From robbie: Glad to know our choices in canon are reader-approved ;) Kate's not quite as well-known for most people, so after getting a few questions, I thought I'd clear up where we're getting her character and what backstory we're using to keep from confusing y'all. I'm a bit passionate about her, but I LOVE getting to talk to people about both Hawkeyes. Clint was my first Marvel crush… and then I discovered Kate, so I tend to… ramble and get super excited about them both. Sorry not sorry :P
I hope that comes across in this chapter, too, because.. Hawkeyes, y'all. HAWKEYES. I love them to pieces. And if you haven't yet, I can't recommend enough the entirety of Matt Fraction's Hawkeye run. It's what got me to fall in love with Kate Bishop in the first place… and then you should definitely read the 2013 Young Avengers run for maximum awesomeness. I hope we came close to doing my favorite little birds justice in this chapter!
From cc:
SOOO glad you enjoyed Wade. He is a rollercoaster to play with and is one of those characters you just kinda gotta be in the right headspace to deal with and Wade is … not my normal place to be. (Logan is so much easier. Oh, so so much easier.)
I do not have clue one as to what's going on actually in the 616 right now, and from the news I've read, I don't want to. All new whatever they're calling it is all garbage. Yes - agree with robbie on the Fraction run, have yet to get the 2013 YA, but I'm sure I will as she's coaxing me into the YA camp too. (totally sold on Noh-Varr and America Chavez, though little Miss Kamala Khan is freakin' adorable.)
So. For the recommendation of things to read - well. If you're feeling like something with a bit of a WONDERFUL Captain America, I'd like to point you to J.D. Finck's story here on ffn 'Captain America - The Last Campaign' is a whole lot of fun and though it is not yet finished? It's heating up nicely.
Okay, This Looks Bad
When the smoke from their most recent teleporting cleared, the temperature was much warmer than Siberia had proven to be, and the sounds of traffic and trains caught Kate's attention quickly.
"Where are we?" she asked. She was pretty sure this wasn't Russia—but it looked like just about any city in the middle of the day.
"Boston," Kurt replied. "No idea what he's doing here though. This wasn't on the itinerary."
Kate raised an eyebrow at that. "I didn't know you could get us halfway around the world that fast," she said, shaking her head. She was still trying to learn the limits and the ins and outs of her new team.
"The bamfs help," Kurt explained as they started walking. "But since I returned from the other side, it's been easier to travel great distances." He shrugged almost sheepishly.
"I'm still getting used to the whole world of nonsense you guys deal with," she said, shaking her head again before she just slipped her arm through his. "Well—let's find him and figure out what all new trouble he's got in his head that's not even list-approved."
Kurt nodded, and they headed down the street in front of them, both of them kept an eye out for whatever trouble there could be—until one of the bamfs reappeared and gave him a quick message. He nodded his head and turned to Kate. "Ready?"
"As ever." He pulled her in close with a little smile before teleporting them to just outside a run-down looking apartment—dark and almost dangerous-looking, particularly with the screaming police sirens outside. He took her hand in his and started down the hallway, only to stop in front of one of the most dirty looking doors. But before he raised his hand all the way to knock, Logan called out for them to just come in. Of course, it was unlocked, and the two of them slipped inside the room to find Logan sitting at a little wooden table with, of all things, paperwork.
"Heard the bamf. What are you doing here?" Logan asked without looking up as he went through the papers in front of him.
"You were trying to skimp on adventures," Kate accused him before Kurt could say anything, one finger pointed at him and eyes narrowed. "Ditch us and take all the fun!"
"Oh yeah, I really got into a boatload of fun," he grumbled half heartedly. When he finally glanced up at them, it was with a purely innocent look on his face. "I'm not skimping on anything," he defended. "Just figured you two would have a better time together if you didn't have me interrupting."
"It was your absence that interrupted us," Kurt told him, shaking his head with a smile.
"I thought you weren't an exhibitionist—and I sure as hell don't want to stick around for it." Logan shook his head. "I have things to do anyhow." He seemed to accentuate his point as he gestured to the mess in front of him. "Proving people wrong about being dead has miserable consequences."
"And we would still like to help with that, if you will stop trying to outrun us," Kurt pointed out.
"I promised Kurt I'd play nicer," Kate added helpfully. "Don't want to cramp the X-style with you two."
Logan smirked up at her. "You don't need to worry about it, I can handle it alone. Always have before."
"I'm sure you can," Kurt replied as he slipped into the chair across from Logan with an easy smile. "But as I said—we would still like to help. You don't need to do it alone."
He let out a sigh and leaned back. "Alright, but I'm just poking around and finishing up this mess before I get moving to the next big stop. Got a little business to conduct before I leave."
"Then we'll order in something to eat," Kurt suggested.
"Go ahead, just waiting to hear back from Zoe," Logan replied as he put his hands behind his head and stretched out a bit more.
"Will she be joining us?" Kurt asked. "I know she likes to make herself comfortable, even for what little time she spends around."
"Wouldn't rule it out," Logan replied. "I'm sure she's going to want to take some time."
"Should we get two rooms, then?" Kate asked with a little smirk. She wasn't sure who Zoe was, but she was sure that she liked the idea of Logan having someone around to distract from the teasing— if it meant she could steal Kurt a little more and not have to be too good.
"If you're hard pressed to be apart for thirty seconds, go ahead and help yourself to the bedroom. She likes to get things done right out in the open and she doesn't usually stay overnight," Logan teased. "And you can stick around while she's here. She won't mind."
