CHAPTER SIX

This is probably a bad idea, Clint thought to himself as he stood pretending to examine the Washington Monument. The food trucks where Paige consistently went for lunch weren't far away. He had purchased a phone from a nearby store that morning and left it on the park bench near the trucks, one that Paige always passed. He knew she'd be in need of a new one that morning.

She entered the food truck line right on time again. But this time she looked around first and to Clint's pleasant surprise she found the phone. As she went to order her food, Clint enacted step two. Dial the phone.

He watched her stare down at the device in confusion. He had set the Caller ID to "Answer the Phone." He just hoped her curiosity would set in. It did.

"Hello?"

Clint smiled, turning away from her to look up at the Washington Monument. He had the call routed through his hearing aids and put the phone away. There was no reason for her to suspect him. "Nice display last night."

"Listen, if you're here to kill me, I'm not going down easy."

Clint paused. "I'm not here to kill you. I just want to talk." A long paused ensued. He decided that was a good sign. "Do you like coffee?"

"Depends on the type."

Clint smiled to himself. "I promise, I'm not going to hurt you. Let's talk like civilized people and not fight where civilians are present."

"Depends on if you try to kill me."

He rolled his eyes. Turning to see where she was, he found her turned the opposite way, looking down 14th Street. "That's not how I work." He continued, "Turn around. Washington Monument, beside the fifth flag from the door."

She turned slowly. It didn't take her long to locate him, and he nodded to her. Immediately she hung up the phone. Clint walked over to her nonchalantly, watching as she took a bite of her pizza. She didn't seem overly concerned.

"Paige, right? I'm Clint." He nodded, and gestured for her to sit on the bench. Without waiting for her he sat down.

She looked him up and down. Paige stayed standing. "Clever trick, with the phone. Though totally unnecessary. Also overly dramatic. Especially if you want to kill me."

Clint rolled his eyes. "Listen, Paige, I just want to talk. If I wanted you dead I could've taken the shot last night." He paused. "Also, sorry about killing your phone. That was the quickest way to make sure no one had footage of you."

Folding her arms, Paige frowned. She glanced over Clint's head at the street. He sat expectantly. Finally she spoke. "There's a coffee shop not far from here. It's called Timgad's. If you're buying, I'll go."

Clint nodded. "Only fair. Keep the phone, by the way. I owe it to you." He stood from the bench and followed her up 14th Street.

The walk took about ten minutes. Neither one said anything. Clint didn't find the silence uncomfortable except for the fact that his brain kept trying to remind him that she, like Loki, had magic. He kept his right hand active in his jacket, playing with his closed pocket knife.

When they reached Timgad's, they got their coffee quickly. Paige picked a table outside, away from most other patrons. By now it was already 1:00 PM and the lunch crowd had mostly left. They sat down.

Clint got out his ID badge. "I'm Clint Barton, agent of SHIELD."

She sat back against the chair, folding her arms. "Why does that make so much sense now."

"What?" Clint furrowed his brow.

She chuckled, waving at him with her hand. "The whole 'dark and brooding' schtick. You're one of them. Though I bet you do dark and brooding for the image, not for any real reason."

"I'm not brooding," he commented quickly.

Paige sighed. "Fine. Why did you want to chat. Impressed by the light show yesterday?"

"I'm here to ask you to meet with some other members of Shield," Clint said quickly. "We might be able to offer you a job, or training. Both of which you seem to need."

Paige frowned at him. "Money's tight, yeah. I don't exactly have a regular job. What does Shield want with me? Aren't they the ones who caused the attack on New York six months ago?"

Pain crossed his face as memories flashed through his mind. 23 agents. 17 civilians. Those were his casualties from the Battle of New York.

"Why am I back? How'd you get him out?"

"I hit you really hard on the head."

"Thanks... How many agents did I..."

"Don't do that to yourself, Clint. This is monsters and magic, and nothing we were ever trained for."

23 agents. 17 civilians. Those were his casualties.

Clint released his grip on the table as the memories faded. He focused on Paige instead. She seemed legitimately concerned. Clint shook his head. "Shield tried its best to stop an alien invasion. There were complications. It took longer than it should have. That's the only reason it ever even got to New York."

"Hm." She frowned. Taking a drink of her coffee, she paused before continuing. "If I say yes, what happens?"

Clint shrugged at her. "That's not up to me. I just bring targets in. My guess is you'd talk to Director Fury himself. Someone with your skills is a gift. Speaking of," he paused. "Are you human?"

It was her turn to pause. She sighed. "I don't know."

"That might be something we can do for you. We have special tests we run to determine what enhanced individuals are." Clint stood and offered her a hand up. "Are you interested?"

Paige looked at his offered hand. Then she glanced up at him. "If I am?"

He didn't move his hand. "We head back to my apartment complex. Captain America is right up the stairs. I'm Hawkeye by the way."

She leaned back in her chair and gave a short laugh. "Oh my god, like of the Avengers?" She cracked a smile. "Well, I feel honored to have had coffee with a guy who uses a bow in an alien invasion."

