"Favourite colour?"
"Blue." I grinned at the stupidity of the situation.
Riley and I were lazing on his couch. It was Sunday afternoon and we'd barely moved except to go to bed last night or to change the DVD. We were facing each other, nursing Chinese food, feet tangled together playing 20 questions. Currently Riley was the one asking the questions and I was answering. I felt like a teenager all over again. Neither of us really knew a lot about each other. It was when I realised I didn't know Riley's last name I'd started this. Riley had already been through 20 questions with me. Now it was his turn to ask me the questions. So far everything had been very tame from both of us.
"Birthday?"
"April 2nd, 85."
"There you go, I'm five years older than you." Riley grinned as well. That grin of his made my body melt. "And an Aries, I'm a Sagittarius. We're supposed to go well together."
"Yeah two fire signs sounds like its fun," I laughed as poking my chicken and cashew. My stomach still wasn't happy after the tequila binge. "Not that I'm really into astrology."
"Me either, it's just something to read about when I'm bored," Riley admitted. "Favourite drink?"
"Scotch, either by itself or with dry. Never with ice."
"Why does it not surprise me you're that specific?"
I didn't have an answer to that. I laughed in response. There'd been plenty of laughter today. I was having a lot of fun hanging out with Riley.
"Middle name?"
"Anastasia."
"Favourite movie?"
"Either Jurassic Park or The Incredibles, that's a hard one to pick between them."
"Song?"
"Love Story by Taylor Swift."
Riley burst out laughing. I faked a hurt pout. I wasn't surprised by his reaction. I'd gotten plenty of ribbing about that over the years. I had such a weird taste in music. I'd listen to nearly anything.
"Sorry I was not expecting that." Riley got himself back under control. "I don't know why but I assumed it was going to be DMX or something weird ass heavy metal band."
"Well, I do love Party Up by DMX." I couldn't keep my fake pout any longer, so I laughed instead. "But yeah, I know. I'm a bit of a sucker for a good love song."
"Favourite position?"
"Me on top." That was a sudden change of topic. Riley had been very careful about not wandering in that territory. His question made me grin again. His eyes had fallen down to my legs, as they often had during our conversation. "Did you run out of questions to ask that didn't involve sex?"
"Yeah, I'm not going to lie that my mind keeps wandering because those are really short shorts," Riley admitted. He pulled his eyes back up to my face. "I told you it's been a while."
He had me there. I hadn't really looked when I threw a few clothes in a bag before coming to his place. The shorts I had on only really covered the bare essentials. I'm not even sure why I had them. At least they weren't a really old pair of sweatpants.
"How long?"
"Not your turn," Riley said smartly. That pantry dropping grin of his was back. "So how about you?"
"Three or four months?" I pursed my lips trying to think. "Yeah, I think it's been about four months. Though this last month has flown by. It feels like a few days ago I was still having a beer at the bar back at Langley."
"That I can understand." Riley gave me a soft smile. "Do you regret what happened?"
"Yes and no." I screwed up my nose sightly and looked back down at my food. "Yes, it sucks because I worked my ass off to get where I was. But nothing lasts forever and there are much worse things that could have happened besides joining SHIELD and being put with Natasha and Clint.."
"I'm happy you joined SHIELD," Riley said shyly. It made me drag my gaze back up to him and I felt the stupid grin I'd had since we went out the other night come back on my face.
"And why is that Agent Hunterton?" I teased Riley.
"Because not only do I now have bragging rights about Black Widow got me drunk," Riley started with a laugh. "But somehow I've managed to become to luckiest guy in the world that you liked me enough to say yes to getting my number off Rumlow. You have no idea how excited I was when I got your text."
"I was so nervous," I admitted. "It took Nat threatening me to write something herself to actually do it. So is it my turn to ask questions now?"
"Yes." Riley cringed. "Be nice."
"I'm always nice," I giggled at the cautious look on Riley's face. "I'll be good, I promise. Favourite song?"
"Iris by Goo Goo Dolls or Shadow of the Day by Linkin Park. Too close to call it."
"Middle name?"
"Alexander."
"That's far too close to Anastasia," I laughed quietly. "Why did SHIELD recruit you?"
"I kind of made a kill shot from a mile and a half away, direct head shot." Riley pursed his lips. He looked uncomfortable at the change of topic. "Well, it might have been six or seven headshots, in a row. I was in Afghanistan a couple of years back. When I got back home, SHIELD knocked on my door and offered me a job. Like I said before, pay is heaps better."
