Fated Marks

About an hour after falling asleep I woke up to the credits playing. I fell asleep in the middle of an episode again. I didn’t want to move but if we both fell asleep on the couch we’d be in a world of hurt again.

I gently shook Clint’s arm but nothing.

“Clint you need to wake up.” I said

“Mhm.” He groaned before snoring again. I forgot how much of a heavy sleeper he was.

“Come on don’t make me get a bucket of ice water.” I said but instead he just pulled me closer. I can’t blame him for knocking out so fast. I could tell the past couple of weeks he hadn’t been sleeping so well. Probably been on stakeouts almost every night or flying the jet. I should let him sleep, but if he slept on the couch his back would probably be bothering him tomorrow. “Clint sweetie, I need you to wake up. It’s time to go to bed.”

“Don’t go.” He muttered. “Stay.”

“We both need to go to bed. Come on you’ll thank me for it in the morning.” I said sitting up.

He opening his eyes and rubbed his face before sitting up. “Tired?” I asked already knowing the answer.

“Jetlagged.” He said.

“Come on, let’s go to bed.” I said helping him up but instead hugged me and buried his face in my stomach. “I forgot how cuddly you get when you’re tired.”

“Mhm… don’t go. I sleep better when we cuddle.” He said sleepily.

“Is that why you don’t want to move to the bed? You do realize I was going to stay with you right?” I said.

“You were?” He said looking up.

“Yeah, I tend to actually get a full night’s rest when I’m with one of you so unless you want me to go…” I started but he pulled me down so I was sitting in his lap and kissed me.

“The day I don’t want you to stay the night is the day I’ve either gone crazy, I’ve been brainwashed again or I’ve been replaced.” He said making me chuckle.

“Good to know.” I said kissing him. “So bed?”

“Yeah.” He said standing up and leading the way. I hadn’t been in his room since before he moved in. He kept it pretty tidy. I few clothes laid out in the chair but other than that the room was fairly clean.

Clint lifted the covers and lied down before lifting the covers so I could slip in. I cuddled against his side with my head resting on his chest. I woke up the next morning in the same position. It wasn’t until the light hit my face that I woke up.

“Morning.” Clint said.

“Morning, how long you been awake?” I asked.

“About an hour.” He said. “Time difference really screws up my sleep.”

“You don’t look as tired as last night so at least you managed to get a few hours.” I said.

“How’d you sleep?” Clint said.

“Good.” I said giving him a smile.

“You talk in your sleep.” Clint said.

“I do not.” I said.

“You do, you’re really chatty in your sleep.” He said with that grin that made me feel like I had butterflies in my stomach.

“What did I say?” I asked.

“You said my arms make great pillows.” He said.

“No secret there.” I said.

“And you really like doing this.” He said before he leant over and gently kissed me.

“Still debating that one might need another one to see if it’s more than just a one time thing and the sparks still there.” I said with a grin.

“Well in that case,” He said kissing me again but this time I saw fireworks.

“Mhm, I don’t mind it.” I said with a smirk.

“You don’t mind it?” he said with a grin. “Really…” Next thing I know he was tickling me.

“Clint… stop… hahaha.” I said between laughs.

“Agent Barton, Miss Adams, Captain Rogers wanted to notify you that breakfast is ready to be served.” Jarvis said.

“We’ll be right down.” Clint said.

“Hope Steve made hashbrowns. I’m craving a good breakfast.” I said.

“What are you doing today?” Clint asked.

“Nothing, I finished my midterm essay while we were locked in the lab so I’m free.” I said. “Why?”

“I was thinking maybe we could go out and do something… like a date?” He asked.

“Clint Barton are you asking me out on a date?” I said with a smile. I could feel my face heat up.

“Would you say yes if it was?” He said looking a bit nervous. I leaned forward and kissed him.

“I’d love to but I need to stop by the apartment and get a change of clothes.” I said.

“I’ll drive you after breakfast.” He said. “Now let’s go before Nat comes up here and drags us down stairs.”

“Yeah.” I said sitting up.

Clint quickly got up and got dressed before we went downstairs where everyone was already sitting down.

“Morning.” I said sitting down.

“Morning.” They all said with grins on their faces and exchanging looks. Wow not subtle at all.

“Hashbrowns?” Steve offered.

“Yes please.” I said.

We sat down and chatted over a full course breakfast. Steve was an amazing cook.

“So I started updating…” Tony started.

“No.” Bruce and I answered.

“But you haven’t even…” Tony started again.

“No.” We said again.

