"Baby up to last weekend. You've got my temperature rising…happy hour tipsy on a Monday. Funny how it changes after one day." How I feel right now Cassadee Pope

TRISKELION WASHINTON, DC

Kat had a bounce in her step when she walked into work on Monday. Despite SHIELD's interruption and having to fly right back to DC after the mission, it'd been the best weekend she'd had in a long time.

"Someone's in a good mood," Angie commented when Kat set a coffee before her, leaning against her desk and smiling as she took a sip from her own mug. "And on a Monday no less. I take it your weekend with Barton went well."

"Extremely," Kat said, slapping Angie on the shoulder at her devilish smile. "Stop. It was a PG first date."

Well, technically, with the violence that ensued on the mission it was probably more PG-13, but in all other aspects it was tame, and fun, and wonderful.

"How, you were there the whole weekend."

"SHIELD interrupted. Pulling us in on a mission that didn't have us returning until late Sunday night."

"Rude," Angie pouted. "Johnson should know better."

"It's fine. It was still the best date I've had."

"Ever?" Angie asked, with a wide smile.

"Ever," Kat confirmed, pushing off Angie's desk and making her way to her own.

I wasn't done talking with you. Angie's message flashed across her screen. Did you kiss? Was there tongue? Has he called you yet? Are you official now?

Yes, Maybe, it's only been six hours since I left, and we didn't talk about it.

Angie wasn't the only one who wanted to know if they were official. Opening her email, Kat found one from HR. It was a generic reminder to disclose all inner agency relationships, but it felt a little pointed after her weekend. Deleting the email, she pulled up her dashboard, settling into her work.

CLINT'S APARTMENT NEW YORK CITY

"Someone's got a little extra fire this morning," Natasha commented as Clint powered through the push-up portion of their morning training routine. "Especially for only getting four hours of sleep since your super top-secret mission with Kat that inadvertently interrupted your date with her."

"Three hours of sleep, actually," he said, wiping the sweat from his brow as he caught the water bottle she tossed him and took a swig from it. He was too amped after Kat flew back to DC; he couldn't fall asleep.

"I take it everything went well," she said, moving towards the weights as Clint stepped up to the punching bag.

"I've already browsed available flights down to DC," he admitted. He didn't want to push his luck, but he really wanted to see Kat again.

"I do believe you're smitten, Barton," she teased, meeting his gaze across the roof. She hadn't seen him so giddy after a date in, well, ever. Her smile widened when he didn't deny it. Instead he pummeled the punching bag, his footwork quick with a little more of a bounce than normal.

By the time they finished their workout, it was almost time for lunch, and both were glistening with sweat from the midday sun. The one thing Clint's rooftop gym lacked was air conditioning. But it was private and offered an impressive view of the city. When the doorbell echoed from the external speakers attached by the door leading down to his loft, signaling lunch was delivered, Clint hung back. Natasha sent him a suspicious look when he told her he'd catch up with her in a bit. Glancing back at the door, she noticed him grabbing his phone from the side of the roof.

TRISKELION WASHINGTON DC

Reaching for her phone, vibrating loudly against her desk, Kat paused when she saw the FaceTime request from Clint. Her stomach erupted in butterflies.

Cover for me. I've got to take a call.

Kat messaged Angie before pulling her card from her computer and making her way across the room as fast as she could without drawing too much attention to herself. Leaning against the railing across from a window a little way down the hall, she ran a hand over her hair before accepting the call. Her heart stuttered in her chest when his picture popped up on her screen. He was wearing a cutoff tee, his arm muscles on full display and glistening in the sun.

"Hey KitKat," he smiled. "Is this a bad time?"

"I won't know until I return to the office," she said. If Johnson noticed her absence and didn't believe whatever story Angie told him, it wouldn't bode well. "Angie's covering for me."

"Ah, I'd hoped I'd catch you during lunch," he said, self-consciously running his hand through his hair. "Should I have waited to call?"

"No, I'm glad you didn't," she said. Especially when she got to see him in all his post-workout glory. "Do you have today off?"

"Sort of. Nat and I do PT in the morning every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday when we're not on missions. I swung it with SHIELD so we could work out at my home gym weather permitting and then we head to headquarters after lunch."

"So, I shouldn't expect any file of yours to pop up on my dashboard?" Before he called, she'd kind of hoped it would.

"Probably not. Though you never know with SHIELD." They'd already proven they'd pull him in on a moment's notice. "Speaking of, I had a great time on our date turned mission."

"Yeah, me too." She blushed, biting her lip.

"Is it too soon to ask about our second date?" Technically, their date had ended only hours ago.

"Seeing as it took months for the first one to happen, I don't think there is such a thing as 'too soon' when you work for SHIELD."

