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I told you that I'd update more often now ;)
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ C H A P T E R E L E V E N ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
"Come on Allie, focus."
"I am trying to focus."
"Just take your stance, keep your eyes trained on the target then... release."
The arrow sped like lightning and tore through the punching bags, missing the target by at least a foot away.
Allie groaned in annoyance, "This isn't going very well like I expected."
"It's alright, you'll get the hang of it." Clint assured, walking over to take the arrow out of the punching bag. "James is doing a good job."
She looked over her shoulder and saw her brother hitting the target accurately in the center. If there were any missed shots, she suspected that the farthest ones were just at the edge of the target plane itself— unlike her, whose closest shot didn't even make into the target.
"Archery's not really my thing..." Allie let out an exasperated sigh.
"Well, it's not an option. It's got to be part of your basic training." Clint asserted, taking the bow from her and inserting the arrow, "Your mom would surely kill me if she founds out I've been teaching you guys my thing, but it's better safe than sorry. You guys might need it some time."
"Oh yeah, about that," she started, "Did you ever have that gut feeling about us before we ever told you about..."
"To be honest? Except for the fact that you guys look like clones of them, no. Not a damn clue." he answered.
"Not once?" she raised an eyebrow.
Clint handed her back the bow, "Not once." He offered her a smile, "But now I know, I feel pretty stupid that I haven't figured it out earlier. You guys look so much like them, and I don't mean that just in a physical looks sort of way."
"Thanks?" Allie said.
"Keep practicing, kiddo." Clint ruffled her hair before going over to James.
Allie fixed her hair where his uncle just messed up. As she glanced over to where James was, being greeted by the sight of their uncle praising him and James smiling in return — she couldn't help but smile. She was glad that their uncles didn't change a bit in their time; thinking that she was very lucky to have them as her family.
"Allie! Get back to work!" Clint reminded her.
She snapped out of her daydreaming, "S-Sorry!" Even in what was probably her twentieth attempt of shooting, she still couldn't even make it inside the target. "God, what is the matter with this thing?" she whined.
"Need help?" she heard James approach her.
"I'm fine, go away."
"You sure?"
"Yes,"
"Are you really really sure?"
"A hundred and one percent. Stop annoying me, James. I know you're good at it so you don't have to rub it in." she snapped.
James raised his hands in surrender, "I'm just offering to help. Jeez, girls are so confusing. You offer help and they get mad. You don't offer help, and they still get mad."
Allie sighed in annoyance, glaring at him, "Are you done?"
"Oh, don't mind me. I'm just watching you do your thing, Als."
"Thank you."
She raised her arm and prepared to fire her shot, but the second she did it, she already got some side comments from her brother.
"Your arm's too high, no wonder your aim's off. And don't grasp the arrow too tightly." James suggested, observing her stance.
Allie bit back an annoying remark and decided to listen to her brother's instructions instead. She lowered her arm a little bit, "Like this?" she asked.
James walked closer, just a bit behind her and scrutinized his eyes to get in line with the target in front. "Yeah, and loosened your grip on the fingers a bit."
She followed his orders.
"There," he said. "Now take a deep breath, pull back one more time to gain momentum and release right after."
Allie closed her eyes the same time she took in an intake of breath; slowly dragging her right arm forward, before opening her eyes and preparing to drag it back in a sudden motion.
However, the second she opened her eyes, she saw a face that was enough to send her into a nervous wreck.
"Shit," In the process, she dragged her arm back hard enough to hit James straight in the chest. She quickly turned to him once she heard him grunt in pain. "I'm sorry!"
"Language," he still managed to say despite in pain.
"I got distracted, sorry. I'm sorry." Allie bit her lip in embarrassment.
James caught a sight of a guy just outside the entrance of the training room and he quickly figured out the cause of it all. He glanced at his sister with a knowing look, "I can see that,"
Allie glanced back and saw Lucas enter the room and quickly tore his gaze away from him. "Oh God, why is he here?"
He continued to rub his chest to shake off the pain, "Probably because he works here but hey, what do I know?"
