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It started as an itch between her shoulder blades every time she left her lab or the quarters she shared with Phil, the feeling that some unseen entity was watching her.
At first she thought it might be Clint and Natasha, keeping a close eye on her after Loki, but she quickly disproved that theory when she found Clint in the middle of a panic attack in the hallway to the kitchen, Natasha somehow looming over him protectively and she still felt like someone was watching her.
With Hawkeye and Black Widow both ruled out, she decided to tell Phil.
"Jemma...it could be R&D," he stated grimly. "Hawthorne might've decided to cross a line after I told him no about studying you and Clint."
"Hawthorne?" Jemma asked. She didn't know any one by that name, not that she knew everyone in SHIELD's research and development department.
"A very quiet member of R&D," Phil explained. "He's very focused on researching mind control methods, supposedly to combat them but it's a badly kept secret by those who know of his existence that he's looking to control people."
"And SHIELD continues to employ him?" Jemma asked in surprise.
"Cause he hasn't done anything that can definitely prove he's out to be a puppet master," Natasha interjected as she and Clint walked into Phil's office without knocking. "It's very frustrating."
"Is Hawthorne trying to get ahold of Jemma now?" Clint asked.
"And you," Phil replied, having long ago given up trying to get the pair to knock and wait for permission to enter his office. "He hasn't given up on you either, Clint."
"If he's decided to escalate beyond whiny emails then we need to deal with him without SHIELD's blessing," Clint declared. "I'm willing to offer up myself as bait for a trap."
"I'm not letting you risk yourself on my behalf, Clint," Jemma objected.
"Yes, you are, cause Phil would be really upset if you got hurt," the archer replied. "As would Nat and I."
"And I would get upset if you got hurt," Jemma countered, "as would Natasha and Phil."
"We'll come up with a better plan than that," Natasha declared, sounding like she meant herself and Phil specifically would come up with a plan. "In the mean time, Clint and I will take turns shadowing Jemma whenever she leaves her quarters."
~*~
Jemma had figured out that Clint was not as ignorant as he liked to act he was practically as soon as she had met him, and she took full advantage of this knowledge to encourage him to assist her in the lab, as Fitz was out with food poisoning.
She had thought it odd that Clint was the one watching her today, as the plan had been that Natasha would watch her first, but she decided not to question it. Perhaps Natasha was busy pursuing a lead on Hawthorne. What she didn't know was that Natasha was investigating Fitz' bout of food poisoning, the formerly Russian assassin suspecting he had been deliberately targeted with the intent to leave Jemma alone in the lab.
"You should help out more often in the lab, Clint," Jemma remarked. "You're good with your hands."
Clint smirked at the praise. "Does Phil know you think that?"
Jemma gave him a good-natured smack on the arm for the quip.
"You know what I mean!" she exclaimed.
"I know," he assured her before standing up from slouching against a nearby counter suddenly. "Get down."
Jemma immediately ducked behind the counter without question, certain that Clint must have seen her stalker. She let out a soft sigh of relief when Clint ducked down beside her.
"Call Phil, tell him we're trapped in the lab," he directed her as he got out his bow.
Jemma got out her phone and texted an SOS to Phil.
She got a prompt reply assuring her that he was on his way with Natasha.
"Putty arrow, putty arrow," Clint muttered to himself as he rummaged thru his quiver for a particular arrow until he finally found it. "Putty arrow!"
"Putty arrow?" Jemma asked. "What are you intended to do?"
"I'm going to putty the door shut so Hawthorne and his people can't get in." Clint explained.
"Neither will Phil and Natasha," Jemma pointed out. "Unless you're expecting them to go thru the vents?"
"Nat has a way of dissolving the putty, they'll be able to get in once it's safe." the archer assured her as he shot off the putty arrow at the door, releasing a glittery purple ooze that glued the door shut.
"That's not the putty formula Fitz and I came up with," Jemma remarked.
"I made my own," Clint admitted, "It's prettier than the one you came up with, that's pretty much the only difference."
"Now what?" Jemma asked. "We just sit and wait for Natasha and Phil to deal with Hawthorne?"
"Pretty much," Clint confirmed. "However long that takes."
Jemma looked up in concern when she heard what sounded like a mini explosion outside the puttied up lab door.
"Hopefully sooner rather than later," Clint muttered darkly as he doubled checked that the putty was still holding--it was, with no sign of failure, but that didn't seem to reassure the archer at all.
That was when the vents started to emit a loud hissing noise.
"Clint..." Jemma gasped.
"It's okay," Clint lied reassuringly. "I'm sure we have oxygen masks. We'll be fine."
They passed out before they could find any oxygen masks, the gas being pumped into the room a fast acting sedative.