me and @bigblue discussed me writing a starter for them + thus, here's a little something-something based off of what we discussed (:
the heat of summer in gotham city was slowly but surely dissipating, and not only barton noticed it, of course. all too familiar phrases such as 'we needed this rain' and 'it's about damn time this heat wave stopped' being murmured among people he passed by in the streets. and don't get me wrong, the doctor himself was happy about this; but mainly because it meant fewer people would be venturing outside. so he could conduct his business in relatively more privacy, which included making a so-called 'drop' in an abandoned bar for a client under the floor boards. that is... while he grabbed the cash they stuffed underneath them in exchange.
sometimes, meeting in person with these people was just too risky and so making drops like these was about as safer as it could be for one to make some very illicit deals with another. barton occasionally turned around to make sure he wasn't being followed to rhe best of his ability (because honestly, not a lot of methods of 'making sure' you weren't followed were completely full-proof) before switching the cooler in his hands for the money beneath the floorboards. after counting it all, he determined it was all there before securing the floorboards back where they were before. as barton exited it, he admittedly felt an itch for a drink as he couldn't help but continue to be a bit nervous about this patient's case he'd seen that morning.
it wasn't always clear what someone was suffering from at the get-go. and unfortunately, with this patient, this was one of those times. maybe he should just go ahead and go to a bar to take a bit of the edge off? barton had looked both ways before crossing the street, a yawn slipping through his lips as he did so. he maneuvered his way down the sidewalk through several people walking too close to him, but as soon as he saw that the damn sidewalk was apparently being torn apart for some reason, he turned on his heel to try to reach the bar he knew nearby another way. however, it seemed fate had other plans. barton didn't even have time to consider someone might be behind him before he felt his body collide with another person's.
they hadn't fallen over from the impact, it seemed, but barton had felt like something had jabbed him in the kidney... and god's, that hurt. he groaned in pain as he looked up at whoever this unlucky person might be, for he was about to tell them to watch where they were going. ❝ hey, what the hell are you doing? don't people know how to pay... ❞ attention to their surroundings anymore, was what barton was about to say through gritted teeth. the doctor did bend over slightly while waiting for the pain in his kidney to subside. though now that some of it had gone away, he was able to look up at the man in front of him. then it all hit him like a truck. from that facial structure — those piercing blue eyes, too — and that smile that seemed vaguely remiscent of someone he used to know... barton recognized who this person was.
barton's heart began to beat just a little faster in his chest whilst he squinted at the other, taking a step back from clark. he searched the other's eyes for any sign of recognition on clark's own part only to feel both what felt like his palms get all sweaty with anxiety; and a lump form in his throat from the suddenness of this. barton sucked in a shallow breath, blinking several times and beginning to wonder whether he was actually in reality right now. i mean, he hadn't seen clark in ages. but here they were and barton could only tilt his head at this, gnawing on the corner of his lip to keep it from quivering, ❝ ... clark? is that you? ❞
