Cooking for the Avengers

16. The Worst Part

I was in the training room a week later when I finally caught a glimpse of him. Well to be more accurate, I heard him before I saw him.

"Come on Allie, just two more reps!" Clint goaded as I struggled to do more Box Jumps. The box wasn't even that high, only 15 inches, but even so, I was dying. "Bend your knees when you land Allie... Perfect! Come on, five more!" 

I let out a loud grunt, making Clint laugh. "No pain, no game Allie!" HA! Well of course he could say that! To be fair, his work out consisted of a 60 inch box, but whatever! I clenched my teeth and jumped again.

"JAKE! Bro, I missed ya! Welcome back!"

I stumbled off the box and fell on my butt with a groan. I lay on the ground, ignoring Clint's questioning calls, and strained to listen.

"HA! Well wait till you see idiots I brought back for you to train! Ugh, Fury's got me looking after a bunch of no hitters and I'm expected to whip them into shape!"

I twisted around to get a better look and gasped. Jake strolled into the gym wearing basketball shorts and a white tee with a shield logo on the sleeve. I jumped as Clint whispered in my ear. "What are you doing?"

I shushed him and scurried behind a stack of jumping boxes. "It's Jake!" I hissed. Clint stood with his hands on his hips and frowned as I peeked around the boxes.

Oh wow, he looked good!

Jake had cut his shaggy hair and it was now stylishly cut and spiked in the front. Instead of it looking stupid, as I've seen some people look with that style, it looked incredibly good on him. He was taller and more muscular. He had scruff around his jaw, as if he hadn't had a good shave in a while. I hated myself for finding him so attractive.

"Allie, get off the floor!" Clint commanded rather loudly. I shushed him again and he rolled his eyes. "He's all the way over there Allie, he can't hear us!"

I sat back against the boxes and fiddled with the string from my shorts. Clint saw my worried expression and dropped beside me with a sigh. "Allie, all that he did was in the past! He's a pretty good agent. I've worked with him on plenty of missions." He stopped my hands, forcing me to meet his eyes.

Suddenly Pietro was at his side with a scowl on his face. "DIDYOUSEETHATJAKEISHERE?" He sat beside me, eyeing Clint's hand on my own.

I nodded. "I don't know what to do!"

"Kick him in the crotch!"

I laughed as Clint looked angrily at Pietro. "He's an agent Pietro! You cant do that!"

Pietro shrugged "I was only kidding!" Though his face said that he wasn't.

Clint sighed, standing up. "So what now, are you just avoiding him now? Because-"

"Hey Clint!" Jake stepped around some boxes with a smile.

I didn't think he could see me, so I stayed as silent as I could.

"Oh, hey Jake." Clint's face held a smile, while his voice betrayed him.

Jake's head reeled back and he held up his hands. "Whoa, what's wrong Barton? Hawk got your tongue?"

Clint's jaw tightened and he snorted. "No man, I'm fine."

I shifted my foot and looked at Pietro whose face held an amused grin.

Jake narrowed his eyes and looked down, noticing a flash of movement. "Who's behind the boxes, your latest floozy?" he dropped his hands and leaned over to get a better look.