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It's a stakeout. And, so, Steve has brought steak sandwiches, fries, and rootbeer. Everyone who has ever watched television knows you need food on a stakeout. Across the street there's a warehouse and Captain America seems to believe that there is some link to international terrorism. Or this is the worst date of all time.
"You want any ketchup?" he says as he looks down in the bag for the packets.
*
"I'm pretty sure french fries are an excuse to eat ketchup," Jack replies easily as she leans back in her seat. Her lips twist to the side and she manages a curve of a smile, "So a stakeout wasn't enough? We had to go on a 'steak-out'," she points towards her sandwich. Why yes, she does like puns. She leans forward to stare at the place across the street. "What are we looking for, anyways?"
*
"It shows you that I am not only romantic, but fun too," Steve says dryly as he hands over the soda towards her. "I have this feeling that HYDRA is around. For the past couple of weeks I've been pouring over some intel. Maybe it's nothing. Maybe it's not. But if it is, I want to make sure that we deal with it before it spreads." Beat. "Like the flu. Or Goldwater."
*
"What is the romantic part here, exactly? The ketchup?" her eyes sparkle with mischief. "But it proves some things. Like," Jack lifts a single finger, "you made it out of the ice with your sense of humour intact." She smirks as she accepts the soda, but mention of HYDRA causes her eyebrows to draw together. "So we just get to hang out with sandwiches."
*
"The music, clearly." Steve reaches down to turn on some music. Unfortunately for them both, it's polka. "Rumors of the ice freezing my brain may or may not be true. I'm not sure a full markup has ever been truly done. "We could go in, but I'd kind of like to draw more of them out. If I'm right and they are who I think they are, then I don't want to just scare them somewhere else."
*
"Because when I think romance, I think polka," Jack notes casually. Her smile turns comical as she considers something. "Well, I could probably draw them out. We could turn up the polka music," she chuckles at that. "Or we could… I don't know, stage a car accident or something? I don't know. OR!" She points at Steve again, "OR, I could try to sell them insurance. We do door to door all the time. Someone once invited me in for pie."
*
"Reminds me of my dad," Steve says with a chuckle. He looks over towards her as she gives some ideas. "Well, those are all good thoughts. The problem, however, is if they see your face, they're going to link you to me. And if they link you to me, that could end up very bad for us both." He tilts his head, considering. "But, the idea of you selling them insurance is a pretty funny one."
*
"Do people generally link me to you?" Jack's smile turns crooked. "For all they know I could be the cleaning lady." She grins broadly. "And if the cleaning lady goes missing it just means you don't get fluffy linens." She shrugs. "Although," she taps the side of her nose, "that is a sticking point. No one wants to be without fluffy linens." She shrugs. "And everyone needs insurance. Totally normal to do the door-to-door thing. I haven't done it for awhile."
*
"Do you remember that assassin who came to our door a couple months back?" Steve says with a tilt of his head. "Looking to avoid that sort of thing in the future. So that we have a future." He laughs and looks back to the warehouse, just as the overhead door is opening and a van begins to pull out. "You like going for drives, right? Let's see where these boys are headed."
*
Jack's smile disappears at the mention of the assassin. "That's because I came over. I'm pretty sure that was just… opportunity." Her lips purse slightly. "I should've claimed to be the cleaning lady. Have had time to think about it and such." Her lips twist to the side as the van pulls out. "I do like drives." Her eyebrows lift.
*
Steve checks his blind spot and pulls out into the street a few car lengths behind their friends. "Your hands are a little perfect to be a cleaning lady's," he murmurs with a grin. Up there he takes a left and keeps following the vehicle as it moves north towards Queens.
*
"Not that perfect," Jack looks at her hands rather than the vehicle they're following. "The insurance lady then! I could totally be the insurance lady." Her smile takes on a small edge. "Besides, I could coax someone that I'm not Captain America's girlfriend, I think." Her lips quirk slightly. She plucks a french fry from the bag. "Maybe. Probably."
*
"Well, until our faces hit the press, anyways," Steve replies as they pick up speed. The rest of the trip is pretty quiet, and once the car gets to Queens it begins to idle on the side of the road. Steve, likewise, pulls their car off to the curb, turns off the lights, but leaves the engine running.
