Surprise!
The two men stand on the roof of the building Matt found Leslie in, only Matt being able to ignore the light rain that began to fall a few minutes ago. "Come on, Matt," Clint Barton complains, trying and failing to pull his coat collar over his ears. "You couldn't have picked a dryer place to meet?"
"This was the first place I thought of," the lawyer admits, keeping an ear open for any uninvited guests. "Besides, I need you to look for something for me."
"You brought me down here to look at stuff?" Clint asks, giving up his attempt to pull up his collar and shifting to rubbing his arms.
"I can't exactly do it myself."
The archer's mouth opens to speak, but his mind must come up blank because he sighs in defeat instead. "Don't you have other friends?" he asks. "Vigilante friends I mean." Matt laughs and shakes his head, earning another sigh from Clint as he rubs the back of his neck. "Of course not... Well." He crouches down and opens one of the bags at his feet, removing his bow and quiver and hooking both over his shoulder. "Let's get this over with."
Matt nods and leads the way down the nearest set of fire escape stairs and into the first room he comes across. He quickly clears the building after a moment of listening and waves Clint in. The archer swears violently as he hits his head on the window frame on his way in and Matt sighs. "Are you sure you're supposed to be an Avenger?" he mutters, feeling the heat of the glare the other man shoots him. "I don't know what any of the papers are," he continues before Clint can respond. "Anything Russian may be important. I need it all."
"What are you going to do with a bunch of Russian papers?" the Avenger inquires as he walks toward the corner and grabs the first stack of paper. "Not only can you not read Russian, you can't read at all."
Matt fights the urge to bite back a response and simply walks toward the door. "Just get them," he answers stiffly. "And anything that looks handwritten. Names, notes, prices, locations."
Clint pauses and glances toward the lawyer. "What exactly is going on, Murdock?" he asks. "And don't even try to act like you don't hear me. You're blind, but you're definitely not deaf."
The vigilante huffs and shakes his head. "I don't want to talk about it right now," he responds, feeling the leftover odors roll through his nose and onto his tongue.
"And I don't wanna be out in the rain looking for Russian papers," the archer retorts. "But we all don't get what we want." Matt opens his mouth to comment, but Clint cuts him off. "You brought me here, Matt. The least you can do is throw me a bone."
He's right, and the thought pulls another sigh from the lawyer. "Human trafficking," he finally responds, earning a sharp inhale from the archer in reply. "I found a person -a kid really- who was a victim of the Russian human trafficking ring. I thought it was brought down when Anatoly and Vladimir were killed, but apparently someone else took over."
There's a moment of tense silence before the archer releases a low whistle. "That's heavy, man," he says, returning his attention to the papers. "Really heavy."
Matt snorts and refocuses on the world around them. "You're telling me." The duo lapse into another silence before Clint holds up a paper.
"I got something," he says, just as Matt picks up on a door being opened downstairs.
"And we have company," the second man responds, pointing back to the window they came in. "Grab it and go. We'll come back later."
After hastily folding the paper in fours, Clint shoves the paper into his pocket and hurries to the window, going back up the escape and rushing to grab his bags. Once every trace of themselves were gone, so were they, quickly leaping across rooftops to another building a few blocks over. They make their way down the fire escape to the alley where Clint's dog, Lucky, waits patiently. Clint's feet barely touch the ground before he's using the wall for support as he huffs and wheezes. "Whew," he pants as Lucky trots over and licks his other hand. "I don't...see how...you do that...every...night."
Matt rolls his eyes and hops down beside him. "And you're sure you're an Avenger?" he inquires, earning the one finger salute from the wheezing archer in response. "What papers did you get?"
"A packet of lists," Clint responds once he gathers his breath again. He reaches in his back pocket and removes the packet, unfolding the crumpled papers and handing it over. "It's mostly Russian, but there's some names on it."
"That's all I need to start," Matt responds, refolding the papers and mentally wishing he had some form of pockets. The rain starts to pick up and the previously dried and nulled scents of the alley start to come back to life. Matt wrinkles his nose as the odors of three week old urine, poorly bagged baby diapers, rotting food, and a dead rat assault his senses. "Come on, we gotta get home."
######
Leslie is almost asleep when they get home, but she snaps back to consciousness as soon as Matt opens the window. "It's me," he assures, pulling off his mask and stepping down from the window. "We have more friends coming over. One person, one dog."
The teen's heart jumps and Matt pauses before he realizes it's not from fear. The tension and heart rate spike seems to be from excitement. So she does like dogs, he notes. Another right score for Foggy I guess. "I'm going to let them in now," he announces, making his way to the door as Clint climbs the last flight of stairs. "Ready?" After a moment's pause, Leslie gives a quick nod before pulling her legs up and tightening the blanket around her.
Matt returns the nod and walks to the door, doing his usual routine of opening the door before the person knocks. Once again, Clint swears violently and Matt waves him down. "Don't do that," he cautions. "Leslie's sensitive about that language."
Lucky happily bounces past Matt inside the house as Clint raises an eyebrow. "Leslie?" he repeats as Lucky starts yapping joyfully. "Who's Leslie?"
The lawyer steps aside and allows Clint access inside. "You know how I said I found a kid..."
Clint pauses a moment before he releases a slight gasp. "You didn't..."
"Say I brought her home?" Matt finishes quietly, nodding a few times in confirmation before turning and walking back into his apartment. "Never thought I had to." He re-enters the living area and stops, feeling the air shift as Leslie gently pets the dog in front of her. Of course the action sends a cloud of dander and the scent of wet dog into the already tainted air, but this is probably the calmest he's ever felt Leslie, so he refrains from vocalizing his complaints.