Kate pulled a horrible face, shaking her head and holding both hands out in front of her. "I am completely fine not doing that."
Both men started to laugh a bit before Kurt tried to drop her a safer clue. "Does she have a lot of papers that need to be signed then?"
"Likely," Logan replied. "Apparently when they screw up and miss a different 'version' and disperse your estate for you - they do try to fix it." He looked Kate's way and tried to explain. "Landau, Luckman, and Lake. Lawyers of sorts."
She tried very hard not to look too relieved - or surprised, or anything that would make her look like she didn't know what she was doing. Instead, she just waved her hand and put on a disinterested expression. "That sounds horribly boring."
"Well, Matt Murdock handles most of my normal legal work," Logan told her. "Zoe Culloden is the representative of a more interesting practice that sends me some work on the side."
She raised an eyebrow and then laughed. "Okay. I'll bite. What the heck kind of work do you do for a law firm?"
"The kind no one wants to hear about. Assassinations mostly. Espionage. Interdimensional. Space travel. All of that," Logan replied as Kate raised both eyebrows higher and pursed her lips. "Her clearance has her on everyone's codex. Seeing as she feels that most of the security protocols here on Earth don't apply to her."
She sat down in the last chair at the table and nodded slightly. "The whole 'exception to the rule' thing must be a running theme if you can travel dimensions," she mused.
"Even the ones that can't jump dimensions feel that way it seems," Kurt agreed. "Corsair feels none of the laws anywhere apply to him."
"So does he get along with you, Logan?" Kate teased. "Same worldview?"
"Corsair? He's a helluva lot more tolerable than his kid," Logan said with a shrug.
The smirk only got wider. "Where on the hug magnet scale is 'tolerable'?"
"There will be no hugs," he replied dryly. "Just business."
Kate leaned toward Kurt and in a conspiratory whisper that she knew Logan could hear said, "That will literally be the first person besides Daken I have ever seen not hug this version."
He shook his head at her, but as he opened his mouth to argue, there was a knock at the door, and the person behind it simply stepped through with a thick file folder in her arms. It was pretty clear just looking at her that she wasn't… local.
She crossed the room in a few strides, simply stepping around Kurt and Kate as she dropped the papers in front of Logan, rattling off what she needed from him, informing him of every single person that had sought out his DNA or his personal effects with detail enough that Kurt was even raising an eyebrow. "We'll assist, of course—if you want us to recover and destroy any samples that might have slipped by SHIELD." She reached over to pick out a few papers that were stapled together and move them up to the top of the stack he'd been signing.
Logan took a minute to circle a few names before he handed it back to her. "I'll take the ones circled if you have a current location." He paused while the blonde made her way around the table to pull a blood sample before he finished the little bit he had left to do. "You find anything on that name I gave you?"
"Pretty small time, honestly. Especially compared to what you usually go after," she said with a little flip of her hair. "But big enough that there are waves being made. We can seize his assets and redirect them to a children's charity or something if you're feeling... giving."
"I've got one in mind," he told her as he took a moment to scribble down a note on the inside of the folder and hand it to her. She smirked when she read it and nodded her head.
"Yes, my records show that one was severely underfunded, considering," Zoe replied. "Would you like for us to make sure it's all clean?"
"What do you think Kate?" Logan said with a twinkle that Kate couldn't quite place as he looked her way. "Clean funds?"
"I don't think anything you do is clean," she teased him, hoping that was the right tease and not quite placing the joke she knew she was missing.
"You'd be surprised," Logan countered. "At one point I had the whole island of Madripoor running clean. If it was you, would you have problems with say... Yakuza influences? Or a company that was making money from slave labor?"
She fiddled absently with the edge of one of her gloves as she looked over at him. "If you're trying to give me a hint, you'll have to do better. Like, 90% of the businesspeople I know fit at least one of those descriptions, and they don't deserve a cent of it."
"So you're saying given the chance, clean?" Zoe was smirking to herself a bit, but was standing arrow straight, pen in hand waiting for Kate's word.
"Yeah, I guess so." She shrugged. "Clean is always better."
Logan nodded. "Clean 'em or close 'em. New accounts. No restrictions." He glanced up at Kurt, who just shook his head slowly with a little smile pulling at the corner of his mouth as Zoe finished up whatever it was she was writing down with a flourish and took the last of the papers from Logan with a nod before she pressed a button on her watch and opened the closet - which was definitely not a closet by the time she opened the door, seeing as it looked like it opened into space itself.
"I'll be in touch," Zoe said as she tipped her head at the three of them and stepped through the door, closing it behind her.
"You figure out what you want for dinner, Kate?" Logan asked, ignoring the fact that his interdimensional lawyer or whatever just walked into the closet of a rathole apartment.
"Oh, if we're letting me choose…" Kate shrugged. "I love a good breakfast joint. But they're hard to order in," she pointed out.
"That sounds wonderful. I've had enough business for one day," Kurt said with a stretch before he looked over Logan's way. "Do you have plans tonight or are we just doing more lawyer things?"
"After food? Gotta go into NYC," Logan said. "Got some stuff to do there on the way to the cabin."
"Exciting things or more paperwork?" Kate asked. "If you're just going to be signing forms, just drop me off so I can pop over and grab the bow I left in New York last time I was there." She sighed. "I love that thing. And I'm pretty sure I left my best sunglasses there too; I sort of left the interdimensional traveler way and didn't have time to get it all packed."
