Dani was gone from the room when Clint woke the next day. He rolled out of bed and pulled his pants back on. Even though he had only entered the room a few minutes after her, Dani had already been asleep. He had hoped to talk to her about the day but wasn't going to wake her.

Steps light, he walked out of the room and climbed the stairs to the first floor. He found her sitting at a table in the bright kitchen, her laptop open in front of her. Spread around her were countless loose pieces of paper, her journal, and what he thought might be an atlas. As he approached, Dani jerked her thumb over her shoulder without looking up.

"Coffee is fresh. Mugs are in the cupboard above it."

He switched directions and walked over to the pot, opening the cupboard above to see the collection of mugs. As he was pouring it in he saw the plate piled high with bacon and snagged some before heading back to the table.

"Where is everyone?" He asked as he sat down at the table. He pulled the atlas towards him and started to flip through it. It had all sorts of colored dots over it.

"Jody and the girls left early this morning to return to Sioux Falls. Donna is getting ready for work." Dani replied absently as she scribbled on a pad of paper before she flipped through a couple of pages in her journal to check something. When she reached for her atlas and found it gone she glanced up to see Clint looking at it.

"Hey, I need that." Dani said.

Clint looked up and started to push it back towards her but stopped and stared, "You wear glasses?"

"Huh?" Dani responded blankly, then she reached up and touched the side of her face, "Oh, yeah. Just reading glasses that I usually forget to wear."

She took the atlas from him and flipped through it for a moment before she found the page she wanted. Dani turned back to her computer screen and started chewing on her pen as she looked between the maps, the computer and her journal. Clint watched her in fascination as he drank his coffee.

"Well, welcome to the world sleepy head," Donna's cheerful voice called as she entered the kitchen. Clint looked over to see her in her work uniform, and had to squash the weird little panic that unexpectedly bubbled up.

"Morning." He said back.

Dani looked up from what she was doing to smile at Donna as the older woman moved over to the table and took a look at what she was doing, "Uh oh, someone's in full research mode. Whatcha looking into?"

Dani shrugged, "Just trying to figure out where to go next. The boys are still trying to track down Amara and Cass."

Donna moved over to get herself some coffee as Dani talked coming back with it she sat down and asked, "Are you going to help with that?"

Dani looked at Clint for a long moment before she turned back to Donna, tapping her pen in a fast pattern. Then she shook her head, "No. I love those boys, don't get me wrong, but they are working with Crowley and Rowena again."

Making a sound of understanding, Donna reached over and rubbed Dani's arm, "And you don't want to deal with that."

"No, I don't. I still don't want to see Crowley and I definitely don't want to see Rowena." Dani looked back down at her laptop.

"So, how long are you planning to stay?" Donna asked as she finished her coffee.

Chewing the end of her pen absently she said, "Today. Probably in a few hours. Definitely be gone long before you are home tonight."

"Alrighty." Donna glanced at her watch and stood up again, "Speaking of, I need to be going. Come here and give me a hug."

Dani stood and wrapped her arms around her, squeezing hard and rocking a little. After a long moment the women broke apart and Dani moved away towards the bathroom. The moment that the bathroom door closed Donna pierced Clint with a severe look.

Sighing a little, he suspected he knew what was coming. Her hands resting on her hips Donna said, "You keep her safe, you hear?"

That was not what he was expecting and he stood up, "Excuse me?"

Clicking her tongue impatiently, she tossed a look towards the hallway and then turned back to Clint, "I suspect you will be just fine protecting her back, considering your skills."

"Yes–" Clint started to say but Donna held up her hand, "Not finished."

Taking a breath she said, "Dani doesn't trust easily. She trusts you. So, I am trusting you to keep her safe."

Slightly uncomfortable, Clint said, "Okay."

He didn't know what else to say. In a move that took him completely by surprise, Donna tugged him into a hard hug before she let him go and said, "Welcome to the family, Clint."

Clint was still standing rooted to the spot when Dani came back out of the bathroom. She gave him a weird look as she sat back down and picked her pen up. When Donna left with a cheerful goodbye, Dani tossed an absent goodbye in response. Clint moved over to pour one more cup of coffee and snag more bacon before he sat back at the table.

