"So, did you get laid last night?"
Why was I not surprise that was the first question to come from Natasha's mouth as I walked into the gym the next morning.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" I smirked at Natasha throwing my gym bag down on the ground. Clint wasn't here yet. The gym was deserted except for Natasha and I. That wasn't unusual for this time in the morning. People would only start to trickle in once we were finished. I wondered if that was on purpose. Or we just enjoyed being here ridiculously early.
"Which is why I asked," Natasha persisted. "Come on, spill. You have this stupid little smile on your face. So you either got laid or it was just a really good date."
"No, I didn't get laid. He was a perfect gentleman." I admitted. "You were right about that."
"I am always right." Natasha looked so gleeful. It was times like this that I wondered if she enjoyed having a female friend to simply gossip with. "So, details. Come on."
"Fine." I threw up my hands in mock defeat. I was more than happy to put off our sparring session with girly gossip. "He picked me up not long after you and Hawk left."
I ignored the snigger from Natasha at what I had now cemented as Clint's nickname from me.
"He took me to a hill overlooking Andrews base and we watched F-16's doing touch and goes," I continued. "He brought Indian food, which was amazingly good. We talked, he kissed me and then dropped me off. Are you happy?"
"Yes, extremely happy." Natasha nodded in approval. "I told you he's a nice guy. When are you having another date? Maybe Barton and I should tag along."
"Absolutely not," I said, horrified at that idea. "No way, you'll probably drug him and tie him to my bed naked or something equally embarrassing."
"Only if you really wanted me to," Natasha said seriously. The glint in her eye told me she was definitely not joking there. If I ever killed someone and needed to hide a body, I knew which one of my teammates would be the one to talk to. "I win though. Clint said that you'd sleep with him last night and I bet him $100 that you wouldn't. So thank you for your self control."
"You're welcome." I couldn't stop the snort of amusement from slipping out. "I do have a serious question though. Well, two questions actually."
Natasha looked at me patiently. At least I know she'd give me a serious answer.
"One, is this even a good idea getting involved with someone from work? From what I remember SHIELD frown pretty heavily on relationships at work. And two, I got paid last night and I'm finding myself desperate for my own wheels instead of using Jared's car all the time. So can you show me to accounting so I can organise a loan for my new wheels."
SHIELD had its own structure of being able to borrow money. No more needing to go through a bank, just talk to accounting. Everything was deducted straight from your pay. It was not only for convenience but security reasons as well. SHIELD didn't want the outside world to know how much it paid its people. From the amount that was put into my bank account last night, I could see why. Even as a recruit I was on more money than I ever made in the Air Force. Next month's pay as a fully fledged agent was going to be a tidy sum. I don't think I'd ever seen so much money in my account. Not only could I afford the motorbike I really wanted, I could even go for the more expensive luxury model. I now understood why Jared was able to afford the clothes he had.
"Oh sweet it's payday." Natasha pulled out her phone and started to flick through it while replying. "To the second one, yes. We'll go after a shower and I can take you car shopping if you want after we get back from the range today."
"Motorbike shopping," I corrected.
"Even better." Natasha grinned. "And to the first one. I don't do relationships so I'm not the best person to ask. But you like each other so why not? SHIELD's relationship policy is more for when people work really closely together. Say you and Barton got together, that's a very strict no. You'd be split up and not able to work together, even if you broke it off. But chances are you and Riley won't work together much because you're both on separate teams. If you do work together it's not like it's just you two. So its fine in SHIELD's eyes. Talk to Coulson about it anyway, he'll point you in the right direction with all the paperwork if you decide to tread down that path."
"There's paperwork involved?" I asked feeling deflated by Natasha's last statement. This was taking things to another level of strange that I hadn't thought I'd quite hit yet.
"Apparently." Natasha shrugged. "Don't ask me, oh look at that, we have been paid. I think I need to go shopping to make my bank account look less healthy. Especially now that Barton owes me $100."
