The second everyone had made it back to the Tower, they were greeted by Pepper and Bruce. They had immediately wanted to know what happened all the while Pepper gave Natasha the cold shoulder. And even when the two ladies caught each other's gazes, Natasha couldn't help but be impressed with the amount of heat Pepper could put into her glare.
Caroline had explained everything as best as she could, giving apologies to Bruce for having to leave so quickly because she needed to go home and check on her mother while also placing a few phone calls to some people, but told him that she'd gladly talk to him sometime during the week about whatever he wanted to know. He had completely understood and right before Caroline could leave, she pulled Pepper aside and politely asked to not be so hard on agent Romanoff because she was only doing what came naturally. Finding out that monsters do go bump in the night that are from your own world is a lot to take in, and both agents Romanoff and Barton had understandable reactions.
Pepper reluctantly agrees after giving Natasha one last heated glare to which Tony snickers at, and then Caroline's given the day off to clean up her mess that she created by spilling the vampire secret to a not-so-secret government agency.
When she gets home in the clothes she obviously hadn't left the house in, Liz immediately wants to know what happened. So Caroline being the good daughter that she is, tells her everything but skirts around naming S.H.I.E.L.D because Liz doesn't need to get into that. Her mom doesn't look too comfortable knowing that an agency knows the vampire, werewolf, and witch secret now but Caroline can't- won't- compel her new friends to suddenly forget everything and she won't compel her mom to not worry.
So while Liz worries, Caroline settles down in the kitchen with a mug of blood and places a call to Stefan.
When she has him on the line, she asks if she can speak freely and when she's given the okay, she just breaks down and tells him everything. She apologizes for outing their secret, even if the agency doesn't know them by name, but they know anyway and she's terrified because it's not only her that they know about. They know there are others- some of which are her closest of friends- and she doesn't know what to do.
She's messed up.
She tells him that the Avengers actually seem quite interested in knowing about them but it's their boss that she doesn't trust. She doesn't really trust Natasha either but if anything were to happen, Clint seems like he'd try to talk her down from whatever it is she might attempt to do.
And instead of getting mad, Stefan calms her down. He tells her it's fine, that people she was close with were better finding out now than later down the road when they had become closer and their friendships wouldn't be so easily fixed.
He tells her he has to tell the others, though, and he'd try to keep Damon from doing anything irrational which might be hard considering the stubborn ass that he is. She's pretty sure Fury won't send anyone to keep tabs on them but she still tells Stefan that if anyone seems suspicious, to please not kill any of them. If they turn out to be agents, she asks that they only compel their minds clean and send them away from the town. And if they're on vervain then it's perfectly fine to hold them hostage until the vervain's out of their system before compelling them. She'd deal with the fallout herself should Fury get pissed.
Stefan agrees and Caroline quickly thanks him but then adds on that her new friends would like to start their own vervain garden at the Tower and Stefan sighs, telling her he'd think of something. So with Mystic Falls out of the way, Caroline goes back through her contacts and hovers over Klaus' name.
She hasn't spoken to him in a long while but since his existence as well as his family's is out in the open with S.H.I.E.L.D, he has the right to know as well. And she's not all that shocked when Klaus is annoyed at finding out a government agency knows their secret. It's not like he or his siblings can be killed but Caroline still tells him to tell the others to be careful as well as compelling anyone suspicious away from his city and family.
Klaus complies and after that's out of the way, he actually converses with her about her well-being. She doesn't tell him that her mother is sick but she does tell him that she left Mystic Falls behind because the petty drama was getting old.
He's actually proud that she got away, wishes her all the best, and then hangs up after telling her that should anything suspicious come up, he'd give her a call.
When Caroline gets back into the swing of things and starts brainstorming for yet another Stark event that's to take place at a Children's Hospital of all places, she's surprised to find agent Barton discreetly following her around.
His brief stalking doesn't seem malicious is any way so Caroline lets it go and often finds amusement when she can perfectly hear the almost inaudible squeaks that the ventilation shafts make when too much weight is in them.
