Author's Note: Alright guys, this is a huge chapter compared to my other ones, but I'm getting tired of promising that Samantha will be appearing in the next couple chapters then as I'm working on chapters, they just don't stop growing so I have to split them up a little. So this one is staying whole. I wanted this chapter to happen mainly because I wanted Val to have some interaction with Luke's team for *ahem* future purposes.
The next chapter after this one is going to be a filler chapter with some fluffiness. Then after that (Though I'm not gonna promise anything), Samantha SHOULD be there and Val will be able to meet Shana for the first time. So… there's that.
Anywho, we only need 65 more reviews for this story to reach 200 so come on people, leave me a review and let me know what you think! It takes like… two seconds.
The storm had forced Val and Luke to stay indoors for the rest of the day. It wasn't like she was complaining since all they did was stay tangled together. The power had come back on sometime in the evening, but Luke and Val kept everything off using the fire in the fireplace as the only light source. The storm let up at some time during the night, but Val wasn't sure when since she had been so entranced by Luke and everything he was doing to her.
The next morning, after she had showered and made breakfast for the two of them, a few vehicles pulled up into the front yard. Val watched as three men hopped out of the various vehicles and went to their trunks. Luke walked to the door and stepped out onto the front porch with a small grin on his face. The three men pulled out several cases of beer and liquor and started carrying it inside.
The first one inside was as tall as Luke though his muscle mass was nothing like Luke's. He sat the alcohol down on the table before turning to Val. He had a kind smile as he approached her. Val just stared at him as the two remaining men walked in with their alcohol.
"You must be this Val that we've heard absolutely nothing about," he said holding his hand out to shake hers. She reached her hand out and let him grip her hand. "I'm Hank." Val smiled at him. She had heard about the team DSS had assigned him after the deaths of his previous team. Luke barely talked about them, but what she did know, they seemed to be a good team together. They had to be since they always returned.
"It's nice to meet you, Hank. Luke must be ashamed of me or something because it seems that he doesn't really talk about me much to anyone," she said as Luke stepped into the cabin carrying bags of food. He shot her a playful glare.
"Oh, no, he's not ashamed of you. He's just worried that we'll try to steal you away from him," he said still holding onto her hand. Val felt her face heat up as she jerked her hand away from his.
"You do realize you're married, right, Hank?" the black man said crossing his arms across his chest.
"Only when we're in the same zip code," Hank said not taking his eyes off Val. Val took an instinctive step back suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. Luke appeared next to Hank giving him a deep glare. Hank slowly looked to his leader a slight cringe appearing at the corner of his eyes.
"Walk away," Luke demanded. Hank raised his hands defensively and walked away from them. The black man approached her to introduce himself next.
"I'm Jamal." Val shook his hand with a smile. The last was Ben and when Val went to shake his hand, he shook his head.
"Oh no, we hug where I'm from," he said and stepped forward wrapping his arms around her. She felt like she had disappeared in his large embrace. She squeaked when he picked her up in a bear hug.
Val had no idea what was going on and had no idea why Luke's team had randomly just showed up at the cabin. Luke hadn't mentioned anything to her about them showing up and wondered if he even knew, but with the way he didn't question them, she figured that he knew the entire time and just hadn't let her know. Val walked into the kitchen and started to help put the alcohol in the fridge to start cooling off and put the meats up so it didn't spoil.
She put on another pot of coffee for them as they sat down at the dining room table and started talking. They talked about how they had been waiting practically all year for their get together at the cabin telling Val that it was just tradition. Being with your team outside of work built trust between them all. Trust within a team was the most important thing to have. She could relate more than Luke knew.
Once the coffee began to brew, Val went to the table and sat down next to Hank who immediately leaned closer to her with a grin on his face. She frowned looking at him as she leaned away from him. It didn't last long as she felt her chair begin to slide away from him and closer to Luke. Val grinned looking to Luke as he glared at Hank. Luke's arm rested on the back of her chair.
"I'm just picking," Hank defended. Luke didn't answer and Val was glad that he was going to leave it alone. The last thing she wanted was Luke to get into a fight. Especially since they were on vacation. Even if they were no longer alone. She would be lying if she said it didn't bum her out a little knowing that they were no longer alone especially since Luke had just said how much they needed to be alone, but who was she to get in the way of one of his traditions.
"No, you ain't," Ben stated from across the table in a thick accent.
"You're not," Jamal corrected him.
"Shut up." Jamal chuckled.
The group fell into casual conversation. Mostly all they wanted to know was more about Val. She told them about her work at the hospital and her family. She even showed them pictures and videos of Jack though when she tried to show them to Hank, Luke made sure that she didn't get too close to him. Hank and Ben had showed her pictures and videos of their kids as well.
When lunchtime came around, Val had made them all the sandwiches of their choice. Once they were done eating, Ben had helped her with the dishes while Luke began marinating the steaks that his team had brought with them. She liked Ben. He reminded her a lot of Brian in a way. He was down to earth and an absolute sweetheart. Val couldn't believe that he was so young and in the DSS. He was still just a kid to her.
Once the kitchen was cleaned up and the steaks were marinating, the beer was taken from the fridge and everyone started drinking. Val wasn't really in the mood to really start drinking, but Hank continued to pick on her until she grabbed her own beer and drank it all in one drink. Luke cornered Hank in the kitchen giving him a fair warning to lay off Val or else he would kick his ass.
