Notes: Well, y'all, it's time to live up to our pen name. *scoots out of the way to let the 'awesome'ness commence ;)
Chapter 12: "(Nearly) Complete Set"
September 12
Simulation Room in the Tahiti Wing
Kurt winced as he slid on the wet streets. He didn't know what was so wet about them — maybe the simulator had decided to mimic conditions of the day after a rain; he didn't know — but it was making his stealth training that much more difficult.
He saw, through the window he'd been able to sneak into, Matt turn his head in Kurt's direction and grin. "Heard you," Matt called out.
But Kurt wasn't going to let Matt trick him into giving away his position even more by talking back — he'd learned from the last time when Matt had actually thrown something at him. He was pretty sure that was out of spite. Still, it wasn't that big a rock.
He stayed stock still, measuring his breathing, waiting for longer than he thought was comfortable before he started to move again, this time watching his footing more carefully.
Okay. If I can't get in through this window… Kurt looked over the building until he spotted an open window a few floors up. It wasn't much, but at least it would let him into the building, and he could figure out the rest from there.
He just had to figure out how to get up there. Couldn't just jump to a window a few floors up. Flying would be so handy right now. Or teleportation. He grinned at himself, feeling more calm.
This was part of the exercise, Kurt knew, and he also knew that Matt was trying to test his resourcefulness and ability to think on his feet. So he gritted his teeth and stepped lightly forward, watching where his feet went so he didn't disturb anything in the street.
When he got closer to the building, he saw that some of the bricks were slightly out of place, and he grinned. He'd seen Peter do something like this in the Games, and while he wasn't quite the wall-crawler Peter was, it looked like the bricks were spaced out enough that he could reach. It would just take a little doing — and he would have to be careful not to fall. Of course, if the bricks were out of place because the mortar was crumbling… he pushed the thought away.
He started up the wall, his arms straining to reach each of the breaks in the wall, and he had to move slower than he would have liked so that his heavy breathing didn't give him away. Where he could, he paused to rest against the side of the building, the cool brick against his sweaty face, to get his breathing back under control, before he started moving again.
It took an agonizingly long time before Kurt reached the open window, and when he at last pulled himself through, he lay flat against the floor, not moving, just simply trying not to pant as loudly as his body wanted him to. Matt was scary good — he could hear panting even from two floors away, Kurt was absolutely convinced.
Kate would call him paranoid, but then, she couldn't resist teasing him about anything, could she?
Once he had done that, though, Kurt drew himself up to look around the room. There was a door on the far side of the empty space, and a simple cot. Thankfully, there wasn't much else, and he approached the door carefully. He couldn't just open it. What if the hinges squeaked? Kurt was half-convinced Matt could hear that, too. He was determined to learn from four hours of embarrassment yesterday.
So, carefully, Kurt set to removing the hinges on the door.
With that done, Kurt carefully set the door aside and tread as lightly he could on the boarded floor, terrified that any of the boards might creak underneath him before he reached the stairwell on the other end of the hallway.
To his surprise, Kurt made it to the stairwell with little incident, and he leaned heavily on the handrail, testing out it before he slid silently down its length for a few floors.
He paused at the door to the room he knew Matt was holed up in, surprised that he hadn't heard Matt call out yet. Maybe he was getting better at this.
But, of course, as he worked the hinges to the last door, it swung open on him, and he had to duck as Matt swung his cane at his head.
"What gave me away?" Kurt groaned.
"You skidded when you hit the stairs," Matt said.
"No, seriously."
Matt grinned. "I told you—I'm hard to sneak up on."
Kurt sighed. He was disappointed, but somehow not at all surprised. "Are we going to reset it, then?"
Matt shook his head. "No, I think we'll stop here for today. It's getting late."
Kurt glanced up at the artificial skyline to see the small numbers in the corner of the ceiling. He'd been at this longer than he'd thought, he realized. Dinner was probably over and done with by now.
