14298/Double-checking some information.

Double-checking some information.
Date of Scene:	09 April 2022
Location:	Mel's Diner - Breakstone
Synopsis:	Clint and Nick try to get some answers from Sarah.
Cast of Characters:	Hawkeye (Barton), Phantasm (Drago), Sarah Connor

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Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
After their first encounter, during which they also encountered a Terminator they jointly dispatched, Clint Barton was left with a lot of questions. Duty calling him away, and other personal matters, the archer didn't have much time to spend on following up on this matter. Now that he's bact in town, he dropped by where Sarah Connor works and left a message for her to join him as the nearby dinner if she wanted to.

It's quite late at night. He's been sitting at the dinner for an hour already, all other patrons have left.

While waiting, unsure if Sarah will join him, he uses his phone to contact a semi-colleague.

"Nick? Come over here, I'm sending you the coords. Don't act weird, I'm waiting for someone already paranoid already. Consider it part of training."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
For those who are not privy to the details for why Nick would be acting weird over the phone conversation. Allow for this to ex-

No. It will take too long. We're diving in.

After a few stops and a confusing phone call, Nick ends up finding himself at yet another diner between the hours of 'You should be in bed' and 'Why are you still up? This can't be healthy.'

The musician comes to the entrance of the diner and after looking around, he spots Clint and proceeds to walk over to him. There is the crinkle of plastic and soon the white bag is set on the tabletop in front of Clint with the lettering 'Fred's Diner' advertised on the side. "Your order..." He glances around, "You know, most diners don't appreciate outside food."

Sarah Connor has posed:
Sure. Not only did Sarah /work/ there, apparently she was supposed to meet up with people there too. Good thing she happened to work this afternoon because she really didn't enjoy the ride out here when she didn't have to come.

Then again, he was from SHIELD.

Damn.

He /was/ from SHIELD. If she didn't come he might pull a warrant for her arrest (he had to know about that.. doesn't he?). But if she /did/ show up it could be the same.. waiting for her with handcuffs.

Yet he could be telling the truth..

The whole afternoon she debated that in her head. Till now, when she was in the back room putting the final touches on the extra napkins. Eventually she had nothing left to do but to go out.

Pouring a coffee she looked around the diner as she spied him.

Then his friend.. fuck.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Oh, the enticing smell coming from the bag! Cheeseburger, onion rings and cheesecake! ARG! But hey, right, you can't eat outside food. With a sigh, the archer grabs the bag and places it on the floor. Might as well order something from Mel's.

"Thanks, Nick. And sorry 'bout that." He motions for Nick to sit down, "I dunno if my contact will show up. We'll wait an hour and see."

That said, Clint checks the menu and finds that it's quite similar to Fred's. He might be able to eat some onion rings after all!"

He then glances around, but no sign of Sarah. Nonetheless, he reaches for his pocket to retrieve a penknife, placing it on the table, covering it with his hand. "Oh, don't worry. We'll have to prove that we're humans."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick glances to the indicated seat and sighs, shifting in to the booth. He reaches over grabbing a menu as well. It seems the phone call screwed up BOTH their meal plans for the evening. The movement from Clint's causes for Nick to glance over, looking to the item being placed on the table. A curious glance is flashed to the archer. The explanation only intensifies the expression as the head tilts as well. "...What?"

Sarah Connor has posed:
For just one moment Sarah thought about taking the back door out.

Instead she poured two extra coffees, and made her way to the booth. "I'm not your waitress." Her voice was clipped. "The coffee is on the house though. Who's your friend?" She nodded with her chin.

Without knowing she wasn't going to sit down. No way. Uh-uh.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint looks up as Sarah appears, a large smile on his face. It's not part of SHIELD's training, only an instinctive reaction from the archer when his eyes fall on a very nice looking woman.

"Thanks for coming, Sarah," Clint says as he accepts the offered coffee, "Meet Nick, a very good rookie." He doesn't mention SHIELD, she's smart enough to get it. Hopefully, the archer's honesty will also be noted. "Will you sit with us? Just to chat, y'know, I'm still curious about the events of our first encounter."

