𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘'𝐃 𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐍 walking awhile, simply merged with the crowd. It almost seemed like Crystal was afraid to leave the tight space. About ten minutes after leaving the bus stop, she'd allowed Steve to again stand on her shoulder as she walked. However, as the time passed, he only grew more skeptical of her intentions.

Steve hesitantly asked, "Do you know where you're going?"

Crystal nodded her head before vaguely adding, "I have a place in mind."

Steve waited through the following beat of silence before realizing that she'd finished explaining. He urged her to continue. "Do you plan on sharing?"

"You'll see when we get there," Crystal simply replied and continued walking.

"You really don't trust me," Steve noted.

"You don't trust me either," Crystal countered pointedly, as if the statement defended her own actions.

"I have a fair reason for that." Steve gestured to his miniature stature. "Not to mention the other trouble that you've gotten us into."

"We can play the blame game later," Crystal retorted, quickly losing patience, "But for now, I need to change up my look."

"I'm sorry," Steve raised an eyebrow in confusion and asked her to repeat as if he hadn't heard her. "What?"

"I need to change my appearance so we're not so easily spotted in a crowd," Crystal rolled her eyes and re-explained, slowly emphasizing each word. She then added a snide question of her own, "How old are you?"

Steve frowned, but elected to ignore the question meant to start an argument. "And how exactly do you plan to 'change up your look'?"

"I'll go shopping." Crystal shrugged.

"With what money?" Steve questioned.

She pursed her lips in thought before slyly glancing toward her shoulder. "Who mentioned money?"

"You're not stealing." The statement was said in a matter-of-fact tone, but Crystal took it more like an empty threat as she scoffed.

However, she offered an alternative solution as she reached toward her pocket. "Well, I could borrow some money from this wallet that I still have on hand."

Steve pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Which you still haven't told me who you stole it from."

"Some schmuck off the streets. He was sort of a creep though," Crystal explained as if that made it alright.

"Let me see the ID," Steve insisted, "I'll see if there's a return address."

Crystal groaned and rolled her eyes before pulling out the wallet. "I don't get why this is such a big deal."

"Did you ever stop to think about whether or not the guy needed whatever he had in the wallet?" Steve asked.

"Yes," she protested and pulled out the ID to show Steve. She quickly added on to her admittance, "And then I decided that I needed it more."

Steve slowly shook his head, almost disappointed, but as he looked at the ID, he struggled to conceal the smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. It looked as if he wanted to laugh, but was trying extremely hard to stay mad.

"What?" Crystal raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Do you know this guy or something?"

Steve finally broke with a gentle laugh. "You stole Sam Wilson's wallet?"

Crystal nodded her head as she closed the wallet, slipping it back into her pocket. "That's what the ID says."

"He's a friend," Steve briefly explained.

"So your friends range from stuck-up billionaires to—"

"Look," Steve interrupted, almost as if warning her. "We're not going to discuss my choice of friends. What we are going to do is find you a change of clothes, find a place to stay, and get cracking on an antidote."

"I thought you said we weren't going to steal," Crystal snidely reminded him.

"Use the card," Steve instructed and quickly added before he could be interrupted, "I'll pay him back later."

Crystal grinned. "Alright then, off we go."

As soon as she'd been given permission to enter a store, she didn't hesitate to leave the crowd. It was almost as if she'd been waiting the entire time, like she knew Steve would eventually give in. Time flew and the afternoon breezed by as the girl browsed through several shops. Steve couldn't help but smile as the small slice of life that he normally wouldn't get to experience. It was clear that the girl didn't have that privilege either. She was shy at first, but after the third store, she stepped out of her shell and grew excited at the prospect of owning something to call her own.

She bounced on her toes as she pulled items from the racks here and there, always looking toward Steve for an opinion. For the first time since they had met, there was no discussion of secret agencies or bizarre science experiments, nor were there any height puns. Instead, it was meaningless conversation of how this top matched those shoes or a fit of giggles over something small and silly. The girl was genuinely enjoying herself as her smile beamed brighter than he'd ever seen. The warmth her smile brought reminded him of rare moments from his own childhood when his mother would dote on him. They didn't have much, but that never stopped her from trying.

Crystal stepped out of the dressing room, modeling her latest assortment of clothing jumbled together to form an outfit. It was the third outfit she'd shown, but the pride in her eyes matched her runway walk from the first two. She struck a pose and flashed a charismatic smile, exhibiting her first signs of actually living life like a child.

Steve's fond smile didn't go unnoticed. The girl gently giggled and took a seat on the ground beside the stood on which he sat. She tilted her head with curiosity and questioned his expression. "What?"

"It's nothing." Steve quickly shook his head, clearing away the nostalgia. He hesitated to ask his next series of questions for fear of changing to mood. "It's just... you didn't have much of a childhood, did you?"

She gently shrugged, but it was clear she was uncomfortable with the topic as she rubbed her shoulders. "Unless you considered being poked and prodded with sticks a childhood."

"You were raised in a lab?" Steve asked reflecting on his own experience as an experiment. At least he'd had the choice.

She nodded, a bit slower than before. "I can't say there was much of a difference from my earlier youth compared to my time at S.H.I.E.L.D."

Her statement was concerning, which Steve failed to hide from his face. He proceeded to ask, "How long have you worked for S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

"You mean belonged to?" Crystal corrected with a hint of hostility. "Since I was ten."