"Nice." I was impressed, not only by Riley's skill but he quiet demeanour too. Most guys would be bragging about things like that. Riley only made it seem like it wasn't a big deal and that he was just doing his job. I'd love to see Riley shoot now. "Any regrets?"
"Nope, I love my job." Riley smile said it all. "This is a nice tame line of questioning."
"I can make it dirty if you want me to," I laughed and Riley shook his head. He suddenly looked like he regretted that question. "Well, since we're treading down that path, how long has it been?"
"I knew you were going to ask that." Riley pulled a face at me playfully. "Don't laugh, but it's been about nine months. I got a bit caught up with work lately."
"I promise I'd only laugh if it was more than two years," I teased giving Riley's leg a gentle kick. "So what's your favourite position?"
"Well, lucky for me, I like a girl on top," Riley laughed kicking me back gently. "Though that whole total lack of gag reflex sounds fun too."
"Yeah, I can't believe I let that one slip out like that." I cringed hating my lack of brain to mouth filter. "That was embarrassing."
"Funny though." Riley threw his empty Chinese container on the table. I was done with mine, even though it was only half finished so I put the lid back on and it joined the empty container on the table. I stretched out a bit further making an even more complicated tangle of our limbs. One of us was going to end up on the floor trying to get untangled. But it was so comfortable. I was enjoying the chaste touch too. Riley had been a perfect gentleman while I was here. I'd enjoyed waking up wrapped up in his arms this morning a lot.
"So." I hoped Riley wouldn't freak out about what I was going to ask next. "Why are we waiting to have sex?"
"Because I really don't want to fuck this up," Riley said straight away with a short but nervous laugh. He rubbed the back of his neck absently looking embarrassed. "I'm not a typical STRIKE guy just wanting to get in your pants. Well, I do want in your pants but I'm not in it just for that."
I laughed quietly at his honesty.
"I really like you Kari and I'm honestly still really surprised you like me back," Riley continued giving me an unsure smile. "I was kind of hoping we'd be at least officially dating before we did anything."
"I'm not really good at dating." I fought back a sigh. This could end up in a big mess and Riley was too much of a nice guy for me to hurt his feelings. "Honestly, I'm barely able to hold a fuck buddy down most of the time. You don't want to screw this up and I don't want to break your feelings. Where does that leave us?"
This conversation had taken a serious turn for a casual Sunday afternoon. Trust me to go and ask a question like that to make things awkward. I was bracing myself for the worst. That we wouldn't be able to agree on this and nothing would come of it. Then the next year of my life at SHIELD would be spent avoiding Riley and wondering why I was such an idiot when it came to relationships.
"You're doing a pretty good job at it right now." Riley pointed out gently. "We've been on two dates. You've spent the weekend here. Why do you think you'll break my feelings?"
Good question. Very good question. I didn't even know the answer myself. I always assumed the worse of myself when I put myself in this situation of actually liking someone. What it came down to I was always scared to let myself get carried away. To let myself think I could have some happiness in my life that I called mine. I might be terrible at relationships but it didn't stop me hoping one day things might change for me and I found someone who wanted me for who I was. Not someone they wanted to mould me into.
"Nothing has ever worked out for me before in relationships, I guess I'm just worried about this turning out the same," I admitted again not being able to meet Riley's gaze.
"Maybe it will, maybe it won't," Riley said gently. "But I'm willing to give it a try. In our line of work, there isn't a lot of room for not giving something a go in life. You never know when you might be coming home or not. I'd rather die next week knowing I wasn't too scared to do something than my last thoughts being of what if."
"That's deep," I mused. "And brutally honest."
"It's true." Riley untangled his legs from mine and lent over, tipping my chin up so I was looking at him. "I'd rather be heartbroken for a while than second guess myself over not giving something a try."
Without waiting for a reply Riley lent over and gave me a soft kiss. I smiled against his lips, wrapping my hand around his neck to pull him in closer. His kisses still made me giddy and lightheaded.
"Besides," Riley murmured pulling away a few inches. "Where else am I going to find a crazy pilot who made two teams of STRIKE guys pay her for being a stripper, then walk out without anyone noticing?"
"Where did you hear that story?" I laughed pushing Riley away slightly, happy that the heavy mood was gone as quickly as it came. Though his words gave me some confidence. I still wasn't sure what I was really getting into with my new job or this blossoming relationship. But Riley's words were right. I knew enough that he wasn't bullshitting in any way with what he said.
"I was there," Riley admitted with a smug grin. "I only realised it the other night when I saw a photo of you in uniform. I only got a quick glance of you that night though. I was promised a lap dance that night by Rumlow."
