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Chapter Ten:

He wearily walked the streets of New York, glancing at his phone every so often – silently hoping that Emma had actually called him back. Still nothing. No phone calls, no emails, not even a text message. Sighing, he slipped the cellphone back into his pocket and kept walking.

Clint had not wanted to stay at HQ at all. He had managed to slip out when Sitwell wasn't paying attention and he knew Coulson was going to talk to Emma. He wished that he had known where. Perhaps if he had stuck around, he could have found out. But he didn't want to see Bobbi since there was no telling how he might react if he did.

Where else could he go?

That was when it dawned on him. Aunt Peggy's bookstore. He was closest to the midtown location, so he would try that one first to see if she was at that location. Hopefully she could help him find Emma.

Clint took a deep breath and entered the bookshop. Desperate times called for desperate measures. It had been almost a day since he had last seen Emma with the last image of her etched in his mind was one of hurt. If anyone had any idea where she could be, then it would be her Aunt Peggy.

Bad mistake.

As soon as he began to look around the shop for her aunt, something came flying at him out of the corner of his left eye. He quickly ducked as a flimsy paperback book hit the store floor. He looked to his left and saw Peggy Carter standing about 10 feet from him with a broom in her hand – not just any type of broom. One of those old fashion ones with the thick bristles at the end. For an older woman, she had a good throw.

"You have a lot of nerve showing up here," she said. "Just be happy I don't have my Smith and Wesson Model 10."

Clint gulped.

"I'm…sorry! I just had no other ideas on where Emma would go. Please, I've got to talk to her. Do you know where she is?" he said practically pleading with the older woman. There was no way he was going anywhere near Peggy as long as she held that broom.

Peggy sighed. She didn't even know what Agent Barton had done to upset Emma so bad since her niece had just cried the entire night before. "All I know is that Emma was going to stay with me tonight, but changed her mind. Said she was going out with some friends or something then was just going to go on home. But what ever you did to upset her better never happen again!"

"Thank you ma'am! And trust me, it won't!" he said turning around and opening the door to the shop to leave. As he did, another book smack him in the back of the head.

"That's so you'll remember what I said about my Smith and Wesson!" Peggy said as he turned back to look at her before he left the shop.

"Thank you for listening to me vent," Emma said biting her bottom lip a bit as she and Johnny Storm walked down the street towards her apartment. "I really didn't mean to tell you all my problems."

"Hey my problems still win with an ex-girlfriend being an alien." Johnny said. "But remember keep that hush, hush. I don't think Reed really wanted too many people knowing."

"Your secret is safe with me," she said punching in the code to her building.

"Come on, I'll walk you to your door." Johnny said. "I've made sure that you got out of the Baxter Building without incident, made sure that you safely roamed the streets of New York City – although I know you can protect yourself."

Emma smiled as she led the way up the stairs to the third floor where she suddenly stopped at the edge of the stairs. Johnny crashed into her. He looked up to see what had caused Emma to stop suddenly.

Slowly standing up from his place on the floor was a young man who looked to be a little over 6 feet tall, but even if Johnny had to take him down for some reason, he probably could.

"Why are you here?" Emma calmly asked.

Johnny put two and two together…this was the 'problem' that Emma had vented to him about over dinner.

"I just want to the chance to talk to you," Clint said. His eyes drifted towards Johnny. "Alone."

"Hey look, I'm just a friend. That's all," Johnny said as Emma turned around and looked at him.

"I'll call you later," she said, quickly kissing his cheek then before moving towards her apartment door. Johnny wearily turned and walked back down the stairs. He knew that he shouldn't butt into Emma's relationship.

"You," she said turning her attention back to Clint once Johnny was gone, "have five minutes."

She unlocked the door and they both walked inside. Clint stood by the closed door, still unsure of what to really say, while Emma moved to the other side of the apartment to get as far away from him as she could and still be in the same room with him. She turned to look at him and waited for whatever he had to tell her.

"Well I'm waiting," she said getting a bit impatient.

Clint took a breath and ran his hand nervously through his hair. Damn he had a easier time killing someone anonymously then facing down the woman he loved. "I never meant for you to find out about Bobbi like this, Emma."