*
"Don't think it's happened yet though," Jack observes helpfully. She follows the relative quiet of the trip and takes the silence as they reach the Queens area. "How do you know how far away you should be stopping?" Her nose wrinkles. She reaches for the radio and begins to play with the radio dial.
*
Steve shrugs his shoulders, "I don't, really. Does it seem like I'm too close?" He looks over to the back seat and then swings his arm back there to grab at the duffel bags. One of them is set in his lap and the other is put by Jack's feet so as not to crunch her dinner. "We may want to get changed."
*
"And here I thought we were staying in the car. A stakeout is never just a steak-out with you." Jack clucks her tongue, but the note of humour in her voice is unmissable. She moves the food from her lap and sets it down in the backseat. The bag is then grasped and she begins to change into her other costume.
*
Steve rips off his shirt and flings it back into the back seat as he begins to put on his armor. "You know this is what I meant by romantic. Only one way to treat my girl. We both know that." He reaches back for his helmet and plops it on, unbuckled, onto his head.
*
"Undressing and dressing in a car is the epitome of romance," Jack replies solemnly but her expression is probably far more telling than her words. "I've learned a lot, you know. And not al of it involves changing in a vehicle." She laughs quietly. She pulls a mask over her eyes and she shoots him lopsided smile. "I can only imagine you bring all of the girls out for stakeouts."
*
"Only the special ones," Steve says as he peers up at the street corner. One of the men in the vehicle gets out with a suitcase and begins to walk across the street. Steve tightens, feeling like something important is about to happen. "We're going to intercept whatever this is. How are your driving skills?"
*
"I must be pretty special then," Jack's gaze follows Steve's. "My driving skills are good, but I can't say I've ever followed anyone before. I mean, while wanting them not to know that I'm following them." Pause. "Unless I'm the getaway. I can be the getaway…"
*
"Well," Steve says as he buckles his helmet into place and then reaches back for the last piece—his shield. "You might have to do both." He reaches for the door handle to get out. "Keep an eye on that car. If it moves, you move." Captain America hops onto the sidewalk and then begins to run rather fast towards where the man with the suitcase is headed. The shield, fastened to his arm, pumps madly as his legs move faster and faster in hopes of making it in time.
*
The instructions are heeded as Steve gets out of the car. Jack slides over to the driver's side and she manages a vague twist of her lips. She looks ahead to the car still idling a little bit away and for a moment, she ponders the car ahead. With a vague lift of her eyebrow, she opens the driver side door a stitch. Curiosity is hard to satiate, but she manages to stay in her spot despite her more curious self.
*
Jack sees another man walking towards the street corner and it looks like there's some sort of drop about to take place between him and the guy with the suitcase as Steve barrels down on the both of them. Meanwhile, the guy in the car seems to realize something because there's suddenly a sound of squealing tires and the black van rolls down the driver side window as it pulls out into the street.
*
Jack closes the door the rest of the way quietly. She eyes the van and the car. She puts the car into drive, but keeps her foot on the brakes. The lights remain firmly off.
*
BRRAAAPPPAPBRRAAPPPABRAARRAAPPPPA
Automatic gunfire is aimed at Steve just as he's about ready to approach the drop off point. He crouches behind his shield and both the man who would be the receiver and the guy with the suitcase panic and begin to run opposite ways down the street!
*
In a fluid motion, Jack's foot leaves the brake and she presses firmly on the gas pedal. The car lurches forward and spins around to retrieve Steve. The tires scream as she turns the steering wheel hard, trying to get it in a position to get Steve once again, "Who do you want to follow?!" she calls even as they move, anticipating he can hear her.
*
The car shooting at Steve pulls ahead about 50 yards and comes to a stop. "You go after the car," Cap yells as he's back on his feet now. The receiver is going to get away on this one, that's for sure. But Steve wants whatever is in that suitcase. He begins to chase after the guy with the suitcase and quickly realizes that the car is trying to pick that guy up. And with supressive fire it's likely they will be successful.
*
Jack's foot presses hard against the gas pedal with the easy utterance. The car buckles beneath the squeal of tires, and she's not remotely hesitant as the vehicle keeps firing towards Steve. Although… maybe she should be. Her hand temporarily leaves the steering wheel to hook the seatbelt in. She presses harder on the gas on trajectory to hit the other car. And with her lights off? That seems like a plausible choice.