They all made their way out onto the back porch a few hours later so Luke could start cooking the steaks. By that time, everyone was working on a decent buzz. Jamal and Ben had stayed close to Val as if blocking her away from Hank. She wasn't sure if he was joking or not about his advances, but with the way the rest of the team was acting towards him, he wasn't. He made her feel very uncomfortable every time that he came close to her, but Jamal and Ben would always get in his way before he got too close. She really prayed that he was joking with her, for his own sake. It was hard telling what Luke would do to him if he pushed it too far.
"So, Val, you're a doctor right?" Jamal asked out of the blue. Val narrowed her eyes at him.
"No, I'm not looking at any mysterious rashes." Ben nearly spit his beer out everywhere as he busted out laughing. Jamal crossed his arms over his chest. Luke just shook his head chuckling.
"I was just going to ask you what is the craziest thing you seen walk through those doors." Val hummed at his question and gave it some thought. Considering she worked in an emergency room in the middle of Los Angeles, there was a lot of crazy things that she seen walk through those doors.
"There was a guy that came in with a nine inch blade in the back of his skull and it was sticking out the front of his face. He didn't feel any pain. He was able to talk. His vitals were normal. He even drove himself there. You see, it's my job to stabilize the patients and get them to the right area of the hospital for further treatment if they need it. But this guy was stable. That was pretty crazy."
"Wow. Yeah that is pretty crazy. Alright, what's your favorite type of injury that comes through the door?" Val gave him an odd look at his phrasing.
"What do you think I am; a sadist?" Jamal gave her a flat look.
"You know what I mean." Val grinned shaking her head.
"I wouldn't say that my favorites that come through the doors are injuries per say," she said taking a sip from her beer. Jamal made a motion as if he was wanting her to continue. "But my favorite thing that comes through those doors are the erections lasting for more than four hours." As soon as those words left her mouth, it seemed like the entire universe had been put on mute. Even Luke had turned to look back at her as if wondering if she had said what he thought she had said. She giggled at the looks all the men around her were giving her. "Now hear me out on this."
"I don't know if I want to," Luke spoke up from his spot in front of the grill. Val giggled again.
"Okay, now listen… when men come in with this problem, there is two types of men. The first are the men who are very ashamed of the problem and will barely tell you what's going on and most of the time you're playing a mixture of charades and fill in the blanks to get the information out of them. Then you have the men who practically come in fully nude, rolling out the red carpet, putting spotlights on it, the works. They're more than happy to tell you all about how they were able to go for more than four hours and all that." Jamal grinned looking over to Luke who was stone faced staring at Val.
"I think you're going to have to have a talk with your woman over here, Hobbs."
"I think you might be right," he countered waiting for Val to continue. Val laughed at them then held her finger up to shush them.
"That's not the best part," Val said. Ben laughed.
"Oh, I can't wait to hear this," he said. Val gave the rookie a playful glare.
"Then shut up. Now the best part of these problems is the looks on the mens' faces whenever you tell them what you have to do in order to get the erection to go away." There was a slight pause amongst the group as the men wondered what had to happen in order to get rid the erections.
"Alright," Hank spoke up after a moment. "I'll bite. What do you have to do in order to get their boners to go away?" Val gave him a devilish grin.
"We take a needle and drain the blood." Val grinned looking around at all the different looks of the men around her. They all seemed to pale a little upon the reveal. She giggled again. "Yeah, that look." Jamal shook away a chill that crawled up his spine.
"I think you may be just a little bit of a sadist." Val chuckled in a way that seemed to brush off Jamal's comment.
"Nah, I just enjoy what I do." Jamal leaned away from Val, taken aback from her statement before turning to Luke.
"Yeah, I think you need to have a conversation with your woman." Luke turned back to the grill to check on the meat and pretended that he hadn't heard Jamal. As Jamal kept talking to Val, she had discovered that he was the field medic of the team. She wasn't sure why the new information had thrown her off, but she just never thought about anyone in his team having a special job within the team. She wasn't even sure why his team was so small compared to what it was before they had been killed. She had the sudden urge to ask, but she avoided the question since it wasn't the time or the place to ask.
She remembered trying to work on Vince while he slowly bled out when he had suffered a gunshot wound, but she didn't have the proper equipment to save him. She remembered kissing his cheek as she slowly closed his eyes. She rested her head against his for a moment cursing Luke Hobbs name. She had blamed him for Vince's death at first because if it wasn't for him, then he would have still been alive. She remembered turning to Luke and started fussing over him as a way to take her mind off the loss of Vince. It didn't matter how angry she was with the hulking man, her medical training made her check him over.
She could remember how broken his eyes had seemed as she looked him over. She had seen him getting knocked off his feet by one of the cars being hit by an RPG causing an explosion. He hadn't moved until Dom had helped him stand. Val had just assumed that he was physically hurt because Luke Hobbs seemed to be invincible. But the look in his eyes told her that he was just a mere man. A man that had lost something very dear to him. A team; a family.
When he ignored her questions, she tried her best to assess him before moving onto Brian and Dom to check them over, but they had shooed her away. Seeing the man she feared most, so broken and hurt made her regret being angry with him over the death of her friend. He had lost so much more than she had and he was suffering with no one around to comfort him. At least she had her team; her family. He had no one. She felt selfish for blaming him instead of blaming Reyes.
