The Animal Within

by xPoppyx

The Earth is populated by thousands of species of animals, all ranging from docile to deadly, and Agent Little of SHIELD has a special talent involving these creatures that lands her a spot amonst the world's mightiest heroes. She maintains her favorite animals, like all do; the majestic tiger, the poisonous mamba, and even...perhaps...the keen-eyed hawk.

20. Jealous Hearts

A/N Halloooooo! Banner isn't the only one who turns green! Also, I do hope you don't mind my somewhat constant time-skips. You see, much of what happens during the unwritten time is just daily life, you know?

_~* 90th Reviewer gets a shout-out and will get a sneak-peek at whatever chapter I'm working on when that review comes in! This means they'll get to read a juicy bit before the rest of you lot! *~_

Chapter Twenty: Jealous Hearts

Little opened her eyes blearily and blinked at the curtains draped over the windows. By the amount of light spilling into the room below and above the drapes she could tell it was early to mid morning. There was a very dull pain in her left knee since she refused to wear her braces at night. Ignoring the slight annoyance, she turned to bury her face back into her comfortably squishy pillow. As she willed herself to sleep the thought back over the last week since they had all moved in. What a week! For the first few days everyone was bumping elbows and stepping on toes while trying to adjust to the living patterns of six people all at once. Pepper had arrived and that was a bright light in Little's mind. She was a nice woman who had a smile for everyone and still managed not to be driven insane by her narcissistic boyfriend. Pepper was a good soul. Little even learned that she was the mastermind behind Ember's presence. Stark denied this, naturally, but the proof was evident when Ember showed an open approval for the redhead while she would often hiss at the swarthier man. A smile came to the woman's face as she tilted her head down to spot Ember sleeping, curled up like a cotton ball, beside her knees. She would have continued to smile until a strange sight caught her eye. A hand was poking out from beneath the bedspread. Her brows came together as she brought her hands to her face. One had been beneath the pillow and the other had been draped over the edge of the bed. If those were hers…than whom did that hand belong to? Turning her head she saw another mystery hand (this one connected to an arm!) was poking out from beneath her neck! Carefully, she turned her head to see who the intruder was.

She would've laughed at herself had she not feared it would wake the person beside her.

Little snuggled back into the bed and started to play with the fingers on the hand beneath her neck. She thought back to the previous night, feeling silly for not remembering at first. She had retired to her room early to watch a movie before falling asleep. The opening credits had just begun to roll when a knock sounded at the door. Having already gotten comfortable she told whomever it was to enter at will. Barton walked in, claiming he wanted to talk to her about something or other. They never did get around to it. He noticed she was watching The Sandlot—a timeless classic—and asked if he could join her. After ditching his shoes he was allowed to crawl in beside her. Little remembered feeling really nervous for some reason, but it didn't last long mostly because she fell asleep shortly after he climbed in beside her.

She smiled to herself as she continued to play with his hand. Her nails trailed along the length of each finger. She made circles on his palm and drew lings along his wrist. A tiny giggle would escape her lips as his fingers or hand would twitch with different kinds of stimuli. She found that slightly prodding or scratching the center of his palm made his hand start to close.

A squeak of surprise left her as the hand suddenly grasped her and the arm draped over her waist tightened, pulling her closer to the body behind her.

"Stop it."

Little smirked. His voice was quiet and husky early in the morning. She liked it. "Why?"

"Because I'm trying to sleep an' you're makin' it hard…"

She closed her eyes and smiled as he buried his face into the side of her neck. Bending her head slightly she pressed a light kiss to the fingers wrapped around her hand. As much as she didn't want to actually admit it, she had to. This was the first time in her life that she had ever woken up in the same bed as a man. Hell, last night was the first night she'd ever even shared a bed with a man. When she and her ex-boyfriend Andrew decided to make the attempt it was in the bed of his truck and just that one time. The only other guy she'd ever been with was this human, Carson, she was seeing back when she lived at the mansion. Gosh, that had been an absolute fiasco. Their coupling had occurred in the kitchen of his apartment. He hadn't known she was a mutant until after that when she thought it would be alright to tell him. Turned out he was one of those anti-mutant protester types. Yeah, that didn't end well…Little forced herself to stop thinking about them and think about the man who was currently holding her in his arms. She would worry about such things at a later date…or perhaps just later in the day. Closing her eyes smiled happily and snuggled down.

