The deep end wouldn't quite describe what I'd just got thrown into. After Coulson dropped me home after dinner I got stuck into reading Clint and Natasha's files. If I thought my home life was interesting as a child, it had nothing on those two.

Clint's file had surprised me the most. Drunk and abusive Father, orphaned at six and spent the next few years bouncing around in foster homes with his brother. They had both run to Carson's Carnival of Travelling Wonders. Clint had trained under a man only named Trick Shot. Betrayed by his brother and another man by the name of the Swordsman at 15. Clint had bounced around committing petty crime for a year before moving onto being an assassin at the tender age of 16. Coulson had been the one to catch and recruit him into SHIELD.

Clint wasn't kidding when he said SHIELD had recruited him young. The other piece of surprising news was that Clint was deaf. He had been for years. The cause of it from a mission was redacted so I didn't know how it'd actually happened. I'd just have to either ask Clint or mind my own business. He was 80% deaf in both ears, but knew ASL and could lip read. Another thing I was going to have to learn.

I'd heard snippets of Natasha's past in passing conversation from Jared. She was raised in the Red Room, a KGB child soldier program. I glossed over a lot of those details, it was very intense. I didn't know how comfortable I felt knowing everything the Red Room had put her through. It was no wonder she came across as a cold-hearted killer. If I had gone through even a quarter of she had done, I would be too. Natasha was only 6 months older than me. She was another one who was very young when SHIELD brought her in. She was only 17.

With the new knowledge of my new team, I threw myself into training the next morning with renewed vigour. If they could both pull through and become the good people they now are after everything that had happened in their lives, I could suck it up and deal with the hand that got dealt to me. It was three days after dinner and we'd all just finished in the gym for the morning when Clint pulled Natasha and me into a small room. I was aching all over and covered in bruises yet again.

"So," Clint started as he pulled out his chair and sat down. "We're going to play a get to know each other game."

"Why does this sound utterly terrifying and not fun at all?" I mused as I sat down as well. Natasha plonked down next to me with a barely contained snort of laughter.

"Oh, it'll be fun." Clint's grin was terrifying and not reassuring at all. "Trust me, Nat and I did this when she first joined SHIELD. Well, when she decided she would stop trying to kill me that is."

"Right," I said in disbelief picking at my fingernails nervously.

This was a new form of torture that I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy. I'd been training my ass off every morning. Clint would help me, then throw me to Natasha's mercy. Or lack of. It's amazing how quickly you learnt to block when someone just came at you. I'd made more progress in the last four days than I had in nearly a month. I wasn't afraid to put some power behind my moves now. Natasha didn't hold back, so I was learning not to either. It was kind of fun in a very sadistic way. After sparring we'd been hitting the archery range and Clint was improving my archery skills. I thought I was good until he started showing me an entirely different way of shooting. When I felt like I knew nothing about archery at all, he'd given me a much heavier draw weight. My usual easy 40 pound draw now got pushed up to 80 pounds. When I tried to argue about it Clint smirked and told me if I couldn't handle it after a week he'd give my 40 pounder back. There was no way in hell I was going to touch that 40 pound bow again. Clint's training bow was a whopping 120 pound draw weight. I couldn't even pull it back. To counter the effort I started doing weights in the gym as well. My body had never ached so much in my life. Ice, aspirin and Epsom salt baths were my new best friends. I wouldn't admit it but I was loving every second of it. Natasha and Clint had both made me feel more than welcome into their very private lives. I thought I'd be missing Jared since he was still away. But I was too busy to really notice his absence.

Clint pulled out an unlabeled bottle and put it on the table.

"So this is SHIELD version of truth serum," he explained, his boyish grin growing even wider. "It's basically a nice big cocktail of drugs that makes you spill your deepest and darkest secrets."

"I don't have any deep or dark secrets." I rolled my eyes. "After all, at least you knew I was reading your files. I didn't go looking you up like a stalker."

"I wasn't stalking you," Clint protested. "Coulson simply left your file out on his desk. Probably on purpose because he knew I'd read it. Come on Kari, don't be boring. This would be part of your interrogation training. It's better than the usual stuff."

Don't be boring. I was getting told that a few times a day now. Don't be boring Kari, it'll be fun trying to shoot three arrows in a row. Don't be boring Kari, it'll be fun to let me throw knives at you. At least Natasha's aim was as impeccable as Clint's.

"And we can embarrass you so much you'll never worry about what you're saying to us," Natasha put in as well. She kicked me under the table and I had to stop myself rubbing it and flinching. My pain tolerance levels were going to be crazy by the time these two were done with me.

"I'm just your pilot." I pulled a face at Natasha. "Despite the fact you two keep trying to turn me into T-1000."

"You love it," Natasha smirked. "Just like you love us."

