Dani held the phone between her shoulder and ear as she turned the water on and worked to scrub the dried dirt off my hands and arms. Digging up graves was dirty, sweaty work. She really wanted a shower but that could wait for now.

"Yeah, no, I get it. I just don't like you guys working with that red-haired bitch. She has a tendency to screw you over in ways you aren't expecting. At least with Crowley, his betrayals tend to be pretty standard and you can see them coming from a mile away." I said.

Sam huffed, "Yeah, Dani, I get it. You've got a particular hate on for Rowena, but the way I figure it she's still the only one powerful enough to not only read the Book of the Damned but strong enough to use the spells we would need."

Dani rolled her eyes as Dean spoke, "And besides, we are lucky that she's even alive."

"Don't think I'd call that lucky." she grumbled as she shut the water off and grabbed one of the anemic towels to dry her hands.

"Yeah, well we need all the strength we need if we are going to take out Amara. And get Cass back." Sam said.

She rolled her eyes again as she dropped the towel on the counter, "Yeah, I get it. I just don't like it."

Sam cleared his throat, "Anyway, how's that thing in Maine going?"

Leaning against the counter for a moment, Dani shrugged before saying, "Fine. It was pretty easy. Turned out to be a spirit not a witch."

Pushing off the counter, she walked out of the bathroom, then she caught sight of the man sitting casually on the edge of the bed.

"What the shit?!" She shouted.

"What?!" Sam and Dean said at the same time.

"Guys, I'm gonna call you back." Dani hung up the phone and slipped it into her back pocket before her eyes trailed over to the small desk where all of her weapons were sitting.

He glanced in the same direction and then shook his head. He moved to swing his legs over the edge of the bed and stood, "I wouldn't if I was you."

"How did you get in here?"

He scoffed, "Please, these no-tell motels are lacking for pretty much any kind of security."

She cocked a hip and crossed her arms, all attitude, "So, you broke in?"

He smirked, "It took me like 2 seconds."

He was standing with his hands in his pockets, body language relaxed. Dani sighed, and started moving slowly towards the desk, making it look like it was unintentional.

"And why did you break into my motel room—" Before he could answer she followed it immediately with, "And how the hell did you even find me?"

Continuing her casual move towards the weapons, she watched the way his eyes stayed on her even as he continued to smirk at her. It was his turn to cross his arms over his chest as he said, "You left things kind of abruptly two weeks ago. I figured we needed an actual conversation."

"Did you now?" Dani asked, tone deceptively casual.

When she was nearly at the desk, he dropped his arms and said, "I said you don't want to do that."

Her eyes narrowed before flicking towards the desk again. Deciding to just go for it, she lunged for the nearest weapon: a silver knife. At the same moment she moved he moved and as Dani spun towards him, his hand gripped her wrist and twisted.

What happened next was a brief, but intense, grapple. Dani was a really good fighter, but this man definitely outclassed her. So, she tried to fight dirty. Only, it didn't exactly work because suddenly he was yanking the knife out of her hand. As he tossed it away, he hooked his foot behind her leg and took her down.

Her breath whooshed out when she landed on her back on the floor with his body pinning hers. She attempted to roll him and get the upper hand but all that happened was they rolled once and Dani ended up pinned under him again.

She huffed out a breath, "What the fuck?"

He looked down at her, "I did tell you not to do that."

Rolling her eyes, Dani said, "Okay, fine, will you get off?"

"Are you going to try and stab me again?" He asked.

"No." She bit off the word.

"Or shoot me or anything else?" He amended.

Defeated, she agreed not to. He pushed off and stood, holding his arm out to grasp hers and pull her to her feet. Dani tugged her shirt straight and moved over to sit on the bed as he took the desk chair.

"Now can we talk?" He said.

She eyed him, taking in the black tactical pants, the sleeveless shirt and the weird gloves he was wearing. His thumb and forefinger of his right hand were covered leaving the other three open. The one on his left hand had an open thumb and pinkie. He was also wearing leather bracers on his arm. His hair was dark brown, pushed up in the front and his eyes were an intense blue. He was maybe an inch or two taller than her and seemed to be made of lean muscles.

