[log] clint barton's no good very bad week [closed]

[awwnoun]

Characters: Clint, Steve, Ecks, Natasha and Tony
Location: Building 108
Date: Days 155 and 156
Summary: Clint finally meets Steve face to face after he revives - and also finds Ecks again. Nat and Tony catch up the next day.
Warnings: Will update as necessary!

108: A standard single-story house with a kitchen, living room, dining room, bathroom, and bedroom. The bed in the bedroom is a loft-style bed, giving extra space for the desk beneath it. One of the desk drawers is empty, and the others have countless small plastic cases that look like they could have been SD cards, although there aren't any computer chips in them. These are only plastic shells.

Comments

Day 156

[awwnoun]

for clint!

[redrooms]

[Sometime after lockdown, Natasha finds Clint. He made her grab those stupid books from that house last night, and now she's going to foist them off on him. Really, though, she's hoping to cheer him up, so even though she approaches him with a very stern look on her face, there's a smile creeping through. She drops the books in his lap, the Russian spy one on top.]

I thought you might be interested in that one.

[awwnoun]

[ HOLY SHIT. This is the biggest score he's ever seen! She drops the books in his lap and he grabs at them, looking over the titles. It takes about three seconds for him to figure out what the Russian spy on is, and it pulls a pretty gleeful look up on his face. What a fucking nerd, really.

He opens his mouth to say something out of habit, pauses, and then wrinkles his nose before signing holy shit at Nat. He's got his hearing aids in, so he can hear her, at least, as he flicks through the book. ]

[redrooms]

[Natasha smiles, sitting down in front of him.]

Sign slowly. I'm rusty.

[She grabs the Russian spy book again, holding it up in front of him.]

Should we see how many terrible inaccuracies there are?

[awwnoun]

[ Right, he got over excited. He casually just scoots closer to her, settling on one page to look through it before remembering something - he practically falls off the couch trying to grab his pack.

When he drags it towards him, he digs through it for a good few moments before pulling out a shitty little friendship bracelet, purple tie-dye. A beat, and then he offers it to her, solemnly. Here. In exchange for the horrible Russian spy smut. ]

[redrooms]

[Natasha raises her eyebrows, taking the bracelet from him and running her fingers over it. It's pretty obviously a friendship bracelet, and for a second, she wonders if anyone has ever actually given her one before. She doesn't think so. It might be tacky and purple and cheap, but it's exactly the type of sentimental, sweet gift Clint would give her. Suddenly, she's overcome with relief at having him back all over again, and she can't help but smile, the expression a little sappy.

It's too small to slip over her hand, so she offers it back to him and then holds out her wrist.]

annnd an open one

[redrooms]

[Natasha spends most of the night alternating between her tablet and Clint, because sometimes she's predictable. She checks the network obsessively on a good night, but she's especially bad tonight, because she's trying to distract herself. After a while, she parks herself in the kitchen with a length of twine tied to one table leg, twisting it tightly and carefully into a stronger, thicker length. She might not have her garotte or her Widow's line, so she's improvising, but it might make her look a little nuts.]

[bottledblond]

"Is that Cat's Cradle?" Steve hadn't exactly been keeping to himself so much as trying not to do anything to summon another coughing fit or asthma attack again. He's been very generous with the junk food he'd gotten from the market three days back and had a pack of cookies in his hand now to share with Natasha.

He crouched down to see what she was doing, eyebrows arched.

"I haven't seen anyone do that in years."

[redrooms]

That's not what she's doing, so she shakes her head, but she ties off the cord she's working on and grabs some of the extra twine, tying that off into a loose loop, and then weaving it into a cradle between her hands. "Careful, Steve," she says, holding her hands out to him. "Everyone will know how old we are."

[bottledblond]

"I just hit thirty-one," Steve grinned, sitting down in front of her to pinch the two X strings and pull them over the horizontal strings to begin the next design. Even with such large hands, Steve was careful and delicate. He was still trying to compensate for a strength he no longer had, ten days after losing it. "But you're still in your early twenties so I wouldn't worry about it-- Nor would I ask a lady her age."

It wasn't as cold as it had been for the last few almost unbearable days so his fingers weren't completely iced over just yet.

"I honestly didn't know anyone still played this." It's probably strange to find this so enjoyable, but Steve really did love simplicity. The modern world was anything but so be treasured the pieces of the past where he could.

[redrooms]

Natasha raises her eyebrows, smiling at him. "Flattery will get you nowhere, Steve."

She pulls on the new set of Xes and loops them under, tugging them off of his fingers as she does. Luckily for her, her gloves are thin, but offer at least a decent amount of protection from the cold. "Unless you really are only thirty-one, in which case there are more differences between our timelines than I thought."

General Talky Thing for all? (Afternoon)

[definingfuture]

[Tony approaches everyone later in the afternoon, telling them they should talk. His eyes are bloodshot, but with the weather it could very likely be the onset of a bug. Cold or Flu, maybe. They are having bad luck with the conditions of the town. After the fallout the day before, he figures that they really do need a plan. They don't know how anyone will react at this point.]

This week has been a real winner so far. Is everyone okay?

[Bucky told him Steve is sick and he's checking on that. And on Clint, who seems to be in one piece, but he knows the man likes to downplay his health too. And Nat... Tony just hopes she's okay now that Clint is back.]

