Everything Sucks (Just Kidding!)
After using the borrowed tools from her neighbor, Riri concluded that she needed more time to work on it. Sam and Bucky had reluctantly decided to give her more time and allow her a couple days to work on it on her own. They only agreed to this after they’d made her promise to keep this whole ordeal confidential.
At about 11:00 a.m. the next day, Riri looked at the flickering watch on her desk. She couldn’t crack it. Whomever made this wasn’t an amateur. She’d practically tried everything to get this thing to work. She was stressed out. Captain America was depending on her to hack this watch and there was nothing.
Riri heard footsteps from down the hall. Kitty was in her dorm now, back from her early morning class. She knew she’d promised Sam that she’d keep this secret. An idea popped into her head, why not ask for help? She wouldn’t explain all the details to Kitty, she’d just say that she needed help with a personal project.
But what if Kitty was able to actually crack this thing? Then she’d have to explain a lot. Then she’d have to explain to Captain America that she broke her promise and told somebody. Crap.
She put her hand on her cheek and slumped over. What was she going to do? If she couldn’t figure this out, she’d look incompetent and lose her shot with the Avengers. How was she unable to do the one thing that she needed to get done?
There was a knock on the door. Riri sprung up to open the door, finding Kitty standing there with a hand on her hip.
“Did you take my tools again?” She asked, a slight tone of annoyance in her voice.
“I did, but I needed them for a project,” Riri explained vaguely.
“Look, that’s fine and all, but next time don’t leave my door unlocked, okay?” Kitty was no longer annoyed and made a simple request.
“You got it, Kit-Kat,” She gave her finger guns. Why did she do that?
Kitty nodded and then turned away to walk to her dorm, “Good luck with your project, Riri.”
Riri put her hand on the door to shut it and then took the risk, “Kitty?”
Kitty turned around again to look at her, “Yeah?”
“I think I need your help,” She sighed and then gestured for her to come in.
“That’s a first,” Kitty furrowed her brow and followed her direction and came inside, standing by the wall, “What’s going on?” She crossed her arms.
Riri picked up the watch and showed it to Kitty, “I’ve been trying to hack this thing and it won’t budge. Whomever made it had to have been some kind of super genius.”
Kitty looked baffled by the watch. Riri spoke up, “Any thoughts?”
“I- uh- yeah,” She stuttered, “Let me take a look at it.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Riri thanked her profusely and then led her to the desk where her tools were scattered.
Kitty went through the toolbox and frowned, not quite finding what she needed, “I’m good. I think I have some other tools in my room for this specific kind of thing,” Kitty continued to look at the watch. Her look was that of fascination, but she was unsure of if it was for the right reasons.
“Alright, let’s go then,” Riri gathered up the tools on her desk and put them back in the box, picking it up and then following Kitty out the door and into her dorm.
Kitty took a seat at her desk and Riri set down the tools and the watch in front of her. Kitty swooped up a little tool from under her desk and started working, once again taking apart the watch.
Riri watched her work for a few minutes before Kitty started talking as she was working, “So, seen Ironheart lately?”
“Not recently,” Riri replied. Kitty had no idea that she was Ironheart, “Have you?”
“I thought so. I saw something weird flying through the clouds and thought I could post it on my Ironheart fan channel. But after watching it again, I couldn’t really figure out what it was,” Kitty answered.
“How is the channel by the way?” Riri asked.
“It’s alright. A lot of people think it’s photoshopped or something,” Kitty shook her head as she continued to pull the watch apart.
An alarm went off on Riri’s phone and she checked, instantly freaking out, “Crap, I have to get to class!”
Kitty stopped, “You can go ahead, I’ll keep working on this and, hopefully, I’ll be done when you get back.”
Riri rushed out the door and grabbed her bag from her dorm, shutting the door, and locking it. She stopped at Kitty’s door and spoke quietly, “If you see anything weird on that thing, please just.. Don’t freak out. I’ll explain everything.”
Kitty nodded at her with a confused expression and then asked her to shut the door. Riri did as asked and then dashed down the stairs to class.