“You’re no fun.” Tony said.

“Getting locked in a lab all weekend isn’t fun.” I said. “The company was great though.” That made Bruce smile.

“Almost hulking out is also not fun.” Bruce said.

“Which is why I need to update the procedures.” Tony argued.

“No updates without pre approval from both of us.” I said. “We spend just as much time in the lab as you do and if something like this were to happen again we should know what to do.”

“And Hayley get’s to check all the coding and install a failsafe to get out incase of a code green.” Bruce said.

“I don’t think that’s really necessary, I think Hayley…” Tony started.

“Install it.” Everyone else said.

“Okay jeez.” Tony said.

“You know what I said yesterday still stands right?” I asked Bruce.

“I know I’d just feel better if the option was there.” He said. I sighed but accepted it. It was more for his peace of mind than mine.

“I was thinking of going out of the tower and exploring more of what the city has to offer, would you like to accompany me Hayley?” Thor asked.

“Actually I have a date.” I said and I could see the grin on Clint’s face.

“Another time then.” Thor said a bit disappointed that someone had beat him to it.

“Wait we can ask you on dates?” Tony said. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Normally if you want a date you ask and you never asked.” I said.

“Hayley would you please give me the honor of accompanying me to dinner?” Thor said.

“That’s how you ask for a date.” I told Tony. “Thor I’d love to I just can’t tonight, Friday work for you?”

“I am yours Friday.” He said.

“I call Saturday!” Tony chimed in.”

“I have plans.” I said.

“Aww.” He whined.

“Speaking of plans, we should get going.” Clint said

“Right, got to beat traffic. See you all tomorrow.” I said. We went down to the garage and got into Clint’s car.

The drive was actually pretty fast. There was traffic but it was moving pretty fast. We even managed to find parking right out front.

“You heard from Will?” Clint asked.

“No, he’s probably still cramming somewhere.” I said. I opened the door and screamed.

“What the Fuck Hayley?!” Will yelled back.

“Whoa!” Clint said.

“What the fuck Will, you have your own room.” I yelled.

“Uh hi.” A random guy on the dining table said. “I should probably put on some pants.”

“Sock on doorknob Hales.” Will said.

“there was no sock!” I said.

“Really I could have sworn…” He started.

“Nope, no sock and dude come on we eat there.” I said. “I thought you were studying.”

“I was, then I met… uh what’s your name again?” Will asked.

“Charlie.” the guy said.

“I met Charlie and well I changed subjects. What are you guys doing here?” Will asked trying to change the subject.

“We’re going out, I need a change of clothes.” I said heading toward my room.

“What you finally going on a date?” Will asked sarcastically.

“Yeah.” Clint and I answered at the same time.

“Seriously? About damn time.” Will said.

“Don’t try and change the subject, we agreed no screwing in public areas.” I said from my bedroom. I left the door open so they could all hear me. Clint was dressed pretty casually so I figured jeans and a cute top with some sensible shoes were the way to go. I stuck with some dark wash jeans, a white flowy top topped with a jacket and some booties.

“It was a spur of the moment thing.” Will whined.

“Maybe I should go.” Charlie said.

“No stay this’ll just be a sec.” Will started. I slipped on my shoes and quickly checked my hair before stepping out of my room.

“Hales…” Will started.

“I’m going out with Clint, when I get back I expect you both to have pants on and the entire place to be disinfected. Don’t T bag all over the furniture.” I said as I took Clint’s hand and walked out.

“Does that happen often?” Clint asked.

“Which part the random strangers my roommate screws or them doing it all over the apartment?” I said.

“I was going to say you walking in on Will and his friends.” Clint said.

“This is the second time. One more and I’m seriously going to start considering looking for a new place.” I said. “He took the breakup pretty bad. Will’s motto is the best way to get over someone is to get under someone new except its multiple someones and it’s all over the apartment. But lets ignore that and get back to our date. Where we off to?”

“It’s a surprise.” Clint said.

“I don’t like surprises.” I said.

“You’ll like this one.” He said.

Another drive in non-gridlocked traffic we ended up at the Nintendo Store in Rockefeller Center.

“The World of Nintendo exhibit, I’ve been wanting to check this out.” I said.

“So have I, it’s a pretty slow day, figured we’d get extra time to use that.” He said as he pointed to the giant TV hooked up to a Wii with Mario Kart on it.

“It’s my dream TV.” I said.

