samantha ross ✪ natasha romanova (oweadebt) wrote in thereincarnates, @ 2022-01-02 14:47:00 |
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Entry tags: | nicholas bauer, samantha ross |
Who: Samantha & Nick
What: Exes on a mission with a side of tension
Where: Brooklyn, NY
When: Backdated to Friday night, July 17th, 2020
Warnings: Violence, baby. Also plenty of past relationship angst.
So far they'd been waiting for something like two hours now, and no one had shown up yet. Typical. New York also happened to be in the middle of one of its infamous heatwaves where even at night the temperature and humidity hadn't completely burned off so Samantha was already crankier than usual, and considering the current company she was keeping, her mood levels didn't exactly need the help.
The day Nick first walked into the Avengers compound with Troy, Samantha had kept her cool, but she'd done her best to avoid any one-on-one time with him ever since and with only a word exchanged here and there when it couldn't be avoided. Bad enough that her ex from a particularly messy break up was suddenly an Avenger, he was also the reincarnate of James Barnes, Natasha's messiest and maybe most significant ex. But Samantha wasn't the same girl he'd known, a lot had changed after they'd gone their separate ways, and not just where reincarnation was concerned. And now he was here, like no time had passed at all. Inconvenient was putting it lightly, and when Samantha didn't immediately know how to handle a situation, her default was to avoid at all costs until she figured out how best to navigate it. Except she hadn't figured it out, so she'd just stayed away.
Despite her valiant efforts to do so, maybe she had been delusional in thinking she could really avoid him forever. It'd been a couple months now since he'd joined the team, and there hadn't really been enough action to require a group effort that would force them to interact, but suddenly here she was. Crouched on a rooftop with her ex-boyfriend and starting to sweat through her suit (similar in material and accessory to Natasha's though lacking any obvious markings). Damn heat. Damn Cap.
As far as missions go, this wasn't exactly heavy on the action yet, which just made the waiting more unbearable. Samantha could be patient, but not under these circumstances, when she was already doing her very best to concentrate on the whole lot of nothing currently going on down below them while pointedly avoiding small talk. How long did it seriously take for a few criminals to do what they're supposed to do and commit crimes? This was meant to be an easy one, in and out. Catch the bad guys dealing and transporting dangerous weapons and shut it down. Simple, right? She did think it was pretty convenient that no one else had been available for the mission tonight, not even Peyton, who was usually always looking for a reason to punch something.
It also hadn't even been a week yet since she'd broken into Jack and Clint's place in the middle of the night to introduce herself, so it was probably too soon to start asking him to come out and stalk other people with her. Not that she hadn't considered it, despite his Avengers status still being something of a question mark, but at least she and Natasha both would have been comfortable with him. But Sam had insisted (in that nice way where it seems like he's asking but Samantha knew better) that she take Nick on this one, and despite her stubbornness, Samantha did sometimes listen to him. Right now she was starting to regret that this was one of those times.
Samantha was starting to suspect that this was a set up, and not the one she'd thought she was on.
Even if this wasn't Sam's secret evil plan all along, it was working. Samantha and Nick had exchanged at least a handful of begrudging words since the night began, out of necessity for the success of the mission. That was more words than they'd exchanged since their break up however many years ago (five years, but mentally she still refused to put a number to it) it was now, which had been exactly zero considering their complete lack of contact until he'd shown up on the Avengers doorstep two months ago. She also knew her best friend well enough to know that Sam was getting fed up with their situation, as understanding as both he and Steve were, having two people on the team who weren't on speaking terms probably wasn't the kind of group dynamic the pair of captains had in mind. Samantha couldn't really blame him. She'd almost be impressed if he'd arranged this on purpose. A little impressed, still mostly pissed.
A pair of headlights briefly flashed down the alley they were currently staking out and Samantha's posture immediately straightened at the prospect of finally having something to do, before the car kept driving past the building instead and she deflated again with a soft noise of frustration.
This was going to be a long night.