"Someone has to," I smirked back at Natasha. That was another thing I was getting used to. Natasha and her smug attitude. I found if I just copied her it was easier to roll along with it. However the more I did it, the more I began to think Natasha's words were starting to come out of my mouth now. Clint rolled his eyes at our bantering.

"Anyway you two," he cut in quickly. "Who wants to go first?"

"There is no way in hell I'm going first," I said instantly. "I keep getting the feeling you two are going to make me do stupid shit as some freaky SHIELD hazing and it'll end up in that fucking SHIELD Recruit Tip book."

"I'm hurt that you don't trust me." Clint faked a hurt look with a massive pout. "Fine, I'll go first."

Clint pulled out was basically looked like a fancier version of an Epipen in a gun form. He drew from the bottle and then quickly reached over and stabbed Natasha in the arm.

"Ow, fucking…" Natasha trailed off and reached over the table, punching Clint in the arm. "That hurt fucker."

"So did that," Clint laughed, rubbing his arm. He didn't even wince when Natasha landed the blow. "That stuff works quickly too."

"Of course it works quickly, it's the good shit," Natasha said back with a fair bit of bite.
"I'm doing you."

Before Clint could react Natasha had grabbed the bottle and the dispenser. She drew up a shot and Clint cringed turning away. Natasha stabbed him in the arm with a lot more force than necessary. Clint mouthed ow and rubbed his arm

"I really hope that hurt," Natasha said bluntly before drawing up another one. "Because mine still does. I hate it when you do stuff like that."

"See you aren't as tough as you think you are," Clint teased Natasha. "But yeah, that fucking hurts."

I looked at the two with a cocked eyebrow. Neither of them would admit something hurt even if an arm was hanging off. I figured that small piece of information about both of them pretty quickly. The only thing I'd seen drop Clint was the swift kick in the groin Natasha had delivered yesterday morning when he tormented her about losing. Natasha had just been hanging on by a thread in not being taken down in sparring and she quickly turned it around. Lesson 105, if I was keeping count, Natasha didn't have any problems at all with playing dirty to win.

"Your turn." Natasha didn't give me a chance to react before she jabbed it into my thigh. I let out an undignified yelp and glared at her. This time I didn't resist rubbing the offending hurt area.

"Bully," I grumbled still rubbing my leg. I didn't feel any different. For all I know they could be injecting me with saline and waiting for the placebo effect to kick in. I sat there looking between them again tapping my fingers on the desk.

"So?" I trailed off when a sudden drunk feeling hit me. I blinked rapidly and put both my hands flat on the table to steady myself. Right, that definitely wasn't saline.

"Favourite colour?" Clint asked.

"Blue," I said instantly, without even thinking. I always had problems with a brain to mouth filter, this was going to be an all new level of crazy.

"Green," Natasha said just a second after me.

"Purple."

"Like what kind of purple?" I asked Clint, surprised at his choice of colour. I imagined him to be a blue man for some reason.

"Really dark eggplant purple, not like lilac or any other shitty light purple," Clint pulled a face at me. "Stop looking at me like that. Dark purple is manly. It's not like I run around dressed in purple spandex."

I giggled and Natasha rolled her eyes.

"What do you really think about me being on the team?" I asked quickly before anyone else could ask a question. While we were being honest, why not get an answer that wasn't going to be any bullshit. Not that Clint or Natasha would ever give me a bullshit answer. They were both brutally honest.

"You're fucking awesome." Clint shoot me a big grin. "I'm scared of you and Nat together. You two are almost like little clones of each other."

"I love you." Natasha snickered. "It's nice having another girl. Especially one who doesn't take any shit from anyone. I think it was true love when I heard about you kicking Rollins in the balls. Made my week."

"My turn," Clint said again quickly. He was looking a bit unsteady in his seat, unlike Natasha who hadn't changed at all. "So have you found a crush yet?"

Clint's teasing tone made me instantly blush. I couldn't stop the words spewing out.

"Riley, I met him on the first day but I haven't had the balls to text him yet," I clapped my hand over my mouth trying to stop myself. It just made me break down into an embarrassed giggle. I could feel the blush all over my face, even my ears. I'd been staring at his number I'd put into my phone for the last few days. Every time I went to open a message to send him something I'd chicken out. It was a bit pathetic. I hadn't seen him either making it even worse. I really wanted to have that beer with him.

"Riley?" Clint looked at Natasha for confirmation.

"STRIKE Team Bravo, brown hair, really green eyes, top marksman," Natasha elaborated for Clint.

"Oh, the SEAL sniper guy," Clint nodded as it clicked on who we were talking about. "He's a fucking awesome shot, nearly as good as yours truly."

"He's really nice. Stop being a pussy and text him." Natasha turned back to me. "You've got nothing to lose with that one."