"We can pick up all the crap you left layin' around. I'm sure SHIELD has my 'I'm alive' paperwork going through Murdock already," Logan said. "So I thought maybe we could look at a little … vengeance work?"
She smirked. "Ooh, I'm good at that. I don't know if I've told you, but I already have arson on my record. So if you need that…" She grinned wider.
"You didn't, but I think we might be able to burn something down," Logan agreed. "Anyone cross you sideways in the city? Because this trip doesn't have to be all about me. I can share."
"I don't think we have time to burn down every construction worker's house, or we'd be here til Christmas," she said with a light laugh. "Besides, most of the people who crossed me got theirs - or they're in LA."
"Well that's on the way to the cabin," Logan said with a little laugh and a little twinkle in his eyes.
"That is a very roundabout trip," she countered.
"Everywhere's in reach from JFK," Logan replied holding up a little piece of paper. "And I just got my medical clearance to fly. Metal bones. Metal detectors. Don't really jive well."
"Oh, man, now that mental picture is stuck in my head. The poor TSA agent who didn't get the memo." Kate was snickering as she shook her head.
"Worst was when I had to go to Japan to get Jubilee," Logan said with a smirk. "Put on a free show."
"Well if we're not taking the jet or Kurt, I can fast track us past most of the lines, anyway," Kate offered. "Dad might've cut me off, but I got myself access to the trust fund, at least—after a fight. You're not the only one with good lawyers." She grinned brilliantly his way. "Let me treat you both."
"Don't have to do that," Logan said, shaking his head and looking entirely too serious for Kate's liking.
"I didn't say I had to," she said with a shrug and a smile. "I said it was my treat."
The two of them shared a look and shrugged. "If you insist," Kurt said.
Logan gave him a little look and tried to redirect. "Did you say you needed to pick up a bow?"
She nodded. "I left one of my favorites at Clint's place last time I was in New York. Didn't exactly have time to grab everything when America showed up and more or less kidnapped me for a girls night."
The men shared a look for a moment but quickly shook it off. "Let's go ruffle the other Hawkeye then," Logan replied as he slapped his hands down on his legs to stand.
"If he's even home," she said, laughing. "When he's not at the apartment, he's in the hospital or being actively kidnapped by SHIELD agents—or Avengering, I guess."
"We'll bust him out if that's the case," Logan said. "I left my lighter on the helicarrier."
"Sounds like a plan."
"No it is not," Kurt said. "We're not going to invade the helicarrier for a lighter."
"It's a really good lighter," Logan argued, but Kurt just gave him a look.
She just grinned over at Kurt and whispered, "Semi-responsible adult."
"I said we," Kurt clarified. "I can get in and out without any issues."
"Well that's just taking all the fun for yourself then, isn't it?" she teased before she took him by the hand. "Come on. I'll even let you choose the in-flight movie. All, you know, half an hour of it."
Kate got the three of them a nice private flight to NYC and even chartered a plane with enough seats that each of the bamfs got to have their own little seat belt and bag of pretzels, and by the time they got to the apartment building in Manhattan, she seemed to be in a great mood, especially because the bamfs had loved the pretzels and had even tried to share with her.
When they got to the right apartment building, Logan frowned to himself as Kate led the way. Even if he hadn't recognized the place, the scent was clear. He considered asking how long she had her crap at Clint's place and why but decided it would be much more fun to screw with Kurt. Just a little bit.
Kate led the two men up the stairs to the top floor of the building, waving merrily to a few of the residents she passed, all of whom recognized her and called out their hellos, and didn't even bother knocking before she just produced a key from her pocket and let herself in. "Clint! If you're not wearing pants I'm going to sic Lucky on you!" she shouted as she stepped through the door and was instantly assaulted by a grinning golden dog.
She crouched down to play with Lucky's ears. "Hey, boy, did you miss me?" she practically cooed as he licked her face.
"She's got a dog with him," Logan half-whispered to Kurt while Kate made over Lucky. "Cozy." He smirked at Kurt for an instant before raising his voice. "He still buy that crappy beer?"
"In the fridge, if it's there," she said, waving her hand without looking. "He won't mind."
Logan gave Kurt a meaningful look and crossed into the kitchen to grab one. "You okay with drinking another man's beer without his permission, Elf?"
"I think I'll chance it," Kurt replied as he tried to give Logan a look. "Just this once."
Kate stood up from playing with Lucky, gave the dog one more affectionate pat, and just grinned at the two of them. "I think I left my bow in the back room. I'll be right back. Don't bleed out on the couch again, Logan—that was no fun to clean up." With that, she hurried back to the further reaches of the apartment, disappearing into a bit of the clutter.
"Not gonna apologize for something I didn't do," Logan called back to her before Lucky made his way over to lean on his leg. He reached down to stroke the dog's ears as he tipped the bottle back. "You wanna look around Elf? Even money says if it's slightly girly and purple it ain't Barton's."
Kurt glanced around the apartment, taking in every single piece of clothing over various pieces of furniture or the artwork on the walls that clearly Clint had not picked out. As he walked through the place, there was just more and more of it, and the pit of his stomach fell.
He poked his head into the bathroom and didn't bother walking in further when he spotted the very girly looking shampoo bottles and the spare toothbrush near the sink. He turned around to look for Kate and found her digging in a closet—though she had an open bag she'd thrown clean clothes into laying on the bed. He raised his eyebrows when he quickly realized that there was only one bedroom in the place.
