Cat-pacino meets robot man
11 years ago.
Clint has always considered himself a stray-person. Loving the little mutts that came to eat scraps under the circus seats, the little cats, the larger cats.
The chicken parmesan cats that almost took off his fingers at lunch time. Strays came in different color and sizes but usually in Clint’s way of life, they don’t tend to stick around.
This stray is different. And if Clint had to say something on the matter, he would say the cat actually refuses to leave him.
Crazy right? Not so crazy when he had left the cat on safe hands in the city twice and found the cat back on his backpack both times.
He might as well go with it.
In all honestly, the cat was an asshole. She mewed pitifully for a piece of Clint’s dinner, managed to know exactly where Clint ached and proceded to put all of her weight in her paw right there. But the worse was, the disappointed look.
Clint doesn’t even know how she does it, but the cat constantly looks like she is questioning his life choices. But with Clint's record, who doesn’t look at him like that?
“I know, I know” he says, as she stops kneading on his stomach. Also, aw claws “but this is temporary Macy” yes, he named the cat already.
Probably their old name was something gangster and shitty like Cat-pacino. Really, Clint was doing them a favor.
The 7,000 square meters apartment is nice if he says so himself, open spaces and garish furniture with the four suite bedrooms and one hell of a view. But its also not his, the douche who owns this apartment is in some sort of gang-vacations in Miami and Clint gleefully takes care of it for him.
Technically Andrev has never met him, just seen him on a roof really. And meanwhile Clint was not supposed to know, and quite possible should have never looked too closely at containers with the logo of a fish on the side in that catastrophic last job for Trickshot. He knows his way around town, the voice of the streets.
And here he is- on house call duty with Macy.
“And what Andrev doesn’t know can’t hurt him, right Macy?” he flops down on the sofa with a sigh.
Macy looks at him for a second too long and then she’s laying at the spot of sunlight. Yeah, who doesn’t like a warm spot to lie down without getting stabbed.
Clint grabs the cereal carton and eats it straight from it. The good life, he thinks as he munches happily.
__
He has been living comfortably for almost two weeks when an unexpected noise on the door startles him. Shit, he forgot about Andrev completely.
Clint turns and watches as Macy stands up from her favorite spot in the sofa and stretches. Damn it, he wishes he could be that chill about it.
There a muffled curse and then the door is opening.
“Useless fucking keys” Andrev spats.
“Fuck” Clint mutters choosing to hide in the counter of all places. And hopes the fancy stuff can hold his 20-year old starving body and waits.
And waits more as the asshole chooses to sit right in front of where he’s hiding. He gets bored fairly quickly, periodically checking if Andrev’s still there and sighing when he is.
It seems like hours when finally it seems like the asshole is getting up. Clint opens a small gap on the counter and sees the exact moment a shadow falls from the ceiling. Andrev doesn’t notice, trying to light a cigarette one handed and failing.
Fuck, he hopes that’s not Macy-no, its a man. Dressed in black with a glinting arm.
“The fuck?” Clint mouths when he sees the man brandish a gun from his holster.
Clint entire body freezes as the man shoots Andrev point blank in the head. And he must have made some sort of sound because the guy lifts his gaze towards his direction.
Clint shuts the fuck up. God, what a fucked up time to be hard of hearing. He knows he has to run, feels it in every inch of his body. But he won’t leave his damn cat behind, not ever.
Is he being stupid? Probably. But this is what Clint does. He gets attached to the cat who came back for him.
Thankfully, the guy just turns to the other living room.
How many fucking living rooms can an apartment have? more than two apparently, but thats convenient right now. He avoids looking to closely at the splatter of blood and yeah.
That's pretty fucked up.
Clint has the worst goddamn luck in the world, he is never breaking in any shady douche apartment ever again.
When he thinks he doesn’t hear his steps anymore, he slips out of the counter and grabs the kitchen knives.
Glancing at the direction where he went. Nothing. Fucking hell, he can’t hear him.
A phone rings and Clint startles so bad he almost cuts himself. But the guy doesn’t seem to notice him behind the couch “the target is eliminated” he says with a flat tone, clicking down.
The target. The fuck is that.
Macy hisses and the man stops dead in his tracks at the sight of the cat. So that’s where she was.
The man looks startled enough to point the gun at her.
Please don’t kill the cat, Clint thinks desperately when he sees the man have a stare off with his fucking cat. Two whole minutes until the gun disappears in his holster again, turning to the other living room.
When Clint’s sure the guy can’t see him, he grabs the pliant cat and begs to god and everything the acrobats used to pray before the shows they don’t make those awful noises when they are hungry.
“Stop” a voice says behind him and Clint didn’t even feel him come in, not even the usual displacement of air. Macy makes the hissing noise again, and it rumbles all the way down to her tummy.
Clint looks at the slightly open door and swallows. What now?
“Don’t run” says the voice strangely soft “I can catch you” he adds like a fucking psychopath from the movies.
Clint feels a shiver break down on his spine.
He takes a deep break “alright” he says somehow sounding pretty firm. There are a lot of times Clint has thought maybe he’s fucked enough for one lifetime and he’s probably gonna die. This is definitely on the top of his list, if he makes it.
He puts Macy on the ground slowly. The guys frowns at the cat. And seriously Has he never seen a cat before?
The guy doesn’t lower his gun but this finger is a little off the trigger “Who are you?” his startling blue eyes clear under the mask he is wearing.
Clint stares back. Sure, he’s scared shitless but this is not the first time he has felt this creeping fear. “It’s Clint. I just came for her” and he’s close enough to see as the guy’s eyes literally glaze over as he repeats the words under his breath.
Macy stares the guy down not moving an inch where she sits in front of Clint. And if he knew better he would say the cat is protecting him, but this is his first ever cat (not counting the tiger) so he doesn’t know.
It’s then when Macy lets out a truly horrifying sound and the guy flinches hard, fuck even Clint flinches.
Be clever, my boy and it’s perhaps the worst time to remember trickshot knife tricks but in seconds, Clint has thrown the knives in different trajectories.
The last one, bounces off on the counter slower than the rest. But the guy moves fast, turning his neck just before the knife can slice his neck and in turn his forehead is cut bloody open.
Clint has no time to think about anything. Not about the guy literally shielding himself with his shiny arm or the way he seemed almost surprised at having his forehead sliced off.
He could swear the guy lifted his eyebrows at him. Like he was smiling at Clint. Fuck it, he decides he doesn’t know shit.
The guy keeps staring at them as Clint jumps off the balcony with Macy in tow.
And Clint doesn’t let himself wonder why the guy didn’t follow.