The Lone Wolf (Clint Barton)

Chapter 13: Ultron; Murder Bot

Jackie POV:

I walked into the party room at a confident walk, a smirk on my face, accompanied by several wolf-whistles from a crowd of men. I spotted the whole team before continuing down the stairs. Bruce was trying to avoid the low-hanging lights. Natasha was talking to someone. Clint and Dr. Cho were talking about the machine that regenerated his cells. Sam and Steve were playing pool. Hill, Rhodey, Tony, and Thor were at the bar. It looked like Rhodey was telling some War Machine stories. They were cool for other people with normal lives, but tell them to people who have fought aliens and thousands of things that aren't supposed to be real, you won't get the same reaction.

After about an hour of talking to different people who Tony had invited, I walked up to Sam and Steve. Sam and Steve both whistled. "Damn girl. You sure know how to turn the heat on." Sam complimented.

"Yeah yeah." I said.

"He's right." Steve said.

I nodded. "Mhmm. Well, I didn't come here for compliments, everyone else is doing an amazing job at that." I said.

"Annoyed?" Steve guessed. I nodded again.

"How about you two tell me how the fight went?" Sam suggested. Cap and I proceeded to retell the entire battle to Sam. "Sounds like a hell of a fight, sorry I missed it." Sam remarked when we were done.

We started up the stairs that go to the overlook above the 'party floor'. And yes, I did say party floor. It's Tony Stark we're talking about here, of course, he has a party floor. "If I had known it was going to be a firefight I absolutely would have called you." I told him.

"No, I'm not actually sorry. I'm just trying to sound tough. I'm very happy chasing cold leads on our missing person case. Avenging is your world. Your world is crazy." Sam said, making me laugh.

"Be it ever so humble." Steve said.

"You find a place in Brooklyn yet?" I asked.

"I don't think I can afford a place in Brooklyn." Steve said, looking at us two.

"Well, home is home, you know?" Sam said. Steve looked remorseful and I rubbed his arm, knowing he was thinking about Bucky. Fast forward about another hour or two, and I'm with Tony, talking about some mechanical problems he's having on his suits. I excused myself from the conversation and pulled Steve aside, pointing Nat out as she was pouring a drink behind the bar when Bruce walked up to her. Steve smiled, knowing what I wanted to do.

"How did a nice girl like you wind up working in a dump like this?" Bruce joked.

"Fella done me wrong." Nat replied.

"You got a lousy taste in men, kid."

"He's not so bad. Well, he has a temper. Deep down he's all fluff. Fact is, he's not like anybody I've ever known. All my friends are fighters. And here comes this guy, spends his life avoiding the fight because he knows he'll win."

"Sounds amazing."

"He's also a huge dork." Nat remarked, taking a sip from her drink. Bruce looked embarrassed. "Chicks dig that. So what do you think should I fight this, or run with it?" Nat asked.

"Run with it, right? Or, did he...was he...? What did he do that was so wrong to you?" Bruce was very hesitant indeed.

Nat leaned in. "Not a damn thing. But never say never." As she walked away, Steve and I came to lean on the bar, me grabbing beers for both of us for an excuse of coming and giving them a little nudge in their love life.