Notes: Quick thing, thank you all so much for the great reviews and for following this story. I hope you like where it's going and where it ends up! I had a lot of fun writing it and I'm really enjoying hearing what everyone thinks about it. So, thank you!


vii.

Within a week they'd both been reassigned to a larger station, the one Director Fury preferred to work from. Maria didn't see Clint very much after that. Not at first. He was certainly around, and he was being kept busy, same as she was, but he stopped speaking to her altogether. Occasionally he'd dip his head when passing her in the hallway, but it never went any further.

Other than that, Maria had no reason to complain.

Not that that was something she would complain about.

Clint didn't have to talk to her or acknowledge her or anything at all. She didn't care. But, she also didn't know anyone but him and no one else had been exactly welcoming. Maria had jumped into a position that this time hadn't been coveted by just one person, but by literal dozens.

It didn't bother her. Her job, her profession, and really her life, had never been about making friends. It was something she'd accepted early on. It was the price she had to pay to get what she wanted.

Maria tried to not let it bother her.

She was quickly finding her rhythm in her new surroundings and Director Fury began giving her more to do There were so many programs, so much happening, it was sometimes hard to grasp the overall picture. The only thing that was perfectly obvious was that the work they were overseeing was classified and potentially dangerous. And above even those two caveats, the work being overseen was coveted.

She'd just sat down for the night, had just been starting to unlace her boots, when her communicator buzzed.

"Hill," Fury barked from the other end of the line, "find Barton. Perimeter alarm has gone off line again and no one has seen him."

"Yes, sir," she said, grumbling after they'd been disconnected that she wasn't Clint's babysitter. They'd axed that position.

After poking around a few of his usual haunts, and asking a few very unhelpful agents if they'd seen Clint anywhere, Maria headed outside the building and into the courtyard. She felt like she was on a snipe hunt. She was tired and annoyed and mentally cursing not just Fury and Clint, but the IT department who probably caused the glitch in the system that had set them all on alert; the damn thing had been doing it all week.

After a brisk walk around the courtyard, which was completely deserted, Maria decided to walk the fence line, reasoning that if Clint was anywhere, he'd be out there if an alarm had been tripped.

It took awhile, but after a good ten minutes of scanning the treetops, she finally spotted him.

"I see you, Barton," she called up to him. "Play time is over."

"Took you long enough," he yelled back down to her as he moved from branch to branch.

"I was stalling," she lied. "I didn't want to hurt your feelings, but I saw you as soon as I passed the fence line."

"Did you now?"

"Yes."

Clint laughed as he dropped his bag to the ground, just ready to jump the last part himself. "But you didn't see me on the roof? Following you? I've been following you since you came out the back entrance. Right over there," he said, pointing the very door she had exited from.

Maria fixed him with a stare and he finally laughed again, louder this time, at her puzzled expression. And then she got it. He hadn't followed her, but he had been watching her long enough to catch her in a lie.

"Funny," she said with a shake of her head. "Fine, I didn't see you at first, but you really weren't that hard to spot."

"Because I wasn't trying very hard," he answered.

"Whatever," she sighed, watching as he finally jumped down from the tree and began to walk her way. "Director Fury is looking for you. Hurry up."

"And you're his messenger?"

"Just get your ass inside and do your job," she sighed. "Perimeter tripped again."

"Why do you think I'm out here?"

"What? Are we under attack?"

"If we were, I'm so glad they sent you. Did you even bring a weapon?"

Maria looked momentarily guilty, because she had not brought her gun. She hadn't even thought to bring her gun. These damn alarms had been going off at all hours, all week, and were driving everyone nuts.

Everyone except Clint and Fury which suddenly gave her pause.

"You're setting these off," she said with a rueful shake of her head. "Son of a bitch, why didn't I see that sooner?" Clint just smiled at her, like the freaking cat who ate the canary. "Yeah, I'm sure this is fun for you," she said dryly.

"Kind of," he admitted.

"What... what's this for? What's the point? The alarms work. Great. We know that."

"Yes, and now we also know that if a few..."

"A few?" she questioned, talking right over him.

"...false alarms go off, everyone thinks every alarm is fake. And they stop reacting. Even you, which, honestly... I'm disappointed. I thought you were better than that."

"Sure you did."

"Here," he said, his words clipped and fast, as he simultaneously drew his sidearm from its holster and tossed it at her.

As she was in the process of catching it, he was already swinging his bow off his shoulder and fletching an arrow.

Without thinking, without hesitating, she drew on him.

"What the fuck, Barton?" she snapped, as they stared one another down from their different sights.

"Wow, you did listen to me," he laughed, finally lowering his bow. "Never let your guard down. Good. That's... that's really good."

Maria was a little slower to lower her gun, mostly out of shock. He hadn't been lying to her when he'd said that assets weren't generally trusted by the rest of SHIELD's agents. It was all she'd heard from the people around her, at least the ones that would talk to her. There were many stories about assets going rogue.

"Now give me back my gun," he said, holding out his hand.

"No," she said, placing it in her own, previously empty, side holster.

"Fun time's over," he said, more seriously than before but still keeping his tone light. "Come on. That's my gun. May I please, Agent Hill, have it back?" he tacked on sarcastically.

"Shouldn't have given it to me," she shrugged, turning to go.

"I didn't give it to you," Clint said, jogging a few steps to catch up.

"Possession is nine-tenths of the law."

"Oh, I see," he said with a smirk. "You want me to wrestle it away from you. I get that. I get that a lot actually, which I guess you've heard, but I'm on duty, Hill. And, as much as I love a bit of danger with my foreplay, a loaded gun is even too far for me. So, just hand it over, and later you can stop by my quarters and I'll see if I can't oblige you."

"You're unbelievable."

"Oh, so you have heard."

"Does this actually ever work with anyone? Ever?" she asked, still walking back towards the compound. "Because you're really not that cute."

"It's not about being cute, it's about confidence," he returned, completely unfazed by her put down.

"Arrogance," she muttered under her breath, and to her annoyance, he laughed.

"Maybe a little," he admitted. "And yeah, it does work. Granted, not with someone like you. But I can't imagine anything I'd say would work on you."

"It would not," she concurred.

"Because I'm not your type."

"No, you are not," she agreed.

"And," he said, placing his palm flat against the door she had almost opened and stopping her in her tracks.

"And what?" she asked, tired and ready to get back inside.

"What is your type?" he asked quietly, just on the edge of crowding her personal space. A hint of a smile still on his lips and his eyes, his eyes were locked on hers intently until...

Maria saw it. She caught him momentarily shift his gaze from her eyes to her lips. She saw it and her own breath suddenly caught in her throat. She didn't know what to say or do. More to the point she didn't know what she wanted to say or do. The thought of just stepping into him, of closing the gap between them, felt both foolish and exciting.

Before she had a chance to make a huge mistake, the door banged open and there was Director Fury, glowering at them from the doorway.

"I see you've found Agent Barton. Congratulations."

Maria shifted uneasily, not certain how to take that remark, but Clint didn't even hesitate.

"Yes, sir," he answered for her. "Agent Hill was the only one to take it upon herself to patrol the perimeter. No one else left the compound."

"Thompsen? Davies? No one else tried to find you?" Fury clarified, and Maria began to put the pieces together. They'd all been sent out to investigate and locate Clint, and she...

"No one," Barton confirmed. "She even came armed. Got the drop on me and everything."

"Did she now?" Fury said dryly, and Maria could tell he didn't believe that for a single second.

"Well sir, I had a gun," Maria answered, if not exactly true at first, it was now.