He sighed but couldn't resist the opportunity to ask, "But I am getting better, right?"
"Well, I would have jumped from the adjacent building and rolled with the momentum to hide the sound, but I like what you did, climbing the side of the building."
"How did you—"
Matt grinned. "Trade secret."
September 13
Essex Laboratories
It had been several days of strength training — trying to pound her body back into the shape it had been in before she died — when Natasha had another visitor. If the man running the show could be considered to be a visitor.
"You seem to be coming back to peak nicely," Essex said smoothly. He stood on the far side of the room, removed from her, a smart move even if he knew he had her obedience.
"I'm ready to get moving," she told him with a nod.
"And how are your sessions with Xavier going?" he asked. His tone was easy, but she knew better; she knew just from what she had observed from talking with Xavier that the two men didn't like each other. There was a rivalry there, and while she didn't understand all of it, she knew enough.
She wrinkled her nose the slightest bit. "He's making a play for your operatives," she told him. "Trying to break my allegiance to the Red Room."
"I'm not concerned," he said with a wave. "Those that I lose are expendable."
"Still, seems a shame to lose so much investment if the others were also brought back from the dead," she said, thinking of Clint and the fact that Xavier had mentioned he was awake before she could quite stop herself.
"Some of them should not have been," he replied coldly, and it was like a rebuke as she immediately straightened up.
"You won't lose me, sir," she promised, sounding very nearly earnest. "I haven't figured out who's pulling his strings, but he doesn't fool me. I know a puppet when I see one."
"Good," Essex said soothingly. "I knew he wouldn't get past you. Your reputation is too good for his games."
She smirked at the compliment; it was the first he had given her since she began her new life after the Games — at least, the first that didn't come with an immediate criticism of something else. She paused and seemed to consider something for a moment before she said, "I know there are others. Xavier told me Barton was one of them. He could be a good asset; I've trained with and fought with him before."
"See what you can do to find out more," Essex said, though he didn't sound as interested as Natasha would have hoped. "And report to me what you find."
"Yes, sir," she said, schooling her expression to hide her disappointment. She would just have to look out for Clint herself. Like she'd always done.
September 14
Tahiti Medical Wing
Peter Parker hadn't opened his eyes yet, but he was trailing his hands and fingers over the sheets experimentally, then reaching up to his chest — though he didn't find any of the marks that he expected to find. He let his hand fall to the side and couldn't help but be nervous. If he opened his eyes, he might find out he was dead. And not knowing was a lot better than being dead. Maybe. Possibly. He wasn't sure.
It was ridiculously bright when he finally did open his eyes, and he winced away. "Ooh, someone turn down the sun," he grumbled, eyes tightly shut again before he started to blink, trying to focus as slowly, the medical room swam into view.
"Welcome back, Mr. Parker," Charles said as Peter's eyes focused enough to land on the victor sitting beside his bed. "My name is Charles Xavier. I'm here to help you to adjust."
"Right - Professor X," Peter said, nodding quickly as his heart sped up bit by bit. "Norman — I mean, Mr. Osborne — he made me memorize all the victors' names and fighting styles. I think he thought it would help me figure out how your tributes would fight?" He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "So ... do I call you Professor or Mr. Xavier or…?
"You can call me Charles," the man said warmly.
"Okay." Peter took in a deep breath and looked around, still shrunken in on himself. "So… what is this place?"
"This is a top secret facility, far from prying eyes. The doctors here specialize in trying to right the wrongs that the Games perpetuate. Or, at least, that is the intention."
"So you brought me back from the dead?" Peter sat up straighter, looking around with a little more understanding. "I mean, thanks, but ... there are other people you could bring back."
"Who would you suggest?" Charles asked with an interested expression on his face, as if he was studying Peter like a particularly unusual insect. "If you could choose."
