AN: I have no idea why the font keeps changing. It's annoying me just as much as you guys; I'll try and get it sorted. :)


"You're up early." Clint murmured as I wandered into the kitchen a couple of days later, pulling a sweater over my head. I shrugged and dropped into a seat.

"Couldn't sleep."

He raised an eyebrow, and poured a coffee for me. "Sugar?"

"Two."

"Nightmare?" He stirred the coffee thoughtfully, watching me carefully from the breakfast bar. I shook my head, and he put the mug down in front of me.

"Want to talk about it?"

I shook my head again, and he frowned. We sat in silence for a couple of minutes while I blew on my coffee to cool it, and he made himself a mug of drink.

"So, I don't think we're making any headway with Tunscane." He sighed, sitting opposite me. "I really think the guy's clean, but either way, we're going into the building tomorrow night to break into their files."

I groaned. "This is why I should have paid attention to Tony."

He grinned. "Don't worry about it. Hacking is relatively easy. Your job is to mainly keep anyone else in the building occupied while I copy the files."

"So you're gonna be the brains of the operation?" I sipped my coffee.

"Yeah, and you'll be the brawn." He tossed me a grin. "Anyway, tonight, you and I are at a party, held by Tuscane. There are going to be a few more SHIELD Agents there, so we won't be alone if anything does go wrong. And you'll need to put on a dress."

I groaned again, and he laughed. He told me to finish up my coffee and get ready, because Henry was taking us out.

---

"Clint, what are we doing here?" I asked, raising an eyebrow and looking around. Henry had dropped us off outside an expensive looking shop. He smiled and motioned for me to walk inside.

"If we're going to look the part, you need a dress, and I need a tux."

We stepped inside the small, dark, air conditioned shop, and I became incredibly concious of Clint's hand on my back. The store owner walked across the shop floor to us.

"How can I help you, sir, madam?"

"My wife is looking for a dress for a dinner party we're attending later today." Clint said, smiling warmly. "And I need a new Tuxedo."

"Of course sir.This store, however, is only for ladies. The shop across the street fits mens' tuxedos."

Clint glanced at me. "You'll be alright?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." I smiled up at him, and he dropped a hasty kiss on my cheek, which made my skin tingle, before leaving the shop. The door swung closed behind him, and I was left with a pretty straight-laced shop owner.

"Now, madam." He said, leading me through the shop to the back, where I was met with rows and rows of dresses. "Is there anything in particular you were looking for?"

"I uh..."

He noticed I was looking a little lost, and smirked. "I'll leave you to Julia. Wait here one minute please. Feel free to look at our range of dresses."

He exited through a door in the corner of the room, and left me alone with a bunch of expensive, and gorgeous dresses. I grinned in spite of myself. This mission could actually turn out to be quite a lot of fun; Clint was warming to me; I got to hang out in expensive shop with nice dresses; our apartment was awesome; and as far as I could tell, Clint and I weren't in any serious danger.

"Ah, madam." I heard a cold, plummy voice from behind me, and I turned. A woman was standing in a clean, pressed business suit. I felt a little out of place in my sweater and jeans, and shifted uncomfortably. "I've been informed you wish to buy an evening gown."

"Uh, yeah thanks." I smiled, a little uncertainly, and she nodded.

"Is there anything in particular you have your eye on?"

I looked across to the light blue dress I'd been looking at while waiting for her. She followed my gaze, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw her lip curl.

"Madam is not accustomed to choosing dresses?"

Madam's gonna break your wrist. I thought to myself, but forced a smile. "No."

She nodded, like she understood, and motioned for me to follow her to the end of the rack. She looked me up and down, and gave a curt nod. "I believe a dark green, red or blue would suit would suit -"

"Got it." I cut across her before she could say 'madam' one more time.

"Yes." She searched the rack, pushing past rows of perfectly adequate dresses before pulling out a forest green one. If anyone had asked me to describe it, the only word I would have been able to form would have been 'big'. She glanced at me one more time before silently throwing it back on the rack and searching for another.

"I saw dresses in the room back there, when I came in -" I suggested, but she shook her head.

"All of those dresses are for far more petite women."

I raised an eyebrow, and she carried on. "You bone structure is far to heavy for any of those dresses."

"That so?" I muttered, folding my arms and wishing that Clint would come back so I could grab a dress and get out.

"Something backless?" She suggested, but I shook my head.

"No, nothing backless, thank you." I said, pushing away a red silky dress that she held out for me. She tossed me a glare and began searching again. Finally, she found a dark blue dress.

"One shoulder?" She suggested, raising an eyebrow at me. "Does that meet your requirements?"

I could almost feel the hatred. It was at that point that the front door to the store opened, and I heard someone talking to the manager. Clint walked into the back room.

"Did you get the suit?" I asked.

"Tux." The woman behind me corrected. Clint raised his eyebrows at me, but nodded.

"Yeah. How about your dress?"

I pointed behind me, and the woman held it out.

"You gonna try that on before you buy it?"

I sighed, and shrugged. "Might as well."

---

"You know, that was awful." I mused over a milkshake half an hour later. Clint laughed.

"Yeah, at least mine was simple. I told them my size, told them I wanted a black tux, and they pulled one out. Voila."

I laughed and shook my head. "Yeah, I got the impression that woman in there hated me."

"Ah well." Clint sipped his milkshake and shrugged. "You get to go to a party and wear the dress. She has to sit there and work."

"Spose."

"Hey, cheer up." He tossed a chip at me from across the table. "We get to do some actual Spy stuff tomorrow night."

I couldn't help but laugh.

Notes