"Gah I know," I groaned. "I don't do relationships, fuck buddies are so much easier. He seems too nice for me. I'm horrible, I'll stomp his heart to pieces and he's been way too nice to me for that. Why am I such a dick when it comes to relationships?"

"Because you're Jared twin that's why," Clint said with a laugh. "I don't know how he does it, but he has like an entire harem to choose from. I'm envious."

"That's because he's hot," Natasha giggled lightly. "So very hot."

"So everyone keeps telling me," I giggled with her. "And here I am who can't even get a fuck buddy."

"I think your hot and I'd fuck you if I wasn't married," Clint grinned at me. Then he cringed at what he just said. "Fuck this stuff is bad."

I laughed at Clint's honest statement. I was going to reply but Natasha beat me to it.

"We should do a porno, just me and Kari," Natasha's banged her hands down on the table in excitement. "Then sell it for $10 a copy, we'd all be millionaires in a week and can retire."

"I will do just about anything with enough scotch in me," my laughter was edging on slightly hysterical at Natasha's statement. "Awesome plan though."

"I'm filming this!" Clint stuck his hand up as if he was volunteering to cause all of us to break down into stupid laughter. "That'd be hot."

"I'm sure Laura would object," I said through my laughter.

"Nah, she'd probably want to join in, which I will not complain about at all," Clint grinned looking like he was enjoying the mental image of that. "Fuck why is it that everything always ends up being about sex?"

"Because you have a dirty mind that's why," Natasha pointed out. "All right Kari, we're going to be serious for a second."

Natasha had to stop for a second. A bubble of laughter came from her again which she quickly clapped over her mouth to stop. Maybe they should have called this stuff laughing serum. We'd done more laughing than spilling deep, dark secrets. Clearing her throat she smoothed her face back into a calm facade. I was envious how she could do that. I had the worst poker face ever.

"Worst fear?"

"Being raped," I blurted out before I could stop it. I cringed thinking how stupid it probably sounded sitting next to two of SHIELD top agents. They both probably had a very real fear of something serious. After my incident at the bar a few weeks ago, it'd played on my mind more than once what would have happened if one of those guys had managed to successfully drag me away.

"Yep can totally understand you on that one." Natasha shuddered before shaking her head. As if she was clearing a bad memory. "Mine is drowning. Makes being waterboarded a new level of hell."

"My Dad," Clint said quietly looking away. "Even though he's been dead, that fucker still haunts me."

I had nothing to say at all to Clint for his quiet statement. I didn't have to, Clint kept speaking turning back to look at me. The serious expression on his face made me feel a little bit soberer.

"I'll tell you now what I've told Nat and Coulson if you ever see me with a bottle of Jack Daniels in my hand just shoot me. No questions asked. If that ever happens I'm too far gone to save."

"How many people have you guys killed? I can't even imagine doing it consciously." My question fell out of my mouth. I knew it'd come from what Clint had just said. That statement scared the hell out of me.

"Officially 211 hits for SHIELD," Clint said instantly. "Unofficially, well I lost count and that's not bragging either. It was getting over the 500 mark anyway. SHIELD barely knew half the shit I did before I got recruited."

"Wow," all I could do was blink at the man before me. "Yeah, that's crazy."

"Pre SHIELD, mine was near the 100 mark. I only got put on very specific marks," Natasha went next with a small shrug. "SHIELD count is 198, unofficially I don't want to know. It'd be a lot."

"You guys must get tangled up in some nasty shit." I couldn't help but pick at my fingernails in my discomfort. That was a stupid question I let slip out.

"Yep and you're going to find out all about that very soon," Clint chuckled, oblivious to my discomfort. "Don't even think you're going to get the easy job sitting in the Quinjet keeping the engine running waiting for us. You'll be dragged into our crazy messes as well."

"Which I am terrified about." I cringed at those words slipping out but I didn't stop. Fucking truth serum. "I mean, what good am I going to be? Natasha had me on my ass in two moves this morning."

"Being scared is normal," Clint started and ignored the snort of protest from Natasha. "Well, when you first start it is. It's like anything else Kari, you have to work at becoming good. I didn't get good at archery on a whim. I got good because I practised every single day until my fingers bled and I didn't think I could lift my arms for another shot. Then I kept going. Or Trick Shot beat my ass until I kept going. What did you do when you couldn't get something first go?"

"Practice my ass off until I could," I replied feeling a bit better. "I had to take music for my Junior year of high school and I'm terrible at anything to do with music. It was the only class I nearly failed, so I practised until I couldn't feel my fingers on the guitar until I could play the damn song well enough to pass. Then I kept going until it was muscle memory just to make sure I wouldn't fuck it up."

"See?" Natasha pointed out. "You're like a little clone of us already. You just need the practice behind you to be as awesome as I am."