She glanced over to Luke as he opened the grill to turn the steaks over. It still amazed her how far they had come. Part of her wondered if she would ever be able to get over the fact that he was once a man that she had wished death upon and now she never wanted to leave his side. She came to whenever she heard Ben say her name. She glanced up at him blinking a few times.
"You alright?" Her eyes moved to her beer as she spun it around to see the contents inside just to find that there was nothing left.
"Yeah, I need another beer. Does anyone need beers?" There was a collection of yeses that came from the group. She stepped back inside the cabin to retrieve beers for them. She placed enough beer on the counter and reached for the bottle opener when she heard the front door of the cabin open up. She stepped away from the counter far enough to see who was coming in. She frowned seeing the newcomer.
The first thing Val noticed about the newcomer was that she was absolutely beautiful. She stood a few inches taller than Val and had a thick, strong frame. She had bright blonde hair and even bluer eyes than Brian. She had thick, full, naturally pink lips. Her breasts were a good cup size more, at least, than Val's C cups. She had them pressed together in a tight, black vest with a white, long sleeved shirt underneath. She had a perfect waist and Val didn't even have to look to know that she had a perfect round rear. Her legs seemed to go on for miles. She wore a pair of dark, boot cut jeans that were tucked away in black knee high boots. She had a long cigarette hanging from her lips and a huge bottle of Vodka in her hand.
The blue eyes of the woman found Val and she stopped walking. She looked Val up and down in curiosity. Val felt inadequate to the woman since Val had decided to go with plain clothes for the day since she didn't know there was going to be a party. The mystery woman took a long draw from her cigarette without grabbing it with her fingers then let a long line of smoke exit through her nostrils as they studied each other. Val wasn't sure who the woman was, but there was a small voice in the back of her head saying that she didn't like her.
"Who are you?" Val inquired. The woman was silent for a moment as she gave Val another once over.
"Who are you?" she retorted in a thick Russian accent.
"Natalya!" Luke snapped from outside. Val flinched inwardly upon hearing the frustration in Luke's voice. Val looked over to see Luke standing just inside the door. Natalya casually looked to Luke. "What did I say about smoking in the cabin?" Natalya grinned.
"It is good to see you too, Hobbs," she said in a teasing manner. Luke frowned crossing his arms across his chest.
"Put it out." Val turned back to the beer to open the bottles as the woman made her way out back onto the porch. Val rushed to open the bottles so she could get back out there. She wanted to know who that woman was. She felt Luke's hand brush across her lower back and she glanced back to him. She handed him one of the beers with a small smile and grabbed the rest of them to take out to the others.
They stepped out onto the back porch together and Val handed the beer around to the others. She felt Natalya's eyes on her so Val looked back at her. She seemed to be studying Val almost sizing her up. Val felt an arm go around her shoulders, but it didn't feel like Luke. She looked to its owner hoping that it wasn't Hank. She was relieved to see Ben.
"Natalya, this is Val, Hobbs' girlfriend. Val, this is Natalya. She's, uh, she's a friend." Natalya raised an eyebrow as if it had surprised her to hear that the woman standing in front of her was indeed Luke's girlfriend. Natalya glanced to Luke who was busy with the grill then back to Val.
"It's nice to meet you," Val said with a kind smile, trying to be friendly with the new arrival. Natalya took another draw from her cigarette without touching it and let it loose through her nostrils, but said nothing to Val. Val's smile disappeared as she felt the tension rise on the back porch.
"Foods done," Luke said breaking the silence. Everyone shuffled back into the dining room so they could all eat. Val stayed quiet as she ate. She stared at the plate before her not really wanting to engage in the conversation. She was too busy wondering how Natalya played into the picture. It made her uneasy with how the woman looked at her when she had found out who she was. She seemed familiar enough with them all to where she could just walk in without knocking. Luke hadn't mentioned to her that there was going to be anyone else coming, but then again, he hadn't let her know anyone was coming in the first place.
She chanced a glance to the Russian woman to find her eyeing Luke. She immediately shifted her gaze to Luke to see what he was doing. He was too busy watching Jamal as he told a random story about a time back in Florida that involved alligators. He had a small grin on his face as he listened to the story. He seemed oblivious to the fact that Natalya was watching him, but Val knew better than that. Luke was more than aware that the woman was staring at him. Val looked back down to her plate as jealousy radiated through her.
Was Natalya an ex lover of Luke's? He had said that it was hard for him to have any kind of relationship because of his line of work, but that didn't mean he didn't have women. She tried to force the images of them together out of her mind, but they still haunted her. She really couldn't blame Luke, Natalya was a very beautiful woman, but what if Natalya was better than her? Val's inexperience in the bedroom could have been boring for Luke after so long. Sure, he was completely dominate when it came to sex, twisting and turning Val around to satisfy his needs, but maybe he liked to be dominated. And Natalya seemed to be a very dominating woman. Maybe Natalya was able to satisfy Luke in ways that Val was never able to.
She felt her heart start to ache as her mind raced more and more into the depths of what their relationship really was. Val just couldn't grasp any other reason why she was there. She didn't act like she was apart of their team.
She was pulled from her thoughts when she felt Luke's hand brush against her thigh under the table. She looked to him. He had a small look of concern in his eyes, but Val grinned patting his hand as if to reassure him that she was fine.
Once dinner was done, Hank helped Val do dishes. She really didn't want to be around him and his perversions, but she welcomed the extra hands so she could get the dishes done faster. She tried not to say much to him while they worked away, but he was a regular Chatty Kathy.
