asthehawkflies | [#000] Appointments

Have you changed out the bandages today?

No, I haven't. Been trying not to move them too much.

...sit. I'll do it.

[She'd brought her case just to be certain. Better to have and not need, and it seemed as though there was a need.]

[He should protest because he hates relying on other people and she is pretty much a stranger still, but... he can't do it himself and he knows if left to his own devices, he won't ask anyone else to do it either.]

Thanks.

[He goes to perch on the edge of the couch.]

[The more she focuses on work, the less concerned she is about her own anxieties. Adele follows Clint to the sofa and sets her case to the side, unlocking it and flipping the top open so she could pull on a pair of latex gloves. All routine, all horribly normal and comforting for it.

It's enough to keep her voice even when she speaks next.]

I believe I asked you, quite politely at that, not to attempt to kill Loki.

[He hates medical treatment, hates having people this close to him, but he does his best to stay still and let her work.

Of course his false calm is shattered when she speaks.]

The situation changed.

"As soon as he steps out of line" I think is what you said. As I've yet to have any mangled bodies other than his and yours to tend to, I do no think that was the case here.

[She's gentle as she cuts away the bandages.]

Stark told me.

[Stark told her. So she knows so how can she argue that it wasn't warranted? He'd pull away but she's got scissors right next to healing flesh and he's not mad enough to risk it. His jaw sets into a stubborn line though, expression going cold and blank.]

Everyone has a breaking point. That was mine.

I'd be less disappointed were it not for the fact a child was caught in the fallout.

[She finishes trimming the line and is very careful not to have his skin catch or be tugged when she peels them away.]

Coulson was a good man. I had coffee with him from time to time while he was here. And you've my condolences for your loss.

[He winces at that, because he knows. It makes him feel sick whenever he thinks about it.]

I didn't know she was there. I wouldn't have tried anything if I'd known. No kid deserves to grow up like I did.

[The violence isn't the same, but it's still violence.]

I trust him. Him and Natasha. They're the only people I do.

Rage blinded you to the entirety of your target's surroundings. That is...I think Rick would call it sloppy.

[Daubing the cuts clean took less work than she thought. While deep they'd been mended quite a bit. She's mildly impressed.]

She'll persevere. Elicia always does. But do you see now why I said it would be unwise to go about such actions while in the village? Do you understand my concerns?

He's right. Very, very sloppy. And stupid.

I'm meant to be better than that.

[Coulson and Nat would've kicked his ass for such a stupid mistake, but neither of them are here to hold him back.]

It's not gonna happen again.

Good.

[Fresh application of antiseptic, a fresh bandage around the first cut, so normal and meticulous that it's a counterpoint to what she says next.]

If it does, and it's not done to save a child's life? I'm putting a bullet in your elbow.

[The antiseptic stings, but it only gets a twitch out of him. The wounds had hurt worse.]

Understood. You might have to get in line.

Of that I have no doubt. The village is very protective of what children we have here. They endure enough without things such as this.

[First one wound, second one to go.]

She and Yotsuba were drafted not long ago.

[He clenches his hands into fists at that and nods.]

Yeah, I know. Kids are... defenseless.

[Anyone could hurt them.

He gives Adele a sharp look at her next comment, not quite believing it.]

Kids? They... they drafted kids?

Yes. They were not injured in the fight but...they have enough to deal with here. Elicia's parents have come and gone, and she struggles with that more than anyone her age ought to.

[It's simpler to focus on her hands than what this place makes of it's residents.]

It won't be the last time, I'm sure. If a fight has to happen, it has to happen- just keep the area clear before you take your shot.

Jesus...

[He ducks his head but doesn't bother to hide how ill it makes him feel.]

A kid that age, all they want is their mom and dad, even when you know they aren't coming back. Not surprised she struggles.

[It adds a whole new level of horror to this. Adults he could accept, but putting kids into that situation?]

I'll be the consummate professional from now on.

You don't have to be a professional, Barton.

[She finishes disinfecting and bandaging his arm and drops her hands, looking him in the eye for the first time since she'd walked in.]

Just think before you act.

Yes, I do.

[He meets her gaze squarely.]

Hawkeye doesn't make mistakes.

[Clint, obviously, does.]

Hawkeye also doesn't miss.

[This isn't at all disconcerting. Another issue that she's not qualified to handle. Then again it could simply be similar to how she compartmentalizes her life. Adele, and the Surgeon.]

Exactly.

[If he'd been together, Loki would be dead and it would have been a clean kill and he would have known the positions of every person in the vicinity.]

Can't change what happened. I can make sure I don't screw up again.

And then Elicia would have had a dead body in her backyard and Loki would have been back in a week with no incentive to play nice.

[Low, almost gentle, but honest enough. Precise in her intent.]

It is not worth it, here. Should Unger arrive in the next cycle- no matter what I might wish, I would not kill him. It simply is not worth it.

[Well, when she put it like that...

It's not really a comfort at all.]

I'm an assassin. Dead things should stay dead.

[It was one of life's certainties; the things that he shot stayed dead. Everything else might go to hell, but that had always been the same, and now it wasn't.]

Unger?

Here they come back in a week. A little worse for wear, but they do come back. It isn't worth it.

[She sits back, peels off her gloves and steps away to throw them and the old bandages into the garbage. It gives her time to breathe, time to sort out what she could trust herself to say.]

...A man I was in the middle of killing when I arrived here. A man I have yet to actually kill.

[Barton's an assassin. He won't judge. She hopes.]

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