I gave Riley a harder push, so he was laying back on the couch. Before he could protest, I straddled his waist, pushing myself against his body. That was one good thing about all the working out I was doing at the moment. I was getting stronger. Thanks to Natasha beating my ass every morning, my reflexes were starting to improve as well.
"All you have to do is ask," I smirked as I lent down to kiss him. I didn't miss the sharp inhale of his breath, nor his reaction under me. As I kissed him, his hands found their way just under the hem of my shirt. The touch of his hands on my bare skin made me kiss him harder, tongues dancing with each other. Riley had his hands back down my hips and tugged on my shirt, starting to lift it over my body.
And his phone rang.
"Fuck." Riley stopped instantly, breaking away from our kiss to grab it. He looked at the caller ID with a groan and answered it. "You have the worst timing the fucking world do you know that? This better be really fucking important."
I laughed quietly. I was about to ask who it was before my own phone started to ring with Coulson's ringtone. For lack of imagination, I'd made it the Imperial March from Star Wars. I lurched for the offending ringing phone sitting next to my half finished Chinese.
"Hi Coulson," I said warily. I really felt like I was a teenager just caught out by my parents making out. It didn't help that I was still straddling Riley.
"We have a mission, be here in 20," Coulson said before pausing. "Did I interrupt something?"
"Umm no," I lied looking over the Riley who'd hung up from his call.
"You're a very bad liar," Coulson scoffed, though he sounded amused. "I'm putting you in the field for this one, so don't wear a flight suit."
"Okay?" I felt a flutter of nerves hit me. Holy shit that was actually happening. This was really happening that I was a real agent going into the field. "I'll see you there."
"Don't be late, I'll even give you 30." I could hear the smirk in Coulson's voice. Before I could reply he hung up on me, leaving my smart ass reply hanging on my lips. I pulled my phone away from my ear just looking at it blankly for a moment.
"I got called into work," Riley said first looking at me curiously. "I'm guessing you did too?"
"Yeah, and got told I'm going into the field," I said biting my lip. "Wow, shit is actually happening."
"There is a bright side to this." Riley smiled as lay back down, putting his hands behind his head. "You won't be mad at me being called away at a moments notice."
"Very true," I laughed leaning back down over Riley. "Do you think we just got called in for the same mission?"
"Who knows? Its SHIELD there could be any number of things happening." Riley shrugged. "Let me get changed real quick."
"We could do something else real quick?" I suggested moving in for another kiss. "Coulson gave me 30 minutes."
"Nice try." Riley closed the space between us for a brief kiss. "We still have to drop into your place to get your stuff."
"Party pooper." I smiled down at Riley. "Fine, you win."
I went to climb off Riley, but he grabbed me by the waist and pulled me back down onto him for another kiss. It was meant to be small and chaste, but it quickly grew intense. I ran my hands through his hair as he pulled me even closer to him. Everything stopped around me and all I could hear was the sound of my own heart pounding.
"Can we make this official?" Riley broke away first. It took me a moment to regather my breath and my senses. It was one of those kisses which just made my brain turn off. "Please? Just give this a chance Kari."
What did I have to lose? I could see this getting serious very quickly. It was almost too good to be true. Things like this never happened to me. I was never the one to get the nice guy or the dream job. All of a sudden I had both. Maybe Riley was right. This job was going to be hard enough. Why live with regrets? Why not just take a chance and hope it all works out in the end. When you skirted around death for a living the last thing you want with your dying breath was to have regrets. Life was already far too short without the expected lifespan of a SHIELD agent cutting it down dramatically.
"Okay." I couldn't think of anything witty or funny to say. I wasn't even sure it was a good answer. But Riley's smile said everything to me that I'd said and done the right thing. My heart was telling me I'd done the right thing too. My brain was slowly being convinced it wasn't going to be such a terrible thing.
"Thank fuck for that," Riley chuckled. "Come on, let's go otherwise we'll both be in trouble."
I climbed off and offered my hand up to Riley. He grabbed it and I pulled him to his feet. Before I could do anything else, Riley pulled me into a hug.
"We can make this work, I promise," Riley said quietly as he hugged me. "Do you want to drive in together? It'll be quicker."
"Sure, we need to get moving." I hugged Riley back, lingering in his embrace. His embrace was strong and comforting. In his arms, I didn't feel like I had a care in the world. "I have no idea what I'm meant to wear if I'm not wearing my flight suit."
"Want some help picking out your outfit?" Riley laughed at me, dropping another quick kiss before we untangled from each other. "I'll go get dressed."
