Chapter 6

As soon as Jarvis disconnects the call, I have him start searching for popular restaurants near me and the tower.

I immediately dismiss the top ten, because they're all either 'new age' or loud bars. Eleven and twelve host shady crowds, and I'd like to be able to eat without one hand on my knife. Thirteen through fifteen are all too far from the tower to make it worthwhile for Clint.

Sixteen looks promising, though. A little mom and pop hole in the wall called Bluebird Burgers. Some random person on Facebook says they have fries to die for. They're about a midpoint between my location and the tower.

I tell Jarvis to send the details to Clint and give me directions. A little arrow pops up on the corner of my screen, and I'm pulling into the parking lot in no time.

I can see Clint waiting by the door as I raise the visor of my helmet and lift it off. He sees me and walks over, and grin lighting up his face.

He kisses me softly and then stands back to admire the bike. He rocks back on his heels with a low whistle as he takes it all in. I swing a leg over to get off the bike and stash my helmet in the back storage compartment.

"You like it?"

"It's amazing, Taylor. What'd your dad think?"

If he notices my slight flinch, he doesn't say anything, only laces our hands together as we head through the door.

"He liked it. I think. We had a bit of a different topic on our minds this morning." I say uneasily as Clint pulls my chair out for me and I sit.

"Right. Sorry about that. Do I need to hurt someone?" Clint narrows his eyes and looks at me with skeptical hope.

I laugh as I shake my head. "No. Not yet, bird boy."

Clint leans back with a smirk and an eye roll. "Whatever, gear girl."

"Good one."

"Thank you. What are you getting?"

"Did you see the Cupid special? Endless burgers and fries for two, 19.99?"

"One burger then pig out on fries?"

"I like the way you think, Mon amour."

Clint blinks in surprise at the French. "You speak French?"

"Nope." I said, popping the 'p'. "That's years of listening to my dad's cheesy pickup lines showing."

Clint opens his mouth to reply, but anything he might have said was cut off by the approach of our waitress.

"Hi, I'm Sharon, I'll be your server tonight. What can I get you to drink?"

Sharon looks to be about in college, with brunette hair highlighted blonde tied back in a ponytail. Her smile seems genuine as her gaze flicks evenly between me and Clint, and thankfully – for her own safety – she doesn't try and throw herself onto my boyfriend.

I relax as Clint orders, only piping in with my drink order when necessary.

Sharon whisks away with a smile, and Clint turns to me with a curious gaze.

"If you don't mind me asking," His tone is wary and gentle, "what happened this morning?"

I sigh and run a hand through my hair as I begin. "Well, I was in the workshop working on those beacon arrows I told you about when he comes in. He hovers over my shoulder and tells me that if they are for you I need to stop working on them."

Clint tilts his head and frowns. "Why? They're safe, they always are if you make them."

I nod. "That's what I said. Then he accuses me of being too busy making out with you to check their safety." Clint's frown deepens. "He then goes on to accuse you of being rude and disrespectful and pulls the 'boss' card, as well as the 'father' card, then goes on a rant about how he owns the tower and everyone should be on his side. Essentially, he hates you for dating me."

Clint doesn't get mad like I expected him to. He doesn't reach for the knife I know he has in his boot, or the one inside his jacket.

Instead he slumps in his seat, his gaze falling to the table.

"Clint? What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry, Taylor. None of this would have ever happened had I not asked you out."

Silence falls for a few seconds.

"Clint, sweetie?"

"Yes?"

I reach across the table to squeeze his hand. "Shut up. It sounds like you're breaking up with me, and you asked me out yesterday. None of this is your fault. My dad isn't naturally protective. He can't be, not with the life we lead. Between the press, Stane, Vanko, Loki, and the supervillains we get almost every week, my dad can't completely protect me from it all. And he knows it. I think he's trying too hard to protect what little he can, and therefore overdoing it. It should pass in a few days."

Clint lifts his gaze to my face, his eyes filled to the brim with admiration. He glances around us quickly before leaning across the table and giving me a quick yet firm and tender kiss.

"Not that I didn't enjoy that," I say with a small smile, "but what was that for?"

"For being an amazing genius girlfriend any guy would be lucky to have."