"Mew!"

Twin groans sounded from the couple in bed as Ember stretched while waking. The kitten began to pounce and bounce over the bed, willing them to wake up and play with her. She got in her mama's face and licked Little's nose.

The woman frowned. "Go away, Ember, we're trying to sleep."

Defiant meow.

"Don't take that tone with me, young lady! I will have you kno—Ow!"

Ember had taken matters into her own paws and chomped down on her mama's nose.

Little shot upright and flicked the kitten lightly on the forehead. "No! No biting! That hurt Mama!"

Barton sat up beside her and watched as the woman and kitten seemed to argue over what time was the proper time to wake up and get going for the day. He smirked and reached around to pick up the kitten. Holding her close to his face he gave her a very stern look. "Ember."

She pawed his face.

He turned to Little. "Translate, would yah?" Turning back to the kitten, he began. "You listen to your mama, you here, and the only person who gets to bite her is me!"

Little turned a bright red as she informed her kitten what Barton was talking about. Though she spoke English just as he did, there was one different thing. Little had the power for animals to understand her spoken word and to understand their barks, meows, growls, trumpets, what have you. It was the one thing about her gift she just couldn't quite explain. The only way she could explain was to say that her ears heard the animals' noises but in her head it was like humans were talking to her. Ember had a sweet, high little girl's voice in her head. After translating, she gave Barton a smack on the arm before crawling out of bed. "That was not something you needed to tell Ember! She is just a baby after all!"

He laughed. "Do you deny the truth?" Tossing the blankets off, he got up, stood behind her, and wrapped his arms around her midsection. The past week had been a heaven send for him. He was right down the hall from her and there were absolutely no restrictions on what they could and could not do. The only thing that they had to do was remain polite and acknowledge the fact that others lived in the same area as they did. That wasn't hard at all. In the past week he had learned more about her than he ever thought one could in so short a time. He now knew her favorite color was the same shade of red as the furniture in her room. Being cheesy wasn't something she enjoyed, but being cliché and romantic was something she craved. Just by trial and error he found that the one spot that when either tickled or kissed that would make her knees tremble and her heart race was exactly halfway between the side and back of her neck where neck met back and shoulder.

Little squirmed slightly in his arms and stepped away from him with a small limp. Going over to her dresser she grabbed a pair of yoga pants and a tank top. One of the first things she had done after moving in was buy more clothes. She had never needed a wide variety, but now she did. Oh, how her bank account cried. "No, I don't deny it. I'd just rather you watch your language and sexual references around my little girl." After changing—again showing no signs of modesty—she strode over to a chair she had requested be put in her room and plopped down. Her two braces were leaning up against the wall beside the chair, just waiting for her to put them to use. She continued to scold him as she put on the braces. "You see, Clint, I only hope that Ember will grow up into a fine, sophisticated young feline despite sharing the same address as Tony Stark."

He held up his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright. I get it. So, in an attempt to change the subject and get you away from sounding like an overbearing mother, what are your plans for today?"

She laughed at him while strapping on her right brace. It was by far the most annoying thing she'd ever worn. There were two bars and straps that wrapped around her thigh, hinges at the knee, then into a fitted and movement-restricting boot. Once she no longer felt the need for her crutches she would be able to walk easily, if not ungainly, with the brace. "I'm gunna go get a bite to eat, spend some time down in the lab with Bruce, explore the Tower a bit more, pester you for a bit, and perhaps just relax and watch movies. I still can't do much, which is a bitch, by the way."

Had she not been concentrating on getting the straps of her brace to be the perfect tightness she wouldn't seen the quick glare that crossed Barton's face when she mentioned spending time in the lab. He didn't understand it! Sure, when she was bound to the wheelchair it was a way to pass time, but now she can get up and get going. Hell, if she wanted she could take to the streets of New York City and make a day of it…but no. No, she preferred to spend most of her days in the lab chattering away with Banner. She didn't even belong in a lab! They both knew she was no scientist, so why bother? It's not like she really understood half of what the man was doing. It all irked him to absolutely no end.