And then he moves his hand away from the penknife on the table, "If you need to be reassured about us, I can prove that I am who I am."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
As Sarah comes over, Nick turns his head to look to the woman who stops by the table to address them. Blue eyes scan the features of the face, and with the nod in his general direction, he slowly nods as well before looking over to Clint for some explanation.

What he gets isn't really helping with the questions he's forming. Instead he's looking to the knife and then to Clint. "First encounter?"

He looks back to Sarah. "...uh. hi?"

Sarah Connor has posed:
Sarah noticed Clint's penknife. And the rapid taking his hand away from it.

"Hrmph." She figures he's either backing away because he doesn't want to scare her, or.. Clint was going to cut himself to prove he was human. "Terminators have a blood source. Not a lot, but they can bleed. Keeps them from being noticed in most situations."

Like a cut.

Now Nick is looked at. "You're not a spy. You're too pretty. What are you?"

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Blood source? Ah well. Short of exposing nerves, muscles or bones, Sarah will have to trust him if a simple cut won't do. Since the penknife won't be needed, Clint returns it to his pocket. "Alright," he says, "As long as you believe we aren't some mini Ultron wannabees a few fries short of a Happy Meal."

Sipping some coffee, the archer almost chokes on it as Sarah tells Nick he's too pretty to be a spy. A perplexed expression appears on his face, as Clint looks first at Nick - pretty? him? -, then at Sarah.

"Dang, and you believe that I'm a spy?" he asks, a mocked hurt expression on his face.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick looks over to Sarah, brow raising to the comment. His expression shifts to the practiced smile one gives when being told the same thing for the 200th time at a signing event and still having to act like it's new information. "Oh! Thank you." He chuckles, reaching over for one of the cups of coffee Sarah brought over to them. Because, might as well accept coffee from the crazed woman wh-

The mug is set on the table.

"To be honest I think he was just using me as a Doordash service and felt guilty he had to change the address on me because I don't know what you guys are talking about."

Sarah Connor has posed:
Sarah shrugs. She knows what she knows.

"Besides," she tells Clint. "So far none of the Terminators we have met would think of that. Usually they skip a step in trying to manhandle me, to get their answers." She doesn't explain /what/ the answers they're looking for.

When Nick puts on that practised smile, you can almost hear her eyes rolling. "I wasn't telling you as a compliment. Just a statement of fact."

She still is standing. And because she is everybody else just thinks she is taking their orders.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Yes, and they look like guys who have no clue of what they want to order, taking an eternity to choose. Feeling that Nick might wonder what Terminators are, Clinit provides him with some details.

"You see, Pretty Face," he starts, looking at Nick, "Some crazed android called Terminator was chasing Sarah. They do look like humans, but only on the surface. It tried to kill her, and we dispatched it."

Now looking at Sarah, he has some questions for her. "Can you tell me how many there are around? And who created them?" As he speaks, he keeps his voice low despite the fact that the diner is rather empty of customers.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Guys with no clue of what to order with a TO GO bag from a different diner on the floor near Clint.

"Maybe not," Nick replies to Sarah, "But it still came out that way and I'll take them where I can get them."

And then Clint says it. "Except from him." He adds in, looking over to Clint as he gives a brief explanation to what a Terminator is. "Ah Assholes in disguise. That sounds familiar."

With the conversation redirected to what Clint apparently wanted to find out, Nick shuts up, looking over to Sarah.

Sarah Connor has posed:
Sarah stares at Clint. He didn't just ask that.. did he?

"How many spies are in your organisation? That you know of. That aren't working for your organisation." A pause. "Are you certain about that?"

"No. I have no friggin clue how many Terminators there are out there. There's a reason I don't trust anyone." She turns to Nick. "So, I'm sorry, but your *dazzling smile*.." Ha! Sarah is so bitter. "..doesn't work on me. But I could pretend."

With that she giggles and blushes, "Assholes in disguise? Oooo! What a delightful term." And immediately returns to her 'normal' face.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"No, I don't know how many," Clint replies, "And I don't give a shit how many there are." With that, the archer drinks some coffee, ostentisibly put off by Sarah's answer.

He's not really a spy himself, but if he can't find answers, Clint knows how to get the finest agents on the case. Since the Terminators chase Sarah, a simple tracking job would reveal the Terminators around her.