Steve winced at her tone and hesitantly asked, "Why didn't you ever leave before now? You've clearly been capable of doing so all this time."

"Where exactly would I go?" Crystal asked quietly. She answered her own question before actually giving Steve a chance. "And don't suggest trying to find a family or any of that mush. I served my time in the system and came to the same conclusion as all the other runaways: people don't actually accept you if you're different or broken."

"Maybe you just didn't find the right one." Steve's tone was quiet as he gently averted his eyes and directed his attention toward the ground.

Crystal turned her eyes away and cast her gaze toward the ceiling. She was hesitant to reply, not fully understanding if an invitation had been extended. "I stopped believing that lie a long time ago..."

They stood in silence for a minute before Steve quietly cleared his throat. "Are you ready?"

She looked at him in confusion before remembering the purpose of their little shopping spree. She nodded her head and quickly blinked as if trying to conceal tears. "Yeah, just let me put some of this back."

Steve shook his head, refusing to let her do just that. "Put it all on the card. I'm buying remember."

Crystal chuckled gently with a sharp reminder. "I mean if we really want to be technical, Sam's buying."

"And I'm paying him back," Steve quickly added.

"You're wanted and on the run." Crystal laughed at the ridiculous prospect of his guilty conscience. "And you're scared of a little theft?"

"I know I'm innocent of the other crimes." Steve pointed.

"Until proven guilty," Crystal added jokingly.

"Just get your things and let's check out already." Steve rolled his eyes, but still smiled. "I'm tired of being shorter than your spare change."

Crystal chuckled and nodded her head, the mood had already lightened significantly compared to just a minute ago. "We need to find a place to lay low though."

"What did you have in mind?"

"I'll probably locate an abandoned warehouse or something." Crystal shrugged as she carried her items toward the check-out register. "Somewhere hidden from prying eyes."

"Won't you need to get some rest?" Steve raised an eyebrow as he caught a glimpse at the darkening sky from the windows of the front doors. His concern only increased as he finally noticed how worn down the girl physically appeared.

Crystal shrugged again as she placed the items on the conveyor belt and then whispered, "I'm honestly used to sleeping on the ground at this point. I've pretty much been doing it my whole life."

Steve remained quiet after that statement. The girl gave him a short, but concerned look before offering the credit card to the cashier. Once the transaction had gone through, Crystal gathered her bags and walked outside.

"You alright?" she quietly asked Steve who stood on her shoulder. "You grew awfully quiet in there."

"Just thinking," he replied, "I have an idea."

"About what?" She hesitantly asked as her brow furrowed.

"You'll see when we get there," he replied cryptically.

She rolled her eyes. "You do realize that I need to know where I'm going, right?"

"Trust me," Steve replied, "And just follow my directions."

She gave him a skeptical look but conceded with a nod of her head. "Alright, where to?"

"Turn right," Steve instructed.

Surprisingly, she actually listened and turned to the right. Steve smiled a bit wider and continued his pattern of giving directions step by step as they made their way through the city toward the specific location that he had in mind. Neither of them had a phone or GPS, but as they'd walked around in circles multiple times before Steve finally allowed her to use the wallet, he'd spotted a location of interest. The day wasn't over quite yet, and he was determined to let her live life as a child just a bit longer. That included a night's rest in a warm bed without worrying about what came next. It meant trusting no harm would her as she had someone looking out for her. It meant receiving a meal that left her more than stuffed, and it meant spoiling her to prove that she was a child worth spoiling.

He'd pay Sam back, but that was something to be dealt with later. He was focused on the present and living within the small slice of life as long as he could. The antidote could wait just a little longer if it meant helping this child heal while showing her that there's still some good left out in the world.

The girl's eyes widened in shock as Steve urged her to step inside the large, fancy hotel. He almost wished he had a camera to capture the moment. She shook her head, unable to believe they were in the right place. "You've got to be kidding me?"

"You like it?"

Crystal laughed and ran a hand through her hair. "It looks amazing!... But I don't think it's in our price range..."

"I'll take care of it," Steve replied, but nonchalantly corrected himself, "well, Sam will take care of it."

Crystal released another laugh and shook her head in the direction of the ground. It almost seemed too good to be true, so if she was dreaming she'd rather not wake up. She elected not to push her luck and boldly entered the building like she belonged, completely contradicting the way she held herself in any of the stores before. It was refreshing to see the girl standing tall, refusing to cower in the few shadows present within the building.

Arranging for a room was much easier than Steve expected it would be, and if he wasn't the one who'd suggested the place originally, he may have been concern that the manager didn't even bat an eyelash when the child filled out the paperwork to rent the room with the poor excuse of being Sam's intern who had arrived early to prepare the room for his late arrival. It worked without a hitch though and they were given a room key without a second glance.

Crystal's eyes widened with wonder at everything she saw. The building was pristine without a cobweb in sight. There was an ornate gold trim outlining almost everything within the hotel as they made their way toward the top floor. If the girl's smile hadn't been so bright, he may have even been frustrated that they stopped on every floor as she pushed every button in the elevator. However, they eventually reached the room that provided more than just shelter, but comfort and security in a neat little package tied with a bow. For a brief moment, there was tranquility. Too bad chaos was just around the corner.

———

𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞| Thanks for reading! This chapter marks the end of act three. As we enter the final act, how are we feeling so far?