It's been a day since the attack on the Helicarrier and I was in my lab, looking out at the view I had and seeing the solider at work. We were so close to find Schmit and stopping him. I was trying to get my head back in the game, but as I tried to do that my thoughts went back to Clint and him hugging me the night before. I tried to get it out of my head, but something about him holding me and feeling his rough skin against my soft skin. It was too much for me to handle, and I wished I never thought of him like that. Why couldn't he be like Bruce, or Steve for that matter. Just a normal man I worked with? But no, there was something about him and drew me closer to him. I hated it.
Absolutely hated it.
I heard the door opening behind me and I saw Bruce walk in, smiling at me as he took off his glasses. I smiled back at him, thinking back to when he saved me from almost being killed. I never saw him as a man of violence, but that must be because he never wanted to have the "big guy" come out to play. I guess I was the exception for him to come out in order for me to not die. Bruce walked over to stand next to me, having his usual look on his face, filled with knowledge and truth.
"I..uh….wanted to come in and explain what happened the last the we both were in the same room." He said to me, having me hold up a hand to him to stop him.
"It's fine, Bruce. I understand." I said to him, seeing him nod his head, "I never got the chance for thanking you, for saving my life."
"It's safe to say we look out for each other here." he explained to me, sitting on the spare stool and folding his hands on his lap, "I was never one for violence at all. But there might be a exception when someone threats a friend of mine." I felt a wave of happiness go through me since he considered me a friend. I knew he was a friend, seeing the sense of protection in his eyes.
"Looks like I owe you." I said in a smirk and he shook his head.
"Consider this neutral since you did help me with my computer." he said aloud, making me smile widely at him from the memory. I looked from him over to my view, seeing up in the rafters Clint in his nest, sitting alone and I only stared at him for a moment or two. The more I looked at him from afar, no matter where I was or who I was with, the more I wanted to be closer to him and breathe him in. Man I needed a good shake to knock this off. I then heard something going off on my phone and I clicked it to go on speaker.
"Clover here." I said aloud.
"We found Schmit." I heard Fury said over the phone, this making Bruce hop off his stool and the both of us looked at phone with intensity, "He's in San Francisco. There are some files that I need you find and interpret for us."
"I'm on it." I replied into the speaker phone. I clicked it off as Bruce walked over to the door.
"I'm going to find Stark and see if we can figure out a plan once we get there." Bruce explained to me, having me looking back at him with a thumbs up and he smiled, walking out. I went back to work on my computer, making me go into the San Francisco area and turn up the music I was listening to, the kind of music that helps me when I track. While Mutemath's Odd Soul was blaring in the lab and as I was hacking away, I looked up once more and saw that he was no longer there in his nest. I sighed and looked back down, pausing at my work and rubbing my eyes. I knew I had it bad for Hawkeye at that moment, whether it was a deep connection to him or just a school girl crush.
I had it bad.
I was in the workout room by myself, knowing that I needed to take a break from hacking and some physical stuff wouldn't hurt too much. I looked around the room at the weapons that were there. The typical ones were guns and a few knives, I assumed those were for Natasha. Next were the wights, maybe for the Captain and Thor? Though I think they wouldn't need to use those. But something else caught my eye: a bow and arrow. I knew they weren't Clint's, he had his own that was complex and filled with technology. This one was a basic set, having me walk over and pick it up from my spot. I felt the weight of the bow and arrow in my hands, taking one arrow and hooking it to the bow and taking aim at the target on the other end of the room. Now when it comes to the bow and arrow, I've used it once or twice. But thank goodness I'm a fast learner, and genus I guess.
I released, seeing the arrow miss the bulls eye slightly in the yellow. I cursed under my breath and drew another arrow from my stack and aimed again. I released and hit slightly in the yellow on the other side of the bulls eye. I placed my bow down, thinking of how I can make it better when it came to aim.
"Your elbow's too high." I heard behind me, making me turn and see Clint standing there. Just seeing him made me want to smile so widely but I tried to hide it. My heart was beating fast as he walked over, the small smile on his face that he would hardly show to anyone.
"When your arm is too high, you loose your aim to the left." he explained to me, taking the bow from my gently and having our hands touch gently with a mere moment. I gasped silently as he drew a arrow and aimed at the target, making me only stare at his face. I never saw how he looked when he shoot, not up close before. He was so serious, yet so comfortable when he released and hit the bulls eye. It was as if he was meant to shoot an arrow. Clint had peace in his face when he shot, something that I hardly saw in him.