"Are you done?" He said suddenly.

"Pardon?"

He leaned back in the chair gesturing towards his body, "Are you done checking me out."

Dani rolled her eyes, "Who are you?"

He smirked, "My name is Clint Barton."

Her mouth dropped open, "Bullshit. There is no way. Why the fuck would an Avenger have tracked me down to the middle of no fucking where?"

He just shrugged, "Like I said. We needed to talk."

"About what?"

His eyebrow lifted, "Really? How about that whole thing back in Des Moines?"

Snorting, Dani leaned back on her arms, not missing the way his eyes sharped, "What about it? I told you what you needed to know."

Clint laughed. When he was finished he said, "You mean when you said 'oh hey monsters are real, see ya'?"

"Exactly."

"Sweetheart, that wasn't even close to what I need to know. I'm gonna need something more than a eight minute run-on sentence."

She bristled at the term but decided to overlook it for the moment. Her phone dinged and she pulled it out to see a text from Sam.

Sam: You good?

Dani: Yeah I'm fine. I'll call you and Dean tomorrow.

When she looked back up at Clint it was to see him watching her again. Mind racing Dani faked a yawn, stretching her arms above her head and then glancing at the clock. Close enough, she thought.

"Look, Clint , not that I don't want to talk to you or anything, but it has been a long couple of days. I need a shower and my required four hours of shut eye. How about we talk tomorrow?"

He looked her over, clearly suspicious, but he agreed, "Okay. Fine."

Dani waited for him to get up and leave but he didn't move. Huffing, she stood and accepted he was staying. Grabbing a fresh set of clothes and her phone, Dani shut and locked herself into the bathroom. Turning the water on she stripped off her filthy clothes and dumped them into the sink before stepping into the shower.

As she let the water sluice over her, Dani considered her options. She could really see only two possible options. She could humor this guy, answer his questions or she could sneak out when he fell asleep. Twisting the water off Dani decided to go with option B. The guy seemed a little unhinged. Aside from claiming to be a freaking Avenger, who the fuck tracks someone for two weeks across the country to 'talk'?

Crazy people that's who.

Five minutes later, Dani opened the bathroom door, braiding her wet hair back. Clint was in the same spot she had left him. Only he was currently reading through her journal. Stalking over to him, Dani snapped the book closed and said, "Don't you know it's rude to read a girl's journal?"

Grabbing her bag, she stuffed it and the rest of her things on the desk inside it. Turning back to him, she saw him eyeing the leggings and shirt she was wearing. Plastering a saccharine smile on her face she said, "Well, I'm not gonna sleep naked am I? I assume you are planning on staying in my room for the night?"

He nodded curtly. Turning her back on him as she climbed into bed, Dani paused before turning off the light, "You can sleep on the floor since this motel doesn't run to having a couch."

After she turned the light off, she caught the way the faint moonlight coming through the window glinted off his eyes as he watched her. Dani flopped over on her stomach, reaching a hand under her pillow to grip the knife she always stashed under her pillows. When she closed her eyes, Clint moved the chair around the room, settling himself by the door, to make sure that she couldn't sneak out that way. A smile curled Dani's lips for a moment as she listened to him moving around and then she smoothed her facial features out and intentionally slowed her breathing down.

Hours later, Dani heard him get up and move into the bathroom. Instantly, Dani's eyes were open and she was rolling out of the bed. Grabbing her bag, tucking the knife into a pocket she had sown into the leggings, Dani quietly opened the window and slipped out. Taking the time to shut it behind her, she dashed across the parking lot and slid into her car.

Two minutes later, Dani turned her car in the direction of the nearest highway and gunned it. A single glance in her rear view mirror showed her the road stretching out behind was empty.

Sorry, Mr. So-called-Clint-Barton, but getting out of dodge was the right course of action for this woman.

