It had taken a good couple of days for her to talk Sam round to the idea, but after that things started happening with alarming speed. She sent in an application, took the morning of the interview off work, dyed her hair a gingery red (in case they recognized her from the blurry picture of her graduation drinking) and before she knew it, she was walking up to Oscorp's massive upstate HQ.
She pushed her fake glasses further up her nose and pressed her finger to her ear. "V, you there?"
"Always. Try not to draw attention to your earpiece."
She dropped her hand back down to her side. Just within her range of hearing, she could hear the whir of the camera mounted in her fake glasses, which was giving everyone back at their HQ a live feed of what she saw. "All good at your end?"
"Sam appears to be breaking everything within reach, but apart from that everything's coming along swimmingly," he replied.
"That's kinda cute. For the record, these shoes are impossible to walk in." She was dressed in a pencil skirt and white blouse, with stiletto heels that made her feel like a short Pepper Potts. They had covered up her visible tattoos, too, which she hadn't been very happy about.
She walked through the frosted glass doors and up to the wide and ultra-modern reception desk, heart hammering a dent into her ribcage. "Um," she said, "Eva Kresk, here for the outdoor area management position?"
The woman glanced up at her, and she hoped she didn't look suspicious. "Sign in here," she said, sliding over a tablet and stylus, "then please take a seat."
"Right." She scribbled her name onto the tablet, then passed it back.
"Eva," said Vision in her ear as she walked over to a seating area, "remember, any computer or tablet will work."
"Shit! Sorry," she muttered, pretending to scratch her nose to hide her mouth as she talked.
"Don't worry. Just keep an eye out for any more," he told her patiently.
Within ten minutes, a middle-aged man in a suit was approaching her. "Miss Kresk," he said, extending a hand. "Mark Heywood, head of HR."
"Pleasure to meet you, sir," she gushed, shaking his hand.
"Please, follow me." And she did, through several sets of double doors into a large office, with a wilting dracaena marginata plant in one shady corner. Eva froze as she caught sight of it, and anger bubbled up at how anyone could neglect such an easy to look after plant.
"Eva," said Vision in her ear, "focus."
"Right," she said, shaking herself, "sorry, Mr Heywood."
He gave her an odd look, but then gestured to an odd twist of metal on one side of his desk. Realizing it was a chair, she promptly sat in it and he took his much grander seat opposite her- right in front of a large computer screen.
"So, Miss Kresk," he said, clasping his hands together and leaning forward, "what makes you think you are suitable for this position?"
The interview passed in a blur, Eva asking the questions on automatic while trying to figure out how to get to his computer.
"Any questions?" he asked her, eventually.
"Actually," she said, "I was wondering if you could show me the blueprints of where I would be working." She nodded towards his screen.
"Of course, of course, come round and I'll show you," he said. Now she just had to plant the tiny device without him noticing…
"There's a port in the keyboard that should work perfectly," Vision told her. "Be careful, Eva. Don't take any risks, it isn't worth endangering yourself. I know you're tempted, but don't."
Heywood tapped away on his keyboard. "Here," he said, and some plans appeared onto the screen.
"Interesting," she lied, peering closer. She considered flirting, then decided it wasn't worth the embarrassment of trying in front of the Avengers. "Do you mind if I-" she seized the wireless keyboard and as she did, slipped the miniscule device she had taken from her pocket into one of the USB ports. She tapped a few buttons for effect, then passed it back to him.
"We're online!" said Vision. "Terribly well done. Now get out of there, before they notice."
"If that's everything, Mr Heywood," said Eva.
"What? Oh, yes. Just sign out at the-" she slammed the door on him, and walked as fast as she could out of the building in her ridiculous shoes.
"Y'all owe me. I want tips at least twice what you normally give me."
A/N so I've finally finished Alliance (my The Hunger Games fanfic which is currently halfway through updates-wise), right, and it's just over eighty thousand words and I am ASTOUNDED. I poured so much of my soul into that thing I could probably use it for a horcrux if I ever actually killed someone. Not that I'm planning on it. Also, nearly 400 follows! WOWZERS.