She looked up at him and grinned widely. "Sorry, I figured while I was here I'd just grab a few other things besides just the bow. You know—my own clothes and not just the stuff I borrowed from Storm," she explained. "There's coffee if you don't want to drink Clint's crap beer."
"I think I could use something a bit stronger than beer, actually," Kurt replied with a little frown.
She stood up a bit straight to look at him, head tilted to one side and a quizzical expression on her face, but before she could ask anything—there was a commotion in the living room, and they could both hear Clint shouting, "Get outta my place, you shapeshifting creep!"
Alarmed, Kurt didn't think before just bamfing away into the living room, with Kate running there. It looked like Clint had already shot Logan and was reaching for another arrow by the time Kurt arrived, though when Kurt did get there, Clint turned his way for a second and then retrained his sights on Logan. "This one of your problems, Nightcrawler? Some kinda… clone or time travel X-Men nonsense or whatever?" He didn't lower the bow.
"Yes, this is one of my problems—the fact that you're shooting at my best friend," Kurt shot back
"Yeah, that's not Wolverine," Clint replied, glaring.
With a rush and a snarl, Logan knocked the bow out of his hands and slammed him against the wall before he popped a claw on either side of his face. "You sure about that, Barton?" Logan snarled out.
Kate came running in from the hall at last and let out a little shout before she half-shouted, "Let him go, Logan!" She shook her head and put her hands on her hips, glaring at both of them before she looked Clint's way. "Clint, chill. He's the real Wolverine. There was some alternate dimension whatever nonsense with the one that died—but he's the real deal, okay?"
"What makes you so sure? You only knew the cranky old one!" Clint shot back, though he hadn't dropped his gaze from Logan—who was still growling in his face.
"I was there when Fury futzing hugged the guy, that's how I know," Kate said, glaring at both of them. "So put away the measuring tape, boys." There was a beat as both men seemed reluctant to listen to her before both of them let out a breath.
"You try to shoot me again and I'm going to cut your hands off," Logan hissed before he retracted his claws.
Clint was glaring hard but picked up his bow to put it away, and Kate crossed the room in a few strides to smack Logan upside the head. "Don't do that. That's way over the line to even threaten," she told him.
"He freakin' shot me," Logan yelled back.
"Yeah? Well I shot grumpy old you like, four times and he never threatened to cut my hands off," she countered.
"So he's a softie," Logan said with a smirk. "Not the same guy. Clearly."
"We're talking about the guy who cut off a lowlife's hands for being in the same building as Mysterio might have maybe been in," she countered. "Tone it down, Grumpy."
"I don't see the problem with that logic," Logan deadpanned.
She rolled her eyes and then glanced over at Clint. "Don't shoot him, you idiot," she said, pointing her finger his way before he got the same treatment as Logan when she smacked him upside the head.
"Well now I won't shoot him," Clint said, grumbling and rubbing his head. "C'mon, Katie, what was I supposed to think?"
Logan looked over at Kurt as he walked past Kate and mouthed out 'Katie? Thought it was Kate.' Kurt frowned a bit deeper and reached over to yank the arrow out of Logan's chest.
Kate just rolled her eyes at Clint this time. "Whatever. I just dropped by to grab some things. How's the building these days? Tracksuits all cleared out still, or did you find a new mob to get in trouble with already?"
"Nah, we've been good here. I mean—occasionally a lowlife will try and collect on that reward on our heads or whatever that's about, but nothing as big as last time," Clint said with a light shrug. "They get scared off real quick, though. Nothing like that clown a while back." As Clint said it, he ran a hand over his ear and frowned a bit deeper. "And you're keeping new company," he said, to change the subject.
"Oh yes. I'm keeping them," she said brightly, looking over at Logan and Kurt, but when she saw that they were both frowning, she sighed out all her breath. "Even when they're both grumpy, apparently. You must have pissed them off."
"If you two are busy, we can just leave," Kurt said, straightening up a bit. "I wouldn't want to intrude further."
Kate wrinkled her brow. "Without me? But I just got packed!"
Kurt glanced up at Clint for a moment with a little frown. "Yes, but you have unfinished business here, it seems."
Clint laughed and shook his head. "Nah, I can take care of my own crap. You three have fun doing… whatever this is." He waved his hand at them. "Just don't take Lucky this time," he added Kate's way.
Kurt's frown deepened and his tail stilled behind him. "This time?"
"When I went to LA, Lucky came with me," Kate explained, glaring at Clint. "I didn't take him."
"I think we'll just—we can wait outside," Kurt said as he shook his head, his gaze on the ground.
"No, no—just let me grab my bag. It's still in the room," Kate said, holding up both hands before she ran off to do just that.
Kurt just pursed his lips and turned away from her. "I don't like this," he said quietly to Logan.
"Can't possibly be as bad as it looks," Logan muttered quietly after seeing how incredibly well his little teasing had taken. "I mean—she'd have to have slept with him. Who'd wanna do that?"
Clint looked up from Lucky and narrowed his eyes at them for a second. "You talking about Katie?" he asked, head tilted to one side like he couldn't quite believe it.
"Unless there's some other explanation for so many of her things in your room," Kurt replied cooly.
Clint looked between the two of them for a long moment before, to Kurt's surprise, he burst into laughter. "If you can make her stop taking over my place, that would be great. She doesn't even live here. Makes me sleep on the couch like she owns the place." When Kurt just sort of frowned, Clint shook his head, still laughing. "I swear, I don't want to sleep with her any more than she wants to sleep with me. That's just—no, that's not happening."
