Hermione's Uncle

Chapter 6

"Do you exercise often?" he asked once they got home.

Natasha was still sleeping, the bedroom door closed, but an empty cup lay in the sink. The wrapping of the coffee was left abandoned on the table though, which probably meant she had noticed the absence of her favorite beverage. This was an obvious passive-aggressive warning. He was so glad he had bought some extra, an upset Natasha meant unpleasant repercussions for him anyway.

"A lot actaully, I haven't in a few days since I don't know where the gym is." Hermione replied picking up said wrapping and throwing it in the garbage, oblivious to the message. "I do know how to defend myself you saw that in England at the coffee shop." Hermione said

"I actually said 'fight'," he corrected, "But it's good to know when to run away too." Clint said

He hesitated and evaluated his options. What kind of program could he make her follow? She wasn't a junior agent, he wasn't preparing her for a mission.

"Y'know what, I'll think about what to teach you." Clint said and talk to Natasha about it. She helped Maria plan trainees' sessions sometimes. "Wanna shoot a couple bullets first?" Clint asked

She nodded in agreement and quickly went to her bedroom to check on Crookshanks while Clint left Natasha a note. They headed to a shooting range right in the corner of the street, a detail that had been included in the localization of his apartment. That, along with a gym they'd certainly hit later in the morning. Hermione followed his lead with narrowed eyes, taking in everything she was seeing. A couple of shooters were aiming here and there, a few he recognized from habit and greeted with a nod. Clint picked up one of the most basic guns with bullets and both headed to the far end of the range, where they'd be unbothered.

"Ever shot a gun before?" Clint asked

"Nope." Hermione said

"You're not afraid of weapons, right?" Clint asked

"Not really." She replied.

"Okay, take this," He gave her the gun, showed her how to put the bullets and explained the basics. Hermione followed his instructions to the letter. "Now in position." He directed her into the right pose. "Keep your gun straight. Eyes going along the canon." Hermione raised the weapon. "Close an eye." She did. "Breathe slowly and whenever you feel ready, shoot."

The girl pressed the trigger right away. She hit the dead center of the target.

Clint looked at Hermione, and then the target, and back at Hermione.

"Oh, did I tell you I know how to shoot?" Hermione ask smiling innocently

"Then why did you say you didn't know how to shoot?" Clint asked

"I wanted to surprise you, so surprise." Hermione said

"What's your eyesight?" he asked eventually.

"20/20 on both. Why?" Hermione asked

"Not quite sure about your father, but I have a 20/10 on each. Yeah I know, it's weird. While it helps to shoot a target, it still took time before I became as good as I am." Clint said

He took the gun and without really looking, shot six times. When he brought the target back, a smiley face grinned at them he missed one though. Hermione put a new target up and shot all seven of them without looking. Hermione brought the target back and saw she did miss at all.

"Looks like I'm a better shot." Hermione said smiling

"Looks like it." Clint said

"Barney was good at it too, even our father was a pretty decent hunter back in the days. But I'll admit you're better than both Barney and our father together." Clint said