"Smartass." Allie retorted, slightly fidgeting in her place and stealing glances back at the guy who was now currently talking to their Uncle Clint.
James followed her gaze, then back at her sister. He tilted his head sideways, observing his sister for a moment before crossing his arms. "Huh, well, what do we have here."
"What?" Allie asked, bemused.
"Seems like we have a case," he smirked.
"What are you talking about?"
He so much only gave her an teasing smirk. "Nothing, sis. Nothing."
He glanced back at Lucas and Allie followed his gaze. She seemed to realize what he was talking about.
"James, it's not—" Her brother suddenly flicked her on the forehead, cutting off what she was about to say. "Ow—what was that for?"
"James! Allie!" Both turned to the voice of their Uncle Clint who was nodding them to come over. "I'd like you to meet someone."
From the corner of his eye, James could see Allie stiffened when Lucas looked in their direction. He gave her a shove on the back to knock her out of her senses.
He snickered, "Just go, Als. He won't bite." Before his tone suddenly went dead serious, "I'll beat the day out of him if he ever does."
Allie pinched him in the shoulder.
"Ow! Ow!" he hissed.
"Violence is not the answer."
"It is if he ever tries to lay a finger on my sister." James said, rubbing his shoulder this time.
She rolled his eyes as they stepped down in front of them. Allie observed that Lucas was wearing a tan polo shirt and ash tie underneath a gray sweater partnered with jeans. He looked causal compared to the first day she had met him.
"This is Lucas Whitmore. He's going to be joining us for our next mission. Lucas, this is Allie and James Rogan. They're the new recruits." Clint introduced them.
Allie's eyes widened, "You're going to the mission too?"
"Uh, yes?" Lucas said.
"Oh, I just thought you were more of a..." she cleared her throat, unsure of how she was supposed to say it.
"Office-nerd type of guy? One that would rather stay behind a desk?" he filled in for her.
Allie felt the heat rushing to her cheeks, sheepishly saying, "You make it sound so bad."
"That's alright. I know what you mean." Lucas gave her a smile, "And it's nice to see you again, Allie."
"Wait, you two know each other?" Clint asked.
"Uh, yeah. We bumped into each other the other day." Lucas laughed lightly, "Quite literally."
Allie could only give a smile in response because she was trying hard not to be a nervous wreck in front of them.
"Oh, I see." Clint said.
Lucas offered James a hand, "It's nice to meet you, James."
"Finally, dude, you noticed me at last," James said, shaking his hand. "I thought you were brushing me to the side here."
Lucas laughed, "I'm sorry, just got carried away."
"Lucas here is one of the best SHIELD agents in the building. He may not look like it but this guy can certainly pack a punch too." Clint laid a hand on Lucas's shoulder, "Idolizes Cap so much that he tries so hard to be like him."
"I'm already embarrassed, Agent Barton." he rubbed his neck, shyly.
"Trust me you're not the only one." James said, his eyes crossing over to where Allie is.
She shot daggers at him and was almost flushing red.
"We were just practicing archery. Care to join?" James offered, ignoring the looks his sister was giving him.
"Sure," Lucas shrugged, looking at Clint, "You taught them already?"
"Yup, Allie can't seem to get a hold of it yet, though," Clint answered.
Allie rubbed her face in embarrassment, desperately wanting the floor to eat her up right now, "Do you really have to tell him that?"
"Maybe Lucas here can give you a few pointers." Clint suggested.
"Yeah," James chimed in, giving her a teasing smirk that Allie knew all too well, "Maybe you could actually learn to aim a good shot this time."
Allie quickly shook her head, chuckling nervously, "No, it's fine. He doesn't need to do that."
"No, it's okay." Lucas interjected, turning to her, "I've had problems with my first archery lessons too. Come on, I'll show you how."
Before she could object, he was already walking up the platform and leaving her no choice but to follow him. As Allie passed by James, she made sure for him to hear her loud and clear,
"You're dead."
James's smirk fell as his face turned as pale as a sheet of paper. Gulping as she watched her sister walked up to where Lucas was.
