3883/Tidepool: Madripoor Fallout

Tidepool: Madripoor Fallout
Date of Scene:	15 February 2018
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Miles and Skye meet to talk about things after Clint and May shoot up the Hilton in Madripoor (backdated)
Cast of Characters:	Hawkeye (Barton), Quake
Tinyplot:	Rising Tide

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Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
January 18th 2026

Genus it turned out wasn't joking about his safehouses being better than the meat fart reeking Madripoor shithole Miles had put Skye in. The one he settled on was above an old lady's garage in Queens. Not all that far from the place Skye and Clint had bought Reggie and Merida. More than that, Genus had hung out for a bit and hooked up a beat up N64 to an equally beat up tube TV and ordered pizza. Hanging around for a few games of Mario Kart sensing that Skye needed a friendly face as well as a place to crash. Then, careful as always he'd gone on to his own bolt hole, leaving Skye to her new digs, gaming console included.

However it wasn't long before the world came looking for her. The message came through one of the RT channels.

Hound >> DS. Where are you??

Quake has posed:
Genus had been right. Skye could use the company. It kept her mind off of everything else, and it helped that the place was half-decent to boot. The gaming system was a nice touch, one she gave him a beaming smile for. when he'd brought up the idea of grabbing a slice for dinner, Skye had the perfect place in mind.. Gino's. It was practically on the way to where they were going.

And it would give her an opportunity to do something.

When she walked into Gino's, she was greeted by the usual, "You're still too good for him, and how is Hawkguy anyway?" Though the presence of Genus hovering outside is met with a frown.

"No worries, Gino. Not fooling around on him. Just showing an old friend the neighbourhood and where to get the best slice around. And maybe a sixpack, huh?"

The usual order is placed, and while she waits, Skye scribbles on a napkin.

When the order is ready, she pays for it, using a couple of the bills that Miles had given her, and hands Gino the napkin. "Say, do me a favour? Next time Hawkguy orders a pizza, can you slip that in with it for me? Kinda something of a surprise for him. You know?"

And then it was just her, the pizza, and the six pack following Genus to the safehouse. She'd have no clue if Gino would peek at the note or not, or if he'd remember, but she hoped he might.

It was all out of her hands, now, though. At least that part of it.

...After Genus had left and Miles' text came through over the old familiar channels, she shook her head. It had actually taken him longer than she expected to discover she'd flown.

DarkSky >> Take a chill pill H. found better digs. Nothing nefarious. Got tired of meat farts. What's up?

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Gino did indeed give Genus a look and when he was asked to pass a note on to Clint he asks, "Not a dear John letter I hope?" he asks her but doesn't look. What couples got up to and said to each other, that was their business not his.

Genus for his part waited quietly and did the friend thing while they played Mario Kart, but when it came to the beer he had a look at the can and asked, "What the fuck is a Cinnamon Stick Crankset Witbier?" before grudgingly taking a sip, savouring and pronouncing it, "Engh, it's not bad."

When he was gone and the messages started to fly.

Hound >> Should have let me know. SHIELD was in Madripoor. Made a real mess of the hotel. Thought they grabbed you again. Where are you at?

Quake has posed:
Nah, not a Dear John letter, Skye grins, reassuring Gino. I have more class than that. Just an I love you he wont be expecting. Hope it cheers him up when he gets it kinda thing, you know?

The beer Skye has no defense for when Genus razzes it. Hey, its a thing. It happened. Me and Hawkeye, its what we did. Old habits and stuff. Besides, Ginod give me funny looks if I didnt order the usual, you know? Gotta keep the right profile.

Besides, not that shed admit it, but shed grown to like good old Witbier. And right now she wanted something to remind her of Clint.

Still, she was glad when Genus left and she could stop that level of pretending. The games were nice and all, and so was the company, but really what she wanted was to have a few moments peace within which to think.

Of course Miles interrupted that

DarkSky >> Why do you think I ran, huh? You forget who I worked for. Found another safehouse. Whatcha need?

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"See! This is what I mean, too good for him!" Gino chuckles as he takes the note and sticks it down on a shelf below the till. "Next time Hawkguy's in I'll slip it in the box for you." He glances through the plate glass window at Genus. "And tell your friend I don't bite huh?" he jokes before he gets Skye her pie and beer to go.