"I do want to apologize to you, Val," he said catching her attention. She handed him a plate covered in suds for him to rinse watching him curiously. He ran the plate under the water. "Truth is, I'm happily married to the love of my life and she has given me three beautiful kids. I only came at you the way I did because pissing Hobbs off is one of my hobbies." Val gave him a weird look.
"That's an interesting hobby you have there." Hank chuckled. "Why would you have that kind of hobby?" Hank shrugged his shoulder continuing to rinse dishes.
"Because he's absolutely adorable when he's angry." Val began cracking up then looked out the kitchen window to see Luke watching them from the corner of his eye. He was conversing with the Russian beauty, Ben, and Jamal, but he was watching Hank and Val. Val grinned at him getting a grin from Luke in return.
"He is pretty cute, huh," Val said nudging Hank with her elbow. They both stopped for a split second exchanging a look then started laughing. They left the dishes in the drainer to let them dry and grabbed themselves another beer before heading back out onto the back porch.
"Watch this," Hank whispered as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Val went along with it, all discomfort around the man gone. "Hey, Hobbs!" he said getting Luke's attention. Luke narrowed his eyes at them. "I was alone for five minutes with your woman and that was all it took to steal her away from you." He looked at Val and squeezed her shoulder. "Right, baby?" Val would have been more than happy to play along, but the fire that flashed through Luke's eyes stopped her.
"Yeah, this isn't fun anymore," she said as Luke stalked toward them.
"Says you," Hank said with a grin as Val stepped away from him and made her way around Luke who didn't even give her a passing glance. She stood next to Jamal and Ben who was watching the scene unfold.
Luke put his finger in Hank's chest roughly.
"You, me, now," he growled. Luke turned away from him and made his way to the stairs. Hank followed behind with a grin of victory on his lips.
"Man, Luke must be really into you," Jamal said simply putting his arm over Val's shoulder. Val gave him a curious look. "It normally takes Hank all night to piss him off this bad. It's not even dark yet." Val watched as Luke and Hank faced each other as they started to stretch their muscles. Val frowned at the spectacle.
"So, what's happening?"
"They're going to fight," Ben said casually leaning his elbows on the banister.
"What!?" Val exclaimed.
"It's okay. They do this every time we come up here. It's a team building exercise," Ben said as if it was the most normal thing to do. Val slowly turned her gaze to the youngest of the team with her eyes wide. She had seen Luke fight before and it was never pretty. His massive size was not just for show. How was any of that okay?
"How is this a team building exercise?" Ben and Jamal fell quiet for a moment as if they were truly thinking about how to answer her question.
"I don't know," Ben said truthfully. Val swallowed hard watching as Hank and Luke had finished stretching and were facing each other ready to fight.
"Americans," Natalya said taking a swig of her Vodka straight from the bottle then shook her head.
Val was nervous. She wasn't sure what to expect from the fight that was about to happen. She felt she could cut the tension in the air with a knife. She bit her lip. All that needed to happen was a gust of wind needed to blow a bushy tumbleweed between the two men and they would have a genuine western showdown.
Hank went for Luke first with a right hook and Luke dodged to the side, then countered with a blow to the side of Hank's head with his elbow. Everyone on the porch cringed at the contact.
"You'd think he'd learn. He always gets hit like that," Jamal said shaking his head. Val glanced at him nearly having a heart attack. She couldn't believe how casual they were all acting. Hank recovered quickly and swung a massive fist towards Luke connecting with his jaw. Luke barely seemed to notice the hit as they stepped away from each other to reassess the field. Luke seemed dead set on ripping Hank apart while Hank seemed to be calm, cool, and collected.
They went after each other again, this time grappling with each other. They ended up on the ground as they started to wrestle each other. Val was biting her lip so hard from anxiety that she could taste blood. She could hear blows, but she couldn't tell who they were from because of the tangle the two were in.
Ben and Jamal began whooping and hollering at the two cheering them on. Val looked at both of them like they were insane. She had seen Rome and Brian wrestle around plenty of times, but they were both always laughing and throwing playful insults back and forth. She had never been nervous with them wrestling, but Luke looked like he was out for blood.
Hank managed to get Luke on his back and landed a couple blows to his face. Val tried not to gasp. She tried not to react at all, but she was sure the others around her could feel how nervous she was. Hank may have been half Luke's size when it came to muscle mass, but that didn't mean that he didn't know how to throw a punch. She could tell just by the sound of his fists connecting with Luke's face that it hurt.
"You have no reason to worry, Val," Natalya said from the other side of Ben. "They always do this. Here, have Vodka. It calms nerves." She held out the bottle to Val. Val stared at it for a moment. She wasn't much of a Vodka drinker at all. She was more into tequila, but she decided to trust Natalya and grabbed the bottle. She took a swig of it and her face twisted at the bitterness of it. Natalya chuckled at the look causing Val to glare at the Russian. She took another, longer swig not letting the bitterness hit her tongue.
She wasn't sure what had happened, but Luke had somehow managed to hit Hank off him and was now on top of him swinging at his face. Hank tried to block the hits as best as he could, but the sheer force of the blows was still doing a number on him. Out of nowhere, Hank countered by taking a jab at Luke's ribs. Luke snarled down at Hank when his fist connected with Luke's ribs a second time. Val bit the inside of her lip praying that Hank didn't just break his ribs.
