"Well this is going to be fun" Jessica thought as she stood in the elevator with other 9 promising field agents. She wasn't aware she was going to have more training than she already had, but if they wanted her there, it had to be for a reason. And working with Mr. Rogers was great: the all American hero wasn't much of a show off, but he did manage to take anybody under his wing (shield might be appropriate) and make him/her the best agent in S.H.I.E.L.D.
All 10 prospects walked down the stairs to the training area to find Captain Rogers was not there yet. "This is strange" she thought "he is usually a very punctual guy." Jess and several other trainees walked towards the area of the boxing ring and each one started to prepare on their own.
Jess pulled out her phone from her gym bag and turned it off, in risk of being scolded because of those "pesky, annoying attachments" as Mr. Rogers called them. Just before zipping the bag closed she saw a glossy black phone at the bottom and sighed, turning it off as well (I don't know why I even have it with me; it has been several days…)
Ten minutes passed since the lot arrived at the lower level of the Stark Tower and nobody showed up. Some trainees were scattered around the big room: some lying on their backs taking a quick nap, some hitting the punching bags and others tried to manage the archery section, which Jessica avoided for obvious reasons. Jess had her book "Great Expectations" on her lap and her earphones blasting a random playlist. Every couple of minutes she would gaze up from her book and see if there was a change in the scenery, but no one showed up.
Suddenly, someone was blocking the light in front of her. She looked up and saw a black haired guy waving at her and motioning her to take of her headphones. "That's a" he hesitated for a second, running his hand through his curly hair "a great book. I love Dickens" the other trainee told her. She looked up and tried to remember his name, because she's seen him before? (Jeremy? no. Michael? Chris? Fuck what is it?)
"Mind if I?" he pointed at an empty space on her right and Jess nodded absentmindedly, going back to her book. "I'm Derek Adams" the guy raised his hand at her after he sat down; Jess looked at him with the corner of her eye and returned the gesture without taking her sight of the book "Jessica Chase." Derek started tapping his fingers in his legs anxiously, "you have any idea what happened to St… I mean, Captain Rogers?" he looked back at Jess. "Nope, no idea. I'm as lost as you" she finished, her eyes still on the book.
"This your first time training with Mr. Rogers?" he asked her.
She sighed; she hated being interrupted while reading. She closed the book and put it away "No, actually I'm almost done with this whole training thing, I don't know why they called me here."
Jessica rested her head against the wall and turned to face Derek. He seemed to be a very handsome guy, not that she ever noticed, being all involved in work and all. His eyes had a honeyed hue to them, like a mix between hazel and brown; and even if he was a short guy, he had a nice built frame on him.
"Have I seen you before?" Jess asked.
"I'm brand new. Well, not brand new per-se, but I've been training for S.H.I.E.L.D. for over two months now" he smiled shyly (wow, he even has the cutest smile I've ever seen.)
"That's amazing. Well" she stood up, dusting off her pants "it's been a pleasure to meet you Derek. See you around!" Jessica smiled down on him and shook his hand.
She started to walk down towards the water fountain "Jessica, wait" she heard Derek behind her. "Maybe" he looked down at the floor, feeling incredibly awkward, a stray curl falling on his forehead "um. Can I have your, um" he hesitated (he is so freaking cute) "your number, in case I had a question, I mean." He raised his eyes (goddamn, his eyes) back at her and she could notice a slight blush forming. She laughed and walked back to her gym bag and pulled up her post-it pad and a pen from one of the pockets. She scribbled her phone number and handed it to him "here, in case you need any kind of help, feel free to call." She smiled at him "and, call me Jessie."
Jess headed again towards the water fountain near the door and started to take a sip. "Missed me?" a low growl said next to her. She jumped in surprise and saw Clint Barton laughing next to her "for a SHIELD agent you are far too jumpy, Jess." "Well, I wasn't expecting anyone to watch me drink water. What? Why are you here, Clint?"
"Stevie wasn't able to help with the training, so Tasha sent me down here to do his dirty work" he looked back at the trainees. He took a step closer to her, his breath close to her face, she couldn't help but shiver. "Maybe we can have our own kind of training" he said, moving an inch closer to her. He ran his hand up and down her arm, the touch making her bite her lip. "Clint. No. Not here" she choked "there are people here and we are not…"
He looked back at the people in the room but they were all busy on the fire arms area. His mouth got too close to her ear "let's ditch. It's been a while since I've seen you and" he kissed her neck "I kinda missed you." She closed her eyes and licked her lips and had to grip his arm to find balance, he knew how to make her crumble.
"No Clint. Don't" she took a deep breath and stepped back, making sure there was enough distance to separate them. "Ms. Romanoff sent you here for a reason and we all sure need the help."
"Hey Jess. You mind if I?" Derek stopped in his tracks, noticing that Hawkeye was talking to Jessica. "Oh man. You're Clint Barton, aren't ya? Wow! It's so great to finally meet you, man." Derek took out his hand at him but Clint just stared at the kid. "Ah, yeah. He was just telling me he was going to take over Mr. Rogers' class" Jess interjected, keeping focused on Clint.
"You know him, Jess?" Derek looked at her with big beady eyes and she could notice Clint was also looking at her mouthing "Jess" and mocking the younger man. She took a deep breath and looked back at Derek "just one time. Anyway, Agent Barton, can we get to work, it's been half an hour and we need to get back to work soon." She motioned her head towards the training area and Clint gave her a small grin "sure, Agent Chase." And he turned around to the people already looking back at them, "everyone gather on the boxing ring, now!"