"Damn, I left my arm brace in the bathroom. Could you get it for me?"

He didn't say anything. All he did was walk over to the bathroom while giving a noncommittal "Hmm." He handed the brace to her and watched as she latched it on. Her wrist was encased in a brace similar to the one she had worn on her left hand, but it was extended. A bar and strap wrapped around her arm just below her elbow and two similar rings wrapped around her upper arm. "It's no wonder you refuse to sleep in those. They must be as uncomfortable as hell."

She snorted. "And a pain in the ass to boot. I slept in my leg braces once and they got stuck together." Standing, she reached for her crutches. As she set the top padded bars into the crooks of her underarms she vowed that within the next week or two she would rid herself of their menacing forms by throwing them off the balcony of Stark's penthouse. As she hobbled and he walked out of the room they continued to talk about the day ahead of them. Both of them noticed but neither commented when Ember leapt down from the bed to follow closely at her mama's heels. "Since you asked me, I'll ask you: What are you doing today, Clint?"

He shrugged. "Didn't have any plans, really. Train for a while, hang out, would you be interested in getting lunch?"

They went into Barton's room so that he could change seeing as how he had slept in the clothes from the previous day.

Little smiled. "I'd like there. Here at the Tower or actually out in the city?" She spoke the last words while looking out his window and to the city bustling about far below. She could still hear and see repairs being made, but the place was coming along quite nicely.

"I was thinking out. Just go out and do something, you know?"

She had sat down on the edge of the bed and was playing with Ember when his words stopped her. "Like…a date?"

He pulled his shirt off and nodded. "Yeah, I suppose."

Little raised a brow and watched him finished getting dressed. "Sounds great." Her voice trailed off slightly on the last word as she watched his back as he moved and reached about the room. It wasn't long before she found herself off in LaLa Land and they were just about to—

"Kaleigh?"

She blinked, snapping out of the trance. "Hmm?"

"I asked where you'd like to eat."

She just shrugged and got back on her crutches. "Oh, anywhere with edible food. Well, I'm gunna go find food than see if Banner is in his lab yet." She gave him a quick kiss before making her way to the door.

Barton called after her. "Noon?"

She was already in the hall, but he heard her call out the affirmative response of, "Noon!"

Little rode the elevator down a level to the large living space. Hobbling out of the elevator she made her way to the kitchen. Ember followed closely, but looked about with renewed curiosity. The kitten had been on this floor many times, but each visit there was a new sniff to sniff and a new thing to look at. It wasn't until Little told her she could play while she got her breakfast that the ball of fur started to use the room as her personal jungle gym and go on many glorious adventures all while Mama ate her breakfast.

Banner was in the kitchen, leaning against the counter and sipping tea while reading the newspaper. A plate of toast sat beside him. He gave her a weak smile. "Mornin'."

She smiled as she dug around the cabinets for her box of poptarts. "Mornin', Bruce. Sleep well?" Her little cry of success was laughable as she removed herself from the depths of the cupboard with a silvery package in hand.

"Well enough." He took a sip of his tea. "Want a cup?"

She wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Not much of a tea drinker, sorry. I'll stick with my usual morning poptart and a glass of milk." After getting the glass and pouring herself a tall drink of the white elixir, she gave him a smile. "So whatcha workin' on today?"

He took a bite of toast before answering. "Stark wants me to look over his plans for the newest Ironman suit and see if he's missed anything or messed something up." He set the paper aside and watched her a moment as she sipped her milk. There was something going on behind her eyes and he just knew it. "You alright?"

Looking up she gave a little shrug. "I'm fine. Can I talk to you about something?"

A deer caught in headlights didn't look as wide-eyed and nervous as Banner did just then. "Uh…Yeah…Sure…"

She smiled. "Great, why don't we get to the lab where I won't have to worry about eavesdroppers."

"Right."

After they finished their rather meager breakfast the two headed over to the elevator. Before stepping in, Little called to Ember. Banner meant to ask her how the kitten was adjusting and how the whole talking-to-animals deal went, but decided to wait until later. She was the one that needed to talk, right?

