"Pull my finger."
"I'm not pulling your finger."
"Go on, pull my finger."
"Last time I pulled your finger we had to leave the ramp of the Quinjet open to air it out because it stank that badly."
"Come on where's your sense of adventure? Pull my finger."
I offered my finger to Clint yet again with a grin on my face. He sighed dramatically looking at me in the most pained expression he could manage. It was downplayed by the amusement dancing across his face. He couldn't hide it with my childish persistence.
"For a girl, your farts stink," Clint rolled his eyes before reaching over and pulled on my offered index finger. The hard tug he gave it hurt but I didn't let it show. Nothing happened. I just sat there smugly proud of myself. Clint frowned at me and tugged on my finger again to no effect.
"Seriously?" He asked shaking his head. He let go of my finger and turned his attention back to the controls. "You just wanted me to pull your finger for no…."
He was cut off by me letting rip the loudest fart I could manage. It was only drowned out by my hysterical laughter. I was laughing so hard I had to brace myself against the control panel to stop myself falling out of the co-pilot seat.
2 weeks. 2 very long and boring weeks of absolutely nothing. I felt we'd flown over the country about a thousand times by now. The long walks of patrols and doing searches by foot were even worse. I'd never accumulated so much damn sand in my clothes. All this and still no sign of Tony Stark.
Clint and I were doing another sweep of the mountains in the Kunar providence yet again in the Quinjet. We'd already covered this area several times but SHIELD had asked for another sweep of the area for reasons not given to us. A new camera was mounted on the nose of the Quinjet feeding information back to the SHIELD agents at base. Where ever Stark had disappeared to, it was looking more and more like he was dead. It was like he'd simply vanished without a trace.
Jared and Natasha had gone to talk to one of their contacts about a possible lead. They'd been gone 2 days, leaving Clint and I back on base running surveillance. Which meant we were either flying at 200ft doing sweeps on the Quinjet. Or tagging along with other teams searching on foot. We'd mostly been going out with the other STRIKE teams, but went with a few of the military units as well. I'd never been so bored in my life.
Clint felt the same way. Our boredom had gone beyond talking about sports or sex. It'd now just dissolved into fart jokes and trying to see who could burp the alphabet out the quickest. It felt like I was back in grade school, but at least it kept us amused. I was letting Clint fly until we turned around to head back to base. We'd settled on taking turns with flying so neither of us went crazy from our boredom.
"What are you going to do when we get back?" Clint asked.
"I'm going to kick you out of the room for an hour so I can have sex with my boyfriend," I said smartly. "And if that doesn't happen I'm just going to follow him into the shower and have my way with him."
That was the other shitty part of being here. Riley and I barely got 5 minutes to ourselves most days. The first night we'd been good and stayed in separate beds. The second night Riley came into the room we were staying in 5 minutes after the lights went out. He didn't say anything, we just squished onto the single bed together. It was a good thing I was skinny and didn't take up too much room. Jared, Natasha and Clint had all been amazing about discreetly giving us some alone time, usually first thing in the morning. It wasn't much, but those stolen moments alone were precious. Riley had joked this morning about sneaking off base to a hotel for the night.
"I hate you for having your boyfriend here," Clint said jokingly. "By the time I get home I won't remember what to do with my wife. It feels like I've been away forever this time."
"I don't think Laura will let you forgot what to do," I laughed and felt my cheeks redden slightly at the same time. A few days ago we'd been flying alone again. Clint had the controls and asked me to check his phone when a message came through from Laura. To my ever lasting embarrassment and Clint's amusement, it'd been Laura sending Clint a dirty message. He swore he didn't know she was going to do it. But the evil smirk on his face led me to believe otherwise. I still couldn't stop myself blushing when I thought of it. It'd been a very detailed message from the brief glance I'd gotten of it.
"So when we get back you've got my kids for the weekend," Clint didn't bother to ask. "You and Natasha can share them. Are you staying for Thanksgiving or not? If we're home for it that is."
I really had to discuss that with Riley. We hadn't made plans about that beyond a few casual mentions. But I was pretty certain I was going back to his home with him for Thanksgiving. Depending on how much time I could get away from work I was even considering swinging by my Grandparents place on the way home. Mom and Dad always spent the weekend for Thanksgiving there, so even if we did an overnight trip it'd get them off my case a bit. Being bored I'd been actually having conversations via email with my Mom. She was dying to meet Riley and I think she was secretly thrilled I was actually managing a relationship.