Genus shrugs. "Yeah? Hawkguy drinks this stuff?" he takes another sip with a thoughtful look before he swallows and says, "See this is why I'm more of a Stark guy," he chuckles before he carries on with the evening. Needing a bit of distraction himself knowing in a few days he'd be trying to rob one of his heroes.

The place was quiet when Genus leaves. There was no noise from the old lady's house and besides the odd bit of traffic or a barking dog, the neighbourhood was quiet too. It was almost surreal that places like this existed in the midst of all the chaos of the op, but there it was until Miles and the op reached in and put an end to it.

Hound >> Okay fine. Got some stuff to show you and an op I could use you on. Where can we meet?

Quake has posed:
Skye locked up after Genus left, and curled up in a ball of thoughtful misery on the couch. She supposed Miles interruption was a good thing on that front. Still, she could have used the time to think and put things in perspective.

The flophouse in Madripoor hadnt really offered that luxury. Of course, Miles and his mess was what she was here for..

DarkSky >> Yeah? Not that Hilton place, huh? Uh.

She names a place outside of Madripoor. A diner shes used before. Angels. Greasy spoon a la Pops kind of place. Innocuous and not really where their sorts ever hung out. Which is what made it perfect.

Plus they had good fries.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Hound >> I'll be there.

And he was. He was sitting in one of the booths a beer and a plate of fries in front of him. When Skye enters, he looks up and gives her a nod. Judging by the line of his lips under that scruffy beard of his he was still butthurt about her suddenly skipping town.

Working on his laptop he waits for her to order and join him.

Quake has posed:
Butthurt, Skye can deal with. And promptly ignores. She'd already set the stage for not kissing up to him, and having no intent on climbing into his bed. His good graces might have mattered a lot more in the past for that very reason, but right now all things were a business arrangement, and if he couldn't see the sense in fleeing Madripoor, that wasn't her problem, it was his.

Even if that wasnt the reason she'd left.

Sliding behind the table opposite him at the booth, she nods to his fries. "They're good, huh? I used to run away here when I needed time to think. So far off the beaten path nobody would look for me here."

And, indeed, that was the truth. It wasnt just away from the Trisk, it was far away from the Trisk. Like straddling the burbs kind of far away. Clean cut teens and young couples on dates came here. Families came here. And other than the occasional down on their luck bent over a hot cup of coffee - courtesy of the cashier's 'buy one, leave one' program, it wasn't a place you expected trouble.

Their laptops stood out only in that folks here actually talked to one another at their tables. Teens did their homework here, though, just as often, so it wasn't so out of the ordinary as to be remembered. Especially given the pair seemed to be conversing.

And sharing fries. Skye so steals fries from Miles, ordering her own once the waitress comes around.

Unlike Miles, Skye doesnt order a beer.

"So, this job, huh. Spill."

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Miles looks up again when Skye arrives. "Yeah, they're not bad," he admits before taking a fry himsel and chewing it thoughtfully. "Anyhow, it's good to see you, you had me worried there when you bounced like that without a word. Thought you might have changed your mind about coming back."

When she brings up the job, he says, "Slow your roll there DS. We're getting right down to business?" he asks. "Thought I'd share some of what happened with your old employers first."

He reaches over and turns his laptop so the screen is facing Skye. It's cellphone video, bouncy and hard to follow but it was definitely the Business Centre in the Hilton where they'd hacked SHIELD, except now May and Clint were there fighting guys in security outfits. Naturally May and Clint seem to have the advantage until the guy behind the coffee bar starts firing blindly. The first round ricochets and hits a ducking Clint in his leg the next slams into the wall by the cameraman the phone is dropped and picked up. By then Clint is on his feet, and May is leaping behind the bar. More shots, this time someone next to the camera man goes down. The camera turns to them as blood begins to paint their white button down a vivid red.

One more shot is heard in the background and then Clint appears in frame grabbing a jacket to put pressure on the wound. May shows up a moment later, handing over bandages and taking Skye's phone out of Clint's pocket before rushing away after a few words are exchanged. Clint looks up, then, dark circles under his eyes, a few days of stubble marking his cheeks, his own wound staining the leg of his pants red. "Stop filming and lend me a hand."

