16205/Same old, as usual

Same old, as usual
Date of Scene:	19 April 2024
Location:	Medical Ward, The Triskelion
Synopsis:	In which Hawkeye returns, having avoided brothels in Kansas and Skye's wrath.
Cast of Characters:	Hawkeye (Barton), Quake

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Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Although the door to the Medical Bay is closed, and the Triskelion walls are made of the best material, raised voices can be heard coming from inside the room.

"You're done poking me!" a familiar voice echoed from the room, "Damnit, they gonna call me Blue Beetle now. Don't worry about the bruises, they gonna be purple tomorrow."

Muffled voices followed, probably arguing with the man who just clearly indicated his intention to leave. The door opens suddenly, just as Hawkeye turns to reply to the medical staff. It's difficult to know which of them is the most irritated, but let's say they won't go to dinner together for a while.

"If Fury wants a sample of my shit, tell him to come get it himself!" Barton exclaims, before turning to the now open door, ready to exit. The archer is wearing a black version of his usual purple Hawkeye suit, and this one even sports nice tears and cuts, including one around the waist over a large white bandage - probably busted ribs - and on the left forearm. It seems that all the medics could do was to patch him quickly before he decided that he didn't need their attention - or craved a cheeseburger.

Quake has posed:
Someone didn't read the notice that Agent Johnson and Special Agent Barton were formerly partners, and more importantly one lived together. As in cohabitation together. And furthermore they hadn't parted..

Amicably doesn't quite cover it.

When one partner says he needed to think.. and then was nowhere to be found?

She had found odd that he's taken a mission overseas. Which, at first, pissed her off. After her mission was Red Tide they had made a promise to tell the other person if they were going off grid and they were safe. No questions asked.

And Clint had broken the promise..

Fast forward, someone had booked them into the Medical Bay together. In their own cubicles, but was Skye super hearing and Clint's yelling about Fury and shit? She heard it.

"I told you, they fit fine! I'm.." Stop. Listen. REALLY listen.. "Fuck. Excuse me, you can click all the boxes. I'm leaving."

Well, she intended to leave. But she only got as for as his cubicle and froze. ~Come Keyboard. Leave. You can do it. Be a big girl..~

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
And yeah, some things change, some others don't. Like the archer's deficient hearing, especially when yelling. A few years of marriage with Mockingbird helped him hone his yelling and arguing skills. Not that he uses it as often nowadays.

The medic protests, "I've got orders?" the man in white tries to argue.

"Lucky you. Keep it up, and you'll get a black eye in bonus." Hawkeye didn't notice Skye, as he turned toward the door leading to the corridor. "Look man, I've got to see someone. Now. Had to drop her like a rock, no time to say anything. Fuck Fury and all that shit. If I don't talk to her today, you're gonna need tweezers to glue patch my ass."

That said, Hawkeye stops, his hand on the door handle, hesitating "On second thought," he adds, "I wouldn't mind pain-killers, I might need some once I find her."

From the other side of the room, an understanding medic throws a small bottle at the archer, who catches it. "Thanks buddy, see ya next time."

And with the small container of pain-killers in his pocket, Clint turns to leave the Medical Bay.

Quake has posed:
Who is this 'her' he keeps speaking of?

Skye was smart. Very smart. In terms of negotiating relationships? She was horrible. As in she would have to drag herself out of the sewers and crawl into the gutters to even begin to figure out the way that people interacted nicely.

There was a reason she found hacking a breeze.. though Fury thought that she was good at ferreting out the truth from the lies when interrogating. She didn't have a reason for that.

When it was to do with her? She sucked. Big time.

It never even occurred that the her was herself.

Well, dammit.. Then again.. it had been almost two years? What did she think? That Clint was a monk? Just because she didn't pick up with anyone in the interim doesn't mean he didn't.

Maybe she should slink away - after all, he hasn't noticed her?

