Summary:
January 31, 2015: Clint emerges from the UN Building, and he and Kate meet a possible applicant for SHIELD.
Midtown, East Side
East Side of New York City where the Triskelion and UN Building reside.
Characters
NPCs
- None
Mood Music:
[*None]
Cold. Very cold. Did anyone happen to mention that it's in the single digits, Fahrenheit, today? Wind chill brings it down. The 'real feel' be damned. It -feels- cold. And more winter snow is being called for tomorrow, so any who aren't at work, who aren't shopping for the looming day called 'Valentine's is out doing their last minute collections to be both snowed in, and to be locked in with friends to watch the Superbowl. (Or the Puppybowl.)
There is no rest for the weary, however. One thing after another rears its head, and if there's one thing that Clint Barton's just now learning is that with 'great power' it runs hand in hand with amazingly boring meetings. Screw the 'great responsibility' thing. He already knew that!
Coming from the UN building, his hoodie coupled with a jean jacket is little proof against the arctic winds that blow through the steel and glass canyons. To get a little more warmth, finger-less gloved hands dig into pockets; but at least he looks cool. Sunglasses on his face, blue jeans and a pair of boots finishes the look. No suits, even for the UN.
Taking the steps one by one down to the main sidewalk, he looks one direction, then the other before pulling his hands back out from his pockets and blowing on them, each in turn.
"Damn, it's cold."
~
« I'm so proud of you, wearing jeans to important meetings. »
It's a text from Kate, who's taken up a sentry position on a fire escape about a block and a half from the Triskelion. They can tell her she can't come into the building but that doesn't mean she can't keep an eye on it. Granted, someone is probably keeping an eye back on her, but it makes her feel a little bit better.
Besides, with a long down coat pulled on over her usual patrolling gear, she can pass for New York fashion.
~
Kim's getting ready for… well, okay, she's -thinking- about getting ready to try that whole 'great responsibility' thing. Sure she's got less 'great power' and more 'kinda sorta more than some people power', but hey. She's still figuring that, y'know, that whole 'Be a good guy' thing is probably all important and official and stuff.
Of course, it probably involves calling ahead for meetings. And maybe letting them know who you are. And probably not showing up in costume skating towards the Triskelion more than a little recklessly fast. Especially since she's sort of casing the place out, or in her mind 'Looking for the part that says 'new recruits' or something.
Still, she's thankful this suit's got some insulation in it, because she's -still- feeling a little numb in the fingers after crossing half the city to get here. And it's all this preoccupation that sets her on her path barreling towards Clint like… some sorta purple-black juggernaut of doom. That's juggernaut with a lower case j. No delusions of grandeur… yet.
~
The *bzzzzt* of his cellphone in an inside pocket gains Clint's attention. Sunglass-covered eyes look up and around as if searching for something or someone as he unzips his jacket to remove the cell. He looks down at it, swipes futilely a couple of times before blowing on his fingers and -then- swiping. He reads it and sighs, the plume of breath almost freezing in the day's air.
« You do know we have a system watching the place, right? » Kate sure as hell isn't watching the UN building, and she probably didn't go through his stash of clothes to determine which outfit he had on. So, knowing that she's still a little piqued about the tightened security of the Triskelion, it doesn't take a brain surgeon to know her basic whereabouts. Exactly where, however, he's not sure.
Rather than freezing a second time, Clint drops his phone into a pocket, and brings his head up. He's a trained SHIELD agent; he doesn't tend to get run into- at least by people on foot. Er.. skates?
Taking a step back, Clint winces as he looks in the path of the girl. Ice creates potholes… and uneven spots in sidewalks.
"You might want to watch—"
~
« How's that been working for you? »
Hard to judge tone from text messages, but back on the fire escape, Kate grins as she types it. Looking back up to get a look at Clint, she catches sight of Kim barreling past him, quirking a brow curiously. Well, that's new. Breaking her bow down, she tucks it into an inside pocket on her coat before swinging down to street level and heading toward where she last saw Clint.
« Meeting you. »
~
Kim lets out… something unfit for print! It's certainly not the sort of triumphant yell she was going to make after like… getting her super hero badge or whatever. But it's plenty heartfelt as she hits a crack, weaves to the side, and then manages to catch a packed lump of snow -just- right! Like, 'flying up into the air' right. There's a sort of squawking yelling noise as she splays through the air, scrambling, and grabbing her harpoon just in time to launch it out and latch onto a nearby lamp post, reeling in and… dangling.
She's gasping and wheezing, and not sure she isn't dead. At least she's too freaked out to notice she's sort of just dangling over the sidewalk like a pinata of Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible. "I… uhhh… um… is this like… SHIELD?" Her helmet tilts towards Clint, slowly tilting further, taking on an almost 'I should -know- this person…' kinda vibe.
~
Clint pulls his phone when he feels the *bzzz* and blows on his fingers before the swipe, now that he's learned. A barked laugh sounds before he nods in the next message, putting it back into his pocket. He'll be keeping an eye out for the advancing Kate.