Logan was smirking when Kurt turned to look at him. "You knew already didn't you?" When Logan's smirk stretched into a smile, Kurt let out a little groan of frustration before he leapt at Logan and knocked him to the ground. "I'm going to drop you off the building you …. Rotten … sneaky … ugh!" Logan was fully laughing by the time Kurt got a solid hold on him, and Kate stepped out just in time to see the two of them disappear in a cloud of smoke.
"Are they leaving me?" she asked Clint, sounding upset as she ran for the door and he just kept laughing.
"Watch the windows," Clint called out seconds before Logan went flying past them and a loud crack echoed around them as all the car alarms on the block started going off. A few moments later, Kurt appeared, flushed and still frowning.
"What'd he do?" Kate asked, now thoroughly confused, especially because Clint was still laughing.
"He was being a pain," Kurt replied with a bit of a growl. He turned to look at Clint. "I may have cracked your sidewalk."
Clint waved his hand. "Don't worry about it. Totally worth it for the show."
She looked between the two men and crossed her arms. "You... I don't know what's going on but I'm sure it's stupid." She just let out a sigh and made herself a cup of coffee as she kept shaking her head and muttering about "boys."
A little while later, Logan stepped back into the front door, laughing as he came in. "That was impressive."
"You want a beer before you go?" Clint asked Logan, tossing him a can before Logan could reply. "Because that was quality television."
"It really was," Logan agreed as he cracked open his beer. "That was way too easy."
Clint just grinned wider and tossed a can Kurt's way too. "Don't let him twist you around like that. It's undignified," he said before he winked Kate's way. "And don't let him twist my partner around either. That's your job now."
"You say that now," Logan said as he settled in on the far end of the couch. "You should have seen them in Madripoor. Major flirting issues."
"I don't… I really don't want to know," Clint said, shaking his head and laughing as he snatched the coffee pot back from Kate and set it down out of her reach. He turned back to Logan with a little shrug. "Just don't get her killed or anything. That's all I ask."
"Okay, thanks, Dad," Kate said, rolling her eyes at Clint.
"According to her, all we gotta do is sign her up for the team and she'll be resurrectable," Logan teased. "So... by that logic: Welcome to the X-Men, I hope you survive the experience—most of us don't."
She stuck her tongue out at him. "Such a good motivational speaker."
"I'm not known for my pep talks," Logan countered as he got more comfortable.
She just rolled her eyes and then slid up to where Kurt was still looking irritated, his tail switching behind him. "You feel any better after dropping him off a building or should I find a place and relax you?" she asked in a soft whisper and with a wicked grin, though Kurt just glared Logan's way for a moment before he looked back at her and tried for a softer look.
"I'd say we should leave him here with Clint for a few hours, but they'd just drink and laugh it off."
"Clint has that effect on almost everyone when it's not actually his fault," Kate pointed out. "And you two are alcoholics."
"Technically I'm not, since I can't get drunk," Logan countered. He paused and considered his statement a bit. "Easily. Or for very long. But why don't you two go... do... each other for a while. Clint and I can chat."
"Not in my room," Clint clarified, making a face.
Kate made a face to match. "That's disgusting and unsanitary," she told him. "I haven't washed those sheets since I was here last and I know you haven't." With that, she stood on her tiptoes to whisper something in Kurt's ear that finally had him grinning outright, and the two vanished in smoke.
"Doesn't Fury give you a line item for a maid?" Logan asked as he kicked his feet up on the coffee table.
"This place isn't… exactly … SHIELD?" Clint tried to explain. "I just… bought it. On impulse."
"So? Make him pay you to hire someone. This is stupid—and I'll sleep on the dirt half the time," Logan pointed out.
Clint shrugged, dropping onto the couch as well with the rest of the pack of beer cans. "Hey. I'll get around to it. Sooner or later."
"Why don't you do it before you know—you get lockjaw in here or something."
"Hey. I usually get to it. At some point. Things've just been busy, is all," Clint said. "People trying to kill me. Nothing new, but it makes laundry day hard when you get shot at before you can finish loading the machine."
"Yeah. No Idea what that's like. Hire a maid."
"You gotta take care of your own stuff," Clint insisted. He rubbed the back of his neck before he hedged and reconsidered his position. "Actually, yeah, Katie usually makes me do things around the place. Don't tell her I know that's half the reason she drops by to check up on me."
"Sure you two aren't married or something?"
Clint made a face and shook his head emphatically. "No. I'm sure. Very sure. She's the one thing I haven't screwed up by trying to bring sex into it."
"Still—you two are close enough it got Kurt sick—you know, since she didn't mention your... arrangement."
"Look, I don't understand it either, but I'm not questioning it," Clint said, shrugging. "I'm all for her finding better things to do than hang out with me, though. You know—get out, find herself, stop taking all my coffee."
"Right. Hanging out with a couple of known 'terrorists' is much better than the Avengers," Logan replied with a roll of his eyes.
Clint just shook his head at Logan. "She can keep you in line," he said with a little smirk. "Might turn you around from your horrible terrorist ways."
"Right. If all it took was a little bird to do that we'd have hired you years ago," Logan told him with a glare. "But those two? You should know they've been pretty well inseparable since we took off for Madripoor," Logan said with a shake of his head. "Just been gettin' gooier as we go forward. Only reason they left me here was they think you'll act as babysitter."
"Good for her." Clint leaned back with his hands behind his head. "Probably healthy. In so many ways."
