this is not so bad || P. MAXIMOFF

[4. late]

again, please read background chapter

unedited, sorry

•─────✧─────•

after a car ride full of sarcasm and mr brightside, clint pulled into his designated spot in the front of shield.

"you ready?" clint asked, pulling the handbrake and turning to you.

"guess so."

you two walked through a practically deserted headquarters and into an empty break/locker room.

the lockers where everyone in your field (clint, natasha, maria... pietro... etc, etc) put their gear were on the left side of the room, pushed against the walls in a 'C' shape. the room was rectangular so they were lined against one wall and a few ran down two other walls. there were two pretty long benches in the centre.

the locker area didn't take up too much room and was the furthest away from the entrance door.

the first thing in sight upon entrance was the coffee table, which clint went straight to.

you went over to your locker and sat on the bench across from it, sorting through your bag before you put it away.

you didn't have to wonder why no one else was here; you already knew.

clint liked to get to shield relatively early so he could have a couple cups of coffee-maybe even squeeze in a breakdown-before he had to socialise.

but he had told you that ages ago, so it wasn't a surprise.

•─────✧─────•

it wasn't long before natasha and maria arrived. they were a very punctual pair, so they tended to be early to work and or literally any other place they had to be.

maria was in and out pretty quickly;
she had other shit to do so she just said a quick 'good morning' and was on her way. she'd (possibly) be more talkative later on.

"you ready for today?" nat asked, taking a seat next to you.

"yep." your tone was pretty unenthusiastic.

"hey, you'll be great." she patted your arm and stood up, her hands on her legs as she half-knelt (idk how to explain the posture), peering up at clint, who was on his third coffee.

"might wanna slow down there, merida."

"whatever, croft."

"just don't be like him." nat whispered to, before leaving to go do whatever she had to.

eventually, the person you were waiting for arrived.

"carol!" you jumped from your seat and she smiled at you, pulling you into a one-arm hug as she set her bag down beside her.

"yknow, danvers, i've never really seen you that soft." clint stated, not even bothering to look up from his newspaper (which he definitely wasn't even reading because he hates newspapers, he just buys the daily bugle to look at the pictures) as he spoke.