The video ends and Miles looks over his laptop at Skye, "Kind of spooky right? Them being right where we were. So totally get why you bailed, just in the future, keep me informed okay? We're all on the same side and I want to make sure I can help if there's any trouble."

He turns the laptop so he can see it too, he taps on Clint's face. "That's Hawkeye right?" he asks, before sliding his finger back along the progress bar until May is in the frame "Do you know who that is?" he asks her. "Going to repost this on the site but it'll look better if we can provide names."

Quake has posed:
"Wasn't like I had a lot of time to plan my bounce," Skye notes, reaching for another fry as she waits for her own to show up. "It was kinda a spur of the moment. Wasn't liking the vibe I was getting after that Hilton thing."

She's about to ask how that ended up when Miles turns the laptop around and shows her.

The video was... incredible. Blurry or not, it was more than enough to have Skye looking all sorts of concerned. When Clint gets shot, her eyes widen even as she winces., looking pained. She'd thought shooting him herself was as bad as it got. It turns out she was wrong.

"Fuck."

The single word an expression of all the things this stupid operation was. So much fuck. Clint. And May. And the tourist. The man behind the counter. All of it ugly in all the ways she'd known things could be but hadn't really thought would happen. All things she now felt intimately responsible for.

It's with tightness to lips and tone that Skye nods. "Yeah. That's Hawkeye. The Agent with him is Melinda May. She was my training officer. She's good. Very good. One of their best. If they sent them, SHIELD means business. This isn't just some little throwaway for them. They're pissed."

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Miles gives the plate a little shove towards Skye in invitation to help herself then nods, "Yeah, well, turns out you had reason not to like the vibe, but seriously takes two seconds to let me know where you're going to be. And well, after this," he says before starting the video. "You can see why I'm freaked."

The video speaks for itself pretty much and while it does Miles watches Skye. He can read the concern, and the flinches when people are shot and he reaches out to put his hand on her arm to comfort her. "Listen, this stuff? Totally not your fault. We didn't make them pull on their jackboots and storm in the place looking for us. They shouldn't even /be/ in Madripoor. So, just remember its all on them."

When it comes to the end he looks at Skye, but holds off any remarks and let's go of her arm when the lady comes with her fries. He pulls his own to his side of the table and slides the ketchup over into Skye's reach. Once the lady's gone, he says, "Pretty brutal, right?" Then he's nodding about the names. He pulls out his phone and types in Melinda May as a note.

If they're pissed we'll just have to be careful. I'll put the word out for people to change up and move safehouses just to be sure." He types that very message into his phone. "What do you think? Bail on Madipoor as a whole or no? One one hand, they know we were there, on the other the government doesn't like SHIELD poking around and what with this whole mess SHIELD is going to have to be careful to avoid an even bigger incident."

Quake has posed:
Skye helps herself to a few more fries until her plate arrives. She pushes his plate back to him then, then reconsiders and grabs a few off of her own plate to throw back onto his. A dollop of ketchup is squeezed onto the corner of her plate, dipping a fry in before chewing thoughtfully.

"Yeah, I can see why you flipped. Same reason I left, only more so."

His question about what to do next has her looking thoughtful. "Well, they have a lot less influence in Madripoor.. fuck. Let me think."

Her reply is pondered for several fries worth of time. "We switch up safehouses. If they've had eyes on any, they'll jump now. If only to try and flush us. We move before they get that edge. Almost the same result if they're watching, but timing is everything, and being the ones to decide as opposed to being forced out is probably better."

"The other though? I'm torn. They'll expect some sort of exodus. We all know their rules don't play in Madripoor, but at the same time, their rules don't play in Madripoor. Means they can use some tactics they wouldnt anywhere else. You've got homebase advantage there, though. Moving somewhere else means they've got us on the run. Plus, they'll expect you to pull up roots and move. Don't figure they've got eyes anywhere or they'd have hit that already after the Hilton job. Which means theyre fishing, or going to."

Skye shrugs. "Your call, but I say stay put. Set up some decoys if you must. Use the locale to our advantage and have folks bounce. Reroute some communications if you can and create some diversions and illusions. But don't go scrambling to put them in play unless you've got them on board already. SHIELD will be looking for noise, so anything you have to start from scratch right now is noise. Don't give them that. We're playing hide and seek now. Your strength is hiding. Theirs is seeking. Dont get cocky or theyll eat us for dinner."

