I was making my way down to the cafeteria when I heard someone muttering to themselves, through the half open door to the practice range.

"Straighten up, or that's going to be a miss." I heard a voice murmur. I poked my head around the door to see Clint shoot a perfect bullseye.

"Impressive." I called, and he turned, taking out another arrow. He smiled gently when he recognised me. "Agent Kane, right?"

"Bailey."

He grinned. "So you're not into the whole 'Agent' deal either right?"

"Not really." I admitted. "It's not the main reason I joined SHIELD anyway."

"What was the main reason?" He shot another perfect bullseye, and glanced back at me. I shrugged.

"I guess I just kind of wanted to save people. Do some good."

He snorted. "Yeah, we're real big on 'Doing some good' here at SHIELD. anyway, when's your first lesson with me?"

"Three o'clock."

He checked his watch, and looked me up and down. "You gonna get lunch before we start, or are you just gonna watch me?"

"Oh, am I putting you off?" I feigned concern.

"Please." he snorted again and pulled out another arrow. "You'll have to do a lot more than give me Bambi eyes before you put me off."

I raised an eyebrow. "Cocky much?"

He hit his third bullseye. "Very much."

Oh great; I'd been Level Eight for two hours and already I'd figured out one of my team members was an asshole.

"Well I'll leave you be. See you in an hour."

"Lesson starts at three. That's forty five minutes." He chided, not looking at me.

"Well, I'd hate to draw you away from your perfect bullseye streak, and judging by the way you acted back in the meeting, you're not so keen on 'babysitting' me."

"Hey," he turned quickly, looking offended. "I didn't say that;Tony did."

I shrugged. "I'm going to go ahead and say that you're on his side though?"

"Look, I'm not happy about wasting time when we could be out there, y'know, helping people, but it's always good to have an extra pair of hands." He looked me up and down, and I straightened up. We stood there in silence, eyeing each other up.

"Go get some lunch, and be back here in half an hour." He grunted, turning away from me.

"Lesson starts in forty five minutes." I reminded him.

"I don't care. I want you back here in half an hour. I want to see if your aim matches that smart mouth of yours."

I walked out of the archery range, and down the corridor towards the cafeteria, not particularly looking forward to my next lesson.

---

"So." Clint circled me slowly. "Let's start with something simple. A warm up."

I raised the bow and took an arrow out of the quiver. "When Fury said that he wanted me to be a sharp shooter, I think he meant-"

"It's no good me teaching you how to use a gun if you can't use a bow." Clint snapped, standing behind me. "A gun is about power. A bow is about form. A bow is about aim. A bow is an art form, not just a weapon."

I narrowed my eyes. "I'm holding your 'art form', Clint, so I'd be careful about how much you patronize me."

He gave an exasperated sigh, and snatched the bow from my hands.

"Hey!"

"Obviously, you aren't gonna hit anything stood like that." He muttered, dropping the bow on the floor and folding his arms. "Stand up straight. Back straight, chin up, eyes forward. I said back straight."

I glared at him, stretching my back out to a ridiculous length. "Shut up."

"That's not a good kind of attitude for a student to have towards her teacher." He joked, putting one hand flat against my stomach and the other on my back, straightening me gently. My eyebrows shot up.

"Okay, chin up." With his left hand he caught hold of my chin and gently guided it to where I should hold it. Then he stepped in my line of sight.

"Eyes on me."

I held that position for a couple of minutes, before he told me to relax and get back into the position on my own. When I stood how I thought I was supposed to, he adjusted me, and then we repeated it. After half an hour, I was in the position all by myself.

"Good. That's a lot better." He picked up the bow and handed it at me. "Now let's see if you can match that smart mouth."

I shot him a glare, and pulled out an arrow, closing one eye and aiming. When I fired, Clint exhaled loudly.

"What?" I snapped.

"Well, there's room for improvement."

I rolled my eyes and took out another arrow.

---

I walked into the lab half an hour later to find Steve sitting on a table, looking more bored than me during Clint's incessant ramblings about the art of archery. Tony was talking very quickly about his Iron Man suit.

"Ah, Bailey." Tony nodded for me to come in. "I have a technology lesson for you."

"It's really fun and interesting." Steve said in a monotone voice, looking up at me with dead eyes. "I've learned so much. Tony is a fountain of knowledge."

"Cut it, Super Soldier." Tony hissed from behind a computer hologram. Steve grinned at me, and tapped the desk space next to him.

"How long have you been in here?" I asked. He shuddered.

"Way too long. By the way, I'm your first lesson tomorrow. I'll make sure I go easy on you."

I laughed. "Thanks. I feel like I might need it."

"What have you got afterwards?"

"Clint." I pulled a face. "Again. And then Natasha."

He exhaled and shot me a sympathetic look. "Can't say I envy you."

I groaned, and glanced over at Tony, who was coughing to get our attention.

"The Iron Man suit is one of my finest creations, and -"

Steve and I both groaned, cutting him off.

---

I was lying in bed that night, trying to fall asleep when my phone buzzed. It was a text from an unfamiliar number.

Make sure you bring a comfortable change of clothes tomorrow. We're going to start on hand to hand combat, and you'll need to be able to move freely. Also, Clint told me that your lesson didn't go down too well. Just ignore him. See you in the morning - Natasha.

I replied saying thank you, and was about to put my phone down again, when I got another text, from a different number.

Natasha says I should apologise for being a douche in the archery lesson. She also says I should teach you how to shoot a gun instead of a bow and arrow. I think she should stick to her own lesson. Your opinion? - Clint

I rolled my eyes and replied. No opinion on the matter.

So you think I should teach you archery?

I think you should teach me how to aim. Goodnight Clint.

I put the phone down and rolled over, closing my eyes and trying to get the shut eye Steve had recommended.

Notes