Riley was dressed, and both of us in his car and driving towards my place in five minutes. It was the first time I'd seen him in his tactical outfit. It was pretty simple. Black army style pants with knee pads already on them. Combat boots, which Riley hadn't bothered to lace yet. A tight black t-shirt which gave me an impressive view of his muscles. A black jacket was thrown in the backseat, along with fingerless gloves.
"Nervous?" Riley turned to look at me.
"Not yet, I probably will be once I find out what is actually doing on," I admitted. "Though I can't see me getting too involved for my first time out with SHIELD."
"Probably not." Riley gave me a reassuring smile. "For the first three months, even though I was a SEAL who'd seen plenty of action, I pretty much sat back a mile away watching everything through a sniper scope. I'd never been so bored in my life."
"Rumlow said you were on his team first?" I remembered back to my conversation with him weeks ago after the parachute drop.
"Yeah, generally teams only have one marksman," Riley explained. "The sniper from Bravo was KIA, so I got invited to step into his position as a more senior agent."
"I still have so much to learn," I said with a wry smile. "I haven't even scratched the surface of everything yet and here I am going on missions."
"Did you do many missions as a pilot?" Riley asked.
"Yeah a fair few, I had a lot of flying hours logged because of it." I thought back to all the times I'd volunteered for things because the older pilots didn't want to be away from home, or spend so much time in the air. I'd do anything to get extra flying hours. Even if it did mean three months away at a time.
"Then it's not much different to that." Riley shot me a quick smile. "You'll probably sit out of the way with a pair of binoculars, or be listening to a radio for this one. You'll get back and be pissed off because you missed out on the action."
I didn't really have an answer to that. So much was hanging on what was actually happening in the world right now and why we were needed. For all I knew aliens could be invading Earth and we wouldn't have a clue about it until we got to work. Riley pulled up at my building and I bolted upstairs to quickly get changed. I had the exact same clothes as Riley still tucked away from when I'd been given all my uniforms. I yanked them on and was back in the car in two minutes.
"Now I know I'm a lucky man when you can get dressed in less than five minutes," Riley teased as we drove out. A message came through on both our phones at the exact same time.
Mission brief in room B71. 15 minutes.
The message was from SHIELD Communications. I stared at it for a few moments feeling even more nervous now. Riley picked up his phone and glanced at it quickly before turning back to the road.
"Room B71?" Riley asked. He didn't need to elaborate on it. I nodded and he smiled. "Looks like we're working together for your first one."
We'd hit the long stretch of road to the Triskelion. With every passing second, my nerves grew. Doubt began to gnaw at me. I wasn't ready for this. I was barely able to hit Natasha most mornings, let alone go into the field. It wasn't until Riley reached over and squeezed my hand that I jumped from my thoughts.
"You'll be fine," Riley reassured me yet again. "Just remember your STRIKE Team Delta. The baddest fuckers in SHIELD. You didn't get assigned to them for no reason. Pretty soon you'll be just as terrifying as Romanoff."
"Thanks, I think," I laughed lightly at Riley's words. It didn't stop my nerves, but it did calm me down a little I need to stop doubting myself so much. I'd gotten through everything SHIELD had thrown at me so far. I could do this as well. Especially if what Riley had said was true.
There was a line of cars as we got into the garage. I didn't miss the unmistakable sound of Natasha's Corvette in front of us. This presented me with a new set of nerves. While Clint and Natasha both knew I'd gone home with Riley. No one else would. I was just about to get out of the car with him in front of strangers. While it was no one's business what we did in our own time. I was pretty sure stepping out of the car with a guy I barely knew was going to raise a few eyebrows. I was very aware of what implications were going to be thrown around. The last thing I wanted was to get a reputation for being easy early in my career.
"So." I decided to bring it up with Riley. "How many eyebrows is this going to raise with me getting out of the car with you?"
"A few." Riley shrugged not looking worried in the slightest. "It will be more the fact I'm actually being seen with a girl. There might be a few jealous looks thrown my way because I'm talking to the new hot chick. You and Romanoff are the only female STRIKE personal. The fact you're around causes eyebrows to be raised."
"You took the new hot chick home." I pointed out with a small smile. "After getting her completely trashed off tequila."
"No, I gave you beer between the tequila," Riley corrected with a laugh. "I had nothing to do with actually giving you tequila. That was all Barton and Romanoff. Speaking of which, Barton is behind us."
