The Streets (and Rooftops) of Fandom, Monday

[so_hawkward]

So, drinking with Tony last night probably hadn't been the smartest idea in the world. Now, instead of being plagued by memories, he was plagued by memories and hungover.

He'd gotten mind controlled again. He'd killed people again - children this time, and... last time he'd only been an accessory to Coulson's death. This time, the blood was on his hands, and he couldn't get the image out of his mind. Sure, Tony said none of it would stick and everyone would be fine today, but that didn't change the kind of person Clint had been turned into.

As wrong as it might have seemed, he found himself back on one of the rooftops in town, sitting with his feet dangling over the edge and looking out at the town. The worst part about the past week was how close he'd been to his usual self, and while he wasn't quite ready to practice with his bow, he wasn't about to let this place take the peace of high places away from him. Maybe if he sat here long enough, he'd start to feel better, if he deserved that.

[Open!]

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[whenshewasnice]

Natalie was walking through town with a bag over her shoulder, the causeway her destination, and Montreal beyond that. Needed to get away for a while, get her head back on straight. And as she walked, she found herself occasionally casting glances up towards the rooftops. She'd maybe claim there was no reason but... Natalie did very few things without a reason.

And imagine her surprise when she did spot what she hadn't been looking for.

Natalie stopped walking, looking up. A few seconds, and she – with longer and straighter hair, but otherwise practically identical to that other Natalie – raised her hand in the vague semblance of a wave.

[so_hawkward]

Clint looked down when he saw the wave-like movement, trying to place her. Ah, the girl who he'd agreed to kill people for.

Well, that was kind of awkward.

Still, he smiled softly and waved back. "Hey. How's it going?" he called down.

[whenshewasnice]

"Been better," Natalie called back. "Been worse."

And she could manage to sound dry even while raising her voice because yeah, she knew she was kind of repeating what she'd said some days ago.

[so_hawkward]

"Yeah, I know how that goes. Do you--you can come up, if you want to." At least he hadn't threatened Natalie last week. Maybe she wouldn't be afraid of him.

[whenshewasnice]

Please, if there was anyone Natalie was afraid of after last week, it was herself. She hadn't needed a curse to be out asking for assassinations. And really, being up on that roof was actually one of the slightly happier memories she had.

So she shrugged, and moved her bag a little so it wouldn't fall on her way up. She wasn't in a hurry.

[so_hawkward]

Clint offered her a hand when she got close enough, and patted the patch of rooftop next to him. "It's safe and sturdy, I promise. Although, I suppose I should have assured you of that before you got up here."

[whenshewasnice]

Taking both the offered help and then a seat, Natalie gave the street below a critical look. "Well, I guess falling here might actually hurt me, so, good to know."

Because had she fallen from a rooftop last week, she knew she wouldn't have bruised much else but her pride. Ah, high stats.

[so_hawkward]

"I won't let you fall. I'm really a good guy." Clint paused. "Which I'm guessing you probably figured on, to come up here and all."

[whenshewasnice]

"I think good and bad are vague concepts," Natalie said, glancing over at him. "But no, I don't think you're anyone I should be afraid of."

She thought the fact that he'd been mindcontrolled said something. The ones who'd joined up willingly were the ones she would have been less certain about.

[l1ttle-billy.livejournal.com]

Billy had called home almost the minute he woke up to assure his family he was okay.

But he had delayed his departure by one day. There was someone he needed to talk to.

So after getting some coffee and a bag of donuts, he set out on a search for Clint Barton.

He only had one eye, but he was observant, so he eventually spotted him.

"Hey." he called, making sure to announce himself clearly. Never a good idea to sneak up on combat ready folks. "I was hoping I'd find you."

[so_hawkward]

Clint looked at Billy and winced a little, feeling a rush of guilt. "Uh, hi." What exactly did one say to someone they'd killed in an alternate version of history?

[l1ttle-billy.livejournal.com]

Billy didn't have any more experience with that than Clint did. But his memories of the past week and his other self were clear enough to know that there was some kind of mind control involved.

He hoped to at least assure Clint that there were no hard feelings.

He held up the bag of baked goods. "Care for a donut?"

[so_hawkward]

"Seriously?" Clint said, cracking a smile. "Uh, sure, why not?"

[l1ttle-billy.livejournal.com]

Billy closed the distance between them and held the bag out.

"So, hi, I'm William Kessler. I graduated about four years ago, Fandom time."

[so_hawkward]

"I'm Clint Barton. I help run the gym," he said, taking a donut with a grateful look. "It's nice to meet you for real, instead of for whatever the hell that was we just went through."

[l1ttle-billy.livejournal.com]

It was Billy's turn to wince this time. "Yeah I'm sorry you went through that. I was around for Pinky's original regime. We all knew she was nuts, but I don't think we knew just how fucked up she really was."

[so_hawkward]

"You don't have to apologize. I should have been able to get out of it," Clint said. "I never should have been attacking people, no matter how messed up things were."

[throughaphase]

Kitty hadn't known to look up for anything, so it was more that she happened to kind of catch sight of someone up there at the right time. When she saw who it was, she gave a little wave in case he saw her back.

[so_hawkward]

Normally, Clint was happy when he saw Kitty, but he probably looked more embarrassed than anything else when he waved back. "Hey. How's it going?"

[throughaphase]

"Slightly less interesting than yesterday," she called. "You?"

[so_hawkward]

"Well, I haven't tried to kill anyone today, so that's an improvement, right?" Clint said, managing a smile.

[throughaphase]

She smiled back at him and asked, "Okay if I come up?"

[so_hawkward]

"Sure, if you want to. It really is a nice view," he said.

[throughaphase]

"Be right there." It occurred to her that if everyone pretty much knew about her powers now, she could just airwalk on up, but it was probably best to not freak anyone out and just go up like a normal person.

When she got up there, she had to look below. "You were right about the view."

[so_hawkward]

"I've always been a fan of nice, high places," Clint said, smiling awkwardly as he looked up at her. "So, I think I owe you an apology."