"Where is Barton?" I asked looking around at the empty gym. Clint was always here first so it was a surprise not seeing him here this morning.
"Laura's on night shift, sometimes she gets held up if there's an emergency come in late," Natasha explained putting her phone away. "So he'll get here once she gets home. Lila's going through a stage where she doesn't like sleeping in her own bed so they're both trying to juggle work around that at the moment."
"I can't even keep track of my hairbrush, let alone juggle a family." It was true, I don't know how Clint and Laura did it. Some of her work hours were completely crazy. While it wasn't too hard while we were still at the Triskelion, I knew we could be whisked away on a mission at any second.
"That's where we all come in," Natasha explained. "We all chip in and help when they need it. I think I take Lila to her ballet lessons more than her parents some months. Ready to get your ass kicked again?"
"Not really, but let's see how I manage." I pulled my running tights up a bit higher and tied them up more. Everything was falling off me. I needed to gain some weight. The small gesture didn't go unnoticed by Natasha.
"You need to bump up your calories." She pointed out with a frown. "Like by heaps, even I can tell you've probably lost about eight pounds since you started here. Four of those is probably this week alone."
Ten was more like it. The tight jeans I'd worn last night I couldn't get done up a few months ago. Now they fit me perfectly. I wasn't sure if I wanted to step onto the scales anytime soon.
"What did you have for breakfast?" Natasha continued with a thoughtful look.
"Bagel and coffee." I wrinkled my nose knowing it wasn't a good answer. Or a very good breakfast, but it was quick and easy.
"Plain bagel?"
"No, salmon with cream cheese," I said. I was slightly addicted to that combination. Especially from the little cafe, I stopped at on the way to work.
"At least there's something half decent on it." Natasha shook her head at me. "Right, let's skip sparring this morning and go get real food."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah I've got a minor hangover so I don't need that much of an excuse to not train this morning," Natasha admitted with a wry smile. "Especially with Barton not here. Let's go get some real breakfast and go over a meal plan for you to make it look like we've been productive. You don't need to get sick by not eating properly with the crazy amount of exercise we do."
Here I was thinking Natasha was the one who was the hard taskmaster. I wasn't going to argue though. I seemed to be aching on an entirely new level this morning. A morning off might go a long way to helping my sore body.
"I thought you were the disciplined one." I decided to see how far I could push my teasing. While I wasn't as nervous around Natasha anymore I still wasn't sure about what I could and couldn't say.
"It comes and goes," Natasha admitted with a small laugh as she went and picked up her own gym bag. "At the moment it's in the going cycle. Clint is being the disciplined one at the moment because he's waiting for his 200 pound draw weight bow prototype to come through. So he's trying to bulk up so he can have a good play with his new toy before he has to send it back. Watch him during weight training, he's doing crazy weights of 300 plus at the moment."
"I did notice that," I said remembering back to our last few days doing weights in the gym. Clint wasn't the only one doing crazy weights so I hadn't paid that much attention to it.
"So give it until he's done with his prototype bow, then he'll be the one easing off training a bit. Then I'll probably decide to start some new kind of training program to be able to do something, and it starts all over again. You'll start doing the same thing too."
I'd already been trawling YouTube and numerous bodybuilding websites trying to come up with my own training program. I had a rough idea of what kind of a program I needed to do. My problem at the moment was that I was just too exhausted and aching after every morning to really commit to it. I was giving myself another week for my body to get used to this before I started pushing myself more. I was never going to get any better if I let myself settle for satisfactory. I walked over and grabbed my gym bag following Natasha out on our quest to get food.
"So why do you have a minor hungover?" I asked as we walked along.
"I had a fuck buddy over with two bottles of red wine." Natasha looked pleased with herself. "Red wine and I generally don't go together very well. But it was very nice red wine. He has good taste, I'll give them that."
"Yuck, you can keep that all to yourself." I wrinkled my nose in disgust. Red wine and I didn't go very well together. Jared drank it occasionally but I hated the smell of it. Let alone the taste.
