6374/Changeling: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

Changeling: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Date of Scene:	05 February 2019
Location:	New York City
Synopsis:	Clint brings home a dog, Skye brings home something bigger. May, drops in too and people are in trouble.
Cast of Characters:	Hawkeye (Barton), Quake, Melinda May
Tinyplot:	Changeling

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Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
The text had come sometime in the early afternoon.

Kate >> Need you to take care of Lucky. Will explain when I get back. ~K

Clint had blinked at he message, but fired back a quick:

Clint >> KK. You owe me.

Then he'd trucked off to the Lower East Side to pick up the dog, who was about ready to gnaw through the door in order to get out.

Clint had taken the one-eyed dog for a walk, a long one, then brought him back to the car, with some toys, food, and bowls. Wondering what Kate might have been gotten up to. Like PI stuff, or maybe as the other Hawkeye, which prompted him to text before he got the car started:

Clint >> Need any help?

Then relying on Kate replying if she did, she'd hit him back. He drove on to the Triskelion, and slipped up to their aprtment without being stopped about the dog. Which was a shame because Clint was already to snark about him being a 'hearing ear dog' but didn't get the chance to use it.

Home, but wet with dog slobber, Clint let Lucky off his leash and then headed into the bedroom for a change of clothes. "Don't eat anything!" he calls to the dog as he wanders into the room.

Quake has posed:
Meanwhile, Skye has convinced Cal to return home with her - peacefully so. Even if this is going to mean a whole lot of explaining to Agent May later. She vouches for him at security, explaining he was her father and he'd be staying with her as a guest for a bit.. and takes Cal along to the quarters she shares with Clint.

"So, let me do the talking okay? And remember, he's not had a chance to meet you properly, so he might still be a bit sore about a few things." She almost lets it go at that, then decides to add, "So please no losing your temper or hurting him."

Cal getsa quick kiss to the cheek, and Skye opens the door to her quarters... Only to be greeted by a dog. A dog she doesn't remember getting. A dog she is certain wasn't there when she left.

"Uh.. Clint?" Calling out, not sure where he is. "When'd we get a dog? I distinctly rememember discussing we weren't parent type people.."

And while she might be hestitant to enter the room properly because of the possibility that the dog might not be all that friendly, Lucky certainly didn't get the memo that he might be dangerous, and wanders over as a single canine welcoming unit, intent on sharing slobber with prejudice and much happy tail wagging in greeting. Because hey, she might have food, right?

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint tossed off his shirt, and then found he'd gotten gum on his jeans so, pulled those off as well, pausing to check his phone when it buzzed.

It was Kate.

Kate >> No - I have everything well in hand

Clint fired back.

Clint >> KK. Have fun. <-----<<< - C

That's when the door opens and Clint tosses the phone on the bed and hurried gets dressed. "Coming, I'll explain everything."

His shirt comes on and new jeans are jumped into and pulled up before he heads to the living room.

"Kate messaged me, said she needed someone to- What the hell?!"

Clint grabbed a lamp off a table hard enough to pull the cord out of the socket. He lifts it ready to throw. "Skye, what's he doing here?"

Cal for his part, despite his nerves about coming here, simply raises his hand and waggles his fingers, saying: "Hi."

Looking to Skye, Cal says, "He seems nice."

Quake has posed:
Skye had no clue what one did with a dog, and was still standing there when Clint arrives to rescue her. "What do you mean what's he doing here? What's that thing doing here?"

That thing being Lucky who is still saying hello in his indomitably slobbery dog fashion. "And put that thing down!" Because now she sees exactly what Clint has done and can imagine this going from bad to worse in 2.3 seconds flat.

Other than Cal is surprisingly calm about things. "Uh, can we come in?" It's now filtered through that Kate messaged Clint and somehow that explains the dog, but they're all still standing there in a deadlock of open door, slobber, and raised lamp, with the added wildcard of Cal's temper, just waiting for someone to wander down to this far end of the hallway and be the thing that ignites the fuse accidentally.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint keeps his eyes fixed on Cal.

