developed to track hostile malware, so if we can't read the file, maybe we can find out where it came from.'' 

Right as she finished her sentence, Katya felt someone behind her. She turned around in time to see an Apple Store employee opening his mouth to ask a question. ''Can I help you guys with anything?'' He looked kind, with glasses and a long beard. Not your typical employee, but hey, what did Katya know about working in a store?

She was quick to come up with an answer, grabbing Rogers from Natasha's other side and linking their arms. He protested against her touch, but Katya kept a firm grip, making sure the employee's vision of the laptop was blocked by her and Steve. ''Oh, no. My fiancé was just helping me with some honeymoon destinations.'' She left Natasha out of the conversation intentionally, to not draw attention to her doing weird things on that laptop.

When Steve didn't back her up, Katya pinched his arm. He shot up, putting on the best smile he could manage. ''Right! We're getting married.'' She wanted to fall through the floor right then and there. That sentence was as convincing as asking a child with chocolate all over his face if he had eaten the cake and the answer being no.

Lucky for them, the employee was as oblivious as you could get them. He smiled even bigger, his eyes flashing between Katya and Steve. ''Congratulations. Where are you guys thinking about going?''

Katya opened her mouth to say something. Probably the Bahamas or Bali or something, but Steve leaned over her to peak at the computer, where a location trace worked its magic. ''New Jersey.''

Katya groaned inwardly and she could see Natasha's smile reflect in the screen. 

''Oh!'' The employee said surprised. But he didn't question it. Instead, he got distracted by something else, staring at Steve like he remembered something. Katya held her breath as the silence continued and she felt Steve stiffen beside her. What if the man recognized him? They had no time to deal with a screaming fan.

''I have the exact same glasses,'' he finally blurted out. Katya released the air in her lungs and Steve relaxed. They were good for another few minutes.

''Wow, you two are practically twins,'' Natasha said in a dry, sarcastic voice behind Katya, who had to bite on her lip to keep from laughing and insulting this guy.