Angel

~07~

"You ready to go?" Clint asks as I finish putting my mascara on. I turn to put my black heels on and stand up. I walk to Clint and kiss him.

"Yeah, i'm ready."

Clint and I walk to the car and head for Avengers tower. Tony is hosting a birthday party Steve even though i'm pretty sure he didn't want one. But that's Tony for you.

When we arrive we greet everyone before I escape to the bar, "hey Nat."

"Hayley. Want some shots?" she asks, I look down to see six shots lined up in front of her. I smile at her amused.

"Sure." I down all three shots quickly one after another. Nat looks at me impressed before doing the same with her three.

"I'm shocked, usually straight Russian vodka leaves people a coughing mess on the floor," she states, I smirk in reply. I lived in Russia for about 12 years and Hydra were not opposed to underage drinking. I smile fondly at the memories of drunk me, it was the only fun I ever had there.

"It's not that bad," I tell her smirking. She shakes her head amused as I order another drink at the bar, I grab my glass of whiskey and head back to Clint. "Happy Birthday," I tell Steve when I reach him and Clint.

"Thank you," he replies with a smile.

"I see Shield sent agents to watch over the party," Clint comments.

"Yeah, they sent them as extra security, just in case I guess," Steve replies looking around. I look around and instantly spot most of the Shield agent who are blended in with the other guests. I hold in a shocked gasp as I recognise one of the agents, I quickly excuse myself and head over to the agent who now has his back to me. I tap his back and he turns around.

"Look who finally got out," I say to him keeping my voice quiet.

"Holy shit, Hayley?" he replies shocked to see me here.

"Jack."

"What are you doing here?" he asks cautious and looking for a threat since he doesn't know I left Hydra.

"I could ask you the same thing but since I already know you turned on Hydra and you are now with Shield...." I tell him making sure to keep a low voice.

"How did you know?" he asks sounding slightly panicked.

"Remember that near miss you had a few years back in Vienna?" he nods, "you're welcome, I don't miss a shot on purpose for just anyone." I smirk at his shocked expression as he realises I saved his life.

He laughs slightly, "so what are you doing here?"

"Well my husband is an avenger," I reply casually, I try not to laugh at his shock. At that moment Clint interrupts as he put his hands around my waist, "hey," I say as I kiss him. "This is Jack, we knew each other when we were younger." They shake hands politely and then Clint whispers about going to the bar and walks away.

"Have you told anyone at Shield about Hydra?" I ask once everyone is out of range to listen which snaps Jack out of his shock. He hesitates in telling me, "i'm not with them anymore, you can trust me."

He sighs and answers, "I told Fury about them being inside Shield last year, he's been working to vet everyone and get rid of most of Hydra. He's vetting base to base now, he only has like two left to do then that should be all of them."

"Have you mentioned me or...." I trail off as he knows who i'm talking about.

He shakes his head, "I take it your husband doesn't know about your....colourful....history."

"Nope."

[][][][][]

"Hey, did you just get back?" I ask Clint as he sits on the bed running his hands through his hair. He just got back from a meeting with Fury and the other Avengers. He sighs closing his eyes, the meeting must have had some bad news. "What's wrong?" I ask as i sit next to him. He turns to me and pulls me closer to him.

"Fury just informed us that shield had been compromised for years," he tells me. With those words my heart freezes knowing that he'll probably find out about me soon. "He's been able to get rid of most of them but there still could be some left."

"How did the others take it?" I ask softly.

"About as well as me. Steve took it worst. He thought he had defeated Hydra 70 years ago," he sighs sadly.

"I can imagine. That must suck," I reply quietly. Clint hums in agreement as lies down and pulls me to lie on his chest. He strokes my hair to comfort himself, it's something he's always done, for some reason he finds it relaxing to stroke through my hair. Soon I drift off into sleep as I think about how long I have before my secret comes out.