Probably the only time in your entire life that you've hated Peggy Carter
Clint was never late for dinner. Clint was never late when it came to food in general, actually. It's 7:46 and Clint hasn't knocked on your door yet. Your stomach is telling you 'screw Barton, go feed me' , so that's what you do.
Before leaving your room you check your phone for any missed call or new message, but you have none. You pocket it and leave.
You stand there in the hallway, looking at the door in front of yours. Should I tell Steve it's dinner time? He probably doesn't know the schedule... What if he doesn't like the food they serve? We could go to that burgers place on fifth aven- You shake your head and go to knock on his door. However, you stop when you hear your name being called from the other end of the hall
"Y/N!" You turn to see Clint closing his bedroom door, bow in hand, arrows loaded on his back and approaching you. You frown and jog to meet him halfway
"Hey workaholic, we just got back from a mission" you tried to joke but the moment you saw him rush with his work clothes on, after having a meeting with Fury, you knew something was up.
His lips pulled upwards in a small smirk before turning serious again, and so did you
"What's going on?"
"Don't worry about it. Nata-"
"Is she okay?!" Your eyes widened "Did Dr. Banner lose control? Is Nat injured? What if they are both in trouble?"
Clint put both hands on your shoulders and breathed out a laugh
"Jeez, calm down there, monkey" he look straight into your eyes and you nodded, letting him continue
"Their jet for the ride back is, uhm, is not in the best conditions"
You frowned again, confused
"But Natasha would've noticed before leaving, why didn't she take another jet instead?"
"Y/N, the jet was fine when Tasha left from here" you raised a brow, wanting him to keep going because you were honestly not understanding shit.
Clint didn't want to tell you what happened to the jet because he knows you'll get all hyped up. He sighed
"The jet was attacked. When Natasha finally convinced Banner to come to S.H.I.E.L.D. and they went to board the ship they found someone had tried to force the door open without success. What they did manage to do was burn the external motor of the jet and cut cables here and there. They're stuck in India."
Well, that left you awestruck.
"But who would attack the jet and why?" You ask, desperately trying to think of a possible enemy
"That's what we need to find out as soon as possible" he cups your cheeks in his hands as your places yours on his hips "don't wear yourself out, please. Nat will be fine, you know that"
"Yes, yes, I know" you say nonchalantly, still working things out up there in your brain. After a minute you are aware of his hands still on your face, so you put yours over his and whisper "Be careful"
"Yes, ma'am" he grins and wraps you in his arms. Something about his hugs and gentle touches have been leaving you weak on the knees lately. You try to ignore it, but you can't hide the smile that grows on your face at that moment.
When you break the hug he's still grinning and you can't take your smile off your face. You feel your cheeks getting warm an you confirm your blush when Clint begins to chuckle.
Groaning, you throw your head back to his chest to hide you from view.
"I really need to leave now." He pulls you off, but still holds you close "I'm sorry I won't have dinner with you"
"It's okay, I was gonna ask Steve to go to the cafeteria with us"
"Yeah yeah, you do that. I, mmh, I'll try to keep you updated"
"Yes, please" you breathe out in relief "I'd love that"
"Okay" he kisses your head and turns around to leave.
Nope. You did not check him out when he left. And your eyes definitely did not wandered south... But those tight pants, tho...
************************************
"So, Agent Y/L/N"
"Yes, Captain Rogers?"
Steve smiles as you both walk down the street to that burgers place you suggested for lunch. "What do you like the most about being part of S.H.I.E.L.D?"
"Well," you sighed, thinking what would you say is the best part of being a deadly assassin living in a internship like building
"The battlefield?" You say unsure, but shrug at the end to keep it cool
"The battlefield?" Steve asks with a sideway smile
"Yes, I mean, all the training and guidance finally pay off there, where we fight, and we do the right thing, I believe. It's dumb I know"
"Dumb? Why? You risk your life in every mission and still you fight till the end. That is something to look up to"
"How would you know that?"
"I do my homework, agent" he said matter of factly with a smug smirk. You laughed and shook your head.
Once you got to the restaurant you made your orders and started a conversation. With every passing minute you felt a little more comfortable with Steve, he made it clear that he enjoyed your company and you could say the same about him.
You didn't want to set your hopes high because you didn't even want to admit the butterflies having a dance marathon in your stomach whenever you looked at Steve. He was just to beautiful. In and out. At least that's the impression he's given you in the past 24 hours.
You were both eating your burgers when Steve asked another question
"So you've been part of S.H.I.E.L.D for years, but how did you get involved? And being so young, how did you decide to be part of this?"
Well. Shit.
You liked Steve and would trust him your life in the battlefield because, well, you're on the same team now and he's captain America and he's just that. But you honestly were not ready to open up about that topic that easily.