I turned around to look at the car behind us. It wasn't the usual sports car, but it was still a very nice Chevrolet Impala. Clint had his elbow on the open window, leaning his head in his hand looking completely bored.
"Someone doesn't look happy." I faced the front again. "I guess he had other plans for a Sunday afternoon."
"Welcome to the life of a SHIELD agent," Riley said dryly moving the car forward to scan his ID. "Gotta admit, we could have been doing something better."
"Oh, and what's that?" I asked innocently.
"You'll just have to find out when we get back," Riley said smugly. "After all, I now have a smoking hot girlfriend. I may just be enjoying that."
"Should I leave before she gets here?" I teased but couldn't stop myself laughing. Girlfriend. That was definitely another new thing in my world. Something I could quite easily get used to hearing.
"Hilarious." Riley pulled a face at me. "You ready for this?"
Riley had parked his car without me really noticing the drive into the garage. I went to reply, but Clint banged on the window, making me jump.
"Fuck off," I mouthed at him, sending my middle finger up in his direction. I was hoping for another minute with Riley before we got out of the car.
"I can lip read you know," Clint's voice was slightly muffled through the closed window. "Let's go, this one is going to be fun."
"Barton's idea of fun and my idea of fun are two very different things." Riley cringed but he still smiled. "I'll be right behind you."
"All right." I opened the door and got out. I grabbed my jacket from the seat and turned to Clint. "Hi, where are we going and what are we doing?"
"Nervous?" Clint asked looking a little smug. He completely ignored my greeting and questions. I just shot him a glare that I'd learnt off Natasha. "Yep, you're nervous. Let's go."
I didn't get a chance to protest as Clint walked off. I was right beside him in three steps. Natasha was walking not too far ahead of us.
"Nat," Clint called out. She pulled up and just waited until we'd caught up with her. I had to do a double take when I saw what she was wearing. It certainly wasn't anything issued with my SHIELD uniforms. It was a skin tight black catsuit with combat boots. At first glance, it looked like it was made from lycra. But the material was definitely not lycra. No doubt a material only SHIELD could come up with. I was more envious of her curves than ever seeing her dressed in that.
"Hey," Natasha said as we all fell into step. "Ready for this?"
"I don't even know what this is yet," I said looking between them. "All I got was a phone call from Coulson telling me to get my ass in here."
"It's nothing super exciting, but it'll still be fun." Clint explanation didn't help in the slightest. "Coulson probably thought it'd be a nice easy one to break you in. By the way, have you been home yet?"
"Yes, I went home to get changed," I said defensively knowing exactly where this line of questioning was going. "And no, I haven't slept with him yet and I hope you lost another $100. Stop betting stupid shit."
This time it was Clint holding out his hand to Natasha. She shot both of us an irritated glare and folded her arms.
"Now who's smug?" Clint's grin was definitely the cat eating the canary proud. "You were so sure of it this time Nat. Thanks, Kari, love your work."
"Don't you two have anything better to do than to bet about my sex life?" I couldn't be mad at either of them. It was funny the way they'd just accepted me into their lives without any hassle. I could put up with the mild teasing along with getting me drunk and hitting me with drugs.
"Yes, but its fun and you blush so easily." Clint draped a casual arm around my shoulders. "Besides, it's fun having someone new with us. We aren't allowed to torment the new recruits. Or speak to them really."
"I can't even imagine why," I said sarcastically. "After all, I'm sure you two always play by the rules."
"Always," Natasha and Clint said at the same time.
Why did I get a terrible feeling that I was going to end up just like both of them? The scarier thing was, I didn't think I was going to mind that at all.
I thought by walking into a pre-mission brief everyone was going to be serious. I was wrong, it was like walking into a classroom before the teacher arrived. Everyone was noisy. Someone was throwing Skittles into someone else's mouth. A few guys were quiet, but the general vibe of the room was excitement. There was no calm before the storm. STRIKE Team Bravo was pumped and ready to go. My nerves increased, along with a sudden spike of adrenaline. This was it. This was the real deal right here and now. I sat between Natasha and Clint, trying not to fidget in impatience. Riley had taken a seat a few rows down with a dark haired guy. Whatever they were talking about, the guy was laughing and Riley was shaking his head.
"Everyone sit and shut up." Coulson commanding tone made the room quiet down instantly. Another agent walked into the room with him. "This is going to have to be quick, so pay attention. Agent Evans will run you through this brief."
The room was eerily silent as Agent Evans and Coulson walked to the front of the room. Like so many briefs I had sat in on, the overhead projector came to life as Agent Evans spoke.