"What do you mean what is that doing here?' he asks Skye.. "He's a dog," Clint points with his free hand. "That's a monster."

Cal's calm snaps like a dry twig: "I AM NOT A MONSTER!" he bellows setting Lucky cowering and barking. Cal drops his voice. "I'm just a man trying to put his family back together."

Clint gives a sarcastic, snort, "Try counselling instead of kidnapping," he says, but when Skye asks if they can come in, he nods, stepping backwards to keep his distance from Cal.

"Thought you were going to see him when we had a team together," he says. He still hasn't put down the lamp.

Quake has posed:
"Technically," Skye points out reasonably, "I did go see him after I got a team together."

She knows she's pushing the limits of that one there.

"And what do you mean that's a dog and that's a monster. That monster is my dad, thank-you very much. And why do we have Kate's dog?"

She winces as Cal bellows, already picturing security being called and this going from bad to worse.

"Honestly, can someone move the dog so my father and I can come in and we can argue with the door shut like everyone else? Or are we drawing straws to explain to May before we've had a chance to figure this out?"

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"Oh come of it," Clint says. "That's not what I meant and you know it."

Clint's face was more worried than angry this was the /exact/ thing that had gotten Skye captured last time. He couldn't /believe/ she'd done it again.

Okay maybe he was a little bit angry.

"Potato, potahto, where he's concerned," Clint says but he sees Skye's point about stepping inside.

"Lucky, c'mere," he says, and the dog does, after a moment of hesitation. "Thank goodness I fed you all that pizza."

"Alright, close the door, Cal," Clint points at him with the lamp. "Take a seat." He directs him to the couch.

Cal doesn't move, looking to Skye instead.

Quake has posed:
"Come off it? Do you see and hear yourself and how you reacted? And you wonder why I thought this way was better?" Oh, he had a point. She knew he had a point. But so did she. Even if half her point was Cal bellowing he wasn't a monster - exactly what she hadn't wanted to happen at the meetup and had prompted her going to him by herself.. all of which she couldn't explain to Clint while they were all yelling at one another with the door open.

Skye scowls at Clint. "You can put the lamp down." Pointedly waiting, but telling Cal, "It's okay. He's not normally this cranky. And he's angry at me, not you. But we're all going to talk like civilized people once the lamp is put down."

Because regardless of what Clint thought of Cal (or how angry he was with her), his holding the lamp like her father was a common criminal and not both her father and her guest, wasn't sitting well with her.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"He had me kidnapped," Clint says, not quite believing what he's hearing. "You /killed/ someone because of that, and he gets to walk in here like a guest?" Clint lifts the lamp to his head like a phone. "Hello, Karl. yeah buddy you want to come over? We're having a party."

He looks at Skye pointedly then drops the lamp. ,

"And no, I'm angry with him, he had me kidnapped." There was a glare for Cal.

Cal for his part was still looking at Skye, though he asks, "You killed someone because of the kidnapping?" he asks sounding saddened by the idea. "Maybe I should sit."

Quake has posed:
"Of course I shot that guy! He was going to kill the hostage." Skye blinks at Clint. "And if you put down that lamp..."

Clint drops the lamp, which crashes on the floor, shattering its base, and its bulb, leaving Skye rolling her eyes.

"Not really what I meant there, Hotshot. But as I was trying to say, if you put that lamp down, we can come inside and talk. I'll explain everything."

Of course, Cal gets in on it and Skye sighs. "It wasn't just you," she tells her father. "They had other hostages, and needed to be stopped." She gestures that Cal should go inside and take a seat on the couch, moving aside to let Cal enter, as someone has to close the door and lock it.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"Right, and why was he on the dock with a hostage?" Clint asks before answering his own question with accusing point thrust in Cal's direction.

"Well, it's down, so start talking, I cannot /wait/ to hear this," he says.

Cal for his part takes a seat, letting Skye close the door. Even angry as he was, Clint didn't want to see things escalate until Skye had a chance to say her piece.

