This is a really funny one and I think it's adorable. It's kind of more of a fluffy chapter, and it's a little early, but finals week is this week and I'm procrastinating, so here it is. Hope you enjoy.
She wasn't sure why no one ever checked for them in the rafters. It was the third time they'd been put into the laser tag maze and they still hadn't figured out how Ward and Katya always won, even against Bobbi Morse and a recovering Sharon Carter, who absolutely loved to play and could kick almost anyone's asses.
Ward was on the other side of the maze of walls, hidden in the shadows of a corner, while Katya was running on top of the walls, silently stalking Bobbi, who was hunting her ex-husband, a man Katya had yet to meet. He was actually pretty good, though he was a lot more sarcastic than Katya was used to. Something about him made Katya stay away though, and it wasn't because Bobbi obviously still had feelings for the man.
In fact, Katya didn't know Bobbi that well. She knew her name and her code name, Mockingbird, but she hadn't really had a chance to talk to the woman and get a read on her. She knew she was a high level SHIELD agent in her time, but now she was on Coulson's team, saving lives and kicking ass. She'd just gotten back from a mission three days before and had gone straight into training again, which Katya thought was totally unfair. They'd kept her from training and she'd been hurt less than Bobbi, who still had a multicolored bruise decorating her face.
Motioning to Ward, she let him know where Sharon was, to his right two clicks. He took aim and shot her before moving stealthily away, a grin flashing on his lips as he disappeared from her view and she cried out in shock at the shot.
"Where the hell are they?!" Bobbi complained, drawing a silent laugh from Katya. They'd been pissing the woman off since she'd shown up with their seamless teamwork and silent advances. It was hilarious that she got so frustrated that she couldn't find them, but Katya kept quiet, eyeing Triplet, who was stalking Bobbi as well, only on the ground. May was around somewhere, but she had noticed Ward on the wall already. She had yet to shoot either of them, but that could have been because she was waiting for them to take out the competition.
"Son of a-" Sharon cut herself off sharply, catching Katya's attention as she realized that Ward had taken another shot at Sharon, racking up their points. Katya watched as Trip took a shot at Bobbi, only to have her turn on him and shoot him back. Katya took her own aim and, as soon as Bobbi's vest came back online, took the shot, silently sliding along the wall until she could do the same to Trip, neither realizing she was taking points from under their noses.
Bobbi's ex-husband finally noticed her stalking him and shot at her, only to get shot by both Trip and Bobbi, who cursed him out fluidly. Katya took aim again, shooting all of them in quick succession when their vests would have come back online. She noticed May was in the corner, doing the same thing she was, only after her. It was a good strategy and she thought she saw May smile before she was silently jumping from one wall to the other, slipping out of the view of the people who had suddenly looked up, not noticing her as she hid in the shadows, Ward now on the ground and trying to find Skye, who was also on the ground somewhere.
Katya slid into a sitting position, gun aimed at Sharon, who was walking towards her. Her blonde hair stood out like a halo, while Katya had pulled a dark hat over her own hair to hide in the dark. The flashing lights annoyed her but didn't bother her vision as she took aim, waiting until Skye was right behind her to take the shot.
She hit Sharon first, but Skye probably thought she'd done it, letting out a sigh of air that had Sharon turning around and shooting Skye, who had Ward a few paces behind her. Luckily, the bastard ducked out of view before Skye moved, groaning in defeat.
Sharon went her own way and Skye the other, looking for a new target while Katya stayed where she was, waiting for someone else to show up that she could take advantage of.
Her eyes lit up when she noticed Clint moving through the rafters, a vest on and a weapon in his hands. She scanned the area and noticed Natasha moving along the ground silently, weapon at the ready. Eyes flicking to the score, she saw an unnamed team was gaining points steadily. They were obviously new, still below Katya and Ward, but gaining fast. So Katya grinned and jumped towards the rafters, easily swinging up into the ceiling to stalk Clint.
Her eyes adjusted to the relative darkness easily as she started moving along the reinforced beams, feet silent. Her eyes stayed on her target as she took silent aim, lining up the shot while he lined up his own. She waited, breathing steadily before letting it go, her finger pressing on the trigger as she breathed out, the light going out on Clint's vest with a beep to let him know he'd been hit. She was moving before he could catch her, his own soft cursing heard as she dropped from the rafters to the ground below, crouched perfectly to push off and start running, footsteps silent to even the most sensitive ears.
She didn't stop until she was behind Bobbi and her ex, who were still fighting with one another. She didn't stalk them silently, instead shooting them both without a second thought, letting her thoughts slide into mission mode as she started to hunt, eyes sharp. She moved past them, ignoring their annoyed groans as she rounded a corner, shooting Trip before he could react. She kept her gun up as she ran through the route she'd memorized, wondering if she'd meet up with Ward, but not really caring. She would finish the mission without him if she had to.
Her entire life was one mission after the other and she'd be damned if she let Clint and Natasha win this one, even as the points on the board kept racking up. She could see that Ward had caught on because theirs were going up too, though she wondered when he'd found a target that wasn't Skye.
Speaking of Skye…
Aim, steady, fire.
