14666/When you need to go!

When you need to go!
Date of Scene:	15 January 2023
Location:	Apartment 3A, Marcy House
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Hawkeye (Barton), Sarah Connor

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Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Barney Barton, Clint's brother, had done an excellent job in turning the ugly, dusty, and decrepit basement of the apartment building into a nice, almost cozy, workspace. Complete with a restroom area.

Only problem left to fix, the pipping.

You might be the best marksman in the world, it doesn't mean that you know piping. And since most of the pipes in the basement are older than the archer, he had decided to call for a professional plumber. Damned be the cost, it has to be well done.

The call had been made not ten minutes earlier, when Clint heard quick storming footsteps running down the stairs to the basement.

"Damn, man, this is a quick response to a call. Warning you, I'm not paying extra for rush call," Clint Barton says, not looking up at the stairs as he's busy unpacking the small sink to be installed.

Sarah Connor has posed:
The 'plumber' was rather fit. And young. Probably the reason for being fit? Other than that he was fairly nondescript. Average height. Nothing that stood out on him to make you go 'Hrm..'.

Of course, if Sarah were there, she would have known something was up.

But she wasn't. ..Too bad.

"You needed a plumber?" The plumber stopped in the middle of the stairs, and took a view of the whole basement. "It says here, you were having troubles with your hot water heater? And you were also thinking about the fixings for a new bathroom?"

As he looked around, he stopped to view the windows, and doors into and out of the basement. "It looks like you've been busy renovating. Many people here on a weekday?"

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Glancing momentarily to the non-descript plumber, Clint returned to the task as hand, unpacking the sink.

There's nothing really of interest in the basement, other than brand new windows and new stairs leading to the only door at the top. The old cinder blocks walls have been freshly covered with Gyproc and the floor covered in laminated flooring. There's a workbench with its back panel, adequately positioned to create a half wall behind which is located the restroom area.

"People, here?," Clint replies, wondering at what kind of question this is, "It's a private area of the building. There," Clint steps back from behind the workbench/restroom area, cardboard in hand. "Let's start with the toilet and sink. We'll see to the tank after that."

The tank isn't that old, and if installing the toilet and sink takes too long, Clint will just postpone anything done to the tank, which he's quite certain is still working.

Sarah Connor has posed:
"First the toilet. Then the tank." The plumber repeats his instructions. Almost as if he was pinning them into his brain. "I have to get my instruments out of the truck." As he talks, he smiles, as though he's not used to performing that gesture.

Then again, most people don't shoot the shit with their plumber. He could be uneasy with Clint's easy going nature.

"I'm not used to having the owner help me. I have to go back up to the truck and get my tools." He turns away, and walks slowly up the stairs. "Private area, huh? No worries about being dropped in on."

Maybe there was a reason why the plumbers usually worked alone: by this one, they weren't exactly the politest people with small talk. Not in the least.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Right, it takes all sorts to make a world. Clint Barton is one to know that, still, this plumber sounds a bit on the weirdo side of the world. While the archer doesn't have "spidey-sense", there's already a part of him that makes him a bit uneased with this plumber.

"Since when do plumbers get to a job without their tools box?" Clint wonders outloud.

Shaking his head, the archer decides to unpack the toilet.

"Really, Hawkster, ye're getting paranoid. It's a /plumber/ for crissake. You'd be weirdo too if you had to fix toilets all day long."

Laughing at the idea of being a plumber, Clint disregards his unwarranted suspicion. But not totally, as he instinctively looks around at the windows and stair.

"You'd be in deep shit if this guy came back with the Russian mobsters."

Indeed, although he all but eradicated the Russians from the neighbouring, they could always be back.

Sarah Connor has posed:
Really as far as customers went, Clint was unusual. He *wanted* to help to put the toilet in, rather than leave it all to the plumber. Which also assumed he had fixed up the pipes beforehand. A regular plumber would have been nervous about that, and would have checked everything out before putting the toilet in.

He might still be doing that?

Only two or three minutes went by. Not nearly enough to load up his tools - unless he didn't really have to go and get them? Maybe? He could have had them ready. He could have a good idea of what he was going to need before he went down.

What he didn't bring was tools. Unless 'tools' meant 'guns'. The plumber definitely had guns. Big guns.

Walking down the steps to the basement, he intones "I am so sorry, but you are a problem that must be dealt with."

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
And then, maybe the archer does have spidey-sense after all! There is no mistaking the guns for plumbing tools.

"Nice way to ask for advanced payment! I bet you don't have a lot of return customers!" Clint replies, as he's already looking for some sort of weapon. The basement not being totally renovated, no archery equipment has been stored there yet. Ah well, you gotta do what you gotta do!

Grabbing a piece of pipe from the sink kit he just unpacked, the archer throws it at the plumber as he walks down the stairs, hitting him at the side of a knee. This should incapacitate the gunman for a moment.

Coincidently, the workbench back wall being made of metal, offers some protection against bullets.