Clint pulled out his phone and speed dialed security. "Hey, this is Barton, over at Residential A6, had a problem with our sound system during a movie, yeah, the monster thing, uh-huh, yeah, sure I'll fill out the paperwork, anyhow, how's Marcy? She had the kid yet?" Yeah, well enjoy sleep now buddy, alright, I'll grab the papers in a few, take it easy."

If Clint had a super-power it was how he managed an easy rapport with his fellow agents, able to smooth over a lot, which probably explained why he got away with so much.

He hangs up the phone. "We shouldn't have any problems, so, what the heck happened?"

Quake has posed:
Skye's lips purse over a not-amused line as she closes and locks the door behind herself. Telling her father, "Please apologize to Clint for kidnapping him."

Turning her attention back on Clint, "I'm going to the kitchen to grab myself a beer. Am I bringing back one or three?"

She doesn't wait for his answer before she's marching off to the kitchen, "And don't think that you being kidnapped excuses surprise dog." Even if Lucky hadn't caused a stink that required an entire team and several backup units to deal with. Shortly, she marches back out of the kitchen with a beer in each hand and one tucked under her arm. "Nice touch with security," she has to admit, holding out a can to Clint. "I'm not cleaning up the lamp. And fine. He kidnapped you. Which really sucks. Remember me? Girl who gave kill order? Did it occur to you that if I brought him back here I trusted it was okay? Not to mention, we talked about this...."

Actually, when she thinks about it, they hadn't. A thing that draws her up short, taking several deep breaths. Which is likely a good thing, as the excitment, and her being just as angry with Clint as he is with.. Cal.. is eating away at that calm measured state that makes her powers less likely to just.. explode. And they'd really been trying to prove she could be trusted to return to normal society and the house in Grenwich.

"Okay, my bad. We didn't get to talk about it. I got kidnapped and you know what happened next. I guess all we really talked about was that. I never got to tell you I'd talked to my dad, or what had happened."

She gives Clint an apologetic look. "I'm still not cleaning up the lamp. At least not alone."

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"I'm sorry," Cal said. "I thought things would go a lot more smoothly," he says as though that was the problem.

Though it had been a good thing that it hadn't. Had things gone to plan Cal would have let the Neon Dragons keep Clint as payment for their services, to be traded for the bounty out on Avengers from all sorts of criminal groups.

Cal though just smiles, "And one for me, please," he says about the beer.

"One for me, and apology not accepted," Clint says taking a spot at the wall, arms crossed until Skye hands him a beer.

"You deserve to be heard out on this," he says about why he did what he'd done with the security people. He glares over at Cal. "And I didn't want him wrecking up our place."

There was a faint bit of rankling from Clint when Skye starts talking about trusting it was okay. "I am not worried about what he's going to do Skye, my problem is that you brought a guy who had me kidnapped to /our/ home and expected me just to be okay with it."

He looks over at Cal again. "He's my Karl and I'd never Karl anywhere without bars."

Cal, crushes his can in his hand, gritting out "I am. Not. Karl." Letting beer pour all over the carpet... again. "He's the real monster, he took my wife from me," he looks to Skye. "Your mother. And his name's not Karl. It's Zola, Armin Zola."

The lamp is utterly forgotten in the wake of that revelation.

"He's what?" Clint says throughly stunned, he knew who Zola was, everyone in SHIELD did, hell most of the world knew the name since he sunk part of San Diego in 2019, killing 13,000 people.

He'd vanished after that.

Quake has posed:
"You are not helping," Skye tells Cal when she returns with the beer. "That was not an apology." thought things would go smoother.. her head was already hurting. Throb throb throbbing in time with her heartbeat, which was so not a good sign.

Not that Clint escapes Skye snark. "Oh, you mean like you didn't wreck our place?" Pointing with her beer to the mess of the lamp on the floor. "So glad we saved the place from my dad."

The bickering, and her throbbing head have her needing to sit. "I did not expect you to be *okay* with it, I expected you not to grab the nearest weapon and threaten him before I had a chance to say anything. "And Karl is not your damned father. He's my dad, Clint. My. DAD."

The other livingroom lamp, as well as several various and sundry pieces about the nearest vicinity begine to shake.

