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“T’Challa better name his first child after us,” Natasha grumbled as she and Sam drove back into the city. “Who the hell drives 8.5 miles for cookies in the rain?!”
“Friends, that’s who,” Sam responded. “And to be fair, the rain didn’t start until the drive back.”
“Sam, stop being logical and understanding, and let me rant.”
“Ok, you do that.” Sam laughed.
The two friends were on their way back to the city, having travelled to a bakery, outside of Manhattan, that was the only bakery in New York that sold T'Challa' s favourite cookies.
“Look at it this way, it’s ‘good karma points, ’” Sam told her. “It’s been a rough month for him, and this will be a nice surprise. And you get to drive my SUV, which you have been begging to do.”
“I hate it when- what the fuck is happening?” Natasha asked with alarm as the SUV started drifting to the right, and there was a sudden shuddering sensation through the steering wheel.
Sam sighed, “that would be a punctured tyre.” She slumped in her seat, “just fucking great.”
Natasha came to a stop, and they got out to examine the damage.
“Well, the good news is there’s no traffic, so we won’t hinder anyone while changing it,” Sam shouted to be heard over the rain.
“What’s the bad news, if it’s not the punctured tyre?” Natasha asked as she stared at the flat tyre, willing it to be in working condition again.
“This.” Sam, while holding her umbrella in her left hand, pointed with her index finger to her right arm that was currently in a shoulder immobiliser sling. She had accidentally dislocated her shoulder a few weeks ago, swinging on the uneven bars at the local gymnastics academy Natasha taught part-time. If not for that, she would have been able to change the tyre.
“Shit.”
“Yeah.”
Natasha looked up and down the empty road, as if a passerby would magically appear.
“I should probably learn how to change a tyre.”
“Yeah, but not today,” Sam tugged on her sleeve, “let’s get back in the SUV. The rain’s coming down heavier, and I don’t want to test the structural integrity of these umbrellas.”
The sound of the rain was muffled back in the SUV.
“I’m going to try Clint,” Natasha said.
“Try Remy too,” Sam was unlocking her phone to call Bucky. “I’m going to try Bucky, if he can’t come, he probably knows someone who knows someone who can come to our aid.”
“I hate having to ask men for help,” Natasha grumbled as the call rang once and then cut off. “The fuck?” She looked at her phone. “No fucking signal.”
“Same, probably because of the rain.”
Sam was curled up in the passenger seat, looking through the rear windshield as Natasha looked through the front.
“The rain’s getting worse, and no one has driven by since we’ve been here.”
“I know.” Sam didn’t get nervous easily, but something about two young women, being stranded at the side of the road in the rain, was not sitting well with her. The only good thing was that Bucky was home, and when he realised that Sam had not returned, he would come looking for her.
She was about to try calling him again when she saw something in the distance.
“Hold up.”
Natasha looked at her and then turned to follow Sam’s gaze.
“Are those headlights?” She asked.
“Yup,” Sam confirmed, her eyes never leaving the lights as they got closer. She thought the driver was going to continue driving when they passed, but to her surprise, they stopped in front of her vehicle.
“You got your pepper spray?” Natasha asked as both the driver and front passenger’s side doors opened and two men stepped out, heedless of the pouring rain.
“Yup,” Sam was squinting as the men got closer, the slimmer one came to Natasha’s window.
She breathed a sigh of relief as she recognised the man before Natasha rolled down the window.
“Sam!” The man greeted with a wide smile. “I thought this was your car.”
“You’re a sight for sore eyes, Loki.”
Natasha swung around to look at Sam, her eyes wide. “ This is ‘Loki’?” She mouthed.
Sam paid her no mind as she kept looking at Loki.
“We got a flat, and I can’t change it,” she pointed to her immobilised arm.
Loki’s grin widened, “well, I know someone who can.” He glanced at the man behind him, who nodded. He turned back to address Natasha and Sam, “pop the boot and we’ll get you sorted in no time”
“Thank you,” Sam said as Natasha opened the trunk for the man with Loki to retrieve the spare tyre and equipment to change the flat.
“Seriously,” Natasha said as she and Sam exited the SUV, “you both are lifesavers.”
Loki took Natasha’s umbrella from her and held it over them as Sam stood by, out of the way, and held her umbrella over herself and Loki’s friend.
That’s when he spoke. “What are you ladies doing out here?”
Sam wasn’t one to go crazy over an accent, but this man’s deep Australian accent had her screaming in her head, and she knew that once they were alone, she and Natasha would be squealing over it.
“A friend of ours has been having a rough month, so we thought we’d surprise him with some cookies,” Sam explained.
“The kicker is that the only cookies he likes are from a bakery 8.5 miles that way,” Natasha pointed in the direction they came from.
“That’s a nice thing to do for your friend,” Loki gave Natasha a friendly bump with his shoulder.
Sam laughed, “clearly not nice enough,” she gestured towards the flat tyre that was being changed.
Natasha and Loki nodded in agreement.
In the background, Natasha and Loki were engaged in conversation, while Sam stood and watched the man change the tyre. He was tall; Sam knew that just by looking at him. His brown hair seemed to be a modern take on the high and tight style. The sides and back were short, but plenty of length was left on top and his fringe. She couldn’t see his eye colour, however, his lean and defined body more than made up for that. If Sam had to describe his body type, it would be: highly muscular and athletic.
Within ten minutes, the tyre was changed.
“Thank you, both, again,” Sam said as the men stood in front of her and Natasha.
The rain was still falling, and both men were drenched. The white shirt that Loki’s friend was wearing was transparent, not that he seemed to mind, or Sam, for that matter. She finally got a look at his eyes, grey-blue.
“Oh,” Loki smacked his forehead. “I forgot to introduce you. Ladies, this is ‘Tyler Rake’, my cousin. Tyler, this is Sam Barnes and Natasha Romanoff.”
Natasha and Sam smiled as they shook hands, then said their goodbyes and got back into the SUV.
Loki and Tyler sat in silence as they watched Natasha and Sam drive away.
“So, that’s her?”
“Yes,” Loki said, “that is Sam Barnes, née Wilson, Bucky Barnes’s darling wife.” He looked at his cousin. “Whatever you’re planning, do not hurt her.” He wanted his cousin to have his revenge, but he didn’t want Sam to get caught in the middle.
Tyler started the car and drove off. “I cannot promise that.”