◉ Video + Action

[vagabond_code]

Who: Clint "a Hawkeye" Barton and yous guys
Broadcast: Fleet-wide
Action: Marsiva
When: This evening

[Clint begins his broadcast with his hearing aids in, but the result is a series of false starts where it’s obvious from the wincing and the head-turning that he’s dealing with some sort of loud or high-pitched feedback. It isn’t long before he ditches them - rips them off and pockets them - and starts over again. lips it is, then ]

Alright this isn’t going to be a big thing - I just want to put my face out there.

[And he pauses, counting out the seconds for whoever might be looking to take a look at their beep-machines and catch sight of him.]

Oh, and to whoever brought us here, nice ship. Also, you’ve got some balls, kidnapping someone who carries one of these in his wallet:

[Casually, meaningfully, accidentally, he produces a blockbuster membership card, with the printed name Clinton F. Barton and a signature. When he catches his mistake he tosses the card down out of frame and the camera catches him thumbing through the inside of his wallet. Following that, the sound of him mumbling:]

Futzing Avengers ID, never around when you… [He trails off. The feed doesn’t.]

[A little later, sitting wherever there’s a seat to be claimed aboard the Marsiva, he’ll be found picking cards out of his wallet and tossing them down onto a table. Reorganizing, dismissing some, yet the cards that he doesn’t tuck back into their leathery hideaway are all landing corner-to-corner in a perfect even pile.

A little later, you might catch him sprawled out and napping. Because he naps. He’s a napper.]

Comments

[mucked]

[ dryly: ] How fair-minded of you. Who goes first?

[ she does, apparently. because she's already asked a question. ]

[vagabond_code]

Me.

[He said, because he noticed.]

Have you been here long?

[mucked]

Five months. Give or take a week. [ her arms can be seen to cross. she has such surety in her posture. ] But others have been here longer.

-- What is an Avenger?

[ she suspects he's one of that particular number -- but 'avenger' isn't exactly an uncommon word. she can't assume anything. ]

[vagabond_code]

Just a group of people trying to do the right thing.

[Damn, that was definitely a "what would Steve do" sort of moment, but coming out of Clint's mouth it sounded pretty hokey. He should have gone with "Earth's Mightiest Heroes." - it was basically their slogan.]

Where are we? Space-wise?

[mucked]

[ a smile plays about the corners of her mouth: the kind of smile that almost exists, and its effect lingers long after it melts away. ]

Haven't a clue, Clint. Sorry. Space isn't my forte. [ ... ] Who else is in your group? Or is that classified?

[ two questions, perhaps. but she wants to preempt what she predicts will be an easy dodge. ]

[vagabond_code]

[Was she being cagey? Because he could be cagey.]

Arrived alone, Peggy. Sorry.

Where are you speakin' from?

[mucked]

The good ship Starstruck. [ hmph. ] And you and I both know I was asking about your group of remarkable people, I think. Where are they based?

[vagabond_code]

Not quite confidential, but whatever your angle is you aughta know you're on the edge of it.

[But -]

Avengers Tower, Manhattan, New York. Earth.

[That last point seemed unnecessary, but hey, they were in space.]

You have any crazy super-powers?

[mucked]

God, no.

[ awkward laughter gives way to an awkward pause. think on that! peggy carter, with powers. as much as she admires steve rogers, she's never envied him his abilities. ] But Manhattan's a bit of alright, isn't she? Turns out you and I go to work in the same borough.

Do you like your job?

[vagabond_code]

[Manhattan's a bit forthright? A big fortnight? He wasn't getting it. Trying to figure it out got him a bit lost, but he caught back up at her question.]

It's complicated.

[Would she accept that as an answer? Probably not, but it would have to do for now.]

Can you slow down a bit?

[mucked]

Don't tell me you're finding these questions a little too arduous, Clint.

[ she (understandably) mistakes his protest as directed towards her line of interrogation, and not with her bone-dry london accent. ]

[vagabond_code]

Forget it then.

You didn't ask a question.

[mucked]

[ gee, sorry. ]

What year did you leave behind?

[vagabond_code]

Twenty thirteen.

[But why was that a worthwhile question?]

What about you?

[mucked]

[ its worth grows clearer in her answer: ] 1946.

[ 2013 sounds near enough to the others, though. the gap remains somewhat consistent. ]

[vagabond_code]

So what they're freezing us? Or they can do time travel?

[mucked]

They pluck us from whatever year they like. Across time, and -- and across universes, frankly. It's why it's important to get the details right.

[ a pause. she wishes she could locks this down. nice and tight. she doesn't need jim peeking in as she puts her hard-won intelligence to use. ] ...Could I have your communicator's frequency?

[vagabond_code]

[If this was her end-game, he thinks, she's wily indeed. Still, he gives it to her.]

private »

[mucked]

Perfect.

[ as close to thank you as she gets, it seems. peggy is eager to move her investigation forward -- but rules are rules, and there's nothing more suspicious than a rushed interrogation.

calmly: ] It's your question, Clint.

private »

[vagabond_code]

You didn't give me your numbers.

private from now onwards »

[mucked]

[ patience is a virtue, carter. ]

That doesn't sound like a question.

[vagabond_code]

[There was no getting one over on her, was there?]

Okay super-spy, please let me know what your frequency is?

[That's not a question just because you make the last word squeakier, dummy.]

You know what I mean.

[mucked]

[ wait. did he identify her on the back of merely her first name? it isn't impossible, she supposes. but she doesn't like the way he drags the words 'super' and 'spy' out on parade. thank-bloody-goodness she scrambled their broadcast. ]

Of course. [ and she -- smoothly, and without hesitation -- recites a number she's memorized.

if he's going to play less coy, then she will as well: ] Have you ever worked for SHIELD?

[vagabond_code]

Yes.

[He may not have copped her as a spy, but he could see pretty plainly that her questions were following a certain trajectory. It was like a game of chicken. Could he figure out what she wanted in time to not give it to her?]

Was S.H.I.E.L.D even a thing in 1946?

[mucked]

Not by that name. Or -- honestly? I'm not certain. [ but (bizarrely) she seems to breathe a little easier in the wake of his answer. it gives rise to her admission of shaky intel. it's entirely possible that the s.s.r. is shield-enough to count, but she hasn't been properly made aware of the grittier details.

here comes the true kicker of a question: ] You work with Captain Rogers, don't you? In 2013.

[ shield was only a key to get at this very lock. avengers, by itself, could be anything. avengers in conjunction with shield? and 'clint barton', whose name was listed in jim's file on the new york incident?

the pieces are tumbling into place. ]