The Girl & The Hound | Winter Soldier

SEVENTEEN

Readjusting her jacket, Sawyer huffed out an exasperated breath and stared at him expectantly as he softly peppered his nose with his fingers, testing for inevitable blood as he avoided her gaze. However, her gaze seemed to pierce the procrastinating force field he'd momentarily put up as he focused on his injuries with a laugh before he finally scowled, clearly defeated, "fine, it's that way," he pointed, a small smirk on her face that he'd gotten his ass kicked.

Almost craving genuine human interaction, a desire she never believed she'd have, Sawyer leaped over his collapsed body in glee with a, 'thank you!' before darting furiously fast back to the safe house, Gunner following devotedly. Like a child on Christmas, she barged into the house as Gunner stared intrigued at her excitement, watching keenly as she placed a journal she'd refrained from looking at in her bag and adjusted her appearance to seem like she actually hadn't murdered a man once- literally.

By the time she was ready to embark on her small adventure, war-torn Clint had returned and politely asked that he would 'babysit the dog' in return that 'no one would ever find out about what had previously happened.' Careless it even had, Sawyer laughed and then agreed, excitement gleaming off her as she finally set off outside alone on her tedious journey.

Her boots quenched against the snow as she smiled to herself, nestled in her coat as new trees that she'd never before come across through her scouting enveloped her out of her boredom and into the smallest taste of freedom. There was something beautifully pure about snow, something exquisitely unspoilt and free surrounding it and even despite its boring colour, Sawyer relished in it because it reminded her of him- she still caught herself thinking of him sometimes.

She walked silently, her head low as she watched her stepping, having learnt this from collapsing into a pit-hole once through the deceiving snow, before she suddenly paused in her footsteps at the sound of a bow-string drawing back. However, before she could even anticipate what to do, a swoosh filled the air and instinctively she threw herself down into a press-up position which luckily caused her to miss an arrow by inches.

Instantly realising, her eyes widened and she yelled an annoyed, "Clint, you goddamn arsehole!"

"Fuck-" a British voice, evidently not that belonging to Clint, pierced through the air as she froze entirely. As the sudden dreaded shock seeped into her, a blur caught her sight from the right, her eyesight diverting to it as a graceful deer beside her suddenly leaped off into a sprint before her eyes furrowed, shocked she hadn't noticed before a figure stood above her, "I'm so sorry, I honestly can't apologise enough-"

"Damn it-" she was sucked back to reality, "no it's my fault, I'm sorry- I basically walked into that one," she stammered in embarrassment to the unknown person before trying to get up, in doing so however, catching a glimpse at the man and merely choking, unsure whether it was because it wasn't Clint or that she was oddly glad it wasn't as he firmly helped her to her feet.

Her cheeks grew with a ferocious red at how attractive the man was infront of her, the sensation flaring against her skin as she instantly began wiping snow off her body to avoid looking at him, but to her dismay, her embarrassment only grew as he asked in prominent concern, "miss can you look at me- are you hurt in anyway?"

"I'm f-fine," she stuttered, avoiding his gaze as he stared at her curiously, not wanting to pester her if she was uncomfortable whilst he smiled softly before instinctively then crouching down to pick up her bag as she awkwardly wished she could disappear. Noticing his motive, she clenched up her face in shame with a small smile as she accepted it thankfully, "I'm sorry- I'm Sawyer," she weakly mustered out.

"Maverick," he grinned at her flustered state before his face suddenly contorted with an idea, "where are you heading? I can drive you there if you like?"

Sawyer softly smiled, her eyes glancing up to his for the first time which allowed him to study them, "I would but you did just try to kill me with an arrow, that screams all kinds of weird to me," she playfully retorted as he raised an eyebrow.

"You made me lose a perfectly good deer, in my defence darling," he countered as she shrugged.

"Good," she defiantly replied as his face grew with a genuine smile, somewhat smitten, "but if you're so sure, do you know where I mean when I say a coffee shop that's super close? I've just moved here so I'm pretty far gone," she chuckled as he nodded with a small smile.

"I'll be privileged to drive you there," he playfully and albeit stubbornly suggested as she laughed, diverting her gaze to her feet as she did so, "but on one condition."

She glanced up with furrowed eyebrows, "and what's that?"

"Would you let me apologise to you properly over a coffee?" he proposed as she laughed, nodding.

"Just leave the bow and arrows in your car."