On Target

Chapter 2

It had been way more than an hour and still no Kate, I had called her about a thousand times and nothing. The dog snuggled up next to me, probably sensing my fear. "You think she's ok?" I asked the dog, "She should be calling me," I pet the dog, "I just need her to be ok I don't know what I would do without her." After another thirty minutes, the door opened and Kate walked in, "Oh my god, Kate," I said as I ran up to hug her. "I thought something had happened to you," I felt tears trickling down my cheek."Don't worry Lizzie, I'm ok, ok?" "Don't ever do that again!" I said. Then turned and was face to face with a man I had seen for almost my whole life. "Some guard dog you got there," he said. "Holy shit," I said, "Is that?" "Yeah," Kate responded. "Fuck," I said, "Hi, I turned to him, I'm Lizzie, Kate's girlfriend, huge fan." He shook my hand, "Clint," he said as he started to walk around, "Nice place for a kid.""Yeah, I inherited it." Kate said."What are you, 18?""I'm 22.""Yeah, same thing," Clint said, "So, wanna get that vest off, so I can get going?""Yeah, yeah, I'll... I'll be right there." Kate said walking away to change," Totally cool. Just stay cool." she said to herself, "The Hawkeye in my place.""Where'd you get the suit?" He asked when Kate got upstairs. "Some fancy charity auction," I responded. "Yeah," Kate said, "a black market auction.""And you bought it.""No. Not exactly," Kate said."Uh-huh," Barten said walking around the place he looked at me."She's not lying," I said. "So, what all did you do in this suit?""I beat some guys up. Saved the dog. Some light B and E." "Jesus," Clint whispered, "A 22-year-old vigilante. Shouldn't you be in school?" I laughed. "Funny you should ask," Kate said as she walked down in a crewneck and sweatpants, carrying a bow, "So, uh, now that I've answered all your questions, I have so many for you. Uh, starting with...Can you sign this?""I'm not done yet." Clint said."But when you are, can you sign my bow?" Kate asked. You're her favorite Avenger." I said. "Are you okay? By the way?" He asked Kate."I'm good. Oh, yeah, no, I'm fine. You should see the other guys," She said. "I did. Tracksuit Mafia.""That's their name?" I asked. Clint nodded."That's a little on the nose, don't you think?" Kate said, "Are they the ones that killed my mom's fiancé's uncle?""Armand's dead?" I asked. "Yeah," Kate said, "Wait, your mom's fiancé's uncle?" Clint asked. "Armand III." Kate said."Ah," Clint said."Of at least seven," Kate continued."I... I do not know." Clint said, "But what I need to know is if anybody saw your face?""No. Kept the mask on like a pro," Kate said."Okay, 'cause the person that wore this suit made a whole lot of enemies."All right? And the Tracksuits are just one of them.""That doesn't sound good," I said. "You told nobody about this suit?" Clint asked."No, well no one other than Lizzie." "And my lips are sealed," i said."There's no way you're connected to this suit?""Right.""I need you to be sure.""I am.""Certain?""Yes.""The Tracksuits followed you from the auction to where I found you. Did you stop anywhere before that?" Clint asked."I just dropped off the dog and brought Lizzie back here.""Hey, Kate Bishop!" A man with a Russian accent called from outside. We all turned to the window."And my name's on the buzzer," Kate said as she turned back to Clint."Oh, no. Get down." A molotov cocktail was thrown onto the apartment, then another. Clint ran up to the window and Kate ran back to her bow, "Lizzie," She yelled, "Get the dog ok?" "Got it," I said, running over to the dog and bringing him to the steps. Another cocktail was thrown through the window, this time Clint caught it and threw it back as the tracksuits. I heard an arrow zip past me and then heard glass breaking, Kate shot an arrow at another cocktail. "Told ya," Kate said."Yeah. I gotta get that suit." Kate shot an arrow at the fire extinguisher it bounced around the room then landed outside. "Come on! That's all you've got? Come on. Throw another one." they yelled"You have a fire escape?" Clint asked."My home! All my stuff!" Kate said.Don't worry about that right now we need to go.""Wait. What about the suit?" I asked."Leave it. We'll come back for it." Clint responded. We ran up the stairs and sneaked outside of the building. We got to a subway. "So where are we going?" Kate asked."Getting further away from those people trying to kill you," Clint said. "Right. And after that?" "We'll need some supplies.""Hell yeah. Avenger supplies?" We got into the subway and sat there, mostly in silence. Then we got out and Clint led us to a CVS. We walked in and followed him to the first aid isle. "Not gonna lie to you. This is a bit of a letdown," Kate said as Clint grabbed a few things of neosporn. "Sorry to disappoint you. Wanna grab some of that rubbing alcohol over there? Lower shelf.""So what's the plan