Well, that was fun! Nothing like anger to make good drama, LOL. Now, we'll see what they do to make up after an argument. Warning - to me, it's still T-rated (think Harlequin romance). If anyone thinks the rating needs to change, let me know & I'll take care of it. You who have reviewed, read, favorited, and followed are encouraging me. It starts with a teensy bit of Tony & Nat discussion, then it's Clint/Mikayla time. Also, you MIGHT notice a Renner reference in this. I enjoy the banter between the couple and I hope that comes through. Please enjoy and let me know what you think!
Natasha was the first to hear footsteps coming from the hallway. "I don't hear shouting and don't see any blood, so I think it's safe to say we can stand down." The group turned to see Clint and Mikayla exiting the corridor hand in hand and smiles on both their faces. They stopped, Clint looked toward Natasha and nodded slightly, their signal to each other everything was OK. She nodded in return. "Glad to have the two of you back in one piece."
"We're a figment of your imagination. We'll be back later," Clint said as the couple turned, got onto an elevator, and headed downstairs.
"Well, that was anti-climactic," Tony said. "I'm handling recon."
"Stark, sit," Natasha commanded, "let them have a moment."
"No one else gets a moment."
"Says the man who's always visiting his girlfriend up in their suite."
"My building, my rules."
Natasha rolled her eyes and picked up a couch pillow. "Tony," she talked to him in a calm, emotionless voice, "you are going to stay here or I will demonstrate how many ways a person can be injured – or worse – with this soft, fluffy pillow." Tony looked over, saw the steel determination in the assassin's eyes, then sank back in his recliner, suddenly deciding to watch something on TV. Bruce and Steve grinned behind the magazines they were reading, and Thor hid his smile behind Mjolnir. Once Tony was taken care of, Natasha made some calls.
"Clint, where are we going?"
"Surprise," was all he would say. Mikayla shrugged her shoulders and continued holding his hand as they walked to wherever he was taking her. He led her to the parking garage, then to his cycle after stopping at a non-descript vehicle so Clint could retrieve something from it. He handed her a helmet, fastened his, then took off once she was securely behind him on the seat. At this point, she didn't care where they were going as long as they were together.
A little under two hours later, Clint pulled into a hotel parking lot. "Where are we?" Mikayla asked as she dismounted the cycle and took off her helmet.
"Philadelphia," he replied. He took her by the hand, pulled a bag out of the carrier on the back of the cycle, and she followed him into the hotel.
The blonde behind the desk put her hand on Clint's as she suggestively asked him, "Good day, sir. How may I be of service to you?"
Mikayla wanted to yell, "Excuse me, he's mine! Do you not see us holding hands?"
Clint squeezed her hand as he felt her tense up. "You're holding a suite for Mr. and Mrs. Monroe, I believe?" He quickly removed his hand from the counter, reaching for his wallet.
The desk clerk sighed and reverted to businesslike behavior. She typed some information into her computer. "Oh, yes, here it is, James and June Monroe. Your assistant called, and everything is taken care of." He signed the register and took the room keys from the clerk. "Thank you," he looked down at her name tag, "Denise," then turned toward Mikayla, "Ready, babe?"
"Of course, James. I love our little getaways." She played along. "You spoil me too much." 'Take that, witch,' she thought to herself, 'get your own man, 'cause this one's mine.' To make the point, she leaned in and kissed him, nibbling on his lower lip as she pulled back. She turned her head around to face the clerk. "Yes, thank you, Denise." She swore she saw smoke coming from the clerk's ears.
"Our luggage will be arriving soon. Please be sure it's brought right up."
"Yes, Mr. Monroe."
Clint put an arm around Mikayla's waist, and they entered the elevator, taking it up to their suite. He unlocked the door and followed Mikayla into the room. As soon as he shut the door, she spun around. "OK, not that I'm not enjoying this…"
Before she could finish, Clint put the bag down, drew Mikayla close, and fervently kissed her, pulled her hair back, exposing her neck. She responded by running her hands underneath his t-shirt and digging her nails into his back. He picked her up and carried her to the bedroom. After moving to the bed, shirts were removed. He straddled her and leaned his head down to kiss her. As he did, there was a knock on the door. "Damn," he muttered.
"Mr. Monroe, we have your luggage," the voice at the door announced.