"At this stage not," I felt guilty for turning him down. The brief flicker of disappointment crossing Clint's face didn't help my guilt either. "But Christmas I'm all there. What can and can't I get the kids?"
"Anything that can be used as a weapon," Clint said straight away. "Cooper likes Lego at the moment. He keeps hinting he wants the Millennium Falcon Lego set. So hint, hint Aunty Kari."
Clint gave me a nudge in the ribs as he said it. I laughed and jumped away from his prodding elbow. Lego was easy to manage. If it was the Millennium Falcon he wanted, then I was going to be the awesome Aunt this Christmas.
"Lila is a bit more difficult. She changes her mind week to week what she's into," Clint's nose scrunched up briefly. "One minute she's all about Barbies and Princess'. The next she's running around with a Nerf gun. So my guess would be talk to Laura on that one. What do you want?"
"I don't want anything," I said quickly to cover my surprise. I hadn't expected Clint to even consider buying me something for Christmas. I was one of those annoying people to buy for. If I wanted something I always just went and got it myself when I wanted it. I had a complete lack of impulse control when it came to shopping most of the time. So when birthdays and Christmas rolled around I was always stuck on what I actually wanted. My parents usually resorted to buying my gift vouchers.
"Don't be annoying," Clint rolled his eyes. "Christmas is a big deal in our house. So presents are a big deal. You're getting presents whether you want them or not. So if you have a request put it in now. Otherwise you'll like what your given and thats the end of it."
"Oh yeah?" I just laughed at Clint steamrolling me. I'd actually have to think of something I wanted now. "What do you want then smartass? And Laura? I already know what to get Nat."
Natasha and I had a very eerily almost identical taste when it came to shoes and handbags. We were even the same size shoes which made shopping ridiculously easy. I'd spied her adding a pair of Jimmy Choo glitter pumps to a bookmark the other day when she was shopping on her laptop. It was the last pair in that style and the only pair left in her size. With Jared's help since he knew her password, I logged onto the site and brought them. Then deleted it off the bookmark and the browser history so she'd have a hard time finding the site again. Even if she did, there weren't any left for her to buy. The bonus was I could steal them anytime I wanted. My credit card cried a little when I paid for them. But I was feeling a bit cashed up at the moment thanks to my last pay being as a full level 4 Agent being a lot more money than I ever expected.
"Laura loves anything from this beauty place that does all those handmade things like bath bombs, lotions and all that nice stuff," Clint supplied being surprisingly helpful for once. "They do gift packs. So that's really easy because she loves everything from there. Don't tell her, but this year I booked a full day spa for her. She deserves it."
"Nice," as well as being helpful, Clint was actually being very sweet as well. It was funny seeing the two sides of him. The loving husband and father, then he slips into the cool headed assassin so easily. The difference was pretty incredible. "What about you?"
"You aren't allowed to laugh," Clint glanced at me with a sharp look. "If you promise you won't laugh, I'll tell you."
"I swear I won't laugh," I promised. This was going to be interesting.
"I love old cowboy movies," Clint was defensive straight away. He looked ready to snap at me the second I opened my mouth to giggle about it. "There's a John Wayne collection coming out."
"Consider it done," I didn't need to laugh at that. I could recite kids movies word for word with the amount of times I'd seen them. I was in no position to laugh at Clint's movie choices. "Ok, my turn to fly. Get out of my seat."
It took him a minute and a great deal of theatrics to finally give me the pilot seat back. I ignored the huffs of annoyance, the eye rolling and dramatic sighing. I didn't blame him for not wanting to give up the controls. There was boredom, then there was what we were experiencing now. Without Jared and Natasha here was just making it worse. The gym didn't give us a lot of opportunities to spar, so we were left with just working out. Clint and I had been jogging around the base most mornings as well. The only good thing was the amount of range time I was getting. I'd happily spend at least 2 hours every day out there with my AWSM. I was getting really damn good with it too. I'd caused a lot of raised eyebrows with my shooting. The compliments I got were nice too. I'd even had a go at Riley's CheyTac one day. As fun as it was to fire I much preferred the light weight AWSM. It just felt so much nicer in my hands and easier for my to shoot. I shouldn't complain too much though. At least Clint and I could take a Quinjet out and fly. The rest of the STRIKE teams were even more restricted than we were. Yesterday I caught STRIKE Team Bravo playing baseball with a rock and stick. The game had mostly turned into trying to hit the rock at each other than actual baseball though.