I couldn't argue with that logic at all. I let out a jaw-cracking yawn. Suddenly I was exhausted. I could close my eyes and fall asleep right here. Right after my yawn, Clint did the exact same thing.

"I think it just wore off." Natasha was only a few seconds after Clint yawning. "Time for a nap."

"Lock the door so Coulson doesn't walk in and kill us for stealing the truth serum." Clint yawned again, putting his head in his arms on the table. Natasha got up and did as Clint asked. I rested my head in the crook of my arm feeling dead tired. A nap sounded like heaven right about now. I closed my eyes and fell asleep instantly. Between the drugs they I got jabbed with and my aching body. I was pretty happy to have a quick sleep.

After my nap, I sat at the desk staring at my phone. Natasha sat next to me, her ass on the table instead of in a chair, so I couldn't chicken out. She'd woken up first and tickled my nose with the end of my braid until I'd woken up. Now she was trying desperately to get me to send a message to Riley.

"Just write, hey whats up." Natasha nudged me with her leg. "Come on stop being shy. The poor guy is probably checking his phone every three seconds wondering when he'll get something from you."

"Rumlow said he was on a mission so he might not even have his phone on him," I grumbled to procrastinate about actually writing something. "This is so much easier if you just pick someone up at a bar."

"Do it," Natasha pushed.

I kept looking at the blank screen feeling nervous. This was so pathetic.

"God Kari, just write, hey for fuck sake," Natasha said firmly. "Otherwise I'm taking your phone and doing it for you."

At Natasha's threat, I quickly typed out a message.

Hey, it's Kari, hope you don't mind I got your number from Rumlow. Wanna grab a beer?

I squeezed my eyes shut and quickly hit send before I completely chickened out.

"I sound so desperate," I groaned as I read what I wrote. "He's going to not reply and avoid me for the rest of my life here at SHIELD."

My phone lit up and chimed as a reply came through less than 30 seconds later. This time I did chicken out and threw my phone at Natasha.

"Nope, I can't read it." I covered my face with my hands. "What if he just totally rejected me?"

"You are such a wimp," Natasha laughed. I kept my eyes covered and could only hear the sound of Natasha unlocking my phone. "So what if he didn't reject you?"

"Gimme." I instantly reached over and snatched my phone back from Natasha. It took me a few goes of reading and rereading the text for it to actually sink into my head.

Beer sounds awesome, want to grab some dinner to go with that beer? I'm free tonight. I'm on the way home from my mission now.

"Oh holy fuck he actually replied and he said yes." I dropped my phone in my lap and let my head fall against the table. "Holy fuck, what am I going to wear? Why am I even freaking out about this?"

"Because you like him," Natasha said in a sing-song voice. "And it's funny. Pick somewhere for dinner and then decide on what to wear. If it's something fancy, ask Clint to do your make up."

"What?" I looked at Natasha like she'd just grown two heads. "I am not letting Hawk near me with eyeliner. He'd probably draw a dick on my face or something."

"No, he's really good, I swear it," Natasha laughed at me. I was getting that a lot at the moment. She pulled out her own phone and thumbed through it for a few seconds before turning it to face me. It was a photo of her blowing a kiss at the camera, Clint hanging over her shoulder pulling a face. She looked gorgeous, as always. The makeup was subtle but it made all her features stand out the right way. If I hadn't of known any better I'd say that was a professional make up job.

"Are you serious he did that?" I looked back at her in surprise.

"Yep," Natasha popped the P on the end of the word. "He can do hair too. And cook really well. He should have been gay. Pester him to cook stir fry, you'll love me for it."

I laughed shaking my head. Clint sure was full of surprises. I looked over at his still sleeping body, head resting in his arms. The light snores gave it away that he was still passed out. I looked down at my phone again, biting my lip thinking of a reply to Riley.

Dinner sounds awesome. I'm not fussy and I don't know anywhere around here so your pick.

I showed the message to Natasha who nodded in approval before hitting send.

"You know we could just stalk him and see where he is right now," Natasha suggested.

I tried not to look so surprised at the casual suggestion. I was going to have to get used to stuff like that very regularly now. If I thought living with Jared was interesting enough, this was going to be insane. A very good insane though. I have no idea how my life seemed to be working in my favour for once, but I wasn't going to fight it. I was going to embrace this, hard, and run with it. And any other corny saying I could think of.

"If he's in the shower, I'll turn invisible and take a camera in with me," I joked, not being able to smother my giggle. "Get some photos, use them as bribery."

"I am all in for that, there are a few guys I'd be very happy to see naked," Natasha nodded vigorously. "So you can seriously do that?"

"Yep, seriously," I suddenly grinned in excitement. "And I can't get into trouble for it here either. Win win for everyone."

"And you'll be the favourite person at keg parties when someone brings a warm keg," Natasha grinned back at me.

