Regeneration

Kennedy's life had always been painfully average, until she was kidnapped and injected with a strange serum that allowed her to do things beyond her wildest dreams. Now she's doing something she promised herself she'd never do, Kennedy Walsh had followed in her brother's footsteps and joined bad summary swear the stories better. Eventual Clint x OC

March 21st 2008

A small part of Kennedy's mind told her that once she'd jumped, it wouldn't be so scary. Unfortunately, that small part of Kennedy's mind was completely and utterly wrong. Hurtling towards the earth at an unbelievable speed was as terrifying as Kennedy had imagined it. Her heart was beating so fast it threatened to tear itself right out of her chest. Kennedy had never felt such pure fear in her life, she was literally falling out of the sky. The possibility of splattering on the ground was the only image playing through her mind as the ground edged closer and closer to her. She also didn't enjoy the wind that felt as if it was hitting her in the face much harder than Natasha ever had. It was as if Kennedy had forgotten who she was and what she was doing, all she could think about was the fact that she was getting closer and closer to ground and there wasn't a way to stop it. That's when it hit her, the huge flood of relief. The intense fear had made her completely forget that Clint was falling right beside her, and that she had a parachute attached safely to her back. When she'd remember that, she felt a small sense of relief, and though she wouldn't admit it, joy. Kennedy looked over at Clint who signalled to her that it was time, which prompted her to pull the cord. As the parachute deployed she felt her entire body violently jolt, sucking all the air out of her lungs. But then, after that she felt herself floating in the air. Almost as if she was flying. She looked over to Clint, who was meters below her looking up at her with the same smile across his face. As she looked down at him, she realised that maybe, for the first time in years, she wasn't completely alone. She had someone who was there for her through choice, she'd never had anyone who'd chose to be around her before. Someone who genuinely wanted to be there before. Kennedy looked in awe at the sunrise, finally feeling as if she belonged somewhere.

Kennedy spent the rest of the day on an unbelievable high, Clint and Natasha had never seen her so genuinely happy, which in turn put smiles on their faces. For Kennedy to be aloud into the field there was a list of qualifications she had to complete. Luckily for her there were many of them that Clint and Natasha had neglected to renew and were now being forced to meaning she wouldn't have to most of it alone. Kennedy was very proud of the little certificate she was presented with once she'd finished. So proud she'd hung it in the little corner of the Delta team's office that she'd claimed for herself.

Kennedy then spent the rest of the day sat in mission briefs trying to understand how it was that SHIELD actually ran by the orders of Coulson. Who insisted it was no use her knowing how to punch her way though walls if she had no idea how to actually carry out a mission. Sitting up in operations she realised how much planning went into the missions that Clint and Natasha constantly ignored. Which must have been so infuriating for everyone who worked up here, and also explained the dirty looks she had been getting from the staff in operations. She could tell they weren't very partial to the STRIKE teams, her potential one in particular. When she was finished her brain felt as if it was going to explode with all the information she had crammed into it. Kennedy was used to 'studying' if you will, being a psychology major only a couple of months ago. Yet this felt a lot different. Before, she was studying to get a good grade on a test, one she could retake if she had to. Now she was studying information that could save her own life, stuff that if she didn't know could damage the lives of others. As much as she now felt as if she belonged at SHIELD, she never expected to be going into a job that juggled people's lives so readily.

Kennedy checked her watch as she left briefing, realising it was already time for her to go home. She walked over to the office her brother had been secluded in for the past couple of weeks. If Mike had been bored doing the very mundane data entry job he was being punished with to begin with, he was ready to literally jump out of the window now. He only had a few days left to endure the 'torture' as he had labelled it yet he was still being as dramatic as ever. Kennedy found him with his feet resting on his desk making paper aeroplanes and throwing them into the bin opposite him. Mike had been moved to an office on his own to prevent him from spending his days tormenting the other employees, which had in turn left him with absolutely nothing to do.

"I've never been happier to see you in my entire life!" Mike exclaimed as Kennedy pushed the door open to his temporary office.

"Mike, you've said that every day for the past week," Kennedy laughed, leaning against the door frame crossing her arms.

"Well it's true, every time you come and get me means I'm a little closer to going back to blowing stuff up again," Mike smiled very reminiscently, excited to get back to his STRIKE team.

"You know I've been up in mission briefing all day and I think they're getting a little tired of you guys continuously resorting to just blowing stuff up," Kennedy smirked as they left the office making their way to the car.

"They never let us hear the end of it, but where's the fun in actually following the plans?" Mike asked, a mischievous grin plastered on his face.

"I can tell why they hate you around here so much," Kennedy teased, stepping into the elevator with her brother.

