Fighting Next To You ~ A Clintasha FanFiction

Part Eleven

It's Monday morning. Clint and I woke up early to prepare for the day. I'm looking forward to contributing to the investigation, and Clint makes us a nice breakfast to celebrate. I dress smartly in a white sleeveless peplum blouse with a pair of light pink trousers (Clint and I went shopping for workwear) and some gold heels. I want to look as professional as possible, but also be comfortable. Clint wears his usual shirt and tie, and we are ready to drive to work! It's warm out today, so I didn't need to put on my new light pink blazer (which I was actually quite excited about wearing). Clint parks the car and we get out. "Ready?" He asks me, taking my hand. 

"Ready." I reply as I pull my hair over my shoulders.

When we enter the bank I'm shocked at how upmarket it is. Everything is very clean, and all the carpets look new and fluffy. Clint takes me over to his office and shuts the door behind us. His office is paint light blue and there are pictures all over the walls. The pictures are of us. There is also a vase full of flowers and I can see that he's even included a shelf for all of his comic books. "So, what does you day consist of?" I ask, as I sit down in the desk chair. 

"Paperwork mainly. Andy should come in soon though; he's nosy and likes to see what everyone's doing." Clint sits down in the desk chair opposite me and starts to swivel around in it. Sure enough, Andy does appear. He's average height and has fair ginger hair. He's got a little bit of stubble on his chin, and he's wearing a blue shirt with cords. 

"Morning Linus." He smiles as he shakes Clint's hand. He turns to look at me, and a weird look appears in his eyes. "You must be Kayley." He says, taking my hand. "I'm Andy Smith, I work with your husband." He has a very clear and confident voice, and it matches his appearance perfectly. I can't really see any resemblance between Andy and Brett, but I can tell that Andy is older. Andy scans me too, just like Brett did on Friday. He's sizing me up. Clint follows the plan and says he has to go to a meeting, leaving me with Andy. Andy pulls up a chair and sits down next to me. I feel slightly uncomfortable, and I remind myself that I'm an actress playing a part. 

"How long have you been working here?" I ask in my most friendly voice.

"About three years now, it's very different to my last job; I was in the army for a few years." Both brothers were in the army? Weird. "But I love it, especially the people. My main job is to interview potential job candidates." 

All of a sudden I suss Andy out. "There aren't many women working here." I point out with a shocked voice. 

"I know..." He trails off. A.I.M. is targeting vulnerable women, and Andy works as an employer for a bank where there are no female workers. "I know how you're feeling." Andy begins to talk once more. "My sister Mel-" Wait, there's a sister too? "- had severe depression, and tried to commit suicide a few times. She never succeeded, now she's in a home where there are nurses who can take care of her. I've seen depression first hand, and I can help you. Linus told me about your suicide attempt in London a few years ago, and how he stopped you from walking in front of a car. That's how you met, right?" I nod. "I'm a good listener, I can help you." Andy says in a patronising voice. Play the part Natasha, play the part.

I force myself to start crying and stutter, "It's just been so hard these last few weeks, what with moving and being unemployed. I hate being alone whilst Linus is working, it's awful! Linus tries to help me as best as he can, but he doesn't understand how painful it is to me!" I put my head in my hands and let the tears cascade down my cheeks, luckily I put waterproof mascara on today. Andy puts his hand on my bare shoulder, and I fight the urge to shiver. 

"I'm always here." He says as he hands me a business card with his number on. "Always here." He repeats again.

:*:*:*:*:*:

When we get home I fill Clint in on everything that happened with Andy. "Well done Tasha! You've got his number, right?" Clint asks me and I nod in response. 

"I'm going to message him when you're at work, saying how lonely I am, I'm also going to try asking for advice." I say, pulling the business card out of my pocket and typing the number into my phone. 

"He said he has a sister, that's interesting, Brett and Taylor never mentioned that..." Clint states suspiciously. 

"You think he's lying?" I ask curiously, Clint shakes his head. 

"No, it's just odd. A.I.M. are targeting vulnerable women, do you think the sister was targeted too? We know that Brett already experimented on his own daughter, it wouldn't be surprising if they experimented on their sister too." I see what Clint's getting at. "And Brett and Andy were both in the army? That's weird." Clint states before getting up from the sofa and removing his tie. He yawns. "I'm going to bed Tasha, I'm exhausted." Before he leaves the room he kisses me gently on my forehead and says "Well done."

:*:*:*:*:*:

I dial her number quickly, suddenly feeling pumped. I've been putting this off all day, but it's about time Taylor knew the truth. Brett's car is gone, so I assume he's gone to work. She picks up quickly. "Kayley!" She says down the phone in a happy tone. "Hey, Taylor, there's something I need to tell you..."