Chapter 4
The house you picked out was a quaint little 3 bed, 2 bath rental situated in a nice neighborhood only about ten miles from work. It had a bit of age on it, but had been updated in the past few years and seemed to be well taken care of.
Afraid of what your boys' decorating style might be like (you envisioned nothing but a couple of recliners, a tv, a pool table, and swimsuit model posters all over the walls), you took over the job of adding the finishing touches yourself. You kept it simple, but still managed to make the place look stylish, yet homey.
Clint turned out to be a huge help around the house. You liked telling him that if the special agent thing didn't work out, he could always get a job remodeling homes. It took very little time for the three of you to settle into your new place.
The job, however, was a different story. SHIELD had given all of you a few weeks off after graduation to relocate and get acquainted to the area and all that. It was now the Saturday before the very first Monday of your new career and the nerves had been hitting you hard. It would have been so much easier for you without all that time off to get worked up.
You were currently sitting in the living room, flipping through magazines and not paying any attention whatsoever to what was in them. Everett was sitting on the couch across the room, watching you with a strange look on his face.
"Y/n, what was on the last page you just looked at?"
"I don't know...a perfume ad?"
"Try a half-naked woman. That's Barton's Sports Illustrated."
"Okay, so I'm swimsuit shopping. What's your point?"
"My point is you've got to chill out about starting the job. You haven't been acting like yourself. And you've been driving us crazy..." he muttered the last part under his breath, but you heard him anyway and shot him a look.
"I'm just a little nervous is all. It's like that first day of school feeling all over again."
"We'll be there too," he said. "There's nothing to worry about."
Before you could thank him, you heard the front door open and a familiar voice yell out "I've got a surprise you guys!"
"It better be a puppy!" you yelled back.
Clint entered the room with his arms full of bags and said, "If you want a puppy, I'll go get you a puppy. But for right now, this'll have to do."
He set the bags down on the coffee table and pulled out each item, announcing it in turn.
"Chinese food, beer, a couple bottles of the lady's favorite wine," he passed you a bottle before continuing on, "and our entertainment for the evening: Marathon Man, Goldfinger, and Three Days of the Condor."
You stared at the tower of spy movies sitting in front of you.
"Clint Barton," you said, "you are going to make a wonderful husband for some lucky gal one day."
"I thought you'd like it, baby" he said, bending down to give you a kiss on the temple.
Everett picked up the VHS tape of Marathon Man and stared at it before giving Clint a bewildered expression.
"She's nervous about starting her spy job, so of all the movies you could have picked, you get these?" he asked.
"Yeah, it'll make Monday not seem like such a big deal. Come on, I'm ready to eat."
Years down the road, when you would think about your favorite memories of the three of you together, this night was always one of them. And, strangely enough, Clint was right. That dentist office scene did make Monday not seem like such a big deal after all....
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"Ok, so how do I look?" you asked, popping out of the bathroom door and spinning around so they could see your whole outfit.
"Perfect," Everett said with a smile.
"You look like somebody's secretary," Clint said.
"She does not! She looks like a professional young lady."
"Who makes coffee runs and faxes reports." Turning his attention to you, Clint added, "believe me, you need to change."
"Well what would you pick out for her then?" Everett asked.
"Something that says 'I'm a sexy badass who can kill anybody here.' It needs to be a little bit tighter, with more black, more leather, and at least one weapon visible at all times."
"Oh yes, let's just advertise her great little figure so every man in the place can hit on her. Fantastic idea!"
"They hit on her, and they're going to have to deal with me."
"Hey-oh!" you called out from where you were still standing, getting their attention. "You guys remember I'm still here right."
"It's all about image," Clint said to you. "Who do you want to be? Career Barbie? Or-"
"Lara Croft," Everett finished for him with a look of disdain.
Rolling your eyes, you retreated back into the bathroom.
"But don't take too long! We can't be late our first day!" Clint yelled through the door.