They continue to shake as Cal's pronouncement has her turning to Cal, frowning, pieces neatly falling together. "Oh my god. That's the fucking piece I was missing. I've been stumbling around references to him this whole time and not putting the picture together."

"I need to sit down."

Melinda May has posed:
The call to security was cancelled, yes, but one Acting Deputy Director May knows better than to just believe Barton's excuses at face value. Hence she excuses herself from monitoring in the Ops Center and strolls on over to Clint and Skye's quarters. She's taking her time, mostly so whatever is going on with the couple can either simmer down, or they stop expecting someone to arrive at the door.

Or both.

Using her override to disable any alerts inside the quarters and open the door, she slips inside as quietly as possible and looks around to see what's going on.

Broken lamp on the floor. Clint standing with his back against a wall, which usually means he's not comfortable with something in the room. Skye is nearby, and other items are starting to shake. There's beer spilled on the floor, and it smells frou-frou. And Cal Johnson is standing over the spilled beer with a crushed can in one hand.

Hearing only Skye's declaration that she needs to sit down, May reaches behind her back and sidesteps near-silently to get clear of the lamp shards and where she can likely at the very least put a good slice or two in Johnson before he can really react. No matter how sneaky she is, though, she's not invisible and it's very likely that at least Clint will see her moving.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"I broke a lamp," Clint says flatly. "Daddy dearest over there can flatten walls."

Clint is ready to bellow back about Cal being her dad but the room starts to shake and he suddnly he's no longer angry but worried, coming to Skye's side, wrapping an arm around her, "Move over," Clint says to Cal. "Let her sit."

Cal doesn't hesitate, and even rises to his feet to hover, "I'm a doctor, is there anything I can do."

Clint shakes his head, just give her some space. "She's got this," he takes his own advice stepping back to not crowd Skye on the couch, as he does he catches sight of May. He keeps a poker face, letting the other agent slip behind Cal without comment or more than a passing glance. Cal misses it, his eyes are only on Skye.

"It'll be alright," Clint says to Skye. "We'll figure things out."

For now even the Zola revelation is forgotten.

Quake has posed:
Skye hasn't lost it yet - but she's on the edge. While the Zola admission wasn't a threat, it was just enough more to push her to the edge of things swarming for attention in her brain, and that throb throb throb that is ticking like a clockwork bomb.

She's vaguely aware it's Clint who is guiding her to a seat, and has no clue (yet) that May has slipped in. Her father's voice swarms around her. "Fine. Will be fine. Stop yelling at each other. Gotta think.."

She's leaned over at this point, heels of her hands pressed to her forehead, willing herself forcibly to calm. "stop stop stop" she whispers to herself. "you can do this just focus. breathe."

Things have the distinct possibility of going from bad to worse given May doesn't know Cal isn't responsible for the lamp - that this isn't an attack, and Skye invited him in - and given Clint is busy with her, he's not telling the senior Agent differently...

And this, boys and girls, is where good plans sometimes fall apart.

Melinda May has posed:
May knows Clint saw her, and the fact that he didn't speak up means he's giving her the option to do what she feels is right. Pulling her butterfly swords as quietly as possible, she lifts them to aim for a decapitation scissor-strike. Then, she speaks in the exact same level tone she does for everything else.

"Give me at least three reasons why I shouldn't stop your disrupting Skye's life. Again."

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Talk about timing May announcing her arrival has Cal turning sharply.

"No," Clint shouts to the man. The last thing they needed was people to throwing down with Skye on the edge of losing control of her powers. "Remember Skye," he barks.

Cal freezes, with his teeth gritted as he /stares/ at May. "I'm not here to hurt anyone, Daisy, I mean Skye, invited me. I am here to help."

Expecting May might try and verify, Clint offers a little nod. At least he knew Skye had invited him.

Quake has posed:
Skye is working through her breathing exercises. She's at least at the point now where she knows what this feels like and she's had more practice at controlling it and bringing herself down off the edge. No more *true* surprises about what brings her powers on, or what sets her off. There are distinct markers she's come to associate with losing control.

Which is why she's able to begin calming herself.

