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The beginning of the story took place in New York. That's where you met the young, eager archer that introduced herself as Kate Bishop. Of course, having your fair share of experience in SHIELD and the fact that everybody you had total trust in was either dead or retired, nobody fully blamed you for being suspicious of Kate. She was a new face in a world of double agents and people with selfish intentions. So, when she jumped in between you and the enemy after they managed to gain the upper hand, you saw that maybe - just maybe - Kate Bishop was someone you could trust.
She took down the enemy fairly quickly, and you found yourself to be quite impressed with her skills as sloppy as they were. With a little bit of fine-tuning, she'd be a top agent in no time. And the way she looked at you, a line of blood crawling down her temple, you felt yourself falling into a trance her hypnotizing blue eyes pulled you in. But it wasn't until she closed the distance, racing to your side and falling to the ground as she placed gentle hands on your shoulders, that you started to remember the pain your body was succumbing to.
“Are you okay? Show me where it hurts.” You couldn't seem to find the words to explain the pain, causing you to gesture to your stomach in an attempt to follow her command. She pulled away from you, looking down to get a better look at the damage inflicted on you, freeing you from her gaze as you finally found the ability to breathe while she lifted your shirt.
A stab wound. It wasn't the first, surely wouldn't be the last, and her lack of medical knowledge compelled you to give her the directions needed to slow down the bleeding just long enough until backup arrived. If it wasn't for her, you would've ultimately bled out. You owed her, you knew that.
You decided to return the favor by bringing her along on another mission. She was over the moon in accompanying you, and you found yourself a bit relieved at the reaction. There was something about her that made you feel… at ease. Maybe it was her nervousness to do well or her naivety that was so refreshing. Or… maybe it was the way she looked at you when she thought you weren’t paying attention. The way her touch left a warm sensation under your skin. The way you were drawn to her laugh as if it was the most important sound in the world. Maybe it was Kate Bishop.
The mission should’ve been quick, but you shouldn’t have been so expectant after bringing the young archer along. She seems to have a knack for not following orders no matter where the order came from. Not to mention she apparently had a lack of the word “canvas” in her personal dictionary, so when she shot an arrow at one of the people guarding the door, she didn’t account for the second guard a few feet away. The look she gave you when she realized her mistake, it prevented you from being disappointed, or even angry.
You tried to assure her it’ll be okay, that it’s a quick fix, but your words managed to die in your throat once the alarm rang out through the area, deafening you and her in the process. You were soon to be surrounded, and you knew you had to abandon the mission otherwise the two of you would be stuck. Your hand found her arm to tug her away, blindly shooting your gun behind you to prevent any harm from coming to her, but it was ultimately deemed unnecessary. You’ve been with SHIELD long enough to know what it sounds like when a bullet comes into contact with skin, and that’s what made you falter in your steps.
Her bow clattering to the floor quickly pulled you out of your brief stupor, and it was an instinct for you to scoop it up as you pushed her ahead. She rested against the building after rounding the corner, getting out of the line of gunfire as you joined her. “You’ll be okay,” you assured, following her as she slid to the ground. It was too dark to exactly pinpoint the source of the bleeding with her dark-colored clothes, so you had to bite back your smile when you said, “Show me where it hurts.” She huffed, her lips twitching upwards as she gestured to her shoulder.
A gunshot wound. It was the first for her, but if she was adamant about staying in this line of career, it surely wouldn’t be the last. You explained everything you were doing to prevent her from bleeding out, an attempt to give her some medical knowledge in the event you weren’t with her the next time she got hurt, all the while keeping an eye out for any enemies looking for you. But hearing of your failure through the comms, it wasn’t much longer that you were ordered to wait for backup to arrive. What was supposed to be a search and destroy operation turned out to be a search and rescue, and the two of you had to get out of there as soon as possible.
The director had enough respect for you to give Kate one more chance. A redo on the previous mission. You didn’t have the heart to warn her, and you knew the pressure of being under the director’s watchful eye would’ve been a lot for her to shoulder. It was best to keep her in the dark for now, cover all the mistakes necessary to ensure her a spot on your team. So, you took the lead when entering the building, keeping your head on a swivel. You could feel Kate’s presence behind you, and it didn’t help you at all when you had to stop walking to prevent yourselves from being seen, her breath on the back of your neck at her closeness caused your mind to grow hazy.
You were forced to bite the inside of your cheek as the group of adversaries passed by. Though you knew the coast was now clear, you couldn’t find it within yourself to move from your spot. Kate being so close to you right now was completely unnecessary, but there was no complaint on your brain at the moment. No, you actually wanted her closer. You found yourself mentally commanding her to press her body against yours, but her voice against your ear caused you to snap out of your daze, your feet moving automatically as you stepped out into the light.
It was best to keep your thoughts clear while on a mission. A foggy head could lead to mistakes, such as leaving your secure hiding spot and placing yourself right in front of a stray agent, having been significantly left behind from their group. You had to act fast, no time to think when you saw their hand go for their gun. If they get a shot off, they could alert the whole base. You only hoped that Kate would stay out of sight while you dealt with the loner.
When an arrow whizzed past your face to pierce the shoulder of the agent, you knew she didn’t listen to your silent pleas. You turned around to look at her, a smile lifting your face as you opened your mouth to express what an amazing shot that was, but what came out instead was a warning. The group had doubled back - probably in an attempt to seek out the agent they had lost - and now you were, once again, caught in a battle.
