Bird in the Water
The boat wasn't as big as Barney had imagined, though by boat standards it was still a decent size. The painted name on the side read 'The Baron', but the little boy didn't think anything noble about the vessel at all. Really, he wanted to be back at home, watching cartoons or playing superheroes with Clint – but no. His father had told him he was coming, and that was that.
"Ever been on a boat before, kid?" His father's friend, Jacques, came up beside him, a heavy hand on Barney's shoulder. Barney shook his head. "Really? Hey Buck, how come your boy's never been on a boat before?"
Slamming the boot of the car shut, Buck glowered at them. "Never had reason to. Now come on, they're waitin'."
Once on board 'The Baron', Barney was greeted (with surprise) by two other men who introduced themselves as Heinrich and Helmut. "He is your son, Chisholm?" one of them asked with a raised eyebrow.
Buck grunted. "Thought he could be helpful. He'll stay out of trouble, so don't mind him."
"I see..." Heinrich studied him for a moment more, then switched to a more business-like manner. "Shall we be off?"
Thirty minutes later, 'The Baron' dropped anchor in the middle of the ocean, and Buck pointed to a stool in the cabin's corner. "Sit there," he said to Barney.
The boy glanced at the padded bench over on the opposite wall, on which there was plenty of space for two adults and a child. "Why?"
"So you're out the way. Now sit."
Flinching a little at the tone, Barney sat, and stayed quiet as he watched the four men begin a game of Poker. It wasn't, he observed, a game rife with pleasantries; Jacques was the only one who tried to make any sort of light between them all, and his quips were ignored by the others who only made sporadic small talk. Halfway through, Jacques suggested handing out some beer.
Heinrich and Helmut eyed the proffered bottles suspiciously. "How do we know they are not tampered with?" Helmut asked.
Buck rolled his eyes. "Barney. Come here." Barney complied, and Buck gave his son one of the bottles. "Drink it." He stared at the bottle warily, then back at his father, and decided he'd probably suffer worse if he didn't do what he was told. "There," Buck said a few minutes later. "He ain't dead. Happy?" Helmut took the second bottle somewhat grudgingly, and the game resumed.
Thirty five minutes later, 'The Baron' was driven back into port, this time with Jacques at the wheel. "I gotta say, Buck," he commented as they looted the cabin, "I wasn't sure you'd given the kid the right bottle back there." He chuckled. "Coulda been nasty."
Buck snorted. "What do you take me for?" he asked, then looked around. "Christ, where the fuck's he gone?"
Not that either of them had noticed, but Barney had run outside to be sick once the boat had been started up again. It wasn't because he was seasick, more due to the combination of beer and fresh corpses at the card table. Leaning against the side of the boat, he sent a silent prayer that his dad wouldn't take him out again – or worse, take Clint instead. Later, Jacques told him he did good; Barney wouldn't have believed it even if his own father had said it.
AN: In case you didn't already realise, this is a tie-in with one of my other works, 'Fly, Little Birds', in which Buck Chisholm is Barney and Clint's lame-ass father (so if you liked this, go check that one out!). I struggled to come up with something to write for this card, and eventually whacked this out in under an hour. It's not brilliant, I'll admit, but it's something... and if you're wondering why I chose Barney over Clint, well you'll have to read 'Fly, Little Birds'. ;-)