The shaky things rock some, but aren't increasing in their movement, or spiking in jumps and jars. The worst of it really is just a subtle shifting of position of a few items. Nothing broken even.

As for the rest of the goings on, she hasn't had any time to realize what's going on around her. Well, that May has arrived. Clint's words poke through enough for her to be able to get out, "It's okay. Just.. have to calm myself." This for Cal who probably has no clue what the hell is going on. "Part of my powers, dad. Still working out the kinks. Remember? Quake?"

Saying that draws a curl of a smile to her lips. She had a name. And yes, in the middle of all this, Skye is pleased that she has a name. And that her dad gave it to her.

Melinda May has posed:
May straightens from her 'about to kill you' stance but doesn't put her swords away. It's clear that she doesn't trust the older man as far as she can throw the Triskelion.

"You do not have free run of this facility, and you are only here because Skye has vouched for you. If at any time I get even the slightest inkling that you are not working for her best interest, you will find yourself in the bottom of an oubliette so fast you won't even have a chance of finding out what that word means."

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"I know what that means," Cal says lowering his hands. "But Skye..."

Her words reach him, "Right, Quake," he says smiling a little to comfort himself. "You're superhero name." Then he looks to May. "I'll be on my best behaviour," there is a shift of his eyes towards Skye. "I made her take me here if she's in any trouble." A transparent cover if ever there was one.

"You got this, Key-" there's a faint smile and shake of his head. "I mean Quake," he says as he moves to stand next to Skye.

Quake has posed:
There's a soft snerk from Skye, whose head is still throbbing, but in it's own little beat now, and not with the impending doom of her heartbeat racing away with things. "Oh, we are not all just calling me that willy nilly.. and Hi May. I know. You are so in trouble Skye.. Trust me, Clint already yelled at me."

Elbows still on her knees, fingertips at her temples, Skye looks up at them all. "This is so not how I pictured this going. Dad.. I think you remember Clint from kidnapping him. He's my partner. He's a nice guy when he's not thinking he has to save me."

An apologetically wry look to Clint. "Clint, my dad, Cal Johnson. I never got to tell you we talked. There's a whole bunch of stuff got skipped over because I got kidnapped. Trust me, he's probably more invested in keeping me alive and well than anybody other than you. I'd really prefer it if you two didn't kill one another and put me in the middle. He's promised to behave. And you're right. I dumped this on you and I'm sorry, but there was the stupid dog and then the lamp and.."

May gets her final look. "I know. I am in so much trouble. Dad, this is Agent May, she's kind of my boss and was the person who got me through training here. She's not kidding about laying you low if she has to, and on a scale of one to Clint, she hovers just below him in terms of people looking out for me."

As she says all that she turns her look back to Cal. "Daisy. We can keep Quake for special occasions. They're good people. I care about them. They care about me." She gives him a crooked smile. "You did pretty good." Because other than that bellow, Cal has behaved himself in a rather exemplary fashion all things considered.

Melinda May has posed:
"We'll talk later, Skye." May puts her swords away finally, but she's still watching Cal like she expects him to freak out at any moment. "I take it you haven't take the time yet to requisition quarters for Mr. Johnson?"

She sure as hell isn't about to let him stay in Clint and Skye's quarters, even if Clint for some unfathomable reason were to permit it. She looks at the man squarely again. "You will be assigned a handler, and you will do what you are told, and you will go where you are told, and you will not question. Do I make myself clear?"

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Despite Skye being on the verge of losing it and with all the other drama going on in the room. Clint still smirks and replies to Skye with a jaunty salute. "Sure thing Quake," he says at her request not to start calling her that willy nilly.

He does note to May with a nod that he did indeed yell at her for bringing Cal here.

"So not the same thing," Clint exclaims through a laugh about the dog and the lamp. "Anyhow I get it," and well it wasn't as though he was the one Skye had to worry about now. "No killing."

He gives a look to Cal, who nods in return. "No killing," he says.

"And Daisy, right," Cal says before turning to look at May. The demands rankle him, that's clear just by looking at him, but ulitmately he glances back to Skye. "Is this alright, I know you wanted me to be here with you."