"So, who are Crowley and Rowena?" He asked.

Looking up sharply, Dani set her pen down and sighed, "Crowley is a demon. Rowena is an extremely powerful witch and also happens to be the mother of Crowley."

Clint scoffed, "Wait, you're telling me that witches give birth to demons?"

"What? No. Crowley was born a human. He sold his soul, ended up in Hell after the contract was up. Human souls that spend enough time in Hell come out as demons."

"Don't you guys fight demons? And witches?"

Dani lifted a shoulder, "Things aren't always black and white. Sometimes, beings that are normally considered monsters aren't all that bad. Or at the very least can be useful."

"And these two aren't all that bad?" Clint asked.

The breath that she blew out fluttered her hair as she looked up at him, "No, they are pretty terrible. Rowena is a murderous bitch who only cares about number one and Crowley–Crowley is the king of Hell and just as brutal and selfish as his mother."

There was an odd tone in the way she spoke about Crowley but he sensed it wasn't the time to push about it so instead he said, "So, then why work with them?"

"Because they are useful."

Clint hummed in acknowledgement. Dani's body language started to radiate discomfort at the conversation so he switched the topic, "So, what's the plan?"

Dani had been worried for a moment that Clint was going to ask questions that she wasn't comfortable talking about, especially about Crowley and so she was thankful for the switch of topic. Grinning, she looked up at him, "I think it's time I make a visit to my place. It's been a while."

As she started to gather her stuff Clint said, "I got a question for you."

Pausing, Dani nodded to encourage him to go on, with a half smile Clint picked up a piece of random paper and asked, "How come you don't do everything digitally? I mean aren't you some kind of computer geek?"

Her laugh was light and airy as she took the paper he had in his hand and stuffed it away, then she leaned forward on her elbows, "I am a computer geek. But do you know what else I am?"

"What?"

"Second generation paranoid bastard."

"I don't get it."

"Digital can be hacked and it isn't easy to make things disappear completely if needed. Paper? Paper is easy to use and easy to destroy if I need to. Plus, I just like the tactile ability to see it all right in front of me instead of scrolling through screens all the time."

"But if someone gets to it in time they can recover some of what's on paper too." Clint pointed out.

"You would think. But that's why I make my own."

"You make your own paper?"

"Well, I suppose it's more accurate to say that I usually alter paper to suit my purpose, but I do know how to make paper. But anyway, here—"

Clint watched as Dani pulled her pad of paper back out and ripped off a sheet. For the first time he realized it wasn't a commercial notepad. She pulled a lighter out of her bag and flicked it. The moment she brought the flame to the paper it ignited and she dropped it. It disappeared with no smoke or ash and he understood.

"Flash paper. Wait. You know how to make flash paper?"

Standing Dani shoved her pad back into her bag, "It's not that hard once you know how to do it. It's a mixture of nitric and sulfuric acids. Soaking the paper, neutralizing it, washing it, drying it. It's a bit time consuming, especially since I have to first make the acid myself, but it isn't hard."

When she looked back at him, Clint had a strange look on his face, which immediately put her on edge. So she asked a little defensively, "What? Why are you looking at me like I just grew a third eye?"

"It's nothing. I know some people who you'd probably get along really well with is all."

"Whatever, c'mon let's get ready to go."

Dani decided they would take the drive to Massachuettes at a leisurely pace. She wanted to get to know Clint better. He had earned her trust–and in a spectacular manner, and she knew he would be a valuable partner on hunts. But that aside, and whatever she told Jody and Donna, she really didn't know all that much about him. She intended to change that.

Four hours after they left Hibbing Minnesota, Dani suddenly asked, "What's your middle name?"

Clint, who had been reading one of the old books that Dani had stored in her car, looked up and blinked, "Excuse me?"

Glancing over at him Dani smiled, "Your middle name. What is it?"

Bewildered, Clint asked, "Why do you want to know my middle name?"