"Riley said the same thing one day," I laughed, remembering back to the day I'd throw a ball of ice at Jared. "Keg parties sound dangerous."

"Keg parties are awesome and wild," Natasha gave me that smug little smirk of hers. "Hopefully someone will organise one soon. It's a rite of passage for Operations. Expect to get completely plastered and end up throwing up in the gutter somewhere. Oh, and there'll be plenty of photos of it too."

"The only time I've been completely hammered and thrown up was my 21st birthday." I cringed at the memory. I was all for having a few drinks and enjoying myself. But I never usually drank myself into a stupor. I could count the number of hangovers I'd had on one hand.

"Right we're going to fix that," Natasha looked at me in surprise. I regretted my words immediately. "Barton wake up."

Natasha took off her sneaker and threw it at him. It hit him in the head and made Clint nearly jump out of his seat. He looked around in confusion, sleep still clouding his face.

"Wha?" he said unintelligently rubbing his face. "Sorry what? English not working in brain."

"Kari has only been so drunk she's thrown up once, we need to fix this," Natasha said reaching over the table and picking up her sneaker, moving it out of Clint's reach. "Friday night we should make it a tequila and beer pong night."

"You two are utterly terrifying." I looked between them. "I have never drunk tequila."

As soon as those words left my mouth I knew this was going to be bad. The look that Natasha and Clint exchanged was about to get me into a lot of trouble. I quickly held up my phone in defence.

"Whatever you two are planning, not tonight! I have a date."

As if to prove my point a text came through on my phone. Trying not to grin like a complete idiot, I opened the message.

So I felt really rude for turning down Indian the other night. Do you want to grab Indian and we can go for a drive and eat dinner out? If not that's cool, let me know where you want to go.

"He sounds nervous," Clint chuckled as I showed them both the message. "What was his excuse for the other night? And how did it even come up?"

"He Skype's with his Mom every Wednesday when he's not at work," I explained. "Said he doesn't like missing it because he never knows when he'll get to talk to her again. He's been working with Jared on light duties in the office and he was finished early so he dropped me home. Jared said he wanted Indian and I asked him if he wanted to come up as well."

"Aww." Natasha smiled looking a bit smitten herself. "That's so damn sweet."

"Which is why I don't know if this is a good idea," I said, biting my lip looking at my phone again. "I don't even know how to do this whole dating thing."

"Then don't look at it like it's dating," Clint suggested. "Just act like your friends and hanging out. If he's been working with Jared then you've been spending a bit of time with him?"

"Yeah and during PT in the mornings."

"Then just keep going with whatever you've been doing," Clint continued. "Don't make a big deal out of it."

"Great." I chewed on the inside of my lip before another wave of dread hit me. "Fuck, now I am being serious on about what am I going to wear?"

"That all depends," Clint looked at me seriously.

"What on?" I asked, eager for some male insight.

"Whether you want to get laid tonight or not."

This time it was me throwing Natasha's sneaker at him.

With mostly Natasha's help, and some very unhelpful advice thrown in from Clint. I was dressed casually in dark, tight jeans with my favourite wedge ankle high black boots. I'd thrown the light blue semi sheer tank top back in the cupboard before Clint fished it out saying it looked cute. Natasha had agreed and I reluctantly put it on. It was the start of Autumn now with a slight chill in the wind. So I threw my biker chic leather jacket over the top of it all. I liked having nice things, that extended to both clothes and shoes. Natasha was eyeing off my shoe collection with a gleeful grin. I didn't doubt I'd be missing a few pairs of shoes soon.

Natasha and Clint had left me to get ready in peace 20 minutes before Riley was due here. I hadn't bothered with makeup. I only wore it on special occasions. Riley saw me sweaty and red faced after PT every morning so I doubted he was going to care about my lack of makeup. I was halfway through straightening my hair when a text came through from Riley.

Sorry I'm early, do you want me to wait out here?

My nerves increased reading that message. At least I was dressed. My hair would only take another few minutes.

All good, come up. Security code for both the garage and elevator is 5498. 5th floor, it's the door directly across from the elevator. It's unlocked.

I yanked my GHD through my hair a little harder than before. It didn't have to be a perfect straightening job. Just enough so it didn't resemble a frizzy mess since I washed it last night before going to bed and didn't bother drying it off. Having it up in a braid all day had done nothing for it. My speed only increased when I heard the front door open and then close quietly.

"I'm just wrestling with my hair," I called out. "Gimme like 2 minutes."

"All good," Riley called back.