They began grappling each other again rolling around on the grass grunting and straining. The fight ended when Luke had managed to get Hank into a choke hold. Val watched as Hank's face began to turn red and veins began popping out in his head. Hank finally tapped Luke's arm. Luke released him, letting Hank fall forward as he gasped for breath. Luke stood slowly staring down at the man. Hank rolled on his back and sprawled out while he caught his breath.
Luke bent and grabbed Hank by his shirt collar and pulled him up.
"She's mine," he growled. "Remember that." Hank raised his hands in surrender and Luke let him fall back onto the grass. Luke walked away from him and stepped back up onto the porch. His cheek was red and he was limping a little. There was a small line of blood trailing out of the corner of his mouth that he wiped away. He spit over the railing to get the blood that was working up in his mouth. He grabbed his beer that he left abandoned on the railing and walked to Val.
He sipped his beer putting his arm over her shoulder. Val frowned crossing her arms and looked up at him. He glanced down at her with a frown upon seeing the look she was giving him.
"What?" Val shook her head looking away from him. She took a sip of her beer. "What?" Luke inquired again. Val stepped away from him and walked back into the cabin. Luke watched her as she walked away from him. As soon as she disappeared, Jamal and Ben started cracking up.
"Oh, man, she is pissed at you," Jamal said.
"What did I do?" he asked truthfully.
"She act nervous when you fight," Natalya said standing on the other side of him. Luke took a deep breath and shook his head. He rubbed the back of his neck and made his way into the cabin to figure out what was going on with Val.
He found her in the kitchen rummaging through a first aid kit. She pulled out an ice pack and broke it so it could start freezing. She was aware of his presence, but she didn't acknowledge him. She moved the contents of the ice pack around until it was all nice and cold before she finally looked up to Luke. She stepped in front of him and placed it on his cheek. Luke welcomed the cold since the adrenaline was easing off and his cheek was beginning to throb.
He put his hand over the cold pack as her hand fell to his ribs. He flinched when she ran her fingers across the sore area. She sighed and turned back to the first aid kit to dig around for another ice pack, but Luke grabbed her and turned her back to him.
"Why were you worried about us fighting?" Val shrugged looking down at her feet a little ashamed. She knew she should have trusted Luke and his team, but that didn't help to calm her nerves. She still felt anxiety coursing through her body. Luke removed the ice pack from his cheek and tossed it on the counter. "Val." Val met his eyes with a sigh.
"The last time I saw you fight was with Dom." Luke gave her a small grin. He understood her reasoning. The last time she had seen him fight, he was there to rip her family apart by arresting her brother. "I'll be alright in a little bit." Luke kissed her lips gently before making his way back out onto the back porch with the others. Val looked on the countertop to see the discarded ice pack. She huffed rolling her eyes before grabbing it and carried it outside with her. She found Luke sitting on one of his patio chairs and stalked over to him. She tossed it on his lap giving him a demanding glare. He narrowed his eyes at her.
"I got that ice pack for you for a reason," she hissed.
"And I'm fine," he stated with certainty. Val's glare deepened. Luke sighed putting the ice pack on his cheek. Natalya gave Val an impressed look, but it went unnoticed by Val.
"You know," Hank called out from his spot on the grass. He hadn't moved an inch since the fight had ended. "I could really use an ice pack down here." Val looked down to him from over the banister. She looked to Luke and grinned. She looked to Ben who was shaking his head in disappointment at his comrade. Val placed her hand on Ben's shoulder to catch his attention.
"Go poke him with a stick until he moves." Ben grinned widely at Val before hurrying off the porch. Val felt large fingers slip into her back pocket and pull her backwards. She squealed praying that she would land on something soft as she tumbled backwards. She landed in Luke's lap hearing him grunt when Val landed on the leg that was currently hurting. She felt his hand slide around and down her waist to rest on her rear. Val leaned into him, careful of his bruised ribs.
She glanced over to Natalya when she felt the Russian woman's eyes on them. Her eyes seemed to be filled with curiosity causing Val's mind to fill with curiosity. She glanced at Luke who was grinning as he watched the rookie of his team poke Hank with a random stick he had found laying out in the yard. Val followed his gaze to the yard and started laughing. Hank was swatted and kicked at the stick being jabbed into random parts of his body. Jamal was screaming random things down to them as Hank cussed at Ben.
Val looked back to Luke who had once more discarded the ice pack. She stared at him until his eyes met hers. He watched her before he realized what she was doing and picked the ice pack placing it back on his cheek. Val grinned victoriously and kissed his other cheek. She could still feel Natalya's eyes on them and she spared the woman a glance. Val tried to ignore her gaze, but no matter what, she could still feel it.
The day progressed into night and Luke stood off away from the rest of the group. He watched as Val listened to one of Ben's stories of when he was living back in Kentucky. Luke had heard the story before, but it was still a pretty good story. He grew up on a cattle farm. His family bred and raised cattle and when they grew to the right size, they would sell them to slaughterhouses. A bad storm had come through and knocked a bunch of trees down. Some of the trees had hit the fences and a lot of the herd had gotten loose and were roaming the streets.
Luke was never really sure how many cattle had actually gotten loose in the end because the number changed drastically every time he told it. Sometimes it was a hundred head of cattle. Sometimes it was four hundred head of cattle. Ben had to go wrangle up all of them none stop for days. He told Val about different cattle that he could remember catching. Like the cow he found eating produce in the local supermarket. Luke shifted his gaze to Natalya catching her attention almost immediately. He tilted his head towards the door. She nodded her head and made her way into the cabin.