“Mine too, let’s go.” He said. We played almost every version of Mario Kart they had until we started getting some weird looks from the parents of some kids that were waiting their turn. We stopped by for some ice cream from this one place that used liquid nitrogen to make it in front of you. Clint ended up getting a peanut butter ice cream with bits of recess cups in it and I got a cheesecake ice cream with bits of cheesecake. Halfway through our ice creams we ended up swapping.

After that we took another drive but this time to an archery field in Queens.

“Am I going to watch you practice?” I asked.

“No, I’m going to teach you how to use this.” He said opening up the trunk of the car to show me a crossbow.

“Don’t tell Nat, she’s been trying to get me to let her teach me how to use a gun.” I said.

“You should also learn…” Clint started.

“I don’t like guns.” I said. “This though, this I can live with.” I said lifting the crossbow. I felt the mark on my left arm heat up. I turned to look at Clint and he had this weird dreamy look in his eyes. Normally I’d ignore it but I decided to pull a Nat and mess with him a bit. “See something you like?” I said with a smirk.

“Really like.” He said kissing my cheek before leading me to the targets we’d be using. “Ready to give it a try?”

“So point aim and shoot?” I said.

“Easier said than done.” He said.

“Let’s see then.” I said. I lifted up the crossbow and aimed it at the target before shooting at it. With the wind that was blowing the arrow ended up lower and more to the left than I had intended.

“You have to take into account the breeze and your posture’s a bit off.” He said. “Straighten up your back a bit, relax your shoulders and control your breathing, exhale as you shoot. Try again.”

I did as he said and when I shot again the arrow hit the target. Not dead center but closer than before.

“you’re a good teacher.” I said.

“We’ll make an archer out of you yet.” Clint said.

“Nah, this is more your thing. Though if there’s ever a zombie apocalypse I think I’ll have a fighting chance now.” I said.

“You think Darryl will actually make it to the end?” Clint asked.

“You don’t? The guy basically keeps everyone else alive.” I said.

“Which is why he won’t make it. When they’re at war he’d be the first person they’ll try to take out.” Clint said.

“No they’d go after Rick because he’s the one that keeps everyone together. Divide and conquer.” I said.

“Yet another reason Darryl won’t make it he goes off on his own all the time.” Clint said.

“But he always comes back and at just the right time.” I said.

“Dumb luck.” Clint said.

“We’ll see.” I said. “But for now how about you show me how the master does it?” I said handing him the crossbow.”

“Thought you’d never ask.” He said taking the crossbow and shooting a few arrows. They hit dead center every time. While he was busy shooting I decided to take a few candid photos.

“Are you taking pictures?” he said.

“Couldn’t help it, you had the superhero archer pose and it was a candid.” I said showing it to him.

“That’s a good one. Smile.” He said.

“No… I look horrible.” I said. It was true, I was in such a rush to get out of the apartment I didn’t really fix my hair or put on any makeup.

“No you don’t you’re beautiful.” Clint said giving me a smile.

“You’re such a flirt.” I said.

“True but that wasn’t flirting. You’re beautiful Hales.” He said. “Come on smile, please for me.”

I couldn’t help but smile at that. “Let’s get one with the both of us.” I got my phone and flipped the camera. “Huddle.” I said getting closer to Clint. We took a few normal then on one he took me by surprise and kissed making me laugh. I got a bunch of cute ones before we headed to dinner.

We showed up at a pub, which Clint claimed had the best fries and wings in Brooklyn. Of course I took that as a challenge and I had to try them.

The place wasn’t too crowded but it was pretty busy. I noticed a few people look our way but no one recognized Clint thankfully. I excused myself to used the restroom. When I walked back I saw a woman openly flirting with Clint. He didn’t even look at her and focused on the TV showing a baseball preseason game. I decided to stay and see what he’d do. The blonde woman sitting across from him decided to make a move and lean over the table to show off some of her assets. It probably shouldn’t have bothered me as much as it did but there was a significant age difference between us and I wasn’t exactly affectionate with him or anyone for that matter. It was only in the past day that I had opened up and even then I still struggled with it. When did I get so insecure? I had a lot to work on in therapy this week…

I heard him say something and the woman looked toward the bar where I was sitting. Shit did he already see me? I felt a bit of annoyance coming from his mark. May as well get this over with. I walked over to the table.

“Can I help you?” She said.

“You’re in my seat.” I said.

“Oh you must be Clint’s daughter.” She said making Clint cough up water before he started laughing. Definitely insecure now.

“Soulmate actually.” Clint said.

“What?!” She shrieked.

“She’s my soulmate now if you could please leave you’re interrupting our date.” Clint said.

