You were trained by the best, your skills nearly as sharp as hers, yet here you were, working as a barista at some lame coffee shop; the only benefit to it was its prime location across from Avengers Tower. A glimpse here and there was all you got when they were sent into action, but you believed that someday you could be of use to them with what you knew; you had apprenticed with Skye for years, learning the trade of hacking into any security system that dared to stand in your way. But then, she ran off to turn into Daisy Johnson, or Quake, as you had heard in the underground chatter, leaving you here to fend for yourself and wishing for more.

"Alright, I'm outta here. My shift is over," you announced to your teammate, tossing your apron aside with a huff, "not like I'm much use right now anyway."

"You got that right," she snapped back. "I swear, (Y/N), if you're not doing a half-assed job back here, you're on that stupid computer of yours. If you hate it here so much, just quit."

"I like the view," you nodded towards the street with a smirk.

"Yeah, cuz the Avengers are just gonna stop by for a cheap coffee when you know that Stark probably has a full shop in there with beans that cost more than my rent. Keep dreaming, (Y/N)."

You grabbed your computer from beneath the bar and smiled back in reply, though you felt nothing of the sentiment behind it. You knew full well that she was right, with one simple exception. There was an Avenger who stopped by pretty regularly, and she was just so unlucky as to have missed him until now. Moving yourself around to stand in front of the bar, she watched you with a skeptical eye and shook her head at the request you were making of her.

"Get your ass back here and make your own drink."

"I'm off my shift, you know we aren't supposed to be back there."

"Ugh, you're such a brat!" Despite her frustration, she knew that you were right, and made your drink with an extra flair of attitude, pushing it into your hand with a groan. "There. I hope you burn your tongue."

"Well, no tip for you then. Don't be such a bitter Betty."

"Whatever."

Not making good on your threat, you pointed to the small tip jar on the counter just as you began to turn away with a lift of your cup in appreciation, "you can keep mine." All she did was wave you away as another customer walked in and took your place, so you hurried to your favorite spot in the corner; nice and quiet, a little dark, and the best wi-fi signal in the shop.

Your fingers danced over the keyboard, sparing a glance over the screen every few minutes as you worked, just to be sure that there was no threat of being watched. Once you plugged into the underground networks and began to push through firewalls, your nerves filled with both a rush of excitement and a hesitant wave of fear of being caught. Some of the things you knew, and some of the skills that you had learned were rare enough to give you away if the wrong people found out. Today, your target was as close to you as you had ever dared to try; Stark Industries. You had been bored lately and starved for a challenge. Mr. I cracked the Pentagon's firewall in High School on a dare Stark seemed like the perfect opportunity.

Oh, how you wished you could rub this in his smug, immaculately bearded face without going to prison for it; you cracked his firewall in less than two minutes.

"Holy shit," you gasped, looking up in a panic that you might have been heard before hurrying back. The information that spread across your screen was so confidential, and so terrifying, that you should have turned and ran and never looked back. You weren't the only one breaking in where you didn't belong, and in that moment came your first experience with Hydra itself.

It was an embarrassing revelation to find that you didn't even know where the front door to the tower was, but maybe that was the point. Maybe it didn't even have one. All you did know was that you had to find a way to get this information to them before it was too late. People could be seriously hurt, and knowing enough of Hydra, it could be more people that you cared to ponder. You stood up and slammed your computer closed, slinging your bag over shoulder only to stop at the familiar sound of a voice belonging to someone you normally saw coming in from a mile away, but in your panic today, you had missed him.

"Half whole milk, one quarter 1%, one quarter non-fat, extra hot, quad shots, no foam latte, with whip, 2 packets of Splenda, a touch of vanilla syrup and 3 short sprinkles of cinnamon."

Clint Barton.

"Hold on," he paused, looking behind the bar and towards the back, "where's (Y/N)? She's usually here." When your co-worker scoffed in annoyance, he was quickly aware of his faux pas. "Not that I don't have faith in you," he apologized, "it's just that my order is a little complex."

"It's a little ridiculous," she snorted, turning away to get started.

"Mr. Barton?"

