Open Case File [COMPLETED]

Getting Cold Feet (James POV)

The first ever chapter from James's POV. This should be interesting. Especially since the chapter title is something related to a wedding. Hmmm...

Also please don't hold this against James. Yes, he's an idiot but he's a lovable one. Try to remember that.

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"You understand that this could go completely wrong, right?" Clint asked.

James nodded but that didn't stop his smile from growing. This was it. Donovan had proposed to Carter and that meant only one thing to James: he could prank her.

"I don't think it will be too bad," Brock said, leaning against the lobby wall.

Clint merely raised a skeptical eyebrow at his older brother. Brock conceded.

"You're right, it could go really wrong," Brock said.

James didn't care.

That wasn't true, he cared but he also knew that pranks bonded people. He'd seen it happen his entire life. A prank would be pulled against one of the Marines, and the victim would be furious when it was revealed but later on it became a joke between them. A moment that they would all laugh about when they sat around together.

James knew this task fell on him to carry out. It always had.

Brock was the eldest, naturally that meant he'd have to be the leader of the brothers.

Clint was too philosophical to think of ways to be amusing or wild.

That meant James needed to be the mood setter, the prankster, the entertainer of the group.

As for Donovan, James had helped coach him into being his sidekick. Always ready to go along with an idea James came up with. James said something and Donovan backed it with the avid enthusiasm of the youngest brother wanting to be a part of everything.

"If you have doubts about this," James said. "Why are you both going along with it?"

This was a question that always played in James's mind. Both his brothers could say no to his pranks but eventually, they agreed. James believed they needed levity in their serious lives.

"I'm going along," Clint said. "Because I don't think Carter will believe it for a second."

"I'm coming to make sure it doesn't get out of hand," Brock said. 

Logic and protection, those were his brothers. Didn't matter to James, as long as they came.

"You know you will have to have a serious face if this is going to even work," Clint said.

In an instant, James dropped his wide grin and donned a mask of sobriety. His role as prankster had taught him acting was a key trait to develop.

"Let's go," he said.

They rode the elevator to Carter's apartment floor and James lead the way to her door. When he knocked, he heard her call out. A second later, the door opened and Carter eyed the trio. James wasn't sure but her appearance seemed more haphazard than usual. But it was after work, maybe that was how she decompressed.

"You said you needed to talk?" Carter asked. "What's up?"

She cleared off chairs around her dining table for them. Clint shut the door and they all sat down. Watching them, Carter curled one leg under her and crossed her arms. James knew how to read body language, he had to for his job. Though Carter portrayed a causal air, her body told him she felt uncertain. An emotion that would only make the prank more entertaining.