"Okay, Allie, take your stance." he guided.
"I've been hearing that phrase all day long." she said under her breath.
Lucas chuckled, "Don't worry, I promise after this you'll be able to make that shot and prove your brother wrong."
"Then that's all the motivation I need."
They both laughed.
"Okay," Allie said as she focused her eyes on the target before gripping the arrow at the end and raising her arm once more.
Lucas was just inches away behind and it was not helping her situation in the least bit. She was even more nervous than before.
"Elbow down, just a bit." he instructed.
She felt his fingers make contact with her elbow, she felt him trying to be as gentle as possible. Even though he was in close proximity to her, Allie still felt that he was trying to be as distant from her as possible. Unlike other guys, whom she knew that would take advantage of the situation like this.
"Use your mouth as an anchor."
A puzzled expression rested on her face, not understanding what he meant, "Excuse me?"
"Touch your mouth," he said simply.
"Oh," she did that and pressed her fingers to her lips.
"Relax your hand."
"Which one?" asked Allie. She suddenly felt his fingers enclosed over her own hand; the one holding the bow, and she felt her heart pace beating irregularly with each passing second.
"This one," he said.
But from the corner of her eye, she could see that whatever effect Lucas had on her, was not the same with him. He seemed to be oblivious to it, very relaxed even.
"Then... release."
And she released her hold — off it went. To her astonishment and joy, the arrow went straight to the center of the target, finally marking a spot.
"Oh, wow. That was amazing!" she turned to where her brother and uncle was, "Did you see it?"
"Yup," James grinned, clapping his hands, "Congrats, Lucas! You've finally ended her misery!"
"She got it in a single beat. That's impressive." Lucas praised, also clapping his hands, "Nice job, Allie."
"Thank you," she said, flustered.
"Okay kids," Clint chimed in, taking note of the time, "Now that's done, you think you're ready for the simulation room?"
"I was born for it." James said proudly.
"Then I'm going to send Tony in here to patch things up. Get ready." Clint said, preparing to leave the room.
"Wait up! I'm just gonna head over and change too. What I'm wearing isn't exactly training-appropriate." Lucas said, catching up to Clint. "See you later, James, Allie."
"See yah!" James waved over.
As James observed Allie still glancing distractingly at the retreating form of Lucas Whitmore, he couldn't help but slap himself mentally.
Things were going much harder than he had initially expected.
And he did not need to be a protective nagging brother in this certain time too.
—————————————————————————————
Steve had been busy all day, trying to strategize a rescue plan for their next mission, and as well as arranging calls, files, and all things needed for SHIELD database.
"Captain Rogers? Agent 13 is here to see you." FRIDAY announced.
"Let her in," he instructed.
Steve consequently heard the sound of the door sliding open and footsteps coming in. He turned around just in time for Sharon to embrace him tightly.
"Woah," he chuckled lightly, wrapping his arms around her, "what brings a pretty lady like you here?"
"I just missed my Captain." she said sweetly, before breaking the hug, "And I brought you lunch."
"I knew I could count on my girl to fill my empty stomach." Steve said, smiling at her. She handed him the Chinese takeout and it almost made his mouth water, "Wow, I sure am hungry."
"I bet." Sharon said in a husky tone, keeping her gaze trained on him as she licked her lips. Although it seems like Steve was far too endowed in his lunch to even notice her do it.
Steve took a bite of it before realizing that Sharon had only brought food for one person. "You're not going to eat lunch?"
"I'm good, Steve."
But her boyfriend wasn't hearing any of it. "We can share." he offered, putting up a goofy smile, "I'm not a picky eater."
"Neither am I." She said in a low tone and started to walk over to him like a lion does to her prey.
Steve swallowed back the food in his mouth and momentarily put the takeout down on his table. "But maybe I can get you something else if you don't like Chinese."
"I prefer an all-American lunch." she said seductively, sitting down on his lap that she was practically straddling him.
Steve felt his hands becoming sweaty as he sunk back further into his seat. Dating or not, he was still nervous around women. Even with Sharon.
