Callie:
"Oh, you are so dead!" I laugh at my older brother who just clapped flour on my face.
"I'm dead? Oh, I'm sorry. You must have forgotten who's job is to save the world!" Clint smirks, going back to the cookies we're making.
Once we're done mixing the batter, he carefully puts the batter on a pan and slides them into the oven.
"Wow, I remember a time when you couldn't even make pre-made cookies." I chuckle, leaning on the kitchen counter.
"Hey, kids really make an impact on you." He smiles, leaning opposite of me.
"I wouldn't know," I jest, earning a light chuckle from the entrance of the kitchen.
We turn our heads to Clint's lovely wife Laura walking in with a smile. "You'll get there soon enough, Cal," she adds.
"Yeah, we'll see." I shoot her a loving smile.
"Hey, when do we need to leave tomorrow?" Laura asks, referring to our family trip to the Avengers' facility tomorrow.
"I'm thinking around noon if that's alright with you, honey," Clint responds.
"That sounds great. I'm excited to see everyone again." She happily kisses his cheek before walking back into the living room.
"So what can I expect from them?" I ask Clint about his friends.
"Chaos. They're all a bunch of adult crackheads with advanced skills or abilities. Sometimes they're even a little too much for me," he laughs.
We laugh and talk until the cookies are done. He tries his best to give me a basic rundown of what I should expect when I meet the Avengers tomorrow. Cooper, Lila, and Nate all come rumbling down the stairs and join us on the couches. It's pretty late after we finish the cookies so we mutually agree it's time to go to bed to get enough rest for tomorrow.
-
When we walk into one of the facility's rooms, they're all already waiting for us. Immediately, the kids run up to Natasha Romanoff screaming "Auntie Nat". Obviously, I know all of the Avengers just because they're the Avengers. But Clint has also told me so many stories about them so I know them from that as well. It takes a minute for everyone to get settled with the kids and Laura before Clint wraps his arm around me.
"Guys! This is my sister Callie!"
I give the group a polite but awkward smile while they each greet me.
"So why haven't we ever met you?" Bruce Banner asks.
"I don't know. I guess Clint's just worried I'll seem too cool and his friends won't like him anymore after they meet me," I smirk.
My brother side shoves me with a laugh and the rest of the group blows up in light laughter as well. I already feel really comfortable with Clint's friends. Like I belong.
"That is not the reason!" Clint protests.
"Right, okay bud," I laugh.
Clint rolls his eyes with a smirk. He goes to open his mouth to say something but is stopped by a kid in a spider suit. Spider-Man. He flies in using his webs, hanging off the ceiling for a brief moment before jumping down in front of me.
"Hi! Oh- You're not- It doesn't matter. But who-"
"Pete, meet Callie. My sister," Clint jumps in for me.
"Sister? Woah, cool!"
"Peter! What have I told you about using your webs in any room other than the training room?" Tony Stark comes into the room yelling.
"Oh Stark, leave him alone, he's just a kid," Steve Rogers butts in.
"A hyperactive teen with a super-suit. He's going to use it and he won't care where," Pepper Potts comes in seconds after Tony.
Out of the blue, the whole room of Avengers is arguing and yelling over each other. I stay silent, obviously, and glance at my brother who mouths the word "chaos" with a smile. I let out a quiet chuckle and take a seat to watch the argument go down. I'm only able to pick up little bits and pieces though, never full phrases.
Minutes go by and I'm already being dragged by my arm out of the room. "What?" I laugh at Clint who just continues pulling me around.
He leads me into what I'm assuming is the training room by the looks of it. "Here, I wanna see if you still got it." He hands me a bow and quiver with a smile. I hesitantly accept it, stepping up to a target as he tells me to.
I do what I'm told and aim and shoot at the target, only missing the bullseye by a centimeter. "Woah! So you do!" Clint happily sings.
"I guess so," I chuckle.
Suddenly, Clint pulls out his phone. "Oh, I'll be right back. Laura. Keep shooting 'till I get back!" He rushes out of the room, leaving me alone.
Just out of curiosity, I do continue to shoot the bow. I empty my quiver on the target.
"Damn, nice grouping." I turn to Natasha leaning on a pillar near me.
"Oh, thank you," I awkwardly chuckle.
"I hate assuming but I'm assuming you learned from Clint?"
"You'd be correct. Grew up with his annoying ass always shooting something and bugging me about how much he wanted me to learn. Cute in hindsight though."
Natasha giggles at my response. "Well, you got skill. Maybe even better than Hawkeye himself."
"Oh, I don't think so. I may have grouping but I can never hit the bullseye as much as I try. It's like I'm destined to fail," I laugh, earning a small chuckle from her.
"What about guns?"
"Nope, we're a bow family. Although, I've always liked the idea of shooting one."
"So let's do it."
"Hm?"
"I'll teach you to shoot."
"I-Y-Yeah, I would love that."
I take off my arm guard and Natasha puts the bow away for me since I don't know where Clint got it from. She then leads me to a different section of the training room where there's a gun locker on the wall. She grabs one.
"Holding it isn't too hard. Just hold it like this, make sure your thumb doesn't get in the way here." As she instructs, she touches my hands, making my heart pound.
Since I have a gun in my hand, she puts my gear on. She steps extra close when putting on my glasses and headphones. When everything's ready, she begins to instruct, going over how to aim first, then how to stand.
"Okay, stand like this. Arms out like this," she tells me softly, standing behind me and moving my arms to their rightful position. I let her slide her hands back down my arms slowly when she's finished moving around my body's position. She gestures to the targets so I close one eye, aim, and pull the trigger. Thankfully, there's not too much kick so I didn't embarrass myself.
When I lower the gun after shooting a few bullets, I turn to Natasha who's lifting an eyebrow at me. I put the gun on a side table and take my gear off. "What?" I question her look.
"Thought you said you didn't know how to shoot."
"I don't. Well, didn't. Why?"
"What you just shot is either dumb luck or you already knew." She smirks at me and I smirk back.
"Guess you'll never know if I'm lying or not," I tease.
Before she can respond, Clint skips back into the room. "Hey, what'd I miss?"
"Nothing crazy," I tell him, smiling big.
"Right. Well, Nat, kids are looking for you. They've already begun their search," he tells Natasha.
"Well, this was great, Callie. But duty calls. I'll see you around." She shoots me a smile before scurrying away to find Clint's kids.
The second I'm alone with my brother, he starts talking. "You like her."
"What? No."
"Oh my god! You're so bad at hiding things!"
"I don't like her!" I laugh, starting to walk out of the room but he stops me.
"Hey, I would support that. She's my best friend here, I could even help set this up!"
I consider his offer. "I'll think about it."
I try to walk away again but he stops me, again. "Aye! We aren't done here! I have things to show you!"
"Okay okay. Show me," I giggle.
He continues showing me things around the training room, eventually moving our way around the compound. I pass Natasha a few times and we exchange warm smiles. We only stay at the compound until before dinner. It takes forever to part ways with the Avengers, they never stop talking. But when we do get home, all I want to do is go back to being in the training room with Natasha, "learning" how to shoot a gun.