"Curiosity. If you tell me yours I'll tell you mine."

Chuckling a little, Clint looked back down at the book and turned the page. Dani figured he wasn't going to answer and then he said, "Francis."

"Francis? Your middle name is Francis?" Dani tried hard to keep the amusement from her tone but failed miserably.

"It was a family name." Clint said simply, he looked back up at her, "Okay, so quid pro quo."

Dani nodded, "It's Soteria."

"Soteria? What kind of name is that?" He asked as he laughed.

Dani snorted, "Fair enough, I did laugh at yours. It's Greek. Soteria is a daemona of safety."

"Daemona?"

"They are the personified spirits of human condition and abstract concepts. Like Eros is Love and Phobos is Fear. Daemones are a pretty large part of the ancient Greek pantheon."

"Were your parents Greek? Carlson doesn't seem like a Greek name."

Laughing loudly Dani shook her head, "Oh, no. They weren't. But my mother grew up with a fascination over Greek and Roman mythology. So, when she was younger she always dreamed of using something from the mythology for names for any children she might have."

Considering for a moment she continued, "Of course, she didn't know that gods and goddesses were more than just concepts and myths so I would have loved to know what she would have gone with if she did know that."

"You father didn't have any opinions on names?"

Rather than answering immediately Dani hearitated as she considered how to answer. Clint had asked a pretty innocent question, but it had an answer that was complex. There was only one person who knew that the man that was her father wasn't her biological father. Dani's mother had already been pregnant when she had met her father. Though she didn't know it at the time. If it was anyone else who had asked her this question, she would have answered with her normal response without hesitation. But for some reason Clint felt different to her and she found she wanted to tell him the full truth.

Clint was watching as the emotions played out across Dani's face and he got concerned. He hadn't realized that the question would upset her, "Ah, look just forget I asked."

Making a decision, Dani looked at Clint seriously, "My parents got together after I had already been conceived. So, my dad let my mom make the decision on my name."

Wincing a little, Clint said, "Oh, I'm sorry I asked. I didn't know."

"Not even Bobby knew this about me. My biological father was a witch. My mother had been under his thrall when my dad had tracked him down and took him out. When he died the thrall was broken. My mother came from a family of hunters just as my dad did, so they started to ride together and they fell in love. They found out she was pregnant when she was six months along."

Clint didn't say anything because what could you even say to that. Not wanting him to think he upset her, Dani continued, "It's fine, seriously. He did suggest she go with Soteria as a middle name instead of a first name though, pointing out that it might cause me problems being as unique as it was. So, she went with Danielle Soteria instead of Soteria Peitho like she originally dreamt of doing."

"I like the name Danielle Soteria better." Clint put in.

"Me too. You hungry?" Dani asked as she caught the signs for food on the upcoming exit.

"I could eat."

The next two days were spent getting to know each other. When Clint asked her how she supported herself considering that hunting didn't seem to really pay anything, she explained how she did things like hustle jerks at pool and other bar games, along with participating in backroom high stakes, high reward poker and other card games.

"But my main source of income is that I've had several books published." She threw out casually a few miles after she had been quiet for a while after initially answering.

Clint looked back up from the book he had returned to reading, "Wait really? What are they about?"

"Supernatural romance mostly."

He stared at her before asking, "Supernatural romance? Seriously?"

"What can I say, a lot of people really like that shit." It was said with a casual shrug.

Shaking his head, Clint laughed, "But I mean, how in the world did you even end up coming up with that idea in the first place?"

"Well, I got the idea when the boys ran into a prophet who was using his visions of them to write novels. But unlike Chuck, I knew where there was money to be made and geared my stuff towards that."

Clint nodded like he understood what that all meant and then said, "And the answer to that was supernatural romance?"

"Oh, c'mon, certainly you've heard of Twilight," Dani said.

He made a noise of disgust, "You are not saying you wrote that."

Giving him a funny look she shook her head, "What? No, of course not. Twilight is moody teenage trash. I write adult characters. But the point I was making was look how that franchise exploded. Not to mention, Gothic Novels have been around since like the 1760s. Supernatural romances have been popular for a long time."