"Shit." Skye swore, spinning as Katya slid around another corner, coming face to face with Melinda May, who frowned at the sight of her. Katya just shot, already having perfect aim. She dodged to the right as May took the shot as well, both of them moving in a dance that would surprise anyone else. Instead of being shocked, Katya just took two more shots in quick succession, grimly smiling when she hit May's vest.
May looked rather shocked that she was able to shoot her, but Katya was already moving, running towards where she'd last seen Natasha.
It didn't take her long to find the woman, who had the same grim expression on her face that Katya was sure she wore. The hunting expression. Still, she wasn't afraid like she thought she'd be. She was used to being hunted and a smirk started to tip her lips as she dodged to the left as Natasha's finger twitched, shooting off a shot that missed. Katya let off her own and wasn't surprised when the Widow ducked out of the way.
Katya rolled to the side and pushed to her feet, dodging a shot from above as well. The two were teaming up on her and she didn't know where her partner was off too. Probably stalking his not-girlfriend, which was totally unhelpful. Still, Katya twisted and dodged, shooting off shots at Natasha and Clint with deadly accuracy. She hit Clint more than once, to his utter annoyance, while Natasha was doing better at dodging her advances.
Lunging toward her, she surprised the woman enough to get a shot off at her vest, which shut off, to both their surprise.
The lights came on and Katya breathed heavily, staring at Natasha in shock, who looked just as surprised, both of their chests heaving.
"Team KatWard wins." Ward had entered their name and Katya rolled her eyes at the sound of it, but accepted the congratulations Clint dropped from the rafters to reign on her, a huge, proud grin on his face, as if she'd done something extraordinary instead of something she was used to doing on a normal basis, only with real guns and less score keeping.
"You did good, malysh'ka. Not many people can beat Clint and I once we enter the game. May isn't too bad either." Natasha explained, her voice soft as she patted Katya's head almost absently. Ward came barreling around the corner, a huge grin on his face, until he found Clint and Natasha standing around Katya, already there. He had a thing about being the first to congratulate her when something good happened for them. Like they took away his thunder or something.
"You know, she's supposed to be my partner." He complained, sauntering closer. His confidence was feigned, he was a master manipulator. His walk still held the fear she'd begun to notice mere days ago. He was afraid that Natasha and Clint would take her away from him. That they would terminate the partnership. He'd gotten more and more jumpy around them when they were so close to her, as if they could yank her out of his hands at any given moment.
Theoretically, she figured it was true. They could take her if they wanted to and there was nothing either of them could do to stop them, but she really didn't think they'd pull her away from Ward, who had become something of a fixture in her temporary life. For now, Ward was her partner and Natasha and Clint were her supervisors. Almost like guardians. However, eventually, that would change, as it always did. When they got sick of her, when she screwed up one too many times, when the Soldier came back to her. At some point, she would lose them all.
"If you'd been watching her back, she wouldn't have had to win this thing by herself." Clint threw back, grinning his easy going grin. Katya made no comment about how he was wrong, that Ward was careful to watch her back no matter where they were, instead waiting for Ward to reply, to refute the claim.
"I'll always watch her back." Was all he said back, as if he had done something wrong. An interesting perspective considering their original plan going in had been to split up. They didn't use it quite as effectively as Natasha and Clint, but they had done well enough to keep the other teams distracted looking for them.
"You two are seriously too perfect to be partners." Bobbi came strutting over, her ex trailing after her with a grimace on his lips. They were never happy to see one another, if you believed their faces. But Katya had noticed a sort of gravitation between the two of them. She'd also noticed the way Clint's eyes slid to Bobbi when she walked in, taking in her curves and eyeing her like she would be a good mate. As if Natasha wasn't even in the room. And she noticed the way that Natasha's face hardened at the sight, her demeanor stiffening, even if Bobbi had never tried to draw Clint's eye.
"We've been working hard." Ward offered. It seemed men liked the way Bobbi was put together. Katya knew the other woman was pretty, but Natasha was made to seduce a man. Why would Clint look elsewhere?
"Great strategy. Up on the top of the walls, never thought of it myself. Probably because SHIELD likes to play by the rules." She laughed a little and the men laughed like parrots, Clint keeping a grin on his face. Katya frowned a little at the sight and she knew that Natasha had caught the look, because she reached out and pulled Katya into her side comfortingly. Not too close to appear a threat, but close enough to feel her body heat, reassuring against the sudden chill in the air.
"There is no SHIELD anymore. And HYDRA won't play by the rules." Katya answered robotically, undoing the strap of her weapon and placing it on the floor in front of her, along with the vest that held the electronic target. She wasn't angry at Bobbi, but she was angry with Clint and even Ward, a little. How they could be so blind to Natasha's pain, she didn't know, but she was suddenly protective of the private woman next to her, who would never let Clint know he was hurting her in an obvious way. He would notice, eventually, but it would be too late by then. She just knew it.
"We still play by the rules. No vigilante justice." Bobbi grinned again and Katya nodded slightly, though she didn't believe in that. Instead, she just turned away from the group, finding Sharon watching her carefully, a small smile frozen on her face. As soon as they were faced with one another, Sharon resumed a real smile, moving forward.
"Congratulations, Katya. Don't forget, we're on for coffee next week, right?" Sharon offered peacefully, letting Katya know that she had nothing to do with Bobbi and Clint.
"Of course. I'll see you later, Sharon." With that, Katya walked away, Natasha by her side.