The motion didn't go ignored by Hank who watched Luke curiously. Luke nodded his head to his point man giving him the go ahead. Hank nodded his head in return and put his arm around Val's shoulders.
"Come down in the yard with me," he said leading her to the steps. Val followed along glancing to Luke who was grinning at the pair.
"What are we doing?" she asked wrapping her arm around Hank's waist. They made it down into the yard.
"I'm going to show you how to fight," he said casually shrugging his shoulder. Val frowned at the information given. She didn't want to learn how to fight. She had never really needed to learn to defend herself. She always had friends or family around to defend her. She never had to fear someone hurting her. Not to mention she was a doctor, she was supposed to heal people, not harm them.
"Why should I learn to fight?" she asked crossing her arms. "I'm not supposed to hurt people." Hank grinned shaking his finger at her.
"Because every woman as beautiful as you needs to know how to defend themselves." Val rolled her eyes at him.
"Well, why would I need to learn to defend myself when I have big, strong, handsome men such as yourselves here to protect me." She heard Ben and Jamal laughing as they came down the stairs to join them on the grass.
"She has a point," Jamal started. "But, Val, we're not always going to be around to protect you." Val rolled her eyes, but decided to entertain them anyways. She would never really need to worry about defending herself because of all of the extra precautions that Luke took just to protect her and her family from the dangers he faced every time he left.
They started her off with basic stances. She knew there was no point in them trying to teach her much of anything because all of them were very inebriated. She was trying to stand up straight as instructed, but she was swaying lazily. Hank kept kicking at her feet to widen her stance, but it just made Val lose her balance causing her to giggle.
"Maybe we should try something different. Alright, Val, I want you to hit me," Hank said squaring off with her. Val's eyes felt like they were about to fall out of her head she opened them so wide.
"No!" she exclaimed taking a step back. She bumped into Jamal who was standing close to her.
"Yes, hit me!" he said stepping closer to her so he was within swinging distance.
"I'm not going to hit you!" she practically yelled at him. She couldn't figure out why he was so interested in getting beat on. He had just went toe to toe with Luke just hours before and here he was wanting to be hit all over again.
"Come on, I'm giving you a free shot! Seriously, who turns down a free shot?" he asked turning his attention to the two men standing behind her. They shrugged.
"I think Luke may have hit you a little too hard earlier," she said turning her head to look up on the porch only to see that Luke wasn't there. And for that matter, Natalya was missing as well. She frowned, but her attention was drawn back to Hank who stepped in close to her. She tried to step back away from him, but he grabbed her by her shoulders to keep her in place. Her heart began to thud in her chest.
"I'm going to hurt you if you don't hit me," he said in a low voice. Val's breath caught in her throat. She glanced over each shoulder to see that Ben and Jamal not doing a thing to stop Hank and his threat. Her eyes shot back up to the porch to find Luke still missing. She would have even settled for having Natalya there to step in. She swallowed as she glanced back to Hank who squeezed her shoulders a little tight. "I'm going to hurt you." She felt her body begin to tremble as anxiety shot through her body. She couldn't tell if he was serious or not. Surely, Ben and Jamal wouldn't allow Hank to hurt her. Right?
Right?
She tried to look back at the two men behind her, but Hank shook her lightly, jerking her attention back to him.
"I am going to hurt you!" Val shook her head at him. He squeezed her shoulders even tighter causing her to wince.
"Let me go. You're starting to hurt me." He leaned in, his eyes dark. Val couldn't hear anything but her heartbeat which was beating erratically in her chest.
"Good." Val wasn't sure what happened next because her body reacted naturally. She brought her hands up in between her and Hank and forced her arms out breaking the hold he had on her shoulders. Then she brought her fist up and punched him in the side of the next. He was immediately on his knees gasping for breath. Val gasped covering her mouth kneeling down next to him.
"Shit! Hank! I'm so sorry!" she yelled putting her hand on his shoulder. He shook his head grabbing his chest and squeezed at his shirt as if it would help him catch his breath. He glanced at Val out of the corner of his eye and shook his head with a smile.
"No," he said then coughed. He took a few more deep breaths. "That was perfect." His voice sounded raspy. It was then that Val heard Jamal and Ben laughing. Val helped Hank stand and she touched his throat seeing where the red mark was already forming. She couldn't believe that she had done it. The only time she had ever raised a hand against anyone was when they messed with her friends or family. It was just the way it was. She never wanted to cause anyone any kind of pain unless they were hurting someone she loved. She never had to worry about herself because she knew the ones she loved were the same exact way. She never once had to raise her hands in self defense.
She was pulled from her thoughts when she felt a hand slap down on her shoulder. She looked to see Jamal giving her an approving smile. Ben came out of nowhere and swept her up in his arms and swung her around.
"That was so awesome! I don't think he's ever gotten put on his knees so fast!" he exclaimed happily.
"Yeah! It's usually faster!" Jamal said elbowing Ben in the ribs. They both laughed loudly.
"You guys are fucking insane!" Val finally screamed out. The three men stopped instantly. They shook their heads. Hank put his hands on her shoulders only this time without any kind of intent of hurting her.
"Listen, Luke just wanted to make sure that he didn't have to worry about you," Hank whispered. Val frowned.
"He worries about me?" Hank nodded. "Why?" Hank grinned tilting his head a little.
