Clint Barton
hawkeye
& now Avenger (?? I'm surprised too) "I mean, I can't miss... I'm on a team with super-humans. And one god, in case you've forgotten... And if I miss, it means I'm just another dude with a bow. It means I've been fooling myself this whole time. And that's why I never miss."
[his eyes remaining on the screens as he continues to type] It was an option so people wouldnāt feel like theyāve moved into a building hosted by Big Brother, thank you very much. Thanks to your little girlfriend, that option has to be taken away. [stops typing and points to one of the screens] Alright. Yefim Avilov. Last seen by security cameras in a convenient store in Rhode Island. Letās seeā¦ [trails off, zooming in on the security footage] Got a plate number. [resumes typing a few short moments] Somerset, Vermont. Thatās where he has to be now. Itās basically a dead town. Twenty-eight miles of abandoned buildings and homes. Population is five, as in five people total. [shakes his head] Thereās not way heās not there, man. Itās like the perfect place for a Russian to hideout in America.
[rolls his eyes] You should stop complaining about what she did and start giving me some useful information. [moves so he can see the computer screen, memorizing the information and nodding once] Vermont. [looks to Tony] I'm going to need to borrow a carā I can't use one of SHIELD's without being followed, and then the Russians would see me coming from miles away.
Funny thing about SHIELD is that I'm pretty sure they think anything that doesn't involve 'work' should be bannedā I blame Fury. You want something to do? I'd suggest going out into the city.
[ Bruce smiles a bit, not quite looking at Clint ] You guys donāt need someone like me on the team. Oh, I was just coming up from the labs. I thought Iād make something for lunch. Stir fry. If youāre not in a hurry to find Tony thereāll be more than enough.
[frowns] What the hell makes you think that? [raises his brows a bit] Stir fry? Stark can wait, after all the times he's made me wait in the past he deserves it.
Maya shrugged. āYes, but I donāt think itāll be too much of a problem. The real problem will be meeting people and talking to them. You knowā¦ā she trailed off, tapping her left ear.
Clint's brows rose slightly as he understood what she was saying, nodding a bit before returning his gaze to her, "well you don't have an issue talking to me. At least, it doesn't seem like you do."
Maya let out a sigh of relief when Clint turned around and greeted her. Finally. Someone she could let her guard down a bit around. āYes, I am. I just finished. Iāve beenā¦wandering around trying to familiarize myself with everything,ā she said. āItās really difficult,ā she said, before covering her mouth, wondering if that was a bad thing to say.
[nods once in understanding] You'll get used to it eventually. Seems to take everyone about a week of being here before they really know where they're going when they're walking around.
Maya was still getting used to where everything was at the academy. So far, she had been able to hide the fact that she was deaf pretty well. Unfortunately, hiding it meant that she had to be on top of reading peopleās lips. To be honest, it was exhausting for her. She wanted to be with someone who knew that she was deaf so she didnāt have to pretend. There was only one person though.
She was standing in front of the plaque that had all of the agentās names on it that had been killed in the field. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the exact person sheād been wanting to talk to.
[groans internally when he sees the large group of agents-in-training, muttering profanities to himself as he makes his way through the crowd. Frowns just slightly when he hears an unfamiliar voice call out his name, turning toward it, his brows raising just slightly when he sees her, nodding once in greeting] Maya. You all moved in yet?
[glances over to the screen when Clint points at it, moving to pause it and tells JARVIS] JARVIS run a check on this face. Only bother searching white Russian males, late twenties to early forties. [to Clint] Iām working on finding her right now. Iām trying to figure out which particular article of clothing sheās wearing. [types rapidly, becoming more and more angered when the results arenāt showing up and thinks aloud] We wouldnāt be in this problem if she had just kept JARVIS on in her floor.Ā
[nods once as Tony instructs JARVIS to begin the search. His expression hardens at Tony's comment, glaring at him and saying through clenched teeth] She's trained to keep to herselfā you should've expected she would turn the computer off. We wouldn't have this problem if turning it off wasn't even an option.
Iām sure Fury wouldnāt call it a bribe, but yes, essentially. I think heās still hoping Iāll decide to stick it out because of the team.. [ Bruce trails off and shakes his head ] Where were you off to, Clint?
