Disorganized grandstanding. That was Ororo's impression of the Avengers' fighting style. She'd offered her assistance taking down a Hydra base not too far from the Institute and so far she wasn't impressed with "Earth's Mightiest Heroes."
Sure, Natasha was definitely the kind of person she could be friends with, Thor was kind and had automatically dubbed her his "lightning sister" and Captain America was everything his reputation had made him out to be, the problem came with the other teammates. Not Hulk, he ignored her except to call her Sparky. The problem was Tony Stark and Clint Barton.
"How do you put up with them?" She asked Natasha, watching as Tony grabbed a Hydra agent and began making him use his own hand to smack himself while taunting "Why are you hitting yourself?" over and over again.
"Strategically placed weapons." Natasha explained. "Barton's not too bad once you get to know him."
As she said this, the man in question ran off the roof of the building shouting "CATCH ME, HULK." He was being chased by 5 Hydra agents.
Hulk looked up disinterestedly then grunted, "stupid Hawk," before going back to smashing a wall.
Ororo summoned a wind current to buffet Barton as he fell, while throwing a disbelieving glance at Natasha.
"He grows on you." The widow sighed.
"My hero." Barton walked over to her once the battle was over, grinning from ear to ear. "You and I should definitely team up sometime. I see a great partnership in our future."
Ororo raised an eyebrow. "We'll see." She replied, silently swearing to never work alone with the archer.
"Ro." The call came at midnight. Ororo rubbed her eyes and cursed herself for even answering.
"Who is this?" She asked.
"It's Barton, I need a favor."
Ororo blinked at the clock next to her bed. "It's 1 am." She hissed. "Wait…how did you get this number?"
"I'm a spy." Barton explained. "Doing spy things, which is why I need your help; some precipitation down on 27th and 8th would be super appreciated right about now."
Ororo was in the middle of a yawn when his request registered. "This isn't a weather delivery service." She replied.
"Come on, Ro.' Barton whined, making Ororo cringe, though she wasn't sure if it was the nickname or the voice. "I'm about to get my ass kicked by some really bad dudes and an unexpected torrential downpour would really be in my favor right about now."
Ororo pinched the bridge of her nose. "Fine." She snapped, concentrating.
"Thanks, Ro you're the best." Barton replied. There was a pause, then he squawked, "I DIDN'T MEAN SNOW."
"Good night." Ororo said in a singsong voice before hanging up. The next morning when she came down for breakfast every news channel was reporting on the freak blizzard that had plagued 3 square blocks of Manhattan. If any of her team had any suspicions, they kept them to themselves.
"Hello, Ro." Barton slid into the seat across from her at an Avengers/Xmen mixer Stark was throwing in the Tower.
"I see you've gotten over your cold." Ororo commented taking a sip of her drink.
"Thank you for that." Barton said. "It's nice to see you care."
Ororo smirked and made to ignore him…except he kept staring at her. It was really unnerving and so annoyingly Barton. She knew better than to engage him, it would only encourage him, but a part of her enjoyed tearing him down. "What?" She asked.
"You like me." He said.
"Don't be ridiculous."
"You could have let me die out there; instead you chose to save my life."
"By turning you into a snowman." Ororo countered, but Barton seemed undaunted.
"You'd be lost without me." He continued.
Ororo laughed. "That's a bit of a leap, isn't it?" She stood and walked over to Natasha. "Your boyfriend is driving me crazy." She muttered.
"Not my boyfriend." Natasha replied, glancing slightly at Dr. Banner who was across the room talking to Hank. Ororo raised an eyebrow and mistook the slight weight off her chest for surprise that the Widow was interested in the Hulk rather than a reaction to Barton's relationship status.
"Ro."
Ororo was snapped out of her meditative haze by Barton's voice. She stubbornly kept her eyes closed, she'd come to the X mansion's yoga studio to get a few minutes peace and she wasn't letting Hawkeye ruin it. "Barton." She said, feeling the serenity from her meditation slipping away. What did the archer want?
"I brought you this." He held out something. Ororo opened an eye to see him holding a potted plant. It was an orchid with white petals and a red center. It was beautiful. Opening the other eye she looked up at Barton. "Nat said I was rude for asking you to save my life the other day and she's usually right so I got you this. Apparently it's from Kenya." He seemed nervous. Ororo uncrossed her legs and stood.
"They were my mother's favorite flower." She said softly, accepting the pot. "I haven't seen one since I was a girl."