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"So, stay put, make a few plays to suggest we're moving but all in all hole up here?" Miles says echoing back Skye's words to make sure he has it right. "Makes sense, and if they do catch up to us here, they're going to have a hell of a time getting us out without pissing off the locals." He punches a few more things into the phone sending out the word. "And their strength is seeking for now, but I bet it feels good to turn their training back on them, right?"

Orders sent out to the rest of the Tide. Miles sets down the phone. "And I hear you, SHIELD's not joking around but neither are we, which brings me to the job I wanted to talk to you about. You ever meet Tony Stark?" he asks taking a bite of one of the fries Skye added to his plate.

Quake has posed:
Skye just shakes her head. There was no small amount of irony to putting her training to work this way. If shed stayed on the path shed believed she was on when she arrived at SHIELD, this could very well have been her lot in life. And shed fully thought that was what shed do, too, until May had offered her her freedom.

May might even be impressed with how well Skye had paid attention to her training. For someone never expecting to be sent out into the field this way, shed not done too badly, even if she had to say so herself.

Theres something of a smug smile at that thought. And at the one that followed, pondering just who it was who was going to take her down. Thered been no talk about how this all would come to a head. She supposed Oracle might be the link there. Or, Skye thought, it was just as likely shed be surprised when it happened.

Fury was kind of a bastard like that.. though he might not be willing to burn her that way. It was a thought. She might poke for direction there sooner than later.

The smirk turns into a chuckle. Yeah. I know Tony. He and I have had some interesting times. Ego the size of Manhattan. Even bigger balls. Why?

She asks like shes not already had a heads up on this one.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Miles catches that hint of smugness and it puts him at ease. "See? We've got this on lock," Miles says. "Our computer skills, you knowing SHIELD and how they think, we're going to have to be careful but end of the day I think we're going to win."

He leans over and needlessly steals one of Skye's fries and chews it thoughtfully. "So you met the guy huh?" he asks with a little bit of a smirk. "End up one of the Stark girls?" he asks without a waver in the smirk. "Cause, this might be awkward if so, we're doing a big op against his system and you and I, if you're game, are running point."

Quake has posed:
Skye gives Miles a look, and tilts her head as she considers him. "Let's get this straight right now. Who I fuck is my business, not yours. You and me were a thing. Then we weren't. We haven't been for ages. This is a conversation we're not having again. Got it? But for the record, no. Tony and I have an understanding, and that's not it."

She shakes her head. Typical Miles. He might have been smirking as he asked but she knew he was fishing. She should have said yes, she thought. Just to be pissy. Though she was almost amused he'd not read the real truth of things about her.

Small mercies, right?

"And how much more awkward than what I've already done? Shit. In the grand scheme of things, SHIELD is a lot pissier about being dumped with the kind of Dear John letter I left than Stark is. Stark has girls tripping over one another to get into his bed. He'd bury his ego in another of them and carry on. If that's your concern, move along. So that's the target, huh?"

She shrugs and snaps up another fry, dipping it in ketchup.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
He had been fishing, but he wasn't going to own it. "Hey," he says spreading his hands. "Reading way to much into this DS. Seriously. I was just curious if you hooked up with a celeb, that was like the least 'I've still got a thing for you' thing I could do right? Fuck. Get over yourself."

It was all lies, but he wasn't going to show those particular cards, even if he'd been less subtle than he thought about what was in his hand.

"Well I dunno, were you friends with people at SHIELD? Because if you and Tony are friends, then this might be more awkward because we're doing the same to him as we did to SHIELD. Word is he's been tracking down some folks like SHIELD does, and we want to let him know it's not okay to narc, and y'know, find out how he's been tracking people."

Quake has posed:
"Tony? A narc?" Skye frowns. It doesn't really fit with what she knows of the man.

"And I hate to break it to you, H, but those bridges I burned at SHIELD had people on them. And some of them were friends. So if that was your question, can I do this, I've already done it."

