~5~

                                    

                                          

                            

                                
                            
                              
                                  
                              
                              
                                
                                  
                                  
                                
                              
                             
                            
                            
                          
                          
                          









 ~5~ 









                          
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 DANIELLE HAD opted to wait outside while Steve went to get the drive from the vending machine. She had resisted a smirk when he had confessed his hiding place. It was either ridiculous enough to be genius, or just ridiculous.
                          
 She nurses her probably broken ribs as best she can between her arms, her foot tapping impatiently on the pavement, her hood pulled low over her brown eyes.
                          
 "Are you recruiting all SHIELD agents, Rogers?"
                          
 She glances up at Natasha as the pair of Avengers stride towards her. She pushes off the wall she had been leaning against. She spares Steve a quick glance. Admittedly, she isn't a fan of Steve allowing another person to come with them.
                          
 She prefers working on her own.
                          
 "You trust her?" The red head continues.
                          
 Steve looks back to his newfound partner, "I do."
                          
 Danielle can't help her shocked hesitation. Her  widened eyes meeting his. No one had uttered those words to her before. She runs her tongue over her bottom lip. "I'm new to SHIELD. I couldn't be a mole, it wouldn't make sense for them to recruit a new member when they were already in so deep. How do I know to trust you?"
                          
 "Who are in so deep?" Steve juts his chin upwards.
                          
 Danielle bites her tongue, cursing her nonchalance. "I don't know," she replies evenly, her eyebrow raising slightly.
                          
 The Russian spy narrows her eyes but inclines her head. "Well then, I look forward to working with you, Agent Larson," she extends a hand which Danielle shakes. "Prove us wrong and I won't be so welcoming."
                          
 "The feeling is mutual," the other girl replies just as sweetly.

                          
                                  >>><<<

                          
 Her mind is spinning and her stomach is twisted uncomfortably. This is all too familiar to Danielle. But she remains concentrated on the mission at hand. She had learned to concentrate and perform under pressure. 
                          
 Their trip to the mall had been quick, she couldn't help grinning when she saw Steve's clothing, it was a change from his usual attire. Natasha had gotten the location from the flash drive and Steve had "borrowed" a car.
                          
 And somehow, Danielle had managed to get to the front seat before Natasha.
                          
 "Alright, I have a question for you, oh, which you don't have to answer. I feel like if you don't answer though you're kind of answering, you know?" Natasha begins quietly from the back of the car.
                          
 "What?" Steve asks warily, glancing briefly at her in the mirror.
                          
 "Was that your first kiss since 1945?"