Running Fearless ( Avengers Fanfiction)

Chapter 3

We all come close to just giving up. Katie was no exception to this rule. There were many times when she'd been digging and would come up with nothing that she just wanted to say screw it and run back with her tail between her legs. Though Katie's saving grace was the voice of her father that seemed to know what she would need to hear, even all these years later. But now, Katie found something worth holding onto. It was the first solid lead in all this time and it felt like she was actually getting somewhere. The only issue she had currently was the mode of transportation. She heard a light chuckle and looked over to an old friend.

"What's so funny?" Katie asked and Rick simply gestured to her. Katie simply looked down to herself, only seeing the bright red life jacket that she wore around her neck. She shook her head and looked back over to the man. "Excuse me for not wanting to drown to death."

"Tell me bookworm, how is it that a woman whose taking on a government agency is prone to so many fears?" Rick asked with a chuckle. "You're suppose to be fearless, that's the only way you win."

"Being fearless is impossible." Katie says turning back to the open water. "Now striving to be fearless is doable." she glanced back over to Rick. "That's how you win." he simply gave her a slight nod. "And if you keep calling me bookworm I will toss you off this boat." she heard him chuckle again. "You'd think after all this time you would find another nickname."

Why she was carrying so many books, even she didn't completely know. Especially since all SHIELD documents had been converted to digital files a while ago. Apparently the tech back then was a little unreliable and since there weren't any major crisis that needed her attention, she would have to make sure all files were converted correctly.

She broke a mirror, and that's what she was blaming all of her bad luck on today. There was this suck ass assignment and now it was the idiot who just ran into her causing her to knock all the books from her arms.

"You have to be fuc-" she stopped remembering the meeting she recently had with one of the HR people about her excessive profanity use. She looked down to the pile of books on the ground and just let out a frustrated sigh before bringing her eyes to the culprit. It was a man who seemed a little older than her, dark hair and an annoying smile now plastered on his face. She waved a hand in front of his face.

"What are you doing?" the man asked.

"Making sure you're not blind, so when I hit you no one will be offended." Katie replied with a shake of her head before bending down to pick up the books.

"You know it's your own fault you know bookworm." the man replied bending down as well to help her pick them up. "I mean who still owns a book." Katie sent a glare over to the man who just blamed her for him bumping into into her.

"Everything alright over here?" a voice asked, a little annoyance laced in. They both looked up to see Clint staring down to them.

"Yeah, this jackass likes to bump into people and then blame them for it." Katie says snatching the rest of her books from the man's hands before standing to her feet.

"Still the charmer I see Mason." Clint says and the man simply chuckles as he stands to his feet as well. "Maybe you should watch where you're going next time." Rick quirked an eyebrow before looking over to Katie a smirk coming to his face as he turns back to Clint who simply shakes his head.

"Mason?" Katie asked looking over to the man. "You're Rick Mason?"

"The one and only, you've heard of me?" Rick asked his voice growing smoother.

"Sort of. I've heard of your father and now I think I know why you're such a dick." Katie said before looking over to Clint. "I gotta go, I'll see you later." she looked back to Rick. "You bump into me again and we're going to put all that training into practice, got it?"