i can go anywhere i want (just not home)

"i'm a therapist"

Kate meets Charlie the next day at the dog park.

It leaves a sour taste in her mouth knowing that she's not going with Yelena and Fanny, but Lucky being there softens the blow a bit and leaves Kate excited to see Charlie again.

"You do realize that it's December in New York City, right?"

Kate turns, smile on her face when she sees Charlie with a heavy coat on and hat on their head. She can't help but laugh, "Were you not born here?"

"No," Charlie glances at Lucky, who's currently sniffing an Australian Shepherd's butt, "Born in Orlando, Florida. I only moved here during college."

"During? Or for college?" Kate asks, smiling when Lucky comes bounding over with a large stick in his mouth. She takes it gently and throws it, watching as his tail swirls while he runs with a smile on her face.

"During," Charlie replies, "Started at Florida State and switched to NYU for my junior and senior years. That's where I met Leah."

"Your ex?" Kate asks. Charlie nods and Kate hums, "So what'd you major in?"

"Psychology," Charlie replies, digging their hands in their pockets as Lucky runs over again, "I'm a therapist. My mom always told me that I was good at talking to people."

Kate nods, she thought that Charlie's mom had blipped, but it sounds a lot more like she died.

"What about you, what do you do for work?" Charlie asks, taking the stick from Lucky this time and dangling it above his head. He loves it, immediately jumping up and trying to grab at it.

"I don't work," Kate says nervously, "I... I'm still finishing school. Last year I accidentally knocked down a belltower... my mom was pissed and the school expelled me."

Charlie's jaw drops a bit as they throw the stick for Lucky again, "Oh! That's where I recognized you from! You're Kate Bishop!"

Kate's stomach drops. Someone fucking recognizes her, and it's not for anything Hawkeye related. She doesn't think it'll ever be at this point.

"Yeah," she laughs awkwardly, eyes trained on Lucky, "that's me."

Charlie quickly tries to rebound, "I'm sorry if that was... I don't know. That's just funny, I thought that case was hilarious when it came out. Sounds like you did the school a favor, to be honest. Obadiah Stane was an idiot."

"That's what I told my mom," Kate says, shrugging, "It's not like she didn't have the money to replace it. I don't understand why they replaced it, anyway. But now I'm just trying to finish up my degree, I should be done in the next two weeks."

"That's good," Charlie bumps Kate's shoulder with theirs, "I'm sorry if I offended you in any way, seriously."

"Thanks," Kate meets eyes with them, sending them a small smile before calling Lucky over. "So, how do you like being a therapist? Was your mom right?"

"I think so," Charlie replies, watching as Kate leashes Lucky up, "I like the practice I'm at right now. There's five of us, I'm the youngest."

"How much older are they than you?" Kate asks as they start to walk toward the exit of the park, "Every time I picture therapists I just see the old people they stuck in therapist positions on Grey's Anatomy."

"They're not that much older," Charlie responds, "There's Todd, he's only two years older than me, he's 28. And then there's Faith, she's 34, she's kind of my best friend there. And Dylan, they're dope, they're actually Faith's twin. Weird that they can tolerate each other for that long, but whatever. And then there's Isabel. She's like our mom, always telling us what to do and reminding us to schedule lunch breaks and such."