"In what alternate reality is expecting you to babysit me healthy for anyone?"
"No I just mean—healthy for her to find someone," Clint tried to explain. "I'm not the best influence? And I tend to get her saddled with half my crap and a target on her back."
"Story of my life," Logan muttered with a sigh. There was a few minutes of silence before Logan decided he just had to dig a little bit. "Hey, what's her backstory? She got someone that worked her over or something? She's been pretty vague, but seein' as she's trying to find a way to corrupt my best friend I'd like to know about her. I could ask my lawyers, but - figured I'd rather hear it from you."
Clint raised both eyebrows and then let out a bit of a laugh. "I wasn't there for the first part. I was… sort of dead," he pointed out. "My understanding is she more or less invited herself to Avenger's mansion to find a bunch of kids in costume and took over the whole team in one night. Or—that's how Cap tells it."
"Not sure Cap would tell me much right now," Logan told him. "Kinda got him and Fury wasted then snookered my way outta the helicarrier."
"Well that explains why he's got his star-spangled panties in a wad," Clint said, smirking. He leaned back and put his feet up before he shrugged lightly. "I don't know what I can tell you, man. She's the best bowman I've ever seen, but she's, like, twelve years old and spoiled rotten—except not quite as spoiled recently." He looked at Logan over the edge of his beer. "Daddy dearest cut her off and then tried to kill me. Fun stuff. Pretty sure whoever he's running with? They've got a hit out on both of us now - which is my bad. Try and keep her out of that while she's running with you, huh?"
"Yeah, been through that before. You figured that much out. Does she know?" Logan asked with narrowed eyes.
"That he's running with the people after us? Yes," Clint said, nodding. "But I.. I haven't told her how deep he was into it. She doesn't need that hanging over her head. I sort of … stepped in it when I bought this place, pissed off a whole buncha people I didn't even know were looking at it, and she got wrapped up in it. Neither of us knew he was even a factor, I swear, or I wouldn't have let her ten miles from this place." He frowned and tipped his head back. "Like I said, she keeps getting caught up in my crap."
"Anything you want help with? Seein' as I'm off your team now—wouldn't be a conflict of interest."
Clint shrugged and shook his head. "Nah, I think I'm good. I can handle the punks they send my way."
"Don't care about the ground level. You got names for me, or do I need to start digging?"
Clint turned to face him better for a second and consider the question. "I've just got a few. Kingpin, Daddy dearest, Madame Masque… those are the big ones, anyway. The ones that have to sign off on all the decisions."
"The hell's he doing pokin' around with Fisk and the witch in the mask?" Logan asked as he cracked open a fresh beer.
"Some kind of real estate scheme; I don't know," Clint said. "I don't know much about Wall Street or anything like that." He picked his feet up off the table so he could lean forward for a moment. "Seems like he's been in it for decades, actually. I'm still digging. I know she said she'd dig, but I don't think she actually wants to, you know?"
"So where's he spend his nights—daddy dearest that is. Kurt is gonna keep her occupied and if they really need me, he'll send those little blue whiskey thieves out to find me," Logan told him.
"I know a few places. The big house is in Jersey, but he's got a boat he loves to take girls out on," Clint said with a shrug. "Didn't even have to dig to find out about that one, the way Katie complains. Loudly."
"How tired are you, Barton?" Logan asked as he looked him over carefully. "Feel like sinkin' a boat?"
Clint rolled his shoulder once, nodded to himself, and then got to his feet. "I still got a boat or two left in me before I collapse," he said with a grin.
"Well let's sink the boat then you can point me to the others," Logan told him. "Don't want you to strain yourself, and I'm feelin' like a social call."
Clint smirked at that and then shook his head. "If you're going after the guys after me? I'm coming. It's my mess."
When Logan stood up, one of the bamfs ported over to his shoulder with a quizzical look. "Don't you go bein' a tattle tale," Logan scolded. "If you want to go with, fine. Keep him from breaking his neck." The little bamf nodded and bamfed over to Clint's shoulder and gave him a wide grin before again repeating the lone word.
"I thought I was the one babysitting you," Clint said, smirking wider.
"Tell yourself whatever you have to, but I've been told I'm not the best of influences," Logan said with a wave. "These guys are helpful if they like you."
Clint gave the little bamf a raised-eyebrow look. "I don't have any crackers, but you can sit on my shoulder."
"They eat whatever you do; they're not parrots, dummy."
"Well. I hope they like coffee, then, because that's about all I got. I was gonna grocery shop in the morning," Clint said with a light shrug.
"We can grab a pizza on the way," Logan offered after he'd gotten to his feet and brushed himself off.
Clint grinned outright. "Now you're speaking my language." He grabbed his bow again and snapped it out.
Logan gave Lucky a little scratch on his way out of the door and Clint quickly took the lead telling him where they were headed. When they stepped out of the front door of the building though, Clint burst out laughing at the Wolverine shaped dent in the sidewalk.
"You know if you'd called ahead I could've made it worse. She's left all sorts of stuff here," Clint laughed.
"If I'd known she had so much crap here I would have," Logan replied. "She didn't say you two were that close." He stopped and turned to look at him. "What's the sleeping arrangement with you two? If I start callin' the two of you cuddle-hawks is that going to riff her?"
Clint was still laughing as he shook his head. "Probably," he said. "She makes it a point to kick me out on my own couch."
"So she can be cruel," Logan said as they started down the street, a few more bamfs porting in to join them as apparently the first one had told them there might be adventure to be had. "Got it. I'll watch for that."