"I don't want any guy, I want my hawk."

Clint beams, but his grin fades. "Um, I need to go to the restroom, be right back."

I nod and shoo him away, discreetly watching butt as he jogs towards the bathroom.

As soon as Clint is out of sight, Sharon sweeps in with our food.

"One Cupid special, one burger with cheese plain, the other with mustard, ketchup, tomatoes, and lettuce, and one large basket of fries."

I thank her as I accept my food. She turns away to go back to her job, but hesitates slightly before turning back to me.

I raise an eyebrow as I munch on a fry – Facebook person was right, these are awesome fries.

"Um, if you don't mind me saying so, I was just looking at you and your boyfriend interact, and I really think you hit the jackpot."

I grin as I swallow the fry before replying. "I don't mind. And yes, I know, he's amazing. Thanks for not hitting on him."

She looks confused. "Why would I do that?"

I glance at my food before scratching my neck and replying. "We had a nasty waiter on our first date. Creepy guy, kept throwing himself onto me." I shudder at the memory.

She frowns. "You didn't deserve that. You deserve a guy like…"

"Clint."

"A guy like Clint. Well," she grins again, "now you've got him. If only all girls could attract such beautiful men as you."

I smile. "If only, right?"

She smiles and glances towards the restrooms. Clint is coming back, so she picks up her tray, thanks me, and gets back to her job.

"Talking about me?" Clint asks as he slides back into his seat.

"She was congratulating me on my choice of boyfriend."

"Hey! I asked you out."

"And I accepted. Now shut up and eat, birdbrain."

He does.

An hour later, we've both polished off our burgers and two baskets of fries, and accepted the bill. I made sure to tip Sharon heavily as we walked out the door.

"So, a repeat?"

"Definitely. Good food, non-creepy wait staff…"

"I'll have Jarvis save the address."

I'm about to climb on my bike when I stop. "Clint, how did you get here?"

"Bus. I can catch another one if you wanna go somewhere else."

"Hop on, Jarvis can play chauffer. So, where to?"

"Exploring the city, unless you want to go back home."

"Exploring sounds good. I'll use Jarvis to check in with Tasha, Steve, and Bruce."

Clint nods and follows me out front. He hops on my bike, accepting the spare helmet I hand him, and I sit behind him and wrap my arms around him.

Jarvis pulls us into traffic, and we ride off into the noon-day sun.

A~A~A

If I didn't have a flying suit, I would have to say the most liberating thing in the world is motorcycle.

I whip through New York with the visor up, letting the wind brush my face as I laugh and Clint joins me.

We're exchanging battle stories Jarvis informs me that another Loki alarm has gone off, but none of the others seem to realize.

My brow crinkles as I immediately signal for Clint to pull over hop off the bike as soon as he does so.

"Taylor, what's going on?"

"Loki alarm went off, no one is noticing. Change of plans, back to the tower, now. This can do 200, but we can go slower."

Clint shakes his head and hops off the bike. "No, I'll catch a bus. Go! The tower might be compromised."

I nod and get ready to dart back into traffic, but Clint's voice stops me.

"One more thing."

I lift my visor and give him an exasperated glance.

He leans down and brushes his lips against mine. "Be safe."

"Always am."

He give me a mock salute before standing out of my way. I flip my visor down once more, power up my bike, and shoot between two cars, doing almost three times their speed.

A~A~A

I arrive at the tower to see that everything looks normal. I park my bike in a parking space and walk towards the lobby entrance.

As soon as my boot his the marble flooring, every light in the room goes out.

And that doesn't just happen in the tower running on clean energy.

"Jarvis?"

No answer besides static.

"Jarvis, answer me!"

"Oh, but he won't save you. None of your precious team will." A voice whispers in my ear. I spin and reach for my knife, but it isn't there. Neither is my gun.

"Your weapons can't help you, either." A cloaked figure steps out of the darkness, my weapons clattering to the ground in front of it.

"Who are you? What do you want?" I ask warily, moving into a combat stance.

The figure snaps its fingers, and suddenly I can't move or speak, only breathe.

I fall to the floor with a thud as my captor draws their hood back slightly.

"I think you already know."

A pair of green snake's eyes are the last thing I see before it all goes black.

A/N

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