"Excuse me, hate is a very powerful word. I would use the word strongly dislike," Mike joked, pouting his lip slightly.

"I think that's a bit of an understatement," Kennedy joked back nudging him.

"Oh I forgot to ask, was skydiving as awful as you thought it would be?" Mike questioned, wondering about his sister's day.

"To begin with, yes. But then it wasn't, after I got over the initial fear of falling it was like I realised this is where I belong you know," Kennedy said as the elevator reached the ground floor.

"I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit," Mike confessed, receiving a very powerful punch in the arm from Kennedy.

"Mike shut up I'm serious. I've never felt like I've belonged anywhere before, this is new for me," Kennedy defended herself slightly, she always felt like she had to defend how she was feeling, as if she wasn't justified enough to feel happy.

"Sorry ken, you're right though. You more than anyone deserve to be happy after enduring our family," Mike said, sounding sincere for once in his life.

"Yeah, we pulled the short straw with our mom," Kennedy smiled, thinking of their very overbearing mother.

"I more than make up for it though," Mike smirked leading his sister to his car.

"Keep telling yourself that," Kennedy smirked at him as she got into the car, shaking her head at her brother. He was impossible, and she loved him for it.

March 26th 2008

Kennedy was very rudely awoken from her sleep that morning by a great deal of noise coming from her brother's room. Confused, Kennedy rubbed the sleep out of her eyes wondering what the noise was. Deciding sleep was more important, Kennedy closed her eyes again deciding it was probably just him being an idiot. That was until she heard another very audible crash coming from his room, in that moment she felt her heart drop slightly. What if Jonah was back, or what if it was someone else. With the job they had there was a huge list of people that would be thrilled to take down her brother. Kennedy pulled the knife out from under her bed (which was the by Natasha's influence) and made her way to her brother's room, which was directly across from hers. Her heart was pounding as she got to the door, which was slightly opened. Mike never slept with his door open, which made her heart drop ever further. Kennedy took a very deep breath, attempting to centre herself before pushing the door open.

Kennedy lowered her knife when she saw were the noise was coming from. As she entered the room she was greeted by her brother insanely dancing around the room. Kennedy rolled her eyes shaking her head at her brother who still hadn't noticed her.

"You really are pathetic Michael," Kennedy sighed, which caught his attention and stopped him dancing around the room like a maniac.

"Oh I didn't notice you there Ken," Michael laughed, his face turning a bright red colour before his eyes lowered to the knife still in her fingers, "Why do you have a knife?"

"Well with all the noise you were making I thought your stupid ass was in trouble." Kennedy explained, looking down at the knife in her hands. This was her life now, assuming that strange noises were people breaking into her home and not something far more believable.

"Oh, no. Something far more exciting happened. I got called in for a mission," Mike exclaimed before continuing to dance around the room again.

"People in danger, how exciting," Kennedy deadpanned, very unimpressed to have been awoken for something so unimportant.

"Aren't you going to miss me, I'll be off the grid for a couple of weeks. We're going to Brazil," Mike explained, his face lit up like a child at Christmas.

"I won't see you for two whole weeks, how will I be able to cope," Kennedy said, sarcasm laced through her tone.

"You're an arsehole in the mornings," Michael pouted, crossing his arms.

"You're an arsehole in general," Kennedy retorted, before making her way towards the kitchen area for coffee. There was no point going back to sleep now, she knew her attempt would be in vain.

"You better not burn my apartment down while I'm gone," Michael joked, carrying his mission bag into the kitchen.

"So little faith in me," Kennedy replied, "Anyways, I was thinking I should probably go back to my own apartment. I mean it's been a month since Jonah now and there's been no sign of him,"

"Exactly Ken, there's no sign of him which means he's still out there. Your apartments further away from everyone than mine is, I mean Clint literally lives five minutes down the road. You're far safer here," Mike insisted, collecting other things he needed for his mission.

"Mike a month ago I would've agreed with you, but I can handle myself now. If anything happens, not that will, I can deal with it myself," Kennedy assured him, as much as it scared her that from now on she'd have to be watching her back. She knew that she could, she could protect herself now.

"Kennedy you've been at SHIELD for a month and you think you can take on the world? You aren't safe on your own anymore," Mike insisted, looking suddenly very angry.

"Mike why are you being so difficult? What are you going to do when I start going on missions huh? It's not as if you can come with me," Kennedy protested, suddenly becoming very angry at her brother.

"Ken, there are a lot of things you just don't know. You're staying here," Mike said, not taking no for an answer as he threw his bag over his shoulder.

