15090/Picking Up A Stray

Picking Up A Stray
Date of Scene:	16 May 2023
Location:	Somewhere in Greenland
Synopsis:	Clint extracts Jessica from a long-term undercover mission. Nothing explodes! But Jess gets a pretty big tab as a result.
Cast of Characters:	Spider-Woman (Drew), Hawkeye (Barton)

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Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
It was supposed to be a short-term mission. A few months at most, Jessica was told by the SHIELD briefing team. Infiltrate a Hydra cell they've been intercepting signals from, located in the cold, remote wastelands of Greenland, plant some computer virus to gain them access, assess the Hydra cell structure, and report back -- at which time a full operation can be sanctioned to clean out the cell.

But it's not that simple. It never is.

Jessica Drew is Hydra-raised; she knows how to act, how to play it low-key, and she knows when something big is stirring. It's evident in the use of sound-proofed rooms, impenetrable even to her own hearing; in the late-night meetings of higher-ups; in the correspondence that happens only in written, coded messages that can't be intercepted electronically. So she works her way closer to leadership, builds their trust in her. She becomes an assistant, a paper-pusher right hand to the base's functionary manager. It doesn't take her more than three weeks to get the notice of the cell leadership and suddenly she's privy to more alarming meetings.

And what little she learns turns Jessica's blood cold. Messages are exchanged with SHIELD, and her undercover operation becomes long-term, and she settles in for the long haul. And it's a long haul -- near two years, since she's been seen in the Avenger's mansion. Though, granted, with the LMD of Spider-Woman showing up at the occasional Avengers event to maintain her cover it might not seem that long.

It's Agent Clint Barton who gets the call. A request for an extract, it being sensitive, a one-man operation is requested: and who better for that sort of mission than Hawkeye? He can't set the Quinjet down near the mountain base in case he's seen -- but covering five miles on foot, carrying cold weather gear for Agent Drew is hardly a burden for an Avenger, surely. It's a bitterly cold minus 10 Celsius -- 14 Fahrenheit -- and the snow underfoot is being added to by the light drifts of additional snowflakes, making the walk to the meeting point near the foot of the mountain an extra hard slog.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"Who does she think I am? Han Solo?"

Clint Barton aka Hawkeye.

The winter clad SHIELD agent is decked out for the snow and cold, very much armed and also carrying quite a bit more gear than he normally would be at the moment but he's here to make sure that they actually get Agent Drew back in one piece so that's the job.

"Couldn't even get me a uh... what's it called? Faunfaun? Bonbon? You know what I mean." These mutterings to himself are the only thing that's keeping Barton sane at the moment since he's gone radio silent during his approach to make sure that nobody can sense any weird signals or anything and thus find out that he's on his way.

Plans were worked out with the reason he's here for quite a long time and signals were confirmed when he got the Quinjet into the proper air space. But since then there's been no communications. There shouldn't need to be.

That's what rendezvous-ing is for.

"And another thing, why me? Don't have like a fire person or a dragon or someone that won't freeze to death?" And yet, Barton's complaints simply make him push onward. The faster he gets this done, the better.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica Drew descends the mountain, dressed entirely inappropriately for the snowy, freezing weather. She's wearing a white blouse underneath a dark green jacket; a gray pencil skirt, and low heels. If she had anything else -- anything warm -- she'd wear it, but she doesn't. It's one of the ways the Hydra leaders keep the scientists and researchers from leaving this remote, bitterly cold base. One of the reasons why timing is so very important.

Clint isn't the only one having a verbal self-discussion about the dubious merits of this particular extraction plan.

Jess really has no idea who SHIELD is sending to come and meet with her. But already feeling her limbs grow leaden, she's muttering up a curse for whoever it is. "Your slow-ass butt better be at the bottom of this hill, or so help me, I'm going to blast you down the mountain." Good luck with that, though. Her fingers, tucked under her armpits for warmth, are shaking so badly she'd definitely miss.

Even with her sharp senses, she almost misses snow-covered rock formation that's supposed to be the meeting point. Breathing out a long breath (and boy, is it satisfying and alarming both seeing that long plume of vapor that generates in the freezing air), she jogs in place.

All the while cursing whoever's coming to meet her. That's gratitude for you! Then again, Jessica Drew was never that good at social interactions.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"I swear if I get up here and she's not out here, I might just blow this whole mountain up. I just might do it. I don't know if I brought enough arrows but I'll find a way. I mean it."

There's more grumbling and gruff movements that take a little longer because he's also doing that thing where he makes his tracks look like they are going every which way but loose but also disappearing at points. It's a spy trick and he has to make sure that things go the right way so that this quick and easy extraction stays that way.

Shooting arrows in the snow is not as fun as it seems. Unless he's shooting at Christmas presents or something. That's fun.

It only takes a few more small eternities for him to actually start appearing over the horizon. He's got his Hawk's Eyesight going for him so it's pretty easy for him to make out his target in the distance. He doesn't really move much faster because of the cold and the snow but at least he's here so that's something, right? Or almost here. And even more importantly, he's got the extra cold gear slung over his shoulder during his approach.