Barton's eyes widened in surprise, then he grinned. "Lucky guess then."
"Thank you." Ororo said, surprised by how much she meant it. Barton's smile softened slightly and lost some of its usual mocking smugness. For a moment, Ororo relaxed around Barton. But of course, because it was Barton, he couldn't let a nice moment go by without ruining it.
"Soooooo." He said. "Does this mean I can call you to have you save me again some time? Send a rainstorm if I need it?"
Ororo exhaled and rolled her eyes. "Unbelievable." She muttered as she turned to leave the studio.
"What?" Barton called after her. "We were having a moment."
"Emphasis on the past tense." Ororo said.
"Please." Barton said. "What if I need a well-placed lightning bolt?"
"Call Thor." She said opening the door.
"Awww come on, Ro." Barton said as he followed her. "Pleeeease." She ignored him and went up the stairs to her room, slamming the door with a blast of wind.
Later that night when she was brushing out her hair she looked over at the orchid. She was struck by the thoughtfulness of Barton's having chosen a potted plant over a cut one. That way she could keep it. She gently touched the petals of one of the blooms, smiling in spite of herself. Outside, the rain that the news had been forecasting for weeks cleared away leaving a clear sky illuminated by the moon.
"Teams of two will go into the Danger Room." Captain Rogers explained. "One Avenger. One Xman. The purpose of this exercise is teamwork. It doesn't matter how quickly you clear the obstacles if only one person is doing the heavy lifting." He shot a pointed look at Logan. Ororo was focused on Rogers, but out of the corner of her eye she could see Barton subtly moving closer to where she was standing. She closed her eyes and prayed to be paired with Romanov.
"We paired you based on what would be the biggest challenge. It's harder to work with someone you don't see eye to eye with." Charles explained. Ororo shot him a look of alarm. Please no, she silently begged.
"In the field the situation might arise where you'll have to rely on someone you wouldn't have drinks with afterward." Captain Rogers continued. "In order for this team partnership to work, we need to trust each other."
"I'm not doing any feeling sharing circles." Logan grumbled.
"The teams are as follows." Rogers said, speaking over him. "Iron Man and Wolverine." There was a tense moment where everyone on either team glanced at each other. They'd all clearly come to the same conclusion; not everyone was surviving this exercise.
"How dare you insinuate that Sasquatch and I aren't best bros." Tony huffed.
"Watch it bub." Logan growled.
"Iceman." Rogers said. "You're with me."
Bobby looked momentarily surprised, but nodded.
"Thor and Cyclops." Captain Rogers listed off. Ororo had to admire the ingenuity of the team up. Scott preferred well organized plans while Thor rushed to a confrontation to experience the "glory of battle".
"Cyclops and I shall be fast friends." Thor declared, thumping Scott on the back and almost dislodging his visor. Scott glared at Cap and the professor.
"Black Widow and Jean." Cap continued.
It was another good choice, Ororo mused. Natasha was a secretive person; a necessary skill in her line of work. Pairing her with a telepath would force her out of her comfort zone.
"And finally Storm and Hawkeye."
"Awesome!" Barton grinned and threw his arm around Ororo's shoulders. She hadn't noticed how close he'd gotten and jumped slightly at the contact. "We got this, right Ro?"
"Right." Ororo said through gritted teeth. Looking back at the professor she thought, Couldn't I have been paired with Hulk instead?
Really Ororo. The professor sounded amused. Ororo sighed and knew it was useless. Dr. Banner had been excused from the exercise because they wanted to have a Danger Room afterwards. The professor looked at her and Barton and said. I think the two of you will work really well together.
Predictably, Logan and Stark failed the exercise. Logan "accidentally" cut open the front of Stark's suit with his claws. Cap pulled the plug before Stark could retaliate.
"He talks too much." Logan growled as he left the Danger Room.
Iceman and Cap went next. They worked reasonably well together and if anyone noticed how pale and taciturn Steve was after, they didn't call attention to it. He was clearly still recovering from his time in the ice and he'd teamed up with Bobby to confront his PTSD. Ororo felt a stab of shame. If Steve could put aside his anxiety to cooperate with Bobby then surely she could work with Barton.
Thor and Scott was definitely the most entertaining. The thunder god's boisterous approach to confrontation clearly grated on Scott's nerves, but for the sake of completing the exercise he didn't say anything.