I did a quick job on the rest of my hair. I judged it critically in the mirror. Dammit, it just wasn't sitting as well as I wanted it to. I yanked it back into a messy bun which I hoped just looked casual. I took a deep breath and walked out into the lounge room. Instead of sitting on the couch like I half expected him to, Riley was over at the wall where Jared insisted we put the photos up. Like me, Jared a small obsession with taking a lot of photos. I had nowhere else to put mine, so we ended up making a photo wall. Some were hung in frames, others just stuck on the wall in one big collage. Riley had one of the photos in a frame in his hands, smiling down at it. At the sound of me coming out, he held it up for me to see.

"You look hot in uniform," Riley said with a smile. It was my graduation photo when I was finished fighter training school. I was standing in the middle, Jared and Dad on my left, Mom on my right. I don't think I'd ever had such a big smile on my face.

"Well, now you've seen me, you'll have to show me one of you in uniform," I smiled looking at the photo. That was a good day.

"And you look gorgeous now too." Riley put the photo back on its place on the wall.

"Thanks." I couldn't stop myself from grinning at the compliment. "You look pretty good too."

Riley was dressed casually in jeans, long sleeve grey t-shirt with a jacket over the top. It wasn't much different to what I'd seen him get changed into on the way home from work. But it didn't make him look any less good.

"Ready to go?" Riley asked holding up his keys. "I hope what I've got planned is going to be ok."

"The fact you've planned something makes it more than okay."

"Well, here's hoping you like it then," Riley looked as nervous as I felt. "I already grabbed food, hope I got the right thing."

"Whatever you got will be fine, I'm not fussy at all," I smiled to reassure Riley, despite my own nerves. "So, is it a surprise where we're going?"

"A nice surprise I hope," Riley smiled back, looking a little more at ease. "Let's go."

We were both silent until we climbed into the car. It hit me suddenly that I hadn't told Riley I'd been assigned to Clint and Natasha yet. I wasn't sure the gossip would have reached his team out on their mission just yet.

"So I have some good news," I said, as we drove out of the garage. It seemed to be compulsory for STRIKE guys to have sports cars. Riley didn't break that mould. The red BMW M6 was a very nice car. "I got assigned to a team at last."

"That's awesome." Riley shot me a brief grin before turning his attention back to the road. "Who are you with?"

The gossip hadn't reached him yet. This should be interesting.

"Barton and Romanoff," I said casually. I watched out of the corner of my eye for his reaction. Riley jerked the wheel in surprise nearly sending us on the wrong side of the road. He quickly corrected the car before turning to look at me in shock.

"Are you serious?" Riley was trying his best not to gape at me. "How the hell did you manage that?"

"Remember when I said I was heading to the range?" I asked and Riley nodded. "Yeah well, Barton was there with Coulson. I was bored and shooting in a circle around the target."

I got cut off by Riley laughing.

"So I'm guessing you're more than just an all right shot?" He asked with a grin.

"I can hit a running rabbit from 50 yards away with a .22," I grinned back sheepishly. "Yeah, I can shoot decent enough."

"Why am I not surprised?" Riley was still laughing quietly. "I've seen Jared dump 30 rounds into a target, through the same hole as his first shot. He has a freakishly good aim. Sorry didn't mean to interrupt you."

"All good," What Riley said didn't surprise me in the least. Jared had always been a freakishly good shot, probably even better than me. "Anyway, Barton and Coulson were talking about me. Barton decided to shoot an arrow into my target. So I tried to hit it. Grazed the fletching, but didn't hit the entire thing. When Barton called me out on it, I just used my power to shatter it. Apparently, it impressed him."

"Yeah that sounds about right for Barton," Riley laughed again. "How'd Romanoff take it?"

"She's been tailing me a lot apparently," I said, still feeling a little embarrassed I didn't notice her at all. "That day I kicked Rollins in the nuts she decided it was true love and decided that she needed to keep me. And well, here I am."

I left out the part of her smacking Rollins into a doorway and nearly breaking his nose. I'd tried to thank Riley a few times for going to her about that. He brushed it off every single time, looking embarrassed and uncomfortable when I mentioned it. I decided now wasn't a good time to try and thank him again for it. I'd probably ruin the night if I did.

"Here you are." Riley looked very proud of my news. "I have to admit I'm not sure if I'm really impressed or really jealous that you got STRIKE Team Delta."

"When I show you my bruises from Natasha sparring with me, sorry correct Natasha beating the shit out of me until I learn to block better you might not be so jealous," I said dryly. "I've never been so sore in my life."

"Aspirin and Tiger Balm," Riley offered, giving me a sympathetic smile. "Learn to love both of them. I swear SHIELD has shares in that company. Just about everyone uses it. Well, congratulations Agent Lyngley."

"I'll remember that," I chuckled with Riley. A small part of me wanted to ask him if he could be the one rubbing the tighter balm into my aching body. I wasn't sure if we were there yet though. "Thank you. It still feels a bit weird to be called Agent Lyngley. That was always everyone else in the family, not me. I was First Lieutenant Lyngley."

