Mockingbird can't you see, little girl's got a hold on me (For swissarmybow)

[ofafeather]

A third date was something unheard of in the life of Barbara Morse ever since she joined SHIELD. She’d had a boyfriend in college, but that fizzled out once she started working on secret government projects and had to essentially sneak around behind his back. That was years ago, now, and she’d just gotten used to the fact that work came first, and the life of a SHIELD agent was probably going to be a lonely one. After all, if she couldn’t ever get past date number two, there wasn’t much hope for her.

At least, until Agent Barton decided that a third date would be a good idea. Or maybe it was her idea. She wasn’t entirely sure. It was a little confusing, in a lot of ways, but so were the first and second dates, which were really just a continuation of each other that they decided to split into two for whatever reason. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

That’s why she was standing in front of her closet, trying to decide what exactly would be the best thing to wear on a date to a shooting range. Clint had sent her a text asking her to meet him at the range at 19:00. That was half an hour away, and she still had nothing.

But finally, with fifteen minutes to spare, she picked out some skinny jeans and a tight top (cute, without sacrificing movement), and rushed out the door to meet him there. If she’d arrived any later, she would have been late. It was only by pure luck that she wasn’t.

Comments

[swissarmybow]

"Romantic? On the third date?"

It was a little bit of a jibe, and he could tell she was half-joking, but he'd take it, and he'd run with it. Releasing her hand, he shouldered his bow and pointed to the targets.

"It's a simple setup. Varying distances, but the further out, the better I do. I can move them up for you, though. Not that different from a normal shooting range."

[ofafeather]

"Why not?" Bobbi laughed, because she had been joking, but romantic on the third date wouldn't be too ridiculous. After all, they'd been on two dates in one day, and one of those dates had been a training exercise where he'd shot her. A few times. It was fun.

"Yeah, you'll probably have to move them up. I'm a beginner, remember?" She could do it with a gun, but definitely not with a bow. She had a feeling she'd be lucky if she even hit close to the center of the target.

[swissarmybow]

"I'll take care of it." And he directed her up to the start line, where another bow rested a few feet back. It was compound bow, not his bow of choice, but more fun for teaching. SHe'd look...

Well, it weasn't the time to think about how she'd look. It was time to teach. He put his game face on.

Walking over to the wall, he flipped a few switches and adjusted a knob or two, moving three targets a bit closer. Only the best at SHIELD. "Pick it up. You won't hurt anybody without arrows."

[ofafeather]

"You sure about that? I'm pretty sure I could find a way." She was joking, but, if she really wanted to, she could. She picks up the bow and examines it. Sure, she'd seen bows before, but she'd never really held one before. "Which way is right side up?"

[swissarmybow]

That earned her a mighty look from the archer. Then again, he couldn't expect her to magically understand. He walked over to a case near the wall, opening it as he folded his recurve bow back into its compact form. From the case, he instead retrieved his own, much larger compound bow. It was bulkier than the recurve, harder to sling over his shoulder, but he did it.

"I'll show you." Moving up beside her, he took the bow in his own hand and righted it, then handed it back to her. "That's right side up."

[ofafeather]

She studied the bow for a moment, making sure she knew how to tell it was right side up, before looking over at him. "All right, how do I hold this thing? I know there's a right way and a wrong way to do it."

Hey, that was something! At least she knew that much about archery. That, and that you shoot arrows at things.

[swissarmybow]

Pulling his own bow from his shoulder, he took a good, long look at her. Might help if he stopped staring long enough to do this the right way. Did she have to wear skinny jeans?

"Hold on." He briskly walked back over to a second case, the one her bow had been stored in, and fished out some smaller pieces of equipment. Obviously spaced out, he handed over the arm and finger guards. Handing the finger tab over, he gently took her arm and began to strap on the arm guard. "I almost forgot."

[ofafeather]

Yes. Yes, Clint, she did. It was all for you.

"Thanks for remembering." She wasn't entirely sure what the arm guard was for, but she liked it. If only because Clint was putting it on for her. She wasn't entirely sure what the finger tab was, either. "What do I do with this?"

[swissarmybow]

He held his own hand up, demonstrating. "It's for pulling the string. Mine's custom."

Nodding to her, he stepped off to the side. Just a quick show to set up; he slowly set his stance, pulling a simple arrow from his quiver. Making sure to do it slowly enough for her to see, he notched the arrow onto the string and took aim, then pulled the string back. It looked effortless, deceptively gentle, but when he let it fly, the speed and violence with which it hit the target nearly sent it straight through.

"That's the goal." He nodded at her to at least try the stance. How observant was she?