"Really, I think she just stays because she likes taking care of people?" Clint tried to explain. "You should see her old team. She'd known them for a day before she bought them all new clothes and a place to stay."
"So what you're saying is that I'm stuck with her until she gets bored."
"Pretty much," Clint agreed, grinning. "I learned long ago—she calls the shots."
Logan poked him in the chest when they both stopped. "She does not call the shots."
"Yeah, I used to think that too." Clint snorted out a little laugh.
"I'm telling you—that ain't happening," Logan defended. "Maybe for Kurt, but not me."
"Uh-huh." Clint stuck his hands in his pockets and just grinned. "What're you two doing with my partner anyway?"
"Well if you wanna start colorin' it like that, we can probably run her out of the city all together," Logan laughed. "Shoulda seen the look on her face when she thought I was waitin' on a girl to come and keep me company for a few hours."
Clint snorted harder. "Oh man. I'm clearly missing all the fun."
"Clearly," Logan agreed. "You're gonna have to come along once you get your mess all straightened out—and hire. A damn. Maid. You smell awful."
"Yeah—that's not the apartment." Clint grinned sheepishly. "Got tossed in a dumpster."
"That seems to happen to you a lot," Logan said. "Is that these same guys?"
"Sometimes I think they just do it to remind me they're still pissed at me," Clint said with a light shrug as one of the bamfs got closer and seemed to trying to inspect him for evidence of said dumpster diving.
"Well I think they might be offendin' my delicate sensibilities."
"We'll be sure to ask Daddy dearest to knock it off when we get there," Clint smirked.
"Oh. I got all kindsa questions for him," Logan growled out as they turned down the right road. "I don't expect you to stick around for all of it. I got a few tricks that Nat hasn't even seen for interrogations."
Clint visibly winced. "Think you might be offending my delicate Avenger sensibilities there."
"Good thing I'm not an Avenger."
"What—contract get terminated when you died?" Clint asked, genuinely curious.
"As Hill explained it—pretty much, yeah," Logan said with a nod. "She's got her panties all kindsa twisted up."
"Yeah. She does that sometimes. Think she might've run out of free passes after the last stunt Katie and I pulled."
"Fury holds my passes," Logan replied. "Not too worried about ticking off Hill." He looked up at the big house up ahead. "This the right one?"
Clint nodded and gestured at the gaudy decorations on the gate. "Yep. I never come here with her, but—yep. This is it."
"We goin' in quiet or upfront? Because I got ideas either way."
Clint grinned outright. "I'm feeling like making an entrance. He might smell me coming anyway."
Logan nodded and they walked up to the gate where Logan simply popped a claw and sliced through the mechanism that held it closed so they swung open ahead of them as they walked through.
He walked right up to the front door and just rang the bell. He took in a deep breath as he pulled at his jeans and looked up at Clint with a little smirk. "You ready?"
"Gonna be honest—been kinda wanting to do this for a while." Clint twirled an arrow in his hand. "So yeah."
Logan nodded. "Just follow my lead and when we find the guy—don't hurt him."
"I already almost feel bad for him." Clint fitted the arrow as he spoke. "Almost."
When the door opened with an agitated guy in a suit behind it, he glared at the two of them. "Who the hell are you guys?" he asked. Logan didn't even blink before he lunged forward and started pounding him.
"Can't you tell?" he asked. "We're sellin' Girl Scout Cookies."
"All outta Thin Mints, though," Clint agreed as he followed Logan through the door, pinning a second bodyguard to the wall with several arrows.
The two of them split up and zipped through the house looking for Derek Bishop and wherever the hell he was hiding. "Watch the exits too, Hawk," Logan called out as he headed down the stairs and Clint went up, knocking through two more bodyguards on the way.
Downstairs, Logan didn't find anyone around, but he did find the telephone box hidden in the basement—where no one from outside could cut the lines. He chuckled to himself and just slashed the thing from top to bottom before he turned around and carefully sniffed his way back upstairs.
He met Clint on the main floor, and both of them were empty handed. "Caught what I think is his scent—but he's not down there. Any luck?"
"Nothing but a couple bodyguards," Clint admitted. "And I think what used to be Katie's room? Not much used."
"Harder to track someone in their own house," Logan said, mostly to himself with a frown. "Whole place stinks of 'im." Logan started to head up the stairs since he hadn't been there yet.
Clint frowned for a long moment, looking around for something they might have missed, taking a closer look at the walls and shelving and the details around the place. The bamfs were popping around the place as well, poking into corners and closets—and the wine cellar and pantry.
Logan was looking through the bedrooms upstairs, carefully looking for anything that might be a hidden panel or passageway. All through the master bedroom, there was nothing there worth finding—but plenty that he couldn't unsee, so he quickly made his way elsewhere, and into what he had assumed Clint was talking about seeing as the room was decorated in purple, though there really wasn't much there that seemed like Kate had chosen it.
He had just gone into another room when he heard Clint call out from one floor down. Instead of calling back to him, he simply went back downstairs in search of him. When he got to the vast living room—complete with a large, hand-laid rock fireplace, he shook his head. There, on an opposing wall, Clint had found the hiding spot.
He's pulled the bookcase open—as it was on wheels—and there on the backside of it was a flatscreen television with a seedy looking bitter little man trying to berate Clint. "You know I hate reading lips, right?" Logan said. "That thing have volume?"
"Yeah, I turned it down when he was getting obnoxious. Hold on." Clint held up a finger and pressed a button a few times as the little man's tirade about how this was his house started up again.
