Previously on Codename KitKat: Clint and Natasha caught Slater (Natasha used Fitz' biometric mask that made her look like Kat). Kat was introduced to Steve Rogers and helped teach him technology. Kat hacked the security cams in the warehouse where Clint and Nat were and helped them one up Slater after Slater had fried the coms.
TRISKELION
"And you're sure it's not magic?" Steve asked, leaning closer to Kat. Her face had transformed into an exact replica of his.
"It's science," Fitz said with a grin, his lilting Scottish accent getting thicker as he went into a complicated explanation of how it worked.
Kat carefully peeled off the mask and set it back in its case. After Clint and Nat had Slater in custody, she was free to leave the small sleeping quarters and had immediately taken Steve to the lab as a little technology fieldtrip. She promised to explain Fitz' mask, but seeing as the man himself was in the lab she figured she'd let him explain his creation. She realized her mistake at the same time she realized Fitz wasn't yet practiced in dumbing down the science to a non-engineering level.
"Don't feel bad," she stage whispered to Steve. "I don't fully understand how it works and I've got a doctorate."
"You're a doctor too?" Steve peered down at her in interest. She seemed fairly young to have accomplished so much.
"Of computer science. If you need something hacked, I'm your girl. If you need a wound tended to, I can give you the number and fastest directions to the closest hospital. Maybe even bump you up on their waiting list if it's electronic."
"As a SHIELD agent, you wouldn't typically use civilian doctors. Our own medics would stitch you up," Fitz chimed in.
"The health plan is actually really nice," Kat nodded. "The pay isn't bad either. But the hours suck."
"Would I get to work with you two?" Steve asked, caring more about Kat's answer. She'd made him feel the most welcome and relaxed he'd felt since coming out of the ice.
"I tend to be a behind the scenes kind of guy. I teach you how to not break my tech, but then you're on your own," Fitz said, packing up the mask he'd let Kat use as a demonstration.
"If a mission calls for a data analyst, which a lot of them do, then yeah. Although, for you to ensure you'd work with me, you'd need my direct line. Otherwise, the operators just hand you off to whoever's available and meets the level requirement."
"And how would I earn that privilege?" He didn't want to presume she gave her direct line to any agent. And technically, he wasn't an agent. Though, he couldn't imagine facing this new world without the help of SHIELD.
"If you choose to work for SHIELD, it's yours." She'd hate to see him end up working with a newbie like Evan or someone with no patience like Trish. "And if you don't choose to work for SHIELD and decide DC is more your jam, I offer unofficial tour guide services. I'd even offer you a veteran's discount."
"I'm not sure your director will give me much of a choice in joining."
"SHIELD is a lifestyle. You work here and it's not long before your life revolves around it. Don't let Fury pressure you into it if it's not what you want."
"Don't really have a life in this decade," he shrugged.
"Blue eyes, blond hair, broad shoulders: you'll have no shortage of admirers. It won't be hard to have a life in this century if you want one."
"I'm not quite ready for dating. Not when I missed a date with my best girl by about fifty years."
He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. Kat felt for him. To wake up in another time, where everyone you knew and loved were dead or on their way to it, had to suck on an unimaginable level.
"I was referring to all the agents who will be floundering to be your workout buddy." Kat grinned. "If you are in the market for a friend, I may know a girl who's low maintenance and smart to boot who can also be a workout buddy and who won't make a move on you."
"Would that be because she's interested in somebody else?" Steve asked with a sly smile. His smile widened at Kat's blush.
"Sorry, but if you're into gossiping about rumored relationships, you'd be better with some of the guys on black-ops. They're surprisingly nosy behind their 'I'm too cool for this' attitude."
"Yeah, the agents in operations were always super nosy and in your business. They claimed it was because they were training to be spies but everyone at SciTech always knew better," Fitz said with a smile, joining in the conversation only for Steve to stare at him in confusion.
"I didn't understand any of that," he said.
"Don't worry, that's usually the reaction I get in most conversations," Fitz said, locking the case with the biometric face swapper tech back in the safe. "It's my lunch break, and Simmons promised she'd be my guinea pig for my newest tech, so I'm going to have to close the lab."