"We all worry about the ones we love when we walk out that door." Val lowered her eyes as her heart seemed to skip a beat. Did he just say love? She glanced back up to the porch, but Luke was still missing. She bit her lip wondering where he could have gotten off to. And for that matter, where the hell did Natalya go? Ben held up a bottle of whiskey with the cap already twisted off and took a swig before handing it to the others. Val took a couple steps back so she could slip away without them noticing. She hurried quietly up the stairs and slipped into the cabin glancing behind her to see if any of the three men followed her. Something in her gut was telling her that something was very off by the whole situation. She found it odd that Luke and Natalya seemed to disappear as soon as Hank decided to give her a lesson in self defense.
She didn't find them in the kitchen or the living room and even went and poked her head out front to see if they were there. She frowned as her heart began to race. What was going on? She made her way quietly through the cabin back to their bedroom. The door was shut, like always, but the light was on. Someone was in there. Luke was crazy about turning lights off as you left the room and he had fussed at her multiple times for leaving them on. She stepped in front of the door and put her ear to it. She could hear Luke and Natalya inside talking low. Her heart fell to her feet. She felt tears sting her eyes. What were they doing in there? She reached down quietly and gripped the doorknob wondering if she should really try to go in. What would she see when she went in? Would they be locked in the throws of passion? Would Luke really risk cheating on her while she was literally just out back? She knew he was smarter than that, but it didn't help calm her aching heart. She still could not deny the fact that Natalya was absolutely gorgeous and could probably bring kings to their knees with just a simple glance.
She summoned the courage to try the doorknob, but it was locked. She looked down at it. She swallowed. She had wondered why his bedroom doorknob wasn't a normal type knob for a bedroom door. It was a basic knob that someone would put on a front or back door. She hadn't asked him though as she just figured it was because he was such a private person. But she had to know. She had to know what was on the other side of that door. She turned quickly and moved into the bathroom. She picked up her bathroom bag and dug through it until she found two bobby pins.
She put one of the down on the bathroom counter then pulled the other apart so she had a straight piece. She bit of the rubber knobs on each end. Then she bit down on the tip of the flat half of the bobby pin then bent it just a little. Then she bent the other half around to make a make-shift handle. She sat it down on the counter then picked up the other. She used her teeth once more to bend it into a ninety degree angle. She had to use her hands to get it perfect. She took a deep breath.
"Alright, Val, you can do this. It's just like riding a bike," she whispered to herself as a way of a little pep talk. She picked up the first bobby pin and made her way to the bedroom door. She took another deep breath and glanced into the kitchen to see if the three outside were coming in, but they weren't. She knelt down in front of the door so she could get a better view of what she was about to do. She slid the second bobby pin into the lock as far as it would go and turned it slightly to put pressure on it, but not too much.
She stuck the first bobby pin in through the top and began moving it around, feeling each individual tumbler as they were pushed up. She turned the handle as she pushed up as each tumbler fell into place until she heard that a satisfying click. She took another deep breath. She wasn't sure what she was about to see, but whatever it was, she was prepared for it. Even if it meant that she would never see Luke again.
She turned the knob and busted into the room. She gasped. She had expected many things when she walked in, though every outcome had been the same; catching Luke red handed. And she did. She just wouldn't have thought it was going to be like that. She was too shocked to move. Natalya was standing on Luke's side of the bed nearest the door while Luke stood on Val's side of the bed. She was met with Natalya pulling a gun on her. Luke was quick to draw his own gun and point it at Natalya's head.
Natalya glanced at Luke out of the corner of her eye to see the predicament she was currently in and lowered her weapon. Val glanced around the room. There were big black cases scattered about the room. Some of them were open. There were different kinds of weapons in each case ranging from pistols to fully automatic weapons. She thought she had caught a glimpse of what looked like a grenade launcher in the case that was currently sitting on Luke's bed in front of him.
"I thought you say you lock door," Natalya snapped at Luke. Luke relaxed a little.
"I did lock the door and what did I say about bringing loaded weapons in my house?" Natalya rolled her eyes shoving her gun into its hiding place in the back of her pants.
"I am arms dealer, Hobbs. It looks bad if I no have my own weapon." Luke went to reply to her, but he paused for a moment. He held his finger up to her telling her to wait.
"I did lock the door." His gaze shifted to Val who was standing there completely stunned by what she had walked in on. "Val, how did you get in here?" She didn't speak. She didn't move. Luke wasn't sure if she had heard him. He sighed. She wasn't supposed to see any of that. She was supposed to remain oblivious. It wasn't illegal what he was doing, persay. Natalya was a contractor that dealt with a lot of different branches of the government to make sure that their teams were well equipped. Once a year, he and his team would meet in Luke's cabin to get new weapons if they wanted them.
He moved from the side of the bed and made his way over to Val. He stood directly in front of her to block her view of what was inside their bedroom silently hoping that would be enough to break her out of the spell she was under. Luke heard footsteps moving around outside in the kitchen before they hurried to the open bedroom door. Luke looked behind her to see Hank standing there. Luke shook his head. Hank frowned before walking away. The others were supposed to distract Val long enough for him to complete the transaction, but Natalya was sure to bring out the M32A1 Grenade Launcher that Luke always had to drool over. He wanted it so bad, but he didn't have two thousand dollars laying around to buy it. Not when he needed attachments and other accessories for his other weapons along with extra ammo. If it wasn't for her bringing out that launcher, they would have already been done and back outside and Val would have been none the wiser.