On this particular day, however, Caroline didn't stop by to pick up her usual coffee or anyone else's for that matter. So when she gets into her office, she makes sure she doesn't have anything that needs her attention right away before shrugging out of her cardigan and heading for her floor's small communal kitchen.
She's turning change over in her hands as she stares at the various snacks that are presented before her in a vending machine, her eyes landing on the plain salty potato chips towards the bottom. Seeing that those are the only salty items in there, Caroline buys herself two bags.
The soda vending machine next to the snacks has just dropped her Cola when an ominous creak sounds above her, a low chuckle escaping her as she takes a seat at the small round table with her quick snack. "One of these days, agent Barton, you're going to fall from the ceiling and you'll only have yourself to blame."
There's a snort from up above as Caroline tilts her head upward towards the nearest vent, grinning when the cover is pulled open and said agent drops in feet first. She snaps open one bag of chips and eagerly pops one chip into her mouth.
"Caroline," he greets her, taking a seat as Caroline seems to sag in relief at the use of her first name.
"Clint."
"Feeling peckish?" he asks. "The saltiness curves the craving, right?"
"Yeah," she mumbles. "I didn't eat what I normally eat this morning so I'm a bit hungrier than normal. And this type of food," her nose wrinkles as yet another salty chip hits her tongue. "Isn't exactly cutting it at the moment."
"Excellent! Then what I'm about to purpose might just have you saying yes."
"And that is?"
"I want you to bite me."
"What," Caroline squeaks, nearly choking down her Cola instead of letting it slide easily down her throat. "You want me to-"
"Bite me."
Caroline huffs a laugh, shaking her head. "No."
"No?"
"Yeah, no," she tells Clint. "The vampire secret just came out and I don't think everyone is as comfortable with it as they seem. Not to mention your partner, agent Romanoff, shot at me three times and hit me twice. Do you really think I'm stupid enough to risk her wrath like that again?"
"Nat knows that I wanted to ask you this," he waves her off. " We all ready fought about it, and Tony and Bruce actually got your schedule cleared for the day because Bruce wanted to run some of your blood to look for anomalies or whatever."
There's a beat of silence before Caroline scoffs. "You're crazy."
"I just want to see if it actually hurts," his lips twitch in amusement. "Or if it's as pleasurable as all these modern authors write in their romance novels."
"Ew." Her nose wrinkles at his words, Clint finally laughing out loud and completely at ease. Caroline can hear the elevator doors slide open on the floor, her hearing zoning in on the footfalls and heartbeat of the person before she figures out who it is. "What do you want, Tony?" she calls out before he even comes into view.
His easy going grin greets them, his gaze landing on Clint first. "Oh, good. You found her." Then turning to Caroline, he gestures her over to the doorway. "Come. Bruce is waiting for you."
"You guys are crazy," she chuckles at them. "I understand Bruce wanting me to come up to the labs but Clint? I have work to do and it's not nice to ask a hungry vampire to bite you!"
"I was gonna let you have a sip."
She glares at him all in good fun and Tony makes his way to her. "Yeah and plus, someone made a generous blood donation to a mug upstairs that has your name written on it. We planned ahead so come on. Get up and get your ass in the elevator."
"I'm pretty sure, that as my boss, you can't talk about my butt."
"And I'm pretty sure normal employees don't punch their boss for fun." Tony fires back. "Now up. I've cleared you for the day with Pepper. Let's go!"
"Urgh! You guys are so annoying."
Clint and Tony can only smirk at each other as Caroline clutches her chips in one hand and her can of Cola in the other, feet stomping out of the room and down the hall towards the elevator.
xXx. XxX. xXx
Caroline sits atop a metal table, legs dangling and ankles crossed. Since she's in a sleeveless dress, Bruce has easy access to the crook of her arm where he plans to take blood from her. And after a serious discussion mentioning that Bruce is the only one to experiment with her blood and that no-one else can, everyone agrees to let Caroline call the shots on that.
Everyone agrees that it's best all experiments be manned by Bruce, and Bruce starts to eagerly prep needles and vials to hold the blood.