He gave the two a pointed look that had them shuffling out of the lab. They ended up roaming the halls aimlessly as neither were familiar with the New York office. Kat explained the everyday tech they came across, keeping it as simple as possible so as not to overwhelm Steve.
"I feel like I should start making a list," Steve said. There was no way he was going to remember all of this.
"You'll get used to it. What you'll need a list for is whenever someone references pop culture things. That can of worms is infinite and much harder to explain or remember."
"I will get a notepad so I can make a note of that," he said.
"There's also a notepad app on the smartphone if you get one of those, but apps and smartphones are a whole other monster that we'll work up to you understanding. Baby steps."
"I appreciate that. And that you're taking the time explaining all this. You're really good at making it understandable."
"I have spent a good portion of my job playing tech support to the older agents, so I'm kind of used to dumbing it down. Not that you're old. Or dumb."
He laughed at her rush to backtrack so as not to insult him. He liked Kat. If she'd been around during the war, she'd have fit right in with the Howling Commandoes.
An alert on her phone silenced her fumbling words in yet another foot in mouth situation. Tapping the screen, she smiled wide.
"He's back," she said. She pocketed her phone, making a beeline for the elevator. Glancing back at Steve, she asked, "you coming?"
"Wasn't sure I was invited. That smile foretold of a preferably private reunion."
"There's no such thing as privacy in SHIELD," Kat said, pressing the elevator button. "Come or stay, it's up to you."
"And give up the chance to see you awkwardly pretend not to care too much about Clint?"
Joining her in the elevator, they rode it to the bottom floor.
AIR SPACE BETWEEN PHILIDELPHIA AND NEW YORK CITY
Clint spent most of the flight back silently considering Nat's advice to make things official with Kat and tell HR. Without his hearing aids the world was unnaturally quiet and made his inner thoughts seem extra loud. Though he hated talking when he couldn't hear himself, his thoughts poked and prodded him until he gave in and asked Natasha his first concern with making things official with Kat.
"What if she doesn't want to define our relationship?" He asked, hoping he spoke loud enough for Natasha to hear but not so loud he was shouting.
Natasha glanced up at him showing she heard him and he wouldn't have to repeat his quesiton.
"Even in that highly unlikely scenario," she said, speaking slow and enunciating so Clint could read her lips. "It's not like you guys are doing a great job of keeping it under wraps. I know, Angie knows, Coulson knows, I'm pretty sure May has put two and two together. Hell, even Slater figured it out. Everyone knows."
"Fury doesn't know." He hooked his hands on the harness they were made to wear on the plane. It was designed like an army plane with uncomfortable fold down seats and harnesses as seatbelts. He would think capturing Slater would get them a better ride back to base.
"Fury knows everything. He literally has spies everywhere." Clint should know that seeing they were two of them.
"You told him, didn't you?" Clint asked, crossing his arms.
"Coulson did," she said, propping her feet up on one of the storage crates strapped to the floor in front of them. "They have running bets on employee relationships. I hacked into their spreadsheet."
"Which one bet Kat and I would end up together?"
"Neither. Fury thought she'd end up with one of the engineering guys at the Triskelion and Coulson was hoping for a good enemies-to-lovers thing with one of the black-ops guys."
Kat would never go for any of the black-ops guys in DC. She constantly complained how they were all incompetent idiots when it came to helping them.
"What about me?" He asked.
"They thought you'd grow into an old bachelor and adopt a pack of stray dogs."
"I do like dogs."
"And yet you have none," she said.
"It would be irresponsible with my unpredictable schedule." How could he keep a dog alive when he never knew how long he'd be home?
"And since when are you responsible?"
He shrugged, giving her that.
"Who would watch a dog when I'm on a mission? It's not like I want anyone other than you to know my address let alone have a key."
"Coulson knows where you live. He could watch your hypothetical dog," Nat suggested just before the pilot called back to them that he was preparing to land.
"I don't need Coulson invading my personal space."
It was bad enough when he showed up unannounced and his landlord let him in. Even if he'd made Clint sandwiches and gave him a job that led to him meeting Kat in person. He'd had to talk to his landlord about not letting anyone but him or Nat in.
"What about Kat? She could watch your dogs."
"She doesn't live in New York."
"Yet," she said. "I predict we'll convince her to transfer."
"We?" He asked. "I didn't know you were so invested."