"By the way, tonight we're having tequila," Natasha informed me. "You aren't getting out of doing this. Think of it as team bonding again."
"Great," I groaned. There was no point arguing. Natasha would probably spike my drink. "Please tell me we're doing this at home."
"Nah, let's go to JoJo's tonight, we can have dinner and get drunk," Natasha said casually like it was a regular occurrence. "We'll go from your place after we finish here."
"Motorbike shopping?" I gently reminded her.
"Right, after motorbike shopping," Natasha assured me. "You gonna let me ride your new bike?"
"Only if you ask me really nicely." I felt a bubble of excitement at finally getting the motorbike I'd always wanted. I couldn't wait to get out of here and make it happen.
"I will even buy you drinks tonight and hold your hair when you throw up if I can have a ride on your new bike." Natasha didn't argue at all "I'll even be satisfied with riding bitch on it. What bike are you getting?"
"Ninja Kawasaki ZX-14," I said instantly. I'd memorised every specification on the motorbike. "I'm debating whether to go black or blue."
"Thank you for not making it red." Natasha snorted. "Go blue, it suits you better."
"What are we getting in blue?" Clint's voice came from behind us. Natasha and I turned to look at our up until then missing teammate. Clint looked exhausted as he walked up to us.
"Everything all right?" Natasha asked looking concerned.
"Yeah, fine." Clint rubbed a hand over his face. "Besides Lila didn't want to sleep last night. She kept saying the ghost was in the house again and Mommy is the only one who can tell the ghost to go away."
Natasha cleared her throat and looked away guiltily at that statement. The hard glare Clint sent in her direction would have made me quake in my shoes. I raised my eyebrow looking at Natasha who was avidly avoiding looking anywhere but in Clint's direction. This would be an interesting story of where that came from.
"Thanks, Nat," Clint growled. "Whatever you said to my daughter made me have about three hours sleep last night. So next time you can come over and deal with it."
"So we're heading to get food because Kari is too skinny," Natasha said quickly to get herself out of trouble. "Want coffee?"
The look Clint sent Natasha again spoke more than words ever could. It was a pretty stupid question.
"I was also thinking dinner and drinks at JoJo's tonight," Natasha continued like nothing had happened. "Kari is buying her motorbike this afternoon and we can celebrate with tequila."
"While you two are out buying the motorbike, I'm going home to have a sleep," Clint grumbled. I had to stifle a giggle at his shitty tone. It seems I wasn't the only one who acted grouchy when they were tired. "I only came in so I didn't look completely slack and since you two aren't training this morning I'm guessing we aren't going anything productive today."
"No, but you owe me $100," Natasha's face lit up with a sudden smug grin.
"Aw fuck." Clint turned to look at me in mock disgust. "Come on, you couldn't have taken one for the team, Kari?"
"Unlike some other people, he was a gentleman," I said with my own smug grin. "And yes my date was great, thanks so much for asking."
"Ugh you sound just like her, I'm terrified," Clint groaned as he reached into his pants pulling his wallet out. "Nope, don't have it on me. I guess I'm paying tonight then."
"Stupid question," Natasha chided Clint. "Go home grouch, we'll meet you at JoJo's at 7."
Clint turned on his heel and waved his hand in a casual goodbye. It seemed he didn't have to be told twice to go home and back to bed. I still haven't been given an actual work roster. I wondered how long this was going to last doing what we basically just felt like during the day.
"So what the hell did you tell Lila?" I turned to Natasha once Clint was out of earshot.
"I told him if she ever wanted to stay up all night when Laura was at work, just to tell Clint that there was a ghost and she was scared," Natasha admitted, looking guilty at what she'd done. "That was months ago and I didn't think she'd actually do it. I better buy him drinks tonight to make up for it."
"Worst Aunt ever," I scolded Natasha playfully. "Or coolest, I'm not quite sure yet."