She ignores the obvious fishing and the lame cover. If he only knew. And the fact that he didn't went fathoms deep as to how shortsighted he'd become with whatever had happened to Rising Tide since she'd left it.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"Yeah, shocked us too. I mean he may be a corporate fat-cat but he didn't seem the type to go into the surveillance game and yet, that's what we've heard, so we're going to find out and if it's true, expose the fucker for being a sell out," Miles says.

"Anyhow, if it's not a problem then we'd be glad to have you aboard. I got some pen test data from a guy the company hired and Stark doesn't play around. From what he could share it looks like part of the system is run by AI. Some seriously advanced shit." He grins as he says, that, moody ex Miles vanishing and being replaced by hacker Miles, at least for the moment. "Go to say, sort of looking forward to it."

Quake has posed:
"Yeah," Skye drawls slowly as she ponders what he's saying. It doesn't fit what she knows of Tony, so it's either something not quite what Miles is saying, or .. The or' she didn't like the sounds of, but wasn't really in a position to do much about right this second.

What she did know, however, or more rightly, what she surmised, is that Miles was being played. That someone or something was leveraging his weaknesses and using Miles to do their dirty work. And not just as a dry run for what the real objective likely was.

The kicker was, Miles not only believed he was doing good, but he believed he'd been asked because he was the best at what he did, when in truth it was likely because he was the easiest to bribe with flattery and some cash. It was, Skye realized, now that she could see him in a distant light, pretty pathetic. And to think she once bought into this whole song and dance made her kind of sad. Even if she also believed Rising Tide /could/ do some good. That they didn't have to be this.

Take Genus, for example. He'd come to her. It wasn't all whatever it was Miles had become.

"Totally on board with it. If he's doing what you say, people deserve to know. Total dick move." She didn't believe it of Tony, though. Not.. not with who and what he represented.

For reasons unstated, this wasn't going to be an easy op. Skye mentally ticked another apology necessary in the future box and grinned at Miles. "Been a long time since we did this, huh?"

Like the Hilton hadn't just happened, though that had been a test. This was going to be something completely different.

Quake has posed:
Skye shrugs as she munches her fries thoughtfully. "Just how you think you can know people and they still end up surprising you." Of course there are all sorts of levels of that going on in her head, and Tony isn't quite on the top of that list.

She'd been.. stupid in her past.

"Everyone thinks they're a hero, H. They don't look at us and see what we're doing as anything positive. Trust me, I've heard the speeches."

And he wasn't entirely wrong. There were plenty of things SHIELD did that were questionable. What she'd learned from her time there was the accountability was different. H and the rest thought they were doing good. That /they/ were good and right for what they did. Nobody took responsibility for what they'd done, in fact, they believed what they did was the fault of everyone else. They'd been *made* to do it.

At least from what she'd seen at SHIELD folks took personal responsibility for what they'd done. It might not always be the nicest of actions, but there was no deflection of the blame. Right on down the line they knew what they were doing, what choices they were making, and what it would mean to accept that.

"Over a dozen? Fuck. Coordination has come up in the world for us. I remember when two or three of us was considered a big deal. Gotta hand it to you H, never thought I'd see the day."

She nods, though, taking a careful look at what he was showing her. "Tony's no slouch. You know that, right? And he's gonna take this all a bit personal." Still, she has to grin a little. Who'd have thought this would be the battleground she'd get to test her mettle against him on. Buttercup, indeed.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"Yeah, people are like that, DS. Never what you think. Sorry, your friend ended up being a disappointment," he says before adding. "Tony I mean."

Miles makes a face as he closes up the plans again. It wasn't likely anyone in the spot could make sense of them but he didn't want to take any chances either. "Oh I know they don't see us as heroes, they want us all to play by the rules and do what we're told and not rock the boat. Well, sometimes the boat needs to be rocked. I mean, are we just going to trust that that Fury guy or Stark knows what's best for us? Fuck no. We've got to be out there finding the truth, bringing it to people and letting them make their own choices. So, yeah, I am sure SHIELD thinks were the worst sort of people ever just because we shine a bit of light on their dirt. Shit. I did it and they've never stopped hunting me for it." He takes a long pull from his neglected beer and sets it down. "So, yeah I guess they're either psychos or deluded enough to see themselves on the side of the angels. Only way I could see being one of them and doing what they do."