Logan crossed his arms and he just watched him for a moment. "Why don't you make this easy on yourself and come out?" Logan suggested. "If I gotta come in after you, I'm just gonna get mean."
"Good luck getting past this door," Derek said with a smug smile. "You don't know who you're dealing with. You think I haven't prepared for one of your kind coming here?"
"What kind is that, exactly?" Logan asked after he tapped Clint on the chest with the back of his hand. "I don't know who I'm dealing with."
The little man just smirked wider. "This door is a foot thick, and the whole room is surrounded by a dampening field. Good luck getting past that, mutie." As if to illustrate the point, a few of the bamfs were growling in frustration, apparently unable to just port in and grab the obnoxious man. Logan glanced down at the nearest one and just laid his hand on its head.
"Nice set up," Logan said with an easy nod. "What's the door made out of? Doesn't look too sturdy."
"Like I said—one foot of solid steel lined with vibranium. Why don't you test out your explosives, though, Hawkeye? I'm sure if you try really hard, you'll get through."
Logan looked at Clint and nodded. "You could," he reasoned before he looked back to the camera that Derek was using to see them. "You do know who I am, right?"
Derek snorted. "Of course. You're not dealing with an incompetent. Now run along back to your freak school and get out of my house," he sneered.
It was Logan's turn to give it right back as he started to growl seeing as he brought up the school and by extension, the kids. "No, I am dealing with an incompetent ASS," he snarled out. "Or you'd know vibranium is like tissue paper—and a dampener doesn't stop my claws." With that, Logan popped his claws and cut down the side of the door—and like he'd warned, the adamantium went through the vibranium like it was warm butter. A few quick cuts—with Clint and the bamfs looking on and relishing the look of horror on Derek's face— the door was free to fall out toward the two men and the little pack of blue bamfs waiting for him.
"Let's get him to the living room," Logan growled out. "I'd like some room to work."
Clint nodded and, for good measure, shot an arrow through the setup Derek had used to talk to them. Just because. "I'm sure you two would like to get acquainted. Seeing as you don't know who you're dealing with."
Logan smirked Clint's way and retracted his claws to pull Derek from the room as a couple of the bamfs were already apparently getting in on the intimidation, right up in Derek's face and growling wickedly. "You can take a walk, Hawkeye," Logan told him. "Unless you got questions you want answers to."
"Really just need names. Don't think he can give me a good reason for the big question of how the heck Katie got dragged down by this," Clint said with narrowed eyes before he put his bow away.
"That's good," Logan said with a nod. "Names. Because all I wanna know is what kind of creep puts a hit out on his own daughter." He looked over at Clint, still growling. "But he made me mean, so —it might take some time to get there."
Clint tipped his head and let out a breath. "I'll go see if I missed any bodyguards the two times we looked through the house, then, shall I?"
"Maybe grab a few gas cans and a car battery. Bigger the better" Logan suggested.
"Can do. You two… get acquainted." Clint glared Derek's way one more time before he very pointedly turned out and left the room.
Several hours passed before Logan and Clint finally stepped away from Derek Bishop's house—fully engulfed in flames behind them. Logan didn't even look behind him as they left until they were well on their way.
"Wanna sink that boat?" Logan asked suddenly.
"I think I still have one boat left in me," Clint agreed, dusting off his hands on his pants. "Stopped for coffee on the way to the gas cans."
"You grab anything to eat?" he asked. "Feelin' a lil' peckish."
"There's a pizza joint on the way," Clint suggested. "Lucky's favorite place."
"Perfect," Logan agreed. "I don't even care if it's hot."
"They're open late. Should still be good," Clint said, rolling his shoulders and neck. "I take it you got what you wanted?" he asked as he rubbed a little soot off of the bamf on his shoulder.
"Yeah, I think so," Logan said in response. "Guy sang like a canary before I could even get going."
"Well, Kingpin he is not, no matter what he thinks," Clint said with a little smirk. He wiped his own face and left a smudge of smoke and ash in place.
"More reason for you to take a shower," Logan told him, gesturing at his head.
"Ha ha." Clint just shrugged at him. "You planning to say hi to Katie looking like that?" he shot back, gesturing at Logan's arms, which were splattered in red.
"Hey, I'm not the one tryin' to get in her pants," Logan countered.
"Yeah—I still gotta have a talk with your buddy about that one. Feel like I'm not doing my duty unless I threaten him a little," Clint said with a smirk.
"You do that, but wait for me to get a beer first," Logan replied. "I don't think Kurt will take it as an insult, but Kate might not appreciate it."
"Yeah, but for all that bluster, she's still a kid," Clint pointed out as they made their way into the pizza place and the guy behind the counter just started to fill an order as soon as he saw Clint.
"You're all kids."
"Don't grampa me," Clint snorted. "I get enough of that working with the older one—when he can be bothered to come out and play."
"Well, enjoy him. Sounds like he's on his last leg and easier to deal with."
"Actually gets along with me pretty well for some reason," Clint said with a light shrug. "Came right to my place, apparently. It's a weird story."
"No accounting for taste." Logan was smirking to himself, and half enjoying watching the looks he was getting as the two battered heroes settled in to wait.
"You're telling me." Clint sat back in his chair, leaning far enough back that only two legs were on the floor as the guy behind the counter just pulled out a couple pizza boxes as if he'd already had it all prepared for them—and the bamfs quickly ported over to get one of the boxes for their very own.