"That's me," he said with a quick turn to you, "oh, hey! There she is!" Clint dropped a few bills on the bar and made his way to talk to you while your teammate worked, knowing that she would likely take far longer than you ever would. "Is she going to poison me, ya think?"

"Taking your chances," you agreed, "but I actually need your help with something. I think it's pretty urgent, look." You stood silently, though with trembling hands as his eyes scanned the screen, trying to keep from screaming at him to do something. He was taking longer than you thought was safe to do, but he was the Avenger; he was the professional here, and you deferred to his experience.

"(Y/N), how in the hell did you break into Stark? This is...this is dangerous territory. This is-"

"Going to get a lot of people killed. We have to do something."

"How did you break in?" he repeated, still taking in the information in front of him.

"It's a...well...it's a long story."

"I have all kinds of time."

"No, you don't! Are you seeing the same thing I am? We need to bring this to the team so they can stop this!"

"How did you break in? I'm not moving an inch until you tell me."

"I thought it would be fun to try," you finally gave in. "I'm a hacker and I've been a little bored lately. It seemed like a challenge to take on one of the best."

"Okay, I can buy into the temptation," he nodded along, reaching out and closing your laptop again. "Hold on, let me grab my coffee and we can go. You'll need to be more specific on your methods when you tell him though, because he's gonna want step-by-step on how you did it."

"W-who is?"

"Tony."

"No," you gasped, your voice failing and barely coming out in a terrified squeak. "No, Mr. Barton, you can't...you can't be serious."

Clint didn't reply, only turning back with a cup in hand and a quick drink to test the outcome. The cringe and cough that followed echoed through the room around you, and as much as you wanted to laugh at her ineptitude, you felt bad for both Barton and your co-worker. His order really was ridiculous. "Called it. She's poisoning me."

"Your order is stupid, Clint."

"You're stupid-" he began, but stopped, the wide smile of playfulness stripped away in a heartbeat at the next visitors through the door. "Get in back. Take her with you. Don't come back until I say so, you understand?"

"What?"

"Even I know not to do shady shit over wi-fi, (Y/N). Now get in back."

"Like hell I will." Hacking wasn't the only thing that you were taught; Skye knew that things like this were more likely than not, and you could hold your own. Once the fight began and Clint saw you in action, his concerns began to diminish; in fact, at one point you think you actually saw him step back and watch. When you had a spare second to turn your head and actually look, you almost froze in place at the sight.

"Clint...what are you doing?"

"I'm not really sure why you even need my help."

"Because you're the Avenger here? Although, I never knew that sitting on your opponent was a legitimate fighting technique. Is that one of yours?"

"I don't really feel like you're in a place to be critiquing me, (Y/N). You still need me to get you into the tower, so you should probably be a little nicer."

"Sorry, sorry," you relented, "it's just a unique choice, that's all. But I suppose that's to be expected from a guy who takes three different kinds of milk in his coffee."

"There's a reason for that," he smirked, daring to give you what might have been a wink, but he didn't commit, and it came off as an awkward blink. "I use that order as a kind of personality test. Your friend over there failed miserably. You, on the other hand, you roll with it and actually worked on making it the way I like it."

"Barton, are you trying to flirt? You think that challenging someone with a drink order that makes you look like a total douche is flirting?"

"Well...I guess I hadn't thought about it that way..."

"Maybe you should have."

"Maybe so," he nodded, but that crooked smirk had reappeared, and it would be a lie to say that it wasn't only slightly endearing. "But tell me, did it work?"

You opened your mouth to answer, but first, with your focus turning back to your assailant, you grabbed the nearest item you could find and used it to give him a crack across his head to drop him unconscious on the floor. "Maybe so," you answered, holding up your computer-turned-weapon, "but I think we should discuss it a little more once we get this to your team. I happen to know a nice coffee shop just a few blocks from here. Hardly any Hydra, and the view is much better."

"Do you think they can get my order right?"

"No, not a chance," you scoffed, "how else can I be sure to keep you coming back?"

"After what I just watched happen here, I don't think that's going to be a problem, (Y/N)."

