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.

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[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.

[ofafeather]

"I'm amazing with a gun, Agent Barton." She moved her hand from his neck to his shoulder, smirking a little bit. "But this is new territory entirely."

[swissarmybow]

New territory. He'll second that assessment.

"What else are you good at, Birdie?"

[ofafeather]

"Lots of things. If I was going to list them, we'd be here forever." There's another smirk there. And it's not entirely a lie, she really is good at a lot of things, but she has a feeling that those aren't the things he's asking about.

"I'm pretty sure you've already experienced some of what I'm good at." Both in the ass kicking department and in non-ass kicking.

[swissarmybow]

"Jury's still out on some of it." But he grinned, and he kept his voice low, resisting the temptation to stroke her back gently. It wasn't proper to make any kind of truly intimate gesture, it wasn't like they were dating, and he actually slowly pulled his hand away altogether.

"So, you want to learn how to shoot the right way, now? Now that that's out of your system."

[ofafeather]

She raises an eyebrow at him when he pulls away. Down to business, then. She could respect that, even thought that definitely wasn't out of her system.

"All right, Agent Barton. Teach away."

[swissarmybow]

If he had anything to do with it, there would be at least one more round of that. First, though, he had to show off.

"Same stance, Agent Morse. If you can't do that much, I can't teach you."

[ofafeather]

Bobbi assumes the position--the right way this time, because apparently that did manage to sink in. And so did the right way to hold the bow, because she does that right, too. She really is a quick learner.

"Tell me, Agent Barton. Do you think I'm teachable?"

[swissarmybow]

"I'd say so."

He turned all business, explaining the finer points and parts of the bow, why it works, and how to best screw up with it. It gave him an excuse to stay closer to her, an excuse to touch her arms, but hopefully not to distract her. But she finally reached a satisfactory stance and seemed to grasp the concepts well enough.

Well enough not to injure an innocent bystander, at least.

"Now's the fun part."

[ofafeather]

He'd managed to do a good job of not distracting her too much. Everything he said sank in, at least, and she'd be able to do everything again later. And she couldn't help but think that he was a little extra attractive when he was all business.

"The fun part, huh?" She knew what that meant. The actual shooting things part. She was pretty excited for it, actually. There was just something about shooting things, no matter what she was shooting, that was still exciting, even though it was something she did nearly every day. And her excitement probably showed, too.

[swissarmybow]

"The best part."

Exchanging a knowing smile with her, he pulled an arrow from his quiver. One of his custom arrows. He wouldn't let just anyone use them--they were each worth a normal week's pay--but he trusted her to be smart enough not to screw it up.

"If you don't hit the target, there's going to be a problem."

He carefully showed her how to put the arrow in place, demonstrated the pull a few times, gently but firmly correcting her errors right off the bat. He wanted her to get the first shot, and do it right.

Finally, she was ready, and he took a few steps back.

"Last chance for questions."

[ofafeather]

She thought for a second before she answered. "I don't have any. You're a good teacher, Agent Barton." She grinned. Aiming wasn't too different from any other kind of weapon that she didn't think she'd have a problem hitting the target. Luckily for her, considering the value of the arrow.

She took a deep breath, and carefully aimed the bow. And another deep breath as she let the arrow loose.

It wasn't a bullseye, but it was somewhere in between the outer rings and the center. It took her a moment, but when she realized, she let out an excited noise, then turned back to Barton.

"See? Told you you're a good teacher."

[swissarmybow]

"I saw your wrist shake."

He simply handed her another arrow. Attempt two, Morse. He wanted to see it get just a little closer.