The Raven and the Hawk (My MCU #1)

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The next two weeks were spent with Raven, Clint, and Natasha training together and learning about each other. When they weren't in the training room or in the field doing exercises, they were eating together or occasionally hanging out in the rec room watching movies. It had been a long time since Raven spent leisure time with anyone and she welcomed the change.

Every day Clint seemed a little more at ease with her, but Raven knew he still hadn't forgiven her for him missing his wedding. And honestly, she was okay with that. The fact was, she thought he would watch her back on an assignment and that was what mattered. Natasha had complained more than once about how long it was taking her friend to warm up to Raven. Raven, however, had noticed the subtle changes in his temperament and behavior.

This particular day, Raven was perched in the rafters of the training room. One thing she and Hawkeye had in common was their desire to elevate themselves above the action. It was easier to figure out a response if she could see everything going on around her. The three assassins had been training all morning and had taken a break for lunch. Raven wasn't particularly hungry and had made her way up to her current position after a quick snack and a cup of coffee in her room.

She sat with her head bent forward as she took deep breaths trying to center herself. Fury had come by that morning to evaluate their progress. He told Raven he still didn't think they were ready to go after Simon. The bastard was going to get away and Fury didn't give a shit. Why should he? He already had her.

Voices coming in the room had Raven lifting her head and the corner of her mouth curled up as Clint and Natasha walked in together. "She's not here yet," Natasha said as she looked around.

Clint shrugged. "She'll turn up. Besides, it's kind of nice not having her around for a moment. It gives me a chance to breathe. I mean I know we have to work as a team but I normally don't even spend this much time with you and I like you. I don't know what Fury was thinking with this whole forced togetherness thing."

"Clint," Natasha chastised but she laughed all the same.

Tears sprang to Raven's eyes and she quickly swiped them away. A deep breath had her shoving the hurt and irritation down. God, she was an idiot. How long had she been at this? How long had she worked in this job and she still let herself be fooled into thinking she could have more than a professional relationship with someone. Especially someone she'd shot. No, they'd only spent time with her because Fury ordered it.

"You have to admit she's good, Clint. She's going to be a great asset in the field."

He snorted and shook his head as he walked over to the panel to start the training simulation. "Yeah, she'll be fantastic except I can't turn my back on her."

Raven clenched her teeth together, working the muscle in her jaw. This was bullshit. She didn't want to be here any more than the archer apparently did, but at least she gave it an effort. She genuinely spent time getting to know her two teammates and had grown to like them. Nice to know that time had been wasted. From now on she would come out of her room only to train.

The dummies started their random movements below and Raven watched as Clint and Natasha fought them. They'd been working together on their ground coordination so they could get used to each other's fighting styles and learn to not hit each other. As she watched the two friends she realized the exercises had been strictly for her benefit. These two didn't need to train. They knew every move their partner would make and played off each other effortlessly.

Raven dropped the rope she'd pulled up with her when she perched on the rafter. She lowered herself to the ground behind the other two and pulled out her gun as she did so. The round she shot between them pierced the end of one of Barton's arrows in the bullseye of a far target. The arrow exploded in dramatic fashion giving Raven a small sense of triumph. Barton and Romanoff turned around as Raven holstered her weapon.

Her eyes darted between the two of them before settling on the archer. "I would think you, at least, would have learned to look up by now."

***

Clint sucked in a breath and watched as Sterling stalked through the room and into the locker room on the far side. Her eyes had been red-rimmed and, if he didn't know better, he'd think she'd been crying. Shit.

"Nice going, asshole," Natasha bit out at him.

"How the hell was I supposed to know she was up there eavesdropping?" He gestured toward the rafters with his bow.

"To be fair, I'm pretty sure that wasn't her intention when she went up there. She was probably clearing her head like you do." Natasha raked a hand through her hair. "You said some pretty harsh things, Clint."

"You think I don't know that?" he bit out at his friend. He clenched his jaw and fisted his hand at his side as he ignored the dummies still moving around them. Nat had it right when she called him an asshole. The truth was, he'd been impressed by the English assassin. Her skills were formidable even without her magic aiding her.

The problem was, his friend knew him too well. If he admitted that he'd come to enjoy the time he spent with Raven outside of training or that he was looking forward to working with her, Natasha would pick up on everything he wasn't saying. Against his better judgment, he'd quickly come to like the woman. The fact that he might have made her cry was tearing him up inside. Damn it.

"Don't you think you should fix this?" Natasha gestured with her hands in irritation. He knew she liked Raven, enjoyed having another female around even if she wouldn't admit it. God, this job fucked them all up.

Anger flared through him. He didn't know if he could fix this. What if Raven didn't believe a word he said? He wouldn't blame her.

"What do you want me to do, Nat?" His voice was louder than necessary though he wasn't quite yelling. He pulled out an arrow and shot a target. Following that with another and another.

"You could try apologizing." She had given up all pretense of civility and was yelling at her friend.

"Why should I? She won't believe me anyway?" He punctuated his words by letting more arrows loose to find their targets.

Nat looked at him for a minute, her brow furrowing. Suddenly, her brows shot up. "You like her."

What the hell? How did she figure that out? "I don't know what you're talking about." His voice had dropped to match her quieter pitch.

"The hell you don't, Barton. I gave up on you after Laura." She laughed. "Who would have thought, the Raven and the Hawk?"

"Would you drop it?" He glared at her as he continued to fire arrows. His instincts were up and he trusted the arrows to find their targets without him looking. He was following the trajectory of the dummies and fired based on where they would be when the arrow reached them. "You've got this all wrong."

"Fine. But I don't think—"

Natasha was cut off by a sharp yell. Clint jerked his head toward the sound to see Raven standing in the doorway of the locker room. She had the open door clutched in her hand and was looking at him with wide eyes. An arrow was lodged in her left shoulder. Clint's stomach dropped and for a moment he was unable to move as shock coursed through him.

"Ow," Raven finally said before dropping to the ground.