"What do you mean there's a lot of things I don't know?" Kennedy shouted at her brother as he began to exit the apartment.

"I'll see you soon Ken, you'll have to get someone else to bring you into work," Mike shouted back, and with that he left Kennedy sat in an apartment that she now felt like a prisoner in.

"Thanks for picking me up," Kennedy smiled over at Clint as she got into his car.

"Well I think Coulson would've been pretty angry if I'd left you stranded," Clint joked, smiling over at her as he started the car.

"I don't think he would have been too pleased," Kennedy replied, without the same sparkle in her eyes that Clint was usually accustomed to. Clint frowned slightly, looking over at her in slight concern. Clint let her sit there for a few moments, wondering if she would start talking by herself. After a while, Clint realised she wasn't opening up by herself.

"What's eating you," Clint questioned, pulling Kennedy from her thoughts.

"Nothing gets past you does it," Kennedy felt a half smile grace her lips at that, not realising she was so transparent.

"Well, I am a spy," Clint replied very, the hint of sarcasm sounding so natural in his voice.

"Really, I had no idea," Kennedy responded, attempting to deflect the question for a while.

"You can only avoid the question for so long," Clint said, the concerned look slipping back onto his face.

"I know, I just had weird argument with Mike this morning before he left for his mission. We never really fight, so it was just odd I guess," Kennedy admitted, feeling uncomfortable talking about it.

"What did you argue about?" Clint asked, deciding to pry for more information.

"Me moving back to my apartment. He told me I'm not aloud to, as if he's in charge of me or something. Apparently it isn't safe whatever that means," Kennedy replied, leaning back in her chair.

"Sounds like a typical over protective brother to me," Clint replied, trying to defend his actions. Clint had known Mike for years, whatever his reasons were, Clint trusted him.

"No, I know Michael. This was different. He's keeping something from me I can tell," Kennedy said, wondering what it was that he was hiding.

"That's a common occurrence here at SHIELD, if he's hiding something though it's not by choice. Besides he wont be here for a while so you'll get some alone time in his apartment," Clint responded, sounding very wise.

"Which I'm very thankful for, there's only so much of Mike I can handle," Kennedy smirked, feeling slightly better after what Clint had told her.

"He knows that you can protect yourself now, I mean you have me as a teacher and I must say I've done a good job. So if he's worried then there's probably good reason for it," Clint responded, becoming slightly worried himself wondering what it was that Mike knew.

"Yeah I guess you're right. He's just never really kept anything from me before," Kennedy replied, not yet realising how wrong she actually was.

"We're going out tonight," Natasha declared bursting into the office. Kennedy was sat re-filling out the mission reports Clint had written that were practically illegible, which she was pretty sure wasn't aloud.

"I'm kinda tired Nat, I was looking forward to a long awaited date with some beer, Netflix and my bed," Kennedy whined, looking up from the reports she was buried in.

"Well that sounds incredibly boring. I'm not taking no for an answer," Natasha declared, a mischievous grin on her face.

"We can go out any night Nat, what's so important about today," Clint questioned, his voice muffled slightly by the huge bag of chips he was nurturing.

"Because I heard through the grapevine Kennedy wasn't in the best of moods, plus we've known her an entire month now and haven't got her completely shitfaced yet," Natasha smirked, planting herself on the sofa.

"I don't think I like the sound of that," Kennedy confessed, laughing nervously.

"If there's one thing you should know about Natasha by now, she doesn't take no for an answer," Clint laughed, seemingly up for Natasha's plans.

"It'll be fun, I promise," Natasha smiled, getting her own way as per usual.

"Okay, but I'm not wearing anything ridiculous Nat, I mean it," Kennedy confirmed, very accustom to fashion sense by now, and Natasha enjoyment of wanting to dress her like her own personal Barbie.

"Oh I can't promise that," Natasha smirked, and with that she pulled Kennedy out of the room, deciding that they were done with the day and that getting ready was far more important.

"A master piece," Natasha exclaimed putting the finishing touches on Kennedy's makeup. Kennedy had tried to protest that she was perfectly competent in doing her own makeup, but Natasha had insisted that she was far better at it. Kennedy had to admit, when she looked at her reflexion Nat wasn't wrong. Natasha had painted her lips a deep dark red, and drawn perfectly even eyeliner on both of her eyes. The dark eyeliner accentuated her piercing green eyes and Natasha had kept her complexion pale however adding loads of blusher. It was a simple look, very classic, and as uncomfortable as it made Kennedy feel it made her look quite beautiful.

"Not bad," Kennedy winked at Natasha, brushing her now curled her out of her face.