He's not yet to the point of doing so, but there is a need to assess the threat. As long as they are hunting Sarah, the immediate threat is not severe, although there will be colateral damage. And this is a concern.

"I get it that you'd like us to mind our business," Clint then states, "But sadly, security is our business. Especially when the threat comes from who-knows-where in the universe."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick glances over towards Clint at Sarah's question. Because honestly considering the crap he's gone through with HYDRA planted DHS agents, that's a PRETTY GOOD concern to have.

He doesn't even look to Sarah as she tries to mock the manner in which he summed up the Terminator explanation in terms he best recognizes. He was just being polite. It's not his job to get information out of the woman anyways.

Nick lips flatten to a set line as he hears Clint's response. The archer may not give a shit about how many possible turncoats there are in SHIELD but...

Yeah, that's a bit of a concern here.

Sarah Connor has posed:
Clint might be in the business of protecting people, except her experience meant it wasn't safe to trust him or anybody else.

"You must be around my age. You've been.. what.. ten year.. fifteen years? on the job? What would you do if the only person you could count on was you. And you had to go every day and do your job without being certain who was going to kill you on each and every single day?"

Oh she could have added a little bit that would make it clearer: John. Her son John.

Sarah takes a deep breath, lowers her voice even more as she apologizes to Nick. Sorta. "It's not your fault. It's just, I've found, it's easier to depend on nobody except myself. I know who I am. Even if I tell you about the terminators, you're in much less trouble if you stay away from me."

Unless he joins the Human Resistance.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
The archer shrugs at Sarah's reply. "Yeah, and that long among spies thaught me that I can be betrayed anytime, tonight, tomorrow. Heck, it happened before." He finishes his coffee. "But if I don't trust anyone, ever, then I won't be able to help anyone, and be stuck within my own fears."

He then pushes his chair, as if getting ready to leave. "You don't trust me, fine. I can't blame you... I guess. But remember this, I did not come here with an army of spies, heck, I didn't tell the FBI on you." And yes, he could have done both. "I'll find the answers, because it's my job to protect people. Like it or not."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick's jaw tightens as Clint talks about the possibility of the people Nick is relying on for security potentially turning around to betray him. Yes. This is not problematic at all!

And then he had to point out that sometimes you do have to show trust. Which honestly, Nick has done a LOT of recently. To a bit of loss on his part.

He sighs, "In short the easiest way is not always the most effective way. If I didn't trust someone, my shit situation probably would have been shittier."

Sarah Connor has posed:
"Question." Sarah directs her question to Clint. "What would you do if your reason to be alive was to make sure one person will stay alive to save the world. I don't care if you don't understand. In the long run you aren't going to matter much unless the one person lives. He's all I care about."

She presses her lips tight. "Don't you get it? With you poking around my life you put yourself in danger." Herself in danger.

John in danger.

Nick's words creep up on her, causing her to shut down her facial features until she is a blank slate, giving nothing away.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint slowly stands, after grabbing the bag of now cold food. He nods at Sarah, not showing any hostility towards her as he answers her question.

"I'd do all it takes to protect that person," he says, "It's nice to hear that you don't care if I don't understand what you don't want to explain."

The archer takes a step away, glancing at Nick to see if he'll follow him. While waiting to see what Nick will do, Clint asks Sarah.

"Don't you get it? With you not answering, it's not me you put in danger, it's all the innocent bystanders that might be caught in your secret war." Pause. "Oh please, don't bother answering."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick, who picked the booth, scootches his butt along the seat until he gets to the gap away from Sarah that will let him out. The asked question does give him pause. He looks to the mother. "Make sure you have a backup plan for when you're gone. Make it to where he's still being looked out for until he's old enough to do it himself. Effectively."

He steps forward, moving alongside Clint before looking to Sarah once more, "You're not going to stop everything. But, you can buy him time."

Sarah Connor has posed:
Sarah keeps her blank face.

But on the inside.. so many emotion are burbling up to the surface.

..HIM time..

Sarah loses her cool for just one moment telling Nick. "I've just got to buy him time enough." And she's back to emotionless again. "Don't let the door hit you on the way out."