Alone ✧ KATE BISHOP

9 - Ready, Aim, Fire

KATE CONTINUED TO STARE AT JASPER, NOT SAYING A WORD. Jasper looked back at her, confused at the way Kate was looking at her. It was a look of awe, the look a child would give to their hero. Jasper didn't understand why Kate was staring at her like that, but she pushed the thought aside as she stood up.

"Alright," Jasper said. "I'll let you finish up in here. Meet you downstairs."

Without waiting for a reply, she turned and left the bathroom, heading back downstairs before plopping back down on the couch. The dog immediately trotted up to her and rested its head on her knees, and Jasper smiled before scratching the dog's ears.

"So," Clint said, catching Jasper's attention. "What are you, exactly?"

Jasper looked up at him and frowned. "What are you talking about?"

Clint took a phone out of his pocket and typed on the screen before walking over to Jasper and showing her the screen. It was a phone recording of Jasper, creating the astral projection of the dragons in the middle of the street before rushing off to help Kate.

"No normal person can do something like that, kid," Clint told her as he put the phone away. "So what are you? Enhanced? Mutant? Powers come from jewelry or something?"

Jasper crossed her arms over her chest. "Why do you need to know? I thought you were retired."

Clint shrugged. "Just wanna know what I'm dealing with here."

Jasper stared at him for a moment. "I don't know, honestly," she admitted. "I just found out I could do that about five minutes before that video was taken. I got this necklace this morning-" Jasper held up her necklace. "-and it was glowing right before it happened, but I don't think whatever I did came from it."

Clint stepped closer to Jasper and pointed at the necklace. "Can I see?"

Jasper nodded, taking the necklace off and handing it to him. Clint looked at the necklace, running his thumb over the metal before saying, "Where did you get this?"

"I dunno." Jasper shrugged. "It just showed up on my doorstep. It was in an envelope, but nothing else was with it except for a note."

"What'd the note say?" Clint asked.

Even though she'd only seen it once, Jasper still remembered exactly what the note said. "Do not stand too close, for these free spirits harbor a powerful sting," Jasper recited. "But the choice is yours. If you want to become part of something bigger than yourself, or simply if you want answers, come find us in the Kingdom. Your House is waiting." Clint was silent, and Jasper went on, "I don't know what it means. But the words 'kingdom' and 'house' were capitalized. And I found out later that the necklace belonged to my dad."

Clint frowned slightly. "Wait, who's your dad?"

"Markus Owens," Jasper said, surprised that he hadn't heard of her father. "CEO of Kloud 9 Industries. But he rebranded the company and changed the name to Aurarius Industries a couple weeks ago."

Much to Jasper's surprise, Clint frowned as if the name "aurarius" struck a bell with him. So she frowned before asking, "Why, does the name mean anything to you?"

Clint handed the necklace back to Jasper with a sigh. "It used to."

Jasper's frown deepened, but before she could ask what he meant, Kate came back downstairs, now wearing a purple sweater and jeans, and her hair pulled up into a ponytail. Her bow and the suit was in her arms, and she offered Clint a smile before approaching him. 

"Where'd you get the suit?" Clint asked. 

"Black market auction," Kate replied. 

Clint frowned. "And you bought it."