"As Agent Coulson just said, this is going to be fast and furious so we need to get moving ASAP. STRIKE Team Bravo, we have STRIKE Team Delta providing cover and a lift there. Agent Lyngley is new to their team and yes we've all heard about her, so behave. First and only warning gentlemen."
Next to me, Natasha stifled a small laugh as my cheeks burnt with embarrassment. At least I was spared from all the eyes in the room looking back at me in curiosity. Agent Evans continued as a satellite image came onto the screen.
"At 1345 today we received intel from an agent undercover in an arms operation that one of the key players will be showing his face tonight. The intel is solid so we're making our move tonight in downtown Chicago. The area is the usual abandoned warehouse type setting. You know the one we all love to deal with."
There was quiet laughter ripple through the room. The satellite image changed to a grainy shot of a man. The picture didn't give much detail, except for the very distinct scar running down his face.
"This player is Andro Musil. Croatian dealer who's been shipping a lot of Stark weaponry around the globe. Most of it is stolen and he's been playing his hand in classified information gathering as well. The meeting tonight has been fabricated after months of an agent being undercover so this is the only shot we get at this people."
I frowned listening to the brief explanation. There felt like there was so much more story behind this than we were being told. Then it struck me. Compartmentalisation. SHIELD loved that big word. No one could spill all the secrets because not everybody knew them. I'd only come in as a level four agent. It the lowest clearance they could give me with working with Natasha and Clint. They were both level seven.
"Agent's Barton and Hunterton will provide cover from these buildings." Agent Evans pointed as the image changed back to a close up satellite image. "STRIKE will cover from all sides and breech on Barton's mark. Our insider will drop as soon as STRIKE infiltrates, so anyone standing is a threat. This is a live fire mission, kill orders issued. No prisoners or hostages. Any questions?"
Everything was so simple. No grand detailed plans. Just a plain shoot and kill. Nothing else. My nerves hit me harder than before. What the hell had I gotten myself into? All of a sudden doing a boring job like the catering run to Antartica sounded a lot safer.
"Who's our insider?" Someone from STRIKE Team Bravo asked.
"Melinda May," Coulson supplied. "You all know her. Anyone shoots her by accident will have to answer to her."
"Oh good Cookies will be there," Clint snickered quietly. "This will be fun."
Note to self, don't call Agent May by that nickname. Knowing Clint it was probably going to be something she hated.
"Anything else?" Agent Evans asked looking around the room. "Good, wheels up in 30 minutes. Let's go people."
"Agent Hunterton, come and see me before you go please," Coulson put in as everyone started to stand. "You too Kari."
Uh oh. We were in trouble. I didn't miss the guilty look that Riley shot back to me.
"Meet you in the hanger." Clint gave my shoulder a squeeze. "I'll bring you something nice."
I had no idea what he was talking about. I nodded my consent anyway. Here's hoping it was coffee. I walked to the front of the room, ignoring all the curious looks being thrown my way as I passed the STRIKE Team. Riley was already waiting up the front, standing in front of Coulson and Agent Evans with his arms crossed. I stood next to him, putting my hands in my pockets not quite sure what to do with myself.
"So I got a really interesting photo sent to me yesterday morning," Coulson started, leaning back against the desk. "Which one of you wants to explain it to me?"
"Natasha decided to get me drunk off tequila and made me throw up," I said nervously. "Umm, am I in trouble?"
"You aren't." Coulson had a small smile on his face. "Agent Hunterton may be though because he knows the rules. You don't."
Oh shit. Maybe Natasha was wrong with what she had said about relationships at work? Maybe this really was a big no and we had just caused a big problem.
"Riley?" Agent Evans looked at him expectedly. "This is the last thing I expect from you."
"I promise I will never drink tequila again?" Riley tried with a sheepish smile on his face. He received a near identical unamused expression from both Coulson and Evans. "And we'll sign all the proper paperwork tomorrow morning?"
"Good answer." Agent Evans nodded not before sending me a sly wink. "This is going to be one hell of a story on beer night isn't it?"
"You have no idea," Riley shook his head in amusement. The relief was clear on his face that netter of us was in trouble for this.
"Am I going to have any issues with you two working together today?" Coulson asked.
"No, Sir," I said quickly at the same time as Riley spoke.
"Absolutely not, Sir."
"Good, dismissed Agent Hunterton." Coulson turned to me. "We'll go over the plan for you this afternoon on the way to the Quinjet."
Riley left without another word, Evans tailing right after him. Just before they left the room, Evans barely concealed a chuckle and gave Riley a hard slap on the back. They were too far away for me to hear what was actually said.
