duplicity — inbox

[vestments]

Comments

[vestments]

Funny.

You should know that's not something I'm known for.

[redhourglass]

i do

i wonder who is modeling for who here

[vestments]

I'll let you know if you've missed your calling as a teacher.

[redhourglass]

oh i wouldn’t go that far
i hear you can’t teach old dogs new tricks

( yeah, you are an old dog, marc )

[vestments]

Touché.

Doesn't mean I can't comment on the quality of the lessons.

[redhourglass]

save the commentary for after
maybe you’ll decide you like having someone to watch your back

[vestments]

I used to.
He was my pilot.

[redhourglass]

( there’s a part of her that thinks she’ll regret asking but — in for a penny, in for a pound. )

what happened?

[vestments]

We fell out.

( simple answer for a simple question. )

[redhourglass]

and you decided you didn’t need a wingman anymore?

( maybe it’s not a fair question — what he probably needs is a babysitter. not that she’s one to talk. as a general rule, widows work alone. the black widow especially. )

[vestments]

( jean-paul was a babysitter and that, ultimately, was the problem.

he had enough of babysitting. )

And what, I'd find one by putting an advert up in the newspapers?

Be real.

[redhourglass]

i am being real
i bet you didn’t even look

clint was going to kill me
maybe that would be more your speed

[vestments]

Well, I don't have money any more. Difficult to keep people around without a way to pay them.

( —wait.
has he missed an entire conversation here? )

...What?

( A DELAY. )

I normally like my friends to want me to stay alive.

[redhourglass]

( yeah, that’s generally the reaction that particular tidbit gets. )

i said he ‘was’ — not that he did
though i guess he tried a few other times

( #just black widow things )

he decided it would be a waste
figured out that i wanted out and gave me a choice
no money involved

[vestments]

People trying to kill me is usually a 'was', too.

( and besides, marc would put money on natasha if he had to. )

What was the choice?

[redhourglass]

put down my weapons, join SHIELD
sell out my country and he’d try to keep them from executing me

( in retrospect, it doesn’t sound like the best option. but it’d been better than the alternative in the moment. )

luckily fury agreed with clint
they figured it’d be a waste to get rid of me

[vestments]

A waste to get rid of the Black Widow.
Anyone would've agreed with that.

[redhourglass]

given the things i’d done
i’m not sure they wouldn’t have thrown a parade for them
there’s a reason why SHIELD was going to kill me in the first place

maybe clint was tired of killing people too

( not that she’d stopped. it’d taken awhile before SHIELD trusted her enough to send her on missions again, and clint had been her handler before he was her partner. but her skillset was … particular. and particularly useful. )

[vestments]

Given the things SHIELD has done, it'd be hypocritical.

The Hawkeye I know is very particular about killing.
That's what we disagreed about when I was part of his team.

[redhourglass]

he’s always been that way
at least the one i know is, too

i was less … discerning

[vestments]

"Avengers don't kill"?

At times, someone has to be.

[redhourglass]

not technically a rule that i’m aware of for us
but no one really goes out of their way either
hard to maintain the moral high ground that way

( she could see steve saying something like that. or bruce. or even tony, for all his flagrant disregard for the rules in general. but she and clint? or even just her alone?

marc’s not wrong. someone has to do it. )

we’re not going to be slaughtering down gang members tonight
but if it happens, it happens
it’s them or us

[vestments]

Oh. So you guys are the ones without the behavioural clauses.

These days, I try to avoid it unless necessary.

( his way of saying they're on the same page, at least. )