Worth (Sequel to Games of Deception)

Chapter 7 - Games

A/N: Just a warning, it might get a little steamy in this one. Just a little. Maybe. Possibly. I don't know. Nothing obnoxious though. I'm just saying. You were warned. Anyways, here we go.

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-Jacqueline-

I opened my eyes slowly to bright sunlight angled at my face. I blinked several times, both adjusting to the light and trying to recall where I was...I must have been more exhausted than I'd thought. I heard the faint sound of birds chirping almost directly outside the window, and I looked through the crack in the curtains to see branches of a tree, and a forest of them in the distance. It was then I remembered.

I turned to my other side, discovering I was alone in the room. I wasn't sure where Clint could have possibly gone; we hadn't exactly landed in a booming metropolis the night before. Not that I was expecting to. But this was an environment that would definitely take some getting used to. It wasn't like I had a choice, anyways.

I slid out of the bed, somewhat hesitantly once I'd realized the air in the room was chilly. I switched out what I'd worn to bed for the black skinny jeans I'd brought along, and looking for something warm and comfortable finally settled on slipping Clint's dark purple hoodie over my head from the top of his half of the bag of things we'd brought along with us. I stepped into the connecting bathroom to brush through my hair and toss it up into a bun, then splashed some cold water onto my face to wake myself up completely before heading downstairs into the kitchen. Food was necessary, but I wondered if anything edible had actually be left in the house. Was there even a town anywhere nearby, a sketchy gas station, something...?

It turns out, when I reached the bottom step and turned the corner, however, someone had already beaten me to it.

"Morning." Clint said simply, his back still to me as he stood over the stove in the kitchen. I walked over to him, peering over his shoulder to see...pancakes.

Pancakes?

"Um..."

"Don't knock 'em 'til you try 'em, alright?" Clint feigned offense. I breathed out a single laugh.

"It's just...where'd you get this stuff?" I looked to the counter next to him, noticing among the contents pancake batter, a carton of eggs, and-

"Are those chocolate chips?" I asked before he could answer my first question, my thoughts halting when I moved away from him to confirm my suspicion. I popped a few of the sweet candies into my mouth without hesitation.

"Hey, those are for the pancakes!" Clint snatched the bag from me and sat them on the counter space opposite the oven. "Did you think SHIELD was just going to dump you here without food?"

I shrugged. "It wouldn't have surprised me. Besides, I'm used to being resourceful."

"Well, now you don't have to be, Miss 'I'm Resourceful and Shit'." Clint held out his hand, silently asking for the spatula lying near where I'd dropped my hand on the counter.

I slapped it into his open hand. "Now who's nicknaming?" I retorted. "And even if they were so generous, why would they get me something like chocolate chips and-" I'd moved to study the contents of the refrigerator at that point, "-hard cider?"

"I told you, I have my ways."

"You got it before leaving and brought it here?"

"Damn right I did."

I couldn't help it, I laughed. For a long time. Clint finally looked up up from his "work" from the first time at that moment, a smile on his face as well. I know now he was trying to make me feel better about where we were, to ease the stress of the situation we were facing and to deter my thoughts for a while; without my realization at the time, he was pulling it off at that point. I guess.