The Lion’s Den
Starter for @thedeafavenger based on this post; x
It was hardly a knock. Hardly anything... Like the start of the Edgar Allan Poe poem. Fairly sure he wasn’t haunted by ravens, Leonore or otherwise, it had him on high alert. Ajax held his breath, every muscle in his body tense as he listened. It didn’t make sense for anyone to come rapping on his door. It wasn’t even his... Unless they had blown his cover.
Ajax wasn’t stationary. With the things he’d done he couldn’t afford to be, so he kept moving around in order to complete his mission; take out all the mutants from the Weapons-X programme. As far as he was aware, no one had picked up on it, found the pattern... and if they had? They didn’t know it was him doing it. There was no chance.
Ajax rose slowly - he’d been slumped down on the couch and spaced out. The TV the only source of light in the room. It flashed every now and then, each time a different colour. Throwing his shadow across the walls.
If this was a threat, he better get it over with. He unlocked the door and pulled it open, only to arch an eyebrow at what greeted him. Ajax didn’t give away his moment of utter confusion - he was good at keeping his emotions at bay. The guy before him was a “celebrity” and hero. Heck, he’d even seen him around Wade.
“Barton, isn’t it? What are you doing here, mate?” Ajax blinked, he had this condecending manner about him - looking at Barton as if he was disgusted by his apperance. How frail he was. Beat. Broken. Shaking. Bleeding. Utterly frightened, but not by him. “Need someone to finish you off?” He half joked. Hawkeye wasn’t on his hitlist, but he wasn’t opposed to ridding the world of an Avenger.
Barton seemed unable to focus as he glanced up at him and appeared as if he would collapse at any moment. His eyes were dazed, he noticed. Ajax had seen that before, in people who were drugged, but made no effort to reach out for him or support him. Instead he took in the rest of the night - making sure he wasn’t lured into a trap.
“...didn’t know where else to go...” Barton mumbled much to his disbelief and suddenly fell forward, straight into his embrace. Ajax grabbed hold of him, making sure they didn’t fall.
“Shit,” Ajax breathed. He had half a mind to ask him how the hell he even knew where to go - but the national hero seemed in no state to answer questions. Ajax dragged him inside, shut the door and locked it. With Barton being in the state he was in, it was a bloody battle to get him to the couch.
With some effort he half dragged, half carried him. With a light push he let the ravaged person fall back against the pillows. Ajax slapped him and grabbed his jaw, hoping the pain would get him to focus. “What have you taken? What happened to you?” He needed to make sure that whatever hell he’d walked into wouldn’t rain down on them both...