He managed to track her down three more times over the next week and a half. The third time she gave him the slip, she decided to head towards the bunker. At least she knew he couldn't track her to the bunker. Unless he knew exactly where it was and had the right key to get into it he couldn't find her. He didn't even know monsters were real, she doubted he knew who or what the Men of Letters were.

Dani wasn't a fan of the bunker anymore, not since they lost both Kevin and Charlie. Even though Charlie technically wasn't in the bunker when she was slaughtered, they still burned her body there. And for Dani, she would forever associate that place with the loss of two of her best friends.

But, as safehouses go, the bunker was the best option so she would go there.

Parking her car in the garage, she made her way up to the main bunker. Dani could tell by the feeling of the place that it was empty, so she dropped her bag off in her room before heading to the bathroom for a shower.

Thirty minutes later, wrinkled as a prune, Dani raided the kitchen for food and coffee and then set herself up in the library. Opening her laptop, Dani started to do an internet search. It was time that she did a search on Clint Barton, to prove that the man that had been stalking her wasn't him.

An hour later, Dani leaned back in her chair. "Well, fuck me sideways." She said to absolutely no one.

Thanks to a data dump the one they called The Black Widow did about two years ago, Dani now knew that her stalker was in fact who he said he was.

One Clint Barton, otherwise known as Hawkeye. Hailed as the world's best marksman. Former super secret spy and government agent turned Avenger.

Clint Barton, who was way hotter in person than any photo or video she had ever seen of him.

Clint Barton, who according to the internet was declared an international fugitive in July after he and several others broke out of a high security prison. A prison he had been put in for breaking something called the Sokovia Accords with none other than Captain America himself, along with several others.

She watched the video of the fight in Germany between the Avengers, as she considered things. What in the world was a man who was literally a superhero turned fugitive doing in Iowa of all places. And why was he stalking her across the country instead of fleeing the country or something?

Dani picked up her phone when it rang, her smile stretching wide when she saw the name on the screen. Answering it she said, "Donna!"

"Heya Dani, how ya doin'?"

"Oh, you know, back at the bunker for a visit. Not that anyone else is here. What about you?"

She could hear the smile in Donna's voice as she said, "Oh ya know? Just truckin' along. You currently working on anything?"

"Nah. You got something?"

"Maybe. You ever hear of Mohawk , Michigan ?"

Dani rolled through her mental files for a few seconds before she said, "Nope, can't say I have."

"Well, there's this place called Upson Lake Nature Sanctuary near there and the past few months they've found some bodies." Donna began.

Setting the phone to speaker, Dani pulled the laptop closer and typed a search in. Bringing up several articles and looking them over as Donna continued, "Ya know how Jodi and I got those programs to send up flags for anything hinky near us?"

"Of course I do Donna, I helped write those programs," Dani said with a laugh, as she clicked through the articles, "So, it looks like the news is reporting the bodies are either animal attacks or the sanctuary is the dumping ground of a serial killer? Really? Nothing like covering the whole track of possibilities."

Donna hummed, "You betcha. Anywhos, this last one in particular sent up one of those hinky flags."

Clicking open a new tab, I started to plan out a route from the bunker to Mohawk, "What did it say?"

"Well, ya know, the first couple of bodies found were pretty well scavenged and discomposed so there wasn't a lot to see and all."

Nodding, I pulled a notepad over and started to scribble notes, "Uh-huh."

"But the last body they found? It was torn apart but there was only one part actually missing. The heart."

"Ahhhh." I nodded, "So, you're thinking something like a werewolf."

"You betcha. That was my first thought. Only the lunar cycle isn't exactly right for it."

Dani clicked her tongue and tapped her pen against the pad of paper, "Eh. That doesn't mean anything. Pure-blood werewolves can transform at will, regardless of the place in the lunar cycle."

"Pure-blood? Like being born instead of bitten?" Donna asked.

"Not exactly, more like the closer the wolf is to the Alpha generationally. But that isn't the only monster out there that treats human hearts like snausages. Skinwalkers for example."

"Yeah, well. You think you'd have time to check it out?"

"Hells yeah Donna. I'll head out within the hour."

