Clint Barton (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
barton_me) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
all_inclusive2014-08-02 10:11 pm
barton_me) wrote in all_inclusive2014-08-02 10:11 pm
Entry tags:
i got infinite ammunition
Roughly three hours ago, Clint had been skillfully monkeying his way down the side of a building, the grips sewn in the palms of his gloves helping him to twist and turn his way through a fire escape that had, long ago, become nothing more than a tilting mass of rusted metal leaning haphazardly against a wall of brick. Roughly three hours ago, he'd been burning with a purpose, the heady sensation of a job completed but with the bitter caution of knowing he was not yet out of danger. Landing silently on his feet in the alleyway, he had kept to the shadows. Three blocks over he heard sirens, but of course it was too late.
The room he had torched had been filled with hardware containing information on several SHIELD operatives, including their alternate identities. It had already been copied, placed under safe keeping, but the originals had to be wiped clean. When it came to fires, Clint often volunteered; too often when the spark was set by a rookie it spread and harmed civilians. Besides, there was really no place quite like southeast Asia to disappear to for a bit when you wanted to clear your head of things.
At the next building down, at the opposite end of the alley, he had made quick work of the lock. But upon going through he was not in an abandoned service hallway for an insurance firm. Even if there hadn't been windows full of sunlight when he knew it had to be the dead of night, the very air told him that he had experienced something very, very odd.
It took some time to ascertain he had not had a stroke, was not going insane, and really was in what appeared to be a pretty nice hotel, far nicer than the ones he usually stayed in. Dimensional doorways weren't completely out of his grasp, of course, but the ones he knew about required a bit more pomp, circumstance, and energy fields than the single, quiet door he had walked through.
Since a few tries had told him that returning was not an option, he ended up going immediately into what he called 'airport mode' - when waiting for a flight, train, or similar, it was always best to procure three things: book, coffee, and a sandwich. Even if you didn't even want those items. So there he was in the Bistro, a third of the way through a book he had found in the gift shop, wondering how long it was going to take before he could either a) get back home or b) panic. At least his gear was more or less subtle, and he had his compound bow and quiver on the floor and tucked along the side of his leg, mostly out of sight.
The room he had torched had been filled with hardware containing information on several SHIELD operatives, including their alternate identities. It had already been copied, placed under safe keeping, but the originals had to be wiped clean. When it came to fires, Clint often volunteered; too often when the spark was set by a rookie it spread and harmed civilians. Besides, there was really no place quite like southeast Asia to disappear to for a bit when you wanted to clear your head of things.
At the next building down, at the opposite end of the alley, he had made quick work of the lock. But upon going through he was not in an abandoned service hallway for an insurance firm. Even if there hadn't been windows full of sunlight when he knew it had to be the dead of night, the very air told him that he had experienced something very, very odd.
It took some time to ascertain he had not had a stroke, was not going insane, and really was in what appeared to be a pretty nice hotel, far nicer than the ones he usually stayed in. Dimensional doorways weren't completely out of his grasp, of course, but the ones he knew about required a bit more pomp, circumstance, and energy fields than the single, quiet door he had walked through.
Since a few tries had told him that returning was not an option, he ended up going immediately into what he called 'airport mode' - when waiting for a flight, train, or similar, it was always best to procure three things: book, coffee, and a sandwich. Even if you didn't even want those items. So there he was in the Bistro, a third of the way through a book he had found in the gift shop, wondering how long it was going to take before he could either a) get back home or b) panic. At least his gear was more or less subtle, and he had his compound bow and quiver on the floor and tucked along the side of his leg, mostly out of sight.
no subject
It was not one of the nine realms that he was familiar with but seemed linked to all; Thor had no trouble traveling between the Nexus and Midgard or the Nexus and Asgard. It really was a door between the realms.
no subject
"Well, that would make sense. From what I know about this kind of thing, anyway," he added. "Is Selvig here? That would be handy. He explains things pretty clearly." Or he did before Loki got to him.
no subject
Thor shook his head. Of all the people who had shown up from Midgard, Selvig had not been among them. While he knew Jane was glad to have Darcy around, he also knew she would have loved to have Selvig there to do research with.