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When you entered SHIELD headquarters for the first time, it was...thrilling. There were people everywhere, going this way and that. The only problem was that they all knew where they were going, while your little trio stood there with no clue what to do.
Suddenly, a voice popped up behind you.
"Excuse me, miss, but can I help you with something?"
You turned to find a male agent, only a few years older than yourself, standing there smiling at you. He was cute, in his own way, and looked like he'd be an absolute sweetheart.
"Yes," you replied. "It's our first day, new agents and all that, and-"
"You have no idea where to go," he finished for you. "Follow me."
As he led you up a flight of stairs, he offered you his hand and said "Agent Phil Coulson, and you must be y/n."
"How did you-"
"Know who you were? I like to be familiar with the names and faces of all the new recruits."
"Then you know that I must be Clint Barton," you heard Hawkeye say behind you. "And he must be Everett Ross. Unless of course you hadn't noticed we were here yet."
"Oh, of course, I'm sorry. It's very nice to meet both of you," Coulson said, blushing a bit red from embarrassment.
"Ignore him," you said to Coulson while giving Clint a disapproving glare, "he can be a bit of a dick."
To break the tension, you asked Coulson, "Does Peggy Carter come around often?"
"Sometimes, but not as much as she used to. You a big fan of hers?"
"Oh yeah, I think she's great. She's achieved so much in her lifetime. Besides, anyone who was friends with Captain America has got to be wonderful."
He stopped in his tracks and stared at you. "You like Captain America?" he asked.
"Like him? I've got one of his old tour posters hanging in my room. The man is the love of my life."
"Same here!" Coulson said, before correcting the statement. "I meant, on the poster not on him being the love of my life. What I mean is, he was my hero when I was growing up. I've got all the comic books, and I'm working on a mint condition collection of his trading cards."
"Get out! That is awesome! Those are almost impossible to come by anymore. I'd love to see them sometime."
That's when you noticed he was absolutely beaming at you, "Well I'd love to show them to you. Anytime you want."
"Well look where we are!" Everett exclaimed. "Human Resources. Says it right there on the door. Well, thank you very much, sir." He was grabbing you by the arm now and quickly leading you through the door. "Pleasure meeting you. See you around some time. Goodbye!"
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"Could you two have been any bigger jerks to that guy?" you asked while sitting between them in the waiting area of the Human Resources office. "What if he's our new boss? You both made spectacles of yourself."
Clint said, "A) He's way too young to be our new boss."
"He is a senior agent though," you interrupted.
"True," Clint said before continuing, "B) We did not make spectacles of ourselves. A spectacle would have been if I held him down while Everett beat him up. Which answers your first question: yes, we could have been much bigger jerks."
"The one time I try to make friends with someone besides you two losers, and you have to mess it up."
"Ha!" Everett laughed sarcastically beside you. "Well I'd love to show them to you. Anytime you want," he copied in a singsongy voice.
Returning to his normal tone, he added "Probably wants to show you a lot more than his cards..."
"Everett!" you scolded, putting emphasis on each syllable. "I don't interfere in your love lives!"
"What love lives? You do realize in the year since we met you, you are the only woman we've spent any time with whatsoever."
"Well excuse me, but I don't think I've been keeping you from it either. If you want to go out and get yourself a girlfriend, go ahead. I'm not stopping you, and I probably wouldn't interfere!"
Sensing the beginnings of a spat right there in the office, Clint leaned forward and put his hand on your knee. "I think all Everett is trying to say is that you're our best friend and we love you. And if the situation was reversed, and there was a girl agent staring all dreamily at one of us, you'd be concerned and maybe a touch jealous about it."
"I suppose I would, to a reasonable extent," you mumbled out grumpily.
"Alright then, we'll let it go now," he said, staring at both of you for confirmation. He must have taken the combined silence as an affirmation because he leaned back in his seat and didn't say another word about it.