The flight back didn't take long. It was just on sunset as the Quinjet touched the runway and I powered down. We thankfully had a car to head back to the accommodation blocks. Otherwise it was a very long walk. Clint drove while I mostly annoyed him by throwing anything I could get my hands on in the car. At the moment it was a torn up burger wrapped that I kept pulling pieces off and dropping in his hair. He kept trying to swat me away but his focus was more on trying to stay on the road.
"If you keep annoying me I'm not going to give you and Riley any privacy after dinner," Clint threatened as he threw a piece of paper back at me. If he hadn't been laughing while he said it I might have believed him.
"There are plenty of places we can sneak off to," I called him out on his bullshit threat. "Natasha and I have a shower block to ourselves."
Something that seemed to be common place for us now. Natasha and I were the only females in the entire accommodation block. Well the side that we were using. We had an entire ablution block all to ourselves which meant long showers and plenty of hot water. No one besides Clint and Jared were game to come in and use it. Not that it mattered, all the showers were individual stalls. It wasn't like we all showered together.
"Oh look at that," Clint pulled the car up in front of our room. His eyes following a figure in the darkening night. "I'm pretty sure that's Riley walking into the mens showers right now."
I followed his gaze. Fuck it, Clint was right. By the time I spotted him Riley was already in the door, his figure shadowed against the light before the door closed. The towel slung over his shoulder gave it away that he wasn't just going to the toilet.
"Guess what," I opened the door and got out of the car. Clint was only half a second after me as he climbed out of the drivers seat. He lent on the roof of the car looking at me expectingly. "I'm just going to go in there."
"And how are you going to do that?" Clint's expecting look slipped into a smug grin. "I dare say at this time its packed in there."
"I'll just go invisible," I informed Clint with my own smugness. "Watch me."
My cockiness could potentially get me into a lot of trouble right now. It wasn't a long distance to the showers but I'd have to try and slip under the door to get into the actual shower. Not to mention I had to find the shower Riley was using.
"Off you go then," Clint jerked his head in the direction of the showers. "Don't come complaining to me if you get in trouble."
We had a group of a few different military units in our block as well. It'd only got more crowded when a new unit had arrived today. I hadn't seen what they actually were though. Not that it made a difference. We had every service here already. If I got caught in the showers I could already hear the lecture coming from Coulson about it. Not to mention it felt like I was breaking the rules in such a horrible way. Fraternisation was made to be such a big deal in the military. It still felt awkward that we were all sharing a room. My brain just couldn't seem to wrap itself around that no one was caring about it within SHIELD. Evans hadn't even teased us or said anything about Riley staying in my bed.
"Fine, I'm going to go have fun," I hid my twinge of uncertainly with my ego. "Have fun jerking off or whatever you're going to do while I'm away."
I didn't let Clint reply. I had to do this right now otherwise I'd chicken out in a big way. I concentrated, letting the invisibility slide over my body. The feeling of it was strange after not using it for such a long time. I didn't feel any different, but the mental part of actually maintaining it was a lot of effort. It was a good thing it was dark so no one would have noticed me doing it.
"I'm going to use the girls showers," Clint pushed him away from the car with a laugh. "So this is how I get you to practice your powers more? Give you stupid dares."
I was already walking away when he said it. I knew he couldn't see me flipping him off but it was such a reflex action now. I jogged to the block, practically bouncing up the 2 stairs that led to the door. Once I got there, my hand poised above the doorknob, I hesitated. This was going to look really fucking weird opening the door and then having it look like no one goes in. Shit, I did not think that one through. I quickly glanced over my shoulder, hoping Clint was still there so I could ask him for help. No such luck, he'd already disappeared. I pursed my lips, my concentration nearly slipping in the effort it took the maintain the invisibility. I was saved by the door swinging open. I quickly jumped out of the way, avoiding getting smacked in the face by it. Slipping around the 2 guys walking out of there, I snuck in without any further problems.
My next problem was finding the shower Riley was in. It was a pretty big ablution block. There was a row of 15 showers and the same amount of toilets. As predicted it was crowded in there. A lot of the showers were running. A few guys were standing at the sink either shaving or brushing their teeth. It was noisy too. A radio was playing in the corner. A few different conversations were being thrown making the room a dull buzz of noise. I stood by one of the empty sinks chewing on the inside of my cheek pondering my next move.
"Someone needs to tell me who that tall blonde chick is," one of the guys, who was definitely not a STRIKE member asked. I knew all the STRIKE guys by faces, names were still pretty touch and go with me. But I didn't recognise him. He was leaning against one of the sinks looking like he was waiting for a free shower. "The one who's been walking around with that guy who thinks he's Robin Hood."