"You couldn't have went undercover in Palm Springs?" comes the greeting from Clint to Drew as soon as he's close enough for her to hear his annoyed tone. "Or Disneyland. I would've settled for Disneyland."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Clint will see Jessica before she becomes aware of him. Her sharp sense is her hearing, but the snow muffles just about all noise even though it's otherwise deadly silent. The moment she sees him though, she tenses, eyes narrowing until she recognizes him. And then she makes grabby hands towards his burden, which she really hopes is the cold weather gear, or it's going to be a short extraction.

"G-g-g-god I wish. Your lips to F-f-fury's ears, B-barton!" Jessica's practically sighing wistfully. "P-put in a g-good word for me?" Between the stammering from the cold and the muffling as she pulls on the jacket, pants, shoes and gloves that comprise the gear she might just be a little hard to understand.

And then she does a weird thing: she picks up her heels, and one by one, flings them in different directions with all of her strength. They fly surprisingly far too! She's strong. Only then does she give the signal with a nod to Clint that she's ready to follow his lead.

"Is there whiskey, on the Quinjet?" Jess is still shivering, but she's looking a little less blue, now, as her body heat begins to warm the clothing. "I told them to bring a whole bottle." Spoiler alert: they didn't. Someone's going to be heartbroken.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Barton is on watch this entire time. He's focused on making sure that nobody's headed in their direction from anywhere else. He's got his keen eyesight working for him but also the sunglasses that he's wearing gives him a little technological edge. So far, things seem to be as coasted clear as they possibly can be in a situation like this.

"I don't even have a good word in for myself." Barton admits while Jessica gets all trussed up in the much warmer attire. "You're on your own there, sister." Clint just kind of smirks through that last statement.

Clint's whirling back around to face Agent Drew and catches the heels being tossed in different directions. He does a blink and just looks at her. "Weird." That's all he has to say about that.

"Let's vamoose before one of HYDRA's heads realizes you're not back from your coffee break." There's a small pout on Clint's lips at the thought of coffee and his lack of it in this moment but he pushes on to lead the way out of here.

"We'll have to make a pit stop after we're out of the lion's den." See, he's a reasonable extractor. "I'm going to need a beer anyway."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"What you need to do is make a statement. You know, make him notice you. Some kind of William Tell, message-on-an-arrow thing," Jessica's telling Clint. Because taking career advice from someone raised by Hydra is definitely the best way to get Fury's attention.

She just grins at that look she gets for shoe-tossing. "I'm banking on them assuming one of my fellow Hydra functionaries did me in out of jealousy and dumped my body outside for the wolves. The bears?" she shrugs: probably /should have/ looked into that. "I might've left some incriminating evidence on this particular asshole's local terminal."

The groan Jessica lets out is pained. "I'll settle for coffee." She's not fussy, not right now anyway. Anything is a luxury. Neither of that is to be. The promise of a pit-stop though? That gets a sidelong look, and then a growing smile. "Okay."

Jess settles in to follow him. And she does, kind of precisely, stepping where Clint steps, both to make it seem like there's only a single person out here, but also because his passage kind of breaks the snow and makes it easier for her. Jessica's grateful for it, even though she doesn't actually say it. She hasn't the ease she'd grown to display over the years in the Avenger's mansion. Showing emotion, all that.

It's a hard slog, back towards the Quinjet. They're over halfway there when Clint's keen eye catches some movement, behind them. Jess will hear it too, turning with a frown. It looks like some kind of snow jet machine, and it's coming up on them fast.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Ah, the delightfully dreaded 'trek back' is something that Barton was both looking forward to and not looking forward to. Getting out of here quickly would be the name of the game but having to deal with all that snow and cold is less than ideal.

"Envious Betrayal. Always a good idea." Clint remarks to the other spy's tactics of making herself scarce. It's always good to see someone that knows and understands how some of this espionage stuff goes down.

The funny thing about Clint noticing that they are being followed is that he's just idly used moments of quick stepping or slow marching through the wind and the snow to get his bow out and pop it open. He has no idea if Agent Drew knows what's going on or not but he's pretty sure she does. He even starts slowing down a bit as they get closer to where the Quinjet was hidden.

"We got one. Maybe more." is said to Jessica as he's suddenly walking alongside her instead of in front. His movements still look like they are marching onward but he's actually headed backward. "Get to the Quinjet. I'm right behind you. If I'm not? Come pick me up." Barton offers these words quickly and with a wink.

Suddenly, Barton's movements come to a halt and his body starts to spin all the way around. As he does, his hand is snatching an arrowing out of his side quiver. Even before his body finishes its spin, that arrow is nocked onto the string of the bow that's being brought up into firing position.

Clint's lips are in a bit of an annoyed sneer as he lines up his shot with whatever's headed after them. His fingers keep the bow string taut and it'll only take a moment for him to let this arrow fly. He does, however, have one stupid one-liner for this situation...