"No, he's not in residence. The rest of our team is here, however, and they will be happy to see you."
no subject
"The rest of the team, huh? Like Cap and Stark?" he wondered. Those two in particular hadn't really gotten along, so he wondered how that was panning out in the hotel. "Can they come and go as they please, too? Because right now I'm feeling pretty stuck."
no subject
"My mother and brother are also in residence. My brother claims no memory of New York and while I am exceedingly wary of him, he has done nothing in the last several months that was even remotely out of line. My mother seems a calming influence on him."
no subject
His eyebrows flicked up a bit. "Your... Your mom is here?" He said. "And she's making Loki behave?" He always sort of figured that Thor and Loki appeared after a thunderbolt hit a mountain, something ridiculously Greek like that, as opposed to actually being mothered. He leaned back in his chair, and shook his head.
"Damn," he said; there was a faint smile on his face, to soften it, because he wasn't angry; just bemused. He counted Thor as a friend, but he'd yet to get a handle on the man's mood swings, and temper. Clint didn't want to anger him accidentally. "Well, why the Hell didn't Asgard send her down to get him? No offence, Thor, but it sounds like she's a bit better at it than you were. That could have saved me a lot of trouble."
no subject
"No offense is taken," Thor said stiffly. Admittedly, his inability to control Loki was a sore point and he felt a lot of guilt about the destruction he wrought upon Midgard. If he had reached his brother, could he have prevented the destruction and loss of lives? Thor did not know.
"My mother's duties were in Asgard at the time. I am willing to admit that my own hubris played a role in our inability to control my brother. He seems to behave here in the Nexus, though, and for that we can all be grateful."
no subject
Though, of course, he could read people well enough. Thor might have been a god, but he expressed himself just like anyone else on Earth. "What's done is done, right?" he said. A phrase easier said than accepted, but it was comforting enough. "And you're here now. Wherever here is."
no subject
"It is a pleasant place, at least." Thor did not know if that would be a driving factor for Clint, who had seen his fair share of unpleasant battlefields like all of the Avengers. "It seems calm, for the moment, though I am sure my brother would like to change that."
Luckily for everyone, Loki seemed to be in check for the moment and loss of their mother seemed to have tempered his desire for world domination.
no subject
"It doesn't seem half bad," he agreed, casting his gaze around them. "As far as random universal hotels go, it's pretty swank."
no subject
"The accommodations are pleasing," Thor agreed. "The company, usually, even more so. I have no complaints about where my feet have led me for the time being."
He cocked his head toward the front lobby. "You have retrieved a key and secured a place to stay here?"
no subject
And that was for a number of reasons. Mainly, when you were a spy and given something so easily it tended to be a trap. Also, walking through doors was apparently an ill-advised action these days.
no subject
Thor was a good deal more trustworthy than Clint but he supposed that had to do with his own upbringing and area of expertise. He had never been much for subterfuge and preferred, instead, to attack a situation head-on if at all possible. There was no sense in skulking in the shadows when he could be upfront instead.
"Careful that you know which door you're opening. They seem to change from time to time."
no subject
Weird, but only slightly weirder than ending up there in the first place.
no subject
"They have," Thor admitted. "I have been caught in a few unpleasant situations because of that but otherwise, it is mostly safe here. Nothing that we couldn't handle, anyway."
Thor was aware there were very few things that he and the others could not handle on a day to day basis but he felt it needed to be said all the same.
no subject
no subject
"Everything is real, even if it seems surreal to you," Thor said. He thought about the places he'd been since arriving here and there was only one that he would warn everyone off.
"There is a place full of children who will scream your name and beg for your attention. Avoid it at all costs. The people wear hats with ears on them."
no subject
no subject
"You know this place? It was...not dangerous. Still, I do not wish to go back there." Thor had always thought he wanted children but having so many pawing on him in such a short amount of time was enough to make any man rethink the idea of having a family.
"I could show you that door if you decided you wanted to risk it."
no subject
"Maybe later. When I'm in the mood for spinning teacup rides."