"Bit of both," Natasha said with a small laugh. "After all, I'm the one who lets them have all the sugar they want when I babysit. But Coulson is the one who sneaks them out for impromptu ice cream and movie trips without telling anyone. He's just sneaky about it so he never gets in trouble."
"Somehow that doesn't surprise me in the least." I didn't doubt Coulson could be the sneakiest one of us all. "Right, I need food like right now before I starve to death now we're talking about sugar and ice cream."
"Then I vote we just head out and go and get your motorbike." Natasha linked her arm through mine. "I'm all for blowing work off today while we can."
I wasn't going to argue with that at all.
I straddled my brand new Ninja Kawasaki just running my hands over it. The bike was a beast and I'd had the salesman all over me when I said I wanted to buy it right now. Getting the loan for it had been so easy, the money was in my account within an hour. I marvelled at how easy SHIELD managed to make some processes. The extra money I was earning enabled me to splash out and buy a new helmet, gloves and riding jacket to go with it. My bank account was looking slightly worse for wear after everything was paid for. But I was very, very happy.
The salesman had let me take one for a spin to make sure I was going to be happy with it. I didn't have the heart to tell him I'd already done several test rides on one just to make sure I loved it completely. It'd been fun having Natasha sitting behind me clutching on for dear life as I speed around the streets. It was also small payback for how crazy she drove.
I shouldn't have been surprised in Natasha's choice of car. The black Corvette Stingray was insane. She knew how to handle the power behind the wheel as well. Two could play that game of trying to scare the shit out of each other. I couldn't wait until I had Natasha strapped into a Quinjet. She was going to find out the meaning of crazy I was tame on my bike compared to how I flew.
"Happy?" Natasha asked me standing to the side grinning while I just kept running my hands my new motorbike.
"You have no idea how happy I am." I grinned back. "Oh, this bad boy is a dream come true."
"Stop humping it. Save that for later on with Riley," Natasha said with an evil glint in her eye. "Let's go get ready for tonight."
Riley and I had been texting non stop all day. It didn't take much persuading to get him to come out tonight. Unlike Natasha and I who had skipped out of work for the day, he was still stuck at the Triskelion for another hour. It turned out my place was the closest, so Riley and Natasha would both meet back there before we headed to JoJo's. Natasha had promised not to scare him off and be on her best behaviour when she met him. It'd been relaxing and fun spending the day hanging out with Natasha away from work. It was good having some kind of female influence in my life. I had always imagined Natasha as a complete tomboy. Never one to go anything girly. But the more I got to know her it wasn't the case. While she was still a badass on an insane level, Natasha was also very happy to hang onto her feminine side. She liked clothes, nice shoes and had developed a designer handbag fetish over the years. I'd gaped at the gorgeous Prada bag that had been sitting on her front seat of the car. When I questioned her about it she just shrugged and explained we all have our vices.
I couldn't argue with that logic.
"Right, let's go." There was no wiping the grin off my face as I pulled my helmet on. "I'll see you back at my place?"
Natasha nodded and waved as she headed to her own car.
The motorbike roared to life underneath me. I eased it out of the carpark and waited until I was clear on the street before opening it up. I really was an adrenaline junkie at heart. I was happiest when I was doing something fast and crazy. I weaved around the fast thickening mid-afternoon traffic, very glad not to be stuck in it for once. It didn't take long to get back home after that.
Home. That was a funny word. It made me nearly stop the bike in surprise when I thought about the apartment being home. I'd been saying Jared's apartment for the last month. Somewhere in the crazy spin, my life had taken in the last week I'd started to feel settled where I was. Maybe I was wrong to have shied away from SHIELD so for long? Though if I had done things like Jared had, I doubted I'd be in the position I am now. My year at SHIELD was looking less and less like a chore and more like an adventure.
