Steve looked at Natasha.
"Did you..." he began.
Natasha cut him off before he could finish.
"Fury sent me," she said. "He told me to get the drive if something happened to him."
Steve's grip tightened around the small flash drive.
Natasha's face stayed calm, but her voice was lower than usual.
"He had doubts," she continued. "He did not tell me everything, but he thought something inside S.H.I.E.L.D. was wrong."
Steve did not answer at once.
His eyes moved from Natasha to Adam.
Adam saw the look and immediately raised both hands.
"Do not ask me," Adam said. "I am new to this planet, remember? I do not know who to trust here and who not to trust."
Steve kept looking at him.
Adam pointed toward Natasha with one hand.
"Besides you, she is one of the few people here I can believe a little," Adam said. "Do not make that face."
Natasha looked at him for a second.
Steve slowly let out a breath.
"Then what now?" Steve asked.
Natasha turned slightly and looked down the hallway.
"Now you follow me," she said. "We need to find out where that drive is pointing."
Steve looked at the drive again.
Adam already knew where this would go.
The drive would lead them to a public computer and then to New Jersey.
But that was not the part that was bothering him right now.
In the original scene, Steve and Natasha had to hide inside a crowd, and Natasha had kissed Steve to avoid being noticed.
Now Adam was standing here too.
That changed the scene.
'Nope,' Adam thought. 'I am not standing beside them like a third wheel while that happens.'
Natasha had already started walking, but Adam moved closer to Steve before they fully left the hallway.
"I have an idea," Adam said.
Steve looked at him. "What idea?"
"We should not all go together," Adam said. "Natasha and I will check the drive. You go to Sam."
Steve stopped.
Natasha also turned her head a little.
Steve's eyes narrowed. "Why?"
"Because we need somewhere to hide more than anything right now," Adam said. "You already trust Sam. He is outside S.H.I.E.L.D., and he is not the kind of man who will sell you out."
Steve did not answer for a few seconds.
Natasha looked at Adam, then at Steve.
"That might actually work," she said.
Steve looked at her.
Natasha folded her arms lightly. "If we find the location, we still need somewhere to go after that. You finding a safe place first is not a bad idea."
Then she looked back at Adam.
"Who is Sam?"
Adam answered before Steve could.
"A soldier Steve trusts," he said.
Steve's expression shifted a little at that.
Natasha noticed it.
"Then go to him," she said to Steve. "We need an escape route and a place to hide. Adam and I will get the location."
Steve looked from Natasha to Adam again.
For a moment, it looked like he might refuse.
Adam kept his face serious. Steve had to believe this was about finding a safe place, not about the scene Adam was trying to avoid.
Steve finally nodded.
"Do not do anything stupid," he said.
Adam touched his own chest lightly. "That is a very unfair thing to ask me."
He handed the drive to Natasha.
"Find out where it came from," he said.
Natasha took it.
Steve gave Adam one last look, then turned and left through the other side of the hallway.
Adam watched him go until he disappeared around the corner.
Natasha began walking again.
"Come on," she said.
Adam followed her out of the hospital.
They moved through the streets without running. Natasha walked like she belonged anywhere she stood. Adam tried to copy that and failed a little because he kept checking the area around them.
Natasha noticed.
"You sent him away on purpose," she said.
Adam looked at her. "I just explained why."
"No," Natasha said. "You gave him a useful reason. That is not the same thing."
Adam blinked.
"I do not understand."
Natasha did not look at him right away. A small smile touched her face as they crossed the street.
"For a second back there, you looked like you were thinking something naughty."
Adam almost missed a step.
That was not exactly wrong, but it was not exactly right either.
He had not been thinking anything that far. He had only remembered the future scene and decided that Captain America could take a different route this time.
Still, the way Natasha said it made his brain slow down for half a second.
Adam recovered and smiled.
"Wait," he said. "Does that mean you were thinking something like that?"
Natasha looked ahead.
"I did not say that."
"I was not thinking anything," Adam said.
"You are not very good at lying," Natasha said.
Adam gave a quiet laugh.
"That is because everyone in this world keeps putting me in situations where lying is the only option," he said.
"Maybe try better lies."
"I am taking notes."
They reached the mall after that.
The place was bright and crowded in a way that felt strange after everything that had happened.
Adam could feel the danger under all of it.
Natasha moved toward a row of computers like she had already chosen the place before they arrived. Adam stayed beside her while she sat down and connected the flash drive.
She glanced at him.
"Cover me."
Adam nodded and turned slightly, looking left and right.
He was not as trained as Natasha or Steve, but he knew someone could be watching from almost anywhere.
Then a store employee walked toward them.
Adam saw him coming.
Natasha saw him too.
Before the employee reached the table, Natasha shifted closer to Adam. Her shoulder brushed his arm, and her smile changed at once. It became warm and easy, like she had not been running from S.H.I.E.L.D. only a short time ago.
"Hi," Natasha said to the employee. "We are newly married."
Adam's mind went blank for one second.
Then happiness hit his face before he could fully control it.
He placed one arm around Natasha's shoulder and leaned in like this was the most natural thing in the world.
"Yeah," Adam said, smiling at the screen. "We are planning our honeymoon destination."
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