Quake has posed:
Clint just gets a laughed grr from Skye, "Oh, you are so paying for that later, Hotshot." the laugh seems to break things, and exhaling long and slow she removes her fingers from her temples and says, "I think that did it. Not feeling all fly apart anymore."

Another quirked grin to Clint, "Quake, huh?"

However, May's demands aren't a laughing matter sort of thing. "Uh.. No. No quarters yet. I was thinking he could stay here in the guest room." To which May's look says uh-uh no and over my dead body. "Figured it was easier to keep him calm near me.."

However, May's words aren't as important as the implications of them, and how her father would take them. "Daisy is good. Quake is good. But really, I'm only that if I'm out there doing superhero-y things and I Might be grounded after today." She nods to Cal. "It's okay. I'll make sure they're good people working with you. And you can ask to see me anytime you want. If it's at all possible, you'll get to see me. I'll come visit you, and you can come here to eat and hang out."

May gets a hesitant, "I'm guessing you're not going to let me be the handler, right?" Like that was ever going to happen - even if Skye didn't have a bad habit of sneaking out (really, there should be a whole class on predicting and stopping her given the number of times it's happened now - you'd think an agency filled with spies she wouldn't be able to do this with such alarming regularity). "Nope. So, this won't be a yes, Clint, you can be Skye's field SO situation. Right."

Cal gets an apologetic look. "Would you do it for me? Please?"

Melinda May has posed:
May just stands there and waits for the others to come to some form of agreement. Of course, that's not to say she won't nix it if she wants. But better to let them suss most things out on their on, and then when she makes it law, they have no room to complain. Right?

That being said, she knows better than to deny Skye the freedom to visit Johnson as often as she wants even if just the thought of it makes her want to chop the man's head off like Perseus did to Medusa.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint grins at Skye when she threatens him with payback. "Sure, sure," he says with a laugh. "Seeing a lot of talk there, not much action."

Though he shakes his head at the other, "Just giving the name a test drive, you're still Keyboard to me."

Clint isn't exactly thrilled by the idea of Cal stopping by, but baby steps, he wasn't having to deal with him living with them right now.

When Skye pleads with Cal, the man nods, "That's all I need to hear," he turns to May. "I accept your terms Agent May," he says with a solem nod.

Quake has posed:
Skye makes a hand-flappy gesture to Clint, and cups a hand behind an ear to emphasize the 'wut? I can see your lips moving but I can't hear a thing' - a gesture made all the more amusing when you realize her hearing is somewhat superhuman now.

"Yeah yeah." Skye knows Clint is probably still going to have a few choice complaints with her later, but they'll be alright, which is all she needs to know.

And Cal seems to be accepting of the deal, which takes that problem off the table, leaving only...

"I take it that's okay, then? He's agreed to help us figure out how to counter the crystals. He knows what it is that Ka.. Zola is looking for, so we can get an edge on that. If we can find the stuff first and keep it out of his hands, it'll make it harder for him to create more crystals and disperse them into the population."

She exhales, "I'm really sorry. I know it doesn't make up for it, but I didn't want anybody getting hurt." And judging how Clint had reacted, and then Cal to Clint.. Skye wasn't convinced she still hadn't made the right call here. "I'd talked with my dad before I got kidnapped. We'd worked a deal out. He hurts people I care about, or goes off on a rage, I don't see or talk to him anymore."

Cal gets a look there, confirming that was still the deal. Because this was all serious. Very serious.

"A proper report will be on your desk. I know. You and I are going to have a long talk about my behaviour." She adds, "I have some other things to talk to you about as well."

Which May may be savvy enough to pick up are about the Bird's mission not so many days ago - a stretch your wings thing Skye had gone to as her newly powered self, with May's knowledge and blessing.

Melinda May has posed:
"Good enough. Skye, see to the arrangements for quarters. I'll make sure they're approved." And they WON'T be anywhere close to any place that requires higher security levels. She will never trust this man no matter how sincere he is about regaining Skye's trust.

She turns to head for the door, commenting as she goes, "Also, someone might want to clean up this broken lamp."