I parked my bike in the car space next to Jared's RX8. I'd dropped it off before Natasha and I had gone to buy my bike. I sighed happily turning it off and gave it one last run over with my hands. I was going to enjoy my new bike a little too much. I couldn't wait to open it up on the stretch into the Triskelion. The long piece of road over the Potomac was just begging to be tackled at high speed. With a top speed of 200MPH, I wanted to see how close I could get to that. I'd have to find somewhere around here with some good stretches of road and go for a ride on a day off.
The garage opened and I turned to look at the car in surprise. Despite the building having a lot of occupants, I'd never actually seen any neighbours yet. I'd heard people come and go occasionally. Jared had been right about that it was really quiet here. A red car drove in and right up to my space. I grinned as I recognised it as Riley's car. He pulled up next to me and rolled the window down.
"Nice bike," Riley whistled in admiration. Now I was grinning all over again for a new reason. It was good to see Riley again.
"It's a lot of fun," I said as I reluctantly got off it. "You got here quick. I wasn't expecting you for at least an hour."
"I kind of rushed through everything I had to do so I could get here earlier," Riley admitted with a lopsided grin. "Call me sad but I was looking forward to seeing you again."
"Not sad at all, I'm glad you're here," If I thought I was grinning before, I felt like my face was going to split open now. Riley parked his car and got out. I thought things might be awkward for a second, but he just pulled me in for a kiss right away. I smiled against his lips. I could get used to this very quickly.
Another car drove in, beeping the horn. The roar of the Corvette was unmistakable. Both Riley and I jumped apart guiltily as Natasha drove up.
"Let's go fuckers, I'm starving," Natasha declared getting out of her car. "There's a steak in every tequila shot."
"Why do I have a feeling I'm going to regret this night deeply?" It was a rhetorical question with Natasha's smirk. "Be nice to me Nat, it's my first time."
"Which is why it's going to be so much fun." Natasha's smirk confirmed my fears. "Hey, Riley."
"Romanoff," Riley said cautiously. Poor guy, I was throwing him in the deep end tonight by doing this with Natasha and Clint. He hadn't hesitated when I'd asked him though. I wonder if he was going to regret that after tonight. Shit, I think I might even regret it after tonight.
My head didn't know if it was spinning or pounding. I didn't want to drag my eyes open at all. Keeping them closed seemed like the safest option now I was coming back to the land of the living. Whatever I was using as a pillow moved making me crack my eyes open. I was lying next to Riley, mostly sprawled across him. Both of us were still dressed. Behind me was another body snuggled right up against my back. My guess would be it was Natasha spooning me judging by the body pressed against me. Thankfully the bed we were in seemed to be big enough that it wasn't too crowded.
I groaned quietly and closed my eyes again. I didn't want to be awake. Right now I felt like I wanted to crawl into a hole and die. My stomach was rebelling and I think my head was ready to fall off.
"Ugh," Jared's voice made me bolt upright and glance over. I was right, it was Natasha spooning me. But Jared was behind her. I don't even remember him showing up last night. He looked as terrible as I felt. Now I was sitting upright my body screamed in protest. I grabbed my head between my hands and cringed.
"I am never drinking tequila again," I said hoarsely before looking around. I had no idea where we'd ended up.
"You and me both," Riley didn't sound any better than I left. He pulled the pillow over his head. "Who's idea was this?"
"Apparently Natasha's," Jared supplied. The sound of Jared's voice made Riley jump in shock. He'd been right on the edge of the bed and fell straight off with a loud thump.
"You okay down there?" I asked looking at Riley sprawled across the floor. He nodded, pinching the bridge of his nose while screwing his face up. I guess I wasn't the only one feeling really hungover.
"Stop talking," Natasha whined. "It's way too early."
"When the fuck did you get here?" I squinted at Jared who was still lying on his side close to Natasha.
"Finished my mission and you sent me a text." Jared didn't bother to open his eyes. "Like I'm going to pass up tequila when Barton was paying."
"I don't remember anything," I groaned. Riley picked himself up off the floor and lay next to me again. I wasted no time in cuddling back into his open arms. I smiled, closing my eyes enjoying the feeling of being safe in his arms. This wasn't going to get old anytime soon.