I smacked my hand over my mouth to stop myself laughing at that comment. Wait until I tell Clint that one. I'd be sure to point the guy out as well. Even when we were just flying Clint always had a bow on him. His trick quiver never seemed to leave his back either. Depending on the mood Clint was in when I told him that, the guy just might find himself with an arrow sticking out of his ass.
"That would be Agent Lyngley," Rumlow's voice was unmistakable. I peered around the few bodies at the sink to see him standing down the room further. He was sitting on a bench with his feet propped up looking bored as he looked at his phone. At the sound of his voice the guy who had spoken glanced over to him as well.
"And does Agent Lyngley have a name?" he persisted. "Hang on, isn't that tall blonde guy Agent Lyngley as well?"
"That's her brother," Rumlow didn't bother looking up from his phone. "Why don't you ask her yourself?"
Rumlow's question made me glance down quickly to double check I was still invisible. I could feel the very subtle change in my body when I did it. But standing invisible in a room full of half naked men was making me feel a bit paranoid. I let out a tiny sigh of relief when I reestablished what I already knew. I was still invisible.
"Just wanted to know," the guy shrugged. "She looks like she'd give you the ride of your life in bed."
"Hey Riley," Rumlow raised his voice to be heard over the pouring water. "Hows your girlfriend in bed?"
"Fucking amazing," Riley's voice came back from about halfway down the shower stalls. I made a beeline to where I heard his voice come from. "Not that it's really anyone's fucking business about what she'd be like in bed. Just because she's a girl doesn't mean she wouldn't hand your ass to you on a plate if you tried anything."
"Sorry," came the sullen reply. I was too busy quickly glancing under the doors to take much notice of the guy who'd been speaking. I finally located the set of legs that belonged to my boyfriend. There was just about room for me to wriggle under the gap between the floor and door. I was glad to be finally in the cubicle. I didn't think I could maintain it any longer.
Riley had his back to me as he was propped against the wall with one arm out to balance himself. His head was bowed slightly leaving the water running in trails down his neck and back. He rolled his neck with a satisfying popping of the joints. The shower had a small changing area with a bench. Riley's clothes were already on there, so I quickly stripped off and let go of the invisibility as I slipped under the water with him. I wrapped my arms around his waist before whispering in his ear.
"Boo."
He jumped so much he nearly crashed into the wall. It was only sheer luck that kept him upright. He whipped around, making my arms unwrap from around him. He looked at me wide eyed in fright and shock.
"Jesus Kari," Riley whispered before laughing quietly. His shock was replaced by amusement. "How the hell did you sneak in here?"
"My other power," I wrapped my arms around his neck this time. I went to pull him in for a kiss but Riley pulled back looking confused. "I can turn invisible. Have I never told you that?"
"Beyond you throwing that ball of ice at Jared I haven't see you do anything. You don't talk about them let alone show them off," Riley pointed out. He kept his voice dropped so no one else would hear us. "Can you show me?"
I was almost going to turn him down, but Riley dropped his bottom lip in an over exaggerated pout. His puppy face was a bit too adorable to resist. As hard it was to maintain, I went invisible again. I only held onto it for about 5 seconds before turning visible again. Riley looked absolutely amazed at the small show of it.
"That's so cool," Riley grinned. Any reply I was about to give was cut off by him pulling me back in for my denied kiss from a minute ago. At the touch of his lips against mine the world seemed to shut off around me. Gone was the founding persistent buzzing noise of the commotion around us. All I could feel was Riley's lips against mine. He tangled his fingers through my hair to pull me even closer, gently pushing me against the shower wall. I used my right leg to wrap around his legs, pushing myself right up against him. The reaction was instant. I could feel him getting hard against me straight away.
"I'm not too keen on a quickie in the shower with a room full of people," Riley abruptly pulled away from me. It was like it had just clicked over in his head what we were doing in the situation we were in. "Give me 2 minutes and I'll be out?"
"How about a blow job?" I teased pulling him back in for another kiss. He dodged me easily, but couldn't stop himself smiling.
"Just wait," Riley laughed quietly. "I'll make it worth your while."
Riley always made anything worth my while to do with sex. It didn't help that I wanted sex right here and now though.
"You could always wash me?" I picked up the bar of soap that was sitting in the soap holder. I held it out to Riley, but didn't let him take it just yet. "That was fun last time we did that."