[redrooms]

[Natasha has plopped herself down next to Clint, legs stretched out in front of her. She is feeling better, so when she nods, it isn't a lie. She has a feeling, though, that Tony hasn't gathered them all to check on their well-being, or at least that's not the only reason.]

Well, certainly better than we were two days ago.

[bottledblond]

Steve had managed to steer clear of Tony for the most part since he and Natasha had arrived. There were some pleasantries here or there, a little smile, but Steve had seen that Stark was carrying around a whole lot of weight. He himself had not seen what the files that Watson had accidentally leaked were. He had arrived at the network post too late since he was busy having in person conversations with Clint. Even if he had seen the files, he wouldn't have understood how to see the supposedly redacted portions. He'd gotten pretty good with technology but he didn't have the foundation to work out little tricks like that.

"I was better ten days ago," Steve said, though ten days-- Had it been that long? He wondered what the others were doing and, not for the first time, wished Sam was here to talk him through some of the decisions and insecurities he'd been working on for the last few days. "What exactly did you want to discuss?"

Because the last time Tony Stark wanted to gather everyone to talk... Things went poorly.

[awwnoun]

[ Clint is curled up next to Natasha, and he's got his hearing aids in, which is convenient since Tony wants to talk to all of them. He sniffs, rubbing at his nose, and looks up from his tablet, getting a good look at Tony.

He's a little mad still from the conversation they'd had two days ago. Not a lot, but he's watching. Maybe waiting a little, for Tony to show some sign of wanting to do something crazy, like... y'know, leave.

Clint jabs at his tablet. Here's his usual Microsoft Sam voice. ]

Right, discussion. I'll type fast. Fine, btw.

[definingfuture]

[Clint and Natasha have settled in, and Tony is slightly more comfortable seeing them act normal. As if this were a normal Avengers meeting like any other.

He hasn't had one of those for a while. Even the New Avengers meetings are awkward. After the conversations he had in the morning, Tony is glad to get this over with, although he shifts slightly and looks toward the exit of the room when Steve asks what he wants to talk about. Deep breath.]

I think we need to decide what really happened yesterday.

[He tries to sound confident.]

That was a serious leak. We don't know that everything that was shared is true, but I think the important part is that some people will believe it is. And they might decide to act on it. I just want to know that all of us are still good.

This- this is the kind of thing that breaks us up.

Later Afternoon

[definingfuture]

[After several long talks and getting all the emotions squared away, Tony retreats to the kitchen of the house they are staying in. He wants to give everyone time to sort things out on their own, because it's been one disaster after another and they really just need a break. Maybe water will help. He chooses the kitchen because it at least feels a little more normal to have a drink in the kitchen. That's the idea, at least.]

[awwnoun]

[ Clint is still angry. After everything, after all of that conversation, he's tired, and upset, and he feels like he still has a fight in him. And he doesn't really want to provoke Tony further, but he does want to make something clear, and so he holds up his tablet so it can read off what he's typed into it, from across the room. ]

You need to decide what you want out of me because threatening me with the whole you're not part of the team just kidding you are thing is getting old.

[ And he'll wait a few seconds to see if he gets a reply before turning to leave. He doesn't quite yet. ]

[definingfuture]

[Tony doesn't really notice at first, and when he looks up at Clint to see the tablet facing him he is completely confused. He stares blankly, surprise written on his face because he thought he was alone.]

What? Nothing. I don't- Is there still a team? You didn't tell me that.

[He rubs his face, trying to clear his eyes.]

I keep wondering if it all came together. I can't see how it would, but I hope it would. Or maybe it's better if it doesn't.

I didn't mean what I said.

[awwnoun]

What? No, I'm

[ Clint's whole body kind of just reacts in a way that makes it clear if he had a voice, he'd be making a frustrated sound. He actually turns the volume of his tablet up so it sounds a little more like yelling. Just a little. ]

I mean HERE
I'm not talking about home asshole I'm talking about here where its me you and Nat and Steve, but we're not a team here I guess or maybe we are because you keep making noise about it being a thing so you can take the status away from me
Decide if I am or not
I don't need a team to do things for people but I would like to know if I can count on my friends to stop FUCKING with me when they get upset

[definingfuture]

I know. I mean here. If it doesn't work out there, it wouldn't work out here.

[Clint is understandably upset, but he's also "yelling" using a high volume dictation voice. It sort of takes the edge out of what he says.]

You know I can't take that away from you. If you really want it, it's already yours. It's not like a few people are really going to hold you up or make much difference either way. You always have Natasha, and it sounds like Steve will keep working with everyone regardless.

What difference does it make what I call it?

[He probably isn't helping. Switch gears.]

I can't promise you anything right now. Just forget the whole thing.

[redrooms]

[Natasha gives everyone a little bit of time to breathe before tracking Tony down to the kitchen. It seems like in all of these disagreements, she's always the one that comes out the least upset, so here she is, trying to figure out what the hell that was. She leans against the table, crossing her arms.]

Well, that was a mess.

[definingfuture]

[Tony leans with both hands on the counter top, head lowered. He knows he screwed that up, and unsurprisingly Natasha shows up to point that out.]

Yeah. It was... yeah.

[redrooms]

[Natasha doesn't move, and her voice is calm and level rather than accusatory.]

Are you going to talk to me about what went wrong?

[definingfuture]

I thought it was pretty obvious after I put my foot in my mouth for the fourth time.

I screwed up, Natasha. I gave them both every reason they needed to hate me.