He finishes off the beer buying a bit of time to come down from his outburst. When he sets the bottle down again he lets out a breath before he puts on a smile. "Yeah, we've finally got the resources to do things right. We're going to make some big changes, DS. You'll see. We've finally got the power now."

As for Tony he nods, "Yeah, he's going to be hard to deal with but I figure if we time it right we should be able to get him when he's at a disadvantage. That's why I have Genus and the nerd crew keeping an eye on his appearances, next time Tony's got some big party, we hit. Either he's busy, or he's coming back drunk and we can use that to our advantage."

Quake has posed:
"Tony can drink, that's for sure." Though Skye wasn't sure how much of it was show and how much was actually Tony tanked out of his gourd. She supposed either could be true as she'd only seen him at the one party. It was certainly something to think about.

Her trademark grin returns. "God, Genus and his superheroes, huh? Has he seen the video?" Genus, she thought, was utterly adorable in his fanboyishness.

One of her next to last fries is munched. Double dipped in ketchup, even. "They're different," she agrees about SHIELD. "I don't know. It's like apples and oranges."

She'd really like to point out that SHIELD wasn't like that. Or how she'd fit in, and been brought into the fold, becoming part of the family, even only how did you even begin to explain something like that to someone like Miles? He still didn't get it.

It made the number of times she'd marched herself up to Fury's office and had a discussion about something she'd done shine in a whole new light. And in that, Miles was right, SHIELD was never going to see him the same way they saw her.

She almost felt sorry for him. There wasn't a man in Rising Tide wouldn't turn tail and run if push came to shove and leave him to face the music on his own. Even Nat wouldn't have left her in that position.. well, she might now, but even Skye had to admit the reasons for it would be profoundly different, and technically as far as anyone was concerned, Skye wasn't SHIELD anymore. But when she was, Skye had never worried about who had her back or if they'd keep it.

She really wondered what it was she ever saw in Miles and RT. How she'd ever been that person. It was sobering to see how far she'd come.

"Can't wait to see what we can do now. I mean, shit, what the hell went on while I was gone? Money. Communication. Coordination. High stakes target strikes with teams? When'd we become that? How'd we become that?"

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"So I hear," Miles says of Tony's drinking. It was hardly a secret he liked a drink and he liked to get rowdy when he did. "And Genus? Yeah I hope he's seen it by now it's on the news if he hasn't he's slipping. Probably crying into his Hawkeye collectible mug as we speak." He makes a face. "Not like I didn't warn him, hero worship is dumb, they'll always let you down."

"And in that analogy? Is either or the apples or the oranges wearing jackboots?" Miles asks about her comments about SHEILD and the Rising Tide. "Because, us, we pick what we give a shit about, they're just told what to do by the people who don't want to lose their money and power."

He definitely didn't get it. And it was true, SHIELD was different. Partly by circumstance, the Rising Tide were criminals, even if they were high minded ones, and so criminal rules had to apply. It was also partly by choice, they had chosen this life and to live on the edge without ties, and well, when the going got tough people like that got going.

It was a lonely life.

Miles, though smiles brightly at Skye's interest in the op and how it came to be. "New Years was something like this, only smaller, just the inner circle. This is one is going to be our big show, a demonstration of what we can really do." The questions about how it was possible though, they get a sly smile. "Can't say yet DS, but do good on this op and I can probably make a few introductions."

Quake has posed:
"Do they even make jackboots in our size?" Skye smirks and fishes the last fry up, dousing it with a liberal swoop through the ketchup. "And yeah, everyone lets you down eventually."

There's a shrug with that.

"Someone should make sure he's okay." Her grin returns. "I know we joke about those mugs, but does he really have a set?"

Skye can't picture it. She can.. just.. it wasn't like any of them lived a life where they could collect things. Where would they put them? Most of them lived on the go, ready to flee at a moment's notice, burning whatever they had to, only to pick up and start again somewhere new. People like them lived in vans that could hike to another neighbourhood and lay low until someone called parking authority and they had to move or be ticketed or towed.

People like them didn't have mug collections. Or four poster beds in a bedroom with an en suite and a collection of bows in their basement. She'd never really thought so much about how far she'd come up in the world. Even when she still believed she was just occupying space at the Trisk, she'd had more than that.

