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IRON AND FIRE: PART I

04. midnight coffee

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She narrowed her eyes at the piece of rock that lay beneath the glass of her microscope. She studied every line, every dent but she was mostly interested in the strange purple color of the material. When she'd put it all to memory, she moved away and wrote down the details in her notebook. Her eyes quickly scanned her notes to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything. After making sure that wasn't the case, she reached for her tweezers and removed the testing material from under the microscope.

A week had gone by since Tyler had ended up in the hospital and her brother had gone missing. She had been working almost non stop since, wanting to keep her mind off of the whole situation. When she did take a break, it was to get some other form of distraction, like the one she could find in Maria Hill's bed.

Multiple journalists had tried to get a hold of her, some for an interview, others just for a statement but she ignored them all. The fact that her brother was gone without her being able to make up for the things she'd said to him was bad enough, she didn't need an interview that would make her relive her entire life with Tony. She was perfectly able to relive that herself...Every night her mind would conjure up a thousand different conversations in which she apologized to him, or tried to make him understand how important he was to her.

It felt as though the guilt was slowly eating her alive. He was gone and she never even told him how much he truly meant to her.

The horrible accident that killed their parents should've brought them closer together but all it truly did was widen the already existing gap between them. With Tony taking over their father's company and running it in a way she couldn't possibly agree with, their fights had become more frequent. Still, she was always able to come back to him and make up for it. Until now.

She was startled out of her thoughts by a sharp knock against the door. With a frown she looked up from her paperworks. It was almost midnight, usually the building was all but abandoned at this hour. Which was precisely the reason she enjoyed working so late. She got to her feet and opened the door.

She couldn't help raising her eyebrows in surprise. It was the man who had bumped into her last week. What was his name again? Clint Barton?

'Hope I'm not interrupting?' he questioned, though he didn't sound like he actually cared if he had.

'You're not,' she replied, forced to watch helplessly as he invited himself into her lab. 'What do you want?'

'So hostile,' he grinned.

Only then did she notice the cup of coffee he held in his hand.

His grin never faded as he put the cup on her desk and took a seat in the chair opposite of hers. He folded his hands behind his head, leaning back as if he had been here a thousand times already.

'What are you doing?' she asked, still standing by the door, hoping he would take it as a hint and leave.

'I came to get my jacket,' he grinned and then gestured at the coffee. 'I also seem to remember you saying something about smiling if I got you a coffee.'

She scoffed and finally decided to sit down, since it didn't look like he planned on leaving anytime soon. 'And I remember saying that I might smile.'

Clint shrugged. 'Good enough for me.' His eyes wandered through the lab and he let out a slow whistle. 'Nice place you got here, miss Stark.'

'So, you do know my name. What was the point in pretending you didn't?'

'I figured it out a few seconds later, you have a pretty famous face.'

She eyed him skeptically before finally dropping her hostility. She reached for the coffee and took a careful sip from the hot drink. She wasn't sure yet if she was entirely happy with his company but she didn't mind skipping another trip to the cafeteria.

'So, where's my jacket?'

'Not here,' she replied while turning her attention back to the many papers spread out across her desk. 'Took it home.'

His green eyes sparked with mirth. 'If you wanted me to drop by your house you could've just said so.'

She frowned at him. 'And the fact that I didn't "say so" should tell you everything you need to know.'

He slightly tilted his head, smirking. 'Anyone ever tell you, you have a temper?'

'There aren't that many people with a death wish.'

Clint placed a hand on his heart, pretending to be horribly hurt by her words. 'You wouldn't kill someone who brings you a free coffee would you?'

'I might, if that someone keeps distracting me from my work. Don't you have something more important to do?'

'Actually yes, this is lab 52 isn't it?'

Suspicion boiled alive within her. 'Yes,' she said slowly.

'Perfect! Nat told me you were the person to thank for that fake serum.'

For a moment she simply stared at him. Then she burst out laughing, earning a surprised look from Clint Barton. 'Don't tell me you're a spy too?' she grinned. She couldn't possibly imagine him alongside Natasha in the field.

'What's so funny about that?'

'Oh, just,' she looked him up and down, 'you're not exactly spy material.'

He crossed his arms over his chest. 'Because I'm not a sly guy in a suit?'

'Because you're clumsy and obnoxious. Two qualities that, even in my not-so-expert opinion, would make a very poor spy.'

He leaned forward, a smirk tugging at his lips. 'And what if I'm just pretending to be, as you so graciously put it, clumsy and obnoxious.'

She raised a brow. 'Why the hell would you do that?'

His green eyes held hers captive. 'Maybe I just like aggravating you.'

And that was when she realized her mistake. He was much more skilled than she had initially given him credit for. Within the first seconds of their meeting he had already figured out exactly which buttons to push to get to her. And he had been playing her like a fiddle ever since. So much so that she'd believed him to be an incapable fool.

With a glare in his direction she reached for her coffee and downed it in one go, desperately searching for words in order to avoid showing he'd surprised her. Although, judging by his expression, he knew exactly what she was thinking.

