All the apologies in the world are no excuse for the massive delay in updates, but I'm still so sorry to have left you all hanging for so long, and a huge thank you to anyone still following. I have had an absolutely awful few months, and my writing has suffered because of it, but I will finish this story. We're truly close to the end, so I'm gonna try super hard and barrel through it all and finally give Carter and Clint the ending they deserve.
Since it's been so long, I'm putting in a little "Previously on As If I Was Human" plus some good old fashioned smut, but feel free to skip it if you like. Once again thank you for your patience and support.
Jay X
As If I Was Human
Chapter Thirty Six - Located
Carter's eyes slowly opened as her alarm clock began to chime gently. Dragging one of her arms from it's comfortable home against Clint's chest, she reached over her boyfriend to shut the damn thing off. Clint let out a soft groan, but soon fell back into slumber as Carter snuggled back against him. She didn't sleep though. Now that she was awake her mind began to sift through the past few days, and she collected her thoughts as she softly drew patterns on her lover's bare chest.
Who'd have thought I'd end up with a fairly decent guy, she mused with a smile. A complete fuck up like me, a genetic freak with the power of electricity. A light chuckle escaped her lips and she looked over Clint's peaceful face with sleepy eyes. So much has happened, but he's still here with me. My remote controlled mother killed him, killed him just to hurt me, but he didn't care. He only cared about me. Even when that bastard, Harmon Monroe, took me, turned me against them, he welcomed me back with open arms. I shut myself off from the entire team, avoided them all like the plague, got demoted from field agent and he still accepted me, still loved me. And now…with this new battle on the horizon…his trust in me never falters…How the hell did I get so lucky?
Still smiling, Carter's hands trailed lower, slipping under the blankets to caress the hard muscles of Clint's lower abdomen, causing the sleeping man to jerk slightly.
"Carter…" he mumbled, still fast asleep. Carter could only grin, her fingers dancing further south still, only stopping when they reached a coarse tangle of hair. Her fingers began to gently trail through the hair, massaging Clint's crotch whilst pressing her body closer to his.
Soon enough his manhood started to stiffen, Carter focusing so intently on her teasing that she nearly jumped out of her skin when Clint's hand suddenly fisted in her hair, snapping her head back so he could crash his lips to hers. She hadn't even notice him waken, but was in no position to argue. Clint's sharp movements had her flat on her back with him hovering above her before she realised it, his lips continuing their assault against hers.
"Good morning," she gasped when Clint pulled away to remove the blankets that had gotten tangled up between them.
"Good morning to you too," he replied lowly, his eyes dark with lust as his lips descended to her neck, his teeth grazing the sensitive skin, causing Carter's back to arch in pleasure. "To what do I owe this wonderful wake up call?"
"I was just thinking about how amazing you are," Carter moaned out between hungry mewls, her hands continuing their previous task of fondling Clint's now hardened cock. With a sexy growl, Clint ground his hips into her hands, silently begging for more.
"I'm not the amazing one here," he insisted, his hands gripping tighter into Carter's hair as his passion took over him. "Don't you dare stop."
Clint returned his lips to her neck, biting and sucking as Carter's caresses turned to full strokes, her hands working a delicate magic on her lover. Her own arousal was clouding her vision, and she found herself teasing her slit with one hand as the other pumped Clint the same way he had showed her to do weeks earlier. Noticing two hands becoming one, Clint reached down, pulling Carter's legs apart and moving in between them. Her hands fell away as Clint firmly took over, palming himself while his tongue lapped eagerly at her clit.
"Mmm, Clint," Carter sighed appreciatively, her fingers trailing through his hair as she held him where she wanted him. Her back arched again, and she gasped and moaned, wordlessly demanding more and more.
Clint waited until she was close to orgasm before sliding inside her, sitting upright and pulling her with him, forcing her to ride him as he buried his head between her breasts, kissing and sucking the tender flesh. Carter rose up and down with increasing vigour, Clint's hands cupping her ass, squeezing harshly as she continued to move upon him. She soon came, her head tilting back as she moaned Clint's name, and she felt him release inside her, his own voice murmuring her name against her heaving breasts.