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
As he steps out of the medical bay, Clint stops on his tracks, pulling his broken Starkphone and starts scrolling his contacts. Not that he has a lot on this phone, or any other phone actually. When people you know, or think you know, turn coats on a whim, or turns out to be an E.T. trying to pass for your wife, well, you get the hint and don't call much people.

But there's one number that the archer always kept.

"Come on, answer," Clint mumbles, waiting for the other to take the call. He can hear the beeping tone, but it sounds different, like, loud?

And the phone keep beeping, waiting for someone to answer.

"Damnit," the archer grumbles, "I hope she didn't move," he says, ready to hang up the phone.

Quake has posed:
*vibrate*

*vibrate*

"For fuck sakes!"

Skye was not pleased to be answering her phone, but given the number she only gave out for a few people, she kind of felt obligated to answer. After all, Fury had /this/ number.

"What do you want? Can't you see that I'm avoiding someone?"

Okay, she was a little terse, and it was probably a good thing that it wasn't Fury.

Cluing in.. in five

four

three

two

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Still, with the phone to his ear, Clint didn't hear Skye's phone ringing in the medical bay. Or did he? Frowning, he turns around, almost certain. Naw, must have been a coincidence.

"And who are you avoiding, Keyboard? You know, I'll be happy to fix him, anytime. Just tell me who."

Just like that, as if two years didn't pass, and as if they had breakfast together this morning.

Hawkeye knows he's far from being off the hook, no matter the reason or excuses, he has some explanation to do and humour won't help much. Well, it never worked with Bobbi or Natasha. But hey, maybe if he pretends nothing happened? Despite his casual tone, the archer is a bit nervous. He knows, from experience, that he can pretend as he wants that nothing happened, women don't forget easily. Or at all. Or is it only his women that never forget?

Quake has posed:
And..

one.

"Hotshot? How can you be here on the phone and here on Medical Bay?" Oh. That's why. "I was avoiding, ah fuck it!" Skye realized that to take on the phone ten feet apart was silly. So she hung up the phone.

"I was avoiding you, you stupid man, you. Don't you have someone to hurry up on home with? Why would you take the time to call me?" Other than a broken promise. And the fact that she was so angry with him. "You called me. There. You have fulfilled your obligations."

Okay. Maybe she wasn't as clued in as she thought she was.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Now her voice comes clearer from inside the Medical bay - and not sounding happy - the phone is hung. Turning around and stepping back into the medical facility, it doesn't take him long to find Skye. Not like she was hiding or something anyway.

"Hey Skye," Clint says in greeting as he stops before her. For a moment he seems to hesitate, the saying Long time no see sounding so inappropriate. The archer opts for something else, "Nope, not the wrong number," he says, "I really called you. Hrm, I was wondering. Want to kill me here, or elsewhere? There's also the option to talk before you do so. Oh and yeah, yelling is fine. See? Always a gentleman."

The whole is said in a light tone, conscious that they are standing in the middle of the Medical facility and even if the exact nature of their relationship isn't known, one would have to be blind and deaf for not knowing that there is something between the two. Is, or was. Which one, Clint isn't sure at the moment.

Quake has posed:
"You do know that if I were to kill you, here would be the best place for you, right? You do know that." As if the security guards would allow her to kill him.

Dammit! What was she going to do?

"Dammit, Hotshot, you can't waltz in here like nothing has happened! I could be married for all you know." Fat chance. Skye only went out with Clint because she thought she would treat him like the usual: Get him out of her system, and show him the door. Meanwhile, 5 years had slipped away without the heave ho.

Brushing her hair out of her face, she sighed. "Where were you all this time, anyways? I think I deserve an answer."

Fuck. she still had it bad for him.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
And there comes the trademark grin on Clint's face, one that fell many women in his life. Meanwhile, the medical staff do their best to remain unnoticed, enjoying the drama. It makes for a change in their daily life.

"Well, if you were married," he says, "You could always divorce. Been there, done that, still alive. 'sides, I'm just standing here, it's not like I whisked you straight to the shower."