A bead of sweat trickled down the side of his face. He gulped, "Can't I get you a ham and cheese?"
Sharon chuckled lowly, gripping his suit and inching his face closer to her, "I think I have my lunch just fine."
Before Steve could even react, she had closed the distance between them and was kissing the life out of him. Her hands tangled themselves in his sandy-blonde hair. Steve, despite being taken aback, returned the kiss with equal effort. He gripped her hips and pulled her body flushed to his.
But as he was kissing Sharon, a foreign scent reached his nose — different from the one he initially intended to smell. Instead of a familiar lavender scent that he was longing for, he got the smell of an intoxicating perfume instead. One far too strong for his liking.
For some reason, he pulled away from the kiss. He fluttered his eyes open to find Sharon looking at him with a hurtful gaze.
"I... I'm sorry, I..." he stammered, not exactly knowing how to explain it himself, "I just got a lot of things on my mind.
"Oh," Sharon sensed this and her face quickly fell. "Fine then. I'll let you get to it."
"Sharon—" Steve felt guilty, he knew she was upset.
"I guess I'll be seeing you later." she cut him off and hurried to get off his lap. But Steve quickly reached out and grabbed her hand.
"Stay," he whispered. "Please."
Sharon sighed, "What's wrong? And please, tell me. Don't keep it to yourself, Steve."
He hesitated for a moment but decided against it. She deserved to know what's been going on with him lately.
"It's about our next mission." he explained, "I'm supposed to bring some SHIELD agents with me because I thought it would be a good training for them out there on the field."
"And?" she pressed.
"Tony suggested I bring the siblings."
Sharon looked at him, puzzled, "Is there a problem with that?"
"I just think it's too soon for them to be out there. They haven't even made it a week yet here at SHIELD and we're already sending them out in the war."
"Well, I think Tony knows why he said what he said. And among the rest of you, I think he's the one who's been watching over them often. So if someone should make the decision dictating the capacities of those two — it would be him." she explained.
"I don't know..." Steve said, running a hand through his hair, "I mean I've seen them fought in the training room once and that they the guts but... I don't know I just don't feel comfortable about it."
Sharon laid a hand on his shoulder, "Don't stress yourself out. The final say is still up to you and if you think they're not ready yet then choose another set of agents instead. But if you'd ask me, regardless of my suspicion for those two, I think they're just as strong as you guys are. Just smaller and younger."
Steve pursed his lips, mustering up a short smile despite having a troubled expression still. "Thanks." he held her hand tightly, "I'm glad you're here."
She tipped his chin upwards so he was facing her directly and inched forward so that her nose touches his.
"I love you," she whispered.
Steve smiled, but strangely it felt as if the words caught up in his throat as he needed a great amount of effort to say the words out loud. "I love you too."
Again, he felt that strange feeling that it no longer felt right.
And that for some reason—he had no utter clue—why he imagined hearing those words from someone else instead. Not from the girl in front of him.
—————————————————————————————
Imagine Tony's relief when he had bumped into the redheaded spy in the hallway.
"Natalie! Just the person I wanted to see." he waved over.
Natasha slowed down her pace, arching an eyebrow at Tony's sudden burst of enthusiasm. "Is there something you need?"
Tony caught up with her, taking off his pair of glasses, "Actually, I do. I need you and Cap in the simulation room right now."
"What for?" she asked, baffled.
"For the test, remember? The agents going with you on the mission?" Tony reminded. "Sam and birdbrain are already there. We're waiting for you two."
Realization dawned on her. "Sure, let me just get Steve. We'll be right up." she said, turning her heel in the opposite direction while Tony in the other way.
Natasha quickly took the elevator to where the captain's office was but by the time she got there, there was no response. "Steve?" she knocked on the door twice.
Still no response.
"Perhaps you can find Captain Rogers in his room, Agent Romanoff."
Natasha slightly jumped at the voice, "Oh, FRIDAY," she said, "Is it his break?"
"His break ended fifteen minutes ago."