Kitty waited for a few minutes to make sure Riri wouldn’t return suddenly. She looked at the watch and put it back together, effectively fixing it. She then turned it on, all of the information projecting in front of her in bright orange.
“Oh my god,” Kitty leaned back in her seat and covered her hands, mumbling to herself, “This is either a miracle or a curse.”
She then looked at the watch again, “Or a trap. How did she even get a hold of this?” She then stood up and began to pace around, thinking out loud, “Oh my god, is she SHIELD?”
She groaned and then sat down again in her chair, looking at the watch, completely conflicted. She stared at the watch for a few more minutes before she picked up her phone and called Kurt. He was at work, it was unlikely he would answer, but she had to try. No response. She then dialed Logan’s number. Surprisingly, she got an answer.
“Hey, Cat, how’s school?” Logan asked. From the sound of it, he was driving.
“It’s fine, but um,” She hesitated, she was unsure of how he could help.
“Out with it,” He ordered.
“This girl in my building, she somehow got the watch that you lost. She asked me to help her hack it, which of course I can because it’s my tech, but I’m not sure if this is some kind of setup or if I’m overthinking things,” Kitty confessed rapidly.
There was a moment of silence over the phone before Logan spoke, “I think yer overthinking things, but yer the smart cookie so do what ya think is best.”
“Helpful, Logan,” She said with sarcasm, “I need you to tell me what the best move is to do here. If I’m really overthinking things, what should I do?”
Logan sighed, “Just delete the info and say you found nothin.’”
“Are you sure that’s the best thing to do?” She needed to be certain.
“Just go for it. That way, Cap ain’t able to figure out who we are and where we are and we can keep doin’ what we’re doin.’”
“Okay,” There was still an undertone of uncertainty in her voice.
“Relax, Pun’kin. Whatever happens’ll happen,” He spoke to her, trying to be reassuring.
“Thanks, Logan,” She nodded her head and then went to hang up before being interrupted.
“Also, I need you and Kurt to come to my place to discuss our next mission,” Logan shared over the phone.
“When?” She queried.
“Tomorrow at about six or so. Whatever's good for ya,” He suggested.
“And when is the mission? If it’s during the school week, I’m not doing it. Whoever we’re tracking isn’t worth the jet lag,” She claimed and shook her head.
“Nah, it’s probably this weekend, Friday or Saturday. I’ll discuss it with you two tomorrow,” Logan then divulged, “But this guy’s worth it, trust me, kid.”
“Alright, see you tomorrow, Claws,” She giggled at the use of the nickname he’d been dubbed by SHIELD.
“See ya, Ariel,” He replied and then ended the call.
She rolled her eyes with a smile and then got to work, wiping all of the info from the watch without a second thought.
And then, of course, she had a second thought.
Kurt had been right. They couldn’t hide forever and with things going as they were going, it seemed like the dam was about to burst. If they continued doing these missions on their own with SHIELD following their trail, they’d be painted out to be worse and worse. But if she revealed who- or rather what she and the others were, she’d have to give up this life that they’d carved out.
After going back and forth, Kitty made the difficult decision to go through with it and wipe all the info. She’d lie to Riri and, if this was a trap, expose herself. But like Logan and Kurt said, she’d deal with it.
After two hours, she heard a knock at the door and Riri came in, questioning her about the watch and if she’d managed to crack the watch. She explained that she did, but there was nothing on the watch to see. She then handed the watch back to Riri and apologized for not finding anything of use.
Riri thanked her and then took the watch back to her room, explaining nothing. Kitty was left feeling dissatisfied and guilty. She hated lying to her friend. But she kept telling herself that it had been necessary. It still didn’t feel right to her.
Meanwhile, Riri called up Sam, saying that she’d been able to get in, but there was no information on the watch. Sam made it a point to emphasize that he was glad she was able to hack it, but he was disappointed there was no information.
Down the hall, Kitty laid in her bed, still feeling guilty. She wondered if it would have been a bad idea to have left something. To maybe have left a tidbit for them to find. She flipped onto her side and then looked at the window across the room. It was too late now. Maybe she’d just blown her shot to make things better. Or maybe she hadn’t.