Avengers: Altruism [N. Romanoff]

21. Russian Roulette

CHAPTER 21

Russian Roulette

There's a heavy pressure that lays on the getaway driver. They can either make or break the entire operation, you're either out of there in time... or in the cuffs. There are so many aspects revolving around the idea of the driver. How much experience do they have? Can they hit 80 on a 65? What are their professional qualifications? Can they ignore Happy Hogan?

"Back, back, back, back!" Happy yelled, slamming his feet on the ground as if the passenger side would magically grow breaks.

"I know where I'm going!" Claire tried to bring his faith up.

"She's right, corner of sixth," Natalie's head bounced between the two seats, leaning as far forward as she could to get a look of where they were heading.

Claire wore a smirk on her face as she pushed for the gas, the tension between the three in the car was cutthroat. For reasons unexplained, there wasn't an ounce of trust between Claire and two people she once worked closely, side-by-side.

When they accelerated, Natalie elegantly fell into the backseat and began unbuttoning her work attire.

Every driver on the run needs their personalized jinx when they're being crucially rushed. Either you skip a stop and pull over, catch every red light in town, jump a curb... Claire's jinx was Natalie Rushman.

Her amber eyes darted back and forth between the rearview mirror and the dark road ahead of them, watching Natalie struggle with pulling her shirt off. Her heart rate had spiked in a nanosecond, and her palms began to sweat in an instant. She couldn't wrap her head around what she was supposed to be doing, where was she going?

Flustered, she clipped the pavement, shaking the brand-new company vehicle. She straightened them out, clearing her throat, and embarrassingly caught the accusing eyes of Happy.

Her ears burned hot in a blush, "Left?"

"Right," he agreed.

"Right?" she asked in a panic and swerved lane.

"No, left!"

Claire swung her arms back over, trying to ignore the hooting and swearing directed to her. She crossed over two lanes to get to where she needed to be and swung back to straighten out, throwing Natalie in the backseat around.

"When we arrive, I need you to watch the perimeter," Natalie commented, irritated with their lack of contribution already, "I'm going to enter the facility and take down the target."

"Me or her?" Happy asked, gripping tightly to his door and pointing his phone accusingly at the driver as if it were a horrible thought to be left out of any action.

Claire rather questioned Natalie's qualifications for handling an entire security team and her ability to single-handedly bring in Vanko.

"Both of you," she sternly replied.