Steve might have seen you readjusting into the chair and swallowing your food with a nervous look because he immediately apologized
"Only if you want to tell me, I didn't want to make you uncomfortable"
"It's okay, Steve. It's just an interesting story" you calmly said "Let's say that S.H.I.E.L.D is everything I have now and I'm glad to be part of this. I wish to become a great woman, a fearless fighter, a fair person, everything the founder of this organization was and still is"
"Agent Carter is what I'd call my role model. I've never seen someone so convinced and determined like her. That is something to look up to" you smiled at him, but seemed lost in thought
"She truly was" he whispered
"I bet she beat a lot of asses back in the day" you smirked
"Oh yes. On our first day at the camp a big guy wanted to fool her and she punch him on the nose in a swift motion. I think she broke his nose" he scrunched up his nose and laughed
"Did she? Oh my god" you chuckled
"Yes, she was the first woman to like me for what I was. She was so beautiful, I never thought someone like her would be interested in a small guy like me"
You opened your mouth to say something but he started talking about her again. and again. and basically the whole rest of the night was spent talking about the ever so perfect and beautiful Peggy Carter.
A strange feeling formed in your stomach, you felt so angry and sad.
Steve wouldn't shut up about Peggy, not even on the way back to the HQ. Your heart may have broken a little, cause it was as clear as the Caribbean beaches that he was still in love with Peggy.
It was a sad situation, for both him and you. He left so much behind when he went into the ice.
Once you were on the hallway outside your rooms, he stopped talking and sighed, a smile on his lips
"Thank you for spending some time with me, Y/N. It was a nice night"
Bitch you serious?
"Don't even mention it" you waved your hand "I'll see you tomorrow, soldier" you mockingly saluted and went to open your door
"Wait" He suddenly looked nervous, and your heart stopped beating for a second
"What?" You turned around and gave him a warm smile, y'know, just to cover up the nerves
"Do you think it's possible for me to visit Peggy someday this week ?" He was looking at you with hopeful eyes while scratching the back of his neck. Your lips trembled as you fought the urge to scowl and keep the smile on your face
"Sure, I'll speak with Maria about it, don't worry" his face lit up and his smile grew. Fuck you Rogers and Goddamn Peggy Carter.
"Thank you. Really" you nodded and opened your door
"Good night, Rogers" you closed your door and went straight to your bed. You took off your shoes, your jacket and got under the covers.
Hearing Steve talking about someone the way he was talking about Peggy really hit a nerve on you.
You closed your eyes, wanting to fall asleep quickly and forget about everything for a few hours, but your phone started ringing before you could fall asleep.
You grabbed your jacket and searched for your phone.
When you saw the caller you smiled and forgot about any previous feeling
"Hey"
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
CLINT'S POV
We were on our way out of India. All save and sound. Natasha introduced Dr. Banner and I, he seems insecure about going to S.H.I.E.L.D, but I tried to reassure him he'd be a very important part of whatever Fury is planning to do.
It's past midnight, according to the jet automatic registration of space and time. Lol this modern tech is some big deal.
I'm glad we made it out of India without further damages, Nat and Banner were fine when I arrived and we just need to find the motherfuckers that attacked the first jet.
Y/N would probably love to hear we're all fine.
Y/N is so pretty. And smart. And badass. She's grown so much, she's not that baby girl I found in the forest.
But I can't be feeling anything more than a truly strong friendship. It'd ruin everything. Plus, I'm too old for her, she'd never be interested in me.
"If you keep thinking that hard, your brain will burn and your hair will fall off"
"I don't know if I should believe that or not"
"Why don't you just call her?" I raised a brow at Nat, how the hell does he know I'm thinking about Y/N?
"I can fly this thing while you go over there and tell her we're all fine" she simply said and waited for me to get up and out of the pilot seat. I sighed and got up.
Dr. Banner was reading a book on a corner and was too caught up to notice my presence.
I dialed her number and pressed the call button.
"Hey" she sounded tired and I feared I had woken her up
"Hey kid, did I wake you up?"
"No, you didn't. And Clint, don't call me kid, for fucks sake"
"Hey, don't curse. Kids don't curse"
"That's it. I'm hanging up."
I started laughing and quickly apologized
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" She started laughing too, reminding me how much I love it when she laughs.
"How are you? How is Tasha?"
"We're all fine..."
We talked for more than an hour, when she started answering me with yawns and hums, probably barely listening to anything I was saying.
I called her name a few times and when she didn't answer I knew she had fallen asleep. I grinned and before I hung up I wished her a good night and told her I loved her.
As a friend of course. I didn't specified it, but it's not like she was listening though.
You're screwed up, Clint Barton.
*****************************
Nat had a huge smile on her face all the time Clint was on the phone with Y/N because she knew they had feelings for each other, and somehow they'll end up together.