It was plenty sobering. And she wasn't sure if it fed the mindset, or if the mindset fed the lifestyle.

Not for the first time she wondered how she'd escaped that, and what it was Fury had seen in her that had set her apart.

"New Years Eve was one fucking hell of a job. Totally impressed the shit out of me. I have to hand it to you, H, didn't think you had it in you to pull something like that off. Folks at SHIELD were scrambling." As witnessed by the near immediate buzzing of both her and Clint's phones with recall messages and where the hell are you' and get back here yesterday'.

Miles' sly grin gets one in return. "When have I ever not done my best, huh? Unless you're telling me I did a shitty job at the Hilton. In which case you need your eyes checked."

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"They make 'em in everyone's size, Skye, that's what makes them dangerous," Miles says with a smile to take the edge off his doom and gloom.

He lifts the corner of his lips in a smirk at the mention of Genus. "I am sure he's fine and nah, I don't think he /actually/ has collector cups. I mean kid has issues but he's still got game enough to know to pack light and keep moving. But I am sure he /wishes/ he had collector cups."

Miles and Genus would shit if they could see how Skye had been living, even in the Trisk her life would have been considered the lap of luxury and the new place? With three floors, multiple rooms and a bed as big as her old van it was a whole other world. One that didn't just come with more space but also with friends to fill it.

"I bet they were, it was our moment to give them a taste of what we can do," he grins proudly a moment before they're exchanging sly grins. "Nah, the Hilton thing was good despite them tracing it back, but we got out," and some bystander got clipped. "We just need to be even better for this job. I mean, we screw this up it won't be some training officer and bow and arrow guy who come knocking, it'll be Iron Man, Thor, and Vision. And that'd be a bad day."

Quake has posed:
Skye made a mental note to find him a cup and make sure Genus got it. One cup surely he could move around with him.

She wasn't unaware that her life at the Trisk was something they couldn't imagine. That her life with Clint was truly blessed.

"Heh, maybe I'll have to get myself a pair. Kick some SHIELD ass." Her nose crinkles. "And I can't help they caught us. Hell, I helped put that shit in place at SHIELD. If it were anyone else you'd have had your asses handed back to you."

The grin continues at mention of the crew hunting her down. "Yeah. I kinda look forward to them trying, you know?"

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
A cup shouldn't be too hard to find. Avengers crap was everywhere, plus god knows Clint probably had a few dozen in one of his endless boxes.

Miles snorts, "So, not what I meant," he says about the boots. "Well, you made it good enough to catch you, which is something. We'll have to get you to take a look at some of the security on our caches after the op. See if you can work the same magic for the rea; good guys."

"And you're nuts," Miles says. "I mean we can take them online, but having them show up at the door? Well, if that happens, they're all your super spy." He grins though at the thought of Skye stepping to the Avengers all toe to toe.

Quake has posed:
"Told you I was good," Skye teases, smirking. "And we"ll see what I can do after I impress whoever the hell it is you"re keeping secret."

The grin remains. "You almost have to be a little nuts to do this, H. Besides, I wasn"t serious. Have you actually seen what they can do? Hells, no. On my own playing field, maybe. Toe to toe? Not even with my SHIELD training."

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Miles laughs. "Same old, Skye. And yeah, if you impress them then you can fix up our security and just about anything else you think needs it."

"Heh. True enough, but there's crazy and then there's messing with the Avengers crazy, and good! You'd better not go toe to toe with them, or SHIELD, we need you in one piece and able to code," he jokes. "And yeah, I've seen some of them in action, video mostly. How about you? See any live stuff?"

Quake has posed:
"Me?" Skye shakes her head. "Nope. Just training missions." Which was mostly true. She'd helped with the Hydra attack from behind her keyboard. Her escape, though, that had been something else.

"Most of the folks there thought I was the IT girl."

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"What? They had /you/ recovering passwords and telling people there isn't an any key?" Miles asks shaking his head. "Man, they're dumber than I thought. Don't worry though, we know what you can do, your days as the IT girl are done."

He finishes off the last of his fries and then closes his laptop. Brushing the fry grease off the case with his sleeve. "Anyhow, let's take a walk and I can fill you in on the op details."