"Paperwork?" I said in a small voice once they'd both left the room.
"It's just a form SHIELD makes you sign to say you're in a relationship and you understood the rules that come with it," Coulson explained. "It's not really an issue for you two. You won't be working closely together that much. It's a bit of a funny coincidence that this has happened."
"Yeah, hilarious." I felt myself relax a little more. "I thought I was in big trouble there for a second."
"No, you weren't, but the look on your face was a bit priceless. I couldn't help myself but to drag it out a little," Coulson admitted with a small laugh. His expression quickly turned serious again. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm not sure if I'm nervous or excited," I admitted. "It's swinging around being both. Am I just the pilot today?"
"No, you're a bit more than the pilot today," Coulson said motioning for us to move. I fell into step next to him. "I didn't expect to put you in this situation so quickly. But this came up and it's a fairly straightforward mission. So I'm going to put you up in the nest with Barton and he can talk you through everything. You'll have an earpiece so you can hear everything going on with the ground units. You can sit up there with a sniper rifle, I heard you're a decent shot with one of them. But I don't expect you to need it. This should be a quick in and out, all wrapped up nicely and home for a late dinner."
"That's it?"
"That's it," Coulson confirmed. "Unless you'd really like to go in with Natasha. I can't guarantee you won't get shot if you do that."
"I think I'll be happy enough sitting there with a sniper rifle," I said quickly. Getting shot on my first mission probably wasn't the best start to field work.
"Good." Coulson nodded looking pleased. "How's everything been going? I'm sorry I haven't been around a lot this last week. With Clint and Natasha stuck at the Triskelion at the moment I've been running some other missions with teams."
I'd been too busy to notice Coulson's unexplained absence. Neither Clint or Natasha had brought it up so it was just another thing pushed from my mind.
"Well, Nat's idea of teaching me to fight is to just punch me and see how I handle it." I smiled, which came out more as a grimace. "Hawk has been a bit more helpful. He's trying to teach me to shoot a bow with both hands and I'm just not that coordinated."
"You'll get there, that I'm sure of." Coulson smiled back. Unlike my smile, his was full of confidence. "Today will be good for you. It's about an easy as it gets."
I really hoped so.
"I have complete faith in you," Coulson continued. "I wouldn't have let you tag along if I had any doubt in my mind you couldn't do this."
"Thanks, Coulson." It was good that Coulson was trusting me with this so early on. His confidence gave me a sliver of hope I was going to be fine. "Can't let STRIKE Team Delta down can I?"
"No, and you never will. By the way who stole the truth serum from R&D?"
"Hawk."
I had no problems with throwing Clint to the sharks about that one. I never wanted to be stuck with truth serum ever again.
"Thank you." Coulson looked smugly happy about that piece of information. "And I will go and get coffee I go sit in the control room to get ready for this."
"And I will go and do my pre-flight so we don't crash and die before this mission."
"That would be much appreciated."
I chewed my nails as I ran through my pre-flight checklists as soon as I got to the hanger. My first mission. My first time flying the Quinjet unsupervised. My first boyfriend in a very long time. Today was really being full of first things for me.
The sound of boots on metal made me glance back. No one was due here for another ten minutes. I was nearly ready to power up but the hanger and jet both remained empty. The boots in the back belonged to Clint. He had two cases in his hands.
"Do you prefer a Glock or P30?" Clint asked picking up the first case and stowing it away at the top of the seats. "I got both, Nat prefers the Glock 26 but I like the P30 because of the extra weight. It feels better to fire in my hand."
"P30," I said turning my chair to look at Clint properly. He was dressed in what I'd now figured as standard STRIKE tactical uniform. Except his shirt was cut off at the sleeves leaving his arms free. He'd already pulled on a wrist guard and had his armoured finger tabs on. I'd seen both of them in training. "Whats in the other case?"
The first case I recognised as his collapsible bow. He shot with it in training a few times instead of his training bows. It had a laser sight on it, along with the compatibility to use with his trick arrows. Which were now sitting in its quiver strapped in with the case.
"?hat is your AWSM" Clint explained. "I was going to get you the Barrett M107, but I figured if we needed to move in a hurry you didn't need a rifle that is half your body weight."
"I'm not that skinny." I turned back to the controls and powered the Quinjet up. "Coulson said I'll be sitting up in the nest with you for this one."
"Yeah, we won't see much action tonight," Clint reassured me as he came and sat next to me. "You'll be fine. Just do me a favour and when I tell you to do something, don't argue just do it."