"I have to admit you're an improvement on Agent Jared Lyngley," Riley said lightly ."Much easier on the eyes."

I blushed at the compliment.

"I'm sure most of the ladies at SHIELD would disagree with you there." I pointed out to cover my embarrassment. "Even Nat says he's hot. So he must be decent looking."

"Listen a bit more carefully in the locker room next time you walk in there," Riley suggested. "I swear all I've heard about since I went back to work with my team is everyone talking about is Jared's hot sister."

"It seems like everyone knows Jared." I changed the subject to get off my looks. That was embarrassing to know I was being talked about. I also kind of wanted to know how much of a reputation Jared had outside of his small circle of friends.

"Everyone does know Jared," Riley confirmed. "Or of him, its kind of hard not to know him. He teleports everywhere because he doesn't care what people think about it and he's a top Specialist. Jared is very, very good at his job. It's why he gets a lot of top missions from Fury himself. It kind of makes him stand out."

"Probably why has he his own little harem happening," I mused jokingly.

"That doesn't surprise me either," Riley shook his head, whether it was in amusement or amazement I wasn't sure. "How did you find out about it?"

"Well, part of my training today involved Nat sticking me with truth serum. Apparently, it's more fun to get to know each other when you have no brain to mouth filter."

Riley looked at me to see if I was being serious. When I didn't falter, he burst out laughing.

"That shit is so bad," Riley laughed while shaking his head. I found myself really liking the fact I'd just made Riley laugh so hard he nearly had tears in his eyes. "Right, I don't envy you in the slightest being stuck with those two crazy fuckers. I hate to think what they'll think of next."

"There was talk about me letting Natasha shoot apples off my head, while I fire arrows at Barton so he can shoot them out of the air," I said seriously before bursting out laughing. My statement made Riley laugh even harder.

"Crazy ass motherfuckers, that's all I have to say about that. We're here."

I hadn't paid any attention to where we were going. I'd been far too focused on my conversation with Riley. My nerves had disappeared entirely on the drive here. Clint was right when he said not to worry about this. All I had to do was speak to him like I had been over the last few weeks. We'd pulled up on a quiet road on top of a hill.

"Where are we?" I asked curiously as Riley parked the car next to a tree just off the road.

"You'll see in a minute." Riley looked nervous again. "I hope you like it."

"Even if I don't the company more than makes up for it," I was mentally smacking myself as soon as the words left my mouth. Real smooth Kari. At least Riley didn't seem to mind. He just gave me his adorable lopsided smile and got out of the car. Reaching behind him, Riley pulled out a picnic basket which I hadn't noticed in the back seat. My curiosity was more than piqued now. It seems he'd put in a fair bit of planning for this tonight. On short notice as well. I had my doubt again that I could make this work. I'd never had anyone go to such trouble to plan something for a date. But it's not like I had a lot of experience in dating. I'd always been too busy for relationships.

We walked up the rest of the hill together when I heard the familiar rumble of a fighter jet engine. The thrill of hearing that sound will never get old. I raced up the rest of the way to see the sight before me. We were standing looking over Andrew's Airbase. An F-16 was sitting on the runway nearly ready to take off. In the dusk sky, all the runway lights were turned on making it an impressive sight.

"I kind of looked up to see who was flying in and out tonight," Riley explained coming to stand next to me. "It's not a Raptor, but I thought watching F-16's doing touch and go runs tonight might make you happy. So I combined that with dinner and well I hope you like it."

"I love it," I said honestly. Nothing was going to wipe the silly grin I had on my face. "This is beyond awesome, thank you."

Without thinking I reached over and gave Riley a hug and kissed him on the cheek. Even in the settling dusk, I could see him blushing. I guess we were both as shy and unsure as each other.

"So, hopefully, dinner isn't too cold." Riley cleared his throat, holding the basket up. "I even remembered the beer."

Sitting on the hill watching F-16's take off and come back in for the landing was awesome. I hadn't sat down in a long time to appreciate the simple thrill of it. The fact I had Indian food and was sitting down with Riley made it even better. Night settled around us. There was just enough light being thrown off from the base to see each other.

"What gave you this idea for tonight?" I asked once we'd finished eating. I'd drawn my knees up to my chest and sat there with my chin resting on my knees. Riley was stretched out over the blanket he'd brought, leaning back on his hands.

"You were a fighter pilot, so I figured anything to do with jets was a pretty good idea," Riley explained, looking over at me with his charming smile. I tilted my head so I was now resting with my ear against my knees so I could see him better.

"Very awesome idea." I grinned. It took a bit of courage to add the next part. "I'm glad you were free tonight."

"I'm glad you finally sent me a text," Riley admitted with a short laugh. "Rumlow sent me a message telling me he'd done it. That was the first text message I got when I turned my phone back on after my mission. I drove my entire team nuts checking my phone every five seconds. I think everyone was relieved when you finally sent me that text."