Part 2

"I'm so glad that Tony convinced you to move in, (Y/N). You're the only one who knows how to make my coffee."

"Is that the only reason?"

"No, of course not!" he backpedaled quickly. "You're nice, and funny, and a little weird..."

You stopped and set down his coffee cup, ready to fill it but deciding instead to deny him even as he watched and waited eagerly like a kid waiting for candy from a parent. It was hard to turn down that face, looking so innocent, despite the kind of man that you knew lurked behind those wide eyes. "You're lucky that I take that as a compliment, Barton. But is that all? Really?"

"You're a good hacker?"

"I am a great hacker, jerkface."

"Yes, you are! You absolutely are, that's what I meant! Hell, if Tony Stark hires you practically off the street as his head of IT security, then you definitely are!"

"That's just because he doesn't have time to do it himself," you scoffed, returning to work on his drink. "Iron Man has better things to do. Besides, the last guy was obviously doing a pretty shit job if I got through in less than two minutes."

"Two minutes? Wow, you really are great."

"That's all I'm saying. Here," you winked coyly, pushing the cup towards him, "just like you like it. Obnoxious."

~~~

Your first few nights in the tower were pretty uneventful, and you began to feel at ease fairly quickly. Tony had hired you for Stark Industries, but had asked you to work with him on other projects for the team as well, and insisted that you live close by in the event of a catastrophe that you knew he could easily handle on his own. There really wasn't a legitimate reason to move you in with the team, but you had a sneaking suspicion that your favorite customer had something to do with it.

Now that you were spending time with Clint almost every day that he wasn't out on a mission, your favorite customer was becoming your favorite Avenger. He used to be your third or fourth least favorite, but when he let you in on one of his after-hours activities around the tower, you were hooked; you saw a whole new side of Clint Barton.

"To make this work, we have to be really quiet, okay?" Clint advised. He was standing on a table in one of the conference rooms, carefully removing one of the ceiling panels to hand down to you. "No one uses this room except for mission briefings, so just set that down somewhere, it'll be fine."

"Okay? But what is it that we're doing, exactly? Are you gonna get me fired for this?"

"Pfft, no," he scoffed, reaching up to grab the sides of opening he had made to pull himself up. His feet disappeared into the vents and you thought for a second that maybe he had changed his mind about bringing you along, until a hand popped out for you to take. "Alright, hop up. We need to get done before they start the movie."

"Done with what?" you asked again. "You're being really shady, Barton."

"You'll see. Just shut it and keep up."

"Fine," you relented, taking his hand with a little yelp as he pulled you up with a strength that you didn't realize he had. Once inside the vent system, you looked around with relief that it wasn't as dark in there as you had expected, but one thing stood out immediately. "Clint, are there cameras in here?"

"That's FRIDAY, but don't worry, she promised me that she'd keep quiet."

"Tony made FRIDAY. You can't actually believe her, can you?"

"Shouldn't I?" he stopped abruptly, turning back to you with a face full of shock and a little bit of fear. "What have you heard? Has she told you anything?"

"Anyone ever tell you, you're a little paranoid?"

"Not to my face, why? Did you hear something?"

"Barton, calm down, I haven't heard anything. Let's just go," you nodded him along. The harsh metal of the vents made your knees hurt with each move forward, trying to keep as quiet as you could. The constant whoosh of air around you kept you cool enough, but it also reminded you that he might just have led you into a death trap in the name of mischief. You had no idea where he was taking you, or what he had in mind, but you had an odd sense of trust in the guy so you didn't say anything more until he came to a stop.

"Shhh," he urged with a finger pressed to his lips. He pointed down and mouthed something to you, but between the dark and lack of sound, you had no idea what he was trying to say. After you gave him a smile of tacit agreement, he pulled a long cord from his pack and slipped it down through the grate very methodically. His tongue poked from the side of his mouth as he concentrated like you had never seen before, his hands moving so slowly that you worried that this would take all night. Just when you were about to call him out, his hands quickened their pace.

