IMPORTANT NOTE AT THE END PLEASE READ!
Jamie knew she couldn't stay, her body was beginning to coil like that of a snake ready to strike, her eyes cutting to the door at least four times in the space of two minutes. Her fingers fiddled with the fabric of her shirt as he paces around the small motel room, her body angled defensively as she passes Steve and Clint who are sat at the small two seater table near the window.
The adrenaline had worn off a few hours ago when Clint managed to steal a new car and her and Steve disposed of the one they had trashed beyond belief. Her flight instincts had kicked in when Steve began driving around looking for a new motel and being trapped inside said hotel room was making her go crazy.
She couldn't stay.
She knew she had no hope of running, the small table was close to the door and even if she did manage to pull open the wooden door it would only take one small movement from Steve and she would be in the steel trap of his arms. No she had to bide her time, pick the right moment to run, the moment which would gain her the upper hand, a head start which she dourly needed.
Her two male companions and self assigned bodyguards were seated at the table, their heads together as they talked on the phone with whom Jamie could only guess was their boss, their voices were low and whilst she didn't catch the full conversation whenever she paced passed them she heard her name enough times to know it was a mission report.
That was the reason she couldn't stay, as much as she felt safe she knew it couldn't last. They would have to hand her over to their boss, she would get questioned, maybe tortured and if she was really unlucky thrown in a lab to be prodded and tested till she had nothing left to give and then thrown into a small dark hole alone. She knew their orders were to keep her safe and recover the Intel she stole but what about after, after they've done their mission. What happens then, to be honest she didn't want to know.
She wanted to run, run as fast as her feet or a car could take her. A selfish part of her wanted Clint to be the one to chase her, a large game of cat and mouse played over various continents and zip codes, the two of them near but never catching. But she knew she couldn't permit him to that life, it wasn't fair and she wanted him to have that at least. She wanted him happy.
Dropping down onto one of the small beds in the room her and Clint were to share, Steve had the one next door she looks over at the two men and studies their profiles. Steve was a born soldier, everything about him was serious. He was sat in the chair, his back rigid and the movement of his lips as he spoke precise, he didn't sugar coat things he was straight to the point.
Clint was someone she couldn't read, his body was relaxed as he slumped in the seat, his head tilted towards Steve as they both spoke, the voice on the other end only speaking into their ears so she couldn't hear. But something was alight in his eyes, an emotion she couldn't understand as every now and then his blue grey orbs would cut to her and stare before turning back to his task. His fingers beat a silent tune against the wood of the table, his leg jumping to the same beat. She wished she knew what was going on in his head.
When they were together she tricked herself into believing she knew everything about him, every emotion he felt and every thought he thought but looking at him now she knows she never really knew him, he was two different people molded into one body, she wouldn't be surprised if there was more then two sides of him, some of them only coming out when needed.
He was like her in a way, always had a mask to wear to fit the occasion, closed off enough to keep the real them from bleeding in but not enough to make someone suspicious of their intentions. Always keeping people guessing.
She hated puzzles and Clint was the biggest puzzle yet.
Sighing softly she leans back on the bed her eyes trailing to the mustard yellow of the ceiling, her thoughts raging as she runs through different memories in her head of times spent with Clint, some of them featuring Natasha who Jamie once believed was a friend but now didn't really know. If Clint was a spy Jamie could bet a pound to a penny so was Nat. She didn't know if she was angry or proud.
Underneath it all though she could admit that her and Clint did have a good four years together, underneath the lies and the fighting and the basic trying to kill each other without realizing it, they were happy. Well she was, she didn't know about Clint.
There was times that the two of them would just sit outside and look up at the DC sky, pointing out stars and Clint teaching Jamie all the constellations or sometimes just sitting in silence. Other times being when Jamie got ill Clint would make her soup and help her when her body was too weak to function on its own and then sit and watch ridiculous romantic films with her just to make her feel better.1
Other times when they would start a large prank war that would go on for weeks, both of them pulling in Natasha to help, each prank becoming more and more extravagant as the days went on. Only stopping when one of them gave up or got injured. Jamie still had a scar on her hand from one of the pranks, she couldn't remember what happened exactly only that a large knife had pierced the soft skin between her thumb and forefinger and Clint had been exceptionally caring that week to earn her forgiveness.
Silence meets her ears and she sits back up and looks over at the men to see them staring at her with a withdrawn look on their faces. She raises an eyebrow and Steve is the first to speak.
"Fury is on his way"
"Fury?" She questions not having any idea who he was
"The director of SHIELD" Clint replies instead, his voice emitting a tone of defeat
She nods and resumes her previous position of looking at the ceiling. If the boss of SHIELD was on his way she defiantly had no way of escaping.
"How long" she breathes, her voice quiet but the two men hear her anyway
"About an hour, he has to come up from DC were SHIELD is initially based"
A small shiver runs down Jamie's spine as the words sink in, for four years she lived near the corporation that was now after her. she guessed it was poetic justice if she was being truthful.
