WASHINGTON DC
"Remind me why you thought running at five in the morning was a good idea?" Angie panted, leaning against the traffic light on the corner as they waited for the 'don't walk' sign to change to 'walk'.
"It's a good way to start the day; gets the blood pumping," Kat said, jogging in place and checking her heart rate on her fitness watch.
"I've got other ways to get my blood pumping," Angie said, reluctantly straightening when the light changed. "We're not all sexually frustrated like you."
"Then why did you agree to come with me?" she asked, turning left off the sidewalk to run alongside the reflecting pool.
The city was still covered in early morning darkness, and the Lincoln Memorial was lit up like a beacon before them. Kat loved the Mall in the moments before the sun rose, all the white marbled monuments illuminated by soft yellow light and, for a small time, free of tourists. It was peaceful.
"Because Jensen's on assignment," she admitted.
"Who's sexually frustrated now?" Kat asked, speeding up as they approached the Lincoln Memorial.
"No," Angie pleaded when she realized Kat meant to run up the stairs.
"Would you rather I turn left on 23rd? We could run along the Potomac until we reach the Jefferson Memorial," she offered, as she turned to face Angie, jogging in place in front of the stairs.
"Why can't our girl time be mani-pedi's or spa days like normal people," she relented, trailing Kat up the steps.
"How about a movie with a bottle of wine tonight?" Kat offered. "With the promise of a spa-day the next weekend we have off together."
"Deal," Angie huffed out when they finally made it to the top of the steps. She collapsed on the stone stairs with her legs splayed out in front of her while Kat took a panoramic picture on her phone.
Can't beat this view. She sent the message along with the picture.
Wanna bet? Clint responded, sending back a pic of the New York skyline.
Snapping a selfie with her nose scrunched up, playfully sticking her tongue out in jest, she sent it without considering her wind-tousled hair or the sheen of sweat on her face from her run.
Nothing beats that view. Clint texted back.
Blushing, she smiled at his response, biting her thumb nail as she contemplated a good comeback. He beat her to it.
When do I get to see it in person again?
I believe it's my turn to come to you.
"Is that Clint?" Angie asked, noting Kat's smile and flushed face that had nothing to do with their run. "Doesn't sexting defeat the purpose of running?"
Gently shoving her shoulder, Kat hushed her. Before she could refute her assumption any further, her phone buzzed with another text.
Name the days and I'll be free.
Kat's smile widened.
Does that sound too eager? He added a second later
You're definitely not playing hard to get. Kat responded
Good, I'm not trying to.
Peering over Kat's shoulder, Angie's eyes brightened as she read the texts.
"Looks like we're replacing movie and wine with shopping for a new date outfit."
NEW YORK CITY
"So, you offered her to stay at your place instead of a hotel," Nat said, throwing a punch at Clint only to have him catch it, twisting her fist in his grasp and sweeping her legs out from under her. She fell to the mat, pulling him with her.
"Financially, it doesn't make sense for us to keep paying for hotels whenever we want to see each other," he defended. Hotels in New York weren't cheap.
"Uh-huh, sure." Nat smirked, wrapping her legs around Clint's waist and twisting until she was on top.
"Do you think it's too soon?" He asked, jamming his elbow into her thigh so he could roll out of the pin.
"After almost a year of flirting before finally acting on it, I'm not sure you even know what moving too fast is," she teased, rolling into a crouch. "Either of you."
"Reassuring and insulting," he said, rising to his feet only for Nat to launch herself on his shoulders and put him in a chokehold with her thighs.
"You come to me for honesty, not sensitivity," she said, jumping down when Clint slapped his hand against her thigh in a sign for mercy.
"I thought I came to you for support," he said, grabbing a towel and wiping the sweat off his face.
"I'm supportive in a brutally honest way," she shrugged, sipping from her water bottle. "Deal with it."
"Okay, how's this for brutally honest? Don't use your spare key this weekend."
"Good. Angie and I really need you and Kat to get out all your pent-up sexual frustration," she smirked, laughing as she dodged the towel he flung at her.
KAT'S APARTMENT, WASHINGTON DC
"Make sure you shave everywhere," Angie instructed. She lounged on Kat's bed with her phone as Kat once again prepared for another weekend with Clint.
"You know, I don't push myself into your and Jensen's relationship," Kat shouted over the running water.
"You did when we first got together. Exhibit A: the elevator."
"That's different. I was helping you," she insisted.
"And this is me helping you," Angie shouted back, scrolling through her photos and deleting old ones when a text from Natasha popped up.
Does Kat like burgers or fajitas?
Both. Why? Angie texted back.
I'm on a grocery run with Clint. His culinary skills are limited. Nat had to convince him to cook. He thought they'd be fine with take-out. But cooking for a woman was more romantic. What's her drink of choice?
Honestly? Corona. But wine's more romantic. She prefers white over red. Nothing too sweet.
"Tell Jensen I say hi," Kat said when she came out of the bathroom in her robe and saw Angie typing away on her phone.
"It's actually Natasha," Angie said, sending another response.
"Are you sure you're not using Clint and me as an excuse to flirt with her?" Kat teased, patting her wet hair with a towel.
"Please, I'm totally committed to Jensen. And even if I wasn't, she's way out of my league. This is strictly us helping out our best friends." Or more accurately helping their best friends get it on.
"Okay, but as your best friend, I need you to know that no one is out of your league. You're leagues above everyone else."