[ofafeather]

She did her best to mimic his stance, but she hadn't been exactly been paying close enough attention to the stance itself to do it perfectly. There were more interesting things that completely distracted her from what she was actually supposed to be paying attention to.

Damn you and your perfect....body, Clint Barton.

"How's this?"

[swissarmybow]

He raised an eyebrow. Was she paying attention at all? So, he supposed, he'd have to do this the hard way.

"Plant your feet a little closer together. Just a little." He tapped her outer thigh, then moved behind her and put a hand on each hip. "And square up your hips, like this."

[ofafeather]

Okay. Okay. Okay. That was distracting. Sure, she was doing everything he was distracting, but whoa there, he was behind her and his hands were on her hips and how was she supposed to focus on shooting things like this?

This man was doing things to her. She wasn't sure she liked it. But she thought she did. Actually, she was really sure she did.

"Now what?"

[swissarmybow]

"Now," he said, stepping forward a bit and covering her hand with his, "get a feel for the weight of the bow. If you're not sure about how you're holding it, you're gonna fight it. So."

He shifted the bow a little, settling it properly against her palm. Once he was satisfied, he glanced back at her face.

"Making sense?"

[ofafeather]

"Yeah. Perfect sense." Something along those lines, anyway. He might notice that the typically calm, collected Agent Morse is blushing. But only a little bit. She's one of SHIELD's top agents, after all. She knows how to keep from betraying her thoughts with her face. Mostly.

[swissarmybow]

It almost made him do a double take, but he noted the rosiness in her cheeks. Just a little.

"You okay?" It was low, too close to her for comfort, probably. Still, he grinned, perhaps a bit knowingly. He was unapologetic in handling people when he was teaching; it was the best way for him to teach, after all. Being so finely trained, so attuned to the form and functions associated with the sport, it was just easier for him from this side.

[ofafeather]

Bobbi glared at him a little. She knew he knew the answer to that question. The way he'd asked it showed her that. She decided it was time to compartmentalize. She took a deep breath, and tried to focus on what she was doing. Tried being the key word there.

"More than okay. What's next?" She really was doing her best to focus on the whole shooting things thing. She loved shooting things.

But she was still blushing a little bit.

[swissarmybow]

She'd be able to do it with a little more help, but he'd noticed her glances, and he'd been giving her the same ones. Not one to blush, he kept his poker face intact. However...

"Did you want to get the part where you're looking at me like you want to kiss me over with, or should I keep going?"

It was close enough to an accurate answer, anyway.

[ofafeather]

Bobbi just stared at him for a minute. Because really, how do you answer a question like that?

Then she started laughing.

And then she kissed him.

[swissarmybow]

The bow shifted on his shoulder as he carefully rested a hand at her hip, and he lowered her own bow so he could turn her more toward him--over the shoulder kisses were just awkward.

She was officially the best student he'd ever had.

[ofafeather]

Of course she was the best student he'd ever had. She was a quick learner, after all. And she could do this with him. It was a win-win situation.

She put her free hand on his neck, and kept kissing him. Because it was something she'd been waiting to do for a while now. The archery lesson would still be there when they were finished.

[swissarmybow]

He had no honest idea why they were doing this, but they'd been attracted to one another since she first knocked him off a crate. That much he was sure of. What he wasn't sure of was why he was so intent on not stopping anytime soon. Sarcasm and lone wolf status be damned. He was going to keep kissing this woman until she stopped him.

That hand on his neck was electric, and he had both hands on her cheeks in short order.

[ofafeather]

Bobbi didn't want to stop. She really, really didn't want to stop. She'd been wanting to do this since she first punched him, and now that she got the chance, she really didn't want to stop. For some reason, she was just drawn to him and she didn't know why. But she knew that this felt weirdly right.

Unfortunately for the two of them, after a few minutes, she really had to breathe, and that meant stopping. But that didn't mean letting go of him.

[swissarmybow]

Mildly confused, but more intrigued, he slid one hand back into her hair, and slipped the other arm down around her waist. Whatever the reasoning he was using to justify this...

No, screw it. He was a grown man, and she was a gorgeous woman, and she could beat the hell out of him on any given day.

He was content. Very. Not so much when she pulled away, but they both needed to catch their breath.

"Okay."

[ofafeather]

"You know, Sport, if you keep that up, I'm not going to learn how to shoot anything." She laughed a little as she tried to catch her breath, but didn't pull away any further than she absolutely needed to.

[swissarmybow]

"I thought you knew how to use a gun, Agent Morse." Birdie. Could he get away with calling her that? After a moment, he withdrew the hand at the back of her head, smoothing her hair back down from where he'd rumpled it slightly. He kept his lower hand in place, slipping it around to her lower back.