They stopped off on the seventh level of R&D, also known as Banner's Floor, and made their way into the lab. Banner held the doors for Little and waited until she was settled in her usual spinny chair before prodding her for the topic of conversation. "Alright, what do you need to talk about?"

Little looked thoughtful for a moment as she contemplated on just how to word this without being too forward. At the same time she noticed how when it was just them, just Little and Banner, he didn't seem to stutter as much as when they were in a group. That made her smile. She liked knowing he was relaxed around her. Back to the matter at hand, though. She couldn't think of any possible way of saying it while still being gentle and easing into the topic. She settled with laying it all out on the table. "Alright, stop me if this gets to personal." She took a breath. "I have this sinking feeling that should my relationship with Clint become physical in the bedroom I'll be less than adequate and honestly just embarrass myself."

Banner's eyes were quite similar to the saucer his tea had been sitting on in the kitchen. "Woah, back up, what?"

She sighed. "I'm afraid I won't be good in the sack, to put it bluntly."

He nodded. "Very blunt. Well…ah…Why do you think this?" Yes, because the conversation couldn't get any more awkward. Banner mentally squared his shoulders and decided to tough it out. If she could come to him with a topic so extremely personal that must count for something, right?"

Another sigh. "I've only ever been with two guys and only once a piece. I mean, you've probably had more sex than I have! No offense…"

He shrugged. "None taken, and you're right. Now, what makes you think this makes you inadequate?"

Little was chewing on her lips as Ember sat curled in her lap. She was stroking the kitten thoughtfully. "Well, both times happened a pretty long time ago. I was twenty-one the last time. It's been eight years, Bruce. Eight years. I honestly don't know about Barton, but I know it's been less that eight years for him which makes me worry. For God's sake, I'm twenty-nine and I'm about as inexperienced as a girl ten years younger than me!"

Banner nodded thoughtfully as he tried to figure out what to say. He tapped the tip of his pen to his lips as he looked her over. She was the picture of uneasiness, meaning her fears were real. He set the pen down. "Well, the most I can say is that you'll never know until it comes to that. Also, as your personal physician here at the Tower, I say you can't do anything strenuous until you are one-hundred percent healed. Understood?" That should give her time to rid herself of these worries.

She mulled over his words and smiled. "Yeah, you're right." The happy smile on her face was payment enough. "Thanks, Bruce. I'm sorry if that was bit, well…much."

He shook his head. "Hey, I'm just the wall for you to bounce things off of, right?"

Her laugh bubbled happily through the quite lab. "Right."

The rest of the morning was spent chattering about this, that, and the other while Banner worked over Tony's schematics and some of his own personal work. Half of the time Banner became distracted by the flying ball of puff that was Ember as she tempted him into playing with her. Little would laugh and try her best to calm the kitten, but little Ember simply adored her Uncle Bruce.

Currently, the kitten was draped over the man's shoulder while he tapped on a screen and made some notes on paper. She couldn't help but marveling at all the pretty colors on the screen and how humans managed to make the sounds they spoke into symbols on paper. Each time he would bring his hand up to fix his glasses she would bat at it playfully, urging him to play instead of work. Playing was so much more fun! She began playing with his ear, knocking his glasses off in the process, and making him say something sharply to Mama.

Uh, oh…Mama wasn't pleased.

"Ember, get over here."

The kitten sheepishly jumped down from Bruce's shoulder and made her way to her Mama's lap where she tried her best to look cute and cuddly, knowing that was Mama's weakness.

Instead, she got a stern talk. "Now, Missy, I let you come with me because you're not supposed to get in the way and be a bother. You need to give Bruce more space to work. Understood? If he wanted to play he would ask you to play."

Bruce said something softly.

Ember looked at her paws and mewed the cat way of saying, "Yes, Mama." She mused as to why she could understand Mama's human speech, but not Clint's or Bruce's. It was odd, really.

From that point on she tried to behave herself, she really did, but temptation was pressing at her, poking her sides and pulling her tail. She did her very best to ignore it and sit nicely in Mama's lap, only giving in to play with stray strands from the woman's clothes.

