( 001 ) ➶ ( voice )

[arches]

Okay, so not to be ungrateful--because I really appreciate being fished out of the ocean and given a crash course, really, I do--but the whole time thing? Things are just frozen, back where we came from, is that it?

_{( He pauses for a moment, and huffs. Perceptive listeners will be able to tell that he sounds exhausted, more so when he continues. )}

Yeah, I find that a little hard to swallow. More than this place, even. Has there been any verification, on that? Or am I just supposed to assume the nice people fishing me out of the ocean were telling the truth?

_{( Another pause, some muttering that isn't quite audible, though there may be a curse or two in there. Something about deserving this? Who knows. And then, just as unceremoniously as it began, the feed cuts. )}

Comments

[usavatar]

[That actually gets Steve to soften in sympathy. He rubs his thumb over the bridge of his nose, deciding honesty is better than SHIELD's attempts as easing into the truth.]

Agent Romanov recaptured you. You came with her, and with me, and we met Stark and Banner and Thor in Manhattan. We stopped Loki. You worked as our spotter. Agent Romanov found the key to closing the portal Loki opened up. Stark, Thor, and Dr. Banner held the invasion back long enough for Romanov to do what she needed to do, while I did clean-up on the ground.

[He takes a chair for himself, a token gesture that indicates he trusts Barton not to try to put a knife or an arrow in him.] You really don't remember any of it?

[arches]

_{( He takes all of that in, lips pursed, and then runs a hand over his face. He wants to believe it--he desperately does. His voice is low, and fierce, when he responds. )}

I don't remember it because it didn't--hasn't--happened.

_{( And then: )}

What about Loki. Tell me you--we--got him.

[usavatar]

It happened. You helped save a lot of lives.

[A pause, and he nods once. There's a twist of near-hate in his expression, less at Loki then at the word Tesseract.] Loki and the Tesseract are both back on Asgard. Thor took them himself.

[arches]

_{( His mouth opens automatically to say something, but what can he say? That that's not good enough? That Loki should be on the floor somewhere, bleeding, as Clint lays into him every way he knows how? How can he ask what the point is, to know a thousand ways to make a man hurt, if he can't use those skills on the one person who unequivocally deserves it? His mouth shuts again. )}

...then how do you remember all this, and I don't? That's not...

_{( Possible. But really, is anything impossible anymore? And Clint realizes that if he doesn't accept this, if he doesn't let this be true, he may very well go mad. The not-knowing, the wondering, the guilt will swallow him up and he will collapse in on himself. So he clings to it, or the possibility of it at the very least. )}

That's a better end than I'd thought of.

[usavatar]

I don't know. [He waits, wondering if Clint will say what's on his mind. It's not hard to parse out what it might be, given everything. When nothing else comes out, he sighs and settles back in his chair.] Guess so. I would have preferred the tesseract being destroyed entirely, but at least it's out of human hands.

[arches]

_{( Clint pushes away from the wall at this point, because he's pacing. It's an odd sight, because he's still got his quiver hanging on his back and his bow over one shoulder and they shift as he walks. Finally he turns around and looks at Steve with fierce determination. )}

We can't just stay here--content with this. I can't just stay here. We've got to find a way out.

[usavatar]

[Steve straightens, eyes narrowing a little. It's a look that Bucky, Howard, Peggy, Phillips, or really anyone in the SSR would recognize - Say that again.] People started getting dropped here three weeks ago. Appearances seem to run in seven-day cycles.

According to one of my sources, we're being handled so graciously because there's a substantial risk that some of us will die trying to help save this place, which argues that those who're here aren't actually dead to begin with, which means there's got to be a way to get everyone out. I'm not going to leave if it just means more people will get dragged into the mess, agent. We do have to find a way out. But we can't abandon everyone else to do it.

I'm not a fan of being treated like a pig on a meat farm, but we have to deal with the entire situation, not just our own. [A pause.] And we're on a giant turtle.

