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( CHAPTER SIX )
"WHAT'S IN JACKSONVILLE?"
Arden couldn't really blame James for being curious, seeing as she had purposely left that detail out every single time they had breached the subject. Actually, knowing his diffident nature he was probably asking because he thought she was going to lead him into some kind of trap. She bit her lip, checked her phone again. He gave her a glance from the corner of his eyes, then quickly turned back to the road.
"It's a... safe house, and it's got what I need to fix your arm. That's all you need to know."
"Safe like the house I broke into?"
Her cheeks flared at the insinuation.
"Hey! I did what I could, it's not my fault Captain America and his pals decided to make it all go online!" She exclaimed, clearly offended by his comment. "I never thought I would need a safe house, I equipped mine as best as I could while jobless and with my workplace down the Potomac!"
She caught the way his jaw tensed, just like every time she mentioned the superhero. The leather of his gloves creaked against the steering wheel, a soft series of clicks she had learned to recognize were coming from his damaged metal arm. Arden looked ahead, somber.
"You fought with him, right? With Captain America." James didn't answer.
"He gave a speech, right before shit started to go down. He said HYDRA was in the building, said they could be standing right next to us." Arden pressed her forehead to the glass window, hoping the faint ache between her eyes would go away. She played with the strip of fabric around her throat. The bruises were starting to turn an awful shade of blue.
"My head department had a gun at my head the next second." The words were a quiet admission, but he caught them nonetheless. He risked another glance in Arden's direction and found her staring ahead with a faraway look in her eyes, lost in thought. She seemed... sad. It was a first. James had caught many outbursts of emotion coming from her, but sad had never been one of them until now.
"I wasn't great at making friends at first. I was so focused on my projects, I barely interacted with any of my coworkers. She was the first one to come forward and remind me that there's a life outside the lab, outside work. Can't say we were ever friends, but I valued her opinion a lot."
The truck was filled with silence again, and James thought she wouldn't go further than that, but after a few minutes he heard her sigh.
