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Chapter 154: Doppel-Rogers Part Three
Location Unknown - Time Unknown
Now they know their plan worked. The real Angela and Xavier are on the run as fugitives in SHIELD's eyes, getting away in the Deep South. As SHIELD handles that, their frauds could work on their weapon shipment. They assumed that Angela and Xavier would be held in questioning, in electromagnetic holding cells, interrogated for hours and in utter confusion and pressed with the video proof and electronic paperwork. No lawyers or alibis could get them out of that one, even one paid with Stark's fortune.
But them fleeing is better because SHIELD will spend more time chasing them than they would've in a conversation. As if SHIELD could catch them anyways.
"What'd the big man say?" Doppel-Xavier says, both keeping their façades on.
Doppel-Angela shrugs as she puts her phone away. "I'm still waiting for a confirmation but we have time since the real Angela and Xavier got themselves in a mess." She laughs a little. "But you don't think anyone else on their team will be chasing us or helping them? Should we take their faces off?"
He hesitates, pacing on the spot before meeting her, or Angela's, eyes again. "Keep them on. Last I checked, Stark and Banner have reportedly married, Pym was sent on a classified mission when they called Angela and Xavier to Kentucky, and I can only assume that Barton's getting the mission the Rogers were supposed to get. And we both know Princess Iqadi will have her own mess to clean up in due time."
"If Barton knew about this, she would help them instead of going on that mission, orders be damned."
"What if she comes to us instead?"
Doppel-Angela shrugs. "Keep her on board. She'll probably see right through us but at least it'd be wasting her time." Her phone vibrates in her jacket pocket and the screen glows on her face when she takes it out. Her lips purse together and she groans. "We do have a different issue on our end with our middle man and the shipment. We have to move."
-o-
Kentucky-Tennessee Border - Time Unknown
Once they lost SHIELD, Angela and Xavier were on a moving train, lying in the empty car and catching their breaths.
After they jumped the tracks, they quickly skidded to a stop and turned around, jumping on the moving train. They linked onto sidebars between cars as Angela grabbed the shield from Xavier's back to break the car door's window. She pushed the shield through before sliding her arm through to unlock the door. When it opens, she jumps inside and Xavier follows. They're on their toes for a moment, hands over their weapons, wary of their surroundings for an ambush, but when nothing comes Xavier kicks up the shield to put back on. They're lucky they're in a commercial train so there are no passengers or rows of seats. Given that there are no goods either, they could assume the train was on its way back from a delivery.
Despite that, they know SHIELD will send teams to investigate along the train's route. At least that should buy them some time.
"Okay…" Angela mutters. "Can we just … what's going on?"
Xavier shrugs as he hands her the tablet to show the files Emily Stark sent his way. They're glad they took care of that early since the system would've locked them out and pinpointed their location if they even attempted to sign on. As they leaf through what they have, they come across the seemingly infamous security footage of them shipping off top-grade SHIELD weaponry.
"They framed us badly," Xavier states, "SHIELD really thinks we're that incompetent? I'm more offended than pissed."
Angela nods, walking back and forth across the moving train car. "So I'm disowned."
"And I'm disowned by association."
"Or maybe I'm disowned by association and you're just disowned." She grins.
Xavier glares at her. "Whatever."
"So to recap, we have two spies or criminals, whatever, who stole our faces and SHIELD weaponry. They could be literally anywhere with the weapons they shipped off to who knows where or to whom."
Xavier glances out the train window. Flat and empty landscapes all around them. "That's what I got."
"What's our advantage? SHIELD's hunting us and who knows who will be in charge of their strike team, or teams plural. We can't ask our friends since Emily and Daniel are on their honeymoon across the world and SHIELD will have an eye on the others. I think James got required for a classified mission or maybe they'll send him and Barton on whatever we were supposed to do. I don't know."
"We have an element of surprise and having other friends outside our team who will cover for us," Xavier states. He turns his shield around on his back to hide the red, white, and blue for when they step out again.
Angela bites down on her lips and nods. She looks at Xavier, seeing where he's going with this plan. "Or cover us."
"We'll soon cross state lines. We'll be in," he mentally pictures the US map and traces south with his eyes, "Tennessee."
Hearing that place is when Angela and Xavier smile. They know what to do now. It's not a definite solution but it'll help them set some ground and come up with a new plan, and a chance for help.
"But if we're thinking of going there, SHIELD will know we're heading there which will get us all compromised," Xavier states. "Her mom's Facebook says she's back in town."
"But what if SHIELD thinks we're thinking that so they won't bother to check since we supposedly know and would act better?" Angela asks.
"Do we know and act better?"
"I'm not sure anymore. They think we shipped off weapons, remember." She knows Xavier can't argue that point because they're on a moving train after fighting on a stairwell and leaping across a rooftop in open fire before a foot chase. "If only we called in advance."
"Southern hospitality is a thing. Who knows, maybe SHIELD will beat us there first and we'll arrive after they leave. We'll get there during the night."