*
The gunfire belts out again, and while Steve is safe behind his shield, he loses valuable seconds. A split one of those later, the car slams into the bumper of the van, shoving the vehicle into a row of parked cars. The gunfire stops abruptly and everything goes quiet. The front hood of the white car is crumpledthis thing won't be able to be fixed. There's no telling whether insurance will pawait a minute. Anyways, the guy with the suitcase bananas back to the sidewalk and keeps running, but he's caught in a tackle by Steve in short order.
*
Jack jostles forward at the hit. It was hard, and even with her seatbelt she'll be feeling that later. She unbuckles it and slides out of the driver seat. When her feet meet the pavement, she's treading to check on the driver of the van and whether it has something worth hauling. In her hands she wields a pair of batons — simple instruments to protect herself if need should arise.
She treads to the driver side of the van and peers in the side mirror. When she doesn't see anything too suspicious, she treads up tot he door to open it.
*
The driver seems to be unconscious. Or, perhaps semi-conscious. She knows enough to realize that it's likely he hit his head upon the steering wheel. His machine gun fell up on the dash and he wasn't wearing a seat belt.
Meanwhile, Steve is delivering several blows to the head of the would be giver. Once he's satisfied that he's out cold, he reaches for the suitcase and breaks the hinges with his bare hands. He opens it up and can't stop staring at what he finds.
*
Jack takes the machine gun in one of her gloved hands. While she doesn't want the weapon, she also would rather not be surprised by the fellow waking up and spraying them with another spray of bullets. She steps down from the van and treads towards Steve. His expression isn't lost on her. She frowns. "So. What is it?"
*
Steve straightens on his knees and looks over his shoulders, clearly flummoxed. "They're…stuffed animals." And once Jack approaches she'll see that there are probably two dozen stuffed bears, rabbits, and monkeys tightly laid into the suitcase.
*
Jack frowns. "Well… that's weird." Nothing like saying it like it is. She treads closes the distance and reaches in to nab one of the bears. "Is there, I dunno, something inside them? I can't believe that the black market for stuffed bears is very lucrative."
*
"Must be, right?" Steve says as he's completely confused. "I think we'd better bring these to SHIELD and see what they can make out of it," he adds. "There obviously must be something about these things."
*
"…yeah. Probably a good idea." Jack's lips twist to the side and she glances down at the machine gun she's procured. "They should probably have this too. I mean, while you're at it." She shrugs. "Guessing Peg has a place for things like this. And I'd rather not have it… around. And stuff."
*
"No," Steve says with a shake of his head. "Doesn't go well with the furniture, I'm afraid." He gives an upwards nod toward the phone booth on the corner, "You want to call the cops or should I?"
*
"You go for it. A woman calling the police is just another hysterical bystander who has illusions and or delusions. Unless she's alone in the dark and someone seems to be following her. Then everyone wants to help out. Normally." Jack looks back towards the busted van. "Sorry I creamed him. Kind of." She's kind of sorry. She really did cream him.
*
"You stopped him from getting away," Steve says with a grin. "Crashing the car is kind of your go to move, now. It's a good one. I'll be right back." Cap is a bit worried that either of the perps might wake and try something, but they don't. "The police didn't really get why we were after these guys. I had to promise to give them some of the evidence that I'd accrued." He looks to the car, "Good thing it's in my name and not yours."
*
"Yeah, I'm glad it's registered to you," Jack smirks. "Although I should probably come up with another strategy. Crashing the car is effective, but, it's also… bruising." She can already feel the place where the belt had strapped her in. Her teeth worry at her bottom lip. "It's good that you have evidence too. Otherwise, this looks really random. Also that you're, you know, captain America. That probably helps."
*
"Yeah, the cops tend to trust me." Cap looks to the car, "If you want to grab anything that looks important from the car, I can meet with the police. Figure we'll take a cab a few blocks from home and walk the rest of the way."
*
"That'd be helpful. I'll nab my clothes and stuff from our car. I can get yours too." Jack shoots him a small smile. "Anything else you need?" she begins to tread back towards their car. "I imagine you've got most of what you were looking for. You know… with your stuffed toys." She smirks slightly before shaking her head in disbelief.
*
"Not anything I'd be willing to say in front of two HYDRA agents," Steve says back with a smile. All in all things go off decently well. It takes about 20 minutes before Steve meets back up with Jack for the long trip home.