The World We Live In

"Where are you going, looking so beautiful and debonair?" Tony asked, as Clint and Matilda walked towards the elevator.

Matilda had switched to a fair girl with jet black hair that she put into a bun and dark eyes that she framed with thick lashes and a little golden eyes shadow. She had on a long gown that was a pale shade of purple. It was one shoulder and the bodice was pleated with a dropped wait. The bottom was dramatic and flared out with petals. Her jewelry was silver and her shoes and clutch were white with jeweled details.

Clint was in a grey tux with a tie that matched her dress.

Neither of the two looked pleased.

"Oh my god you look so pretty," Pepper gushed over Matilda.

"Thank you, Pepper."

"We've got a mission," Clint said, "and it involves a damn monkey suit."

"I told Fury I wasn't gonna do this crap," Matilda said. 'But since someone can't apparently go on a simple retrieval mission, I have to,' she thought.

The elevator reached them then. "Let's go," Matilda growled. Clint followed her and they rode down to the lowest level of the tower. She gaped at Tony's fleet of amazing cars. "I know he's rich, but my god," she said.

"Lady's choice?"

"Audi R8 ," she said, as soon as she saw the car. "We're playing rich, better act the part."

Clint grabbed the keys and they were off. They made it to the hotel, where the gala they were attending was being held. They snuck in a back door and up to the room that S.H.I.E.L.D. was using as its temporary headquarters. They'd been given a file the night prior. They were going after Brent Harper a former S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist. Matilda had barely glanced at the thing. She was only interested in what she needed. There were a few shots of him and of the case she was supposed to move.

She stood near the door with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Brent Harper is a former S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist. He went rogue though and has begun developing biological weapons for every kind of terrorist organization you can think of. He's got a brief case and inside is an enzyme that will give his latest weapon a virus with the potential to wipe out half of the planet the boost it needs to begin production.

"Biological weapon of mass destruction. Oh joy," she muttered. Then she thought for a moment. "And he keeps it with him? Only a moron would do that. Why isn't it in rotation? The best bet to keep it safe is to keep it moving."

"Romanov took a team including two other agents. It was supposed to be simple, but they were found out. He got shook, started carrying it around with him. He's got a whole crew of guards. We want both him and the enzyme. That's where you come in. You use your abilities to get the case and then Clint gets Harper."

"Sounds too easy." Matilda perched against a counter hand put a hand on her chin. Her brow furrowed in concentration. Something was off. She knew that much, but she couldn't completely figure out what.

Clint had the same inkling as Matilda. Too easy and nothing was ever easy in his field. She looked up at him and she gave him a slight nod. They were gonna go, but we ready for the worst. Matilda had never been on a mission with Clint, but yet she knew exactly what signals to send. Just the slightest of nods conveyed entire conversations. There was only one other person that Clint could do that with, Natasha. Even then that had taken years of field work. Everything just came naturally with Matilda.

"Alright, we've got it," she said.

Fury handed her and Clint their invitations. "You're Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman, Cindy and Mark. You run a tire company that makes billions in sales every year. Now go."

Matilda and Clint walked back to the car.

"On a scale of we look like jackasses to train wreck, how do you think this is gonna go?" she asked.

"Trainwreck saved by jackasses," Clint said. He slid his ear piece in and she did the same.

She nodded and as they pulled up in front of the hotel, a happy loving smile formed on her face. "Ready to go honey?" she asked slipping into character.

"Yes dear," Clint said.

They got out of the car and Clint there the keys to the valet. "Don't' hurt her, but make sure she has a little fun." Clint slipped a fifty into the valet's pocket. It was good for Matilda to see what Clint was going for and how to play off of it. The two met up right in front of the door and walked like the perfect couple to the ball room. They got in and instantly spotted Harper from the file they'd been given. It hadn't said much just gave a general description of him. He was sitting on a platform in the front of the room with a bunch of other people, who had contributed to the evening's affairs.

They went about and mingled until they were close to the platform off to the side.

"Can you feel it?" Clint asked.

"Maybe. There's too many people, too much commotion. I need to focus."

"Then focus."

"Because I never thought of that," she scoffed, "I can't focus if I'm looking at something. The sense works best when my eyes are closed it's like turning off all of the faucets in a house to increase the water pressure to one."

"What do I have to do?" he asked.

"Kiss me," she said.

He didn't hesitate. He kissed her. She barely kissed back, closing her eyes and placing her hands on his chest. With a sudden burst of clarity, she felt the case by Harper's feet, a hard plastic. Then there was something that she couldn't feel. It was a blind spot, and it was moving. She broke the kiss.

"They're moving the enzyme. They're doing it now. Harper's case is plastic. It's a decoy. There's something though that I can't feel. It's a blind spot. It's either adamantium or vibranium the two strongest alloys on Earth. I can't move them. I can't feel them. We're gonna have to split, because the second we touch one the other is gonna flee."

"I'll get the case. You get Harper." Before she could object Clint was walking away.

"Stairwell at the end of the hall on the second floor and heading up," she made a woman say. It used to be difficult for Matilda to manipulate vocal chords, but she had practiced it quite a bit, and it was now one of the easiest things she could do.