"Then how the hell were you going to tell me?" she yelled at him beginning to get teary eyed again.

"I was going to tell you after we had finished in Paris. I have felt horrible for the last month about keeping this from you. It's been eating at me! But Emma, what Bobbi and I had is nothing like what you and I have. The marriage lasted all of a week and it was annulled! Basically it never existed!"

Emma picked up a near by book and hurled it at him – but he easily dodged it. "How the hell do you think I feel now?" she screamed louder at him. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. "You were married Clint! Don't you think that is a little important to tell the person you love? Who cares if it was annulled or not!"

"That's why I was going to tell you in Paris but then the thing with your hands happened!"

Emma screamed in frustration as she bawled up her hands as they began to slowly glow yellow in color. "You're five minutes are up. Get out!" she yelled at him.

"But…"

"GET OUT!"

Sighing in defeat, Clint slowly opened the door and left Emma's apartment. Before he left he took one last look at her as she collapsed in a chair and was sobbing into her hands, which had turned back to their normal skin tones. He gently closed the door but did not move from where he stood in the hallway. He had no idea where to go. And he sure as hell wasn't going back to HQ. Instead he slumped against the wall and slid down until he was sitting on the floor next to Emma's door.

Through the door he could hear Emma's sobs. God what he wouldn't give to be able to hold her in his arms and make all of this up to her. If he could only be given a second chance he would spend the rest of his life making this up to her.

"Well, well, well. Just look at yourself. Pitiful, little Emma. All alone as usual. What was it this time? Scared of some bullies in high school?" a voice taunted.

"Oh shut it. Can't you see that she is upset! I swear you have no heart!" a similar, yet soft voice said.

Emma slowly lifted her head up from the couch where she had cried herself to sleep and looked up. She gasped a little then rubbed her eyes in disbelief. Starring down at her was herself! Not just once…but twice. Hang on; they were each a bit different. One version of her seemed to be dressed in a frilly white baby doll with glitter all over her body and the other version was dressed in some gaudy red leather outfit that belonged in a biker bar. "Umm what is going on?" she asked sitting up.

"Oh we're your conscious," her glittery version said sitting down next to her on the couch. "Here to help you make the decision on what to do about your dilemma."

"I say tell Clint Barton to fuck off and go for that hot Johnny Storm," biker version said sitting down on the other side and plopping her knee high boot clad feet on the table. "I'm sure between to the two of you that you'll set some stuff on fire if you know what I mean!"

"Anyways, you've got to realize that there are good things and bad things to all of this Emma. Weigh your options carefully and don't just fly off and make a sudden decision," glittery version said. "Remember Clinton did come clean to you, just not in the way that he wanted to. He told you that the incident with your hands took precedent over him telling you about his annulled marriage."

Emma looked over at her biker version self for a rebuttal. "I still say go for Johnny Storm..."

Slowly opening her eyes, Emma let them adjust to the light in her apartment. She was curled up on her couch, hugging one of her throw pillows close to her chest. Sitting up, she stretched before standing up. She could seriously use a good night's sleep after that last dream.

Her conscious really? She always thought that things like that were only seen in movies. And that they would be smaller.

Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes a bit more, she reached for her cellphone inside her purse to see what time it was.

12:30 a.m.

Had it really only been a few hours since she had screamed at Clint to get out and then cried herself to sleep for the second night in a row? She sighed as she scrolled through her phone and read the various text messages that she had gotten in the course of a few hours. There were some from her aunt telling her that Clint had come by the shop looking for her and that she had threatened him with 'SW' if he ever hurt her again. The thought of Aunt Peggy threatening Clint with a gun was amusing. Then there was one from Johnny telling her that he had a good time that night and that he hoped everything between her and her 'problem' was ok. Deep down inside, she kind of doubted that since Johnny's hand had slipped a few times that night towards her ass – but she had let it slide. Then the last message was from Clint.

'I will spend forever making this up to you Em. I'm so sorry…' was all that it said.

Perhaps the glittery version of her conscious was right. Clint had come clean to her, just not in the way that he had wanted to. Sure it had hurt, but to keep the good you sometimes have to take the bad with it.