He looked back at me and offered the bow silently at me. Gently, I took it from his open hand and drew a arrow from the pile, aiming for the shot and holding it there for a moment. I then felt his hand on my elbow, pushing it down slightly and his other hand on my waist, as if he was holding he gently. Even though I was holding a weapon, and he was correcting as any teacher should, I felt utterly safe in his presence. Was it the way his hand on my waist, holding me like he was protecting me? Or that his face was close to him I can breathe him in. I lost my breath for a moment, loosing my sight in his grasp on me as I got it back and released. I smiled, seeing it hit the bulls eye next to his arrow.
I had the bow go down, still holding it with both of my hands as I looked over at Clint, seeing him smile at him and still holding my elbow and waist in his hands. I didn't want to move, nor did I want him to move. It was a moment that I felt so safe, so warm, and so free for once in my life of a hacker: in the arms of a assassin. He was silent as well, still having a small smile on his face. Just his smile made me loose my train of thought.
"Thanks." I merely replied in a soft tone since we were so close to one another. He said nothing as he looked down at the bow I was holding, having me do the same.
"You really are a genus." he said to me, his voice as soft as mine. I blushed form my spot as he moved away from me spot, loosing contact with me and making me instantly miss him. I placed the bow on the floor gently as I saw him shift his weight from one foot to another.
"What are you doing down here?" he asked me in a curious tone and I shrugged, moving my hair from my eyes.
"Just wanting to step away from the computer for a bit." I replied back to him and seeing him nod his head. I sat down on the bench.
"Did Fury tell you about San Francisco?" I asked him as he sat next to me and nodded his head.
"Yeah he just told me before I came in here." He replied, then going quiet in his spot and I looked at him with my head tilted to the side. He was in deep thought about something.
"What?" I asked him in a curious tone. He looked up from looking at his feet and stared at the wall opposite of us.
"Last time we were doing something this big, the guy we were after, Lokki, put me under some kind of…..spell. Making me work for him." He explained to me, making my eyes go wide in shock. I knew Lokki, from Thor's stories and what happened last time. But I never knew that new information about Clint. To try and picture him under some kind if spell in the hands of an enemy was frightening to me, making me feel horrible for Clint as he continued to talk.
"I don't know if this Schmit guy is the same guy as Lokki, but when I was working for that guy, I felt like all of my control was gone. I couldn't anything the I wanted, it was all up to him. I saw things….did things…." he fell silent then, having me see that there was a nerve hit from his memories. It must of been hell for him, not knowing what to do and not being able to do it. He lost his control, the one thing I knew he wanted more than anything. Silently I placed my hand on the top of his, still staring at him and seeing the intensity in his eyes.
"What happened with Lokki and you was not your fault. You did not see that coming." I said to him.
"In which I should of." He muttered.
"No, no one would of seen that coming, even someone as brilliant as you." I reassured him, squeezing his hand in mine, "You cannot look back at that moment and let that be seen the victor to what you will do in your future. I know how strong you are, and the strongest have limits. But with that comes the reassurance of not going down the same road again." He looked over at me, letting me smile widely at him, hoping to show that I was right and that he was beyond good as a solider and person.
"I don't like not having control." He replied to me in merely a shrug.
"You and me both." I said back to him, seeing a small smile on his face and making me smirk at him, "I know you can do this." I knew it in my heart that he could. He was a soldier, a great one, not to mention a great assassin. But the one thing I knew he had that gave me reassurance, was his drive for success and his drive for not failing. I felt him the my hand in his gently, not moving the rest of his body and keeping his eyes on me. I felt a chill go down my spine when he took my hand in his, making me want to keep my hand there and never let it go. He was slowly becoming my anchor in this changing world, and I needed it.
"Maybe after this is all over, I can take you out to dinner?" He asked me, while I was still in my own world and I snapped out of it, looking over at him with a small surprised look on my face. Did he just ask me out on a date? I thought of it not being real, since when did he ever like me like that? I must be very blind and blunt or not seeing it, but since when was I good with signals since I never really had to deal with this before.
"You…wanna take me out?" I asked him in a sheepish tone, seeing a bigger smile on his face as he cleared his throat, looking rather nervous about it.
"Yeah, well I was going to ask you last night, but since we almost got killed from the explosion, I'd thought that was a bad time." He said to me, making me laugh in my spot and look down at our joined hands. I never thought I would get to this point with Clint, someone whom I thought wanted to be isolated alone. But getting to know him more and more made me believe that he was a good person, beyond good. I felt my heart bursting almost to the point of going out of my mouth for him to see, but I smiled widely and looked down at our joined hands. Somehow I thought they looked perfect together, fitting like a puzzle piece or a hacking system code that was perfect.
"I would love to."
Author's Note: Let me know how I am doing with a nice review! I wanted to give them a little bit more tension before they did something drastic with their relationship! Thanks for reading!