You tugged Kate back in the direction you had come from as you realized the group greatly outnumbered the two of you, ducking into the darkened halls of the base. You had to shake them off, try to get them to lose you so you could finish your mission. It could still be a success as long as nothing else happens, and the director would accept Kate as an official SHIELD agent. But they were resilient, not hesitating to leave their fallen comrade behind to give chase. Your heart hammered in your throat as your mind desperately worked to recollect the exact path you had taken to get here, but the only thing you could think of was the group of advancing hostiles behind you, and Kate’s safety was on the top of your list.
When the bullets started coming, you were forced to take a turn earlier than you remember, bursting through a door that hid a set of stairs leading to the roof of the building. There was nowhere to run from here; the footsteps climbing the stairs seemed to echo through your mind as they grew closer. You turned to face the door, unholstering your own gun as you placed yourself in front of Kate. You braced for the door to be thrown open, for the hostiles to come out weapons blazing, but a nudge from the archer behind you pulled your attention. When you looked over your shoulder, you couldn’t stop the smile from your face as you watched SHIELD’s Quinjet quietly lower itself level with the building, giving you easy access to the lowered ramp.
You gave Kate a shove towards it just as the door opened behind you. The pilot was trained to pull away in the face of a threat to avoid the possibility of getting shot. You could hear Kate call your name, turning to meet her gaze as she held her hand out for you, leaning out of the aircraft as much as she possibly could. This was the only chance you’d get, you realized. It was either run to the retreating jet or get shot. You knew the choice as you turned your body towards the Quinjet and ran as fast as your legs could carry.
When you caught Kate’s hand, you could hear a sickening pop when she fell to the floor of the ramp, your heart hammering in your chest as you pleaded for her to not let go. You had to force yourself not to look down as you dangled off the ledge while the pilot pulled you away from the base. You scrambled to climb up, getting into the jet and immediately bringing Kate’s face into your hands, a look of concern crossing your features as she met your eyes. “Everything okay?” You could see the pain she was hiding behind those cerulean irises before she looked away with a quick nod. “Show me where it hurts.”
She gestured to her shoulder, and your mind replayed the popping sound in your head. You sent her a small smile as you pushed her back gently, forcing her to lay on the ground as you positioned your knee into her armpit. You gripped her wrist with care, her bright eyes watching you as she tried to hide her tiny winces. You leaned forward, your nose brushing against hers briefly before pushing your lips into hers. The kiss was deep, her free hand automatically going to the back of your neck to bring you in closer, and you let her. You gave her the distraction she needed from the pain, letting her bask in the taste of your mouth for just a second longer before you pulled back sharply, bringing her wrist with you in an aggressive attempt to pop her shoulder back in place. She cried out in agony as you stood up, giving her a quick apology as you fetched her a sling for her arm.
You went against the director’s orders to bring Kate on the third round of the mission. They weren’t blind to the effect she had on you, making you act as if you were once again a rookie making the same mistakes as you had before. She was a distraction, the director had declared. She took your sharp and focused mind and turned it into an incomprehensible pile of mush. But Kate Bishop made your heart flutter and stomach flip, and you thrived on that feeling.
Having her tag along didn’t go unnoticed, but it was too late for them to pull you out when they finally realized you weren’t alone. You had already stepped foot onto enemy territory by the time they were hollering into your ear about disobeying their order, and it forced you to pull out the earpiece to silence them, shoving it into your pocket before glancing towards Kate. You sent her a warm smile as you gave her hand a gentle squeeze.
But the mission didn’t go as smoothly as the last two times, and that’s saying a lot. They learned from their mistakes, upping security as much as they possibly could to avoid yet another break-in, but the two of you still got in despite their defenses. Only, this time, your director didn’t provide you with the correct blueprints, and you couldn’t help but wonder if that was intentional or not. You were caught by a motion sensor, an alarm pealed through the building caused hostiles to be on you within seconds. You didn’t have time to react, and positioning yourself in front of Kate was an instinct you would never hate.
The next five seconds went by too fast for you to process, the movements of Kate’s arms as she prepped an arrow into her bow, the release of the string, gunshots, and the arrow whizzing by you to pierce into the stomach of an adversary. The impact caused your vision to go white and your ears filled with a high-pitched ring. You were ultimately blind and deaf at the moment, vulnerable even more than you were before. When your vision slowly faded back to normal, you found yourself to be in a different room, guided away from the enemies by the archer’s tight grip on your wrist, but you were soon finding it difficult to walk. When you fell to your knees, Kate was forced to a stop.
“It’s okay, it’s okay.” Her voice was warm, a gentle melody wafting through your scrambling mind. You were confused, your eyebrows scrunched together showed that. You were dazed, your inability to focus on Kate’s beautiful blue eyes hinted at that. She didn’t hesitate to get down to her knees, her hands holding you up by your shoulders for only a brief moment before she let you lay down. Her eyes looked down briefly, and when she looked back at you, you could see the sadness. The small smile she had on her face was painfully obvious. “Show me where it hurts.”
“It doesn’t hurt,” you whispered, “but I’m really scared.” Your bottom lip trembled, her hands automatically moving to cup your face.
The end of the story took place when she leaned down to press a soft, tender kiss onto your lips, only to feel you take your last breath against her mouth.
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