The Raven and the Hawk (My MCU #1)

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Barton walked over to a panel along one side of the wall. He spent several minutes messing with it before turning and crossing his arms over his chest. A smug expression settled on his face. Raven watched him over the edge of her cup as she finished her coffee. The targets along the far side of the room swept backward and were swallowed into the wall behind them. The sparring ring lowered into the floor until it was as if it was never there. The treadmills slid into openings in the wall the hadn't been there a moment ago.

What had previously been a decked-out training room was now one large, open space. Raven walked to the side of the room to toss her empty cup. She acted as if she was completely unimpressed but it wasn't true. In fact, she could still hear mechanical noises and wondered what else was coming. As if the thought summoned them, more openings appeared both low and high on the walls and several automated dummies came out. She didn't know what else to call them. Some flew through the air, others moved around the floor. Their movements appeared random and unprogrammed. A target emblazoned all of them, front and back.

All in all, it was impressive but Raven did her best not to let any of that show. What SHIELD didn't know couldn't hurt her. Arching a brow, she looked at the archer as the others moved out to the hallway. "So, what's the challenge, Barton?"

"One shot per target. No more, No less. You with your guns, me with my bow."

She shrugged and ran her eyes over the targets doing a quick count. Fifteen. Easy enough. Too easy. A smirk twisted her lips and she dropped her head to keep the man in front of her from seeing it. Placing her hands on both guns, she let a thread of power run through them, infusing the bullets. "Whenever you're ready, Agent."

He narrowed his eyes, clearly suspecting her of something. Instead of saying anything, he simply readied his bow and arrows.

***

"Can you play music on that thing?" Sterling asked suddenly, startling him.

Clint frowned but shrugged. Music wouldn't hurt anything and would serve as another distraction for the woman. He walked back over to the screen and hit a couple of buttons until the low beat of a heavy metal track came over the speakers. Sterling nodded in either thanks or appreciation and Clint pushed another button to start the countdown.

He nocked his first arrow and waited for the countdown to arrive at zero. As soon as it did, he lifted the bow and fired. He focused on one target at a time, releasing his arrow and moving on to the next without waiting to see where it hit. It wouldn't be anything but a bullseye, he knew that. He was too good at what he did to have it be otherwise.

Both of them finished quickly and Clint went over to the monitor and pressed the buttons to shut off the music and bring all the targets to the center of the floor where they could check them. One arrow stuck out of the center of all fifteen targets. He frowned, realizing that he saw no bullet holes.

The others came back into the room as Clint walked up to the targets. Natasha came over to join him. "I thought you said you never missed?" He couldn't keep the cockiness out of his voice, though he tried.

"I don't."

He turned to look at her in disbelief. "There is not one bullet hole in any of those targets."

She arched her brows and pursed her lips.

"Um...Clint," Natasha said behind him, but he ignored her. He was tired of this stuck-up Brit that everyone seemed enamored with. He was going to make her admit that she wasn't everything she claimed to be.

Striding over, he came to stop in front of her. A muscle twitched in his jaw as he clenched his teeth. "Is this a joke to you? I get that you think you're better than everyone here, but you aren't. Take this shit seriously or you're going to get someone killed and I'm going to make damn sure it's not me."

The woman's expression didn't change and that only served to irritate him further.

"Barton," Natasha bit out from behind him and he spun to turn his glare on her.

"What?" he snapped and Natasha arched a brow at his tone. Instead of answering, she turned the targets one at a time. Each target had one crisp bullet hole going right through the bullseye. That wasn't even possible. How could she hit the back of a target when she shot from the other side?

He glanced back to Sterling. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she smirked at him. "You were saying, Agent Barton?"

The two of them just glared at each other for a long moment before Fury cleared his throat and stepped next to them. "Impressive, Sterling. Now it's time to evaluate your hand-to-hand abilities."

Sterling huffed a laugh. "I don't need hand-to-hand, Fury. I shoot people from really far away and then run off before anyone can find me. I'm good at it. Why mess with a good thing?"

The director arched a brow at the uncooperative woman. "Whether you feel you need it or not is irrelevant. It is a requirement for you to become a field agent and it is a necessary skill for you to be on a team. Romanoff?"

Fury walked back out of the room, Coulson on his heels. Barton went over to reset the room so they could use the sparring ring.

***

Raven did not like having her time wasted and that's all this was, an absolute waste of time. Irritation hummed along her skin making it feel tight and itchy. She still didn't understand why she had to prove herself for a job she didn't actually want. Rather than show any of that, she simply smiled and nodded her thanks when Agent Romanoff offered her the tape so she could wrap her knuckles.

The two women stepped into the sparring ring and Raven dropped into a defensive stance. She wanted to see how the agent moved, how she attacked. Romanoff came at her again and again and Raven blocked or dodged the blows but she didn't attack. The other woman's irritation was evident on her face. She lunged at Raven and did a throw that put her on her back on the mat. A smirk lit Romanoff's features as she came forward to end the match. Raven mirrored it as she rocked back and scissor kicked the agent standing over her.

She'd caught the other woman by surprise and Romanoff went down. Raven pinned her to the mat. After a moment, she stood and offered her hand to the agent.

Romanoff sprang to her feet, a frown on her face. "I thought you said you didn't know hand-to-hand."

"I said I didn't need it. I'd be stupid not to know it. Again?" Raven asked and Romanoff smiled.