He wasn't sure how to go about telling her about what Natalya was actually doing there. He wasn't sure how she would react to it. He wanted to ease her into it. It was a little difficult wrapping one's mind around the world that he lived in. Sure, she had lived through some incredible experiences in her life, him being apart of some of them, but that was supposed to be all behind her. He didn't want her to feel like she was being dragged back in by him.
"What… what is all this, Luke?" she finally asked. His eyes met hers. Her eyes screamed confusion. He sighed, then reached down to grab her hand. He led her into the room so she could see everything. Her eyes slowly scanned all the weapons laid out before her.
"Natalya is a contractor that supplies me and my team with weapons that we need for missions." She pressed her lips together in a thin line.
"So… you two aren't…" she said vaguely looking between the two. She didn't need to finish her sentence. Luke knew what she was thinking when she first came through the door. He knew that it didn't look good with him being alone in his room with another woman with the door locked and with the way that Val's imagination ran crazy on her sometimes, he knew what she was thinking. He tried not to let it anger him, but he couldn't help, but feel a twang of anger pulsate in his heart. No matter what it looked like, she should have trusted him.
"Why would you think that?" Luke asked sounding a little bit more angry than he intended. He mentally lashed out at himself at the hurt look in Val's eyes.
"Because she's just so…" she whispered looking back to Natalya, but she stopped before she finished. Luke frowned wondering what she was getting at.
"Married," Natalya finished for her. Val frowned then looked down. She felt shame shoot through her. She was so stupid. But that still didn't explain why Natalya had been staring at them practically the entire night.
"Then why have you been watching me and Luke all night?" Natalya grinned crossing her arms. She poked her hip out to the side giving her body an exaggerated curve.
"Because I had heard rumor that Hobbs had got girlfriend, but I never believe it. I have known Hobbs long time and he never had him a woman. It was odd when I come in and see you standing in kitchen, but I guess the rumor was true." It all made sense to Val. She wasn't stupid. She was extremely stupid. She never took into consideration that Luke hadn't been in any kind of relationship with a woman in a very long time, just like she hadn't been with a man in a very long time. So, when someone heard that he was, in fact, in a relationship, it only made sense that some of them didn't believe it. Especially since Luke must not have talked about Val much from what she understood. Hell, his team didn't know anything about her and they had been dating for nearly a year. Hank had said love. Did Luke really love her? How could he if he never talked about her to anyone?
"I'm sorry," Val said lowering her eyes. Luke placed a hand on Val's lower back.
"Val," he said catching her attention. "How did you get in here? I locked the door." Val grinned as she scratched the back of her head.
"I used to boost cars, remember? The guy that owned the chop shop that I would take the cars to would always give me extra cash if I brought in vehicles with no damage. So I learned to pick locks so I could break into people's houses at night and steal their key. I haven't done it in years though. I'm a little surprised that I remembered how." Luke grinned impressed at finding out that Val had another skill that he had no idea about. She looked back to the cases filled with guns and took a deep breath. "Okay, so…" she said holding her hands on in front of her. "I'm going to go ahead and assume that I didn't see any of this." She looked up to Luke and placed her hand on his chest. "And me and you will talk later." Luke nodded slowly. Val stepped passed Luke letting her hand slide across his chest and she made her way out of the door. She closed it behind her.
Luke stared at the door for a moment as pride swelled through his chest. She was going to try to understand everything that was going on. She was going to try to accept it. She was able to handle the situation better than what he thought she was, but what else could he expect from the woman he called his own?
"You love her, don't you?" Luke's eyes shifted to Natalya, the grin never disappearing on his lips. His grin brought a grin to her face.
Val walked into the kitchen, her head swimming with what she just encountered. She was still trying to wrap her head around everything. She was more than happy that Luke wasn't in there sleeping with her, but she never expected to walk in and see something like that. She walked to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of beer and opened it with the bottle opener. She made her way out back with the others who were all gathered around talking low to each other. They stopped when Val made her presence known.
They simply just stared at her as if assessing her. It was Ben who approached her first.
"Can I ask you a question?" Val shrugged as a way to give him the go ahead. "Is it true that you used to be one of Luke's targets?" She looked at the three men as they watched her.
"He was really just after my brother, but he turned us all into criminals so he could trap him." The group exchanged looks.
"So, you were there," Hank said. "When he lost his old team." She nodded again. She wasn't sure how they knew about any of that, but she supposed that DSS was just like any other work force when it came to rumors and gossip.
Luke appeared on the back porch about ten minutes later and went straight to Val. He watched her for a moment as if questioning if she was alright to which she nodded her head. She stepped into him and placed her head against his chest. She was over the initial shock of what she had witnessed by then. If anything, it made her feel much better about letting him leave for missions knowing that he and his team were more than well equipped all thanks to Natalya.
One by one, the team went into the cabin to look over Natalya's wares. Luke had taken his place back on one of the patio chairs and had pulled Val down onto his lap. It took roughly another hour and a half for everyone to be done with Natalya. By that time, Val had consumed a lot more tequila with Hank and she was feeling fantastic. Perhaps a little too fantastic, but that didn't matter to her as she bit her lip and leaned into Luke's ear.
"Let's go to bed," she whispered and Luke grinned pushing her up from his lap. She grabbed his hand and practically dragged him into the cabin while whoops and hollers could be heard from his team.