Matilda, knew what she had to do. She closed her eyes for a moment and focused in on Harper. She felt his tissues, his heart beating, his lungs inflating and deflating with every breath and his stomach churning slightly. That was her target. She made his stomach move. A few moments later, he was running to the bathroom. She exited the ball room and headed towards the bathroom. She walked in after him. There was no one there aside from him. She pulled his phone and ear piece off and held them in the air. He turned from the toilet to look. "You've managed to screw up my no mission clause," she said.

"You'll-"

She held his vocal chords still. "Oh shut up you imibicile. I don't have time for your nonsense," she said. She stood him up and made him walk. Matilda pressed the button on her ear piece. "Fury, he'll be walking in the main lobby. I'm gonna assist Barton."

Harper walked into the lobby of the hotel and was met with multiple agents with hidden fire arms.

Matilda went to find Clint. He and the guy with the case were on the twentieth floor, and from what she could sense that Clint was fending off multiple well trained attackers. They were going down of course, but it seemed more and more kept appearing. The blind spot was moving. She focussed on the guy holding the case and moved him, slamming him up against the wall. She found his weapon and aimed it at him ready to pull the trigger. The blind spot was still. She did the same to the guys fighting Clint. They were up against the wall staring into the barrels of their own weapons. She continued to focus on the men. Once she could see them it would be easier. She moved a little slower than she would've liked, which is exactly why the back of her dress got caught in the elevator door.

"Son of a bitch," she muttered. She just ripped the flared bottom off of the dress continued on. She saw Clint fighting to remove the case from the guy's hand. She let him release it. Clint picked it up before taking notice of her.

"Nice dress," Clint commented, grabbing the case off of the ground.

"Nice face," she responded. Clint was bleeding from his mouth and his eye was beginning to swell.

"You weren't say anything earlier," he teased.

"Keep playing and I'll aim one of these at you," she threatened, waving one of the guns.

"You still got your ear piece?" he asked.

She took it out and handed it to him.

He spoke to Fury, and a little while later, S.H.I.L.E.D. agents were escorting the morons out of the building.

Matilda and Clint spent hours in debriefing before returning back to the tower. She sat down on the couch and brought over her cigarettes a lighter and an ash tray. Clint walked in, took off his jacket, shoes and tie, and un did the first few buttons on his shirt. He then grabbed a beer and laid down on the couch laying his head on her lap. He closed his eyes and let out a sigh.

She lit her cigarette and stuck it in her mouth. She waved over a towel filled with ice and gently pressed it to Clint's face. He plucked her cigarette from her mouth, and put it in his, taking a long drag.

She raised her eyes although he could not see it.

"So how in the hell did you end up letting the case continue to move like a damn amateur?"

"Are we really gonna go over this?"

"You had a gun."

"Got tossed."

"You could've grabbed the case."

"And gotten shot."

"I told you it was either vibranium or adamantium. They're bullet proof, could've used it as a shield."

"I'm not Steve," he said.

"No, Steve wouldn't have taken my damn cig."

"Boo hoo."

She went to grab it, but he moved it as far away as possible.

She had three options. She could've reached and grabbed in in the process smothering him with her chest. She could've just as easily used her gift to get it. Then she could've just gotten a new one.

"Ya know, I could just snap my fingers and have it back in my hand?"

"You could've gotten a new one, but you're not going to." He opened his eyes to look at her. His eyes held a hint of playfulness and cockiness. Matilda found it extremely sexy.

"You're right," she said. He took another drag. She tilted her head down until her lips were barely touching his. She knew she was being bold, but she was confident. As he exhaled, she inhaled, before leaning back and blowing the smoke out.

Clint wasn't expecting her to go and inhale the smoke from his lungs, but he wasn't surprised. From the time he'd spent with her, he'd pretty much come to expect the unexpected.

Matilda plucked the cigarette from his hand and finished it off. She began to run her hand through his hair. He a content sigh. She cracked open his beer and took a swig.

"How the hell are you so comfy?" he asked her.

She chuckled. "I don't know."

She shifted back to her normal form. Clint was asleep on her lap. She fell asleep soon after.



"You have so much potential, so much power, yet you waste it. Why?"



Matilda woke up with a gasp and a cold sweat. Clint was sitting across from her looking at her worriedly. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. "That was creepy," she said.

"What?" Clint asked.

"Damn creepy voices."

She closed her eyes and leaned back against the couch. Clint rose up and stretched for a moment, before picking her up and carrying her to her room. He set her down on her bed, but she didn't let go. "Nah, you're staying with me," she said.

"At least, go let me change," he said laughing a bit. He was honestly concerned though.

Clint walked to his room. He opened the door and was surprised to see Natasha asleep in his bed, her arm bandaged. He nudged her. "Nat, Natasha, Nattie." She woke up and instantly reached to punch him. He dodged it.

"Sorry," she said, "How'd your mission go?"

"Awry, but Matilda pretty much handled it."

Natasha nodded. "Why do you trust her?" she asked

"What is your problem?" he asked her.

"My problem is that there are very few people that people like us can trust. I put my trust in you and you're putting it in her. Do you know how stu-"

"Natasha, I'm not betraying your trust. You have to see that. I've still got your back, but I've also got hers."

"You're falling for her," Natasha said, as realization dawned on her, "You're falling in love with her. She's compromised you." With that Natasha shot up and practically ran back to her room. Clint had been compromised by an elderly woman playing a childish game.