Chapter Text
Kate cursed at the sky. She regretted not selling the red muscle car back in Los Angeles, she knew Clint would have cried about it. So, she went to the trouble of the cross country road trip to bring the car back to New York. At least Ramone and Johnny were willing to meet her half way in Kansas City. They had traveled the first leg without issue, and even stopped Worlds of Fun before flying back home. They had a nice fun little road trip.
Kate was not so lucky, the grinding noise started shortly after crossing the Pennsylvania border. And after a janky and very temporary repair she prayed that she could at least make it home.
Those prayers went unanswered. Or maybe the answer was just "no." Kate didn't fucking know. She wasn't an expert in godly things, okay? Having a crush on Thor and going to a snooty Catholic boarding school where everyone was wealthy and agnostic was about the extent of her spirituality.
In her anger, Kate's boot scraped against the unforgiving asphalt, tearing the leather upper away from the sole. She cursed even louder, her exasperation reaching new heights. Could this day possibly get any worse? As if on cue, rain began to pour down, soaking her.
She frowned. This sort of thing was supposed to happen to the other Hawkeye, she thought bitterly.
Jeff and Lucky peered through the rain soaked windshield at her, concerned. She let out a heavy sigh and slid back into the driver's seat, determined to find a solution. She quickly located the nearest mechanic shop on her phone and made the necessary arrangements for a tow.
The little town where she found herself was located about ten minutes north of her breakdown site. It appeared to be centered around an abandoned steel mill, and the dilapidated state of the buildings suggested that half the town had fallen into disuse alongside the defunct industrial facility. As they passed a weather-worn sign that ironically proclaimed "Welcome to Charm, a charming little town!" Kate couldn't help but scoff at the cruel irony of the situation.
The tow truck pulled up in front of a standard brick garage building, bearing the faded sign of "Joe and DeeDee's Auto Repair." Kate's eye caught a subtle discrepancy—the name "DeeDee" seemed to have been added to the sign more recently. She couldn't help but wonder about the story behind this change.
Once inside the auto repair shop, Kate had the chance to meet DeeDee herself. Despite her efforts to ignore stereotypes, she couldn't help but be slightly surprised when she laid eyes on the tall, stunning redhead with impeccable eyeliner. In contrast, Kate caught a glimpse of her own rain-soaked face in the nearby glass, realizing that her slept-in makeup had become even more smudged. Bitterly, she sighed at the contrast between herself and the glamorous mechanic.
DeeDee noticed Kate's dismay and offered a kind gesture. "Would you like a makeup remover wipe, love?"
"Yes, thank you." Kate answered, grateful for a stranger that understood. It was little moments like these that reminded her of the importance of girls supporting girls.
As DeeDee searched for the necessary parts, Kate attempted to strike up some small talk. "So how about this rain, crazy huh?"
DeeDee chuckled "Not around here, it's not. It's something about the Great Lakes and the Appalachia that just kind of pushes all the bad weather right here. The locals expect it."
Kate hummed noncommittally, DeeDee continued, a hint of intrigue in her voice. "In fact, we have fewer than 60 sunny days a year. It's no wonder some people say that vampires love it here."
Kate's eyes widened at this "Really?"
DeeDee shrugged "Well, that's just the rumor, you know? But we do get some peculiar characters passing through town from time to time."
Pausing to study the computer screen, DeeDee sighed. "Well, I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that the part you need is relatively cheap. The bad news is that it's going to take six weeks to arrive."
"Six weeks?" Kate spluttered in disbelief. "Isn't there a rush shipping option?"
DeeDee offered an apologetic smile. "Unfortunately, that's already with the rush shipping included. It's the best we can do."
Why did all the cool cars have to be such a pain to fix? In that moment, she made a silent vow that her next car would be a simple Toyota. No more complications or lengthy waits for parts—just plain old reliability.
DeeDee looked at her sympathetically, her foundation creasing around her furrowed brows "I'm sorry, love, it looks like you are having a rough day already. I'll tell you what, I'll call the owner of the motel up the street and get him to give you a good discount. And I know someone who can fix that boot of yours too."