I could see the exact same thought running through Riley's head as my own. That was a lot of fun what we did last time. I'd been in the shower myself, running a shower puff over my body when Riley came in. Riley had taken it off me and started to run the soapy puff all over me fairly innocently to start with. Having his fingers trail over my body after the puff, kneading out all the muscle knots had me very quickly turned on. When his fingers finally made their way between my legs, even I was surprised at how wet I was. Riley thew the shower puff out of the way, picked me up and pinned me against the wall. Hot didn't even come close to describing how it was being fucking while pinned against the shower wall.
Riley looked like he was having a hard time concentrating on anything else but that memory I just pushed into both our minds. Using it to my advantage, I pulled him back in for another kiss. This time he didn't resist me. It was so easy to get lost when he kissed me. It was like the world stopped around us and I could feel was him. His lips on mine. His hands on my body, one tangled through my hair and the other on my hip pulling me in closer. Close enough that out bodies felt like they melted together.
"Riley," Evans voice suddenly cut out across the room loudly. "Still in here?"
"Shit," Riley whispered pulling away from me. He raised his voice while pulling a face of disgust. "Yep I'm here."
"Get your ass out of the shower," Evans called back. "You're needed. Any idea where Kari is?"
"I'm here as well," I called out. No point lying about it. If Riley was needed and I was being searched for, then something was about to happen. Hopefully something exciting.
The sound of my voice in the room brought everything to complete silence. The only thing that could be heard was the sound of water still running and the radio playing.
"Then get your ass out of the shower as well," Evans was quick to reply. "Stop preserving water or whatever bullshit excuse you were about to feed me."
"So busted," Riley laughed under his breath as he turned the water off. I pouted slightly at my plans being ruined. If nothing else I was at least going to give Riley a blow job in the shower. I hoped whatever we were about to do was going to make up for not getting sex tonight. We both quickly dried off and got dressed in record time. I cursed my own stupidity for doing this as soon as Riley opened the cubicle door. Every set of eyes fell on me as I walked out of the shower, still carrying my boots I hadn't bothered to put on yet. Riley strode out with a satisfied smirk on his face like we'd just been doing what I wanted to do. I quickly schooled my face into an air of complete indifference. Like I didn't have a care in the world I just strode out of the mens showers with my boyfriend. Well, I really didn't care that much. I just hated being stared at.
Evans was waiting for both of us outside. We didn't get a lecture, all he did was shake his head at both of us.
"We might have something," Evans jumped straight into it. "Coulson is having a mission brief in 20 minutes. Be dressed and ready to go."
Neither of us needed to be told twice. The words were barely out of Evans mouth and I was already running towards my room to get proper clothes on. Riley right on my heels. I was already down to my underwear by the time I got to my bed, rummaging through my bag for the tactical gear I wore for missions. I still hadn't got a skin tight suit like Natasha. So I was still in black pants with a knee patch sewn into them. A simple black t-shirt with my black SHIELD jacket over my arm. It was currently too hot for the jacket but that could change in a heart beat around here. I shoved my gloves in my pocket, not sure if I'd need them later or not. I was just threading my belt through the pant loops as Clint walked in. He was shirtless, with a towel draped over his shoulder. It was very hard not to stare at Clint when he was shirtless. Riley had an awesome body, but Clint took it to another level. Those arms, taunt chest muscles and perfectly sculpted abs were enough to even make straight men stare. I secretly enjoyed the view, even if it was Clint and his personality attached to the body. He stopped in his tracks as he saw Riley and I getting dressed. A grin quickly grew over his face.
"Fucking awesome, you guys are coming too," Clint bent down and grabbed a shirt that had been tossed on his bed. He yanked it over his head and grabbed his own black jacket. "Lets go."
I bounced after Clint far too excited to care that I was acting like an excited 5 year old. I was too busy in my excitement that I didn't see the group of SEAL's walking past until I ran smack bang into one of them. It was only Riley being right behind me that saved me from falling on my ass. I swear Clint had stepped aside a second too late to purposely see me crash into them.
"You're clumsy tonight," Riley laughed not letting go of my waist where he'd grabbed me. He gave me a brief squeeze in an awkward hug. I quickly mumbled an apology to the guy who'd I'd run into. He just shot my a brief smile and then did a double take.
"Holy shit, is that you Grimm?" one of the SEALS stopped dead in his tracks to turn and face us. At the mention of that name, most of the guys stopped to see what was going on.
"Holy shit, you're still alive. I can't believe no one has shot you yet," Riley let me go with a laugh. He walked into the group and grabbed the guy who spoke in a hug.