"If your relationship progresses, one of you will transfer, and I can't have my best friend's home base so far away from mine."
"You wouldn't transfer with me?"
"It'd take more than you to make me move to DC in any permanent capacity. Too many politicians." Nat's mouth twisted into a side smile
"Capitol Hill is ego central, rivaling that of Black-ops." He agreed.
The plane landed roughly, startling Clint as he hadn't been aware they were preparing to land. Shouldering his quiver and grabbing his bow when the ramp in the back opened up, he followed Natasha out onto the tarmac. He automatically went to the passenger side of her beloved car that waited for them, more than happy to let her drive them back to the underground garage at headquarters.
Clint had plans to head straight to the med bay when they arrived, eager to get a new pair of hearing aids. Those plans immediately changed when he saw Kat waiting inside by the elevators. He reflexively smiled, signing 'hello, beautiful,' when she smiled back. Then he noticed she wasn't alone. A tall, blond, man stood beside her with his hands in his pockets.
'Who's this?' he signed to her, his gaze jumping between the two.
"This is my friend, Steve," Kat spoke as she signed. "Steve, this is Clint."
He wasn't aware she knew anyone else in the New York offices other than him and Natasha let alone had friends.
"Fury's trying to recruit him," she said, doing her best to find a sign for recruit and failing.
"Recruit," Clint said as he signed, noticing she didn't know the sign.
"Nice to meet you," Steve said, extending his hand. "Sorry I don't know sign language."
"It's okay. Most people don't." Clint took his hand and shook it. Turning his attention to Kat, he winked. "It's like our secret language."
'Can we talk, in private?' Clint signed after releasing Steve's hand.
"Sure," Kat answered verbally and using ASL so Steve wouldn't feel left out. "He needs to speak with me alone."
"Of course. I'm sure your director would love another opportunity to convince me to join," Steve said, turning back to the elevators.
"Remember, you can say no," Kat said, making Steve turn around with a smile.
"Yes, your offer for a veteran's discounted tour of DC. I remember." The elevator dinged open and he stepped inside, saluting her and Clint in a farewell just before the doors shut again.
"How did you two meet?" Clint asked.
"Fury needed me to teach him all things computer related. He's sweet."
"And handsome," Clint added, signing it with a forced smirk.
He didn't want to be insecure, but Nat had been shoving the fact they weren't official in his face for the last few hours. So, he was feeling a little unsettled about a tall, attractive man already having an inside joke with Kat after knowing her for less than a day.
"Do I need to worry about him?" Kat teased. "I didn't know six foot something and blond was your type."
"His ass was nice," Clint said, with a genuine smirk that time. Their banter was familiar territory.
"So, you're an ass man.
"I like five foot two, dark hair, glasses, with a penchant for sarcasm and quick wit."
"That's very specific," she said, stepping closer.
'I know what I like,' he signed, stepping forward until they were toe to toe.
'Me too,' she signed back.
Natasha entered from the garage while they were standing too close for anyone to believe they were just coworkers or friends. And Clint wondered why she thought everyone knew about them already.
"Hey, you two," she said, after moving so she was in Clint's peripheral, and he noticed her. She knew he wouldn't hear her approach and didn't want to freak him out. "Coulson wants us all in a debriefing."
She held up her phone with the text from Coulson.
"Tell him we'll be right up," Clint said. She nodded, heading to the elevator.
"Is something wrong?" Kat asked.
Clint rubbed his palms on his pants before signing 'no.'
"You said you wanted to talk in private," she reminded him.
They were alone in the basement where the only security cameras pointed towards the elevators or at the cars in the garage.
"I want us to be official," he finally said.
"Official?" she asked, mimicking the sign he used for the word.
"Boyfriend and girlfriend," he said, even though the terms seemed juvenile. He wracked his brain for a better way to word it. "Dating, in a relationship, you know?"
"Going steady?" Kat suggested with a playful smile.
"I can't offer you a letterman jacket or class ring, but we can sign official forms with HR," he said with a shrug.
"You're serious?" she asked, studying him. She couldn't tell.
'Yes.' He signed.
"Ok, let's do it," she said. "Although I wouldn't mind also having that black SHIELD jacket you wore in New Mexico."
He leaned towards her, then around her to press the elevator button. He was so close his lips tickled her ear when he spoke.