"Damnit, Barney, where did you hide the secret exit?" the archer groans under his breath as he looks around for the emergency exit his brother was supposed to take care of.

Sarah Connor has posed:
A moment's reprieve. If.

The pipe would have crushed a man's kneecap.. if it was a man. Unfortunately, it wasn't a man. "Where is Sarah Conner? I can give you a death that is painless if you help me."

His first shot was a warning shot. "Where is she?"

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Figures! A Terminator.

The sound of the gun firing is deafening in the basement.

"She wasn't joking when she warned me," the archer jokes, "You are just about as lethal as her social skills."

All joking aside, the position will soon become untenable. Quickly grabbing a longer piece of pipe - one that could be used as a staff for him to play a la Bobbi - Clint rolls over to reach the back of the stairs. This won't provide for much more protection, but if his instinct was right, Barney would have placed the exit in this location. But where?

On the small wall between the back of the stairs and the corner, on a wall, Barney has placed a large poster claiming that

"BEER WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE!"

"Seriously?" Clint groans, staring at the poster for a second. "Ah shit."

Hoping that his brother's sense of humour had a aim in placing the poster in this location, Clint turns sideways and bumps into the poster, bruising his shoulder in the process. But hey!

A metal trap, hinged on the top, gives way and the archer finds himself on the other side. Activated by the trap opening, emergency lights provide just enough light to be able to see around in the tunnel.

Using the pipe, the archer blocks the trap, which should give him just enough time to reach the exit - once he finds one, that is.

Sarah Connor has posed:
"Where is Sarah Conner?"

This time the plumber cum terminator was not fooling around. "Where is she? Where is her boy? John Conner? Where is she hiding him?"

The shots were fairly close. Close enough to give Clint pause, but far enough away that he could still answer the terminator questions. But he is getting tired of waiting. Closing the gap between them, the terminator is not bothered by the trap. At most it will take a few moments to find his way through it.

The question is: will it be enough for Clint to figure out how to get away from the terminator.

Gunshots rang in the basement. Not that Clint could see, but they are centered on the door handle.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
His eyes getting accustomed to the dim light on the other side of the trap, Clint can see that his definition of "emergency exit" was well understood by his brother. It wasn't a hiding place, it actually led outside. The only thing was, where.

Not waiting for the Termite to join him, the archer made his way along the small tunnel, crouched in the dark, bumping shoulders and knee at each step.

It wasn't only his eyes that got used to the dim light, but his nose also started to notice something else.

At the end of the small tunnel, another metal door soon came to view, this one with a bright

WILLIAMSBURG WASTE MANAGEMENT

Underneath, someone had added in white chalk

GO FOR IT

"Barney, if I survive, I'll kill you," Clint groaned.

This trap wasn't difficult to open, having been properly greased, and once opened, the fumes of the brightly advertised WASTE assaulted Clint's nose for good.

A small metal ladder made of metal bars lead to the main conduit. Barney had been so nice as to draw a white arrow towards the direction to follow.

Sarah Connor has posed:
Clint had run away, a fact that the terminator had noticed. By now he was getting fed up - or would be if he was a human. As a terminator he showed no emotion. However it was time to bump his strategy up a notch.

The door to the secret exit was ripped off, and the terminator was on Clint's trail.

Surprisingly the sewage waste was something that he had lots of knowledge of. Or at least it was similar to it. Reams and reams of piping and electrical panelings in dull and dark tunnels. As a machine he wasn't one to care about the sunlight and trees and flowers. Not in the least.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
From a distance, police sirens can be heard and by the sound of them, they were rushing to his apartment building. At least, the tenants will be protected, as long as the Termite is following him. Which, at that moment, Clint is certain of by the sound of the metal trap door being ripped open.

Still not interested in meeting with Mr. Termite without adequate weapons, the archer shakes his head and climbs down the small metal bars leading to a pool of waste water.

"Yes, waste water, that's all it is." No matter how Clint repeats it, the smell keeps contradicting his mantra.

The exit - also marked by Barney - which means he also went this way probably as a test run, wasn't far. It required climbing another set of metal bars leading to the cover of a manhole. Once at the manhole cover, the archer used his unbruised shoulder to pop up the cover - gaining a second bruised shoulder in the process.

Jumping out of the waste management system, Clint found himself right by a sidewalk - and thanked whatever powers that be for no traffic in the area.

Looking around, the archer started laughing when he realized that Barney had selected the manhole located just in front of a neighbourhood police station.

He might not kill Barney after all.

Crossing the street, Clint stopped just under the POLICE sign and stared at the manhole, waiting to see if the Termite followed him there.

Being dirty, bruised and mostly stinking, there was no avoiding the locals noticing his presence, including the police. Already, two cops at the police station were eying him, probably wondering if they should arrest him. Which, given the circumstances, might be the archer's best option at the moment. At least, there were plenty of weapons inside the station.