It's the accident in the making that takes Clint's attention. He tries, he does try, to mitigate the accident as best he can. A step here, advance there, and a hand covered with fingerless gloves is put out to help the poor girl up from the indignity of a plowed bit of snow. "Yeah, no. SHIELD is on the other side. You wiped out closer to the UN." He pauses a moment before he deadpans, "Could have started an international incident."
~
It doesn't take long for Kate to make it down the sidewalk, a beanie with a little pompom on top pulled over her head. Just because you're fighting crime doesn't mean you can't look cute.
"They're also not big on visitors right now," she calls toward the dangling Kim, grin flashing as she considers just what could have led to that particular pose. "That is definitely a unique way to go about getting in, though."
~
Kim's all grumbles and sulks as she continues her dangling. "Pfff. International incident? Like the UN's going to get all upset about one or two broken windows if I hit 'em!" …Still, she starts unwinding herself from the cable she managed to tangle herself in, getting her skates under her and then rolling back before letting the magnet detach from the lamp post and reel in to the handle again, clipping it onto her hip.
"What, the UN? That's boring anyhow! Oh… you mean SHIELD? I guess it makes sense. I mean, y'don't get a giant flying aircraft carrier because you -like- visitors." Her head tilts and she taps one foot slowly, wheels whining up to spin loosely when she lifts her foot. "Huhhhh… so no SHIELD appointments now… too cold for muggers… guh. It's the -weekend-! It's not supposed to be boring!" She shakes her head and hunches her shoulder up, like the world ought to be apologizing for not being entertaining enough. "Well, I was gonna try and like… swing up onto the roof. Y'know, I figure if they let Spider-Man hang around doing that, I could like… get the same deal."
~
Yeah… harpoon? "Um.. actually right now, they will." Clint looks almost apologetic. "See, they've been having some issues lately with something called 'terrorists'?" The UN, that is.
Clint takes a step towards Kate to put an arm around her briefly and kiss the top of her hat before letting her go. "As for doing that with SHIELD?" Shaking his head, the Senior Field Agent turned 'JL:Avenger brings a hand up to scratch at the back of his neck, wincing. "You wouldn't like the response. They probably wouldn't take you to HR first." A thin, tight-lipped smile rises and he shrugs, "How about calling and setting up an appointment like the rest of the world?"
Still…
"Pretty gutsy though, kid. Can't say you didn't try something I haven't seen for a little while. Roller skates in winter, and a harpoon with a line."
Before he forgets, though! "Oh, Kate. Siberia. Pack your bags. Humanitarian run. Seems a little town near the Arctic circle had their pipes burst and ice is waist high, frozen solid in the streets." Yeah. Arctic circle. Pipes burst. "Snow is 'Dude, where's my car' high, too."
~
"This is payback for Hawaii, isn't it?" Kate deadpans at the mention of Siberia, hands in her pockets. In a decent down jacket, though, she actually doesn't seem too cold. Except for her nose and cheeks, which are pretty pink. It's almost enough to cover her slight blush at the public display of affection, though she wraps an arm around his waist in turn for just a moment before turning her attention back to Kim.
"Also, SHIELD's full of a lot of rules. Training. You'll spend three years wearing a suit and sitting in an office and getting told what to do before you get a chance to go out in the field and get told what to do like you don't have the sense god gave little green apples." No, she doesn't have any grudges, why do you ask?
~
Kim sighs out melodramatically and crosses her arms, clearly annoyed. "But calling them is gonna use my minutes! And… wait… what? There's like HR and -training-? Suits?! Offices?! Oh man!" She starts shaking her head wildly, arms swinging back and forth. "No dice! I don't do that corporate office stuff! Nu-uhhhhh! I thought it was like… y'know, James Bond with lasers and stuff! That's like… -a career!-"
Kim keeps on backing up, like the idea of an actual, regulated heroing profession is the most terrible thing she's ever heard of. "Buuuut hey, maybe I'll think about it sometime. Yeah. Sure. Y'know… like… I'll -totally- phone them later!"
~
"I think it is, actually," Clint returns; clearly he's not thrilled with the idea either. It's even colder there than in New York. "The Russians are thinking that we're their personal humanitarian committee." Which may not be too bad. Create a good working relationship with the Bear?
Kate's description of SHIELD has Clint exhaling in a sigh and taking a step away once more. "There's lots of training, yeah. Lots of departments. Just because you may ask for field assignments doesn't mean you'll get them. Chances are good that you'll be stuck in a car surveilling somewhere. Or in a van, if you're lucky." With donuts. Hell. That's how he spends a bulk of his time. Sitting on high and watching. Not very 'James Bond' in the least.
"It's not bad. Like, working for the FBI. Or the CIA. It is actually a real career, yeah."
~
"With all the training, paperwork, and liability insurance that entails," Kate adds on to Clint's description, shrugging. "Works for some people. Not my cup of tea." At least not while she feels snubbed. For now. Who knows how she'll feel in a month? "But hey," she adds, jogging a few steps toward the other woman and offering a card. It just says HAWKEYE, and a number. "If you ever need back up or find yourself in over your head, give us a call."