"It's yours." His voice sent shivers down her spine.
When the elevator dinged open, she stepped back, pulling him inside by the front of his uniform. She didn't stop until her back hit the far wall. Without releasing his uniform, she stood on her toes to kiss him. Wrapping his arms around her as the doors shut, they didn't let each other go until the doors dinged open again to the startled faces of several agents.
Taking her by the hand, Clint led them through the agents without a word to any of them. With the way news spread, HR would be finding out before they had a chance to make an appointment, but he couldn't care less. All he wanted was to get this debriefing with Coulson over with so they could finally have the time alone Slater stole from them.
They made a pit stop on the way to the debriefing to get Clint another pair of hearing aids. When they walked into the conference room fifteen minutes later, their hands were interlocked. Natasha smiled and Coulson stared.
"I'm guessing the cat is officially out of the bag?" he finally asked.
"You were in a bag?" Clint asked, turning towards Kat.
"Not that I'm aware of."
Coulson did his best to refrain from rolling his eyes as the two took their seats.
"Moving on. Let's try to get this debriefing over with as painlessly as possible," he said.
Despite his words, the debriefing was as boring as every other one: going over facts they already knew and then reminding them not to share classified information about the mission to anyone who wasn't in the room. When it was finally over, Coulson offered to have a jet take Kat back to DC.
"Can I get a rain check? I'm not going back right away."
Coulson looked between Barton and Lee, and recalled how she originally flew into New York on pleasure not business. It was obvious why she was extending her stay in the city.
"We've got another jet going to DC at 7 am sharp in two days. If you miss that one, you're on your own when it comes to getting home," he said, shuffling papers and leaving the room.
"HR is floor five," Natasha reminded them before leaving the conference room and heading for the gym. She'd have to use the facilities at headquarters because there was no way she was risking walking in on those two naked to use Clint's rooftop gym.
As much as they didn't want to waste more of their free time at headquarters, Kat and Clint paid a visit to HR. There were an absurd amount of forms and waivers they had to sign, and the woman behind the desk tapped away at her keyboard, entering what felt like a paragraph into each of their files. With a warning to immediately report any changes in their relationship that could compromise a mission, they were set free.
…
"I'm officially jealous of your living arrangements," Kat said when she stepped into Clint's apartment.
The walls were exposed brick, the floor plan was open, and the two-story windows offered a great view of the city. His kitchen was homey, with a retro fridge and old wood cabinets.
"Just wait until you see the gym. Fully equipped and I've got the only access," he smiled, taking her hand and leading her up the loft steps. A door on the far end opened to a rooftop carpeted in gym mats and full of gym equipment. Including well used targets on the opposite side.
"It's impressive, but I think I'd prefer a hot tub or a pool," she said.
"There's a jet tub in the bathroom," he said. "With a large window facing west. Perfect for sunsets."
"And how many women have you seduced with that view?" she asked, half joking.
"You're the only woman I've brought here," he admitted. "Other than Nat, and she doesn't count."
Turning to face him she saw he was serious.
"Thank you for trusting me with access to your super-secret penthouse." She wrapped her arms around his neck, smiling when he leaned his head down to press his forehead against hers.
"You're welcome," he said.
"As first class as this gym set up is," she said, her hands playing with the collar of his shirt. "I have other means of exercise in mind."
Tilting her face up, she captured his lips in a sensual kiss. He wrapped his hands tight around her waist, pulling her backwards as he led them through the door and into the privacy of his apartment.
A/N: Hello! I hope you enjoy the update! I'm still so in love with this couple and can't wait to journey into the Avengers plotlines. I made a cute little video of Clint and Kat and posted it on Instagram if you're interested (gracelesslyfalling). Thanks to everyone who reads, follows, favorites, and/or reviews! They all motivate me to write more.
Onto guest review responses:
To the guest who missed Clint and Kat: so did I! I'm happy to be writing them again!
To Guest 2.0: I'm always excited to hear when someone says Kat and Clint are their favorites, so thank you! I agree, Clint is an underrated character in the MCU and deserved better. Your review made me smile and had me so excited to keep writing because you basically just gushed about my characters and story. When I was ready to come back and write, rereading the review gave me so much motivation. Thank you!
Rach
xoxo