"You too boo," she said, glancing up from her phone only to launch herself across the bed and yank at the item of clothing Kat was about to put in her bag. "You are not packing that ratty old sleep shirt."
"It's comfortable," she defended, making a grab for it but missing when Angie pulled it back then promptly sat on it.
"You can't wear something that comfortable to sleep in on your first weekend at Clint's apartment."
"You're being ridiculous."
"You're still not getting the shirt back."
CLINT'S APARTMENT, NEW YORK CITY
"What are you doing?" Clint asked, watching as Nat wrestled to get a new fitted sheet over his bed. The rest of his bedding was discarded in a pile in the corner.
"Changing your sheets," she said, her voice strangled as she finally forced the last corner over the edge of the bed only to groan when the opposite corner popped free.
"Why?" He asked, moving towards the other corner when she ordered him to help.
"Because fresh sheets are a basic nicety for when you have a girl staying the night."
"You're assuming we're sharing a bed."
"She has to sleep somewhere, and you're not having her sleep on that god-awful pull out couch," she said, tossing a fresh pillowcase and one of his pillows at him while she tucked the new top sheet in.
"You've crashed on it before," he pointed out as he shoved the pillow in the case.
"I've also slept on the ground during missions, and you weren't trying to impress me. So, you either share a bed, or you take the couch. Either way, you need clean sheets. Have you never had a girlfriend stay the night before?"
At Clint's silence, she glanced up with raised eyebrows.
"Like you've invited anyone over to your place," he countered, fluffing the pillow a little too aggressively. "Besides, technically, Kat and I haven't discussed what we are to the other. But, if and when we do, I would be her man, not her boyfriend. Twelve-year-old's have boyfriends."
"You sometimes act like a twelve-year-old," she countered with a crooked smile. "Can I offer another bit of unsolicited advice?"
"Would me saying 'no' even stop you?"
"Probably not," she said, tossing the other pillow on the bed beside its mate before pulling the comforter back on. "Talk it out with her, and define what exactly you're doing, before you decide to sleep together. It'll prevent a messy, complicated, situation."
She didn't want miscommunication to screw everything up for Clint. Kat and him had the 'it' factor, but even that wouldn't be enough to save them from the drama of an undefined relationship status. Resentment and insecurities tended to extinguish even the brightest, hottest sparks.
"Besides," she added to help alleviate the seriousness of their conversation. "You'd rather do it on your own terms than have the conversation take place during an awkward HR meeting."
Clint made a face.
"I don't see why HR needs to know anything about our personal lives."
"To give senior agents something to gossip about, of course," she said, making Clint smile.
PARIS, FRANCE
Slater paced as his security team scoured the feed from the charity ball, searching for the pair who sabotaged the weapon he'd sold for billions. Money he had to give back when he showed his buyer the merchandise only to find the system dead.
"She wore a red dress and a black lace mask," Slater reminded them. His guards had managed to see that much before the two slipped away.
"As did a quarter of the female patrons," his tech guy reminded him as he sifted through the footage.
"But the other female patrons didn't sabotage my weapon." The bitch had created a virus that completely decimated the merchandise. Doing as much damage to the weapon as the weapon could do to cities.
"You still have the prototype. You can make another," his hired tech suggested, clicking over to the next camera's footage.
"It's not my prototype. I can't make it work. And I want to know who I have to kill for that and who they work for."
"Well, whoever created the virus to destroy it, is a genius. She could probably figure it out." He'd never seen anything like the virus the mystery woman put on the device. It was a bit of a tech turn-on how well she knew her way around code and a keyboard.
"Only if she's a genius for hire and then depending on her price," Slater muttered. He doubted he could out-bid whoever hired her to destroy it.
"I've got a clear shot of our culprit and her assassin coconspirator from one of the cameras in the hall outside the study," Finley, one of his security personnel, called from another monitor, causing the tech guy to swivel in her direction.
Halting mid-pace, Slater leaned over the girl's shoulder.
"Good enough to do facial recognition?" he asked.
Pushing Finley out of the way, the tech guy's fingers flew over the keyboard, entering coded commands until lines of data popped up on the screen stacking on top of each other until it ended with their names.
"Clint Barton and Katherine Lee," Slater said, muttering a low curse when their credentials followed. "SHIELD."
"So, what's the plan? Recruit or take them out?" Finley asked.
"It's too risky to recruit," Slater said. Most SHIELD agents were unwaveringly loyal. He should know, having worked alongside them. "We've got a double header on our hands."
A/N: Hey everyone! Hope you liked the chapter. I'm so excited for all that is to come for Kat and Clint. After reading all your responses I've decided to keep any steamier scenes in this story and give a warning at the beginning of the chapter. I will also change the font of the first and last line of any scenes to be bold, italic, and maybe underlined as well so that anyone wishing to skip it can easily find where it starts and ends. Or I could put a horizontal line like the one above before and after the scenes as well as bolding the first and last line. Let me know if you have any questions about that.
Onto guest review responses:
JLBriggs: So glad I didn't disappoint. Hopefully I'll continue to at least meet if not exceed expectations. And thanks for letting me know your vote in regards to the rating increase :)
JR: It makes me happy you're loving the story. Hope it's a reoccurring trend!
Shae: Thanks! I'll be keeping this going through at least the first two avenger movies if not to Endgame. Thanks for letting me know you're loving it!
To the guest who LIVE's for Kat and Clint: aw shucks, I'm so glad you love them so much! And thanks for thinking I'm a great writer. Much appreciated compliment :) Hope you enjoyed this new installment in the story.
Rach
xoxo