"Okay" she sighs in defeat
"I'm going to get some drinks from the diner round the corner do you want anything"
She could hug Steve sometimes, he knew when something was getting too serious and took the first escape he could. But his words also had the magic touch of making the awkwardness disappear if it was only for a small time.
"A cup of tea please" she replies, her body thirsting for a little taste of home "Two sugars and a splash of milk"
She sees Steve nod out the corner of her eyes before he turns to Clint and gets his order, once Steve has them he heads out the door without a backward glance, when he was Jamie wished he'd stayed. The awkwardness drips into the air so thick Jamie feels it chocking the back of her throat. She jumps up from the bed and walks over to where her duffle bag was unceremoniously thrown and begins to rifle through it.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm still covered in blood from the gunshot wound and I stink so I'm grabbing a shower, will redress my wound and then face your boss"
Keeping her back to him she grabs a clean shirt, jeans and underwear and pads across the room to the bathroom. Scrunching her nose up at the state of the place she drops her clothes onto the counter near the sink and leans over starting the shower. Standing back in front of the mirror she reaches up with her left hand and begins to undo the bandage wrapped around her shoulder, hissing as the fabric pulls on the stitches Clint had given her to seal the wound.
Dropping the soiled bandage into the small metal bin she undresses out of her equally soiled clothes, the white of her tank top now stained in red, small droplets of red were also present on her trousers. She makes a note to burn them as she steps under the hot spray of the water. Resting her head against the cold tile of the wall she looks down at her feet to watch the water swirl red, not knowing if it was her blood washing off or the excess dye from her hair.
Remembering her strict timeline she reaches over and grabs the motel issued shampoo and squirts a healthy amount into her palm before reaching up and rubbing it into her hair. She begins to hum a tune she heard the other day on the radio, the lyrics meaning more to her then anyone else who listened to them, she believes the song was by a singer called Cher. Jamie could say she'd never heard of her before, she was more into rock music and avoided pop music were possible. The humming soon turns into soft signing as she recites the song that could have been the theme song to her and Clint's relationship.
"I'd rather you lie to me
And look me dead in the eyes
Tell me I'm the one you need
I don't wanna start over babe
This was my everything
You were my last chance, you see
Truth is overrated to me
Is this all common now?
Where's that fairytale that sold us out?
Oh, do you really think you're the only one with secrets now?
See, you're like me
You're just like me"
Rinsing off the shampoo and reaching for the conditioner she cuts the singing, the lyrics cutting too deeps into her already lacerated heart. Hissing softly as her wounds pull both on her shoulder and her stomach she rinses the conditioner through her hair before reaching for the body wash. Carefully she washes off the dirt and grime making sure to clean her wounds, one of her stomach ones had reopened without her knowing and was helping to tint the water red.
Finishing up she shuts off the water and grabs the towel hanging on the rack near the door and dries off softly, looking around the bathroom she looks for the bandages but curses as she realizes they were in the other room sitting on the table. Wrapping the towel tightly around her she opens the door a crack and peaks out to see only Clint sitting at the table. His hands spinning around one of his arrows as he looks out the window, with a crease to her forehead she wonders why he looks so relaxed when she could of ran. Glancing over her shoulder quickly she notices the lack of window and shrugs.
So that's the reason he looks so calm.
Taking a deep breath she pulls the door open fully and pads along the carpet, red droplets running off her skin and into the carpet with each step. Just as her hands have closed around the bandages Clint's head snaps to her and his brow creases in a frown as he eyes her shoulder, his eyes momentarily flick to her stomach and the frown deepens.
"You've reopened your wounds"
"No shit robin hood" she bites back not in the mood for his acutely aware assessment.
She turns on the ball of her foot and heads back to the bathroom her movements faster than before, she goes to slam the door but something stops it, turning back she sees Clint pushing his way into the room shutting the door behind him. He doesn't say anything as he pulls the bandages out of her hands and comes to a stop in front of her.
"Jump up" he says indicating to the counter
"I do that I risk opening the other wounds" she sighs no longer in the mood to fight
She was tired, her whole body felt like that of a 90year old.
Clint reaches forward and places his hands on her hips tightly before lifting her up onto the counter. He comes to stand in between her legs, his breath hot on her skin which had cooled considerably since she got out the shower. He pulls the towel open gently and Jamie watches as it pools at her waist, her whole body on show for his eyes but he doesn't look at her body, instead his eyes are trained on her stomach as he grabs a small towel and presses it against the blood.
"Hold that" he commands
She replaces his hand with her own and watches as he grabs another small towel and runs it under the tap before grabbing the dressings from inside the cupboard that she didn't see. He rips open the packaging and indicates for her to move the towel in her hand.
She does as she's told and watches as he cleans up the wounds and then redresses them. She was never one for being looked after, plenty a time after a mission she did her own medical procedures, which included a needle, shit thread and a big ass bottle of whiskey to help drown the pain. But this, this was new and Jamie honestly didn't know what to feel.
His movements are quick but gentle as he wraps the bandage around her stomach and back to hold the dressing in place before tying it off. Once the wound is dressed to his standards his eyes drift up her body and to her shoulder, his eyes not once betraying what the scene in front of him was doing to his own body and thoughts.