"Great, because I'm running a routine training on marksmanship at the Triskelion next week. Which means I'll be in DC for a day or two."

"I knew I should have signed up for that training," she joked.

"I'll give you a private lesson sometime, no charge."

"I'm gonna hold you to that," she said with a smile. It faded when a text from Angie flashed across the top of her screen. "Looks like my break is over. I'll call you later."

"Can't wait," he said. When his screen went dark, he downed the rest of his water and headed inside.

"Did you make sure to flex on your video call with Lee?" Natasha asked, sliding a slice of pizza across the kitchen counter where she stood with a smirk.

"How did you know I FaceTimed her?" he asked, taking a bite out of the pizza.

"I don't reveal my sources," she said coyly.

"Angie?" he guessed, causing her to tap the side of her nose.

"In case you were wondering, Kat enjoyed the view," she said, causing Clint's heart to thud in his chest. "Be thankful she couldn't smell you post workout over the phone."

Clint threw his crumpled up paper napkin at her just as both their SHIELD phones lit up with a call from headquarters.

One week later TRISKELION WASHINGTON DC

"Someone put extra effort into their outfit today," Angie said when she met Kat in the Atrium to find her wearing light tan slacks, a navy-blue blouse, and nude heels. "Does this have anything to do with the marksmanship training and the agent running said training?"

"Is that training today?" Katherine feigned as they stepped into the elevator together.

"What time does he get in?" Angie asked.

"He's already on the course. The first training started at seven."

"And the last one ends?"

"At 4:30. I invited him out for drinks." It was a bit normal compared to their last date, but it was a work night; she didn't have time to take him to all her favorite spots around the city.

"You know we have twenty minutes until Johnson does his morning rounds," Angie pointed out.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying, go scope out your man in action."

"He's not my man," Katherine said, trying to hide her smile. "And we've already worked a mission together, so I've seen him in action."

"mmhmm sure he's not. Just go," she said, pushing Kat out of the elevator on the fifth floor, where the shooting range and training rooms were located.

After checking with the secretary on the floor, she was pointed toward training room B at the end of the hall. Grabbing a set of noise canceling headphones from the wall outside, she slipped them on before opening the door to the training room.

Clint was in the center of the room, wearing a black SHIELD t-shirt, the trainees in a semi-circle behind him as he demonstrated technique. Leaning against the wall she watched him hit the bullseye every single time he fired the gun, looking like he was barely trying. When his clip was empty, he slid his headphones off and motioned for his trainees to do the same as he talked them through how to best use alternative sights and how to keep a steady hand. When he noticed her, he smiled, keeping eye-contact as he told his trainees to choose their weapons and practice what he'd taught them so far.

"You're good with a gun," Kat said as he closed the door to the training room behind them. "I've heard you're even better with a bow. If that's true, then color me impressed."

"If you really want to be impressed, you should see me at laser tag," he said, leaning against the door frame.

"Are you asking me on a third date before we've had our second?" Kat gasped, as though it were a huge scandal.

"Technically it'd be a fourth date. I was planning on lunch today on top of drinks after work."

"Two dates in one day?"

"If I'm lucky." He tilted his head to the side with a smile.

"I get lunch at half-past noon today. Meet me in the atrium."

"Should we synchronize our watches?" his smile turned playful as he held up his right wrist.

"I think we'll be fine. Now, I need to get to work, and you should probably make sure your class learns something by the end of the training."

He watched her walk away, his smile softening, before slipping his noise canceling headphones back on and reentering the training room.

…

Katherine regretted her outfit choice two hours in, and wished she'd just gone with jeans. Sure, she looked great, but dress slacks weren't made for comfort. At least not the ones she had on. She'd resorted to unbuttoning the pants and slipping off her heels as she sat at her desk helping Agent Greenwich reprogram his phone. Yes, she was glorified Samsung support at the moment. At least she got paid decently more for doing the job.

"All this new-fangled tech is too complicated. I miss the good old days with walkie talkies or, if they were really getting fancy, shoe phones."

Yeah, Greenwich was old, and he was also a Level 9 senior agent. So, she was doing her best to hold onto her patience as she talked him through the steps for the fifth time.

"What does the red blinky light mean?" Greenwich asked.

"The battery is running low; you need to find a way to charge it. There should be a circular mat where the cupholder would be. Rest your phone on that and it'll charge."

"Doesn't it need to be plugged in?" he asked.

"Trust me, it'll work if you just set the phone on the charging pad."

"The light is blinking green now." Greenwich sounded surprisingly happy.

