Revenge

The surprise

 I startle awake as a small noise enters my subconscious, too quiet for most to hear, but I am not most. My hand reaches for the pistol laying next to the couch and my heart rate spikes, training kicking in. The door to Kate's apartment creaks open, and I'm ready to fire my weapon faster than you can blink, but I would never want to shoot the brunette archer who steps in.

"Kate Bishop" I set my gun back down "Welcome home!"

She grins at me as she takes her coat off "You know I was only gone for an hour."

"I know. What's in the bag?" I point to a white plastic grocery sack she's holding.

"Nothing" She quickly hides the bag and its mystery contents behind her back.

"You're a terrible liar."

"I'll show you after dinner okay?"

"Alright" I give up, intrigued by the mystery bag.

"We're making tomato soup right?"

I nod my head "I've already got most most of the stuff ready"

"You're the best" she walks into the kitchen and I follow.

The first few minutes we cook are in silence, only broken when one of us asks about the recipe. The silence however is comfortable, not at all like the quiet that enveloped us a few days ago. After the ferris wheel we barely spoke, and walked on eggshells around each other. We ate in tense silence, watched TV in silence, and even fell asleep next to each other in silence. It was torture.

I understand why it happened though. We were both trying to process our own feelings, and silence was the best way to do it, but I'm not going to lie and say it didn't hurt. It did, a lot. I knew Kate wasn't mad at me, but it felt like she was, and I hated it. She wasn't her usual bubbly self, and I have the suspicion that she was purposely taking longer on her walks with Lucky to avoid me.

Those few days were awful, but it just shows how much I've come to need the archer in my life. Even if it's not romantically like I hoped, I'd rather have her as a friend than not have her at all. Things are fine the way they are.

"Bowls?" Kate gestures to the cupboard housing the dinnerware, and I fish out two bowls.

Kate spoons the thick reddish-orange soup into the bowls, and we take a seat at the table. After blowing on the hot liquid, I take a bite and groan in appreciation. Across from me Kate spits hers out, uttering a curse.

"You didn't blow on it, did you?"

"Nuh uh" she says and takes a drink of cold water to ease her scalding tongue.

I roll my eyes playfully, "So impatient Kate Bishop."

She swats my arm "Whatever. Anyways, what did you do while I was gone?"

"I got out dinner stuff, and took a nap."

"That's it?"

"As you said, you were only gone an hour."

"True. Do you ever think you'll get over waking up at the smallest noise?"

I take a second to think about the question, not drawing a conclusion. "Maybe, maybe not. I cannot say for sure."

"Hmm" She hums "Sounds rough."

I shrug and change the subject "So after your meeting you went to the store?"

Her eyes glimmer with an excited light "I did. Why do you want to know?"

I roll my eyes, an exasperated sigh escaping my lips "Oh come on, just tell me what's in the bag already!"

"Who's the impatient one now?"

My eyes roll once again as she continues "I would make you wait longer just for the fun of it, but I'm as excited about this as you are."

"Then go get it!" I shoo her with my hands and my heart flutters as I watch her excitedly scamper to the bedroom.

She comes back a moment later, once again hiding the bag behind her back. "Ok, so you remember the bracelet you liked at the fair?"

"Kate, you better not have bought it,"

She shakes her head "No I didn't. You were right about it being too much money, so I thought we could make our own. Definitely not as fancy as the gold one but..."

She pulls out the bag from behind her, and dumps the contents on the table. Several packages of glass beads in a variety of colors tumble onto the table, along with a few spools of string. I stare at the pile of purples, greens, blacks and whites, my heart quite literally melting. How the heck is Kate this incredibly thoughtful?

The brunette nervously clears her throat, breaking the silence. "So, what do you think?"

A soft smile tugs at the corners of my lips as I look at the gorgeous woman in front of me. "I love it, thank you!"

She beams, taking a seat next to me "I even got our favorite colors!"

"I can see that" I chuckle, opening a packet of clear forest green beads.

The next hour ticks by as we make our bracelets. I choose a variety of different green beads, interspersed with white, while Kate goes with her usual purples and blacks. Soft music plays in the background as we talk, creating the perfect cozy environment. After we finish our bracelets, Kate finds some superglue to seal the knots so they don't come undone.

"And that does it!" Kate says, slipping her purple bracelet on.

I put mine on as well "Yes, very nice!"

Kate clears her throat, "I'm sorry they're not as good as the gold one you saw."

I look at the brunette and smile "Don't be. I like these ones a whole lot better."

She smiles as well, and our eyes lock in an intense stare, only one thought in my brain. She's perfect. Everything about her is complete and utter perfection. Her baggy gray sweatshirt and purple sweatpants, the crown of flyaways fallen out of her messy bun, her perfectly sculpted cheekbones, and her baby blue eyes... which are now staring at my lips.

Holy shit, she's looking at my lips. My heart rate speeds up as her eyes meet mine again, then flick to my mouth once more. She slowly starts to lean in, but I put a hand out to stop her.

"What happened to not wanting to do this?" I ask.

"I changed my mind. Gosh, I was so stupid."

I lean into the brunette, our faces inches apart "not stupid, just... hesitant."

She grins "I was something alright."

Our lips finally meet, soft, slow, and full of passion. But unlike the movies, it wasn't intense. There were no "sparks" as we kissed, or the feeling of fireworks. It was nothing like that at all. As our lips move together I feel a wave of calm wash over me, more calm then I have felt in years. And as my arms drape around her shoulders, and her hands find my waist I feel that at last I am finally safe. I am finally home.

Kissing Kate Bishop was like falling asleep together during movie nights. It was a walk in the park on a sunny day. It was late night pizza runs, morning sun shining through the bedroom window, and afternoon naps. Kissing Kate bishop was the most unexplainably remarkable experience. It was me, it was Kate, it was us.

I'm the first to pull away, savoring the feeling of her lips even after they're disconnected. Our eyes meet, the dazed, enthralled look in her piercing blues mirroring the look in mine as well. She smiles, her lips curving up perfectly, and in that moment I knew I'd do anything for her.

She reaches out cupping my face, her soft palm and calloused fingertips gently stroking my cheek. "Hi" She whispers, eyes never leaving mine for a second.

I take the hand fondling my face into my own, placing a kiss on the back of her knuckles "Hey there"

"I think you have something of mine" She slides my bracelet off my wrist, replacing it with her purple one.

I study the purple beads on my wrist, a grin creeping on my face. I don't think I could love Kate Bishop anymore than I do at this moment. "Much better." I respond, leaning in to capture her lips once more.