"Don't move, babe," he said, getting up and putting his shirt back on. Clint went to the door and took the luggage from the bellhop. He tipped the employee, then brought the suitcases to the bedroom. "Miss me?" He smirked, climbing back on the bed next to Mikayla while removing his shirt again.
"Always." She began trailing her nails over his chest and abdomen. "Mind telling me what's going on and what all this is?"
"SHIELD used this hotel as a base of operations for a few missions. I thought you needed to get away, to refocus, but I wanted to go somewhere other than the house. I wanted somewhere we hadn't been before, a place we could make some new memories. Plus, I figured we needed some time away from the team and away from the city. You know, get our mind off some things."
"Good plan. But why the Monroes?"
"Remember when I stopped at the car?" She nodded. "It's one of the places I use to store mission info, so the bag contains everything required to go undercover - clothing, money, ID's, and the like. Good job following along with the ruse."
"It was easy. I had to make sure the trollop knew whose man you were, and I don't share."
"Turned me on." He deftly removed their clothes while they were talking. His hands and mouth roamed over her shapely physique. He straddled her while her hands traveled over his body, leaned down, and whispered, "one more perk – soundproof rooms." He smirked then they ravenously kissed. They were hungry for each other after the scare of the last 24 hours. He needed to prove to himself she was still alive, and she wanted to show him she'd recovered from the incident. Their bodies became entangled in the sheets as they playfully fought for control. He would straddle her, she would sit on top of him, they would be next to each other. This went on until the tangled sheets were drenched with sweat and the demons of the recent past had been chased away.
"Great idea," Mikayla said, gasping for air, trying to catch her breath.
"Yep, we should fight more often." Clint was twirling a few strands of her hair that were framing her face.
"Definitely getting my exercise in," she smirked as she rolled from her back to her side so she could face him. "Have I told you I love you lately?"
"Yes, but the rest of the hotel didn't hear."
"Clint!" She playfully slapped his hand away.
"Love you, too, Mikayla. And, yes, this may be one of the best ideas I've ever had. Glad I remembered this hotel."
"Ditto," she replied, burying her face in the crook of his neck so she could get even closer to him. He curled his arm around her and traced circles on her back. She sighed contentedly. They stayed that way for several minutes. "RH?"
"Hmmm?"
"I'm hungry."
"You realize we'll have to leave the bed and get dressed."
"I know. I'm willing to risk it if you are, though I have no idea what I'll be wearing since I don't know what's in the suitcases."
"Don't worry, my assistant took care of everything."
"Let me guess. Natasha?" He grinned and nodded. "She's going to kill you when she finds out you called her your assistant."
"She won't find out."
"You think so?"
"Yep, because if you tell," he whispered something in her ear then smirked.
"You wouldn't dare!"
"Don't test me, Sharky."
"You are evil, RH, but I'll keep your secret."
"I knew you'd see it my way. Now, let's see what she had delivered." He stood up and she admired the view as he walked toward the closet. "Enjoying the view?"
"Awful sure of yourself, aren't you, Hawkeye?"
He came back wearing a plush robe provided by the hotel, brought one back to her and she put it on. He sat down next to her, and said softly, "I've never been surer of anything in my life." He cupped her face with his hand.
She put her hand over his. "I know the feeling. As strange as it sounds, I'm glad we fought, argued, whatever you want to call it."
"You are?"
"Yes. It worries me when couples don't fight. It usually means one person has so completely lost themselves in the other person, they don't know who they are anymore. I don't ever want to lose who I am. I've been Mikayla Fitzgerald since the day I was born. I'd like to think that when I feel a lasting bond with someone, it'll be because I'm a better person because of them, not because they complete me, and vice versa. That would mean that I'm incomplete now, which I'm not. I look at my parents' marriage, they complemented each other. Did they have disagreements? You bet, but they knew at the core of everything their love for each other held them together, and that was a bond nothing could break." She grinned. "And now I'm getting sappy. I promise I haven't been reading cheesy romance novels."
He stretched out next to her as she sat up. "I love it. It's who you are, you're an optimist but also a realist. You realize there's good and bad in the world but believe that good will always win. In other words, you're an Avenger. At the heart of everything, that's why we do what we do. If we didn't believe it, we wouldn't fight so hard and risk so much. Now, I'm going to go take a shower and get dressed for dinner, my not perfect but perfectly imperfect love." He strolled off to the bathroom.