"I'm too cold for this shit."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
This is all weird. Jessica's used to getting praise for planned betrayal -- inside Hydra. Not outside of it. Many SHIELD agents would balk at such underhanded techniques. And so it's a kind of puzzled, surprised look she gives Clint at that. She's definitely reevaluating his opinion of him on the spot. She can hear the snow jet, so she isn't surprised when Clint's pace changes, when he slows down beside her.

Ahh, there's the speech she anticipates from a SHIELD agent -- and Avenger. The selfless 'save yourself' speech. "Screw that," Jessica says, taking off her gloves one by one. She flexes her fingers. They're still cold, but no longer shivering. In the same way he prepares an arrow, she braces herself mentally.

But it's all for nothing.

The moment the ski jet comes into range, Clint lets fly with his arrow. It sails unerringly towards its target, punching towards into the thin metal of the engine and landing with a thump as the suction sticks it to the motor. The rider has half a second to take a breath, and then the EMP fries the motor entirely. A second arrow slams down, the electrocution racing through the driver, who jerks and slides off the side of the jet to the ground. Explosive arrows are sadly probably overkill at that point.

"Show off," Jessica accuses. She also kind of sounds impressed but is trying hard not to be. Look, it was two fantastic shots through windy, shitty weather. Credit where it's due. "Fine. I'll grab his body and drag him back. The boffins can question him."

She starts jogging towards the downed agent, hesitating a second to look back. "There should be a spray bottle in the medical kit on the quinjet, labeled 'neutralizer A315'. Can you grab it?" He knows, of course, about her pheromones. Enclosed spaces are particularly bad for that. "I had an inhibitor implanted, but the mission wasn't supposed to last this long, and I don't want to take the risk."

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Barton's looking around to make sure there are no other stragglers. His fingers resting on the Explosive Arrow that he was ready to pull from his quiver. Once he doesn't see anything else headed their direction, he seems to relax just a bit though he's probably just calming down enough to be able to pay attention to Agent Drew.

Barton's following up after Drew and almost the moment that she asks for it, the spray bottle is twirled on his finger before being offered to her. "Never leave home without it." is the one-liner that comes along with said requested spray bottle. Why he already had it on him is a question for another day. Or not a question at all considering the spray bottle has less in it than maybe it should. Pay no attention to a pair of non-matching arrows in one of his quivers. Almost as if they were made en route.

"If you got super strength or something, use it. We gotta' get go. I'm sure there will be others and I'd much rather have that beer than a showdown on Hoth."

Clint de-cloaks the Quinjet and remote starts that bad boy.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica has never, ever felt compelled to voice the words 'My Hero', but there's a powerful urge to do so in this moment when Clint produces the bottle. She lets out a relieved breath and takes it from him with a muttered thanks, spraying at her neck and down underneath the coat. Fortunately the spray doesn't have a scent or he'd have to wear a gas mask in the quinjet with the amount she's using. She doesn't blink an eye at the arrows she notices. It's practical, and she wouldn't at all blame him for using it on her.

"I've got it and I'll use it," Jessica promises. The bottle is tucked into her pocket even as she's running to the Hydra agent, slinging him over her shoulder, and coming back to the jet as it rumbles to life. The man's dumped with a thunk onto the ground, and she spends time patting down his pockets, removing any weaponry, one of his molars, and then cuffs him to a rail.

She sighs as she slumps into a chair, not bothering to pull off the bulky jacket yet. "I really want a cheeseburger," she announces, and then she glances at Clint. "I don't have any money." What a way to thank him for the rescue!

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint's already in the driver (pilot?) seat of this thing and it looks like he's got the systems running and is checking out the air space. It only takes him a few more moments to conclude everything is clear and the moment they start taking off, the cloaking is back on to make sure that there will be no one trying to spot them on their way out.

"Don't worry, Agent Drew..." Clint grabs a clipboard and slings it past his seat and back towards her with a careful eye that doesn't even look like he's paying attention to where he's throwing it. It'll land where it needs to though. He's good like that. "I'll put it on your tab."

Hastily written on a piece of paper is 'Agent Drew's Tab' with a list of all the things he's done for her this extraction. Some of which include: no Quinjetting, SNOW TREK (both ways), 'Bad Pheromone Spray', SNOW?! SERIOUSLY? and Whiskey Pit Stop, among other things.

"To infinity and beyond." Clint slings another one-liner as he sets about getting that Quinjet up, up and away! from here.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Wow." Jessica actually says that, extending out the 'owww' part of it when she catches that clipboard and surveys the contents. Frowning intensely at it, she pulls out the pen and adds: 'Cheeseburgers' and underlines it. It's only fair. But then she adds, 'LAME QUIPS' because, seriously? His quip game needs some work.

"I'm not worried. I have two years of backpay, /with hazard/ coming my way. You like novelty t-shirts, right? I'll get you t-shirts. And hats. Maybe matching ones?" Somehow, Jessica makes it sound like /being owed by Jessica/ is not such a great thing after all.

Somewhere in there, after the second cheeseburger and maybe the third glass of whiskey, she'll remember to say thanks.