Humming as he considered this he grinned and said, "So, exactly how successful are you at it?"

When she told him Clint felt his jaw drop open and he said, "Holy shit! Seriously? Do you publish under your own name or a pen name? Also, how do you find time to write in the first place, isn't writing time consuming?"

"Yes, I have a pen name and I write when I'm in the mood to write. My first book was published when I was 14 and I've been writing since I was like 12."

When they were an hour out from their destination, Dani pulled into a parking lot of a small diner. When their waitress had taken their order and moved away, Clint felt his phone go off in his pocket. When he pulled it out and saw the blocked number he silenced it. He knew it was probably Tasha, and right now he wasn't ready to talk to her. He still didn't have a good explanation on what he was doing.

How do you tell someone that you've decided to change careers when you were partners for so long, when you literally helped start a team of superheroes? How did you tell someone that you had decided that you were truly done with that kind of work even if you managed to get off the shit-list of numerous countries?

Dani watched from under her lashes as Clint stared at his phone with a look of frustration before he silenced it and tucked it back into his pocket. The waitress brought their food and walked away. Taking her first few bites something occurred to her.

"I've got a question," she said, poking her fork in his direction.

Clint looked up from his plate with a glitter in his eyes, "And what's that?"

Circling her fork in the air she asked, "How did a circus freak end up becoming an Avenger?"

"Circus freak?"

Grinning, Dani said, "Are you going to tell me you weren't a circus freak."

"No, but we prefer the term 'performer'." Clint said with a sniff.

"I'm sure you do," she snarked back, "So, what's the deal? Did the circus not make enough money for you?"

Clint chewed his food as he thought about it. Dani watched him think about his answer and waited to see what he would say.

"The circus was merely a front from a criminal operation." Clint said.

Dani gasped dramatically, and said, "No way!" barely containing the laughter when Clint rolled his eyes at her.

Ignoring her dramatics, he continued, "My brother got angry and left when I started to outshine him and was taken on as an assistant to a man he idolized and so those people had become my family. I would have done anything for them, or so I thought. Originally, they tried to keep me out of their criminal activity, saying I was too young and I should just focus on honing my act and skills. I justified going along with what they did because it was mostly things like stealing or pulling cons on the wealthy. Eventually, they let me help out from time to time."

"So, you were a conman in addition to being a circus freak." Dani said.

"Shut up." Clint said and then continued his story, "I didn't realize that they were doing way more serious shit until one day I came upon them pulling a bank robbery. A guard was shot and killed during that crime. And well–I decided to turn them in. I agreed to testify in exchange for immunity in my part of their crimes. Only, they found out. Nearly killed me. When I was in the hospital the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. came to visit me."

"The pirate guy?" Dani asked. When Clint looked confused she pointed to her eye, "You know the one who wears the eye patch?"

Clint snorted when he realized, "Man, I feel like Fury would lose his shit if he heard someone call him the 'pirate guy'. Anyway, yeah. He came and he made me an offer. I would join his organization and use my skills for good and he would help make me disappear so that the people I tried to turn in wouldn't be able to find me."

Impressed, she nodded, "And so the circus freak became an international super spy and then turned into a superhero."

"Pretty much. Though, I wouldn't say I was a super spy. I was a special agent. And I've never been a superhero."

Dani doesn't argue the point, not yet anyway, but she was starting to develop a theory. Once they paid and were back in the car, she broached it.

"I think you underestimate yourself."

Clint looked over at her, "Excuse me."

Wiggling her fingers at him she explained, "When you say that you aren't a superhero."

"Since I don't have superpowers or something like a special suit that would mean I am not in fact a superhero." He said as he turned his attention back to the book he was reading.

"Bullshit." His head snapped back up and he stared at her.

"Excuse me?"

"Clint, do you know what I've learned about you this past week?" She didn't let him respond before she continued, "You have an insane capability for spatial reasoning. Your level of accuracy and precision borders on the preternatural. You create and design a variety of trick arrows. And don't even get me started on your speed, strength and fighting skills."