"It's charging. Anything else you need my help with today, sir?" Her eyes darted to the time on the bottom of her screen and she silently urged him to say no. It was five minutes till her lunch break. She smiled when Greenwich assured her that was all he needed.

Buttoning her pants and slipping her heels back on, she grabbed her purse and made a beeline for the elevators before anyone had a chance to cut into her lunch break.

"Barton," Rollins greeted as he stood waiting for Kat in the atrium. "You on your break?"

"Nah, I'm trying a new approach to marksmen training," he said, moving his eyes around the bustling atrium. Rollins' eyebrows pulled together, clearly not one to understand sarcasm. "Yes, I'm on lunch break."

"Need me to show you where the cafeteria is?" Rollins asked.

"I'm good," Clint said, smiling when he caught Kat's eyes across the atrium. "See you around."

He met Kat halfway, aware of the prying eyes of Rollins as well as the people behind the front desks. He didn't much care what they thought, but HR was a different story. He wasn't about to let SHIELD force them to define what they were to HR before they had a chance to figure it out themselves. He waited until they were strolling along monuments, away from prying eyes of SHIELD, before interlacing his hand with Kat's.

She led him to different food carts, ordering different items from each, before pulling out a small pouch from her purse that unfolded into a blanket she spread on the ground under a tree beside the reflection pull.

"I could get used to this," he said, leaning back on the blanket.

"Food cart hot dogs? You can't get them in the big apple?" Kat teased, grabbing a fry from the pile between them.

"They don't come with such alluring company." It was nice seeing her at work and taking lunch together.

"Or the humidity?" she asked with a smile, pulling her hair up into a messy bun to get it off her neck.

"I suppose the two balance each other out," he said, catching the fry she threw in playful indignation at him and popping it in his mouth.

"Do the free museums and zoo sway you at all?"

"I reserve the right to hold my opinion until you show them to me," he said. "Of course, you'll have to see New York's museums and zoo for a fair comparison."

"Are you asking me on more dates?"

"Depends on your answer," he said, raising his eyebrows as he took a sip of his soda.

"I believe it's my turn to ask you out."

"Then, yes. I'd love to go to museums and the zoo with you." He sent her a cheeky smile that had her biting her lip. Lord help her, but she was a goner.

…

"I gotta say, I'm loving this new giddy, lovestruck Kat," Angie said as they headed to the garage ten minutes before their shift officially ended. Johnson had left early and as long as they didn't run into any supervisors, they'd be in the all clear.

"I'm not lovestruck, I just can't stand another ten minutes in these dress pants," Kat insisted, holding the door close button and their floor number down until they arrived uninterrupted at the garage.

"And you couldn't fake concentrating on work for another minute when your pending date with Barton was ticking closer," she smirked when Kat didn't correct her. "It's okay to like him. From the research I've done, he's a good guy. Of course, I've yet to do face to face recon."

"Are you hinting at something?"

"More like fishing for an invite," she said.

"If you can find out which bar we're going to, you've got an open invite," Kat said, sliding into her car.

"Challenge accepted!" Angie shouted through her closed window before heading to her car.

After a quick shower, Kat changed into jeans, a black tank with her leather jacket, and black heeled boots. Double-checking herself in the mirror, she locked up and headed for Clint's hotel. The bar was walking distance from there, and a metro stop away from her apartment. She didn't want to worry about designated drivers or trying to get a cab.

"So, what's your stance on dancing tonight?" Clint asked as they passed the dance floor on the way to the bar.

"Ask me after I've had a drink or two in me," she said.

"Alright, two tequila shots and two beers?" he asked.

"Corona with a lime, please."

He nodded, stepping up to the bar to order and pulling out his wallet before she could. They took their shots together, then found empty stools at the bar to drink their beers. Sooner than usual the tension of the day eased away as Clint had her laughing and the alcohol had her letting loose.

Halfway through their beers she let Clint pull her out to the dance floor. Apparently, that one shot mixed with Clint's hands on her hips and his body pressed close was enough to make her a little frisky. So, when Angie approached from behind him, tugging a hesitant Jensen behind her and looking triumphant, she outwardly groaned.

"Angie," she said, when Clint turned to see what had caught her attention.

"Did she just hijack our date?"

"I think she's dragging us into a double," she said, reluctantly stepping back from Clint. Taking him by the hand, she led him through the crowded dance floor to Angie and Jensen.

"Clint, this is my best friend, Angie, and her boyfriend, Jensen."

"It's nice to finally meet you." Angie offered her hand to him while sending Kat what was supposed to be a covert look of approval. The fact she'd failed so miserably had Kat guessing they'd hit a few bars before finding them.

"How did the training go?" Jensen asked when Angie finally released Clint's hand.

