Chapter 8
I do not own Spider-Man or The Avengers in any way.
A/N-Not sure if this is going to be the last chapter or if there's going to be one more about Madison settling into D.C. I might start "Bullet in her Daddy's gun" this weekend, just depends.
Madison for the next year, trained under Agent Mattinson. She didn't speak to her father anymore; even Natasha couldn't get her to speak to him. She still struggled with nightmares and flashbacks, but one of the S.H.I.E.L.D. appointed psychologists was helping her get through it. Madison had lost much of her attitude, but the fire within her still remained. She was still dreaming of the day she'd be a full field agent.
Madison awoke and sat up in bed.
Today was her 18th birthday.
She was an adult, but sadly, she didn't feel any different.
There was a knock on her door.
She got up and answered it. "Daddy?" she asked him.
"Hey Baby Bird", he said.
She threw her arms around him. "I'm sorry", she said softly.
"I'm sorry too", Clint said, "Happy birthday".
"Thanks", she said. She pulled back and Clint pulled out a small box.
He handed it to her.
She opened it and found a necklace with a songbird pendant.
"I gave this to your mother when on our first anniversary", he told her.
Madison was speechless.
"I also got you this", he said revealing a long rectangular box. He set on her bed and unlocked it.
Madison opened it and saw a bow lying there.
"I thought you could use for your evaluation today", Clint said.
"My evaluation! I completely forgot", she said.
"You'll be fine Baby Bird", he told her, "You'll do great".
At 10:00, Madison was escorted to the training room. Before she entered, her father stopped her.
"I do have one more thing to give you", he said. He handed her a knife. "It was mine when I was a sniper in the army. Thought it would be more use to you", he told her.
Madison strapped it to her thigh and entered the training room.
First was hand-to-hand combat.
She took down 5 agents in 5 minutes, which was the best record since Natasha.
When training, Madison never held anything back. She treated it like the situation was real.
Several of the agents ended up with cuts and bruises.
But Madison never let her emotions cloud her judgments.
Mattinson had taught her that.
Instead, she concentrated on her anger and used that to find the energy to fight.
Next, came the special skills evaluation.
For Madison, this was the bow and throwing knives.
When the evaluation was over, she was escorted to Fury's office to await her results.
Fury entered with Agent Hill.
"Congratulations Junior Agent Barton", Agent Hill said.
"Or should we say, Agent Barton", Fury said.
"You mean I passed?" Madison asked standing up.
"Welcome back to S.H.I.E.L.D.", he said handing her a badge.
"Thank you Director Fury", she said.
"Now pack your things", he told her, "You're heading to D.C.".
"What?" she asked him.
"Isn't that what you wanted?" he asked her, "To be with Captain Rogers?"
"I didn't do it for him!" Madison yelled, "I did it for myself! All I've ever wanted was to be a field agent! I want to help people, like you guys".
Fury smiled and chuckled.
"Is this a test?" she asked him.
"I just wanted to make sure that you had your priorities in the right order", he told her.
Madison gave him a small smile.
"You have two days to get your affairs in order", Fury said.
Madison rushed to the warehouse. "Peter! Peter!" she yelled.
He appeared behind her. "What is it?" he asked her.
"I'm a field agent now!" she said excitedly.
Peter hugged her. "That's great!" he told her.
Madison leaned up and kissed him. "There's something else", she said.
"You have to go?" Peter asked her.
"I'm afraid so", she told him, "I'm really sorry Peter".
"It's okay. I knew you were going to leave eventually", he said, "This is what you've always wanted and I won't stop you".
Madison's eyes filled with tears and she kissed Peter again. "You'll always have a spot in my heart", she told him.
"Go", he told her.
She kissed him one last time. "I'll see you later", she said.
"Yeah. Later", he said.
Two days later, the apartment that Madison had grown up in was packed up.
"C'mon Baby Bird. It'll be okay", her father told her.
As they were getting in the S.H.I.E.L.D. van, Madison heard someone yell her name. She turned and saw Peter running towards them. "Peter?" she asked him.
"I had to see you off", Peter said panting, "And I wanted to tell you that I love you. I know you don't feel the same way I do, but…"
Madison cut him off with a kiss. "I do love you Peter, just not the way I love Steve", she told him.
"I also wanted to give you this", he said. He handed her a small cloth bag.
She opened it and found a charm bracelet. She pulled it out and saw that it the main charm was Peter's Spiderman symbol.
The other charms were a book, a spider web, and a pair of glasses.
"Thank you", she said. She leaned up and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Goodbye Peter", she told him. She got in the van and they pulled away from the curb. She fiddled with the charm bracelet as they drove away.
Goodbye New York, hello D.C.