"None of that makes a superhero." Clint continued to argue.

Dani snorted, "Really? How is all that different than the kinds of things that Tony Stark does? Or what's his face–that king of that country that a lot of people don't know exists."

"T'challa." Clint said automatically.

"Right. Him."

He opens his mouth but Dani shot him a look and said, "I get that you think you aren't on the same level as Iron Man or Captain America, but Clint you are way more than just a good fighter and good shot. You should give yourself more credit."

He stopped trying to argue, looking at her as she stared out the windshield starting to sing along with the music playing. No one had ever said the kinds of things she had just said to him. Not Coulson, not Tasha, not even Laura. He didn't know how to deal with it. So he put it aside for the moment, deciding to think about it later.

The rest of the drive passed in silence save for Dani singing along with the music. Pulling off the road and up a long drive, Clint looked around at the trees surrounding them. When they stopped in front of the garage he felt surprised all over again.

"What is this?" he asked her as she opened her door.

Looking back at him before she stood up she responded, "This is my house."

She grabbed her bag from the trunk and climbed the steps to the front door, typing in a code on the doorknob and walking through. Clint continued to stare out of the windshield for a moment longer before he climbed out, grabbed his bag and followed her inside.

The inside was another surprise. It was clean, neat and looked like a totally normal house. He heard Dani moving around in the back of the first floor so he followed the sound. Here was what he was expecting to find. There were books and weapons all over the place.

She looked up when he stepped through the doorway and said, "There's a workshop down in the basement. I think you will find it has plenty of tools and supplies you could use to create some of your arrows if you are so inclined to do so."

She gestured towards a door behind her before she returned to searching through the room, clearly looking for something. Clint moved through the room and opened the door. A set of steep stairs descended into darkness and he searched for a light switch but found none. Looking back around the door he asked, "Lights?"

Dani looked up from where she was currently bent over digging through a bottom drawer in her desk, "They will come on automatically as you go down. At the bottom you will find a trapdoor, pull that open and you'll find the workshop."

Eyeing the steps again he muttered, "This totally seems like I am being set up to be murdered."

But trusting that was not her intention he followed her instructions, finding the lights turning on as he walked down and when he was at the bottom he spotted the trapdoor and pulled it open. Once he climbed down the ladder he looked around.

The space was larger than he expected it to be. Here was an array of sophisticated computer systems, a long work bench, a whole wall full of various tools, materials ruthlessly organized on shelves. He also spotted a bed, cook stove, and non perishable goods. Opening the only door he found in the room, he discovered a small bathroom. He noted there was some kind of design on the floor that seemed to be a kind of pentagram and a whole bunch of weird ass symbols on the wall.

Dani came down as Clint came out of the bathroom and he asked, "What is all this? And why is there food and a bed down here?"

She gestured towards the walls, "It doubles as a panic room. The walls and ceiling are solid iron soaked in salt. There is angel proofing painted on the walls, a devil's trap on the floor. It is demon, angel, and spirit proof."

"Why in the world do you need a panic room?" Clint asked in amazement.

"I told you, I'm a second generation paranoid bastard. It's better to have it and not need it than not have it and need it."

Clint hummed as he moved over to look through the materials to see what he could use. He felt as Dani stepped up behind him as she said, "How long you think you are gonna need to do what you want to do?"

"Eh, 24-36 hours tops."

"Cool I'll leave you to it."

Clint was already hauling supplies over to the work bench by the time that she booted up the computer equipment to set up a search for a possible case. They both sunk into their individual work, occasionally surfacing long enough to see what the other was doing before diving back in.

During one of his surfaces, Clint looked over to see Dani standing as she tapped on a touch screen, cat ear headphone on her head and bouncing and humming along with whatever it was that she was listening to. He watched her in fascination for a while. Amused when she danced in tight circles over to a different screen, tapping around for a moment before she moved to a table and sitting on a stool, pulling a screen to eye level as she dug a pad of paper from under a stack of files and starting to scribble away.