"I guess it depends on who won," Peter admitted. "I mean, only one person wins, right? But there were plenty of kids that didn't deserve to die. Like Kurt or Sin or Ororo — or Steve or Tony or Kate or Logan." He'd listed them off on his fingers and only stopped to frown Charles' way. He was sure he could come up with more given half a minute to really think it over.
"You have quite the list," Charles said with a little smirk.
"Well, they had a better chance at winning than me. But they didn't deserve to die, either, and I know not everybody… I mean, only one person wins, so..."
"When you're ready, you can watch some of the Games footage," Charles promised him with a kind smile. "But nearly everyone on your list is already here."
"Really?" Peter brightened and straightened up at that, then paused. "Wait, who's not?"
"Logan."
"Why not?" Peter half demanded, throwing one leg over the side of his bed. "You know he didn't mean to — it was the jackers and—"
"He won, Mr. Parker."
"Oh!" Peter stopped halfway through his argument and stared at Charles for a moment, then moved to sit at the edge of the bed, his fingers running over the folds of the blanket thoughtfully. "That — that sounds about right, actually."
"How are you feeling right now?" Charles asked. "You look rather pale."
"Is that normal?" Peter asked, wide-eyed, looking down at himself. "I mean, didn't you have to do a lot of, um, putting me back together? How should I look?"
"We did do a lot of work," Charles said with a nod. "But I meant you looked a bit paler now than when we started to chat. Are you alright, all things considered?"
"Honestly? A little freaked out?" Peter shook his head. "I mean. I distinctly remember dying. That definitely happened. And now I'm in… I don't even know what this place is, and so many of my friends died, but they didn't and — how does this even make sense?"
"It doesn't make a bit of sense," Charles agreed. "But rather than listening to me try to explain what I scarcely understand myself, would you like to see some of your friends?"
"Yes!" Peter nodded fervently.
Charles looked toward the mirror with an enigmatic smile, and not even two seconds later — the door to the room opened, and in rushed Kate and Kurt.
Kate of course went straight for the hug, and Kurt waited to see if Peter could handle being halfway bowled over. But, since Peter didn't seem to object, he hurried to do the same. "How are you feeling, mein Freund?" Kurt asked, his grin barely restrained.
"Very, very happy to see you," Peter said as he reached over to pull his friends into a hug with a surprisingly strong grip. For a long moment, the three of them held the hug before Peter looked straight at Kurt. "I'm so sorry. I didn't move fast enough."
Kurt frowned and shook his head. "You have nothing to apologize for."
Peter released his grip and slid back against the pillows as he started babbling. "I do, though. I didn't save you." His shoulders drooped. "I abandoned Logan. He had no idea, and I left him and you. I didn't even stay to say goodbye or anything. And I never found Kate, and it wasn't like I was doing anything to try and find her, I just stopped caring and, and—"
"Peter," Kurt interrupted. "You didn't do anything wrong."
"Yeah, it wasn't your fault," Kate agreed as both of them just hugged Peter tightly where he sat.
"Easy for you to say," Peter mumbled. "You didn't abandon your friend after he killed your other friend." His head suddenly shot up, making Kurt jump. "You know he didn't mean it, right?" he said, seeming to direct the question to both of them at once. "Logan — it was the jackers. He would never have done that. We were hallucinating, and—"
"I know," Kate assured him. "The X man showed us after they brought us back."
"Good." Peter nodded decisively before he looked up at Kate. "I'm sorry I didn't find you. I know I didn't see your face in the sky when I went, so you were still out there, and—"
"Really, Peter, it's fine. Stop apologizing," Kurt cut in.
"Yeah, but it was crazy at the end. I mean. Really creepy mutts and …" Peter shuddered.
"Yeah, I know," Kate said, putting her hand on his arm.
"I was hoping you or Logan would win," he told her honestly, with a sheepish little smirk. "I mean - it had to be Team Awesome, right?"
"Right," Kate agreed with a little smile.
"But we all still remember dying, right? It's not just me?" Peter asked, a little nervous.