Leaving to order another beer for the two of them, Kat lost track of the conversation and when she returned and it somehow took an extreme left turn to laser tag.

"You think you can beat us?" Angie asked the guys as Kat handed Clint his beer.

"Babe, we're field operative agents. You and Kat are data analysts. No offense, but you two don't stand a chance."

"Wow," Angie said, crossing her arms. "Care to chime in, Barton?"

"Nope, I'd rather quit while I'm ahead," he said, wrapping his arm around Kat's shoulders and taking a swig of his beer.

"Smart man," Kat smiled, leaning into his side.

"I still think we need to prove Jensen wrong," Angie said, pulling up her phone.

"What are you doing?" Kat asked.

"Finding the closest laser tag place," Angie said. "Aha, there's one a few miles outside DC in Alexandria. Who's up for a little field trip?"

Pulling Clint's arm further around her so she could see his watch, Kat shrugged. It was only eight. The night was young. When Clint and Jensen agreed, they piled into a cab and headed towards Virginia.

"I'm pretty competitive, so no hard feelings for anything I do while in there?" Clint approached Kat after they'd strapped on their laser tag gear.

"No hard feelings. We both play to win."

"Alright," Angie said, pulling Kat away from Clint. "Time to stop fraternizing with the enemy and start talking strategy."

Clint winked at her when the doors to the course opened and they walked in together.

As soon as the lights went out, Kat found a hidden corner and took the eyeglasses screwdriver and pen light she snuck from her purse out of her pocket. Sticking the pen light in her mouth she popped open a panel on her vest and used the screwdriver to turn off the blue lights on the vest so she blended in with the darkness. Now to find Clint.

Reaching up to her glasses, she pressed the button on the side twice. She may or may not have asked Fitz to modify one of her glasses to work like the one she used on the mission in France. It paid to have an engineer from SHEILD in her contacts.

Surveying the area, she was on the hunt for Clint. She found him on the second level, in the far corner, behind the wall. She couldn't hit him from this angle. Which was probably why he chose that position. It'd be near impossible to sneak up on him if her vest was still lit up.

Climbing up the stairs, she kept low to the ground to prevent Clint picking up the movement in his periphery. Creeping closer, she was a foot away when he sprung from his spot, startling her as he took aim and the buzzer sounded on the scoreboard above the door alerting everyone Angie had been hit. He'd just hit her with one shot, in the dark, when she was at least twenty feet away and on a different level of the course. Damn.

Before her nerves could talk her out of it, she stepped forward, pushing Clint's gun to the side at the same time she backed him up against the corner. Their eyes met for a second before she leaned in closer, kissing him. When she pulled back, she met his eyes once more, both their breaths uneven. Without a word she adjusted her arm, pulled the trigger on her gun, causing his vest to blink red when she hit it dead on, and walked away.

Clint stayed against the wall for a few moments, catching his breath and letting his brain catch up to what just happened. Kat ambushed him with a mind-blowing kiss, and just shot him point blank before casually walking away. That was genius…and hot. Mercy, he was falling hard for her.

A/N: Next chapter is up. It's a bit fluff filled but I had fun with it. I hope you had fun reading it. I started making mini videos with these two some with plots of the story and some just random side videos for fun. They'll be posted on my Instagram :)

also we should probably discuss THE RATING OF THIS STORY. WOULD YOU WANT ANY POTENTIAL STEAMIER SCENES IN THIS STORY OR JN A SEPARATE SERIES OR ONE-SHOTS? I've done the one shot route with my Bucky/OC story. It's whatever you guys want. If one reader would prefer it being in a separate story I'll do that so everyone can enjoy the story without worrying about reading parts they didn't sign up for.

Your feedback is appreciated!

Onto guest review responses:

Daryl's Lady: your personal message is disabled so I'm responding here. It makes me so happy to hear you chuckle at the banter in the story. I think the banter is what I'm most proud of writing with this story. Thanks for leaving a review!

JR: I'm glad you're loving the story and enjoyed the first date. I had such a blast writing it. These two are some of my favorite to write!

To the guest who is happy they finally got together and want to know how things will go now their 'official': glad you enjoyed it so much. Sorry you had to suffer frustration for a bit till they got together. Technically they have yet to put a label on them or sign the appropriate HR paperwork so that's gonna be fun in the future. ;)

To the guest loved everything about the last chapter and how Clint and Kat got together: thank you! I'm excited for the future of this story as well I just hope you continue to enjoy it just as much!

To the guest who said this story is gold: Thank you! It really means so much you think this story is a work of art. I enjoy writing it so much and the flow of the story is different than what I've tried in the past. Glad to know it's working.

Den: so glad you love it! Thanks for letting me know :)

Rach

Xoxo