"Oh, alright then. Thanks, FRIDAY." she responded, then strode off to the elevators once more to reach the fourth floor.
Once she heard a ding, she got out and started walking down the hallway. She passed each one of the Avengers' rooms, finally stopping in front of the one she was just looking for.
She raised her hand to knock on it softly but audibly, "Steve? It's Natasha."
It took a few good seconds for the response to come, "Hang on a minute." After — astonishingly and precisely—a minute, the door swung open revealing Steve to be in a white shirt and denim pants. "Hey, Nat."
Natasha had to restrain herself from letting her mouth go agape at the sight of the captain. His sandy-blonde hair sat messily on his head and it was still damp. She presumed that he had just gotten out of the shower.
She remembered the time when they were on the run from HYDRA. He was covered in dirt and grime but that white undershirt fitted him perfectly. If she'd be honest with herself, it had momentarily made her forgot about the situation regarding HYDRA and SHIELD that time.
She flustered at the idea.
Great, now she was having all these pictures inside her head about Steve being in the shower. Dirty thoughts, Natasha. Too much dirty thoughts.
"Do you need something?" he suddenly said, interrupting her delusions.
"I was just going to tell you that the simulation for the SHIELD recruits is about to start. And Tony said we needed to be there in like, a minute." she played it off cooly, despite having these fuzzy thoughts in her head.
"Oh, yes. I know about that. Tony told me about it this morning." Steve recalled, "Could you wait for me? I'm just about done, it will only take a second."
"Sure," she responded.
"Thanks," Steve went to shut the door but stopped halfway, with a look of hesitance, he simply stayed there while stuttering, "Umm..."
Natasha asked, bemused, "Something wrong?"
"Are you okay staying out there? Or are you more comfortable stepping inside? " Steve bit his lip, his face filled with cluelessness and at the same time, concern.
As she opened her mouth to answer, he cut her off again.
"But if you don't want to! It's fine by me. I just—I don't like making women wait. I feel pretty embarrassed and I don't know if I should... umm... is it okay to ask you to wait in my room? Or is that too personal... I mean..." Steve stammered, visibly reddening.
Natasha smirked, "You still have no idea to talk to a woman, don't you?"
Steve blushed, giving her a sheepish look, "I guess I still need practice."
"And I wonder how Sharon's able to live with that every day." she laughed softly, adding right after, "You're just too darn adorable, Cap."
Steve was practically a tomato right now. Even his ears were turning pink.
"Go ahead and finish your thing. I can wait here outside for a while." Natasha said.
"You sure?" he asked.
She nodded, "Positive."
"Okay," he said, still a little pink. "For a while." And he closed the door gently. Natasha leaned against the wall, playing with her nails for a bit as she waited.
After a few minutes, Steve finally stepped out of the room. "Let's go?"
She nodded in agreement, staying beside him as they walked together through the hallway and towards the elevator.
Steve first brought up the topic, "You don't have to answer this if it's too personal but... are things okay with Bruce now?"
Natasha was fine talking about it. She already considered the team her family and talking about matters like this was something she already expected. In fact, it was nice that they consort one another outside their line of work.
"Nope," she answered, her face falling a bit. "He's still not talking to me."
"Have you tried to talk to him?" Steve asked.
Natasha pursed her lips, sighing, "No, and it's his fault anyway. His argument was way off point."
"Well, maybe he's just too scared to approach you first. I know I would."
She gave him a flat look. "Gee, thanks."
Steve realized that the way he said it had sounded wrong and corrected himself, "I mean, I don't mean it personally. I mean it in a general way. Guys are often frightened to approach a girl after a fight."
"What, so I'm going to have to be the one to approach him first? Even he's at fault here?" she said, raising her voice.
Steve slightly winced at her tone, trying to make her understand, "Look, guys say stupid stuff when they're jealous. It happens all the time."
"Has it happened to you?"
She knew that Sharon has the appearance that could easily attract the attention of some guys. And she also knew that the blonde agent also has her own share of flirty moments.
Like the one recently with James Rogan.