"No, we all remember dying," Kurt assured him.
Peter made a face. "Yeah, I guess it's too much to ask to just draw straws to decide the winner. Woulda been nice to know we were all coming back, though? I mean. I don't know that it would have made it easier, but maybe?"
"Doubtful," Charles interjected, seeing that the boy was working through his thoughts well. "If you're feeling up to it, then Kate and Kurt can show you your new quarters and fill you in on how things work around here."
Peter nodded and shifted so he could get out of the hospital bed, the tile was cold on his feet as Kate and Kurt were beaming on either side of him. "Team Awesome is back together again… well. Mostly," he said, the beaming smile falling quickly. "We've got to find our stabby friend and finish the set, or it's not really Team Awesome."
"True that," Kate agreed with a nod.
"As soon as we can," Kurt added with a decisive nod.
"Then lead the way, you two," Peter said, gesturing out in front of him. "You two can just — hold hands or something. I don't need holding up.
"Not in the halls," Kurt said. "No fraternizing. We've been told. Repeatedly."
"Kissing in the halls?" Peter couldn't help but tease as both of his former allies turned a brilliant pink and shared a glance.
"No," Kate said, brushing her hair back from her ear. "We, um. No, that hasn't — no, not..."
"Not lately," Kurt clarified with a laugh and a devilish grin.
"I kissed him when I woke up," Kate admitted, seemingly talking to the floor. "But then we found out that was a big no-no. So."
"And I missed it?" Peter blurted out, looking almost comically crushed. "So unfair."
The young couple shared a glance with an expression of disbelief between them. "We don't pick the order that tributes wake up," Kurt said with a little laugh.
"I was robbed," Peter said, shaking his head with his arms crossed loosely over his chest. "I so called this from the beginning."
"Let's get something straight, Peter," Kate said, sticking her finger in his face. "There is no 'this' officially. Or we are in trouble."
"Oh come on," Peter almost whined as he threw his arms up and just gave her a look. "I called this! Ask Logan!" He stopped for a second, mid-gesture, and frowned. "I mean. Yeah. You just wait. He'll back me up when we get him back where he belongs, with us."
"I'm sure he will," Kurt said, looking highly entertained. "And as soon as we do what we set out to do, he'll tell us for himself."
"Which is why we gotta hurry this revolution thing along," Kate said with a nod. "The sooner we do that, the sooner we don't have to be so secret about the not-so-dead thing, so we can get Logan away from the district crazies. And start fraternizing," she added with a little blush as she glanced over at Kurt.
Peter looked thoughtful for a moment and then turned to the two of them with a frown. "If Charles knows — doesn't that mean all the victors know? What's the holdup?"
"No. Only some of them do," Kate said. "Bobbi Morse trains me with staves and hand-to-hand when she comes up to the Capitol. And I think Hank McCoy and Reed Richards are doing some work on the undead science?" She rubbed the back of her neck. "Oh, and Rhodey from Three is one of the flight instructors."
"That's it?" Peter said, frowning deeper as he came nearly to a full stop.
"That's as many as we know," Kurt said.
"So... he thinks we're dead," Peter surmised.
Kurt looked toward Charles for a moment. "They couldn't tell him during the interviews and victory at the Capitol. I'm sure they'll tell him later."
"They didn't tell Logan after the interviews," Charles said as gently as possible. "It's very likely they won't."
"Why not?" Peter asked, suddenly sounding much younger. "He should know!"
"I understand how you must be feeling," Charles said as he tipped his head their way. "But I know it's not in the plans. I do know that I can't tell him myself, or the whole of you will end up under Dr. Essex's full control."
"That ... doesn't sound like a good thing," Peter said uncertainly.
"He's the creep who thinks he's in charge when our favorite X man has to be back in Ten," Kate explained with a little glare.
"He has different methods, and different beliefs," Charles explained tightly.
"That's what I said. He's a creep," Kate said.