"Coolio, just be careful, ya know?" Donna cautioned

"Always. I'll swing by after to see you. How about that?"

"You know you are always welcome at Casa Hanscum."

Saying goodbye, Dani hung up the phone and clicked back to the other tab she still had open. She stared for long moments as the photo someone had taken of Clint with his bow drawn during some fight. Sighing, she shut the computer and stood to get ready to leave.

Seventeen and a half hours later, Dani was pulling into a parking lot of some motel up the road from the nature sanctuary. Unlocking the door to her room, she dropped her bag and briefcase on the dresser and hung the garment bag on one of the knobs. Then she kicked her shoes off and face planted on the bed. In less than a minute she was out.

Later that night, Dani crawled out of the bed and into the shower. Unlike the boys, Dani was a little choosier with her choices of lodging when she could be. This particular motel was right next door to a highly rated ma and pop restaurant. And she was starving.

I sat down in a booth and pulled out her laptop and opened it up. When the waitress came by, she ordered a beer, burger and fries. Alone again, she pulled up the file she had started to put together about the case. When someone sat down across from her, Dani looked up and her eyes widened in surprise.

Clint grinned at her, "Hey."

"What in the actual fuck." She demanded.

When the waitress came back with her beer and she looked at Clint, "Can I get you anything honey?"

"I'll have the same as whatever she's having. She's got such amazing tastes." Dani rolled her eyes when he looked at her with a sappy grin and a wink.

The woman beamed at him before turning her attention back to Dani and saying warmly, "Gotcha yourself a real charmer here dontcha?"

Dani hummed, "Mhm, he likes to think so."

When the waitress walked away again, Dani glared across the table, "Look, why are you stalking me? And how the hell do you keep finding me?"

Clint smiled at the waitress as she brought his beer over. Once she was gone again, he focused his attention back on Dani, "Sweetheart, I spent a couple of decades as a spy. I'm pretty good at finding people."

"Uh-huh. Right."

The food arrived and Dani could tell he was pleased with the burger and fries that were brought, "Okay, now that I have you again, will you please just stop trying to escape and just talk with me?"

She took a bite of her burger before she said, "Fine. You have until the end of dinner and then will you just leave me alone?"

He agreed and said, "Okay, so I've been doing some research on monsters and all that in between tracking you down. I've got a better handle on this whole world of monsters I didn't know existed."

He watched in amazement as she picked up the ketchup bottle and drowned the fries in it. Then she immediately followed it up with a blizzard of salt and pepper. Picking one of the fries up, she bit down then gestured, "Great, so why the hell are you still stalking me?"

"I want to join you."

Dani stared at him, certain she had heard him wrong, "I'm sorry, you want to what?"

"Join you. Taking out monsters and whatever else it is you do."

"What? No. You can't–" she stammered.

"Why not?" He sounded genuinely surprised.

Dani swallowed the rest of her beer in one large gulp, then she tilted the empty bottle towards him, "Because you don't know anything about hunting?"

Clint shrugged casually, "So? You know who I am right? You know what kind of skills I have. You know I have gone up against things like the Chitari and all that right? I'm sure I'll be fine."

"Okay, yeah, you have skills. But I mean, there are a lot of things involved in hunting that I don't think you'd be okay doing."

Leaning back, Clint asked, "Like what?"

"Well, there is a lot of lying and things that are technically crimes and shit."

Now he laughed, "Dani, I was literally a spy. Lying and doing things that are technically illegal is something I'm more than familiar with." He leaned forward on his elbows towards her, lowering his voice dramatically, "Plus, I don't know if you know this but I'm technically a fugitive."

Dani laughed and shook her head, looking down at her empty plate. She tapped my fingers on the table top as she gave it some thought. Clint remained quiet. Sighing heavily, Dani looked up and nodded curtly, "Fine. You can help me with this hunt."

Raising an eyebrow, Clint said, "Just this one?"

Standing, she pulled out her wallet and dropped some cash on the table, "For now."