"Congratulations." Steve said when they exited the Danger Room. "You failed."
"WHAT?" Scott was outraged, finally snapping and losing his cool.
"The purpose of the exercise was to confront what upsets you about your teammate and get past it. You decided to ignore it so you could finish."
Scott crossed his arms and glared at Steve, clearly debating the pros and cons of taking out his frustration on a national icon.
Jean and Natasha went next. At first they didn't seem to be able to coordinate and finally after a few minutes Natasha sighed and told Jean to just link them. After that they finished their challenge in record time.
"Excellent." Steve said as they left the Danger Room.
It was now Ororo and Barton's turn. The door opened and they stepped into the Danger Room. Just before the door closed behind them with a slam, Ororo could have sworn she heard Stark start a betting pool on how long it would take for her to kill Barton or make out with him. In front of them was a maze made completely of stone. Hank must have designed the exercise because it looked like it came straight out of the legend of the Minotaur. The walls were high and the maze opened up to a falsely programed sky; the point was clearly to get to the other side.
"Maybe I can fly up and see how to direct us out." Ororo suggested. She was about to take off when Barton grabbed her arm.
"That's too easy; you heard Cap. The point of this isn't to finish but to work together." He pulled out an arrow and shot it at the ceiling. It hit a force field, which rippled, showing Ororo that it spanned as far as the eye could see, probably over the whole maze. She closed her eyes and counted backwards from 10, slowing her breathing. She hated enclosed spaces and the fact that the force field would keep her grounded was bad enough without Barton's presence.
"So we walk." She said as Barton bent down to pick up his fallen arrow.
"We walk." Barton agreed, straightening up and motioning for her to lead.
"Thank you." She said after they entered the maze. "For…not letting me fly into the force field. I should have realized it wouldn't be that simple, I'm off my game."
"I tend to have that effect on women." Clint sighed.
Ororo rolled her eyes. Typical, she'd tried to bury the hatchet and he'd turned it in a smug self-serving compliment. Deciding not to respond she shot a glance at the ceiling where she knew the others were probably watching. She couldn't work past her annoyance with Barton if he insisted on continuing to be a pain. They continued trying to figure out the maze, Ororo's unease at being enclosed increased. She focused on continuing the excerise. After about 5 minutes Barton was fidgeting; silence clearly wasn't something he was used to.
"How's the plant?" He asked.
"Good." Ororo said, grateful for the distraction. "It produced another flower yesterday."
Barton nodded. "I know what our issue is." He said.
"Oh?" Ororo arched an eyebrow. "Pray tell."
"You're in love with me." He said simply.
Ororo let out a surprised laugh, her unease temporarily forgotten. "I'm what?"
"It's true." Barton insisted. "You've convinced yourself that you hate me in order to resist the sexual tension."
Ororo looked up at the ceiling, hoping it would open and offer her an escape. "No, I've correctly assumed that you suffer from an acute case of testosterone poisoning."
Barton held up his hands. "I don't suffer, I enjoy every minute of it." he said. Ororo rolled her eyes and was about to move forward when a slight change in the air alerted her to movement. There was something hoovering above them and it wasn't the force field. Barton had noticed it too, because he pulled out an arrow and nocked his bow, looking around.
"Get down.' He said, all joking gone from his tone. Ororo ducked as he shot an arrow over her head, skewering a cloaked robot. It clattered to the ground. Barton knelt next to it and pulled out his arrow. Inspecting the tip, he put it back in his quiver.
"You reuse your arrows?" She asked. Barton nodded.
"If I run out, I lose my primary line of defense." He explained. "The day we met, my plan was to jump from the roof and use a zipline arrow to go down safely, but when I was running, I realized that my arrows were gone. I had to use a ton to take down the Hydra goons and there were so many of them that I couldn't fight all of them and get back my arrows." He shrugged, "so I ran to lead them to the rest of the Avengers." He frowned. "I was really hoping Hulk would catch me." he muttered, then he smiled up at her and stood up. "But you did."
Ororo smiled. "Should we continue?" she asked.
"We should talk more." Barton said. "We don't want to fail the exercise."
"I didn't take you for a teacher's pet.' Ororo said.
"I'm not, but I think you wouldn't appreciate it if we didn't do well." Barton shrugged. "Plus have you ever since Cap's disappointed face? It's pretty rough."
"What do you want to talk about?" Ororo said.
"The weather." Barton deadpanned. Ororo bit back a smile.
