''An I.T Specialist? At SHIELD? That's your story to get me in?'' Jess asked as she walked around her apartment.
Looking for an outfit that made her look like a professional business woman was difficult enough, but it turns out Zac had a much different role for her to play in his scheme.
''Hey, I worked for a good twenty minutes on this story, at least hear me out,'' he defended. ''You're going to be my personal consultant that has helped me out many times before and knows what you're doing. But the part that's gonna get you in is that I've made you a student doing a higher degree, someone who's really good with technology and would like an opportunity to work at SHIELD. It's kinda like how I got into this place,''
''So I'm an I.T Specialist and student?''
''Yes,'' he confirmed with a sigh. ''It'll be fine if you just go with it. I've set up the story, you just have to take care of looking and acting the part,''
Jess shook her head at her reflection in the mirror, wondering why she'd agreed to Zac's story. It was lucky that she happened to be good with computer and technology because she certainly didn't know how to look the part of an I.T Specialist or student. The last time she'd been a student she was in her early years of high school and she certainly didn't have pleasant memories of that time.
The clothes she'd chosen to wear mirrored the look of a typical hipster, but with a more professional look. Glasses, hair pulled back into a ponytail, black pants and a button up shirt. She didn't like how she looked in them, but she was just glad that within a few hours she would be finished with the role Zac had signed her up for.
Before she got to the door of her apartment though, her phone began ringing in her pocket. She was about to ignore the call until she saw the number on the screen, and she knew she had to answer.
''Hello?'' she put the phone to her ear, walking around looking for her shoes. ''Yeah that's me, how's she doing?''
Jess listened to the person on the other line and nodded to herself as she found the two black shoes she'd been looking for and took a seat on the couch. They were explaining something to her which made her pause what she was doing, her expression changing to one of worry.
''Oh, okay,'' she nodded, paying closer attention. ''Please call me if anything changes, I want to stay updated. Can I talk to her? Oh, no that's okay then. I'll book a flight for the morning and I'll be there as soon as I can. Can you tell her that? Let her know I'm coming. Yes I know. Okay, thanks,''
Jess put her phone back into her pocket and sat back on the couch closing her eyes. Bad news. She hadn't heard news at all for a few months, her fault she assumed because of her lack of communication, but it wasn't without trying. It almost put her off leaving her apartment, but she knew she wouldn't be able to get a flight until the morning. There was nothing she could do right now other than what she came here for.
''I.D?''
Jess lifted up the lanyard on around her neck to show the second round of guards as she made her way through the entrance of SHIELD. How Zac's story hadn't managed to backfire from her arrival was a wonder to her, but she was here now and it appeared to be working. She supposed SHIELD had bigger things to worry about than some girl coming in with a passion for technology. That, or they just weren't good at double checking their visitors.
''I'm supposed to be seeing Zac Williams,'' she told the guard as he looked over her student I.D and her approval form that Zac had given her.'
The guard looked down at her now, letting go of her lanyard.
''I'll take you there now,''
Jess didn't have enough time to take in everything around her, but she did her best as she was escorted to the offices. The plaques on the walls, the memorials for those who had fallen, the names she didn't have a chance to read.
They arrived at the office quicker than she thought. Apparently they weren't far from the entrance at all, in face they were in plain sight. For a facility that had this many secrets and information to hide, apparently glass walls and windows were acceptable.
''Man, they don't really give you the grand tour in this place,'' she remarked as she walked over to him.
Zac look up with a relieved smile.
''It worked!'' he told her. ''I got you in!''
''Yeah, you deserve some credit for that, I honestly thought something would backfire on us,''
''You compliments are always flawed at the end,'' Zac shook his head. ''So I got you a few hours, but only if you can assure me whatever you're doing doesn't get back to me,''
Jess sat her bag down on the large desk and put her hands on her hips.
''I assure you,'' she told him. ''Just be cool about it, don't draw attention by freaking out,''
Taking the chair next to him, Jess pulled up the homepage of the SHIELD computer and immediately started breaking down the security measures they had in place to get to the system she wanted. She inserted two different flash drives into the computer, filling out different codes to override the computers reaction to them. One was to basically become invisible on the SHIELD radar, cloaking what she was doing, and the other was to store all of the information she was hoping to find.
Zac sat back next to her looking over a file, doing his own work as she did hers. Occasionally he would look up to see if any security guards were coming their way or anyone was walking by, but they had nothing to worry about so far.
''Are you ever going to tell me why you're so interested in this place? What are you even looking for?''
''I told you, it's personal,''
''I get that, but I'm risking a lot to help you out. I'm just wondering why this is so important, whatever it is,''
''And I'm paying you quite well for your help. Let's just say I was brought up with stories that I think might be true, and I want to find out if I'm right,''
The files containing all of SHIELD's operation were encrypted, slowing Jess down for about ten minutes until she finally got past them. She'd been doing this sort of thing for a few years now, hacking into systems was easy, but SHIELD certainly challenged her. When she finally got inside the files she wanted, she searched for the operation at the docks that she'd dropped by the other night, but it wasn't there.
''Hey, that op the other night, was that approved by Secretary Pierce?'' she turned to Zac.