"Just behave, if you can, and you won't have to deal with him much at all," Charles said quietly. "Which I sincerely hope you can manage to do, since I have to return to my other duties in Ten very soon."
September 16
Training Room, Tahiti Wing
Peter had only been awake for a few days, so he was a little wary of getting started on training already, but Kurt assured him that Matt was a great coach.
"He works with me on hand-to-hand when I'm not doing fencing," Kurt said.
"They've got you with a sword again, huh?" Peter asked with a grin.
"Hey, I'm good with a sword," Kurt said, matching his friend's grin.
"Oh, yeah, I remember you showing off as often as possible for a certain someone in our alliance," Peter said with a smirk.
Kurt gave his friend a raised eyebrow and then shook his head. "Good luck with Matt, Peter," he said, heading off to the sword rack to start his warmup. "You'll need it!"
Peter tried to do a little stretching of his own, though he wasn't quite sure what he was doing until his trainer showed up, and once he arrived, Peter straightened up and grinned his way.
The trainer, Peter saw, had reddish brown hair and a broad smile as he put out his hand. "Matt Murdock," he said, and he sounded friendly enough at least.
"Peter Parker," Peter replied before he half-blurted out. "Sorry, but — you're blind. Are you blind?"
"Yes. Well-spotted."
"Sorry, "Peter said again, flushing the slightest bit.
"It's okay," Matt assured him, with the same pleasant smile. "That's usually the first thing people notice when I show up to training."
"Does it bother you?" Peter said a bit sheepishly. "I mean, that that's the first thing…"
"It used to," Matt said with a light shrug before he took up a fighting stance. "But they get over it pretty fast. Alright. Show me what you know."
Peter's eyebrows lifted, but he tried to copy Matt's stance as best as he could. When it was apparent that his new trainer was waiting for him to make the first move, he threw a punch — and the next thing he knew, he was flat on his back and looking up at the ceiling.
"You telegraph your moves," Matt said as he offered a hand up to Peter.
"Yeah, okay," Peter said as he stood back up and brushed himself off, letting out a long breath. He tried for a little apologetic smile, realizing only too late that Matt couldn't see it. "I guess three days in the Capitol wasn't exactly enough training to learn about telegraphing."
"It's not enough time to learn anything," Matt agreed, shaking his head. "Alright. Put up your dukes. Let me take a look at your stance." He smirked. "So to speak."
Peter couldn't help but grin as he did just that, settling into his best fighting stance, and he had to admit that it was a little weird when Matt took what was obviously his walking stick and more or less used it to observe Peter's position, correcting him as he went.
"So ... you don't train in the Capitol, do you?" Peter asked as Matt corrected the way he was holding his fists.
"Waste of time," Matt said with an easy shrug as he let go of Peter's hand. "Don't tuck your thumb in — didn't they teach you that much, at least?"
Peter flushed a bit and untucked his thumb. "Yeah, they did," he admitted, remembering now what the Capitol trainers had said, but he'd really been paying more attention to traps and what plants would and would not get him killed.
"It's alright," Matt said with a grin. "Like I said, three days isn't long enough to learn anything, and then you had almost two weeks of terror to unlearn it all before you came back. Not the best introduction to fighting in the world."
"Not the best introduction to anything, actually," Peter pointed out, and Matt just smiled that much wider.
Matt walked Peter through the basics, correcting his defensive stance and then walking him through a few jabs and blocks before it was clear Peter was wearing out, his muscles still untested.
"Let's take a break," Matt suggested as he gestured toward the bench nearby, and he picked up a water bottle and tossed it Peter's way.
Peter looked a bit surprised as he fumbled catching the water bottle, but he took several long, grateful gulps as he caught his breath.
Matt waited in silence for Peter to feel like he was ready enough to keep going, but the boy paused for a moment and tipped his head at Matt. "Hey, can I ask you something?" he asked suddenly.
"You just did."
