No-One But You (The Zephyr Endeavor)
Chapter 32: Head in the Clouds (Part 2)
Sooooooo, let's see who is where, then go from there.
Ezekiel Stane and Wade Wilson were living it up in the Bronx, while Tony Stark and Steve Rogers behaved in a similar fashion out in Brooklyn. Victor Strange was planning an ambush with his brother and Thor way off in another dimension…while Bucky Barnes learned a thing or two about what life's like at the Strange family farm.
Donna Strange was with her niece and sister-in-law, of course, so that leaves us to follow-along with one more storyline.
…
Clint Barton was the final character to account for, and he was still recuperating his baby soul somewhere out in the Maldives. Natasha Romanoff ditched him a while ago, but her adoptive sister Yelena remained by his side. They almost hooked up and went all the way four times, but the archer resisted the moment things started getting heated.
He was nursing a broken heart, mind, and spirit, so he asked Yelena Belova to forgive him for technically turning her down.
…
An honest week went by for everyone in this story, and the field agent checked in with his "superior" after he received an alert. The alert came to him as a dry and salty message. The archer didn't like reading the message at all, so it took him two days to fully respond.
It seems "Rae-Ann" had set up another psycho mission for the death squad named S.H.A.D.O.W., and Barton was asked to return if he felt ready. Wow so, he had a choice? The baby archer quietly rolled his eyes as he looked over the smug message. The person sending that message was EZEKIEL FUCKING STANE, and the baby bird hated him. SAINT Ezekiel had a lot of nerve…
Barton had to ponder his return for a long while. He pondered a lot more than that, but the archer absolutely refused to drudge up another thought about it. He took his time to power through how he felt, then he quietly packed up his shit. He had a small duffle bag there in the little bungalow, so it didn't take him too long.
Yelena was quiet at the airport, but she returned to her chatty self after the two of them boarded a private plane. She wanted to know as much as she could about S.H.A.D.O.W., Wade Wilson, and the person that Clint refused to talk about. He was finally reading the friggen report too, so he understood calling Ezekiel by his real name wasn't even allowed.
…
….whatever.
His sharp eyes scanned some additional details that were logged into the gigantic file, then he suddenly stopped once he read over the name Victor Strange. SO, Victor was still to be the "Mystic Consultant" for S.H.A.D.O.W…
…
"My sister seemed really freaked out about this Deadpool guy, so what can you tell me about him?"
…
Natasha didn't want to face Wade Wilson in hand-to-hand combat, remember? It was three against one when the notion was discussed, but Barton understood where the Black Widow was coming from. He remembered Natasha's orders for him, back in Milwaukee. The Widow was trying to keep him safe, but…
…
"He's insane. That's all I can tell you about him."
…
The archer drew in a slow breath for a sec, then he closed his eyes and tried to remove Deadpool's psych-ward image from his baby-bothered mind. He remembered what Wade said to him too, in Milwaukee, and he recalled what the mercenary planned to do out there with Ezekiel Stane.
A thought about his older brother crossed his mind as well, and none of it made him feel good. Barton opened his eyes again after a moment, then his attention stopped again on Victor's name. Thoughts about an apartment in Manhattan crossed his mind, and it hurt. They fucking deserved each other, and the archer hated himself because deep down he always knew.
They just used him, the both of them, so… fuck off.
It wasn't like it mattered anyway. Barton recalled another detail, and he knew that his presence in that apartment had no effect. He gave Victor back the apartment keys, and…
…
It didn't even make a dent. Victor's mind was long gone when it happened. That shit was blank. Uhh, the archer cleared his throat as best he could, then he closed up his screens and he focused on Yelena's follow-up question. She asked him about joining either S.H.I.E.L.D. or S.H.A.D.O.W. and she added that she really wanted to hear his honest opinion.
…
"Well, my opinion is a bit disgruntled. I can't give you an objective response right now Yelena.."
…
The archer spoke from the heart, then he looked out the window that was on his left-hand side. Seeing the ocean waves way below them calmed his nerves a little, but his blood was borderline boiling right there in that moment.
Chapter: END
Thanks for reading.