Clint moves forward and stops at his shoulder, a slight frown pulling his lips down as he catches sight of Leslie. "Holy shit, Murdock," he breathes, causing Matt to wave him into silence.
"Don't," the second man whispers, listening to the blanket rustle as Leslie shifts. "You'll scare her." Clint is silent for a moment before nodding a few times in reply. Matt returns the careful nod before turning his attention back to the female on the couch. "Leslie," he calls gently, earning an instinctive jump to awareness from Leslie in reply. She quickly pulls herself away from the dog and sits up straight, hands in her lap as Lucky cocks his head sideways in confusion. "Oh no, no, no, Leslie," he says carefully, lifting his hands and taking a step towards her. "You're fine. I was just going to introduce you to our guest."
Leslie remains stiff for a few seconds before she exhales deeply and nods once. Once again, Matt returns the nod and steps aside, listening as Leslie turns her head slightly in their direction. "Leslie, this is Clint Barton. He's an Avenger and he's here to help."
Clint lifts a hand and salutes. "Hey," he greets, causing Leslie to nod hesitantly in response. "I see you've already met Lucky." No response. Clint raises an eyebrow and turns his head toward Matt.
"She doesn't talk," the blind man clarifies, motioning toward one of the chairs on the other side of the room. "You can put your stuff down there for now. We'll get everything settled when we come back."
"Come back?" Clint asks, walking past with an eyebrow raised. "Where are we going?"
"Out," Matt responds. "What? You thought I just brought you out here to grab some papers? Sorry to burst your bubble, Clint, but there's a lot of stuff that needs to be done and not a lot of time to do it." The archer releases a heavy groan of annoyance as he drops his stuff beside the chair and Matt smiles in faint amusement. "I'll be back," he informs as he turns toward the bathroom. "Get ready. We leave when I'm done."
Clint grunts in acknowledgement and flops into the chair. "Fine," he grumbles in defeat as Matt leaves. "Hurry up. I'm not exactly on vacation here."
"Yeah, yeah," the lawyer responds distractedly, too busy focusing on Leslie's heart rate. Of course it's still nowhere near healthy levels, but with Lucky beside her feet, it has gone down. He ponders the thought of actually getting a dog as he enters the bathroom, then stops. Christ, Murdock, he thinks tiredly as he closes the door. She's not staying forever...is she? Either way, I'm not getting a dog.
With the decision finalized in his mind, Matt relieves himself, washes his hands, and heads back out. "Ready, Bar-" The vigilante allows the sentence to die on his tongue as he tunes in on Clint's sleeping breath and heart rate. He allows himself to focus for another few seconds before releasing a sigh of defeat and turning to face Leslie. "Are you going to be OK with him here?" he asks, mentally cursing himself for forgetting to ask her earlier. She's the one who's going to be holed up with him until everything settles out. She should've been the first one he asked.
Her head shifts slightly in the sleeping man's direction a few times before nodding twice in confirmation. Matt nods in agreement and listens again, Leslie's heart rate jumping when Lucky nudges her hand with his head, then slowing as she starts petting him. I'm not getting a dog, he reminds himself as he pulls his mask back over his face. I'm not getting a dog.
"I'm heading out," he announces, heading back to the window once his mask is back in place. "I'll be back before too long. I just have a few more things to check on." Leslie nods again and continues to scratch the dog's ear, making it hard for Matt to breathe too deeply without sneezing. "There's leftovers in the fridge," he reminds, trying to take shallow breaths as he climbs out into the raining city. "Eat if you get hungry. Cups are above the microwave or on the counter if I haven't put them away yet. Help yourself to something to drink if you need it. And don't forget to use the bathroom when you need to. If anything happens, Clint's here and my cell phone is on my nightstand. Call Foggy if you need to, alright?" Another nod from Leslie.
An amused snort falls from Clint's core and Matt turns to him, surprised he didn't hear him wake up. "Can you be any more of a mother hen, Murdock?" he asks, forcing Matt bite the inside of his cheek to keep from responding. "She'll be fine. I'm with her. What's the worst that could happen?"
"In your career I could spell it out chronologically or alphabetically," Matt responds, earning a hiss of mock hurt from the archer in response.
"Ouch," he remarks sarcastically, failing to stifle a yawn as he stretches in his chair. "Mean. I thought we were friends."
"If you were my friend, you'd be getting up and helping me."
Clint grins nervously and shrugs. "Gotta hold down the fort here," he responds. "Can't leave Leslie alone by herself, can we?"
Matt rolls his eyes under his mask and turns back to Leslie. "You'll be OK," he assures, despite the mild feeling of worry he detects in her rising heart rate. "Clint's an Avenger. He's more qualified in the fighting business than I am."
"I doubt that," Clint responds with a shrug as he shifts to lay horizontally across the chair. "But I get your point." He yawns again and tilts his head toward Leslie. "I got you, kid. We'll be fine."
Leslie looks toward Matt again, who nods once in her direction. She gnaws on the inside of her lip for a moment and Matt almost says he's going to stay, until Leslie exhales again and nods. Matt lingers for another second before nodding once again and starting up the escape steps before he has a chance to stop himself.
Ok, to be quite honest, I didn't mean for this chapter to go as it did. I was reading Hawkeye comics and I read a very amusing fic about if the two met and, well, this happened. I'm not sure how long he's gonna stick around, but I'm probably not going to keep him for long. Anyhow...
Sorry I went on hiatus for that long. It was a mixture of laziness and pressure from work I'm guessing but hey, no more excuses. I'm trying to hop back on this horse and I'm slowly but surely chipping away at this. I actually got this chapter done in a day, if you believe it. So if I can keep this pace up and post on the weekends, we could be golden. If not...I'll work something out.
To those who are still here, thanks for waiting. To those who just got here, welcome. To everyone, thanks for everything.