People started to scatter and Derek ran back excitedly, telling his friends about meeting the famous Hawkeye. Jess started to walk to the boxing ring, making sure that Clint wasn't too close to her. "So, this Derek guy" he snickered "a friend, huh?" She looked back and saw him walking close to her, but at a safe distance; she mumbled "Yeah. So?" She could hear him laugh behind her "nothing. I just find it cute that Puppy Eyes McGee stares so fondly at you." Now a glint of amusement grazed her voice "is that a hint of jealousy I detect, Agent Barton?" But he didn't answer, he just walked passed her and started giving out instructions to the rest of the trainees. (Well, now we know what the answer is then.)
Compared to Mr. Rogers, Clint wasn't actually the best teacher, but he's managed to do a decent job so far. Everyone now was paired up and started to practice some basic fighting moves. Funny enough, Clint thought it was a good idea to pair Jessica with Derek. And she had to admit, the fact that Derek was tiny and just new to SHIELD, he was skilled, making her fall in the floor hard whenever he had to put her down.
Barton moved around the room correcting postures and showing other trainees how to make the correct moves. He landed next to Jessica and Derek and folded his arms "so, show me what you got." Derek motioned Jess forward "ladies first" and took a step back waiting for her to come at him. Seconds later, Jess' knee was pressed against Derek's neck as she held his two arms in place, the guy tapped the floor with his palm twice and she stood up quickly, wiping the sweat off her forehead.
Clint clapped his hands slowly as he walked next to Jessica and padded her back "well, that was good, Agent Chase" he lowered his voice to a whisper "and, kind of a turn-on." Clint walked back to his earlier spot and Jess could feel herself blush in embarrassment. "Agent Adams, your turn" he signaled at the dark haired guy. Jessica stood ready and cocked an eyebrow at Derek "don't go easy on me, Adams." Moments later it was his turn to pin her on the ground, but his face was dangerously close to her. He lingered over her for a second "hey, your eyes. They're b…" Derek was interrupted by Clint's sudden cough "enough fun for both of you, get up."
Jess noticed the change on his tone of voice, sounding suddenly strained. "Everyone, gather up" he howled. A slight circle formed surrounding him, Derek standing close to Jessica. "There is one more thing I wanted to show you before we finish. You" he pointed next to Jess. She froze in place and turned to Derek, who was already walking into the middle of the circle to join Barton.
Derek cleaned off his hands in his sweat pants and asked "so, what do I have to do Agent?" Clint looked straight at him and cocked his eyebrow "just. Just, try and put up a fight." Several of the other trainees hollered at this response, but Jess was starting to get worried. She didn't need to know Clint to be positive that he might hurt the kid.
In a matter of seconds, Clint was throwing himself at Derek and he was able to dodge an incoming blow from the archer. Suddenly Barton hands were tying Derek's neck and kicked his legs, making him fall down to the ground. Clint moved too quickly and now pressed the younger man to the ground, his right arm choking him in the process. Derek padded his hand on the floor, asking to be released. But Clint was staring down at him, growling quietly as he pinned him even harder.
Derek started to pound his hand furiously against the floor but Clint wasn't backing down. Everyone in the circle looked in awe and nobody could move. "AGENT BARTON. STOP!" Jess screamed from her spot and she ran down to the middle, trying to remove Clint from Derek. But he didn't budge; he stood still as Derek kept pounding away in desperation. (Desperate times call for desperate measures then) She took as much force as she could and hit him square in the jaw with her fist, making him fall flat on his back.
She leaned over Derek "are you alright?" she asked. He coughed up, trying to get some air into his lungs "that was intense" he chuckled, but remained on his spot. Jess padded his head "just, stay still and rest for a moment." He smiled at her and she couldn't help but smile at him too, suddenly suppressing the need to kiss him on the forehead.
Jess walked back to where Clint was sitting, rubbing his jaw. "You got a powerful fist there, firecracker" he joked. But Jess stared down at him, anger running through her eyes. He started to stand "is the little guy, ok?" he shifted his gaze to where Derek was lying down and the hovering trainees on him. "What the FUCK were you doing, Clint" Jessica hissed, standing closer to him "you could have killed him. Are you insane?"
Clint laughed "hey, sorry I choked your little buddy there; I didn't know you cared that much about him." But she didn't smile, his cocky smile wasn't having any effect on her; all she could think was about erasing that smug smile from his face.
"There is no reason what so ever" her voice raised up a little "for you to attack him like that."
"Come on, Jess. He is going to be a field agent; he needs to handle intense situations."
"Don't. Don't give me that crap, Agent Barton" she huffed. "You act like this when you feel threatened. I've studied your combat styles."
"Wow, I'm flattered." He started to walk to the water fountain, Jess right on his heels. "But I wasn't threatened; I just wanted him to learn to defend himself. As any good SHIELD agent would."
He leaned to take a drink and spit a bit of blood from Jessica's blow. "Are you fucking kidding me, Clint?" And then it suddenly hit her "wait, no. You did not do that" she pointed back at the group of trainees, laughing sourly "were you jealous or something?"
Clint froze in place and turned around to face her. "You are, aren't you?" But his face was stern; she couldn't read his blue eyes or any of his features. He was acting out of jealousy then. (Why would he, I don't know where we are. We are not even in the same time zone as dating.) "I don't think you have any saying on my personal life when I don't have any fucking idea what are we doing, Barton." She took a careful step towards him and whispered "what is this, Clint?"
Barton looked straight into her eyes and laughed "You know what, sweetheart. I guess one time was enough." And he walked out of the training room. Jess' mouth was hanging slightly open, like she was the one who took a blow to the face. She wanted to run out and snap some sense into him; in the back of her mind she knew he hadn't meant what he just said and just did it out of spite. That isn't like him; he wouldn't have been so sweet just to get me into bed. But she hesitated for a second, what if he did?