Grabbing her purse and phone, Emma knew what she had to do. She had to find Clint.

But she didn't have to go very far.

As she was stepping out of her apartment, she tripped over something – no someone. Clint had fallen asleep, sitting outside of her apartment door and ended up falling onto his side. Now he was slowly waking up. Kneeling down, she smiled as she placed a hand against his check.

"Emma?" he asked a bit groggily.

"Yeah."

"Why am I in your hallway?"

"I was going to ask the same thing," she said standing back up then offering a hand for him. He took it and stood up.

Once he was standing, they just stood there in silence for a second – Emma starring up at Clint, who stood a good few inches taller than she was. Finally Clint began. "Look Em, I know that you…"

But she cut him off by leaning up kissing him deeply on the lips. Taken by surprise, Clint eventually wrapped his arms around her and held her flush against him.

"I'm sorry for over reacting," she whispered as she took a breath from their kiss. He smiled at her as he brushed the hair out of her face.

"No Emma, its me who should be sorry for not telling you sooner," he said picking her up in his arms as he opened the door to her apartment. "And I will do whatever it takes to make this up to you."

She smiled and lay her head in the crook of his neck as he carried her into the apartment and quietly shut the door behind them both.

"So is everything better now?" Coulson asked as Emma and Clint approached him the next morning.

"More than better," Emma said. And she meant it.

When Clint had said that he would do whatever it took to make it up to her, he meant it and so much more. Plus whoever said that makeup sex was the best sex, meant it!

"Good. Now since I see you got your new gauntlets, when are the two of you leaving?" he asked as he took notice of Emma's new accessory to her uniform.

"That's what we were coming to see you about. What targets are of most concern?" Clint asked, handing Coulson a list. "Central and South America or Europe?"

"Europe."

"Then we will leave for London this afternoon." Emma said. "And make sure that you are on standby with mop up teams. These might get ugly."

"Oh you know I will be Emma." Coulson said. "But before you leave, Agent Monroe wanted to see you down in the gym. It's your favorite time of year."

Emma turned to Clint and grinned evilly.

"What?" he asked.

"I get to scare the new recruits!" she happily said. "Let's go!"

"This is Agent Carter. She is one of the top, if not the top, covert ops agent that S.H.I.E.L.D. currently has." Agent Monroe said, introducing Emma to the group of new recruits that stood eager to get into the action. "Typically she and her partner are out in the field, but they were given a new assignment and had to report back to HQ for a few days. Now the purpose of this drill is to make each of you aware of just how lacking your skills in fighting are, not matter how good you really are, Agent Carter will beat you every time."

Emma smiled as she surveyed the group in front of her. Twelve new recruits – 8 males and 4 females – with one of them being Bobbi Morse. This was going to be great. Clint stood off to the side watching the entire thing unfold. He had remembered this exercise, but it was done with someone else when he had gone through the training. Not Emma.

"Now guys, don't be afraid to hit her – if you can." Monroe said continuing.

One by one, Monroe called up different recruits to try and take down Emma. A few of the guys got close, but they just couldn't hit a girl even though Monroe had warned them to hit her and the girls were a cakewalk for her. The last one standing – literally - was Bobbi. While Emma typically took it easy on new recruits, this time things were different.

Things were personal.

When Clint saw who Emma was going to fight next, he was weary about letting it happen. But he decided that Emma needed this. He shouldn't have worried.

As soon as Bobbi had approached Emma, she was hit with a right hook to her eye. Yet it hadn't felt like any right hook that she had ever felt before – which was once. It felt like her eye was burning a bit. She feel to the training mat in disbelief that something so small could hit so hard. She was definitely going to have a black eye in the morning. Bobbi wearily looked up through her blackened eye as Emma stood over her with her fists still clinched.

"Welcome to S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Morse," she said before turning and walking off the mat.

AN: I hope ya'll like it! Please leave me some loving. Also about Clint's height….I'm doing a bit of mixing here…in the movies Clint is about 5 foot 11 inches tall but in the comics he is 6 foot, 3 inches tall. So for this story, he's a little in-between those two heights.

Ciao!