After some hesitation, Carter decided to do her homework out in a more public place, so as to please Laynie. She scouted the living area and found that no one was there, so she took her school books and plopped down in the middle of the floor.

Oh, algebra, how I hate you. She thought to herself as she flipped through her book for the appropriate chapter. The amount of math she had to do seemed impossible in a normal school week, but she was still having to do double time to make up for those two missed weeks.

For an hour or so, she struggled to finish each problem. She found herself daydreaming away every few minutes.

"Carter?"

She looked up despondently and found Natasha looking at her, just a hint of surprise on her face. "Yes?"

"Just...didn't expect to see you out here." She tacked a small smile on the end.

Carter shrugged. "I thought it would be nice to do some homework somewhere other than my room. I was wrong. It's not anymore pleasant out here than in there." She nodded her head in the direction of her room.

Natasha took a step closer, looking at the homework. "Math is never pleasant."

"Got that right," Carter scoffed as she erased another badly done equation.

"I'd offer to help, but there are a couple rocket scientists that would be of more assistance just down the hallway." She sat down on the couch behind Carter.

"Erm, I'll pass. If I do that, I'd probably feel even stupider than I feel now."

Natasha laughed shortly. "I won't blame you for that one." She continued to watch in silence as Carter tried to figure out a few more problems. "If you do need help, Bruce would be your best bet."

Carter looked back at her, and a weary little smile appeared on her lips. "Yeah, thanks."

"No problem." Natasha stood from the couch. "And if you ever need anything, or maybe just want to talk, I'm here."

The girl nodded. "Thank you. I'll keep that in mind."

That said, Natasha left. Carter, on the other hand, decided to seek out Bruce for help. She figured it couldn't hurt to try.


Laynie knocked gently on the door of Clint Barton, then knocked louder. He still didn't answer. She hesitated before knocking again, then walked halfway back to her room before walking back and knocking firmly one more time.

"He's not in there."

Laynie jumped and turned to find Natasha standing in her doorway, located across from Clint's. "Gosh, Natasha, you scared the crap out of me. Where's he at?"

"Up on the roof. He enjoys living up to his nickname. That, and avoiding everyone else." Natasha flashed her a smirk. "Good luck getting up there."

Natasha shut the door, and Laynie gave it a contemplative stare. She weighed the pros and cons. Actually finding Clint while she still had the courage would be nice...but heights.

She decided that she wouldn't be so easily swayed, and marched herself to the elevator. After taking it as high as it would go, she was met with a very empty floor.

It looked like it was being used for storage, or something. There were a few haphazardly placed couches and a few (very dead) potted plants. She went to the small set of unfinished stairs and scaled them cautiously, lifting a hatch on the roof when she came to it.

Suddenly the wind was whipping around what little hair she did have, and the sunlight fairly blinded her. Once her eyes adjusted to the light, she climbed up and looked around. The roof was covered with gravel, and...yep, sure enough, she was very high up.

Still, Clint was nowhere to be seen. Just when Laynie was about to give up, she noticed an antenna off to the left with her target perched happily on the circular grate around the top.

She groaned loudly. "I know what Natasha meant now. But I can't climb that." Even if she wasn't tragically terrified of heights, the antenna was narrow, and it looked as though the only way to get up would either be to shimmy or levitate. And since she was neither a monkey nor a superhuman, there wasn't any point in trying.

"Hey! Laynie!"

She looked up, and Clint was climbing down. Oh thank goodness.

"What's up?" he asked, standing a few feet away from her still.

"I just wanted to talk to you for a minute. Natasha said I might find you here."

He shook his head a little. "Ratted out by my own partner. Well, what can I do for you?"

"Just..." Laynie looked at the ground, kicking up some gravel. "I wanted to ask you to go easy on Carter. She's being rude, I know, but she's a good girl. She'll come around, but she already kinda dislikes you for the act of knocking her door down."

"Note taken."

"Thanks. Well, I'm going back downstairs." She turned to go, eager to get off the roof, but stopped when Clint reached out. His hand barely brushed her arm, but still, she stopped.

"Hey Laynie, I'm sorry if I upset either of you."

She smiled up at the archer. "S'okay."

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