I took that as my cue that I wasn't going to be welcome in this little reunion. Riley seemed oblivious to anything but the noise of his old SEAL team greeting him. I don't blame him, those guys would have been pretty tight. I just left them be and caught up with Clint. I could see him doing something on his phone, the screen lighting up his face in the darkness. Just to keep being annoying I launched myself onto Clint's back and clung to him so I wouldn't fall off. He barely staggered under my weight. All I got was a laugh and him adjusting my weight so I was sitting up a little higher in the piggy back. He didn't even need 2 hands to push me up, one and some wriggling from his body was enough.
"Nice try," Clint laughed putting his phone away in his pocket. "Why am I giving you a piggy back ride skinny ass?"
"Because," that was the only answer I could come up with. I gave him a kick with my heels. "Giddy up Hawkeye."
In one fluid motion, Clint bent over and his grip shifted to grabbing me just under the armpit. He flipped me over his head and straight onto my back like I weighed nothing at all. I landed flat on my back in the dirt, looking up at his face looming over me. A second laughter he burst into hysterical laughter. I was only a heartbeat after him. We were such idiots.
"That was mean," I tried to scoff at him but I was still laughing too hard. I propped myself up and Clint offered me a hand when I got into a sitting position. I took it and let him haul me to my feet. My hair was still wet from the shower so the dirt stuck right through it. I yanked the ponytail out and quickly shook it out.
"Funny though," Clint's laughter wrangled back to quiet chuckles. "Now you look like you've been rolling around in the dirt."
"I couldn't even get my quickie in the shower," I grumbled, but still couldn't keep the smile off my face. I pulled my hair back up into a very messy ponytail. "So what's happening?"
I glanced over my shoulder to see Riley and his old SEAL team still a few paces behind us. They were all talking and not paying any attention to us in front of them. I don't even think they noticed me getting flipped off Clint's back. If they did they were being amazingly discreet about it.
"I think they found something," Clint explained with a small shrug. "But it could be nothing as well. So don't get your hopes up too quickly."
Fuck it. My face fell slightly at the thought of this being nothing. Here I was thinking we were about to be flying into some action. Literally. I'd be really upset if this was going to be nothing more than another recon flight.
After a 2 minute walk down the lit road we finally came to the building that SHIELD was running the base of operations out of. It wasn't anything fancy. Just another hut like the several hundred around the base. Computers and laptops were scattered over the various desks around the room. Most of them were pushed up against the walls to make room for the chairs placed in haphazard rows. Maps and satellite images were tacked up over the walls in seemingly random order. Somehow Coulson had managed to even find a coffee machine somewhere. It was currently buried under a stack of paperwork and photos.
"Everyone sit," Coulson came through the other door at the back of the room. I'd barely seen our handler for the last 2 weeks. He looked stressed, tired and strung out. While we were bored out of our minds he was running everything back here almost single handedly. I didn't envy him in the task at all. Evans, Rumlow and a Navy officer in fatigues also walked in.
Clint and I both sat in the closest chairs available in the front row. Behind us STRIKE Team Alpha, Rumlow's team, were still filtering though the door with the SEAL team. Boots thumped across the floor as everyone hurried to get seated before they got the infamous death stare from Coulson. The scraping of chairs being pulled across the floor was like nails on a chalkboard as the rest of the guys got seated. The tension in the room could be felt in the air. Everyone seemed to be chaffing at the bit for some action.
"Lights," Coulson wasn't wasting any time with pleasantries or extra words. Someone at the back quickly jumped to their feet and turned the lights off. As the room plunged into darkness the projector came to life, bringing up satellite photos.
"These images were sent back to us courtesy of Agent Barton and Agent Lyngley see of the mountain ranges in the Kunar providence," Coulson began.
Clint nudged me with his elbow. We both exchanged near identical smug grins to each other. So this afternoon's flight wasn't a total waste of time. We may have actually found something useful for once.
"As you can see," the screen zoomed in on one of the mountain ranges. Coulson paused for a second not looking pleased at what was on the screen. "What we found isn't much but it's the best lead we have so far."
It took me a few seconds of squinting and tilting my head to actually see what Coulson was talking about. The murmurs of people around us asking what it was made me glad it wasn't just me who couldn't see it clearly. But it was there. Amongst the blurry grains of the blow up image it was something that looked like a few crates stacked up with the Stark Industries logo on them barely visible. The material that had been covering the crates looked like it'd been blown away by accident. Someone was doing a very clever job of keeping it disguised.
"This area is pretty treacherous," Coulson continued. He turned away from the projector scanning the dark room. "It's a mountain range that isn't very accessible, even on foot. There's a lot of ravines, caves and things we don't even know about there."