Her eyes scan his face as he cleanses her shoulder before dressing it and bandaging it the same was a her stomach but making sure she can move her arm. Once it's wrapped he drops the tools he was using and looks at her in the eye, his eyes like steel as he scans her face.
She can't remember who moved first but before she knew it Clint's lips were on her own, her legs wrapped tightly around his body holding him as close to her body as she could get him, her hands wrapped around his neck with her fingers lodged in his hair. His own hands weren't idle as they ran up and down her back leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake.
As his tongue trails along her bottom lip wanting access and her lips part without needing to be asked twice Jamie feels a small sense of satisfaction that she could still influence him to act like this. The bulge in his trousers pressing against her bare thigh told her all she needed to know, his hands hot and wild on her skin confirming it, his tongue telling her all the words he couldn't say.
She still had a hold over him, he still felt something for her. At first she had the impression that he no longer cared hence why he took this mission but now feeling the way his body was coming undone under hands told her this mission was just as hard for him as it was for her to have him be the one coming after her.
Two sharp knocks at the thin wooden door break the spell that had encompassed them and Jamie takes deep breaths to regulate her breathing as Clint leans his head against her shoulder.
"Yeah" she calls over his shoulder, her voice hoarse and sounding as though she had run a marathon in ten minutes
"I've go your drinks and Fury will be here in ten minutes" Steve replies, his voice steady
"Ok" she replies "I reopened my wounds so Clint's just helping me deal with them and then we'll be right out"
"Right"
The sounds of Steve's footsteps moving away from the door filter into Jamie's ears as she looks back down at Clint, his usually pale lips tinted pink from their kissing. He lifts his head and looks her in the eye before leaning forward to brush his lips over hers again. The kiss was fleeting but the heat was still there ensnaring her senses and pooling in her lower region.
Clint backs up as Jamie slides off the counter and leans against it to get her bearings before grabbing her underwear pulling it on over her legs soon followed by her trousers. Grabbing her bra she hisses as her arm pulls and Clint steps forward to help, the two of them not talking as they manage to get her bra and new tank top on without reopening her wounds.
Once dressed Clint heads out the bathroom leaving Jamie along with her thoughts and me questions then answers. She knew in about ten minutes her whole life was going to change and she wasn't completely sure if that was a good thing or a very very bad thing. Shaking her head she grabs one of the other towels and walks out the bathroom drying her hair, chuckling as she sees the red dye start to bleed onto the white towel staining it.
Steve hands her her drink with a small smirk on her face and she shakes her head as she drops onto one of the beds placing the drink at her feet and returning to her task of drying her hair. Out the corner of her eye she watches Clint sip at his coffee, his attention once again on something outside the window.
The three of them sit in silence, Jamie sipping on her tea after giving up on drying her hair. A loud knock comes to the door and Steve stands up slowly peeking out the peephole before grasping the door handle. He pulls it open to reveal a dark skinned man wearing all leather, his face stoic as he scans the room with his one eye, the other covered with an eye-patch. He walks into the room and Jamie feels the tension drift in with him, Steve and Clint both sitting/standing a little straighter respectively.
"Phoenix, how nice to finally meet you" the man replies "I'm Nick Fury the director of SHIELD"
"I wont tell you who I am you already know" she drawls eyeing him warily
Her words earn a chuckle from the man as he leans against the TV stand in front of her, his eyes running over her like a predator eyeing his prey. She sits a little higher and stares back at him unblinking, feeling a little out of sorts a small smile crosses his lips.
"Captain, Barton out now"
As the two men leave Jamie catches herself from calling out to them, she didn't want to be left alone with Fury but instead she takes a deep breathe and slips into her Phoenix facade not wanting Fury to see any weakness.
"You going to kill me now" she drawls taking a small sip of her cooling drink
"Oh god no" Fury replies almost laughing, almost "I have something else planned"
"Joy" she sighs standing up and walking away from him and over to the table
She needed distance, she didn't like how close he was to her, she had seen the gun on his leg and no doubt he had another one on his person somewhere. She didn't have one, her ammo had ran low and she had no means of fighting back, yeah she was with hand to hand, trained in nearly every fighting style there was but she was injured which added a problem.
"So if you're not here to kill me, what are you here for"
She turns to look at him as he pushes himself off the stand and walks over to her, he stops leaving a good amount of space in between their bodies and stares at her straight.
"I'm here to offer you a mission"
END NOTE - SO I haven't had any reviews in a while. So please drop me one people, I'd like to know if you guys still love this story and the direction I'm taking it. Your feedback is highly appreciated.
Also I'm contemplating doing a series of one-shots featuring the Avengers, Jamie and maybe my OC from Love of A Hero...Just a bunch of one-shots filtering around nothing basically. SOOO drop me some hints of what One shot you'd like to see and I'll see what I can do.
ANYWAYS REVIEW PLEASE PEOPLE (minimum of 5 gets a new chapter early.)
LOVE YOU ALL. Xxx
P.S that song is a true song, it also fits Jamie and Clint so well. My mum is a Cher fan hence how i know it.