A sigh escaped her lips as she put the, now empty, cup down again. 'Alright then, master spy, why don't you show me all of your amazing skills while you're at it?' she asked, putting as much venom in her tone at the nickname as she possibly could.

He got to his feet with the enthusiasm of a child. 'Follow me.'

《 ➼ 》

The training center was located on the first level of the basement. There were boxing bags hanging in neat rows from the ceiling, fighting mats to the right and shooting ranges to the left, complete with dummies and, behind a glass wall, even some moving targets.

Normally she wasn't allowed in here, considering this was where the agents of SHIELD trained for their highly secretive operations (which also explained why it was located in the basement). But considering there was no one here at present, she figured it was fine.

Clint walked straight towards the shooting ranges, right towards where all different kinds of weapons were hanging on the wall. She'd expected him to reach for a gun but felt a jolt of surprise run through her when he picked the bow and arrow instead.

'I didn't know those weapons were still used in this day and age,' she smirked as she watched him test the string of the bow.

'Shouldn't you know better by now than to mock my skills?' Clint said without looking at her, though she could hear the smile in his words.

She shrugged. 'Force of habit.'

'Glad to hear you're getting used to my presence. Now,' he said as he placed his arrow on his bow and walked towards the first target. 'Watch and be awed.'

She shook her head with a smile but did as she was told. She watched as he inhaled and raised the bow, relaxed his shoulders, and pulled the arrow back. Then, he slowly exhaled and released the arrow. The weapon whizzed through the air before landing in the exact center of the target.

'Mm, not bad,' she said, taking on the mocking tone of a stern teacher. 'Though I don't see how this is supposed to help against guns.'

His features lit up, as though she had personally challenged him. 'I had a feeling you might say that.' Without awaiting an answer he walked towards the control panel of the moving targets. He typed in a series of numbers and the targets began moving, forming a maze of dummies with guns and knives. He flashed one last cocky grin at her before stepping inside the glass box, firmly closing the door behind him.

She wasn't exactly nervous but still her heart was pounding with anticipation. She tried to follow the moving targets but soon enough they became a blur to her. Abby knew with absolute certainty that she would not pass such a training.

But Clint took a steadying breath, scanned the room as he waited for the clock to run down. As soon as it hit zero, the first gun was fired. It was a harmless flash of light and smoke but, even standing safely behind bulletproof glass, it still made an awfully loud noise.

Clint dropped to his knees and rolled towards the target, jumping up at the very last second to fire his arrow. Within a second he'd knocked the next arrow and turned around to fire it at a target that had appeared behind him. In a blur he moved to the right to avoid the slash of a fake knife at this side. He spun around, perfectly balanced, and shot the third dummy in its head, powering the robot down.

It was almost impossible to keep track of his movements. The bow became an extension of his arm while the arrows seemed to be controlled by his mind rather than his muscles.

When at last he brought the last target down and jumped back to his feet, he wasn't even out of breath. His chest was still rising and falling with the same controlled pace as when he started. With a self-satisfied grin on his features he exited the box, raising his eyebrows expectantly at her.

'I don't say this often, Barton,' she began, trying her hardest to keep her gaze on his face instead of his sweaty arms. 'But I'm impressed.'

'Of course you are, I'm amazing,' he said, spinning his last remaining arrow between his fingers.

'Don't get all arrogant now.'

'Ah, but where would a man be without his ego,' Clint teased.

'Probably on a date instead of wandering around at work in the middle of the night,' she replied, leaning against the wall as she watched him take a swig of his water bottle.

'Now that,' he said after putting the bottle down, 'is a good point.'

A laugh left her lips before she could stop myself and the sound made Clint smile.

'Although,' Clint was quick to say, 'I could say the same thing about you.'

She smirked at him. 'Why would I need a date when I already have someone waiting in bed for me at home?'

For a second he seemed genuinely surprised, but he was quick to recover himself. 'Well then, don't let me keep you from far more important business for a moment longer.'

Shaking her head at him she started making her way towards the door. 'I won't, don't worry.'

'I still want my jacket back though!'

'Get me another coffee and I'll think about it!' she shouted back from across the room, then quickly closed the door before he could protest.

As she walked back to her lab to close up for the night, she realized with a start she hadn't even thought about Tony or Tyler since Clint stepped into her room. Without even realizing it, the archer had given her a break from work while keeping her mind occupied. He'd even managed to make her laugh. And despite the heavy weight of guilt upon realizing she was out having fun while her brother and best friends were in such horrible conditions, she couldn't shake the feeling that it felt good to laugh again.

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I honestly think this is my favorite chapter up until now! I will never get tired of writing Abby and Clint's verbal sparring. They are absolute idiots who love to rile each other and honestly, I love writing them do so. Also, I am completely obsessed with the gif at the start of this chapter. They just look so cute okay!

This chapter is very different from its first version but I like it a lot better this way. The last part of this chapter was partially inspired by the scene of Katniss in Catching Fire training with her bow and arrow. I hope you guys enjoyed it as well, please leave your opinions in the comments, I would love to read them!

Thanks for reading, guys!

xx Nelly