Chapter Seven
“What is that?”
“Oh, some people would call it a dog, Katie-”
“Oh, shut up.” Kate rolled her eyes and he smirked as she kneeled and sat on her heels, and the dog quickly rushed towards her with its blonde coat shimmering in whatever remained of the sunset. The dying light streamed through the windows in his apartment and she looked scared for a moment, she didn’t exactly have a great history with dogs, in fact… she didn’t really like thinking about it much. The day after the kidnapping, the day after Clint saved her life for the first time, her father thought that he could make all of it up with a dog, and she had told him to ‘shove it.’ He was a murderer. He was a criminal, he was a common thief who had never worked truthfully for a penny. Kate had worked harder than she had, and she was but eleven at that time. The next day, the dog wasn’t there. That was probably on her. Kate carefully reached forward and let the dog sniff her hand, that was something Clint had taught her when they found a stray on patrol. ‘Let him smell you, get comfortable with your scent. Don’t pet where he can’t see.’ She carefully reached forward and scratched the depths of deep fur behind his ears and his eyes were shimmering with what would be a smile had he had lips. Kate grasped the small token on his collar and she read his name under her breath, smiling at the word he’d chosen. Lucky. “Is he a stray?” She asked, looking back at him and he quickly wiped away the expression of amusement that had been on his face when he watched her look at the dog like it was E.T, but she saw the last trace of it.
“Call him the, uh… new mascot for the building, I guess.” Clint shrugged and she smiled, now more comfortable when she hid her fingers in the dog’s long and voluminous fur, and the animal made small pants in gratitude. Kate smiled. He was trying. He was trying not to bring it up, and she could see it, but he wanted so desperately to beg for her to take the bow back. ‘You’re Hawkeye. I’m Hawkeye. We’re partners. I need you.’ He needed her. She felt… cared about. Still, she couldn’t take up that mask. He was okay with people knowing his name, and that was a luxury that she wished she could afford. But, she wasn’t okay with it. Article after article she read, they mentioned her mother, they mentioned her sister, her father, and her. Along with that man. That man.
His face was now burned into every wall and every mirror, and he noticed she was jumpier. She flinched more often, like she was preparing to die when someone stepped too close towards her, or if someone, God forbid, touched her. It seemed like he was the only one that she allowed in her personal space, and he didn’t ask, but he knew whatever relationship she’d had with her father was gone. He didn’t ask, but he knew that it was over. He knew that he was the only person she had now, and he almost felt bad for her that he was what she was left with. But, it meant both of them were a little more open with the other, and that made her feel safe.
It felt like for once, someone wasn’t going to abandon her, and she wouldn’t have to bury him. “I, um…I’ll turn it in for the night, then, I guess.” Kate spoke but her focus still remained on the dog and there was actually a smile on her face, something he hadn’t seen in days. There was still that pain that she thought she’d hidden so meticulously behind her irises, but she hadn’t. He knew it wasn’t going to go away, but it would get smaller and smaller, until finally, maybe, it would blink.
“Night, Katie-Kate!” He called as she stepped out of the window and his only answer was a teasing lift of her middle finger. He chuckled to himself but heard her window close above him, and that was that.
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“Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop.” Screams. Wails. Pain. Mostly, terror. Kate’s eyes shot open and she panted for a moment, and her mop of dark black hair fell before her eyes. Nightmares were becoming more frequent, or they had been. But… It was only once a week now. That was an improvement. Clint seemed to have helped, maybe. It was weird having someone who actually gave a shit about her. There was a cold sweat filtering around her body and she wiped her skin, scrubbing the flushed color from her face. She tied her hair back into a braid to take the hot feeling from her body, and took a small breath. There was a sudden thumping by the door and her blood ran cold. She looked up with a pale face and looked to her cabinet beside her bed, and she almost smiled when she saw her bow there. Of course it was there, she couldn’t have expected it not to be. But still, she drew the string back and placed an arrow in between it, but when there were footsteps, she saw a wagging tail and golden furry paws.
Kate visibly deflated and she looked down, quickly placing the bow back and touching it back down as if it had burned her. “How the hell did you even get in here?” She remembered there was sunlight streaming through the windows, and the light illuminated a new addition to her door. “... oh, you bastard.” Kate whispered and she stepped up from her couch, looking at the door and seeing the new dog-port through the center, with a little sticky note atop it. Kate reached down and picked it up, and she smiled at the little note.’Don’t kill me when you see the door… or the dog. Out on Patrol in the upper east if you want to join me.’ She crossed her legs and sat down on the rug, rubbing the ink of the paper and her thumb into it until she looked back at the bow.
Bad idea, Kate. Bad idea. She shook her head and looked at the bow, and her costume was locked in some deep cabinet in her room that she had forgotten… or hoped to forget. And an abundance of sudden sirens through the air and she rolled her eyes, laying her head against the rug for a moment before getting up. You old dinosaur. There were a large number of sirens, which meant big emergency, or super-villain. Clint’d need help. “... shit.”