driftfleet | blameless mingle

Entry tags:

blameless mingle » may

Who: Crew + visitors
Broadcast: N/A
Action: Aboard the Blameless
When: All of May

[ when it's the month of may, the blameless will play. or something. have at it, you crazy diamonds. ]

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[ -- you know what? she just comes out and says it. because although she's explained the situation to a few others, they all came from such radically different places. maybe the only person capable of understanding how truly futzed up the situation is? another avenger. ]

He shot Doctor Banner. Killed him, actually. Pre-meditated. Arrested, charged, tried. [ kate drives the heel of her palm into her eye, rubbing it. holding back a curse. none of this is elegant, but she's never been secretive. or careful. or judicious. she just is. ]

[Natasha is quiet a moment at that. She doesn't know this Bruce at all, and Clint is another Clint. Still, the implications are grim.]

You know why he did it?

Because Banner asked him to. [ ... ] Even engineered the arrow that made it possible. Because, damn. Clint's good but he's not that good.

[ the hulk, for god's sake. ]

[Another pause.] ...That sounds right. Sorry that fell on Clint.

That's the only reason he got acquitted. [ kate shakes her head. ] Banner left tapes. Testimony, stating that he'd put it all in motion. It's -- it's a wonder they even found the footage 'cause for a while there, from the outside looking in, it seemed Clint wasn't running with any defense at all.

[ -- from the outside looking in. and that, perhaps, expresses the most telling tone of all. isolation; frustration; uselessness. ]

That's not a surprise. Even if it was Bruce's idea, his plan... Clint still did it.

[She couldn't say for this other version of her friend, but she can picture her Clint in that situation easily enough. She doubts he'd put up much defense either. Not the legal kind.]

[ -- and that's when she says what's been on her mind from the very outset, for months and months since she woke up with these memories in place. the sort of thing she couldn't articulate to just anyone, because even if they could understand it? they'd never understand the man beneath the problem. the once-criminal turned straight. ]

I think he wanted to be put away for it. No one was more surprised than him when they let him walk.

[A man with a very particular sense of honor, too. In his own stupid way.]

And he never remembered that here? Just you.

Edited 2017-05-10 19:16 (UTC)

Just me. [ which has weighed heavily on her ever since. ] I reckon he has a year to go until it happens.

You tell him? [Not that it makes much of a difference, but she's seen plenty of people try to whine their way into details about their future.]

I tried. I know I shouldn't have, but -- he was freaking because I wasn't being 'myself' around him. And he's the guy who hammered it into my head that Avengers shouldn't kill. [ a puff of breath. ] Not that be believed me, in the end.

Sometimes people have to see things for themselves, live through it themselves. There's no way to really explain to someone what they'll do in the future. [Natasha's been there.

This news about Avengers not killing, though, that's new to her. Different universes.]

It hurt him. [ and maybe that's what she regrets most. ] To not be that guy yet -- but it's not like I could just pretend like we were best friends again. Not after what he did.

[ but it's not the murder that bothers her. in her own way, she understands why clint did what he did. except -- ] The motherfutzer didn't even call. Not before, not during, not after they let him out of jail. He ghosted me.

Edited 2017-05-12 14:34 (UTC)

Any ideas why he might have done that? [Natasha has a few, but Kate knows her Clint better. And she'll feel better about this if she reaches her own conclusions.]

It's what he does. [ bails; leaves; sinks into radio silence. ] And it's everything about him that sucks. Usually, I get to him before it happens.

[ and yell, scream, shout, rail! until he agrees that brooklyn is better with him in it. ]

That's still what. Not why.

[ yeah, she know. she knows.

quietly -- like pulling teeth: ] The Hulk was never all that popular with your average joes. Clint can't stomach being greeted like a hero for something he never wanted to do. [ ... ] I don't need a phone call from him to tell me that much.

[A nod, subtle but encouraging.]

And with him being the one who taught you not to kill... I don't know. I can see why he might not be in a hurry to look you in the eye.

Doesn't make it any less yellow-bellied.

[ let it be known: kate bishop goes for the balls. ]

Maybe not. I'm just saying... he has a lot of reasons not to be in a hurry to face you. Most of them not entirely noble, but not too hard to understand.

He's not a big fan of letting people down.

[And yet, he keeps doing it.]

-- Spider-Woman says letting people down is his superpower.

[ and kate had defended him then. but it feels harder, now, than it once was. like it demands more of her. jeopardizes her. ]