Peter snorted at that. "I mean something else."
Matt cocked his head to one side before he slowly nodded. "Alright, shoot."
"Great." Peter took in a big breath of air before he leaned forward, his hands clasped in front of him as he searched for the best way to approach his question. "See, you seem nice, and Kurt likes you, so I figure you're a good guy — so I have to ask: how'd you end up in this place?"
Matt looked honestly taken back. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, it's not like this setup is that much better than what we were in before," Peter tried to explain. "It's still a bunch of teenagers being trained to fight for other people — probably to the death, too. And I mean, don't get me wrong. I'm so here for taking down Thanos and all that. But we didn't really ... I mean. Nobody asked us."
"You can say no, Peter," Matt pointed out.
"Not really, no," Peter said, shaking his head hard as he tried to clarify. "I mean, how would you say no? This country's pretty awful, and it would be great to fix that, so how can I say no?"
"You can say no," Matt said. "And no one would blame you. It's not your responsibility."
Peter gave Matt a bit of a look, then, realizing Matt couldn't see it, just sighed out his breath. "It still feels like we're pawns of the guys in charge, so I was wondering how you ended up in a place like this when you seem to be a decent person."
"You're decent too, Peter. And so are most of the people in charge around here," Matt explained before he shrugged his shoulders a bit. "But… I get where you're coming from. I do. I can just tell you that I believe in the fight we're fighting. I think it's worth working for."
"Even if it means you're down here training kids to fight in a war?" Peter asked quietly. "What happens if one of us doesn't come back?"
The smile left Matt's face instantly. "I'd rather give you the tools you need so that's not an issue," he said before he stood up. "Come on, Peter. Water break's over."
September 18
Somewhere in the Tahiti Wing
"Psst. Katie."
Kate looked around until she found the source of the insistent whispering and had to roll her eyes when she realized that it was Clint peeking around the edge of the hallway. "You're not sneaky," she teased him. "Not even close."
"Not trying to be. Not right now anyway," he countered with a laugh and a grin before he seized her by the arm and just started to pull her along behind him. "C'mon, Katie Kate. I've got something to show you."
Kate glanced over her shoulders before she let out a sigh and nosed down the hallway after him. He stopped in front of one of the unclaimed boys' rooms and motioned her inside. She raised an eyebrow but entered, still not sure what this was all about.
"How flexible are you?" he asked, and she couldn't help but give him a raised-eyebrow look.
"Kind of a personal question, don't you think?"
He waved her off and motioned to the bed, where he crawled underneath the frame and, curious, Kate followed after him. "What're we doing?" she had to whisper.
"Rooms are pretty highly monitored," Clint explained. "Figured I'd show you this one since it's empty so they might not look as close... but as far as I can tell, the vents are in the same place in all of 'em, so it'll still work." He let out a little 'ah' as he unfastened one of the screws holding the vent cover in place, and catching on, Kate scooted closer so that she could help him unscrew the vent as well.
Once the vent cover came off, they set it down and Clint turned back to face her. "Seriously. How flexible are you?"
"Let's find out," Kate said with a wide grin as she shouldered past him to pull herself into the vent, brushing over a few spiderwebs and their occupants in the process. She had to sneeze at all the dust and dirt in the contained space.
"Gesundheit," Clint called out behind her.
She grinned as she pulled herself forward on her stomach through the vents. There was enough room for her — they were actually kind of roomy — and she turned on her side to look down the length of her body to see Clint pulling the vent cover shut behind them.
"So, do you know your way around in here?" Kate asked.
Clint shrugged. "Not much yet," he admitted. "Right now, I've been focused on trying to peek in on the non-residential side of things to see if I can get past the area we're allowed in, but no luck. I keep hitting dead ends."
"Hoping to find Natasha?" Kate asked before she could stop herself.