Fury's always been good at finding the best word for a shitty situation ā one of the reasons he's the guy in charge of all of us, I guess. [raises a brow just slightly] You saying you wouldn't stick it out for the team? [shrugs a bit] I need to find Stark but that's only to check up on when some materials will get in. You?
[frown deepens as he pulls the face guard completely off his head and rests it on the work table, moving to sit at one of the clear-glass desks and says to JARVIS] Unmute. [instantly, JARVIS speaks up] "Sir, it appears as though there has been an intrusion that Agent Barton discovered on Agent Romanovaās floor." [rolls his eyes, muttering] Thanks, JARVIS. [pulls up a hologram screen and goes to the surveillance cameras on her floor, beginning to rewind the footage. Says after a few long moments] So weāre going through this weekās tapeā¦ Last weeks nowā¦ [brows knit together as the time goes further and further back and pulls up a second screen, typing into the hologram keyboard a series of lengthy codes. Glances back to the surveillance footage occasionally for any motion before finally seeing people in the cameras and pauses it, pointing to the time stamp] This is almost two months ago, Clint. [Stares at the screen a moment in confusion] How did we not notice she was missing for two months? [pulls up the attendance records from the past two months] It says sheās been present for every training period. [jaw clenches as he realizes] Someoneās infiltrated the system. [Hits play on the surveillance camera, looking back to the second screen and typing in more codes as the kidnapping plays on the first screen]
[moves to stand just behind Tony, watching over his shoulder as he works. Clenches his jaw at the question, keeping to himself the fact that she doesn't exactly warn everyone before she leaves to go on a mission. His hands ball into fists as he watches the surveillance footage of her being taken, focusing on the men who are kidnapping her. Takes a step forward, pointing to one of them when their face becomes visible] Can JARVIS run a check on him? I need to know where he's from, who he works for, and the last place he was seen.Ā And where she is now.
[frowns] What do you mean sheās been taken? This is Natasha weāre talking about here. Who the hell knows how to capture the Black Widow and take her away.Ā
The only people who would know are the people who trained her. My guess is that they found her and are punishing her for leaving in the first place. And, from how much water was on her floor, she could be in the middle of the Russian tundra right now. Which is why youĀ have to tell me where she is. We're already behind.
[shrugs his good shoulder] I guess so. I just feel likeā¦like thereās some sort of pressure for me to figure myself out as quickly as possible, and I wonāt even know who I turn out to be until I get there. And I might not be the guy everyone wants. I guess itāsā¦itās kind of stupid, but I just donāt wanna disappoint everyone more than I already have. [pauses as he digs through his older memories, chuckling a little when he remembers] IĀ definitely remember she didnāt like me when we first met. I was told to train with her instructor and she didnāt like that she wasnāt his only student anymore. Tried to kick me in the face on our first day training together, if I remember correctly.
[listens to him, nodding slightly considering he understands where he's coming from] Not stupid. But it seems to me that if you put that much stress on yourself, you're setting yourself up to fail. [shrugs slightly] Gotta take it one day at a time for this, since you can't really start thinking in the long-term until you've convinced yourself that you've pulled yourself together enough to trust yourself again. [chuckles a bit, nodding] Better than the reaction she had when I met her. Granted, IĀ was there to kill her, so her holding a knife to my throat was more justified than attempting to kick you in the faceā though she's never been a fan of sharing.
[frowns when his music stops playing, putting down his tools and flipping up the mask to turn and face the familiar voice] I put JARVIS on mute for like the past, [pauses when he realizes he doesnāt know how much time has passed and checks his phone] Fuck, I think a week at least. [looks back to Clint] Do you have a new bow design or something?
[nods once, looking around the garage] That would explain a lot. [finally looks to Tony, focusing on him] Natasha is goneā taken, I'm assuming considering what her floor looked like. I need you to find her for me.
[Working away on yet another mark, his welding mask covering his face as he focuses on the wrists, ACDC blasting in the back. Hears movement other than his own and says without looking over his shoulder] If youāre the pizza guy then you get a hefty tip for being here sooner than expected.
