Unexpected [avengers a.u.]

01.

"You've got to be faster!" shouted Agent Thomas Kendall, her trainer, as Christina gingerly picked herself up off the mat. She gritted her teeth and glared at the man.

"You'd be slowing down too, if you'd just run thirty laps around a jogging track," she retorted, each word an effort.

"The point of the jogging is to build your stamina!" he began the all-too-often occurring lecture. "You have to have lots of stamina and the ability to go long distances without stopping if..."

"If I want to be an agent," she huffed, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms. "I know all that! I'm trying! It's not like I can keep a strict training schedule! Clint's work hours are too infrequent, and if I want to keep this from him, I've got to go when he's not hanging around headquarters!" 

Thomas sighed. "Why don't you just tell Clint that you want to be an agent?"

"You know I can't do that!"

"Why not?"

"Well..."

"That's what I thought," he said, shaking his head.

"It's not like that!" she said, defensively. "I just... I want his approval so badly. All the time growing up, he teased me about everything. I want him to approve, but I'm scared that he won't. Ever since my parents died, he's been very protective of me. You of all people should know that."

"Well... you do mention it every day." He paused, smiling at her warmly. More and more lately, she had found herself confiding in Tom more than Clint, often about her altercations with Clint. She knew she should tell Clint her worries and frustrations, but she was just too hesitant.

"Come on," he continued. "Let's try that move again." She threw herself back in to her routine and, after doing the new move several times, finally managed to get Thomas prostrate on the floor. 

"Very good," he said, surprised. "You're improving very much, and you've only been training for two months! I'd be surprised if Director Fury turned you down."

"It's not Director Fury I'm worried about," she mumbled, rubbing down her curly strawberry blonde hair, before tying it into a ponytail.

"I'm sure that, when the time comes, Clint will be just fine with you becoming an agent." He looked at her carefully. "You know, you are old enough to make your own decisions... whether Clint likes them or not."

"I know. I just would rather go into it with his blessing. He's my only family."

Christina reached the entrance to the house where she and Clint lived. He's probably sleeping, she thought as she quietly opened the door. He worked late last night. She tiptoed inside the house and headed for her room, keeping her steps as soft as possible.

"What are you doing?" 

She froze at the sound of Clint's voice from behind her, in the living room. Turning around slowly, she could see him sitting on the couch, in the glow of the TV. He looked very suspicious. "Why are you sneaking around the house, Christina?"

"Um... No reason, really. I just thought you were asleep." 

He looked at her warily. She fidgeted in his gaze like a little child who had been caught in the cookie jar. He always knows when I'm lying! She thought in frustration.

"Did you have a good run at the gym?" he asked her. She always told him that she went to the gym and jogged several miles when, in reality, she detoured to the SHIELD agency headquarters, where she trained to be an agent.

"It was great! I ran four miles today..."

"You weren't at the gym."

"Yes I was! Where else would I be?" she said, calming her voice with an effort.

"No, you weren't. I went to the gym to pick you up. I thought we could go out for lunch after your run, since we haven't talked much lately. Turns out, I do a little digging; you haven't been there for two months Christina Barton! So... that leads me to believe you were somewhere else. Where?"

"Look I..."

"You have a bruise. Right under your eye. What have you been doing little sister?" She paused, looking like a deer in the headlights.

"I've been... training."

"Training? For what?" he asked, with interest.

"For... SHIELD."

"You've been training for SHIELD. For two months?"

"Yes, two months."

"With who?"

"Thomas Kendall. Natasha."

"Natasha has been training you behind my back?! Of all people, you'd think she'd suspect something."

"I told her that you had approved. I also asked her not to update you on my progress because I wanted to surprise you."

"Christina... Why? You know it's dangerous work sometimes at SHIELD. Our parents died doing SHIELD work."

"I know that!" she responded, defensively, her eyes flashing. "That's part of the reason I want to be an agent. Because mom and dad were! I know it's dangerous. I don't care."

"Christina..." he sighed, rubbing a hand through his hair and looking tired. "I just want you to be safe. You're all I have left. We only have each other now that mom and dad are gone."

"You've changed Clint," she said, her voice like ice. "Before mom and dad died, you would have been happy to have me be an agent just like you were. But afterwards?" She turned away. "You won't let me do anything." She began to walk away, but stopped as she heard his voice behind her.

"I can't stop you from doing anything Christina. I just want you to be safe. That's all." She walked swiftly to her room and shut the door.