Don't You Worry Child

Angel

Chapter Summary: A phone call in the middle of the night and a mourning Steve mean that Samantha has to 'borrow' one of her father's cars.

Soundtrack: Angel by Sarah McLachlan

She woke up to the sound of her phone ringing out the familiar tone of Sara Bareilles' Brave and without checking who it could possibly be, she picked up "Hello?" she answered groggily. It was 3am! How could you blame her?

"Samantha, I didn't know who else to call," apparently her ex-boyfriend was the only person who would call a teenager at 3am. They'd been broken up for just over a week and he was calling at 3am – sounding as though he was on the verge of tears no less – something had to be wrong.

"Okay start from the beginning," she instructed in as soothing a tone as one could muster at three in the morning.

"It's Peggy, she-she's dead," he stuttered and, as he fell apart into what she could hear to be floods of tears, Samantha knew the full extent of those words. Steve's first real love was dead and that meant he was fully and totally distraught.

"Where are you? I'm coming to pick you up," she announced out of sheer concern.

"I-I'm at LAX," he told her.

"Okay, I'll see you in about an hour and a half," she said before hanging up the phone. As quickly and quietly as she possibly could, Samantha dressed and wrote a note to her dad explaining where she was. It wasn't long before she realised she didn't know where the car keys were kept "Hey JARVIS," she called out in a stage-whisper.

"Yes Samantha," the AI's voice boomed through the kitchen.

"Shh! Where does Dad keep the car keys?"

"In the garage. Can I ask why?" JARVIS replied in a far quieter voice.

"I'm picking Steve up from LAX," she replied.

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Gingerly, Samantha pulled the car out of the driveway and began to drive, desperately trying to put the memories of her last driving experience out of her mind. She knew that this wasn't the most legal thing she'd ever done nor was it the safest – she only had her permit after all – but this was a necessity.

She was out of practice and she knew it but still the moment she got onto the freeway, she gave up on careful driving and started to drive as fast as she legally could, heading towards the airport.

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Eventually, she reached LAX, parked the car and called Steve "Hey, I'm here. Where abouts are you?"

"A bar at the airport," he slurred and she sighed inwardly.

"Which bar?" she groaned.

"The Emerald Brick Road?" he answered sounding confused.

"Do you mean Emerald City or the Yellow Brick Road?" she asked realising that it must have been some sort of Wizard of Oz reference.

"Yeah, yeah that's it," he said and once again she sighed.

"Which one? Actually don't answer that I'll figure it out," she said before hanging up. Then, she got out of the car, locked it and headed towards the arrivals lounge.

Once she arrived at The Emerald City Bar, Samantha was highly exasperated. She hadn't yet had her morning coffee; her feet hurt because her shoes were definitely not designed for walking around airports in and now she was having to wade her way through a crowded bar, filled to the brim with rowdy, drunk businessmen just so that she could find her ex-boyfriend. As she made her way through, she knew her ass was being grabbed, she knew men were wolf-whistling at her and she knew that lewd comments were being directed at her. Honestly Steve had to choose the straightest bar in the entirety of the airport didn't he? Finally, she found Steve, sat at the bar, nursing a half-empty glass of scotch "There you are," she sighed.