A/N:
I was having a minor crisis over what to name this collection and then while listening to the radio heard the cover of the song "The Sound of Silence" by Disturbed, and I had an 'aha' moment and thought that the name was perfect for my story! And then once I had a good name, I got inspired to do some writing, and ta-dah, the first installment!
This collection will be oneshots in no particular order from Henley and Clint's lives. I will label them as pre- or post- Avengers, since I will be working on a story that fits in and works with the movie universe for the most part. For the time being, my stories will be set during or shortly after "The Shadow Directive" and potentially within the time frame of the sequel. When I start posting that I will write oneshots that are connected and label them clearly as being so. But for now I will only post early stories to keep from giving away any major plot developments that will happen over the course of my new story.
Well, that was a long intro, but here's the actual story.
The Sound of Silence
(mid-Shadow Directive-when Henley has just moved into Clint's building to help with his flu relapses)
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If only I had known what I was getting into. Funny, the things that can make you flash back to your childhood, make you wish you could travel in time and tell yourself what the future was going to be.
On second thought, if I told mini-me that I was going to be chasing a real-life superhero (or the closest approximation therof I'd ever met) around on top secret missions and that the whole reason I got the job was not for badass secret super spy skills but for sign language, I might get punched. And have people called to take me to what I used to mistakenly call "the nut bin." I was never good with those phrases.
None of that changes the fact that I'm currently perched on a stool in my kitchen, trying not to burn a batch of tomato soup and playing "The Sound of Silence" on repeat on my I-pod.
I first heard that song years ago, as a junior in college. It had been a rough week and it didn't help that my roommate had this thing for really depressing songs. She would play them constantly and sing along to the lyrics and it drove me nuts.
So when I got back to the room after basically failing a paper in a writing class that I was frustrated with taking anyhow, I was in no mood for her moodiness. And then she started signing that song and I practically threw my book across the room when the lyrics hit the part about "people talking without speaking".
I'd just taken up sign language the year before and this was the most beautiful description of ASL I had ever heard. Never mind that that probably totally wasn't the idea the writer had in mind. I memorized the song in English and then in ASL, and even performed it for a campus talent show.
I'm not sure I still know the signs in the right cadence, but I'm all alone and I don't care what I look like. I start in full on just as the song hits the climactic musical build and I'm lost in the music, and….
…and I forgot one little very important detail. Tomato-drenched spoon. ASL. Bad combination.
The kitchen kind of looks like someone was murdered violently. I probably look like the murderer, too, what with tomato smears I can feel all over my face and on my clothes.
There's not much I can do about it right now, since the pot I've been ignoring is about to boil over. I'm still standing at the stove, stirring intently, when there's the peculiar knock on the door that only Clint uses.
Forgetting the sauce everywhere, I rush to the door, slip halfway there and accidentally catch myself on the counter with my bad wrist, still in its splint. I yelp at the unexpected pain.
"Hen? You okay?" Clint's voice has gone hoarse again. He's been miserable since he woke up this morning; I was hoping the soup would help, and Lucky was being too underfoot and nervous for me to work in Clint's kitchen. Besides, that kitchen should probably be classified a biohazard zone. Really should look up the S.H.I.E.L.D. criteria for those zones sometime. But that's beside the point.
This is the third relapse in the month, and it's been just as bad as the previous, Fever, chills, a bone-jarring cough, and bouts of nausea that mean he has a hard time keeping anything down.
"Yeh, 'm fine," I say, trying to keep my own stomach from rebelling at the sharp pain. When I feel like I won't pass out, I move carefully to the door and open it, with my other hand.
Clint is standing outside, hair frazzled and cowlicked from sleep, eyes half-open and tired-looking, face pale, and wearing the same sweatpants and t-shirt he's had for the last three days. I frown.
"You look worse than before."
"So do you. What happened?" Only then do I realize what the kitchen, and I, must look like. I start to explain, then begin to laugh, only able to force out "the soup", "music", and "signing" between gasping laughs.
"What?" Clint looks genuinely confused, and a bit more awake.
I can't talk so I switch to signs. I was listening to a song I used to like and then I decided to see if I could still sign along to it. And I had the spoon in my hand.
Oh, I see. A small hint of a smile spreads across Clint's tired, pale face. Want some help cleaning up?
Sure. And I'll show you the song, too, and maybe you'll get why I liked it so much.
Sounds good. Just don't show me how to sign it with a dishrag in your hand.
CLINT! The dishrag isn't going to be an accident if you keep this up.
Fortunately, we make it through the kitchen cleaning without any injury or even water fights, probably mostly due to the fact that Clint's having a hard time just staying vertical.
"Ok, let's see the song," Clint says as he tosses the rag into the sink. I stand up, take a deep breath, and for a moment I'm the college student again, the girl who had no idea she'd end up here and now. I smile and begin.
Hello, Darkness, my old friend…
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Hope you enjoyed this little snippet addition to the story! I decided to do more of these oneshots where I felt the story was lacking, rather than completely rewriting the original. So there are a few adjustments to the Shadow Directive but not many, and the sequel is in the works!
Also, if you get a chance, listen to the song "The Sound of Silence" and then watch an ASL interpretation of it. It's really haunting but in a neat way.