Loving The Hawk

Chapter 3

The next morning after Clint and I had showered and had breakfast, we were out the door by 5:30. We knew we needed to be at Central Base by six and I was worried we were going to be late. This was normal territory for Clint, he was used to doing security, but I had never even seen the tesseract, only ever heard of it, so I was terrified. He held my hand the whole way there and kept reassuring me that I was going to be fine and that he was going to be with me the whole time. I felt better knowing that he was going to be with me.

When we pulled up and parked the car, I was trembling slightly. It was a little chilly and I realized that I had left my jacket on the bed. Clint pulled his jacket off and wrapped it around my shoulders.

"Always the gentleman," I said smiling.

"Don't tell anyone. I have a reputation to keep," he replied playfully. I smiled as he wrapped his arms around me and walked with me to the entrance. We presented our identification at the door and met with Coulson.

"Agent Stark, Agent Barton. Thank you for being here to help us with this," he said, politely.

"Phil, geez, you don't have to call me Agent Stark like we have never met before. Give me a hug old man," I teased him, holding my arms out. He was like a second dad to me and had been since I had joined SHIELD. He stepped into the hug, chuckling slightly.

"So, tell me more about Dr. Selvig," I said, as we began walking.

"He's a genius when it comes to astrophysics. He has been working in the field for several years. I met him about a year ago in New Mexico with the Thor incident," Coulson explained. I nodded. I knew a little bit about the Thor incident, because they weren't sure if I was going to be needed or not but in the end, I was never called out, even though I was really excited for it.

"So I'll be security with Rory and Dr. Selvig right?" Clint said, seemingly a little on edge.

"Yes that is correct. You will be with them until your shift ends. Fury doesn't trust them with anyone else. And he knows that Rory won't be comfortable with anyone else if you aren't there," he said calmly. I saw Clint visibly relax. He knew that I would be ok as long as he was there. We reached a set of double doors that Coulson used his badge to open. Inside was a huge room with a large machine in the middle. In the middle of the machine was a small, glowing, blue, cube; the tesseract. I walked over to it, transfixed at how they were managing to use its power. 

"I wouldn't get to close," I heard a voice call. I looked over to see an older man with graying hair and a kind smile walking over. "She can be a little temperamental."

"Agent Aurora Stark but you can call me Rory," I said holding out my hand.

"Dr. Erik Selvig. Call me Erik," he replied, grasping my hand firmly for a moment before releasing me. "I've heard a great deal about your family's work with the tesseract, Rory. Have you ever worked with it personally?"

"No, my grandfather worked with it quite extensively, but my father really never wanted much to do with it. I have heard a lot about it but this is my first encounter unfortunately. I look forward to learning as much as I can," I replied hoping my ignorance and inexperience didn't cause him to look down on me.

"I hear that you graduated MIT at 18?" he asked.

"Actually I was 17 and I got my bachelor's in thermonuclear astrophysics with a minor in engineering," I said smiling proudly. I saw Clint smile out of the corner of my eye. He and Nat had been there that day to recruit me, not knowing what would happen between between us but he was still extremely proud of my accomplishments.

"That is extremely impressive," he said looking me up and down.

"I try to stay humble about it,"