Holly and the Archer

TWO

The bar was dimly lit despite the evening sun shining brighter than the midday sun. The bartender wiped down the bar, hardly acknowledging Holly as she entered the room. She glances around before spotting the wave of her friend from the booth in the far corner of the room.

As she drew closer, and she could clearly see his eyes through the purple lenses of his glasses, she smiled and tucked her thumb into her palm. She raised her hand to her ear before extending her hand away from her body. Dropping her arm and discarding the coat and file on the seat across from him, she pulled him into a hug as soon as he was on his feet. She gave him a squeeze and breathed in heavily as he pulled away. Her smile matched his as they sat down, and he reached back to turn his hearing aid on and leaning on the table.

"Okay, I'm all ears." Her smile dropped to a smirk when he began to battle his straw into his mouth without moving. She slid the file over the table.

"What, are you not going to buy me a drink first?" He paused and looked up at her over his fallen glasses. She pushed away the warm feeling in her chest as the dark blue of his eyes met her gaze and maintained her teasing smirk. He didn't move for a moment, and she began to question if his hearing aid was actually on. With a chuckle, she formed a 'C' with her hand and arched it up to her mouth. "Come on, Barton, I'm thirsty."

He raised an eyebrow, sat up and took his glasses off. The mischievous glint in his eyes was enough to make her drop her head into her hands.

"I hardly think that's an appropriate confession, Doctor Beaumont." She ran her hands over her face, thankful for the dim lighting as the blush on her cheeks pulsated furiously.

"Clint!" He produced a spare straw from his pocket and dropped it into his lemonade before pushing the glass towards her.

"Hol!" The two of them sat in silence for a moment, eyes on each other only. The moment was bittersweet and as soon as Clint moved to pick up the file, Holly was rudely dragged back to reality and drank the lemonade. They sat in near silence as Clint flicked through the file which contained the results of a blood and dirt test he'd asked her to conduct. Holly sipped on his drink, finding an unusual type of comfort when his straw rested against her cheek, and watched as he turned to the summary at the back of the file after briefly scanning over the other pages. As his eyes narrowed and his shoulders tensed, she furrowed her eyebrows and leaned forward.

"Clint?" He put the file down and ran his hand through his hair. She reached out and rested her hand over his hesitantly. "I knew once the results came through that this isn't a mission for Fury. I don't want you going through this alone." He raised his eyes to meet hers and shifted his hand to hold hers back. "Let me help." Glancing over to the bartender and then to the group of SHIELD agents that had just entered the bar after their day's shift, he nods.

"Fine, but I can't say much here." She looks over her shoulder, spotting Annie approaching the bar with a few of their lab colleagues. Holly nods.

"Where?" Without a word, Clint exits the booth, pulling Holly after him. She grabs her coat, the file and his discarded glasses as well as she can as they slip out of the fire escape by their booth. Taking one last look around the room, she catches Annie's eye and, rather than appearing as guilty as she felt, winked.