@forensisch sent🔪 to walk in on my muse standing over a dead body.
the smell of sea salt and blood intermixed with one another wasn't quite as unpleasant as barton thought it was going to be initially. there was quite a bit of the iron-rich substance around as well at the moment, too — both his and the man he'd just killed. though it was mostly faust's, his newest victim, as he'd only been able to cut his hands as barton had immediately reached out to cover where faust was striking at the time; and this was in an attempt to defend himself. the blonde let out an exasperated sigh as he laid beside the man who was now a corpse, almost completely out of breathe. faust had led him around like a chicken with its head cut off just to try to finish the job of killing him.
but in order to understand how things had ended up in barton going on what was essentially a chase to dispatch him, we'll have to rewind to earlier that evening. he'd been looking for more victims to quote unquote 'procure' in places that were infamous for attracting tourists. and one of these places was a nice, underground bar, complete with a pianist as well as a very 'speakeasy like' aesthetic. that was where faust had approached him. which, was a bit unusual considering he was usually the one to have to initiate a conversation with his prospective kills, but the man seemed to have beat him to the punch. it seemed like he might've been purposely looking for someone to befriend but there was a heavy undertone of something else there. something romantic, as faust had expressed interest in them 'getting out of there.'
so, how could barton refuse? it was even better of a situation than he could've imagined. barton didn't have to feign interest in the man up front as he was already interested in him, and from that point forward, they'd agreed to drive to a secluded spot near the main beach of gotham in barton's car. this was, of course, under the guise of him 'knowing someplace where they could be alone.' why he really went there though is because, at this hour, there'd be no one else around... so it'd serve as the perfect killing ground. faust seemed quite eager to get the show on the road then and before long, they were kissing. little did he know that barton was just using this as a distraction so that he could stab him quickly. but in the end, things didn't end up going according to plan, as faust caught wind of barton pulling something out of his pocket at just the right time. and he'd dodged the original swipe that barton attempted to cut him with.
'well, so much for this being an easy kill,' barton had thought at the time whenever he could only watch as faust stumbled out of the car and ran towards a shed more near the surf. from there, a lengthy fight had ensued between the two of them, with faust throwing things at him and even disarming him at one point to deliver a few slashes with barton's own knife to his hands. but he'd made one crucial mistake during all of this — he left one of his blindspots open — and as such, barton was able to turn the tables, hitting faust in a rather painful spot (the kidney) to force him into a daze. this is when he was finally able to sink his blade into faust's heart and how he ended up in his current position. barton was just starting to get up when he heard someone, or something, jiggling at the doorknob.
barton had barely enough time to say ' what the hell? ' before he was bombarded with the sight of someone who looked vaguely familiar opening the door of the shed. he looked from faust's dead body, then, to the stranger and made a split decision to pull the other inside by the bicep. this was so that johann couldn't leave to alert anyone. barton stifled an incredulous but also snide chuckle, before pressing the tip of his knife to his throat, ❝ oh no... come here. you're not going anywhere, you hear me? ❞ he leaned in to get into the other's face, ❝ now don't lie to me when i ask you this or i'll kill you twice as fast. the only reason why i would think anyone like you would be here at this hour is if they were following me. so, have you been? ❞