And she wondered if Steve knew about this.
"Yeah," he admitted quietly.
"When?" Natasha asked, as they got to their designated floor and stepped outside the elevator.
Steve forced a small smile, "I can't remember."
"Come on, Rogers, you cannot not remember the times you got jealous. And it sparked my curiosity, how does Captain America get jealous?" she asked with great interest.
Steve rolled his eyes. "Why do you always seem so interested in stuff like this?"
Natasha shrugged, "I don't know. I guess almost everything about you makes me curious."
"Really?" he asked, teasingly. "Wow, I never thought I'd be able to make Black Widow so interested in Captain America."
"Steve Rogers." she corrected, touching his nose.
Steve, startled by her sudden display of affection, felt the heat rising up on his cheeks.
"You're blushing, Cap." Natasha laughed.
"Stop it."
"Okay, okay."
He pretended to be annoyed, but in truth, he was secretly smiling to himself.
When they were just a few steps away from the simulation room, Natasha suddenly stopped when he saw Steve paused in his tracks.
"Listen, Nat." he started, all playfulness in his voice was washed away, "I'm really sorry about causing problems between you and Bruce."
Natasha sighed in annoyance, "Steve, how many times do I have to say that it's not your fault—"
"But in some way, it is." he contended. "Bruce is my friend and I respect the both of you as much as I respect your relationship."
"Steve, don't. It's fine, I told you." she pressed, not wanting to repeat the things she said again.
"I just don't want him to think that there's something going on between us." he said.
"And that's why it's neither our fault because we know that there's nothing going on. We're just good friends and Bruce needs to see that. He knows that we can't do anything like that, especially you." she argued.
Steve sighed, "I just don't want the problem turning into a bigger one. It might affect our work as a team."
"It won't, Steve."
"It already did when you turned up late for our meeting," he remarked.
Natasha scoffed, "Because I was too pissed off to see his face. And he didn't even try to talk to me after that. He didn't do anything at all."
"And as long as he sees me with you every now and then, his suspicion won't stop. You can just explain everything once you know that he's willing to listen." Steve said solemnly.
But she didn't like the plan at all. In fact, she didn't know which was worse— Steve not talking to her or Bruce not talking to her. It both felt like shit. And even though she didn't want to admit it, Bruce was right in some way. Steve was one of the people she was comfortable opening up to, she just felt safe and heard whenever she talks to him.
"Are you sure about this?" Natasha asked, feeling degraded
Unbeknownst to her, Steve all felt the same too, but as always, he was thinking about the sake of his friend. "Hey, it's not like we're parting ways or something." he tried to cheer her up, "We'll still talk, laugh, and watch movies. I just have to... keep my distance for a while."
"Hopefully, not too far." she reminded.
Steve smiled, "I couldn't even if I wanted to."
Natasha returned the smile.
"Come on, Tony's probably throwing a fit right now. We're already late." he said, heading towards the simulation room.
She rolled her eyes, "As if he's not the one always late."
Despite having agreed to it, Natasha couldn't help but be disappointed. She liked talking with Steve and having those moments taken away from the both of them seems a little absurd. But, she guessed, it was probably one of the downsides of having a boyfriend. Sharon would probably like this arrangement too.
But for Steve and Natasha, it would take a great amount of effort for them to be distant from one another.
Especially now that they were starting to feel something else for one another.
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Uh oh, Allie's starting to become distracted because of a certain SHIELD agent. And James is struggling to not become a nagging older brother. xD
So, I'm sorry if there's not much scenes wherein the siblings try to play matchmaker for their parents in this chapter.
I just wanted this chapter to focus more on Allie and James alone, and on Steve and Natasha's relationship even before their children start to play matchmaker.
So, what do you think? Are Allie and James going to go with them on the mission? If you think so, how do you think would that turn out?
Would this trip finally be what they need to push their parents together?
And would Steve and Natasha succeed in trying to be distant to one another?
The next chapter would contain all the answers to this. And of course, finally, Romanogers moments with Allie and James yay! <3