"So vampires burning in the sun holds some truth to it, you know, without the daylight spelled jewelry," Clint gestures to Caroline's ring. "But what about werewolves? Are they powerful all the time or only on the full moon?"
"Full moon," Caroline answers. She hadn't expected Clint to take to her so quickly but she's not going to question it. It's nice to have more friends than enemies. "They're all bark and no bite up until the night of the full moon. I mean, I should know considered I dated one and all."
"You dated a werewolf?" Tony snorts. "Of course, you did."
"Yeah, well, he's sort of human now," she shrugs. "He started off human until he accidentally activated the werewolf gene. Then Klaus turned him into a hybrid, he was possessed by a gypsy who eventually took over his body and killed his soul, and then he was brought back to life as a human again. Only now, he has to be careful to not activate the wolf gene again unless he wants to go through painful transformations every full moon so he's been travelling around trying to stay all zen-like."
"Supernatural, man," Clint shakes his head. "I gotta say; I'm pretty glad to be human."
"You and me both," Tony agrees.
"Not gonna lie," Caroline fondly grins. "I miss it sometimes."
The group falls silent at her admission, Natasha being the first one to break it after assessing everything she could about the blonde vampire. The redhead wouldn't admit that she was curious about all things supernatural so she naturally stuck to being the furthest away from the group. "Holy water and churches; fact or myth?"
"Myth," Caroline's lips twitch as she turns to face the redhead. "I've been to a lot of funerals as a vampire. We don't burn if we step foot inside a church or when holy water is splashed on us."
She nods in contentment, crossing her arms across her chest and leaning against the wall as Clint snaps his fingers as if he's got a good question. "Stake to the heart?"
"A bit of fact and myth, actually." Caroline's brow furrows as she thinks about it, Bruce then pausing Clint's Q&A for a moment, telling the blonde vampire that he's about to start with the extraction of blood. Caroline nods with a smile, holding her arm out for Bruce to tap a vein and turns her attention back to Clint. "For regular vampires, fire and decapitation will work or just damage the heart and you're good," she tells him. "Hybrids, you might wanna decapitate them in order for them to stay down, and the Originals.. they're basically immortal."
"But they can die," Natasha's quick to blurt, leaning forward from her wall, gaze ping-ponging from the vials of blood Bruce is filling to Caroline's face. "You said that before."
"I know I did," she agrees. "But there's only one thing in existence that can kill an Original. A stake fashioned out of white oak- a type of tree that the Original family destroyed long ago before they realized some of it stayed- that they are now in possession of. Anything else, they'll just bounce right back from."
"Okay," Bruce mumbles. "That should be about it," he says, pulling out a band-aid for Caroline's arm but the second he sees the small wound heal, he chuckles and pockets the bandage."Thank you for your contribution to science, Miss Forbes."
He helps her hop off the table, Caroline grinning all the while. "No problem, Doc. Now where's my mug of blood I was promised, Stark," she asks as she turns towards Tony. "I've been a good test subject."
Tony rolls his eyes but retrieves said mug, nose crinkling at the red liquid sloshing around inside. "Here you go. Knock yourself out. I never thought that seeing my own blood would make me so queasy."
Caroline's practically bouncing on the balls of her feet, cupping the mug in her hands as she brings the rim up to her mouth and sips. The black veins beneath her eyes pulse in pleasure but no-one startles at it. In fact, it only makes them more curious.
"Do those feel weird at all?" Clint asks.
When she opens her eyes, Caroline finds Clint inching closer. "Does what feel weird?"
"The veins," he gestures to his own face where the veins would have been had he been a vampire, and Caroline shakes her head.
"I don't really feel them."
"Can I?" he then asks.
When she cracks open her eyes again, Caroline pulls the mug away from her face and tilts her head in confusion at Clint. "You want to feel my face?"
"Well, yeah. Are your fangs out, too? Are they as sharp as I think they are? Can I feel those as well?"