"Stop speaking," Clint's voice came from the bottom of the bed on the floor. "It's too early and I'm going to die if I have to move."
I didn't bother opening my eyes to see where he was.
"Laura kick you out of bed did she?" Natasha snickered.
"Something about throwing up on the front lawn isn't cool," Clint groaned. "I don't remember, how did we even get home?"
"Aren't you five just the most pathetic sight this morning," Laura's voice sounded. I cracked an eye open to see her standing in the doorway. "Breakfast is ready, get up. There's an entire drug cabinet on the kitchen table to make you feel better."
That explains where we all ended up. This must have been the spare room at Clint's house. I couldn't hear the dogs or any screaming kids. It was a small mercy. Small snatches of last night started to come back to me. We had caught a taxi right after Natasha had shown up. As soon as we walked in the door she instantly ordered tequila shots. Riley tried to protest but Natasha wouldn't take no for an answer. I'd had a beer while Natasha had gotten another round of shots. After my second shot, things started to get a bit fuzzy.
I vaguely remembered sitting down for dinner after Clint had arrived. Determined to catch up, he had taken three shots in a row. Beyond that things started to get vague. I don't remember Jared arriving or sending him a text. There was a very fuzzy recollection of Riley and I possibly making out in a corner somewhere. I don't know if it was true or something my mind had made up.
"This is too funny not to take a photo of," Laura's voice was closely followed by a click of a phone camera. "Phil will be so proud. Come on drunkards. Up. It's 10:30am."
My body was telling me that was a big fat lie. I'm sure we only went to bed a few hours ago. I grumbled but complied. It was a great reluctance that I pulled myself out of Riley's arms. Breakfast usually meant coffee. My body could cope with some coffee right about now. As I sat up, my head protested again. I put my hands over my eyes, rubbing them hard.
"I think my head is going to fall off," I whispered hoarsely. "Holy shit, I wasn't even this bad after my 21st."
"The five of you did finish off a bottle of tequila", Laura laughed. "Get up and you can stop being rude and introduce me."
"Laura, Riley," I said blearily, squinting up at Laura. "Riley, Laura."
"My wife," Clint supplied helpfully from the floor.
"I'm really sorry for this Laura," Riley said quietly, still laying down. "This isn't typical of me."
"Don't worry, it is for these three," Laura laughed again. "It just seems Kari is picking up bad habits and it hasn't even been a week yet. Clint, get the fuck up before I throw cold water over you again."
At Laura's threat, Clint lurched to a sitting position. He immediately went pale, bolting to his feet he quickly ran from the room. Laughing even harder now Laura followed her husband to where ever he had bolted to. Most likely to the bathroom to torment him for throwing up.
"So who grew the balls first?" Jared asked finally opening his eyes looking over to Riley and me.
"Kari," Natasha said smugly. "With prompting from me."
"About time," Jared said with a snort, rubbing his face tiredly. "Come on Nat, get up. This was all your fault."
"Now Kari has been really drunk and spewed my mission is accomplished."
Natasha climbed over Jared, not caring at all where her knees and elbows went. The groan of pain coming from Jared told me she'd hit her mark. Probably on purpose knowing Natasha.
I don't remember throwing up. At all. But Natasha was right, she really did accomplish the mission of getting me really drunk. Not that it would have been hard. I was a lightweight at the best of times.
Jared got up right after Natasha, leaving Riley and I alone in the bed.
"I don't remember much from last night," Riley said dryly rolling onto his back. "But I'm glad we both have clothes on."
"Yeah, that would have been awkward waking up naked with Natasha spooning me," I giggled making Riley smile. Fuck me he had a gorgeous smile. "I remember dinner, I think."
"I remember dinner," Riley yawned and stretched. His shirt rode up above his stomach giving me a nice view of his abs. "I kind of remember playing darts and that's it. I lost count after four tequila shots. Tequila and I are not friends."
