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AVENGERS TOWER

"Sounds like a hell of a fight, sorry I missed it."

Steve smirked. "If I had known it was going to be a firefight I absolutely would have called y'all."

"No, I'm not actually sorry. I'm just trying to sound tough," Sam said.

"Yeah, Stevie. We're very happy chasing cold leads on our missing persons case." I added sticking my tongue out at him. Steve rolled his eyes at my antics.

"Anyways," Sam continued. "Avenging is your world. Your world is crazy."

"Be it ever so humble."

"You find a place in Brooklyn yet?" Sam asked, taking a sip of his drink.

Steve shook his head. "I don't think I can afford a place in Brooklyn." I opened my mouth to reply but he cut me off. "And I don't need any of Stark's money." I shrugged and nodded in reply.

"Well, home is home, you know?" Sam replied. He threw his arm across my shoulders and pulled me close, pressing his lips in my hair.

"I'm gonna go hang with Clint. I'll come find you when I'm ready."

"Sounds good." he replied. I gave him a kiss as I left and walked back towards the stairs.

I walked past Uncle Rhodey retelling his latest "badass mission." I chuckled as the group laughed. I don't know what's funnier: the story or the fact that it isn't. I kept moving through the crowd until I found the blond-haired archer.

"Sup, Guyliner."

He spun around. "Guyliner! You're one to talk."

I chuckled. "Dude, even if you had anything on me, you'd never prove it." I turned to his companion. "Dr. Cho, thanks for patching up my dork brother. Let's just hope the plastic doesn't get to his head."

"No problem, Ms. Jarvis." she replied.

"Please, call me Angie. We're all friends here." I shook her hand and she bid us farewell. I turned back to Clint. "So, wanna blow this popsicle stand and go play some video games. I got the new game."

"Arkham?"

"Heck yeah! What else would I get? Splatoon?"

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A FEW HOURS LATER

"Man, this game is sweet."

I nodded my head, grinning. "Amen, brother."

"So, what's with you and that friend of Cap's? Wilson, right?" Clint asked.

"Why?"

"Y'all seem….close." He replied, pausing the game.

I look at him in shock. "Dude, I almost had it!"

He grabbed the controller out of my hand and threw it on the table. "What's going on between the two of you?"

"We're dating. That's it." I grabbed the controller off the table and turned the game back on. "End of story."

He scoffed. "I know you better than anyone else. I know you're lying. What's really going on?"

I looked around to make sure no one was watching. After I turned back to him, I pulled out the chain from under my shirt and pulled it over my head. When I handed him the tags, he gave me a confused look.

"So? Most soldiers give their girls their tags."

I let out a sigh. "We're...I don't know how to say it, Clint."

"Tell me what happened."

After taking a deep breath, I recounted how we got "engaged."

"That's not as hard as you made it seem, sis," he said.

"You know me. I tend to overthink things."

He nodded in agreement. "So, who else knows?"

"Just us and you."

His eyes widened. "You haven't told…..He's gonna be ticked."

I shrugged. "So… how's the fam?"

"Good...wait a second. Don't change the subject." He exclaimed.

"Clint, I don't want to talk about it anymore."

"You're gonna have to tell them sometime."

I nodded. "I know. But I don't want them to know yet."

"Why?"

"The same reason your family is off the grid."

He sat there in silence until he finally nodded. "I understand that. But I have to ask one thing: what are you going to do when everyone finds out about this and they find out you got hitched?"

"Hopefully, by the time a wedding comes around, I'll tell them." I replied. "But right now I don't know."

He reached over and placed his hand on my shoulder. "Look, I know how you get when things don't go as planned. I just don't want to see you get hurt."

I smiled and nodded my head. I looked at my phone and saw the time. 9:00, crap! I bolted up from my chair and gave Clint a quick hug. "Sorry, I got to go. We were supposed to head out an hour ago."

He laughed. "It's okay, stay safe."

"I will. Tell the others I said hi."

"I will. See ya later." I waived in reply and ran for the elevator. A few minutes later I got to the party and saw that everybody was starting to leave.

"There you are. I've been looking everywhere for you." Sam said as he ran up to me. "You ready?"

I nodded. "Sorry, we got deep into the game and I lost track of time." He handed me my shawl and I put it on. "So, what wild goose are we chasing now?"

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