Caroline can only blink owlishly as Tony snorts at Clint's curiosity, Bruce stares at the agent as if he just grew a second head, and Natasha shakes her head rather fondly behind her partner's back.
"You can feel the veins," Caroline finally answers him. "But you're not sticking your fingers in my mouth."
"Well then bite me," he sighs and Caroline can see Natasha tense in her peripheral vision. "I told you to bite me earlier but you wouldn't."
"I gave you my reasons why," she defends herself as Clint's fingers near her face, fingers brushing over the tiny raised veins beneath her eyes.
"Huh. That's weird," he mumbles before peering over his shoulder at his partner. "Nat, tell Caroline you won't shoot her if she bites me. I just want to see how much it hurts or doesn't."
Natasha glares at Clint for a few seconds, her gaze finally meeting Caroline's before she clenches her jaw and shrugs as if the decision wasn't up to her. Caroline mentally groans, downing the rest of the blood in the mug before setting it down and squaring her shoulders.
"Fine. If we're doing this, we're doing this my way," she tells him and can't help but chuckle at the obvious glee he's emanating. "I'm not biting the neck or wrist. Instead, I'll bite the inner forearm."
"S'fine," he grins. "I just want to feel whether it's painful or-"
"Yeah, yeah, I know," she cuts him off with a wrinkle of her nose. "Let's just get this over with."
Clint eagerly showcases his inner forearm for her, fist clenching and unclenching in anticipation. Everyone else gathers around, Natasha even moving closer from her position to get a better look.
Cradling Clint's arm in her hands, Caroline sighs before bringing it closer to her mouth and everyone watches as the veins pulse darker beneath her eyes. "Don't say I didn't warn you." Her fangs are barely visible from between her lips but the second she opens her mouth wide to latch onto Clint's arm, they get a full view of fangs and Clint's grimacing as said fangs pierce his flesh.
"Okay, that's so not sexy," he grumbles and Caroline pulls her fangs free.
Licking at her lips as she straightens up, she chuckles and wills away the monster's visage as Bruce steps in to clean Clint's arm. "Now you know."
"Now I know," he agrees and Natasha finally snorting at the situation they've found themselves in before leaving the room.
Caroline knew this was bound to happen but she honestly hadn't expected it to now.
One day, Caroline and her mom had been happy and content to sit in their apartment to talk about Caroline's work and whatever Liz had watched on TV that day, to Caroline getting up for work and Liz just waving Caroline off that she'd be up later.
Caroline had thought nothing of it, throwing away her mom's breakfast and making lunch when the time had come. Again, Liz waved her off claiming to be too tired for some reason and she'd get up later when she got hungry. Even though Caroline was a bit puzzled over her mom not getting out of bed, she let it slide and went to work as usual.
All throughout work, Caroline's mind kept traveling back to her mom. She texted her more than usual and received the usual replies. But when she got home, everything was not as fine as Liz had led her daughter to believe. Liz's lunch is still untouched in the kitchen and as Caroline nears her mother's room, the very obvious stench of urine penetrates her senses. Caroline enters the room with a heavy heart, her mother instantly erupting in tears and apologies as Caroline finds her lying in soiled sheets.
Caroline had fought back tears, told her mother it was fine but then started firing off question after question of why she just didn't call her. As she helped her mother up, Caroline found that Liz could barely hold her own weight up so she practically carried her mother into the bathroom and stripped her of her clothing before lowering her into the tub.
As Caroline found the perfect temperature for her mom, Liz went on to explain that she didn't call because she didn't want her to worry. Liz was happy to finally see her daughter living as normal as a life here and she didn't want her to stop all of that just to take care of her sick mother.
But Caroline argued back as she helped her mother clean herself, arguing about how it was her job to take care of her now. Liz didn't think so and Caroline had to leave the bathroom to cool off and strip her mother's bed clean before she said something she would regret later.
Later in the night after Caroline had ordered them some dinner, she tried talking her mother into hiring a caretaker since Liz didn't want Caroline to drop her work. But again, Liz argued that it wasn't necessary. They argued some more and eventually, Caroline carried Liz to sleep in her room since Caroline had to clean the mattress in Liz's room.