''Yeah, he approved all the operations. Why?''
''Nothing,'' she shook her head, keeping her thoughts to herself.
If that operation wasn't in the system, it wasn't in SHIELD. Secretary Pierce had approved something that wasn't in SHIELD's records. Something was definitely going on. Jess had always known that SHIELD was untrustworthy and deceitful, but she was finally seeing clear evidence she could show to others and let them know how wrong it was, but she didn't.
It had been two hours since she first arrived and she hadn't been detected yet. However it wasn't going to last long and she knew she had little time left. After searching for a name and finding no information she didn't already know, Jess copied all of the files she thought were important or interesting and transferred them to her flash drive. However the files she could take were limited by the security protocol she couldn't breach.
''Should be done soon,'' she told Zac as she pushed her chair back.
As she looked up through the glass surrounding them, Jess saw a very familiar face casually walking through the entrance.
''Oh, shit!'' she gasped and ducked her head down, hiding it behind the computer screen as she lowered her head onto the desk.
Zac turned to her, panicked.
''What? What happened?'' he asked worriedly, looking out to see what she was hiding from.
''That guy cannot see me here,'' she told him desperately.
''That guy?'' he looked up again. ''You...you mean Captain America?''
''Yeah, he can't see me, okay?''
''Why? I told you my story would work, it's fine,''
''No,'' she shook her head. ''I know him, and he'll see me and there'll be a whole lot of questions,''
''You know Captain America?''
''Keep your voice down!'' Jess snapped.
''That's something you probably should have told me before-''
''You didn't need to know,'' Jess told him as she reached up and grabbed the flash drives from the computer. ''I gotta get out of here Zac, thanks for everything though,''
The first thing Jess done when she got back to her apartment was change out of her awful 'I.T Student' clothes and let her hair out. The flash drives were put into her desk drawer ready to be investigated later that night. She couldn't believe how close she had come to Steve seeing her at SHIELD. She should have been more careful, but it was over now and she wouldn't have to go back there again.
Jess put on some music as she stretched and yawned, happy to be home. As she laid her head back on the couch and closed her eyes, trying to relax from the amount of things that had happened that day, she got another phone call. One she'd been waiting for all day and she was scared to answer.
''Hello?'' she spoke in a shaky voice.
Her eyes went from wide with hope and fear to low with grief. She listened to the person speaking, leaning forward to lay her head in her hand. Jess didn't know how to respond, so when the person finally stopped speaking, she dropped her phone to the floor.
Jess sat in silence staring at the floor as she went over the conversation in her head again. There was nothing she could do.
She wasn't sure how long she'd been sitting there before someone started knocking on her door, drawing her attention. She slowly walked over, her expression still blank as if she was in shock. When she opened the door and stepped outside her door, she was confronted with someone she was never in the mood for, especially not now.
''I don't know what's more frustrating, that music continually playing or the fact I have to keep reminding you that you have neighbors,'' the woman folded her arms.
Jess just stared at the woman, wondering how someone could be so worried and flustered over something so stupid and small. She'd been in this building for months now and the only neighbors that had spoken to her was this woman who only complained about everything she did.
''I don't care,'' Jess shrugged. ''I just...I really don't care,''
The woman was taken aback.
''Excuse me?''
''I don't care!'' Jess raised her voice, turning back to her door which was now closed. ''Oh, this is great. What a great day,''
The woman stood and stared at Jess, taking a few steps back to her own apartment as she watched her become angrier. Jess walked around in circles for a moment, trying to gather her thoughts. Too much was going on, she needed time to get it all together.
''Argh!'' Jess screamed as she kicked her door.
The woman ran off back to her apartment then, closing her door as she heard Jess continue kicking.
She didn't know why she was so angry, but something had just exploded within her and she had to get it out. Kicking the door was making a very loud echo through the whole building, but she kept going, even throwing in some punches before she began sobbing.
''I didn't get to go back!'' she yelled at the door, punching against it violently. ''Stupid! Stupid!''
The door was beginning to get holes in it where she had repeatedly hit against it as she felt a hand on her shoulder, turning her around with strong hands and stopping her.
''Jess!'' Steve's voice was loud in her ears. ''Stop!''
Jess stopped struggling against him as she looked around at the many neighbors now outside their doors, staring at her disapprovingly and in fear. When she looked back at Steve who was staring back at her worriedly, she couldn't help the tears that she'd been holding back. She began crying as Steve loosened his grip on her, slipping down to kneel on the floor, her head in her hands.
''Jess, what's going on?'' Steve knelt down beside her, a comforting hand on her back now. ''Talk to me,''
''I'm all alone, I'm the only one left,'' she cried, shaking her head.
''What do you mean?''
''My mom died. She'd dead, I'm the only one left,'' she tried to take a breath. ''I'm all alone,''
I hope you guys are liking this story and where it's going. Steve will be much more involved in the next chapter I promise, and hopefully a lot more will be explained. PLEASE REVIEW so I know if anyone wants me to continue or likes this story, and if you have any questions or guesses as to where it's going.
Also, I know hacking into SHIELD wouldn't be that easy, but hey, it's fanfiction, and it'll be explained more how Jess was able to do it.