~
Kim manages to contain her sheer terror at the thought of joining bureaucracy long enough to take the card, disappear it into her costume and nod her head quickly. "Huh? Yeah! For sure! Totally! I'll definitely call you guys instead of SHIELD! Seriously… like… -totally-!" And then she's… well, showing that Kim doesn't learn things quickly. Because she's right up to speed again, but hey, at least she's like… skating down the -street- this time.
About as fast as she can accelerate. Directly away from SHIELD before she winds up in some kinda cubicle farm answering questions from the Midwest about whether or not Captain America can come tell the local Wal-Mart to take some old person's expired coupons.
~
Clint looks down at Kate, brows rising. He doesn't say anything, however. Not until after Kate's passed a card on, and there's a moment when he can't help a quirk of a smile. She said 'give -us- a call'. It really is the little things.
The speed in which the girl skates off is met with another rise of his brows, and Clint gives a headshake and a sigh. "Right. Everyone thinks SHIELD work is glamourous."
Turning back to Kate, Clint looks down to brush a kiss on a cheek. "You never wanted to work for SHIELD before. Now, you're on a cool team. Stopped in Metropolis this morning. Man, Kate… I still can't believe it's ours." Holding his hand out for a second, he looks a little more relaxed than he had the other day. Why? Who knows.
"C'mon. Need to tell you a few things. Plug Uglies? Or Chinese?" Two 'cop' establishments nearby. Time to get out of the bitter cold!
~
Kate glances to the hand, then steps in to wrap an arm around his waist as she walks instead. "I like the people at SHIELD. You guys have good equipment. But I'm not a spy," she shrugs. "And I'm sure as hell not a paper pusher. And I'm pretty awful at taking orders. Though I'm also pretty good at giving them, so. Trade-off. Let's do Chinese," she adds, tipping in chin in that direction. "I'm sort of geared up under the jacket."
~
"It's kinda fun. But you get the benefits without ever having to walk into the building," comes as a teasing reminder. Cool. Arrows. "And you're good at giving them… so I'll let you order lunch." Clint can't help it. He's actually in a reasonable mood.
Clint doesn't mind the arm around his waist, and he hangs an arm around the small of her back in turn. "Yeah, I feel it. No one in there bats an eye. Seriously. You think Matt in the Uglies cares? I think he thinks you're cute, but I told him enough that he doesn't want to meet you in a dark alley." Protective boyfriend? Or is he making sure that they don't mistake Kate for just 'another pretty face'?
"Chinese it is.
As the pair walk towards the restaurant, Clint begins again. "Met someone kinda odd in Gotham last night while checking on the bridge." The one that was attacked. "Kinda strange and I think I'll look for her again. Things didn't -seem- right. Stranger, as in, I couldn't place an accent. And her tech…" He whistles softly. "She said she was told by someone that she was supposed to protect the city." A barked laugh sounds, and it's not one that is filled with amusement. "Pretty crappy, really. Newcomer to a city, find a place to crash, then told to earn her keep, she has to go out and play cop. Thing is, from what I am gathering, it wasn't from someone who had any authority to tell her to do it." So if the woman got caught, there would be no recourse. At all.
~
"What, you mean the bats?" Kate quirks a brow, crunching over snow and salt. "I could call Oracle, if you want. She's usually pretty up on whatever's going on in Gotham. Though if she had weird tech…" She pauses for a moment, head tilting as she considers. "Probably not Asgard, or you'd've recognized something familiar. So either another dimension, or a time traveler sort. Booster might be able to touch base if it's a future thing." And this is how Kate's brain works. She said she's good at giving orders. What she's actually good at is the mental file folder of people and their capabilities. Connections. Categories.
~
"Oracle…"
Clint holds the door open for Kate as the pair entire the warmer business establishment. "You know… yeah. Do that for me? And while you're at it, I'd really like you to extend an invite to her," for the JL:A. "We could really use someone of her talents." There is the pause before his voice lowers, "Add all the 'this can't be mentioned to anyone' speech, okay? Please?" Because this is -exactly- where Kate excels.
"No, it wasn't anywhere I recognized. Nothing."
Waving towards the waitresses, as he's been here more than a few times, Clint's ready to find his own seat. "The girl's name was 'Kendrin'. Had a .. something on her shoulder. I'd say that it was a cross between a ferret and a .. dragon," the last word is almost whispered. "Seemed to follow the conversation, too. The way she treated it seemed like it was some sort of companion rather than a pet."
~
"Sure, I'll ask. About both things." Kate starts to unzip, draping her coat over the back of the chair before sitting down. "Did the thing look like K'nert?" she asks as the description sinks in, brows rising. "Could be Trent's made contact. Though I don't think Henson's got loose enough rein to be wandering off with other people. On the other hand, he might not be the only one of his kind…"
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