Chuckling, either at his joke or out of nervosity, Clint returns the phone to his pocket. With a more serious tone, he adds as he steps forward.

"Look, I totally agree, you deserves an explanation. Let's say there was no phone in 1879." He pauses, waiting to see her reaction, adding, "To me, it's like I left yesterday. Now they all talk about two years, shit, the IRS will have my skin."

And yes, there is obviously a long story behind all of this. Clint Barton, never known for being shy, wouldn't mind telling the story here, but he leaves it to Skye to decide if now and here are appropriate.

Quake has posed:
He would have to bring up that shower. She *almost* blushes. "Low blow, Hotshot," she whispers.

~You're telling me you were trapped in the past? Really.~ If the Medical Bay staff signed, they still got their drama. Otherwise.. ~Then why did Fury tell me you were off of Europe, or some such, huh?~ Actually he didn't say where. Just that he was gone. He let Skye fill in the rest.

Oh.. Fury was now on her shit list too.

~Tell me the truth. I..~ She sighs. ~I'll listen.~ And then she will get angry. Or so she believes. But, she'll listen.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Suddenly, the medical staff seems to lose interest, as the conversation becomes harder to follow. Besides, they have other duties to take care of. Since it appears that there won't be any bloodshed, they can pretend to look away.

Clint nods, and explains as much as can be explained with sign.

~Like all normal mission, went SNAFU in record time. It was a few hours mission, we ended up with some time displacement machine a la Stark. So I ended up in Kansas in 1879. Met my buddy Two-Gun Kid, cleaned a town of the outlaws. Then boom, I am back two damn years later. ~

Glancing around, he then looks back at Skye. ~I had no mean to contact you. No one knew where I was. ~ Beat. ~And Fury owes me two years pay. Pizza is on me. ~

Yes, that simple. Saying this, Clint isn't minimizing the emotional impact on Skye, quite the contrary. It is his own way to try and dedramatize the situation. Which, in the past, never really worked and even lead to divorce. Some never learn.

Quake has posed:
Think, Skye, think.

He could be telling you a lie, but what was the good in that? Eventually she would find out. And if he couldn't tell her, wouldn't he fall on the words that had already been agreed upon? Again, she would find out, eventually. It would be simpler to tell tell truth, especially if the result would be the same: ie telling him to bugger off.

The words 'a la Stark' made Skye cringe.

~Not actually a Stark machine? Tell me you didn't.~

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint has to chuckle at that, shaking his head. Unless it is related to bow and arrows, and some necessary basic items like a Quinjet, the archer cannot care less about technology. Or rather, to try understand the inner components of systems and the like.

~Nope, his name wasn't on it. And you know if he builds something, he must have his name on it in bold letter. Not sure what it was, they better have found out what it was while I was away. ~

More seriously, he adds, ~Look. I'm sorry. To me over there, it went like two weeks. Now I hear it was two years. I totally get it you are mad, I would be too. So huh, I mean, yeah, take your time? What's next, if there is a next, is totally up to you. ~

Quake has posed:
Skye walked up to him, and smacked across the chest. "Damn you!"

~For two years it thought you had walked out on me. It wasn't the walking out, but the manner. It really hurt me. I thought I deserved better than to disappear. And now you are telling me it was bad timing~.

And how!

"I don't know. And you're right I didn't marry. I didn't even date. It just seemed too hard. Waiting. Then realising that you weren't coming back to me. I buried myself in work. So. Yeah. Why don't we go and have some pizza - delivery or eat in, and see where it leads us?"

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
The smacking doesn't hurt one bit, even if he still has bandages around his lower ribs. Heck, he was expecting way worse. Maybe it was a nice coincidence that they met here and not in private.

~Well, if it's any consolation, I turned down a few offers to visit the local brothels in Kansas. ~ He grins, then turns around, extending his arm toward the exit as an invitation to lead the way.

"And call yourself lucky, it could have been ten years?"

As he moves out, he reaches for his pocket and throws back the bottle of pain-killers to the medic, since he won't need it after all.