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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍

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Just like every other day for the last year, the blonde girl found herself in the training room of Avengers Tower. She began her training before the crack of dawn with a mentor who practically hadn't left her side since she started. Charlie Bridger had been a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent since she was eighteen, right after the Avengers dealt with Loki during the Battle of New York. For the last three years, she performed the exact same daily routine when she trained on the Helicarrier as well as at the Tower.

She would start her day by waking up and going on a four-mile run before eating a light breakfast and training with Natasha on her hand-to-hand combat. Once the two women finished their routine, Charlie would run three more then eat lunch before practicing her archery with Clint. She then ran another two miles before eating dinner and going to sleep. On rare occasions, the Bridger girl would go out with the two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents on simple missions to act as their backup if the situation called for it, but she usually wasn't needed.

When she first started training at the Tower a year ago, Charlie was told she'd be training to join the Avengers someday and she couldn't wait for that to happen. It was the reason why she decided to go on this journey in the first place. But according to Clint, her joining the team of heroes wasn't going to happen anytime soon. The blonde girl didn't believe him at first and just assumed he was up to his usual antics. But she slowly began to listen to his words after she spent so much time training at the Tower and never meeting a single one of the heroes.

But something was unusual about that day, mainly due to the way her mentor was acting. Typically, the Barton man would be correcting her every move while standing a foot away from her in an attempt to distract her or simply annoy her until she cracked. But now he wasn't doing that. Instead, Clint stood and watched her from the other side of the room with his arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the wall behind him.

The blonde girl tried to ignore his emotionless eyes which were much more distracting than his usual behavior while she took a deep breath and pulled back on the bowstring. A sense of calm overtook her as she aimed the arrow before bringing the string back a bit more and releasing it. Everything else became irrelevant as her attention stayed glued to the arrow as it sailed through the air and towards its target before planting itself in the bullseye. Charlie repeated her actions until her mentor was satisfied, which took a lot more time that day than it usually did.

It was at that moment that the young archer knew her mentor was planning something she was either going to love or hate.

After firing all of the arrows that were in her quiver with all except two hitting the center, her ears picked up on the Barton man's voice finally telling her to stop. A long sigh passed over her lips as she lowered her bow then she turned around to face the skilled archer. Charlie tried to suppress the shock that was threatening to overtake her when she found him staring back at her with a small smile on his face, which was an expression he rarely wore during their last few training sessions.

"Nice work," the master marksman complimented as he approached the young girl before stopping at her side. Just as she was about to open her mouth to respond to the man, Charlie saw his smile slowly turn into a smirk she was far too familiar with as he took an arrow out of the quiver sitting on his back. "But let me show you how it's done."

The green-eyed girl contained an eye roll as she watched the skilled archer load the arrow onto his bow before firing it at another one of their targets. Clint repeated this action much faster than Charlie could until his quiver was completely free of arrows. After the two of them stared at the bullseye that was now completely covered in arrows at the other side of the training room for a moment longer, the man glanced over at his protege with a smug look on his face.

"Was that to teach me something or for you to show off?" the young girl asked with a matching smirk and an eyebrow quirked as she returned her bow to its place on her back.

"Can't it be both?"

"It could've been...if it was anyone except you."

"That was a low blow, Agent Bridger," he scoffed as he rolled his eyes before handing his quiver to the girl and gesturing over to the other side of the room, "after you get the arrows, enjoy your four-mile run."

"Don't you mean two?"

"Gotta make up for your two misses somehow or else you're never gonna learn."

A laugh passed over his lips at the sight of the irritated look that appeared on the young archer's face before she let out an irritated sigh and went to retrieve the arrows. Charlie was almost finished pulling Clint's arrows out of the target when she heard the familiar sound of the door sliding open. While she placed the arrows back into the Barton man's quiver, she glanced back in the direction of the noise to see Natasha walking in with a tall blonde man. Charlie brushed it off at first and continued doing her task before her whole body froze and excitement began to flow through her veins.

The Bridger girl hesitated for a moment before completely turning back towards the entrance of the room to find Captain America staring back at her with curiosity in his eyes. Charlie tried to keep calm as possible as the Man Out of Time continued to study her before saying something inaudible to Clint while his eyes stayed in contact with hers. After a quick conversation between the two men, Natasha chimed in before a more serious look appeared on all of their faces.