"Did we make out in a corner somewhere?" I asked trying to pull my eyes away from his exposed stomach. Damn, he had a nice body from the small peek I just got of it. "Because I have a very vague memory of that, but I also feel like I might have made it up."
"I have no idea," Riley groaned. "And if we did, I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry." I let myself have a small grin as I dragged my eyes away from his six pack. "We might just have to do it again another time when we'll both remember it."
"Preferably without the tequila," Riley laughed quietly. "What did you have planned for the rest of the day?"
"Aspirin and being a zombie on the couch I think." Food was still feeling questionable at this stage. "Want to join me?"
"Sure. Want to do it at my place so Jared doesn't annoy the shit out of us?"
I didn't even think of that. There was no doubt that if we went back to my place Jared would spend the entire day teasing me about Riley. I had gotten used to the peace and quiet of not having Jared around since he left for his mission. If I thought I might have been lonely, I was very wrong.
"Sounds like a plan, let's get up before someone sends the dogs in on us." I pushed myself off the bed with great effort. Standing up made everything worse. At least my head had stopped spinning and it was only pounding now. It was an effort to make it down the stairs, I had to support myself on the railing so I didn't fall down. It only made me feel slightly better that Riley wasn't doing much better than me.
"I didn't know Clint was married," Riley murmured behind me as we staggered along.
"Apparently not many people do," I said with a small shrug. Now I thought of it, I was a bit surprised Clint had let Riley come back here with us. "Trade secret I guess."
"I can imagine why," Riley said casually. I looked over at my shoulder curiously at him. I couldn't imagine why. It seems my imagination didn't stretch too far. Everyone else was already at the table by the time we made it into the kitchen. Lucy and Lucky both scrambled over the tiles racing towards both of us.
"Hey, puppies." I grinned, carefully reaching down to pat them. "Aren't you both terrible guard dogs?"
"Worst guard dogs in the world," Laura confirmed. "Sit, eat."
I plonked myself down in the chair happily next to Natasha who was shovelling food into her mouth like she hadn't eaten in weeks. My stomach couldn't decide it if was starving, or it was going to rebel against me. I tentatively took a bite of bacon and swallowed. My stomach seemed to tolerate the salty meat without any protests. Jared slid over a bottle of aspirin and something else to me.
"Anti-nausea drugs," he explained as I picked up the mystery bottle. "Strong stuff too."
"Thanks." I took two out and swallowed them dry. I didn't miss the disgusted look I got from Jared and Laura. "What?"
"You three were meant for each other," Laura wrinkled her nose. "That's gross and something both Clint and Natasha do."
"You don't always have water on hand," Clint protested. "Riley, you're STRIKE as well. Please tell me you don't need water to swallow pills."
"It doesn't mean I do it when I have water available." Riley pulled a face at me jokingly. "Gross Kari."
"Complete lack of gag reflex." I pointed out without thinking of what I was saying. I regretted the words as soon as they left my mouth. Both Natasha and Clint looked at me with identical smug smiles. Jared made a noise of disgust in the back of his throat. Riley looked at me with raised eyebrows.
"Someone is going to have fun with that," Clint didn't bother to cover his laughter and he looked at Riley. Poor Riley looked like he was torn between being embarrassed and laughing with Clint. I sighed heavily and just glared at both Natasha and Clint.
"I hate you both."
Authors Note
I fully go out in sympathy with Kari at the end of this chapter. It came from a night of drinking and adding tequila to cocktails that really aren't meant to have tequila in them.
Enjoy the last of the quick updates for the moment. Unfortunately, I have a huge week at work this week. Which generally means my writing time gets cut down quite dramatically. This is the last chapter I already had written ahead. The action will start to kick in over the next few chapters as Kari starts doing missions and getting thrown into things a lot more. Holidays are over and the real work is about to begin for her.
As always, thanks to everyone reading.
Updated 30th May 2018