Banner's words rang clearly through his ears as he walked through the lobby of the Tower he called home, a frown seeming to be the only expression his features could form as of late. It wasn't unheard of for her to go missing for such a long period of time; unusual, yes, but not unheard of. She only told him that she left once she was back. As if her absence wasn't noticed after just a few days.
Ignoring those that actually worked out of the Tower, Clint stepped onto the elevator and absentmindedly typed in his access code, leaning back against one of the walls and crossing his arms over his chest as the elevator began to rise higher and higher. WhenĀ was the last time he had seen her? The fact that he couldn't pinpoint, or at least come up with an answer that was within the past few weeks, was what prompted his next actions.
He straightened his posture quickly and let his arms fall to his sides, his practically ever-present frown deepening before he reached out and pressed her floor number, hoping that she had left out her mission file. In the back of his mind he knew she would never be so careless, but he had to check for himself. He had to know that he had gone through every possible route, checked every source himself to figure this out, before he went to Fury. The director would be his last resort.
After only a moment, the AI responded, "how can I assist you, Agent Barton?"
"I need access to Romanova's floor. Now."
"I am afraid I can not assist you with that. She disabled my access to her floor quite some time ago."
His expression hardened and his jaw clenched, forcing himself to take a deep breath before continuing, "there has to be some way to get in there."
"Unfortunately, the only reasonable way to access the area is to have her security code."
"And you won't give me that, will you?"
"That would a security breech, Agent, so no. I can not give you that."
Clint gave the AI a single nod in response, paying no mind that the action could not be detected, and changed his course. "Take me to my floor."
The moment the doors slid open, he walked purposefully through his still sparse and too-large apartment, going to a room that he had probably only been in once before and kicking open one of the boxes he'd yet to unpack, rifling through it for a moment before locating what he was searching for. He then walked back onto the elevator, waiting for the doors to close before pressing the emergency stop button.
It took him only a moment to pop one of the ceiling tiles out of place and then pull himself up through the hole, studying his new surroundings for a moment before he rose to his feet and focused on the doors to her floor. Climbing up the wall was not an issue, and neither was wedging the crowbar in his hands between the doors, even opening the doors was not that difficult of a taskā it was processing the sight that he was met with that was the real challenge.
Maneuvering himself onto the floor, he continued to study the familiar surroundings ā though there was the unmistakeable feeling that he was the first to be there in quite some time. The only other thing in the entire floor that was making any noise at all was the shower, which had to be the cause for the inch of water that covered the entire space around him, and had to be in every other part of the floor as well.
Clint slowly walked further into her floor, taking note of the towel wrack that had been yanked carelessly from the wall and the bits of glass floating in the water, moving to silence the shower that had been running for an indefinitely amount of time, and had to swallow the bile that rose in his throat.
Turning on his heel, he walked quickly back through her floor, jumped out the doors and landed as lightly as he could on the top of the elevator, lowering himself back into it and releasing the emergency button before saying as evenly as he could, "take me to Stark. Tell him I'm coming. And tell him an Avenger is missing."
[nods a little at Bartonās words] I understand that. Itāsā¦itās kind of how Iām living right now, I guess, not being myself. Iām not Bucky but Iām not the Winter Soldier so Iāmā¦this combination of the two. [pauses] Itās a weird feeling, knowing everyone would prefer you to be someone else. I wish I could give them what they want, butā¦I canāt. [blinks in mild surprise as he actually recognizes the name] I do, I think. I knew her as Natalia though.
[nods slowly in understanding, continuing after a moment] Seems to me you shouldn't be concerning yourself about everyone else while you're still figuring yourself out. Work on one thing at a time, you know? [his brows raise slightly before he composes his expression] You remember knowing her when she was in the Red Room, then. I didn't meet her until a few years agoā and I only knew her as the Black Widow at the time. [pauses, turning over his next words in his head for a moment before saying quickly] You mind me asking what you remember of her from back then?
[ Bruce doesnāt specify, but he gives Clint a small smile that said it all: he missed the freedom. ] Pretty much. Iāve got access to equipment I havenāt had access to in awhile, so Iāve been working on some research Iāve only theorized about. I come up for tea and foodā¦ sometimes.
So they were able to bribe you to be here, essentially? I mean, I know the other reason you're here, but seems to me that you'd need a better reason to stay than just because of the green guy.