Clint put his hands on his hips. He went to reply but after a pause, he shook his head. "I've not got a comeback for that." After a moment he continued. "How about this. Does it sound better? I'm an orphan raised by carnies who uses a stick and string from the paleolithic era for fighting aliens. I say I should get some serious props for that."

Paige smirked and stood up. "Lead the way, Carnie."

"Listen, Pea," he chastised her as he moved towards the street., "I'm an Avenger. You don't get to call me Carnie like its an insult."

"Pea?" She glared at him. "If I don't get to call you Carnie, you don't get to call me Pea."

"Pea. P for Paige. Pea for Pea Brain, Pea for Pee-wee." Clint rattled off the reasons for the nickname. "Better hurry up, dark and brooding." He called a taxi.

"Hey!"

Clint got into the taxi and left the door open for her. She stood with her arms crossed. But he smiled. "We're going to meet Captain America, remember?"

"Fine. Because Captain America." She slipped into the seat beside him.

When they reached the apartment building, Clint let Paige get out while he paid the driver. Then he took out his phone and texted Steve.

"We'll head up to his apartment," he told Paige as they stood on the sidewalk. "C'mon."

He went inside and didn't wait to see if she would follow. Quickly he texted Natasha that he'd made contact, and that he'd let her know more later. He also asked her not to tell Fury. That would come in a full report later.

Clint knocked on Steve's door as Paige went up the five steps she had left. He answered moments later. Steve smiled. "Hey just got your text."

"This is Paige Wilson, Paige, this is Steve Rogers." Clint gestured between them. "Let's head inside before we draw unwanted attention."

"Nice to meet you." Steve offered his hand to Paige and she took it, shaking hands with him. Then Steve let them inside. "I was just thinking about dinner. Do you want anything in particular, Paige?" He gestured to Clint. "I know you'd want pizza."

"Whatever you're having is fine," Paige commented. "I can't pay though."

Steve smirked. "No need. Shield pays well."

"You're in Shield too?" Paige looked between them. "So what exactly is Shield?"

"Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division." Walking over to Steve's couch, Clint sat down in exhaustion. The many days of work was catching up with him. "It's an international organization founded to deal with unnatural threats and basically anything big and threatening."

"Like the Battle of New York?"

Steve sighed, glancing quickly at Clint before answering. "That was more than Shield was used to handling. They let that get away from them."

Clint glared at the TV. "I warned them, you know." He stood and walked back over to them, pacing. "I told them as soon as the issue started that it wasn't something we should be meddling with."

Paige looked at him curiously. "What did happen?"

"That's classified," Clint replied with as sigh. He rubbed his forehead. "Monsters and magic, as a partner of mine called it at the time. Stuff we weren't trained for."

"After all, you're just an orphan raised by carnies wielding a bow and arrow," Paige reminded him smartly.

Clint scoffed and downed the last bit of a bottle of water. "You're not wrong." As he held the bottle to his lips, his hand shook. He drank it quickly and hid it behind a sassy smile. "But then, what would a pea brain know about agent stuff?"

Steve wasn't fooled one bit by Clint's posturing. He asked Paige to wait for a minute while he talked to Clint. "Come here."

Clint folded his arms but followed Steve into his bedroom. It was so clean. Clint wondered how he ever found stuff in it. "What, Cap?"

"You're asleep on your feet. You're hiding your stress." Steve leaned against the door to keep it closed. "Don't protest to me, Clint. I went through a lot when they first brought me back. Flashbacks, memories. That doesn't just leave you. What Loki did, it affected you. You're not fooling me."

Clint glared at him. "Listen, Rogers. This is my job. I have to do my job."

"Why this job though? Why something so close to the Battle of New York. She's got the same power set as Loki. I find it hard to believe that even Nick Fury would've given you this job happily," Steve reminded him.

Clint refused to answer him. "I'll go grab a few hours' sleep if it'll calm you down. Watch Paige for me. I have to make a report to Fury anyways."

"Sleep, Clint."

They went back into the main room to find Paige playing around with her new phone. When they came back in she stopped, watching them curiously.

"I've got go make a report to my boss," Clint told her. "Stay here with Cap. He'll make sure you get dinner without having to steal a twenty from someone on the street."

Paige glared at him and folded her arms. "There's the judgmental tone. I knew it would come out somewhere."

"Believe it or not, Paige, but your petty thefts are not that bad compared to what some Shield agents have done in their past," Clint clarified. "So there's no tone." He turned to Steve. "Keep me updated."

Steve followed him out into the hall. "Clint-"

"Sleep. I've got it." He didn't even bother to look back at the super soldier. He just took the stairs down. Under his breath he muttered, "if I can sleep."

I hope you're enjoying Mirror so far! I'm having way too much fun writing this. Hawkeye is my absolute favorite Avenger, and it's about time he got some spotlight in my opinion. He's a beautiful human disaster.

I've got several twists and turns coming up soon. One of the main plot points of Mirror is going to revolve around what and who exactly Paige is. That has consequences for the wider universe of this world.

And yes, Clint is absolutely a caffeine addict. But he isn't the only one, as you'll see. I think that's a running theme with Shield agents.