"What are you doing?" you whispered harshly, but he didn't need to answer once you saw his hands. "Holy shit, Barton, how much chocolate did you need?"

"This is Nat's secret stash. Cap's diet is ridiculous so we all have one, but I finished mine off this morning. Here," he paused, handing the collection to you, "hide that in your pack until we get to the next stop."

"The next stop?"

"Come on," he waved you along, scurrying quietly through the next line of vents, "now that we've got snacks, it's time for the entertainment."

You followed as directed, through more twists and turns, and a climb to a higher floor before he came to a stop again, and as before, pointed you to look down. This time, your body froze in place out of pure, immediate fear; the entire team was in the lounge directly below, getting ready for movie night. "This is how I get fired," you mumbled, "Stark is going to fire me for this, thanks to you."

"Shhh, calm down. I'm gonna need your help for this part-"

"Hey," Steve's voice echoed from below to interrupt him, "where's Barton? We should get the movie started before it's bedtime."

"Your bedtime is like 8pm, grandpa," Nat chuckled. "Calm down, he'll be here."

"He's probably off trying to hit on (Y/N)," Sam joined in, "that guy has it so bad, but absolutely zero game."

The conversation continued, but you did your best to tune it out, turning to look at your lead conspirator with pity in the fact that he had just been outed by his friends. You knew that he had been trying to flirt with you for a long time, going back to his first few visits to the coffee shop, and he had been really bad at it, just like Sam had said. You felt that maybe it was time to give the poor guy a break. "Okay, so now we have to mess with them for gossiping about us," you offered, "so what did you have in mind?"

"Uh...yeah...I don't know," he faltered. "I hadn't really planned anything...just watching the movie with you."

"That sounds really nice. And that's exactly what we're going to do. But first, do you have your phone?"

"Yeah?" he answered uncertainly. He dug through his pocket to find it and handed it to you hesitantly, "what are you up to, (Y/N)?"

"Hold on...give me a sec...there!" you celebrated your victory as your fingers flew to input directions, almost too loudly. "Now watch this." With a few more, quick taps across the glass, you waited for the confirmation that your skills were sharp, getting it with the loud boos and arguments from the group below.

"Who changed the damn movie?" Sam blurted out first.

Wanda's voice was the next to be heard, "it wasn't me, stop pointing over here!"

"Guys, calm down, I'll change it back. Must be a glitch or something," Steve stopped them, with his usual soothing demeanor and peacekeeping tactics. He changed it back to what they were watching, only to have you change it again a few minutes later.

"What do you want to watch, Clint?" you smirked. "Hawk's choice."

"This is awesome, (Y/N), you're so good!"

"I'm great."

"You're so great!"

"Eventually, you'll learn. Now, what to watch?" You waited for him to answer, but he never did. You had been watching the continued reactions of the team with each time you changed the movie as you waited, and when you didn't hear his voice, you finally broke away to look back. "Barton?"

"I'll watch anything as long as you're here to watch with me."

"Aww, look at you. You learned how to flirt."

"Shut up, and get over here," he ordered, pulling you into him as he sat against the vent wall. "Now, turn on Nightmare on Elm Street and don't let them change it. It's fun to watch Cap squirm. He hates it, but he's too proud to drop his tough guy attitude to let anyone know that he's a chickenshit when it's on. I'll let you know when to kill the lights. He squeals like a little girl- oh, wait," he stopped, "where's Tony? He'll be so pissed if he misses it."

~~~

Tony was late to the movie as Clint had noticed, sitting in his lab and watching the tower security camera that had caught your entire journey through the vents. He knew full well that the archer took trips through the system regularly, but the pranks he played were just too damn entertaining not to allow, and since he never targeted Stark directly, he didn't let on that he knew. But now to see that you were his newest accomplice, and that you had taken a back route into his system once again without him ever getting an alert, he couldn't help but give himself a pat on the back.

"I knew that hiring her was a genius decision," he smiled at the screen, watching the two of you work your way through the pile of snacks. He stood up and began to shut his work down so that he could join the group, giving the two of you one last glance before the screen went blank. "Yeah, of course it was a genius decision, I made it."