Bugging
Michelle had forgotten how loud the cafeteria could be. The sound of chairs scratching against the tile floor, the sound of microwaves going off as people pulled leftovers from the night before out, the register opening and closing as students paid for their lunches. She was starting to remember why she sat alone or semi-alone most days. The sound was quite deafening.
However, with Betty yanking her towards the populated table full of other decathlon members she didn’t really have a choice when it came to escaping. Besides, she didn’t know if now was the time to be playing aloof considering she was all but baking them cookies after the events at the Washington Monument. She supposed she’d have to go suffer through the migraine-inducing noise. If all else failed, she’d ask the school nurse for a Tylenol before her next class.
“Penis Parker!” Flash was met with an annoyed expression from the shorter boy.
“Play nice,” Liz demanded, giving Flash a harsh look before smiling at the trio. “Happy you decided to join us.”
Peter awkwardly sat down, fumbling with his bookbag before stashing it under his chair. “S-Sorry about… nationals and- yeah.”
Michelle sat across from Liz, noting the seating. Ned had already been here and sat so he was at the end with Peter deciding to sit next to him. Ned must have felt awkward or wary, based on body language and the fact that he was already fidgeting in his seat. Peter was facing Liz. His entire body was angled towards her. Huh.
Michelle wasn’t stupid. She knew Peter had a crush on Liz since he joined the team. He was more obvious than a tourist in New York. But this was out of character for him. Talking to anyone outside of Ned was, in fact, Ned was the only person she’d seen him focus solely on both through eye contact and body language. Something had to have happened.
“Where were you anyway, loser?” She questioned, her new observations making her more curious than before.
Flash nodded, gesturing to himself and the other members of the team that were present. “All of us were there, and you just bounced. What the hell is there to do in D.C. that’s more important than the team?"
Cindy lifted a finger, interrupting Flash’s crusade. “Well, it has the Smithsonian.”
Charles threw in. “A Zoological Park.”
“There’s also that art museum.” Abe managed out between bites of his apple.
Michelle snapped around, glaring on instinct at the mention of someone besides her in their group going to see the art. “I swear, Parker, if you ditched us to go to one of the few places I actually give a shit about in D.C.-.”
“I didn’t go to any museum or zoo or any of that kind of stuff,” Peter confessed, throwing his hands up as a sign of surrender.
“Then where were you?” Cindy pressured, leaning over the table.
And because Michelle’s life was now a shitty sitcom, her phone went off before Peter could actually speak. Her expression went from confused to embarrass when she realized the eyes of her teammates were settled on her. “Sorry.”
She glanced at her phone, only half taking it out of her pocket so she could see what the message said.
Emergency. Someone who shouldn’t have seen you with Nat. I’m outside your school right now.Play along, I guess we’re testing improve.
Michelle read it quickly and immediately planned. She hurriedly grabbed her bag, pulling the phone out of her pocket as she did so. Scooting the chair back with her foot she glanced at Liz then at Betty before stating. “My uncle is on leave early, he’s outside.”
Uncle, a close enough relative for people to understand why she’s leaving to meet with him but distant enough that the girls wouldn’t ask questions. Also, the fact that the other girls didn’t grow up with much knowledge of how military leave worked meant she could alter the story if necessary. She didn’t feel good lying, but she was good at it. Or at least she hoped she was.
Liz smiled, though it didn’t quite meet her eyes. “Cool. See you later.”
Michelle felt herself bounce awkwardly as she hesitated. “I’ll try to make it to movie night. Only because it’s The Wiz though.”
Betty smiled, waving her off slightly. “If you don’t I’ll hunt you down.”
Michelle pushed her chair in before taking off.
“Don’t make this a habit, Michelle,” Flash hollered as she left. “Flaking is Parker’s thing.”
She exited the school with little to no trouble. One of the benefits of being the observant one in the corner was no one expected you to actually ditch. The teachers seemed to walk past her without a care or worry in the world like she had somehow gone ghost.
He was obvious enough to find. Baseball hat, sunglasses, an old hoodie with the Yankees symbol on it, he was sitting in a pretty average car while holding a phone to his ear and keeping the other on the wheel. How this man survived stealth operations, she would never understand.
“I’m not sure if your next PSA should be about the art of being inconspicuous or about the ineffectiveness of PSAs from someone who’s dressed like a walking flag.” She stated easily, climbing into the car.
He didn’t speak before starting the car and whipping out of the student parking lot. “I’m taking you to our temporary base for now. Natasha is going through their files to find out what they know then we’ll build a cover story around that. I don’t want them taking you for questioning before we have a plan worked out.”
“So, what do I do if they ask about this? I told the team that my uncle was on military leave.”
Steve paused thinking for a moment. “Keep that cover, if all else fails, say he had something planned but it fell through somehow. According to what we found on you, your parents don’t talk much to the school, so you’d be in the clear.”
The girl nodded before launching into another question. “Who saw us this morning?”
“It’s not a who it’s a what.”
Michelle glanced at him with an eyebrow raised.
“It was a bug of sorts. Natasha had tech with her and she didn’t know it had been compromised.”
The girl felt her face go pale. “Does this have anything to do with you guys being wanted?” Would she have to run away? Live outside the law? How the hell was she supposed to go to college-?
“No, well. Not directly. She was compromised through her tech and as far as we know there’s only one person who would be able to do that without her finding out. He’s not bad, but he’s not someone we want to deal with right now.”
Michelle felt herself freeze. “Tony Stark?”
At the nod she received she left out a soft string of swear words before she received a warning look from Steve. “Language. And buckle your seatbelt.”