Clint looked up at her for a moment with an expression she'd seen before in the Games. "Yeah," he said quietly, but before she could say anything about it, he just shook it off and cleared his throat. "Anyway, since I'm not having any luck with that — yet — I figured there was another good use to put these little escape tunnels to."
"Oh? What's that?" Kate asked, though she was still watching Clint's expression to see if it would fall into another look like the Games.
"Oh," Clint said with the air of someone who was suddenly disinterested, even though he was clearly grinning. "I just heard that there were a couple kids who would really like to hold hands and they're not allowed."
"So, what, you think we should just hide in here and hold hands? Real romantic, Hawkeye," Kate said, rolling her eyes.
"No," Clint said, shaking his head. "No, I think we should figure out the route from your room to his, and you can surprise him with a little visit after they lock the doors."
Kate stared at him for a moment before the slow grin started at the corner of her mouth. "If we weren't in such a tight space, I'd come down there and hug you right now."
"You know, we could probably do that, just shift sideways and slide—"
"Forget it, Clint. I'll hug you when we get out of here," Kate said, chuckling, as she rolled back onto her stomach and started to pull herself forward. "Besides, the last thing I need is to need to be cut out of the ductwork wedged in here with you. We'd never live it down."
"You know, it'd be easier with you and Kurt. You're still young and skinny, both of you…"
"Forget it, Clint."
"Hey, I'm just trying to help," Clint defended. "Way you were always going on about Kurt in the Games, seems like a shame all you two can do is make heart eyes at each other from across the breakfast table."
"We're that obvious?"
"Yeah, we really gotta work on your subtle sneakiness, Kate," he said, and he sounded half-serious about it, too. "I mean, none of us mind, but the higher-ups get their panties all wadded."
"It's a stupid rule," Kate grumbled.
"You don't gotta tell me," Clint agreed quickly, gesturing around the close ductwork. "I'm the one crawling through spiderwebs to find my old district partner, after all."
"They might not even bring her back," Kate pointed out as she reached an intersection and paused. "Right or left?"
"Left. That's the direction to the girl's' hall, I think. We should find your place first," Clint said, then waited for Kate to navigate the corner before he added, "Charlie told me they brought Nat back."
Kate stopped again and looked down at him past her toes. "Really?"
"Yeah, just about as soon as I woke up."
"Then why isn't she here?" Kate asked.
Clint sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. "It's… a long story."
"Do I look like I have any better plans right now?" Kate pointed out, gesturing at herself.
She heard Clint's chuckle echo up to her around the walls of the vents. "Yeah, you look like you want to have plans with a — what'd you call him? Elf?"
"Yeah." Kate blushed a bit, which Clint seemed to be aware of, even if he couldn't see it. It caused him to laugh even more.
"It's cute, Katie. Really. The heart eyes and the lovesick looks. But you gotta work up to more than just staring at each other when you think no one's watching."
"What makes you think we haven't?" Kate shot back, and Clint grinned outright at that.
"You been kissing in the corners, Katie Kate?"
"Trying to find camera blind spots. Peter's been helping," Kate admitted.
"I'll help too," Clint said with a little laugh. "I mean, seriously, it's a stupid rule."
"It really is."
"And it's not like they gotta worry with you two. I mean, you're pretty much made of innocence and daisies. Most scandalous thing you'd do is kiss for long enough to get caught on even a looped feed."
Kate blushed all the way down to the tips of her toes, and she could hear Clint chuckling, so she cleared her throat and started to pull herself forward. "Let's just… figure out the layout of these ducts, okay?"
"Right behind you," he assured her, still chuckling.
Kate shook her head, rolled her eyes and tried very hard to pretend that she wasn't still a little pink as they reached the next turn and Clint called out for her to turn right.
"You sure you know where you're going?" she called down to him.
"Pretty darn," came the response. "But like I said, I've been more focused on the outer perimeter of these things — which are much better on the security thing, by the way. Pressure plates and lasers by a few vents, so I'm pretty sure those go to Essex's, or Charlie's office, or even Coulson's."