“Why would you pick her over me, I can give you more than she ever could?” The blonde said. Now I really felt crappy because she was actually right. I’ve been on the run for years and there was no way that was going to end anytime soon. It took me months to even admit I had feelings for any of them let alone even give them a chance. How can this one random barfly make me feel as hope less as he does?

“Just ditch her and come home with me.”

“I already told you I’m not interested leave before I call someone to drag you out.” Clint said.

“You’re loss, doubt she’ll be putting out anytime soon.” She said looking me over before leaving.

I quietly sat down and ignored the look he was giving me.

“Who’s in the lead?” I asked referring to the game.

“Hayley, look at me.” Clint said. I looked at him but I didn’t let anything show. “Don’t listen to her. She couldn’t be more wrong…” Except she was in a way… “You’re it for me, if I have to tell you that everyday for the rest of our lives I will. I don’t care about whatever I know is rattling around in that head all I care about is you so please don’t shut me out.” I could feel how worried he was. I reached over and took his hand.

“I’m not, I promise.” I said giving him a tense smile. I knew he didn’t buy it but he didn’t say anything.

We ate and talked a bit more about his time in the circus. I think he was trying to see if I’d open up but I really didn’t know anything that could relate to growing up in the circus. Sure my mom moving us around a lot meant we met a lot of… eccentric people but don’t think any of them could breath fire. At least I don’t remember any of them breathing fire. There was that one guy that burned things down for a living… probably not a conversation for the first date.

Despite the unpleasant reminder that things weren’t as great as they seemed I had a great time. The food lived up to the hype. Clint drove me back to the apartment but since there wasn’t any parking he had to park up the block. I told him he didn’t have to walk me to my door but he insisted.

“So best wings and fries yes or no?” He asked.

“They lived up to the hype. I really liked the sweet potato fries.” I said.

“If you thought those were good there’s this place in Jersey right by the shore, they sell nothing but fries. We should go down sometime.” Clint said.

“We should, during the summer take a trip to the beach while were at it.” I said.

“Here we are.” He said.

“Yup.” I said. “I had fun, thank for the awesome day.”

“Thanks for saying yes.” He said slowly leaning in to kiss me. Yup never going to get tired of doing that and by the looks of it neither was he. I still had five other soulmates who would probably feel the same way… damn I never realized how much one kiss would change things.

Third Person’s POV-

Clint walked into the common room of the tower with a giant smile on his face and a spring in his step.

“Good day?” Steve said with a smile.

“Great day.” Clint said but still couldn’t get the fear and anxiety he got from Hayley out of his head.

“What?” Natasha said.

“We may need to sit down and to about some things with Hayley.” Clint said.

“What things?” Thor asked getting a bit concerned.

“What happened?” Bruce asked.

“We were having dinner at a bar…” Clint started.

“You took her to a bar?!” Steve said still disapproving of underage drinking.

“Capsicle not the point.” Tony said.

“We weren’t drinking, they just have really good wings and fries. Hayley went to the restroom and while she was gone a woman came over and started flirting. I wasn’t interested but she really wouldn’t take no for an answer I told her to leave and she did but not before taking a jab at our age difference.” Clint said.

“Damn it.” Tony said and Natasha muttered a curse in Russian.

“I did tell her it didn’t matter and she said she was alright but I could tell she wasn’t being honest about it.” Clint said.

“We never did talk about it.” Bruce said.

“Then we sit her down and talk it out again.” Tony said.

“This is going to be a hard one considering we’re also going to have to talk about… bonding.” Steve said.

“Let’s hope she doesn’t walk out again.”

The Next Day- Hayley’s POV

I was never a big fan of Monday’s. Don’t know if it was because everyone’s on a weekend hangover or just because it meant I couldn’t sleep in. I woke up to a message from Kevin saying he couldn’t make our usual appointment so he moved it to today during lunch.

I quickly got dressed and headed to class. Then I made it to the tower and quickly got a few things done before heading out.

“Hey guys, I’m heading out for a bit I’ll be back in like an hour maybe two.” I said.

“Hales can we talk.” Tony started.

“I’m actually kind of late.” I said.

“Then let us tag along.” Thor said.

“Guys it’s not actually an errand…” I started.

“We really need to talk all of us.” Steve started.

I sighed, “You know what, Kevin’s been nagging me about a group session for the past couple of weeks let’s give him what he wants.” I said.

“Kevin?” Bruce said.

“Congrats, you’re all coming to therapy with me.” I said.

“Oh fuck.” Tony said.