"Thanks, I really do appreciate it," Kate sighed, feeling a glimmer of hope.
The rain had let up but the skies were still overcast and depressing. Lucky and Jeff trotted loyally next to Kate as she walked towards the small leather goods and repair shop DeeDee had sent her to.
The rain had subsided, but the gloomy skies still loomed overhead. Kate walked towards the leather goods and repair shop that DeeDee had recommended, with Lucky and Jeff loyally trotting beside her. Juggling the two leashes and her phone, she dialed Clint's number, attempting to convince him to cover the motel expenses. Kate was one of the few people who knew that despite Clint's seemingly spartan lifestyle, he was actually rather wealthy. Though she rarely asked him for anything, this time she figured he owed her.
"But Clint, I have to pay the pet fee too" Kate fussed, growing increasingly frustrated.
Clint scoffed "Because you keep stealing peoples pets! You took Lucky from me and Jeff from Gwenpool."
"You told me to take Lucky to LA with me so he wouldn't get hurt if you had a bunch of people show up trying to kill you again, and basically the same thing happened with Gwen and Jeff." Kate corrected him.
Clint had to concede her point. "Yeah okay, that may be true. But I still miss him! Can you put him on the phone for me?"
Kate massaged her temple as she held the phone up to the yellow mixed breed, who huffed and whined into the speaker when he heard Clint's voice.
Kate pressed the phone back to her ear "So will you cover the motel?"
"Yeah, of course Katie Kate. I was just giving you a hard time." Kate could picture his stupid grin in her mind's eye. If he was actually in front of her she would have flipped him off. She settled for rolling her eyes.
She knew he was just teasing her, but sometimes his antics could be exasperating. Despite it all, she appreciated his support and knew he genuinely cared about her.
Entering the leather repair shop, Kate was greeted by a chime as the door swung open. An unseen voice called out from the back, "Hi, welcome to Lee's Leather Repair."
"Hi, I'm looking for Stephanie Lee," Kate responded, glancing over the assortment of leather goods. The cognac beret caught her eye, and she also noticed a wall of bandannas in different colors, which struck her as slightly odd, although some of the patterns were cute.
The woman began to answer, but her words trailed off as she caught sight of Jeff. "Woah! Is that a land shark?"
"Yeah his name is Jeff, he's friendly!" Kate promised. "And this is Lucky"
The woman gave Lucky a pat on the head, still wary of the land shark. She laughed, "Nice to meet you three. I'm Stephanie Lee."
Kate breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm Kate. DeeDee from the mechanic's shop sent me here. She said you could fix my boot?"
Kate gestured to her torn leather boot and tilted her ankle revealing her still wet sock where the boot had torn.
"Oh yeah that looks rough" she agreed.
"You can call me Steph, or Rain, by the way. That’s what my friends call me."
"Rain?" Kate asked, curious.
Rain nodded, a hint of nostalgia in her eyes, although Kate thought she looked a little sad too. "Yeah, it's my middle name. My parents were kind of nature hippies, but they still wanted me to have a professional-sounding first name. Too bad I kind of hate it."
Kate chuckled. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Rain."
As Rain prepared the tools she would need on the counter, she suggested, "Go ahead and make yourself comfortable. Take your boots off, and I'll get you some dry socks too."
"Thank you, that would be amazing," Kate replied gratefully.
"So where are you from?" Rain asked as she fitted the boot into a clamp. Kate noticed that her hands were marked with faded black ink, presumably leather dye.
"New York then Los Angeles now back to New York." Kate answered with a small laugh.
"Wow, I've always wanted to live in New York. Maybe open a shop big enough that I don't have to work odd jobs to support it." Rain said wistfully.
"It's a great city, no place like it." Kate replied as she watched the woman skillfully use a large awl to restitch the leather.
"You don't sound too sure of that," Rain noted as she worked.
Kate paused, contemplating her answer, and then replied honestly, "I don't know, I grew up in Manhattan, lived there my whole life until I moved to LA, and I just felt like I could breathe a little easier there"
Rain raised her brow "because of the air quality?"
Kate laughed, "That was probably part of it... but it's like I was able to figure myself out, without being surrounded by all of the memories."