"I'm not in the position to argue," I said instantly. I was a good girl at following orders and rules. Today wouldn't change that. "I will do as I'm told."
"Good." Clint flashed me a smile. "The first one is always the hardest. No matter what it is. First mission, first kill."
"I don't imagine I'll be killing anyone anytime soon." I pointed out. "It's not exactly my area of expertise."
"And hopefully it won't become your area of expertise either." Clint looked so casual sitting in the co-pilot seat with his hands behind his head. He had a little smirk on his face. "So, did you get in trouble?"
"No Riley got in trouble." I corrected Clint. "Not big trouble anyway, because now I'm his girlfriend we're going to be doing the right thing and signing paperwork tomorrow."
"Girlfriend hey?" A grin spread over Clint's face. "That didn't take long."
"Everything in my life feels like it's on fast forward." I fiddled with a few controls to distract myself from my nerves. "It only seemed like yesterday I was sitting at the back of rooms listening to mission briefs. And here I am going on my first one."
"Then think of it this way, you don't have a huge drawn out suspense of it happening." Clint could always find a positive to most situations. I was glad for it today. "I did two years at the Academy and it was this huge process to even get into the field. You know exactly when it's going to start happening and the nerves just build up until that moment. This way you don't have a lot of time to get really nervous."
"Yeah, I remember when Jared did his first field assignment while he was still in the Academy, he was so nervous beforehand he couldn't stop puking." I grimaced at the memory. "In return, I spent the day before it throwing up as well."
"Are you guys that close?" Clint's eyebrows shot up a little. "Like you can feel each other getting hurt?"
"Depends on the circumstances. If it's something like really bad nerves then yeah we feel either. Or if one of us is hurt pretty badly. But my nerves right now wouldn't be something Jared could pick up. He probably doesn't even have a clue whats going on," I explained. It felt strange to be saying this so openly. "Jared can teleport directly to me. That I can't explain. He says its like a pull he can automatically feel if he concentrates on me."
"That's really cool." Clint looked impressed. "That might come in handy later on. Do you need to practice your powers to make them better? Or does it just come naturally."
"No, it's like anything, you have to practice." I felt a little awkward talking about my powers still. Clint seemed to love to talk about them. "If you haven't noticed, I don't use mine a lot."
"I did notice actually." Clint looked at me carefully, like he was trying to find an answer to a question."I wondered what the polite way to bring it up was that you need to practice with that as well. It'll come in handy in the field."
"Who's going to help me with that?" I pursed my lips. I knew Clint was right. It was an odd subject that I didn't feel entirely comfortable about still. "It's not like Professor X's school where you have classes for it."
"No idea, but if you like I can throw water balloons at you and we can see how quick you can freeze them," Clint suggested with a brief chuckle. "I'm just throwing the idea out there. You told me that day at the range your invisibility was hard to maintain, so you need to work on it. My guess is that it's just like using your muscles. If you don't use them everything is hard at first. But the more you work it the better it gets."
Clint had a very good point. The reason Jared found teleporting so easy was because he did it all the time. Even when he wasn't supposed to. I used to be able to stay invisible for nearly an hour without much effort when I was younger. I froze a pond solid in the middle of summer when we were out on the ranch one year. It wasn't until I was in high school that I'd stopped doing it for fun. I could go months without using my powers and not give it a second thought. But in re,turn it was harder to do things.
"If I let you help me with that I have one rule," I said seriously. Clint nodded looking thoughtful and listening intently to what I was about to say. "I swear if you make any jokes about using the force, or any other Star Wars reference I'm going to freeze your nuts off. I am not telekinetic."
Clint burst out laughing, me only a second after him.
"I wouldn't have even thought about that, but I promise I'll refrain." Clint held his hands up in surrender while still laughing. "Can I ask you where your super suit is though?"
"Only if you get me the same thing Natasha is wearing."
"I can arrange that. Do you want it in black or black?" Clint grinned.
"Let me get back to you on that one, I'm not sure which shade of black I want to go with."
Authors Note
Here we go! First mission is about to happen.
I originally intended to make it all in one chapter. How,ever I really enjoy writing Riley and Kari together and that got a bit out of control. The second half to this chapter is sitting there waiting for me to edit it, so it should be out within the next 24 hours.
This week I didn't think I was going to get any writing done. How,ever my husband broke his eye socket. Not just a fracture either, he pushed a piece of bone right out of place. So this week was spent sitting around waiting for specialist appointments. A lot of waiting. Hence I managed to push these chapters out.
As always, enjoy!
Edited 3rd June 2018
