It took less than three months for SHIELD to take out all of Simon Sterling's known associates, with Raven's help of course. She'd negotiated reduced sentences for those men of her father's that had always been kind to her. There weren't many.
After that, Natasha, Clint and Raven had been sent on a mission in Budapest. They had returned looking shaken but mostly unharmed. No one had been able to get them to talk about what happened. Not even Coulson.
Currently Clint sat on the edge of the roof of an apartment building watching the world pass below him. He didn't even glance to the side when someone sat beside him. After a moment, something nudged his ribs and he turned to Raven with an arched brow.
She held out half a sandwich for him. "Eat."
His gaze darted between her and the sandwich several times before he took it from her with a nod of thanks.
"What's going on, archer?"
"Who says anything's up, bird?"
She laughed, the sound bringing a smile to his lips. "You do. You only come up here when you're thinking too hard about something. Now what is it?"
"Fury is sending me to some facility to play babysitter to a bunch scientists. I ship out next week."
"So, are you upset about having to play babysitter or is it something else?"
"Oh, come on, Raven. You know exactly what the problem is." He pushed himself to his feet and walked across the roof. Coming to a stop, he stood with his hands on his hips and his back turned to her.
It didn't take long for a pair of arms to wrap around his torso and pull him back against her. "Are you going to miss me, archer?" Her voice was little more than a whisper in his ear. The feel of her lips brushing against his ear drove him nearly insane with want.
He spun with a growl and pulled her against him. One hand cradled her head while he captured her lips with his. He put all the frustration, want, need and love he felt for the woman in his arms into that kiss. She returned it with equal fervor. When they finally broke away, she laid her head on his chest, nestling against him.
"I love you, Agent Barton."
"And I love you, Agent Sterling."
She tilted her head back and smiled up at him. "I guess it's a good thing that I'm currently the golden child at SHIELD then, isn't it?"
He frowned. "What are you talking about, bird?"
"I managed to convince Nick Fury, with very little effort might I add, that the perfect assignment for me would be to assist his best archer babysitting a bunch of scientists."
A smile covered his face when he realized she wasn't joking.
"How did you manage to do that? No, wait. Don't tell me. I want to be able to claim ignorance later on."
She giggled and buried her head back against his chest. "I threatened to quit and follow you anyway. Apparently, I was convincing."
He rested his chin on her head and hummed in agreement. "It probably hadn't hurt any that I told him months ago that if you left, I was going with you."
She laughed again. "I guess that settles it then, archer. We're stuck with each other."
He tightened his arms around her and thought of the box nestled in the back of his nightstand. "I think I can live with that, little bird."
Important Author's Note. Please Read!
Thank you all for your favorites, follows and comments. It means a lot. I smile every time I get a notice.
Sorry for the short conclusion to Raven and Hawkeye's story but it only needed a little conclusion for you to see where they go next. Book Two in my Marvel universe has been started and the first chapter is posted. It is called Salvation. It is primarily a Loki story though it does follow the original Avengers move. There are major changes however and Raven will be back in all her sassy glory.
Thank you again for reading! Hope you enjoyed it and hope to see you around!