"You're very welcome, you look amazing," Natasha smiled, admiring her masterpiece. "Now onto the outfit,"

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" Kennedy frowned, looking down at the jeans and top she had on. "These are my nicest pair of jeans,"

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that," Natasha replied, looking slightly disgusted at her outfit. Kennedy let out a very exaggerated sigh knowing that she wasn't winning this argument, or any argument with Natasha for that matter. Natasha ran over to her closest pondering over her extensive dress collection for a moment before pulling out the tiniest red dress Kennedy had ever seen.

"Perfect!" Natasha decided before throwing it in Kennedy's direction.

"Nat I've seen underwear with more material than this," Kennedy complained, holding the silk material up slightly to inspect the dress some more.

"Kennedy stop being such a prude and just try it on, I promise it'll look hot," Natasha urged, before turning to finish his own makeup. Kennedy rolled her eyes in protest before going to try it on to satisfy Natasha, she could always take it of when it looked awful. Kennedy went to the bathroom to go try it on, and was pretty shocked when she did. Natasha did have an excellent taste in dresses.

"How do I look?" Kennedy questioned as she left the bathroom, pulling the dress down as much as she could. It was tremendously short.

"You look fucking insane! Honestly, I would," Natasha winked, making Kennedy laugh.

"Why thank you, I must say you've done an excellent job," Kennedy smiled, looking at her appearance in the mirror.

"Of course I have," Natasha smiled back at her, seemingly proud of her work, "Looking good is part of the job now, they always underestimate the pretty ones,"

"I don't know how anyone could ever underestimate you Nat," Kennedy replied, looking at her in slight confusion.

"That's the goal, when they underestimate me they're far more surprised when I knock them on their asses," Natasha smirked, a reminiscent look in her eyes.

"You two better be ready in approximately five seconds or I'm going to leave without you," Clint declared, bursting through the door of Natasha's bedroom. Natasha who was sat at her vanity, simply scowled her eyes at him as she continued to paint her lips a signature red.

"Seems you'll be leaving alone then apparently," Kennedy smirked, looking Clint in the eyes who seemed taken aback as she looked at him. "What?" Kennedy questioned, feeling her face flush red slightly with embarrassment.

"Nothing, you look nice that's all," Clint replied, his eyes lingering on her still which made Kennedy feel slightly uncomfortable, though she wasn't too sure why.

"Nice? She doesn't look nice Clint she looks fucking hot," Natasha interjected, proud of her work, which turned Kennedy an even brighter shade of red.

"You look very hot Kennedy," Clint said giving her a sarcastic yet equally as charming smile before turning to Natasha, "Was that better?"

"Much better," Natasha nodded satisfied with his response and then turning her attention back to her own makeup.

"I'm right here you know," Kennedy sighed, she then went over to her things and pulled a half empty bottle of whisky taking a huge swig of it.

"Someone's not messing around," Clint joked, taking a swig of his own beer.

"Unlike you lightweights, my fun new metabolism makes it difficult to get too drunk. I've got to actually put the effort in," Kennedy replied, continuing to drink the whisky as if it was water.

"That sounds fun," Natasha giggled, spraying perfume over her entire body. So much so that Clint coughed slightly, rolling his eyes.

"Hmm, more like expensive," Kennedy admitted, sighing slightly at the damage that her bank account would probably see tonight.

"Well that's why you never buy your own drinks," Natasha said, finally leaving her vanity and rummaging in her wardrobe.

"I don't think I have your game Nat," Kennedy smiled, she was never very good at getting drinks off people before.

"Oh please, after my work guys are going to be falling over themselves buying you drinks," Natasha spoke, very confident in that. She then pulled out some very dangerous looking heels and threw them over in Kennedy's direction along with a very cute looking jacket. Kennedy put the jacket on instantly, but looked more dubious at the heels.

"Natasha, I think I'll kill myself in these," Kennedy laughed, eyeing up the heels in her hands.

"Well, it's a good thing you have advanced healing isn't it," Natasha retorted, gesturing at her to put them on. Kennedy groaned in protest, but complied all the same putting the torturing devices on her feet.

"Wow Ken, now you're actually normal human height," Clint joked as she stood up, receiving a very angry glare from Kennedy. "Wait are you guys finally ready?"

"Ugh, Clint, you're so impatient," Natasha complained as she collected her things. She then concealed enough of her widow bites to take down a small army inside her bag, receiving a questioning look from Kennedy.

"You really are prepared for everything aren't you," Kennedy laughed, glancing at her fondly.

"You can never be too careful," Natasha reminded her, closing her purse putting it on her shoulder. "Well, what are you two waiting for?" Natasha questioned, strutting out of the room without a second look.