I pursed my lips looking at the satellite image that had been zoomed out again. Coulson wasn't wrong there. The entire picture looked like something out of every mountain climbers wet dreams. But for us average people who weren't into that sort of thing, it was looking like a new form of hell to try and get around. We'd have a distinct disadvantage if there were hostiles in those mountains. We would be stumbling around in the dark in the unknown terrain where the hostels would know every nook and cranny.
"I'm currently asking a lot," Coulson pursed his lips, crossing his arms. He leant against the desk, his eyes falling directly on Clint and I. That look made a nervous flutter settle in my stomach. "But this is all we have to go on. I need a STRIKE team in there to chase this possible lead down. Lieutenant Commander has volunteered some of his DEVGRU Gold Squadron to provide support."
Impressive. It seems we'd have the Gold Knights joining us. We only get the best to join in. I glanced over my shoulder to see the SEAL men behind us. Another thing I learnt about my quiet boyfriend. I didn't even know what squadron he'd been in. My eye caught Riley who was sitting amongst them. The only member of Bravo team in the room. He didn't notice me looking at him. He was having a very quiet conversation with the guy who'd greeted him on the walk here.
"Agent Rumlow and Lieutenant Commander Maning will run through the specifics," Coulson pushed himself away from the desk. He gave a small nod to Rumlow and Lieutenant Commander Maning who was standing patiently behind him.
"Right," Rumlow took a step forward. "Since the intel we have is sketchy this is going to be made simple."
Rumlow fumbled with the remote for the projector for a second. A muted laughed came from where most of his team were sitting.
"Shut up," Rumlow growled. There was no menace behind it. More of a resigned grumble for having to say it for the millionth time. "My team doesn't need to point out my lack of skill with anything electronic."
That brought a snicker of amusement from Clint and I. The SEAL team didn't bother to cover their own quiet laughter either. Finally the screen displayed another zoomed out satellite photo of the area.
"The plan is to have cover on these 4 points," Rumlow pointed out a square on the map. "We believe that will keep the team covered while we try and find a way down into the ravine where the crates were spotted."
Though much detail couldn't been seen on the image given the terrain that plan made sense. It'd give the team that was going there the security to move at a decent pace with cover. In our boredom Clint had been schooling me on a lot of different tactics used in missions like this. Sniper and counter sniper tactics were a favourite and passionate topic of his. I'd thoroughly enjoyed our discussions and eventual debates when I got a little more confident on the matters.
"Covering will be Agent Hunterton," Rumlow pointed to the top right hand corner. "Agent Barton."
Clint got the left hand top corner. He just nodded at Rumlow. Gone was playful Clint, straight away he was straight into serious mode.
"Agent Lyngley," Rumlow pointed at the bottom left corner.
I glanced around the room to see where Jared had snuck in. Then it smacked me right in the face. Jared wasn't here and Rumlow was referring to me. In fact Rumlow was looking straight at me while I looked around like an idiot.
"Excuse me?" I couldn't stop the words slipping out of my mouth. The rest of my verbal diarrhoea was stopped by a sharp kick to my calf by Clint. All of a sudden the entire room's focus was on me.
"Is there a problem Kari?" I could smack the smug look of Rumlow's face. I opened my mouth to reply but found it shut just as quickly. I looked over to Coulson who gave me a small shake of his head. I took it as my cue to be quiet. Though I wasn't sure if it was that he didn't agree with it, or just to be quiet. Rumlow was looking at me with both eyebrows raised waiting for a reply.
"Nope," I said simply. "Sorry for the interruption."
I heard a cough behind me. I had no doubt it was Riley laughing at me and my big mouth. I forced my eyes to stay staring forward and to keep listening. Rumlow named another guy. By the sound of annoyance coming from behind me I guessed it wasn't one of his team. I didn't know the marksman for Alpha team but I wouldn't be surprised if someone's ego just got trodden on.
"The rest of us will following through here," Rumlow pointed to a spot on the map. "There aren't any known hostiles in the area but we aren't taking any chances. This will be a live fire mission. Take hostages if needed. We'll be landing about 2 miles away and hiking in our foot. Any questions?"
There were various mumbles responses. Lieutenant Commander Maning spoke up for the first time.
"Like the Agent's have said, we don't have a lot to go on," Maning looked around the room. "So lets get in boys and see what we can find. We leave in 45 minutes. Dismissed."
"You heard the man," Rumlow added. "Gear up. Agent Lyngley you can wait here a second."