now? Let me guess. We're going to your safe house? Is it in Avengers Tower?""No. Tony sold that. A few years ago," Clint said as he walked over th the line. "That is so sad on so many levels.""Kate, you knew that, the compound replaced it.""Oh," Kate sighed, "I did.""Look, I gotta find a place to stash you, both of you. Safe. So I can recover the suit and clean your mess." "Stash us? we're not a bag of money." Kate said"No, you're not. A bag of money'd be useful to me.""Next," The cashier said. Clint walked up to the counter and we followed him. "Hi, how are you? Merry Christmas," Clint said to the cashier."I actually do know a place about 10 blocks away. Would a bag of money know a place?" Kate asked. Clint paid and we followed Kate to the place she knew. We got to the buildings and looked for the buzzer she needed. She pressed the buzzer, then preceded to press all the buzzers. But nothing."Y'ello," A man said. "Yes, hey, uh... Hi. Yeah, we're... Uh, I got pizza." Kate lied."Huh? What?" The man asked. "I got pi... Uh-huh.""Hello?""Mm. Yep. That's..." The door unlocked and we all rushed in. We walked up the stairs and down the hall. Kate stood in front of a room"Okay," She said."Okay, not exactly a fortress, but it'll do, right?" Clint said."It's my aunt's place. She's in Florida for the winter."Hold that for me," Kate passed her bow to me. Kate picked the lock and we walked into the dark apartment. We walked around turning on the lights."Is there cats in here?" Clint asked. "Just cat hair," Kate said. "Okay," Clint said, he placed the bags on the table, "Here. I need you to clean your wounds. Use this. Use soap, this and disinfect it. All right. I'm going back to your apartment to get that suit.And then I'm going back to my kids.""Oh, yes, Clint, you may enter my apartment. Don't you need my keys?""Nope. I'm good. Stay here. Lock this door." I walked with Clint to the door, "Will you be back?" I asked him. "If everything goes as I plan, no." "Well, Thanks so much for everything," I said. "No problem." Clint walked out and I locked the door behind him. I walked over to Kate. she was trying to clean one of her cuts, "Let me clean it Kate," I said. I walked over to the sink and washed my hands, then I dipped a Q-tip in alcohol. "This will sting," I said. I rubbed the alcohol over one of her cuts. Kate hissed in air. "Pass the tape." Kate handed me the tape, I placed it vertically across her cuts, something I had done way too many times to myself. "Ok, I said finishing her first cut, and grabbing more Q-tips and rubbing alcohol moving on to her other cuts. When I was finished Kate looked at her face, "Are you sure these are on right, shouldn't they be horizontal, across the cut?" "No, I'm sure," "How do you know all this?" "An, an old friend," I answered, "I need to go get changed, are there any clothes here?" "I would hope so, here, I'll find something for you." Kate walked back into the room and later came back with a sweater and some joggers. "They don't match, but they are way more comfortable than that dress." Kate handed me the clothes, "Thanks," I said. Kate flopped onto the couch and I went to change. Then joined Kate on the couch. She had a box of pizza on her head "I need ice, and the dog needs food," Kate said when she saw me looking at her head. "So, what happened with Armond?" "Well, I went to his house and there was a pool of blood around him, he had been stabbed, by a sword." "There was a sword at your mom's house," I said. "Yeah, I know, and it's not my mothers, Jack must be some sort of sword enthusiast, he has swords all over my mom's place, and he was bidding against Armond for a sword. They had a lot of tension, Jack and Armond." "Kate, this is crazy, is this what Christmas at the Bishop's is like?" I asked as I give her a kiss. "I mean there's usually less murder," She joked as she gave me a kiss back. I laughed as I snuggled into her. We stayed like that together for a little bit until Kate's phone rang, Kate reached over for her phone, "It's my mom." Kate answered the phone then put it on speaker, "Hey mom," She said. "Kate, are you ok?" "I'm fine," She said. "Where are you?" "At home, with Lizzie." "I was so scared. What happened to you?" The door opened and Clint walked it, things must not have gone as planned."Nothing. I went out the back. Hey." She said to Clint who walked into the kitchen,"Hey." "That was crazy," Elenor said. "An explosion? Some kind of black market auction?""I gotta go. Love you.""I love you, too." "When did everybody start saying, "I love you," to everybody all the time?""That was my mom," Kate said, "Since when did your heart shrink three sizes?""When a little girl in a ninja costume stole my Christmas." Kate stood up and walked over to the table that Clint was sitting at. "What?""Multitasking," Kate said talking about the pizza box. "Reducing swelling. Thawing out Pizza Dog's breakfast."