They headed back to the motel together. Dani assumed he would head to his room but when she reached hers and saw that Clint was still with her she paused and said, "What are you doing?"

Lifting a brow he said, "Heading to the room?"

"Excuse me, get your own room?" Dani said incredulously.

"There are no more."

Groaning in disgust, she opened the door and held it open as he followed her in. Shutting the door with a snap, Dani stalked over to the desk and dropped her briefcase on it. Turning to Clint, who was still standing near the door she gestured vaguely, "Well make yourself at home. I've got work to do."

He eyed the bed then looked at her, "If you are going to work you mind if I catch some sleep? Been driving for most of the last day and a half."

She smirked, "I don't care, but awful trusting of you. What makes you think I won't just take off again?"

Clint, who had sat down at the end of the bed to take his boots off, glanced up at her. Considering the thought. Then he tossed the boots towards the door and crawled up the bed, "Well, you don't seem the type to go back on your word once you give it nor the type to leave a mission unfinished."

He had her there. She watched as he sprawled out on his stomach, much like she had hours earlier. He closed his eyes and dropped out almost immediately. Apparently, that was something both hunters and spies had in common. The ability to just shut off and pass out. Dani pulled out her notepad, journal, a pen , then she opened her laptop and got to work.

Clint jerked awake. Judging by the quality of the light in the room it was early morning. The room was quiet, almost too quiet. Clint jerked up, worried that she had actually taken off. She hadn't as his eyes fell on her. Her head was pillowed on her arms where she had apparently fallen asleep at the little table. There were papers strewn around her head, more were taped to the wall and her journal was open and half under her arms.

Rolling off the bed, Clint padded to the bathroom to take a shower. Fifteen minutes later, he was walking back out of the bathroom and saw she was still asleep. Glancing around he spied the room's coffee pot but decided that would take too long, so opening the door quietly he headed down to the lobby where he had seen a coffee setup. Picking up a second cup to bring her some coffee too, he realized he had no idea how she might take it. Shrugging, he grabbed a handful of sugar and creamer packets and stuffed them into his pocket.

Walking carefully back to the room he nudged open the door to see that she was still asleep. When he set one of the cups down next to her she jerked up.

"Dafuck?" She said blinking blearily before her eyes focused on the coffee. In a voice that was nothing but hopeful she asked, "Coffee?"

Clint pulled the packets of sugar and creamer out of his pocket and dumped them on the table, "Yeah, from the lobby. Didn't know how you took it."

"I take it anyway I can get it," she muttered as she took a long sip and made a sound that was more apt for the bedroom than over a cup of terribly burnt motel coffee. Clint smiled into his cup. He knew the reaction well.

Downing the rest of her coffee in one go, she pushed away from the table and moved into the bathroom, shutting the door with a snap. Clint heard the water turn on. Needing more coffee, he filled the coffee pot and turned it on while he waited for her to finish her shower. Wandering over to the table, he nudged the papers around looking at them. They seemed to be full of weird scribbles.

The shower shut off and a minute later the door cracked open and a green eye stared out, "Can you hand me the garment bag on the dresser?"

Clint went to grab it and handed it over when she snaked her hand out the door. He kept his eyes trained on the ceiling the entire time. When the door snapped shut again he moved away and sat down at the table and pulled a pad of the motel's stationary to doodle.

He didn't have the same talent that Steve had but he wasn't bad. Twenty-five minutes later the door opened again and she came out. Clint was glad he had the skills to keep his face blank because he was completely surprised when she did. She was wearing a dark grey pencil skirt with a cream colored silk shirt tucked into it. She was carrying a matching jacket that she tossed on the bed.

She looked professional in every sense of the word. To distract himself from where his thoughts started to wander he asked, "You a doodler?"

Pausing on her way to the coffee machine with her empty cup she looked over her shoulder at him, "What?"

He gestured to the papers scattered over the table and she rolled her eyes and said, "Oh. No."

"Well then what's with all the scribbles?"

"It's shorthand idiot." Coming back over to the table she started to gather the papers and shove them into her briefcase.

"So, what's the plan today?"