[arches]

_{( Clint files away everything Steve’s telling him as best he can, to deal with later. Details, facts, and rumors about this place are useful, to be sure, but at the moment he can’t really focus on them. )}

A giant turtle.

_{( He says that flatly, the one thing he picks out—though he heard it all, really he did. )}

Any chance the thing itself is more friendly than the people on it?

_{( That’s a joke, mostly. He doesn’t actually want to try and talk to the giant turtle. But he walks over and braces his palms against the table Steve’s sitting at, thinking. Usually he’s bouncing ideas like this off Natasha, and she works so differently from him that they can see every angle of something between the two of them. Even from these brief glimpses, he knows strategizing with Steve is far from the same thing. )}

And I never said I wanted to get out at the expense of others. _{( That’s defensive; the last thing he wants is Captain America reminding him what kind of person he is. )} What you’re saying and what I’m saying aren’t mutually exclusive.

[usavatar]

Good. [He favors Clint with a small smile.] Good. I didn't think you were the type.

[Steve taps his fingers against the tabletop, trying to measure out what else he should say.] Yeah, I guess this is all built on the turtle's shell. Can't talk to it, so I'm not sure what good the information does us yet.

[A longer pause, this time.] One of my squaddies is here.

[arches]

_{( He glares back openly at that sign of approval, eyes narrowed and chin up. He's about to start launching into possible plans, ways of organizing people or trying to extract information, when Steve's words give him pause. )}

...you mean from way back when, don't you?

[usavatar]

[Steve picks at a nonexistent splinter on the arm of the chair.]

Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes, formerly of the 107th infantry before he joined the SSR with the rest of my team, codename the Howling Commandos. [His smile is tight.] Presumed K.I.A.

[arches]

Great. More zombies.

_{( Or perhaps the same zombie? That guy did say he was from awhile ago... Clint can't be sure, however. )}

Am I supposed to say congratulations, here? Or what?

[usavatar]

He's not a zombie. [On anyone else the outburst would hardly be called that. From Steve it's practically a shout.

He looks down, pressing the side of his thumb against his lips while he tries to think.] I haven't told him about... what happened. My situation I mean - how I would know you. I would appreciate it if you kept it to yourself until I do.

[arches]

_{( His response is to roll his eyes. Guy who was dead now being not dead? That sounds pretty zombie-like to Clint. )}

You mean you falling through seventy years of time. It's not really my story to tell, anyway. <sub>( He shrugs. Agents know how to keep secrets.

Spoilers: he told Loki all your secrets, Cap. )</sub>

[usavatar]

[WELL STEVE COULD FORGIVE HIM THAT because Loki. His relief at the rest is clear as anything, though.]

Thank you. Really. [He rubs the back of his neck and exhales slowly.] I was hoping you'd be willing to work with him as well as with me, once I've explained things.

[arches]

_{( Clint shrugs at the thanks. He’s not a very gracious person, and he’s not in the line of work where you get patted on the back for doing a good job. His blasé expression turns uncomfortable, however, when Steve mentions working with Bucky. )}

Look… I appreciate that we might’ve taken on the psycho god together, but that doesn’t mean I want to go signing up for your boy scout troop.

[usavatar]

You said we had to find a way out. [Steve eyes him, keeping his tone neutral.] I'm not asking you to join anything - I'm just asking you to work with the personnel we have available.

[arches]

Does that mean you're looking to be the general of those personnel?

[usavatar]

No. [It would take someone who knows him as well as Peggy or Bucky to catch the tiny way his eyes brighten, the fraction of a smile that barely touches his face. He sounds entirely serious.] I'm a captain.

[arches]

_{Or just an idiot...}

Well, Captain--you've got your work cut out for you.

[usavatar]

An idiot with very good ears, Barton. [There's no rancor in it.] Are you in?

[arches]

Well, you had to have something going for you.

_{( he sighs. )} Guess I am. Not like I've got anything better to do.