-o-
Middlesboro, Kentucky - 5:01 AM
They hopped off the train once they thought they crossed the border. According to a giant colourful sign on the side of a building, only visible through dim street lights, they're in Middlesboro, Kentucky, the border between the Bluegrass State and the Volunteer state. Truthfully, Angela and Xavier have no idea where they are but as long as nobody sees them, they're good. Hell, they're white, blond, and Xavier is holding a shield decorated like the American flag so they fit right in (even with the uniforms).
Even in the early hours of the morning, Middlesboro is gorgeous. American flags posted on rooftops and the sides of doorposts, swaying in the wind with a silent pride. Street sides full of charming stores, no flashy signs but handmade painted ones. Local shops, artisan touristy zones. Small-town cafés, homegrown organic produce, home-made clothes and trinkets in storefront windows.
The sun's starting to rise when the twins spot their first neon sign for a gas station's truck stop within the orange-yellow hues of the sky. It makes the flashing sign duller than it should be. If it was darker, they would've seen the flickering letters the moment they hopped off the train. Signs posted on the roadside, marking the specials. Best sweet tea in the state! Grab some on the go!
Truck stops are the closest thing to a pause. A grey zone. Nobody should care who you are, where you came from, or where you're going.
Before they enter the lot, a young group of university students were making jean jackets to fundraise for their school's textile program. Because they need disguises and to cover their specialist uniforms in the South (and to help the program), Angela and Xavier gave a few hundreds for some jackets and matching neon caps with their university's logo. Oversized denim coats with different fabric patches sewn all over. Velvet, cotton, lace, old blankets, anything. Angela and Xavier matching. Their mother would've loved this.
Angela and Xavier walk into an empty gas station's convenience store. The clerk doesn't look up from his phone as they start to browse. Angela spins a rack of postcards and grabs some snacks and sunglasses as Xavier looks at the local map plastered on the wall. Angela picks out some chips, thinking that being on the run is a valid excuse not to adhere to her vegan regimen. As she turns to pay, she looks at the television behind the clerk and tries to act unfazed.
On the local news, Angela saw her and Xavier's SHIELD employee ID pictures. Fugitives. Matching small smiles and big blue eyes. Their mother wouldn't love that.
The phone behind the clerk rings and he's about to pick up. The moment he turns around, he'll see their faces and connect the dots. She and Xavier will run out instantly but SHIELD would have a more accurate place to search.
In the next instant, they had no choice but to be memorable. Their pictures were on the TV over the counter and will likely appear again. Nobody panics because it'll draw attention. If nobody even looks at the television, it'll go to commercial and they'll be in the clear. Angela quickly knocks over the rack of postcards, mumbling a ditzy blonde apology as she twirls her hair and cleans up her mess. Xavier looks over at her as the clerk misses the phone call.
"We have to get out of here," Angela mutters as she puts the sunglasses back. She grabs a pair to wear with her denim jacket.
"I think I know the way," Xavier responds.
Angela and Xavier were used to rushing under pressure. Whenever they were left at home alone and knew their parents were on the way home, they managed to clean the whole house at top speed. Sprint with vacuums through the clean every surface. One twin would stand outside and catch bags of trash the other would throw at them from inside.
Before they could pay, they stop when someone storms inside the store with a bandana covering the bottom half of their face and a gun pointed at the clerk who instantly puts his hands up. Robbery. The usual threats for money and cigarettes are hollered as the clerk scrambles to get them. When the robber notices Angela and Xavier at the side, he points their gun at them and the twins are unfazed.
"Is he for real?" Angela asks. She wants to laugh at the attempt.
"Hey, hey, let's not do that," Xavier says to the robber as he walks over with the gun still pointed at him. He puts his hands up and behind his head. "Between us, you could've waited five minutes."
Before the robber could threaten or shoot, the commercials end and the local news puts Angela and Xavier's faces back on the screen. The robber's eyes dark back and forth between the twins. When his eyes lock on Angela, Xavier reaches forwards for the weapon. Xavier's smiling politely with the gun now in his possession and Angela's waving with her fingers.
"We're still SHIELD agents, by the way," Angela pipes.
The robber bolts.
The clerk slowly rises from behind the counter, staring at the twins as if he's looking at a ghost but now has a shotgun in his hands. Angela drops two bags of chips and water bottles on the counter with a pair of sunglasses. She even grabs a pack of bubble gum from nearby and adds it.
"Uh…" The cashier mutters, still overwhelmed by the past few minutes. "Stuff's - stuff's on the store. Thank y'all for handling that. I won't tell no feds I saw y'all."
"Thanks," Xavier says as they pay for the items anyways, "actually, we'll need some directions."
-o-
The Next Morning - Vermillion Farms - 7:20 AM
SHIELD's strike team assigned to get Angela and Xavier knock on the door of a charming farmhouse. Their vans are parked around the property, outside the fencing around the barns. The animals grazing on the land look over curiously at the armed men before going back to their morning meals. Before the lead agent could knock again, the door opens and a fresh-faced blonde farm girl wearing plaid and overalls is on the other side, beaming as if her neighbours were on the porch.
"Agent Vermillion," the lead agent says with his striking Australian accent.
"Howdy, Brody," Orchid greets, "or should I say Agent Ocean since you're on duty. I'm on vacation. You bring your boys for a visit?"
And here are Orchid and Brody, our first two randos of Rando Week.