As they both rode out the last waves of climax, Carter pulled Clint into a lazy kiss, their tongues meeting each other as Clint slowly lay Carter back down, his hips still gently pushing against her.
"You sure know how to wake a man up," he spoke, his voice low and hoarse.
"I didn't actually mean to," Carter replied with a grin. "Just wanted to see what kind of trouble I could get into while you slept."
"The best kind." Carter laughed at Clint's words, and the two met in a series of sloppy kisses, only to be interrupted by Carter's cell phone ringing loudly. "Dammit," Clint whined, pulling away to grab the offending gadget.
"Give it," Carter commanded, snatching the phone from Clint's hands. "It's Tony," she informed him, pressing the phone to her ear. "Tony, what's up?"
"Big, awesome things. Get your ass to the lab, pronto." The line went dead, and Carter rolled her eyes, used to Tony's behaviour, but still annoyed at the lack of information he gave.
"I need to get to the lab," she said to Clint, who was still laying on top of her. "Can you let me up?"
"I can," he answered with a smirk. "But I don't want to." Carter protested weakly against Clint's kisses, but couldn't bring herself to disengage until her cell phone rang again, still in her hand.
"Yeah?" She asked, bringing it back to her ear.
"Seriously, Sparky, this is important, stop porking your feathery girlfriend and get down here."
"What is it-" Tony hung up on her again, and with a heavy heart Carter pushed Clint away. "It's important, babe," she said as his eyes looked at her questioningly.
"Guess I'll come with you then," he decided, following her out of bed and over to the wardrobe.
It took longer than usual, Clint's 'help' more of a hindrance, but soon the two were dressed and heading down to the lab Bruce and Tony called home.
"Everything okay?" Carter asked, the two genius's leaning over a computer monitor.
"Finally," Tony mock cheered. "I was beginning to think you'd gotten lost between the bed sheets."
"Tony," Bruce scolded him with an elbow to the ribs. Tony just rolled his eyes. "We've had a bit of a breakthrough," Bruce then said, addressing Carter and Clint as they approached.
"With the control chip?" Carter asked, eyeing up the small pieces that once made up the gizmo that had forced her to attack her friends.
"We've been attempting to triangulate the signal and trace it back," Tony clarified, clapping his hands together. "And we've done it. We know where Monroe's hiding."
The team was gathered in the briefing room little over an hour later, Director Fury standing at the head of the table, accompanied as always by Agents Hill and Coulson. Carter fidgeted nervously in her seat as Fury began to speak, his words going in one ear and out the other. She couldn't concentrate, she could barely even think. They knew where Monroe was. She'd get her revenge. She'd save her mother too. If Tony was able to remove the chip from Carter's brain, surely he could free Melody as well.
After all these years, it could finally be over.
Fury was pointing to a map, Tony and Bruce took turns at speaking, following by Steve's opinion on whatever they had said. Clint and Natasha spoke too, but Carter still wasn't paying attention. Whatever the plan of action was, Carter wasn't listening. They could be talking about purple elephants for all she cared.
They knew where Monroe was.
It took all of Carter's will power not to simply steal a quinjet and go after him herself. The moment Tony revealed the location she saw the light at the end of the tunnel. All the torture and pain would be worth it. She would kill this man, and she would enjoy it. She would make his suffer the way he had made her family suffer. She didn't just want him dead, she wanted him to pay, to beg for clemency only to be denied. And she knew it wasn't right, she knew it made her just as bad as him, but she was beyond caring.
So fuck Fury's plan, Carter had one of her own. Let the Avengers take her to Monroe, let them fight with her, let them help her…but most importantly, they had to let her kill Monroe with her own two hands. She wouldn't rest until he was burning in hell and all his research destroyed.
Carter had awoken that morning feeling nothing but love and affection, but tonight she'd lay down with a heart full of rage and hate. Harmon Monroe had turned her into a monster, and it was time he understood the consequences.