Noon rolled around and those in the lab had lost track of time completely. They were far too busy chatting, working, and occasionally stopping to play with Ember. It was during one of these bouts of play that the elevator door slid open just outside the entrance to the lab. Barton stepped out in the hopes of finding Little. They had agreed on noon and he thought she might meet him in the tops levels of the building. When she didn't, however, he went to find her. It was no surprise that the first place he looked would be the last. He was about to put his hand on the pad to enter when he noticed how happy she looked. Little was sprawled on the floor, playing with little Ember, while a rather amused looking Doctor Banner watched on. He frowned deeply at the sight. Had she even remembered they were to have a date of sorts? Somehow, he doubted it. Instead of walking in and announcing his presence so that they might leave, Barton turned on his heel and went right back into the elevator.

"Jarvis?"

"Yes, Agent Barton?"

"How long has Little been in the lab?"

"Since earlier this morning, Sir, after getting her breakfast."

That rubbed him wrong. "Let me know when she decides to leave, will yah?"

"Of course. Should I inform Agent Little that you are in a mood?"

He could've punched the AI had it been more than a voice. "No. Thank you, Jarvis."

"Of course, Sir."

Pressing the button for the Suite Floor, he impatiently waited until the elevator came to a stop. Once there he wasted no time in going to his room to retrieve is bow and quiver. He needed to blow off some steam and there was one place he knew would do the trick. When he got back in the elevator he pressed the proper button. The Tower really did seem to have everything, especially after the attack and Stark's remodeling.

Barton breathed a little easier once in the range. It was always the one place he could relaxed despite how many other people might be working on their aiming skills. He was lucky, though, as the place seemed rather empty. There were some gunshots from a booth further down the line, but that didn't matter. He stepped into his usual booth and set up the life-sized human decoy target. Yeah, this would do the trick! He began to loose arrow after arrow, giving little time between each one. It was a good test of his quick-fire aiming.

"You seem pissed."

Barton loosed an arrow that buried itself where a man's family jewels usually sat. "Don't know what you're talkin' about, Tasha."

"Don't bullshit me, Clint. I know you. What's up?"

With a thwang! the arrow flew through the air and got the target between the eyes. "Nothin'."

The redhead, who was leaning casually against the wall, raised a brow. "Don't make me ask again."

For half a second Barton mused that should any man ever be able to tame the Black Widow for good and ever she would make a very intimidating wife and mother. Pushing the thought away, he set his bow aside. "I don't like Kaleigh spending so much time with Banner."

"Do you question her loyalty?"

"No…Maybe…No, definitely no." He walked the lane to retrieve his arrows. "I just don't see the point in it all."

Romanoff's brows came together. "Barton, who's your closest friend?"

He turned a confused eye on her, but shrugged. "You."

"Do you see Little getting jealous over you having a close friend who's of the opposite sex? Hmm?"

"I'm not jealous! I'm—"

"Full of shit. Now, stop being all pissy and get over it." With that she tossed her bag over her shoulder and walked away.

Barton watched her got before firing off another arrow. She had a point; he was being unfair about this. Thwang! But then again he and Romanoff had been friends long before they were ever an item. Thwang! And by that logic it was understandable that Little wouldn't be jealous, whereas he could be jealous since the friendship between Little and Banner formed around the same time as their own relationship. Thwang! This meant that he was actually being perfectly rational. Thwang! So, Barton decided that should it ever get to the point of just being ridiculous he would bring it up to Little and they would deal with it. Thwang! Logical enough, right? Thwang!

He stopped firing and looked at the target for the first time with actually focused eyes. Was it a bad sign that his arrows had all found their marks in the dummy's head? He decided he'd ignore that for now and instead he gathered his things. Barton made up his mind. He would put his weapon up and return to the lab. There he would pull Little away from her friend, as horrid as that might sound, so that they could fulfill their plans for lunch.

A/N A very jealous Barton, indeed! I hope you all liked this chapter!

_~* 90th Reviewer gets a shout-out and will get a sneak-peek at whatever chapter I'm working on when that review comes in! This means they'll get to read a juicy bit before the rest of you lot! *~_

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