The following day, Caroline had called into work and explained to Pepper what was going on. Caroline ended up in tears, she confessing that she doesn't know what she's going to do but Pepper assures her that she'll have it handled. She doesn't know what Pepper had meant until the following afternoon when Caroline was getting ready to cook her mother some lunch.
A knock sounds on their apartment door, Caroline sighing at having to greet a guest. So plastering on a fake smile, said smile falters when Caroline opens the door only to find agent Romanoff standing in the hallway.
"What are you doing here?"
"I just thought I'd drop in and visit your mom," Natasha answers with a shrug. "She's an ex-Sheriff of a vampire invested town and I'm sure she has plenty of stories that I can pick her brain of." Caroline frowns in confusion and Natasha practically rolls her eyes. "Stories that can possibly take all day long to be told. Possibly as long as your work day."
Caroline's slow on the uptake but when she figures it out, her eyes widen in surprise. "Oh."
"Yeah, oh. At least this way, someone will be with her when you're at work."
"But- but why?" Caroline murmurs. "You don't exactly like me."
"It's not that I don't like you, it's just- it's hard to be around someone who has the ability to control your mind."
"But I'm getting you lot vervain so that won't happen."
"And when we get it, I'll be less hostile." Caroline sighs and Natasha's shoulders slump just the slightest. "It's not you, Caroline, it's just what you're capable of."
And she gets that- she does- but it still stings to hear it. But since that is the least of her worries right now, Caroline shakes her head clear and remembers the reason Natasha is standing in her hallway. "Right, well, thank you. Come on in."
Caroline leads Natasha to where her Mom is currently at; the living room being the place that Caroline set her up in since that's where the TV is at. She tells her mom that Natasha is interested in the shenanigans that she got up to in Mystic Falls as a vampire council member, and that while she fills Natasha in on all the good times, she'll just run real quick to Stark Industries to check up on her current work load and see what she can bring on home.
Liz sees right through what her daughter and Natasha are doing but she chooses not to call them out on it. Instead, she gathers up what strength she has and tells the redhead stories of her time as the Sheriff of Mystic Falls.
Since Liz had refused a caretaker, Caroline suddenly finds herself with caretakers nonetheless in the form of Natasha, Clint, and Steve.
It's only been a few days but Liz doesn't argue when either agents Romanoff and Barton swing in for a visit of story time. Even Steve cashes in on story time, asking as many questions as he can about vampires and hearing how brave Liz was to go up against them even though she was human.
And then one day at work, Caroline finds Clint tailing her because Natasha and Steve are with Liz, he swaggering into her office as if he owned it. "What's with the whiteboard?" he asks right off the bat, plopping himself down on the couch in there.
Caroline turns to face said board where she's keeping score between Tony and Steve, and grins. "Steve and Tony have this little ongoing competition where they break into my office and leave doodles on the board. Which ever one I like best gets a point."
"Which explains why Steve has the most points," he chuckles. "I've seen the way the man draws. He's good."
"Yep," Caroline agrees, her attention quickly going back to that of her laptop. "So what brings you here, agent Barton?"
"Boredom. How's your mom?"
"As good as can be expected," her fingers pause their typing, hovering above the keyboard. "She started to make arrangements for her own funeral."
Clint freezes at that, his gaze slowly sliding to Caroline's in shock. "She's that bad?"
"The doctors expected her to die nearly two years ago. We're lucky she's lasted this long."
"You seem to be taking it well."
"It's because I have work to distract me."
Clint watches as Caroline gulps, her eyes darting all over the place before she takes a deep breath and slowly lets it out. She doesn't pay him any mind and instead chooses to type away on her laptop. But the more he stares, the more he can see the tension in her frame and the way it looks as if she's not really paying all that much attention to what's on the screen before her.
Before he can do or say anything else, Tony strolls in and tosses a blue book atop her desk and next to her laptop. "You! You are not allowed to introduce Pepper to anything anymore."