Just as she was about to shake off all of her emotions and go back to her task, her ears picked up on Clint calling out to her before adrenaline began to rush through her veins. Charlie quickly finished putting the remaining arrows back into the pair of quivers in front of her before she jogged over to the trio. Her green eyes nonchalantly scanned over the super soldier while trying to hide her enthusiasm for meeting one of the reasons she chose to join S.H.I.E.L.D.

"I'd like you to meet, the one and only, Steve Rogers," the Barton man told her as soon as the young archer took her place at his side before the former turned his attention back to the blonde man, "Cap, this is Charlie Bridger. She's been working with Nat and me for a few years now."

"It's nice to finally meet you, Captain Rogers," the Bridger girl greeted the Man Out of Time with a smile on her face while she held her hand out towards him.

"Call me Steve. It's nice to meet you, too, Charlie," the blonde man responded as he returned her handshake before releasing it and turning back to Clint and Natasha, "is she the one you said was coming with us to Sokovia?"

The blonde girl's eyes slightly widened at the thought of going with the Avengers on one of their assignments before she turned her attention toward the two spies standing next to her. Her attention stayed glued to them as Clint looked back at her with a small smile on his face before his gaze fell on the redheaded spy. "Think she's ready?"

"I think she's more than ready."

"Then suit up," Steve told the young girl before his eyes traveled back to Clint and Natasha while his face took on a slightly more urgent expression, "we need to head out right now."

The giant grin stayed plastered onto Charlie's face as she watched the redheaded woman leave with Captain America, only for it to slowly fade when another thought filled her head. Her eyes left the now-closed doors and fell on Clint once again before she opened her mouth to voice her new concern. "I don't have anything other than my training gear. Will that work?"

"Don't worry, young Sparrow. I asked Stark to work on something for you a while ago when Nat and I decided you were ready to join us," the expert archer told her as he placed his arm around the girl's shoulder and escorted her through the doors. When the two of them walked into the elevator, Charlie sent Clint a curious look which only made him let out a small chuckle before he pressed one of the many buttons on the wall.

After riding in silence for a few moments, the doors opened to reveal Natasha standing in the middle of a room that was filled with empty lockers with a smirk on her face and her arms crossed over her chest. The Barton man kept his arm wrapped around Charlie's shoulders as he led her through the room before they stopped right in front of the locker at the very end. The young girl's eyes widened to the size of small planets at the sight of the uniform and new bow and quiver neatly placed there before the blank expression on her face transformed into a smile.

"Like it?" Clint asked his protege as she took a few steps closer to the locker to get a better look at her ensemble.

"This is awesome!"

"Then suit up because we should've left like yesterday," he told her as he grabbed his uniform and made his way towards the door behind him.

The Bridger girl quickly grabbed her clothes without an ounce of hesitation then she rushed into the other room to change. Once she was finished, she walked out to find Natasha and Clint staring back at her with a hint of pride in their eyes. This continued for another moment or two before Clint tossed her her bow and quiver then she followed the duo out of the locker room and towards the hanger to board the Quinjet.

When the three of them walked onto the aircraft, all attention turned towards the young archer before feeling a wave of doubt washed over her. Charlie's eyes scanned over the faces of the rest of the Avengers before she started second-guessing why they wanted her with them. Her thoughts were interrupted when she realized she was being carefully studied by the God of Thunder before he cast his gaze over to Natasha and Clint, who were still standing right behind the Bridger girl.

"Who is this?"

"This is Charlie, mine and Nat's trainee of three years," Clint answered before he placed his arm around her shoulders once again and guided her further into the jet. The three of them took their seats across from Bruce Banner and Thor, who were still staring at the blonde girl with interest in his eyes as the Barton man continued speaking, "she's going to be helping us on the mission today."

"It's nice to meet you, Thor. Dr. Banner," Charlie greeted them with as much confidence as she could muster after the jet began to take off.

"Please. Call me Bruce," the brunette man responded as he held his hand out towards the young girl before she smiled and returned it.

"Nice to have you with us, Lady Charlie. We could use all the assistance we can get with our task."

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