25 Unicorn Street, Monday Morning

[so_hawkward]

If Clint needed a sign that Black Cat's bad luck mojo had worn off of him, it was that the first portal he'd taken from New York had brought him right to Fandom last night. He'd tried to sneak into the house without waking Kitty up, but that had been a completely futile effort, and she'd made all sorts of noises when she saw what a walking bruise he looked like. He'd tried "It looks worse than it feels," and "Nothing's broken, it not a big deal," but ultimately "I don't want to talk about it right now," had won, and he'd been able to get some sleep. Not good sleep, but enough sleep that he didn't feel like total crap when the squirrels had shown up to make him do the radio broadcast.

Now Clint was two cups of coffee into the day, and was ready to do something productive. That meant finally tackling the annoying squeaky stair going up to the second floor. Clint wasn't exactly an expert in home repair, but... he needed something to do and he needed it to be useful, and this was useful. If Clint had a therapist, they'd probably have a field day with what he was getting up to.

[Open for calls or visits!]

Comments

[throughaphase]

Kitty had learned in the course of this relationship that there were times she had to not push and leave Clint alone till he was ready to talk, but don't think that made her any less worried when he'd come home the way he had. But at least she had something right here to talk to him about rather than trying to immediately come up with ways to address the elephant in the room.

"Uh oh. I see tools," she said lightly, finding an unobtrusive spot to watch him work.

[so_hawkward]

Clint gave her a soft laugh. "I probably should have warned you before I got started, sorry. I figured I'd fix this step before it caved in or something. And late night stair climbing won't be so noisy."

Had he noticed this problem trying to sneak in last night? Maaaybe.

[throughaphase]

"There is the option to not climb stairs late at night," Kitty teased. "Though maybe phasing has spoiled me there..."

[so_hawkward]

"Well, us mere mortals have to settle for taking the long way around," Clint said. And okay, maybe he shouldn't have mentioned his mortality considering where Kitty was and all. "It won't take me too long, I think, and then it'll be good as new."

[throughaphase]

"Plus you're earning your keep," she smiled, and segued easily into, "What time did you get in last night, anyway?"

[so_hawkward]

"Um, it was after midnight. Closer to one, maybe? I didn't really look at the clock. I came straight here from my portal," Clint said. "I was worried you'd be worried 'cause I missed some of your texts so I didn't want to waste time getting back."

[throughaphase]

"You know that didn't really put a stop to the worrying, right?" she pointed out.

[so_hawkward]

"I know. I tried though. Does that count for something?" Clint asked. "I didn't want you to worry. With everything going on in your world, I swear I tried to stay out of trouble at home."

[throughaphase]

"I believe you. Sometimes this stuff comes up," Kitty told him, coming around to lean on the banister so she could see him better. "Was it the tracksuits?"

[so_hawkward]

Clint laughed softly, shaking his head. "I wish. At least I know how to deal with those idiots," he said. "No, I screwed up, bad enough that I think you're gonna get mad at me."

[throughaphase]

Kitty frowned, but said, "Okay, so why don't we get that part over with and then that'll be done?" She was pretty past thinking anything was going to break them up, so if there was a fight then there was a fight and they'd get over it.

[so_hawkward]

Clint sighed, focusing on the wood of the stair so he didn't have to look at Kitty. "This guy showed up at my place looking for help. I thought he was a tracksuit, or working for the tracksuits, so I shut the door in his face, but he really needed help, and he got killed."

[throughaphase]

The frown deepened. "Oh my god. What was he running from?"

[so_hawkward]

"The mob, I think, and a woman who calls herself Black Cat. She's kind of awful," Clint said. "The guy stole the personnel files of everyone at SHIELD and was trying to sell them. I'm still not sure what kind of help he wanted from me but... I had to fix it, you know? I couldn't let everyone at SHIELD be in danger because I was an idiot."

[throughaphase]

"So far it's sounding like an honest mistake." Albeit one with consequences. "So you went after the mob and Black Cat?"

[so_hawkward]

"I went after Black Cat, and Barney helped. And uh, Deadpool helped too, as much as that man is capable of helping with anything." He had sort of been the highlight of the weekend.

[throughaphase]

"....Oh, that had to be interesting."

Responses she decided not to give included "Is New York still standing?" because she was afraid it might not be and that's why Clint was upset.

[so_hawkward]

"Everything turned out okay," Clint said quickly. "I mean, for the most part. We got the files back, so everyone at SHIELD is safe, and most of Black Cat's friends got put away, and all the people she was messing with are better." Er, maybe he shouldn't have mentioned that part. "But she got away. And the man who asked for my help is still dead. It all turned into such a mess."

[whenshewasnice]

Maybe Natalie had a sixth sense for these things. Or maybe she just had a portal layover in Fandom, on her way back to Brazil from another fortnight-long stint at university in Toronto.

Either way, here she was, ringing the doorbell.

[throughaphase]

She already had a few spots where it sounded like there were a few more gray areas to this than he was making it seem. "She was messing with people?"

She'd start there.

[so_hawkward]

Ugh, he should have just lied about everything. Maybe Barney would have left this part out too. "Black Cat was working with a doctor to program people. Like, mentally program them. It was how she got away. She was using mental ward patients, but they're all fine now." All of them, for reals.

[so_hawkward]

Clint didn't get many visitors, so he wiped his hands off and went to the door, grinning when he saw Natalie through the peephole. "Hey! What are you doing here?"

[throughaphase]

Kitty was quiet for a long moment.

"Honey, did you get mind controlled and don't want to tell me?"

[whenshewasnice]

"Layover between university and home." Well, work. But the terms were all hazy. "Fun with portals, as they say."

[so_hawkward]

Clint maaaay have prodded the stair a little harder than necessary at that. "I'm fine. And we've been dating for too long."