An hour later, Dani surfaced moving to her free standing cork board and starting to pin up paper. From the corner of her eye she caught a flash of color from where Clint was working, bent over the work table. Curious, she pulled her headphones down and wandered over to take a closer look.

He had a whole bunch of random things spread across the surface of the work table. Wire, metal scraps, various chemicals, gunpowder and other explosives, tiny computer chips, silver nitrate, vials of things that she had no idea what they were.

Dani picked up one of the vials, inside was some kind of red liquid. Clint glanced up as she was holding it up to the light and reached out to gently take it out of her hand.

"Careful, I have a limited supply of that stuff and I don't know if I'll be able to get any more."

Dani watched as Clint set the vial back in the tray he had, "What is it?"

He returned to the soldering he was doing on the thermal incendiary arrowhead he was working on. Once he finished he looked back up at her to answer her question, "It's Pym Particles."

Pursing her lips, Dani said, "Oh, Pym Particles. I see. I totally know what that is."

With a grin, Clint asked, "You know Ant-man?"

Thinking for a moment she asked, "That's the guy who can change his size at will right? Go super small or ginormous?"

"Right in one," Clint said, "His suit uses Pym Particles to work. With this stuff I can make things giant or make things small."

"Hm." Dani picked up one of the finished arrowheads, looking at it carefully before she asked, "So what's this one?"

Clint didn't look up from the next arrowhead he was working on, "Silver nitrate. For werewolves or other creatures that have a problem with silver. Shoot it through the heart and it will release the chemical, neutralizing the threat. I've also made some rock salt and holy water arrowheads."

"Now, that's clever. Oh! Hold on, I have an idea," Clint glanced up and watched as Dani dashed across the room to her desk, pulling out a scrap of paper and sketching something on it before she brought it back to him.

Taking the piece of paper from her he watched as she dashed away, scrambling up the stairs to the house above. In a moment, Dani was dashing back again, her arms full of stuff. She dumped it on his work bench and pulled up a stool to sit across from him.

Clint held up the paper, "What's this?"

"That is your standard devil's trap. We can engrave them on bullets and then when you suit a meat suit being possessed by a demon, it will literally trap it in place. It can't move and it can't smoke out–giving you the advantage of not needing to trick the demon into walking into a trap."

He looked back at the scrap of paper and nodded, "That will be useful. And all that stuff?"

Picking up a jar with an odd purplish black liquid in it she shook it lightly, "These are the ingredients for creating a witch killing brew. We fill hollow point bullets with the brew and bam."

Holding up a jar that looked like it had blood in it she explained, "This is dead man's blood. It won't kill a vampire, but it will act as a kind of sedative. You can dip an arrow in it and it will do what it needs to do."

She handed over a box of metal scraps, "These are wrought iron, you could use it to make iron arrowheads I bet. Good for all sorts of creatures."

Dani stood up and dug in her pocket, pulling out a necklace with an odd looking charm hanging from it. She held it out waiting for him to take it. Once he had she explained, "That is an anti possession charm. It will help make it harder for you to be possessed by demons."

"You don't wear one." Clint pointed out. She smirked, "I don't need it, I have one permanently attached."

Dani lifted her shirt, exposing the whole of the tattoo that he caught a barm glimpse of earlier. Sure enough, it looked exactly like the necklace that she had given him. He tried to ignore noticing how smooth her skin was as she dropped her shirt. He slipped the necklace over his head, tucking it under his shirt.

"Thanks," He said.

"Sure no problem. Oh! One last thing." She moved back over to the desk digging around before coming back over with a book. Handing it over to him, Clint opened it and found that it was a blank journal, designed much like the one she had was.

"What's this for?"

"Every hunter has a journal. It's where you can keep track of your jobs, things you learn, connections with other hunters and other such people. Think of it as part of the basic hunter tool kit."

"Thank you. For all of it."

Smiling, she moved back across the room to let him get back to work. He watched her as she pulled her headphones back on to her ears and returned to pinning things up on a cork board. Clint found it entirely too amusing that as someone who was a self proclaimed computer geek she spent so much using physical medium instead of digital.