"Drinks ladies," Clint said, passing over Natasha and Kennedy their drinks before picking up his own.

"See Kennedy, your first free drink, told you it was easy" Natasha giggled giving her a signature wink.

"That's the only one your getting from me Romanoff," Clint frowned, taking a swig of his beer.

"Oh Clint, I wont be needing anymore from you. In fact, Alex over there from operations is newly single. I'm sure he'll be thrilled to buy me a drink," Natasha smiled at Clint, before downing her entire drink and moving over to the bar.

"We wont be seeing her again for a while," Clint commented, now turning his attention to Kennedy.

"I figured as such, forces us to come out with her and then leaves us as soon as she gets here," Kennedy replied, lacing her fingers around her drink. Clint laughed at her comment, noticing the sparkle in her eye as he did.

"Seems you're stuck with me," Clint winked at her, giving her shoulder a nudge.

"Stuck with you? That sounds pretty awful to me," Kennedy chuckled, receiving a playful frown from Clint.

"You'll have to try and get used to it," Clint replied, a flirty tone in his voice that made Kennedy's heart beat just a little bit faster. But she tried her best to ignore it, he was just a little drunk that was all. There wasn't anymore to it, there couldn't be.

The trio had been at the bar a couple of hours, and Kennedy had actually found herself enjoying the time spent with them. Especially Clint who she'd had endless conversations with about anything and everything. Natasha had also found her way back to them after finessing an array of free drinks. She was disappointed to return to the pair to discover them nowhere near 'the level she was on', thrusting drinks into their hands. Kennedy, finishing her drink, had decided it was time for a much needed toilet break. She left Clint and Natasha to their conversation and headed to the direction of the toilet. She rushed into the stall, very happy to be there. Once she was finished she stumbled out, washing her hands and then assessing her face in the mirror. She was surprised to see the makeup Natasha had given her was still very much in tact, the makeup had defiantly managed to last the night. Kennedy's attention was then caught by a figure stood to her left, feeling her her body stiffen as she realised that whoever was behind her wasn't a woman.

Kennedy's mind instantly reminded her of what had happened last time she was in a similar situation, how horribly it had gone for her. But this time was different, this time she knew how to defend herself. Kennedy spun round to face the man as he lunged for her, ducking to the left to dodge his grasp. She then aimed a punch directly at his face, which he easily and skilfully deflected. Which let her knew this wasn't just some random guy, he had training. It was in this moment she regretted letting Natasha make her wear heels, it wasn't as if she could just take them off. Kennedy then grabbed his shoulders, kneeing him directly in the balls. The guy was built far larger than her, so she knew she had to fight dirty to win. He cursed under his breath, seemingly very agitated by her actions. He grabbed her hair, smashing her face into the sink causing it to explode in pain, he then just as quickly pulled her up head up and smashed it into the mirror. Causing shards of the mirror to crack, even some parts embedding themselves into her face. But Kennedy had to remind herself that the pain was only temporary, she wouldn't feel it tomorrow. She could do this. A new burst of courage running through Kennedys veins, she managed to escape his grasp sending her fist straight to his face. Kennedy could sense how agitated the man was becoming, most likely because a woman was holding her own against him. He kneed her directly in the ribs, causing all the breath to leave her lungs. Thinking he'd caught her off guard he then attempted to punch her, but she was faster than him and ducked out of his way causing him to stumble. This was her chance, she kicked his legs out from under him hearing a satisfying thud as he hit the floor. She jumped onto him as he was disorientated, and directed several hits to his face ignoring the pain in her knuckles. Kennedy felt burning rage at that moment, she'd never fought anyone who actually deserved it, who deserved to be in pain. It almost felt good to not feel scared anymore, to feel powerful.

But all of that went away when she realised she'd taken it too far, when she realised the damage she'd done to his face. His face now a deep shade of purple, and his left eye was completely swollen shut. He was still conscious but couldn't speak, instead groaning inaudible sounds. Her attention then turned to her knuckles, that were painted in deep shades of purple and blue. Shocked, Kennedy pushed herself off of him stumbling backwards. Kennedys initial thought was that there must have been something wrong with her. She'd felt joy in completely beating the shit out of someone. Kennedy felt herself becoming someone she didn't know; she was turning into a monster.

A/N: Hi everyone! I'm so sorry i haven't updated in so long, i was just very busy and didn't really feel inspired. But, I'm back now updating with one of my longest chapters yet which is probably a surprise!

I'd love to know what you guys are thinking of the story so far, and of Kennedy and Mike as characters etc.

Thanks for reading until next time xx