Title: nothing to regret
Fandom: Marvel (comics)
Pairing: Clint Barton/Kate Bishop
Rating: Teen
Length: 575 words
Warnings: None apply
Summary: Kate may be sneaking out in the middle of the night but that doesn’t mean she regrets getting into bed with Clint.



Kate stared at the ceiling a moment before finally dragging herself out of bed. Clint shifted beside her but didn’t wake up. It was just after two o’clock in the morning and she really didn’t want to get up.

Picking her clothes up off the floor by the faint sliver of moonlight that filtered through the window, Kate sighed. She had no regrets about what they’d been doing but was growing tired of dragging herself out of Clint’s bed in the middle of the night every time they crossed that line between friends into something else. It was less of an issue back when it'd been an occasional thing; something to burn off that post-mission restlessness. Now, it’d become a several times a week kinda thing and she was so not getting enough sleep. She couldn't keep this up, something was gonna give.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to stay. She did. She really did. She longed to snuggle up against him, wake up together, and then fight over who got to take a shower first. It was just that she was afraid that if she did that he'd bolt. Clint had the tendency to run away when things got hard, or complicated and she didn’t want that. So she snuck out of bed in the middle of the night so he wouldn’t think this was anything more than friends with benefits. She didn’t want to come off as too clingy. Or needy. Or whatever. She didn’t regret starting this — whatever it was with Clint. Not even a little. Only, she wanted more. She wanted the whole package. But that was going to have to wait. She didn't want to spook him.

Kate pulled on her clothes and moved lightly towards the door with her shoes in hand. Clint didn’t usually wear his hearing aids to bed so while sound rarely woke him up, vibrations would totally do the job. She could sing a song and he wouldn't stir but step too heavily and he’d catch her out.

Slowly she opened the door, stepped into the hall, and promptly tripped over Lucky. Apparently, he’d been guarding the bedroom door. Kate's shoes dropped from her hand and she fell on her ass. “Shit,” she muttered. Lucky barked in agreement.

A few moments later Clint was there holding his hand out to her. “Again?” He asked.

She stared at him for a moment before taking his hand. “What again?”

Clint gave her a look as he helped her up. “You sneaking out in the middle of the night again.”

Ah, that. “Umm…” Kate said as she tried and failed to think of a good excuse.

“That’s what I thought.” Clint brushed the hair out of her face and gave her a kiss. “Why don’t you come back to bed? If you want, you can sneak out in the morning. I’ll even pretend to be still asleep.”

Kate allowed herself to be led back to bed. Dropping her shoes to the floor, she climbed in and yawned. Lucky jumped onto the bed a moment after Clint pulled back the covers. Kate laughed and snuggled under the covers. Clint pushed Lucky aside, got in next to her, and pulled her close. Kate rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes. They should probably talk about this, whatever this was. Maybe in the morning when she'd had more sleep and her head was a bit clearer.