Rain nodded in sympathy "Yeah… I can understand that, if my Grandpa hadn't left this shop to me I probably wouldn't have come back to this town myself" Rain admitted as she secured the layer of strong smelling glue with a second clamp.
Kate could sense a connection between them, feeling that she and Rain were more alike than she initially thought. "Right.. I just flew back to New York a few days ago, and I've already flown back out half way across the country to pick up this stupid hot rod" Kate sighed "and now I'm going to be waiting six weeks for parts."
"Six weeks? That's rough. You getting a rental car to drive back home?" Rain asked.
Kate shook her head "I'm staying at the motel down the street."
"That's a long time for someone used to two of the biggest cities in the U.S. to stay in the middle-of-nowhere Pennsylvania" Rain laughed.
"Maybe…" Kate agreed, considering the unexpected turn of events. "I just feel like it was supposed to happen, you know? Don't get me wrong, I was mad as hell when the car broke down. But I was so unsure if I wanted to head back to New York at all… I think this might be what I need, I can spend the six weeks here and then make my decision. New York, LA, or maybe even someplace else…"
Rain regarded her quietly, like she was working out a puzzle in her head. "So, since you're staying awhile, maybe we could grab breakfast sometime?"
"Well, I will have to check my schedule first..." Kate joked.
"Oh, well of course!" Rain played along.
Kate laughed enjoying the friendly banter. "Honestly though, are you free tomorrow? I could really use someone to show me around."
Rain's face lit up with a smile. "Well, fortunately, there's not a whole lot to see, so I think I can make that work. I'll meet you at the diner across the street from the motel around nine?"
"That sounds great," Kate agreed, glad to have found a friendly face in this unfamiliar town.
With freshly repaired and shined boots, Kate made her way back to the motel. The neon vacancy sign hummed audibly, and the smell of chlorine from the motel's small pool tickled her nose as she walked by on her way to the main lobby.
Inside the lobby, a curly-haired, pimple-faced teenage boy worked behind the front desk. "So, you have the double room with two dogs?"
"Yes," Kate answered hurriedly. "Two completely normal dogs." She smiled widely, already strategizing how to pass off Jeff as some kind of hairless bully mix.
"Okay... Here's your room key," the teenager said, before handing her the key and going back to scrolling through TikTok on his phone.
Kate realized that he didn't care at all, not even enough to wear headphones, let alone be concerned about whether her "dog" was in fact a dog. Thank goodness for that.
She walked around the building to her room, where Jeff and Lucky happily made themselves comfortable on one of the beds. The room had the typical beige decor expected from this type of establishment. The carpet and furniture were dated but so clean and well-cared-for that they looked practically unused. The wall at the head of the two beds was covered in knotty pine wood paneling. The lights cast a yellow glow around the room, matching the amber streetlights reflecting off the window.
She opened the nightstand drawer to flip through the Bible, checking to see if anyone had left any cash tucked in the pages. It was a little tip she had learned from Clint. No dice. She did notice that the front cover had the cross scribbled out. She frowned, although she wasn't religious herself, the vandalism seemed crude.
She placed the book back in the drawer and read through the laminated page of takeout numbers. Quite a few had been blacked out with a permanent marker, presumably shops that went out of business. She ordered a pizza and quickly hopped in the shower before it arrived.
Kate tipped the delivery man five dollars. The pizza was bland. She sighed, realizing that this was one thing she had been missing from New York.
Even Lucky seemed unimpressed with the pepperoni pie. "Sorry boy, maybe Rain will show us someplace better tomorrow."
As Kate settled into bed, she set the alarm on the nightstand, ensuring she wouldn't oversleep the next morning. The room was quiet, except for the occasional distant sound of cars passing by outside.
Lucky and Jeff snuggled up close to Kate in the queen sized bed, finding comfort in her presence. Jeff even got under the flower pattered covers. Kate was glad to have them close, hotel rooms were always too cold for her, even after adjusting the thermostat. The events of the day played through her mind as she drifted off to sleep. As the night passed, the rain continued to fall softly outside, adding a soothing rhythm to the quiet motel room. The three slept peacefully.