𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐌𝐄━︎━︎ C. Barton

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐞𝐧

CHAPTER TEN:
❝︎With My Life❞︎

SHE HAD BEEN THERE FOR A COUPLE OF WEEKS NOW, BEING TRAINED WITH CLINT IN WEAPONRY AS WELL AS HAND-TO-HAND. It was easy for her. She wouldn't let anyone else train her but Clint, simply because he was the only one that she trusted, and frankly Clint didn't trust anyone else with Theodora. She stood in the gym, her hands absent of her gloves and were instead wrapped with protective tape to keep her knuckles from breaking. She punched the punching back, wincing every time her skin would come in contact with the bag, flashes of where it's been before flashing behind her eyes.

She tried not to focus on it, but when she didn't focus on the past of the object, she focused on the past that she herself experienced, and that was simply pure torture for her to think about. When she couldn't take it anymore she stopped, violently turning away and clutching a hand to her head as it started pounding violently. She paused for a moment to catch her balance before taking a deep breath as the pain subsided.

She sat down on the bench carefully, getting ready to unwrap her hands when the sound of footsteps caught her attention. She looked up, offering a small smile to Clint who made his way over to her. She moved over on the bench, allowing for him to sit down beside her. He motioned towards her hands before carefully starting to unwrap them, being extra careful not to make skin to skin contact. She watched him with a pacing heart and a small smile on her face. He was so careful with her, taking extra precautions so that he didn't trigger anything for her.

Some part of her wanted his hand to grace hers. She'd already seen his entire past. She knew his entire life story just as he knew hers. She wanted to grab his hand and just hold it because another curse that came with her power was the fact that she was very touch deprived. There were some days when she just wanted to be held, the way her father would hold her when she had a bad nightmare. Other days she just wanted to feel safe. Clint already provided that safety by simply looking at her, but she wanted so desperately to take it a step further. But, she always stopped herself.

     "What's going on in that head of yours?" Clint's voice brought her from her thoughts. She met his eyes, her heart warming at the fact that he had been waiting for her to look at him. Then she forced herself to look away as Clint finished unwrapping her hands. She grabbed her gloves, pulling the black leather over her hands and securing them against her wrist. "Theo, are you alright?" God, she loved the nickname.

     "Yeah," Theodora pushed the loose strand of hair that had fallen from her ponytail away from her face. "I'm just thinking, that's all." She turned her head to look at him, offering a smile before she forced herself to stand up from the bench. "I'm going to go take a shower. I'm disgusting and covered in sweat. But, hey, if you want to meet up later and do something that's totally fine with me." She started to walk away, stopping when Clint didn't say anything. She frowned, furrowing her eyebrows in slight concern as she turned away from the door and back towards Clint who was still sitting on the bench. "Clint?"

     "Meet me in the lab when you're done." Clint spoke, finally looking away from the floor in order to meet her eyes. "There's something that I want to do."

     Theodora pursed her lips for a moment before deciding not to question it and instead nodded her head and headed towards her room. Once she took a shower and forced her hair into a fishtail braid, she made her way from her room and towards the lab where Clint was already patiently waiting. She rose an eyebrow as she entered, nodding towards one of the scientists that were in the room before turning her attention towards Clint. "Why did you want to meet here? And why is there a scientist waiting patiently for me?"

     Clint stood up and walked over to her. "You trust me, right?"

     She nodded. "Of course."

     "You wanted to find a way to control your powers―︎or rather what you can and cannot see. This is how we do it." That's when he made his way back over to the chair and sat back down. He motioned to himself. "We test it on me."

     Theodora's eyes went wide for a moment. "I―︎ what?"

     "You heard me."

     "Clint, I-I can't." She shook her head and Clint was quick to stand up.

     He could see the fear coursing through her eyes. He stood in front of her, grabbing her gloved hands and offering her a reassuring smile. "Yes you can."

     Memories of what she did to her brother made her panic. She shook her head again. "I'm scared, Clint." She looked down at their hands before meeting his eyes. "I don't want to hurt you."

     He came closer to her―︎if that was even possible. "You won't hurt me." He looked at her, almost as if he was asking her if she wanted to do this. He wouldn't force her. "Don't be scared. I promise, it'll be just fine."

     "How could you possibly know that?"

     He smiled at her. "Because, I know you, Theo. And I trust you with my life."

     She felt tears start to cloud her vision, her heart swelling in her chest out of love and fear. "You would dare trust someone like me with such a life as precious as yours?"

     "In a heartbeat." Clint nodded his head. He reached up, brushing a strand of hair gently from her face, nodding reassuringly. "You can do this. I believe in you."

And maybe that was all that she needed. Was for someone to believe in her. No one had ever done such a thing before, but knowing that Clint believed in her, trusted her with his life, it made determination course through her veins. He sat back down and she carefully trailed over to him. He never looked away from her eyes, and she didn't look away from his even when she was stripping the gloves off of her hands. And with one last deep breath, she carefully placed her hands gently on wither side of his face. And much to her relief, all that she saw of his past were the good parts. All of which involved her interacting with him.

END OF PART ONE!
Part 1/3 is completed! In case you guys didn't notice, this story is going to be a really fast burn. As in, the next part they're probably going to be dating and halfway to married. I usually don't like doing too fast burns, but for this particular relationship I think that's exactly what it needs. I hope you've enjoyed the first part of this story! It will be placed on hold until another part of another story has been finished or another story all together has been completed! Until next time!