The question earned him another eye roll, and Clint had to fight the urge to grin at that. Call him crazy but he had a thing for snark and sarcasm. It's one of the reasons why he and Laura—-Clint shoved the thought away. He didn't need to go down that road at all.

"Today we go to the police station in charge of the investigation, then the morgue to see the body, and later check out where the last body was found, then—"

She stopped talking and stared hard at him.

"What?"

"Do you have a suit?" She asked.

"A suit? Why do I need a suit?"

Closing her eyes briefly, as if she was centering herself she said, "Well, Clint, you can't really go to a police station and claim to be something like the FBI without actually looking the part."

"Oh."

Her cheeks puffed out as she blew out a breath, "Okay, so first order. You need to go buy a suit, make sure you also get a tie. I'll stay here and put together your fake id."

"Fake id?"

"Obviously. Now go." She pointed to the door and turned away, sitting down at the table and pulling her laptop to her.

Clint stood there for a long moment before he grabbed up his wallet, phone and keys and went to go and try and find a suit.

An hour later he was back and as he opened the door to the room he called out, "Hey, I brought breakfast."

Her eyes flicked to him with a slight wince and he heard a male voice asking, "Who the fuck was that?"

Sighing, she picked up the phone and took it off speaker before saying, "Don't see how that's your business Dean."

Clint set the carry out container he was holding on the table and mouthed, 'Sorry' at her. She just lifted a shoulder and flicked her eyes to the ceiling. Taking the bag with his newly purchased suit into the bathroom he caught her saying, "Dean, I'm 25. What I do is my business and I don't need some lecture about my sex life from Captain Manwhore. "

Closing the door, Clint changed into the suit wondering who Dean was. By the time he stepped back out, feeling uncomfortable like he always did in suits, she was off the phone. He paused in the doorway, eyebrows raised as he saw her bent over and slipping a pair of black heels on.

Standing up, she looked him over. Moving closer she fidgeted with his tie for a moment before she nodded and held out a black flip case. Clint took it and flipped it open, seeing a pretty decent forgery of what FBI credentials would look like. When he met her eyes he said, "This is pretty good."

"I know. Now, let's go. We'll take my car."

"I don't see why the FBI would be here?" The sheriff stared intently first at Dani's badge and then Clint's.

She flipped her case closed and tucked it away again as she said, "This was the fourth body found in the same geographical area, correct?"

"Yes, I suppose."

"The regional office sent me to do a little investigating to see if it is probable there might be serial murderer involved or not."

The sheriff looked them over for long moments and all Clint could think was that there was no way this would actually work. He'd been in covert ops for years and while he knew the average small town law enforcement officer could be rather oblivious to things, what were the chances something like this would work.

The sheriff sat back and said, "Okay. Well, let me get you the file."

Pushing out of the station an hour and a half later, Clint said, "That actually worked."

She tossed him a look over the top of her car and said, "Of course it did. I told you on the way in, places like this tend to actually want help when something weird is found."

"So, morgue next?"

Her only answer was a nod as she pulled out of the parking lot of the sheriff's station and turned in the direction of the morgue.

Clint watched in awe again as she spoke with the morgue attendant and as she examined the mutilated body. While it wasn't like he hadn't seen some serious shit in his life, because he definitely had. But watching this young woman as she coolly studied the mess of what was once a person was unexpected.

"How long have you been doing this?" The question popped out of him before he could think better of it. Her eyes flicked up from the wound she had been examining, "Technically, I was born into it. My parents were hunters and I traveled with them quite frequently. I went on my first solo mission when I was 18."

"Seems kind of young."

Dani straightened then, tilting her head as she looked at him like he was an interesting specimen, "Does it?"

"Well, yeah, from what I can see this all seems pretty intense. And you were just a kid when you started?"

She leveled those intense green eyes at him, "And your childhood was roses and peaches?"

Clint hummed, "Mhm, fair enough I guess. So, what's the verdict?"

Not answering the question she said, "C'mon, let's go get some lunch before we go check out the location of where the bodies were found."