The quinjet seemed abnormally full as it took to the air, Natasha in the pilot's seat, a regular S.H.I.E.L.D. agent navigating along side her. No member of the team was to be left behind, Carter's personal vendetta important to them all now. Steve and Tony stood behind Natasha, chatting quietly, both suited up and ready for a fight. Even Bruce was along for the ride, though somewhat dressed down for the situation. It had seemed unnecessary for him to be assigned a specialised combat uniform; his Hulk form would tear through it anyway. He sat alone, lips forming silent words as he read through Monroe's file again, committing the information to memory.
Carter's uniform had been upgraded, thanks to Tony. The sleek dark material was now more flexible, yet more durable than before, and the electro plates had been reshaped to Carter's body, absorbing and dispelling electricity on a higher level. Tony had even designed brand new daggers, the handles perfectly grafted to fit Carter's palms. There was no telling what would be waiting for them at Monroe's secret base, but Carter was well equipped and well prepared. Clint sat opposite her, face set in a stoical mask as he looked her over.
After everything they had been through, all the ups and downs, Clint could read Carter like a book, and her anger was painfully clear to him. Even if Melody Thomas, Carter's mother, could be saved, they would have to fight her first, most likely being forced to injure her in the process of removing N-GES's control chip from her brain. Clint knew what it was like to do battle with your own blood, his history with his brother was a testament to that, and he hated knowing Carter would be going through the same pain.
Clint was not a romantic man, it just wasn't his style, but there was nothing he wouldn't do for Carter. This woman that had been thrust into his life so suddenly meant the world to him, and Harmon Monroe, the bastard that hurt her, had an arrow with his name on it. In fact, Clint had a special poison tinted one just to make him suffer.
Clint was not a romantic man; he was an assassin. He wouldn't just die for the woman he loved, he'd kill for her too.
As Carter silently chewed on her lower lip, teeth ripping away slivers of the thin skin, Clint leaned forward, reaching out to place his hands on her knees.
"Hey," he whispered, squeezing legs gently as Carter met his eyes. "Only one of us is gonna kill that fucker, but we're both gonna damn try."
"I know," Carter replied, resting her hands on top of his, gripping them tight. "And I know Fury would rather he was taken alive, but I won't let that happen, Clint. No matter how bad things get, Monroe is gonna die."
"I wouldn't have it any other way."
"Save the smoochy-smoochy crap!" Tony interrupted the two, causing them to break apart as he passed between them, plonking himself down next to Clint, propping one leg over the other. "We're on a mission here, love birds."
"We're on one of our own, too," Carter murmured lowly, crossing her arms over her chest.
"So I hear," Tony chuckled. "Ignoring the boss's orders and snuffing Monroe out?"
"Tony-"
"I like it," he continued, speaking over Carter, surprising both her and Clint. "Fury knows jack shit about you, Sparky, but I know you. You want revenge? I'm here to help."
"Oh, really?" Clint questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"Hey, man," Tony said, raising his hands in a conceding gesture. "If some guy kidnapped Pepper, I'd rip his throat out and crush his balls. If some guy kidnapped Pepper, tortured her and screwed a mind control chip into her skull…well, I don't know what I'd do. Something incredibly violent and painful. But I definitely wouldn't simply subdue him and bring him in for questioning. I don't give a damn if he had a cure for cancer, I'd kill him and I wouldn't be nice about it."
"Wow," Carter said, smirking at Clint. "How sentimental of you."
"Fury's a soldier, he doesn't understand personal vendettas like this," Tony shrugged easily. "I do. When someone takes arms against your family, you take 'em out. 'nuff said."
"Thanks, Tony," Carter said softly, giving the Iron Man a genuine smile. "You always seem to have my back, you know that?"
"Don't tell anyone, kid," Tony drawled in reply. "I've got a reputation to protect."
This is really happening, Carter thought excitedly to herself as they fell into an easy silence. They're gonna help me kill him, after all these years he's gonna die and there's nothing he can do about it. Bring it on, all the soldiers and guns, I don't care, because Harmon Monroe is going to die today.