The sound of chairs scraping across the floor was deafening. Everyone seemed to be in a rush to get to the armoury and back here. At the dismissal I felt my nerves kick in at last. Shit, this was suddenly very real. I was going to be out there by myself in a very real situation. When was I going to be able to be on a mission and not get nervous before it? I sat in my seat watching the room empty around me. Clint waited until everyone else left before getting up as well.
"I'll wait outside," Clint gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "We'll head to the armoury together."
As soon as Clint walked off, I got up and walked to the front of the room. Rumlow, Maning and Coulson were all up there conversing quietly between themselves. I stood a few paces away feeling out of place. I absently picked at my nails waiting until their conversation was finished. It only took a minute until both Maning and Rumlow left. Rumlow gave me a hard clap on my back as he walked past. I smacked him in the arm, which ended up being nothing more than a glancing blow. He was already nearly out of reach before I reacted. I didn't miss the curious stare that Maning gave me as he watched Rumlow and I interact. It wasn't until they both left the room that I made my way closer to Coulson.
"Sir," I greeted Coulson cautiously. I couldn't stop myself picking at my nails out of nerves.
"Don't look so surprised," Coulson's face seemed to light up at the apparent look on my face. The stress and worry from the last 2 weeks melted away from his own face. "It was actually my suggestion. You had to fly there anyway so it won't hurt to sit you up where you'd be out of trouble."
"That's all?" I felt instant relief at his words. My nerves disappeared straight away. My hands dropped back down to my side.
"That's it," Coulson confirmed. He looked at me with a wry smile. "Sorry to disappoint. This might not even be anything. But it's the only lead we have. Go get ready. I'll have the coordinates for the drop ready for you when you get back."
"Thank you Sir," I smiled back, mine was more exited than Coulson's though. "And thank you for trusting me with this."
"Your own actions have made this happen," Coulson shrugged off my thanks. "Off you go."
I didn't need to be told twice. It was hard to keep the bounce out of my step as I walked out the door. As promised, Clint was waiting outside for me slumped against the wall. At the sound of my boots leaving the last step of the hut he pushed himself upright. We didn't speak on the walk to the armoury. Clint seemed lost in his own thoughts. I kept bouncing between excitement and a touch of nerves.
The armoury was busy when we got there. I found myself completely lost on what I actually needed. I stood in the doorway looking around at the organised chaos of it all.
"Body armour," Clint's hand landed on my shoulder He gently steered me away from group of people. "You might not need it, but better safe than sorry."
I let Clint guide me to where it was stored. He rummaged through the racks of vests until he came out with one that looked small enough to fit me. He tossed it to me. I barely caught it and nearly staggered under the weight of it. The Interceptor body armour weighed an easy 20 pounds with the ceramic plating in it. I didn't complain. I just pulled it over my head and wriggled into it. I zipped it up and adjusted the side straps so it actually fit snugly. While I adjusted it Clint walked to the back of the room. He came back with the case that held my AWSM. I'd gotten really bored one day and decorated it with silver stars and written my name all over it. No one else used it so I'd claimed it as mine. He'd already strapped his quiver on his back and the retractable bow was slung over his shoulder. As usual P30's were strapped to both his thighs.
"This is yours," Clint put the case at my feet. He undid one of the thigh holsters he had and handed it to me. "So is this, and this as well."
Clint reached down and pulled a knife from his right boot. He held it out to me, handle first. It was 6 inches long, about an inch wide with a plain black handle. I looked at the knife and then back up to his face in confusion.
"Trust me it comes in handy," Clint offered it to me again with a small grin. "Just don't drop it on yourself. Its pretty sharp. Just stick it in your boot."
I did as I was told. I bent down and carefully arranged the knife down the side of my boot. It was awkward enough to bend with the body armour on. The feel of the blade lying flat against my ankle was a very odd sensation. But I wasn't going to doubt Clint. He'd know from experience about knives coming in handy. I'd seen him and Natasha both spar with their knives. Impressive didn't come close to describing watching them work with a blade.
"Spare mags are in your case," Clint tapped it with his foot. "For your sidearm as well. Are you ready?"
I was the most ready I would ever be. I squared my shoulders, letting out a small breath. I let the small flutter of nerves disappear and the excitement take over. At long last something was happening.
Authors Note.
Merry Christmas everyone! A gift to all of my wonderful readers out there. I hope you all have a fantastic day and all your wishes come true.
I may or may not get another chapter out before the New Year. Its anyones guess right now.