"The weather." She repeated. "Nice one. Amazingly no one's ever made that joke before."
"You slay me with your sarcasm, madam." Barton smiled.
"No that's what the hurricanes are for." Ororo said.
"I just figured…you don't seem to be the sort of person who likes talking about deep emotional stuff with an audience." He glanced up to where the Danger Room control room was hidden by the illusion of the maze. "So we can make small talk instead. We can save the tough stuff for our second date."
Ororo stopped walking and closed her eyes. "How is it that you can say all the right things then immediately follow them up with statements like that?" She groaned.
"It's something I'll reveal on our second date." He said, smugly. "I'd bring tissues; my tragic origin story's a real tear jerker."
"Funny, I don't remember agreeing to a first date." Ororo said.
"You will." He said confidently.
"You are awfully sure of yourself." Ororo couldn't help the amusement creeping into her tone.
"Not really; what I am is persistent. You're beautiful, smart, and way out of my league." He shrugged. "I like a challenge."
"I'm a human being, Barton. Not a video game." Ororo said. "Being referred to as a challenge isn't a compliment; it's degrading."
"Which is why we need to get to that second date so we can bare our souls to each other." Barton said.
Ororo was about to deliver a retort when a slight movement ahead of them caught her eye. Grabbing Barton and shoving him down she caused a polar wind to freeze the robot that was flying at his head. It fell to the floor in front of them.
"Thanks." Barton said, getting to his feet. He looked curiously at Ororo's face. "You okay?"
"No." She said. "I…" She looked at the ground. "Enclosed spaces make me nervous. Usually I can handle being in the Danger Room, but this exercise is getting under my skin."
"Because I'm here?" Barton asked. "And I'm annoying you?"
"No…I mean yes you are, but…" Ororo sighed debating whether or not what she was about to say was a good idea. "You annoying me isn't necessarily a bad thing." She said slowly. "It distracts me from thinking the walls are going to close in on me."
Instead of making a joke, Barton just nodded solemnly. "Okay, I'll see what I can do."
"That's it?" Ororo asked. "No smart retort, no sexual innuendo about how you wouldn't be afraid of my enclosed spaces?"
Barton snorted and rubbed the back of his head. "That's a good one, but no. I'd rather tease you when 100% of your concentration is focused on smart comebacks." He gave her a sheepish smile. "So what do you want me to do?"
"Just…talk to me." Ororo said. Barton's smile widened into a grin.
"That I can definitely do."
They continued the maze, talking amicably while occasionally taking out the robots. Barton told her about his dog, Lucky. Ororo told him about her travels with the team. It turned out that they liked the same pizza toppings (peppers and pepperoni), thunderstorms, and plants (though Barton admitted that he couldn't keep plants alive, but he tried). Ororo offered him gardening lessons before she realized the words had left her mouth. Barton, to his credit, didn't turn it into a quip but smiled and gave her a small nod. Finally they turned a corner and the exit to the maze was in front of them. Ororo was surprised at the stab of disappointment she felt at seeing the door.
"We totally aced this." Barton said, holding up his hand. "High five."
Ororo grimaced, but indulged him. Then she opened the door and they left the Danger Room side by side. The professor and Captain Rogers were waiting for them.
"The others left when they realized you weren't going to tear each other to shreds or your clothes off." Captain Rogers explained as Ororo shot a curious glance around the room. There was an amused glint in the super soldier's eye.
"I suppose the two of you will have no more problems going forward?" Charles asked.
"I don't know." Barton sighed dramatically. "She's really so unprofessional. Did you see how she manhandled me earlier? She just could not keep her hands to herself."
Ororo closed her eyes and shook her head. "Next time I won't save your life." She muttered.
"Not that I blame her." Barton said. "I mean, who could resist these guns?" he flexed.
"You do know sleeves have been invented, right?" Ororo retorted, walking out of the room. Barton followed.
"I just like to show off my assets." He said, cheekily.
"I guess you need something to distract from your lack of brains." Ororo said.
Barton stepped in front of her, gently putting his hand on her arm. "Dinner tonight?" he asked. Ororo looked up at him and contemplated an outright refusal, but Natasha had been right; he really wasn't so bad once you got to know him.
Stepping closer she leaned forward so her mouth was next to his ear. He shivered slightly as she said. "I'll think about it." Smirking, she walked away.
"Totally in love with me, Ro." He called after her.
"Not a chance, Clint."