Clint Barton woke up to an empty bed and a blaring alarm clock. After quickly shutting off the alarm on the night stand, he noticed a small piece of paper folded neatly next to a framed picture of a red-headed woman and a similarly red-headed young girl.
Teaching a class at the base at 1000h. Claire is with me. You might want to come watch, it's a good class today. -N
Clint smiled at the note and ruffled his hair, staring at the picture on the night stand. It has been 4 years since the battle of New York and his life took a drastic turn. Shortly after the battle, he and Natasha discovered that they would be expecting a child. After a lot of discussion and arguing of whether or not to bring a human being into the world of magic and monsters, Claire Barton was born. She was everything that Clint imagined to be and more. At the age of four, she was already as agile as her mother and had the sharp wit to match.
"Bird Boy!" Tony barged in, interrupting Clint's train of thought. "Heard your woman was torturing SHIELD rookies today. Suit up, I don't want to miss this show."
"You could always knock next time. Make coffee, I'll be out in 10 minutes."
"You got it, Legolas."
Natasha Romanov walked in between the ranks and files of new SHIELD recruits who stood perfectly at attention.
"We'll be learning about unusual opponents today. Why is this important in our line of work?" Natasha asked her students, making eye contact with each and every one of them while she paced in between them. One student raised their hand. "Yes, Agent Connors?"
"Our mark could be anybody, anything, at anytime. We prepare for the unexpected and brace for the worst," the young recruit recited obediently.
"Good. And how do we handle these situations?" Natasha asked again.
"Like any other mark. We stick to our training and our strengths," he answered again. He was a prime recruit, smart, strong, and not overly big headed.
"Excellent, Agent Connors. Why don't you step forward."
The brown haired recruit stepped forward hesitantly while the rest of the recruits retreated back towards the walls for the demonstration. "I'm going to bring out a sparring partner for you."
The recruit shifted nervously. The Black Widow was notorious for being an extremely brutal instructor, he had experienced it twice already, and he wished that just possibly she would cut him some slack this time.
"Claire, you can come in now," Natasha said towards the entrance of the training room. The recruits all turned to see a little red headed girl in pigtails skip towards their instructor.
"Hi!" She said waving to the rest of the class, standing next to Natasha. The class all chuckled at the sight of the small girl, unsure of what was to happen next. Natasha, without even glancing at the girl stared directly at the new recruit standing in the center of the room.
"Connors, I want you to take her down."
The young agent stumbled back slightly in disbelief. "I'm sorry, but her, ma'am?" He said gesturing to the little girl who was currently attempting a tumble.
"I'm sorry, was I not clear?" Natasha said, never breaking eye contact. "I want you to take her down just like any other target, exactly like you've been trained." The little girl's eyes darted to Natasha then back to the man she was speaking to.
"Ma'am, with all due respect, she's a CHILD. I wouldn't dare do anything to a-" Connors fell to the floor with a thud, his eyes meeting face to face with a pair of innocent green ones.
"You talk too much," the little girl said simply. Connor glanced around in disbelief as to what happened. His instructor stood a good ten feet away from him and the only person within range was the miniaturized version of his instructor. "I made you go down!" She said, giggling. Connor glanced back at his instructor, who stood with her arms crossed.
"Take. Her. Down." She said again.
"YEAH DUMMY TAKE ME DOWN!" Claire said standing up and blowing raspberries at the agent on the ground. Claire immediately dodged as the agent lunged at her, attempting to capture the rowdy child as quickly as possible without harming her. After a good ten minutes of cat and mouse, Claire managed to get the agent disarmed with his hands tied behind his back and stuck in a cross-legged position on the floor. Connors sat there in disbelief staring at the little girl who was sitting cross-legged, mirroring him and laughing.
"This, ladies and gentlemen, is why we don't let our judgments get in our way. Everything is not as it seems. Do not let archetypal images affect you. No matter your mark, you go for it." Claire stood up from her position and grabbed Natasha's hand, leaving her victim to wriggle free from his constraints. "Class dismissed."
The two walked out of the training room hand in hand, ignoring the struggling recruit in the center of the room.
"Did I do good, Mommy?"
"Perfect. You did perfect, Honey."
Clint Barton stood behind the observation glass, arms folded with a smirk on his face. Tony stood beside him chuckling.
"Well, Barton. Looks like you got a handful there, don't you?"
Clint smiled, turning to the little girl running down the hallway towards him. "Sure do, Stark."
Tony watched as Clint walked away with the two redheads, one babbling away happily in his arms and the other smiling up at him, his arm firmly around her waist.