"Pressure plates and lasers?"
"Fun stuff," Clint agreed. "Pressure plates are easy enough to get around if you've got the upper body strength and the flexibility to just hoist yourself up against the sides, but the lasers are a little more complicated."
Kate raised an eyebrow. "It sounds like you've done this kind of stuff before."
Clint let out all his breath. "Left here," he told her before he continued, "Well, I haven't exactly done this stuff. This is way more high-tech than I'm used to… but… I wasn't really a Career." He sounded a bit sheepish. "I mean, sure, I knew how to fight, but where I was, it was more of a fighting club than a training academy. Nothing like what they've got for training Sentinels or the place they've got in One."
"But they taught you this kind of stuff there?" Kate asked, unable to hide the jealousy in her voice.
He sounded still more sheepish as he said, "Sorta? I was a petty thief for a while before I joined up, and Buck — the guy in charge there — he figured we could use those talents to fund the program. So… yeah, I ended up being a pretty good thief back in Two."
"I had no idea."
"Not exactly something you brag about, even when you're not being broadcast nationwide," he said before he cleared his throat. "Alright, if I'm on track, this next right should take us past one of the bedrooms."
She couldn't resist the opening for a tease. "You been spying on us ladies, Clint?"
"Katie, I may be a thief and a scoundrel, but I am not a peeping Tom," Clint said, sounding highly offended, and Kate had to giggle at that.
"I believe you," she assured him.
"Good, cuz you know there are rules about that sort of thing, and I don't want to get in trouble for fraternizing," Clint said, and if she had been able to properly reach him, she would have smacked him in the arm for that one.
"You're ridiculous."
"Yeah, I know," he said, and she could hear the smile in his voice as he said it.
When they reached the vent cover to the bedroom, Kate rolled around so they were head to head and then scooted further down and onto her side so that Clint could scoot up near her and help her work the screws on the vent covers. It was a little more complicated from this side, but not impossible. They couldn't see very far into the room except the dresser beyond the bedposts, but considering all the bedrooms had the same setup furniture-wise, that wasn't actually all that helpful.
Once they had the vent cover off, the two hawks slid out — Kate first — into the room and couldn't see anything in the way of personalization. But then, even the occupied rooms didn't have much of that. A book or two from Charles' library, maybe, or textbooks for Cassie or blueprints for Tony or drawings for Steve — but they didn't really own anything that they could use to personalize their spaces.
"Well?" Clint asked, and Kate shushed him as she headed to the door to check where they were.
When she turned around, she was wearing a wide grin. "Close," she told him. "It looks like we're in Peter's room."
Clint let out a breath and shook his head at that. "Closest to the cafeteria on the right side of the hall," he said. "Must've taken one turn too soon."
"Yeah, but you can see the girls' rooms from here," Kate pointed out before she closed the door again and started to shoo Clint with both hands. "C'mon, let's get back in there and try again before Peter comes back from training and we have to explain to him why we're in his room."
"Actually…" Clint rubbed the back of his neck. "Might be better if we head outside now anyhow. I'm betting they get antsy when they can't spot you on the cameras for too long."
"Won't they notice if we don't come out of the same room we went into?"
"I think they just want to see that we're here. Just..." he said, brushing some webs and dust from her shoulder, "...make sure that you don't look like you just crawled out of a duct." He grinned. "I wear gray when I'm exploring. Doesn't show as much."
"Smart." She tapped the side of her nose with her finger and checked her shirt.
"But hey, no reason you can't go looking tonight after they lock us in," Clint pointed out. "I just figured I should show you they're not as secure as they think they are around here." He grinned impishly. "Who knows? Give it a bit, and you'll probably be able to find anyone, anyplace."
She grinned and smacked him rather gently on the arm. "You're such an enabler."
"Don't I know it," he agreed fervently as the two of them left Peter's room and headed back toward the rec room for a very competitive game of pool.