"I felt very weird doing it that way," I said, laughing at Riley's story. Poor guy. At least he'd been out of phone reception the last few days. There was no waiting around for days for me to finally get the courage up to send the text. "I'm not very good at this whole dating thing. Actually, I don't remember the last time I had a boyfriend."

"You and me both. Girlfriend obviously, not a boyfriend." Riley turned to face the front again as another F-16 took off. "It's kind of hard holding down a relationship when you could be called away in an instant and not be able to tell anyone where you're going. Or how long you'll be away for."

"I find it hard to believe you've been single for long." I decided to dig a little bit deeper into this conversation. "You're hot. Everyone keeps telling me what a nice guy you are as well."

"Really?" Riley said lightly, a pleased look spreading across his face. "Last time I had a real girlfriend was probably nearly two years ago? I can't remember to be honest. She wasn't SHIELD which made everything 100 times more complicated. In the end, we both decided it was for the best we split up."

"So does that mean two years without sex?" I teased gently.

"No," Riley laughed and shook his head. "Sorry to disappoint, but I'm still a guy. Though it is getting to the point where I'm really hoping I don't embarrass myself the next time I see a girl naked. What about you? No trail of broken hearts wanting to follow you from Langley Base?"

"Hell no," I laughed as well. "I had one guy on the side a few months ago but he wasn't interested in a relationship, neither was I. Not with him anyway. Same kind of thing too. I ended up away a lot without much notice and I worked some crazy hours some weeks. He didn't particularly like coming second best to my job."

"Well, his loss," Riley turned back to me with a shy smile. "Can't say I was too upset to hear you were single."

"Likewise," I smiled back. I could feel my heart beating faster at his words. The more we spoke the more I found myself really not wanting to screw this up. For once I'd found someone I actually liked and could see myself actually trying to have a relationship. I really hoped I didn't break his heart in the process, or mine.

"So what are your plans for the rest of the week?" Riley asked before the silence stretched into something uncomfortable.

"Beyond avoiding dying every morning?" I mentally cringed at what tomorrow would bring. My body ached thinking about my morning workout. "I have no idea. Barton said something about hitting the range sometime this week. Oh and Natasha wants to get me drunk off tequila and make me throw up. Because I've never drunk tequila before. I've also been warned about kegs parties and how I'm going to throw up at my first one."

"Yes, you will," Riley shuddered. "I was so drunk at my first one I don't remember anything. I woke up on an inflatable lounge in the pool, with no eyebrows or leg hair. I learnt my lesson very quickly to be the one offering to film all the drunken antics. Have you seriously never have tequila before?"

"No never," I said, politely smothering back my laugh at the mental picture of Riley with no eyebrows. "I've seen Jared drunk off it plenty of times though. I worked out I'm a lot more of a lightweight drinker than he is. I don't need tequila's help in making an idiot of myself."

"If we didn't both have to work tomorrow I'd offer to grab a bottle just so you can see what you're getting yourself into," Riley chuckled. "But sadly we both have to work."

"Shame," I mused playfully. Our conversation had given me a little bit of courage to drop some innuendo in. "That could have been fun. I can see it now, a bottle of tequila and some body shots. Might have even been a lot of fun."

Riley was silent for a few moments. I mentally kicked myself. I must have stepped over the boundaries. Maybe this was nothing more than a friendly night out and I'd read into it too much. Despite what Rumlow said, I wasn't sure if Riley really was interested in me. Riley might be doing this to be polite because he knew I was having a hard time adjusting at work. Maybe he only wanted a friend and nothing else.

"As fun as that sounds, I wouldn't have done it," Riley began. I braced myself for the rejection. I knew it was too good to be true. It always was. "All right, I'm going to say it because I'm about to chicken out. I really like you, Kari. I'm not just in this for a night of fun and then we avoid each other forever. I want to do this properly."

"Really?" I said quietly biting my lip. I let myself have a small sigh of relief and then couldn't stop the smile spreading across my lips. I was very relieved my previous train of thought was wrong. "I'm really bad at this whole dating thing. I don't even know how to do relationships."

Riley cut me off, by leaning over and kissing me. I melted against his touch, kissing him back. It was soft and brief. But enough to make my heart pound and my head spin.

"I like that way of shutting me up," I murmured when we broke apart. Riley said nothing, he just grinned before kissing me again. Having his lips on mine again made my entire life feel perfect right there and then. Despite my worries, I found myself wanting to get used to the feel of Riley's lips against mine. Tonight had been perfect.

Authors Note

2 chapters in 24 hours. I blame this on my epic procrastiwriting because I really didn't want to do any work at all today.

Enjoy!

Updated 29th May 2018