Again, Caroline pauses in her work only this time, her lips slowly form an amused grin. "And why is that," she says as she rights the book.
"You know damn well why! This is the third time I've walked in on Pepper crying her eyes out over some Augustus kid."
Caroline lowly giggles and leans back in her chair, the complete opposite of what Clint had just seen. And wanting to know what the big deal is, he stands up only to lean over and retrieve the book. "What's so great about this that had Pepper in tears?"
"It's not good; it's evil," Tony hisses before marching out the same way he had come in. "No more, Forbes! I mean it."
Caroline snorts at his retreat, cocking an eyebrow as Clint reads what the book is about. "When my Mom started getting sicker, I went to a bookstore to purchase books about cancer so I could read up on what to expect. The saleswoman- teenager, really- suggested this," she gestures to the book in Clint's hands. "-and said it was worth a pleasurable read. So silly me, I buy it and end up a sobbing mess the day I finished reading it. I obviously had to get someone else in on the greatness that is Hazel Grace and Augustus Waters so I let Pepper borrow it."
"Huh."
Caroline has to bite the inside of her cheek as Clint continues to read, this time moving from the back cover of the book to the first page of the novel. When Caroline clears her throat, his grip tightens on the book before he subtly grasps it in one hand and tries his best to stealthily hide it behind his leg.
"Yeah, well, I should be going," he tells her, coughing to hide the fact he was sneaking her book out. "I have.. arrows to shoot. Or something."
"Mhm. You go and do that," she smiles sweetly in return.
Clint nods along in agreement, rubbing the back of his neck nervously with his free hand, and turns rather quickly all the while he thinks he discreetly hid the book from Caroline's view.
No-one's sure why Pepper, Caroline, and Clint are suddenly missing but Natasha, Tony, Steve, and Bruce (Tony had to bring his fellow science bro into the hunt) suddenly find themselves crammed into the elevator and are on their way up to Tony's loft.
It started with Steve looking for Caroline, he checking every floor that he thought she'd be only to turn up empty handed. So Steve went to Tony asking if he had sent Caroline out on an errand but Tony only shrugged and directed him to Pepper. But Pepper, too, was missing so Steve went back to Tony whose interest was now piqued that both his favorite ladies were missing.
The two men dragged Bruce along for the goose chase as they ran into Natasha on the communal floor, they asking if she'd seen either women but Natasha hadn't and then mentioned that she hadn't seen Clint for a few hours either.
So with three people now missing, the four-some went on a hunt of the normal floors of Stark Tower that they knew their friends could be. Only when they came up with nothing and Tony was bordering on having a full blown anxiety attack, Steve called for JARVIS and asked if their missing friends were still in Tower which is how the four-some found themselves heading up to the loft.
The whole ride up there, Tony made fun of themselves for not having turned to JARVIS in the first place, and when they get off on the floor of Tony and Pepper's loft, they all fall silent at the scene before them.
The lighting in the room is dim as the flat screen mounted on the wall plays what appears to be one of the saddest sounding movies ever. Pepper and Caroline are sobbing as they lean on each other for support, and Clint's off to the side clutching a pillow to his chest while trying to discreetly wipe at his suspiciously glossy eyes.
No-one makes a sound and as one, they retreat back into the elevator.
It's only when they're a few floors down that Tony finally loses it and starts laughing. Bruce and Steve are no better, although the two of them are at least trying to stifle their amusement.
"JARVIS," Natasha's lips twitch in amusement, the scene still fresh on her mind. "What were they watching?"
"I believe the film was titled The Fault in Our Stars, agent Romanoff."
And just like that, Tony's laughter ceases. "Seriously?! It's a movie, too!"
"Agent Barton purchased the film early this morning and then rounded up the ladies for a viewing party."
"Thanks, JARVIS. And can you do me a huge favor, and send the video of agent Barton viewing the movie to my phone, please?"
"Of course, agent Romanoff."
Natasha smirks rather deviously, and Steve and Bruce can't hold in their laughter in anymore.
Clint was never going to live this down.
