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Post by Ray on Mar 2, 2017 20:22:51 GMT -7
"Two against, seven for." Barton adds on to Emily's statement, but when Nat looks to him there's no relief on her face. "They aren't going to be happy, but... this could save us."
"Thank you for your input." Nat says, and Barton feels the sting of her words all the way to his bones. He can't help the slight wince that crosses his face. Taking in a deep breath, the red haired woman looks down for a moment to collect her thoughts. "I'll get in contact with King T'chaka as soon as we can. The faster we're done with this, the better. Emily, Barton, Asya... I have your patrol details." She says as a dismissal to everyone else left in the room. Caesar turns silently and leaves. Barton leans off of the wall to step forward to where Nat stands, folder in hand.
"Nat, I'm sorry-" He says once he's close enough, voice quiet. She shakes her head to cut his apology short.
"Doesn't matter. Asya." She calls again.
It's only then that Barton remembers the blonde has been listening the whole time, and he turns his head just in time to watch her appear from the shadows and step into the room. Her face is unreadable, impossible to tell what thoughts she might have had on the events which just occurred. She says nothing either, no snarky comments, no attempt at casual conversation. One good thing about Russians, Barton guesses. They never do seem to want to linger on anything once it's done with.
"We've been picking up reports of an arms dealer setting up shop in the Bronx, fueling people's discontent with high-power shotguns and semi-automatics." Nat begins, jumping right into the details. She pulls three sheets of paper from the file, one for each of them, and distributes them out. Asya takes hers, and focuses her blue eyes down on the page. "Find him, end the operation, try and see if you can find his connection while you're at it. Guns have to come from somewhere."
"End operation?" Asya asks, arching a brow as she lifts her gaze upwards.
"Without killing anyone." Nat clarifies, giving her a knowing look in return. Asya shrugs passively.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Mar 2, 2017 20:44:54 GMT -7
Emily couldn't help but feel bad for Teresa and Fitz knowing that they had said no but were overruled. She just hoped that the former wouldn't think to leave if she didn't feel safe here. The problem was that at the moment they were the safest they were going to be right now. Yes that might change once they open their doors but it was what they were going to have to risk. Fitz however was probably going to shut himself in the SciTech part of the floor and not come out til he had figured out the problems that they wanted him to work on.
She watched as the others left and she moved closer to where Nat was and listened to what the mini mission was for the night. "We'll have to make sure that Tripp is informed" she said after Nat told them their details. She knew that a couple more hours would be alright before they could even think about knocking on his door.
What actually worried her was the fact that this blonde girl had come out of the shadows and there wasn't a picture in her mind where she could remember having seen her before. Infact she didn't even remember seeing her when she came to the base with Teresa. The both of them having been together. But she pushed that thought away before she putting her attention back on the details. So they were going to Bronx tonight, Emily hasn't been to NYC since well before the fall of SHIELD. She had seen it on the TV a lot but not having been outside of this base for a while, well she was starting to forget that there was a whole world outside of there.
That and she had family outside of these walls but she made sure that Charlie was safe before even coming here. Plus she knew that her friend would look after her. "Can't even shoot them in the knees?" she asked and looked at Nat with a straight face.
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Post by Ray on Mar 2, 2017 21:11:20 GMT -7
"Try not to do anything that will make us look even more like the bad guys." Nat clarifies, but says neither yes or no to shooting anyone in the knees. Barton can't really imagine her saying no, especially since she's the queen of using whatever force necessary to get the results she wants.
"No pulling teeth for my necklace then." Barton jokes with a straight face, and Asya looks at him with an almost bored expression. "We can let Tripp sleep," He continues, ignoring her expression and getting back to business, "I've flown a quinjet before. No reason to wake him up when we already have a three person team." Especially when Tripp has been working harder than most on this base. Even though it's usually Barton going solo on patrol missions, sometimes 6 nights out of 7, Tripp is always awake and ready to fly him whenever the need arises -- even in the early hours of the morning. Even with entire days to get the sleep he needs, that kind of constant night flying takes a toll on a person. He deserves a break for once.
Asya folds the sheet of paper into a small square and stuffs in the back pocket of her loose jeans. "When are we meeting?" She asks, seemingly satisfied with the information.
"Twenty-hundred?" Barton offers up as an answer.
"Okay." Asya replies, and turns on a black-booted heel to leave.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Mar 2, 2017 21:33:13 GMT -7
Emily nods but if the need arises and its her or the other person then she will pull that trigger but she will try to keep in control. She then looks over at Barton and can't help but suppress a grin because that is actually the first joke she has heard on this base. No one dared to even joke when tensions were running so high right now. One joke and someone taking it wrong could actually ignite that powder keg. It was one of the reasons why she needed to be on this patrol tonight because she was starting to feel suffocated by the tension.
"You would look pretty with said necklace" Emily joked before then getting back to business. "I'm sure he would enjoy the night off" she admitted when talking about Tripp. It had been a while since she had seem him up and about during the day and letting him have the night off would ensure that he would be able to walk around the base tomorrow.
Emily was going to say something else when Asya, the other blonde female in the room folded the sheet of paper into and then asked when they were meeting before leaving when she got the answer. She watched as the young girl moved away from their space before looking between Nat and Barton "I'm not even going to ask" she said quietly for them to hear. There was a little bit she was starting to understand about the girl, clearly she didn't want to be around others and that is why she was never in the same room as anyone for too long or even that she had been seen on the base, probably hiding in the shadows or in other rooms.
"Is there anything else we need to know?" she asked after a moment and looking over at Nat, really she was asking if they wanted her in the room any longer or if they wanted to talk to each other without her in the room. Even if there had been tension when Nat had dismissed the others and Barton had tried to apologize.
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Post by Ray on Mar 2, 2017 22:52:08 GMT -7
Barton and Nat exchange a small glance, debating if a warning is necessary for Asya.
"You'll..." Barton begins, nodding his head a little, "Find out soon enough."
"Stay safe." Nat comments, a hint of wry amusement in her tone, before she turns away to head back to her newly claimed office -- a phone call to Wakanda waiting for her. Barton folds his own piece of paper in half, before twisting his wrist to check the time. It was only just after noon, leaving plenty of waiting ahead of him. After the argument, almost earthquake, and reminder of what deep shit they're on, the restless feeling had returned. But now there was nothing left to do but sit and watch the minutes tick by. His stomach grumbles to remind him of the missed breakfast, but he only frowns.
"Guess I'll see you in eight hours." Barton says, glancing back up to Emily and giving her a tight-lipped smile. He shakes out his wrist to let his watch lay comfortably, and stuffs the paper into his front pocket. As he heads towards the elevator, he pauses to turn around and say one last thing to the blonde left in the oval room, "I'd suggest catching up on your Russian."
The doors open, and he steps backwards inside.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Mar 2, 2017 23:11:03 GMT -7
Emily knew there was something that they weren't telling her and now she was starting to feel a little bit nervous. Especially when Barton said about the fact that she would find out soon enough. She then looked up at Nat when she said about staying safe. Now she really was starting to get worried. Emily watched as she moved in the direction of her now office before grabbing the piece of paper and looking down at it. So they were heading to the Bronx.
She folded her own piece of paper up and put it in the back pocket of her jeans before looking over at Barton when he spoke to her. "I guess you will" she said with a nod and gave him a soft smile. It actually felt good to smile for a little bit, for it not to be forced. It was definitely different to do something other than frowning at everything. She knew it had only been a couple of months since all hell had broken loose but there wasn't really a smile, apart from Caesar he could smile for the rest of them. He was good like that.
Emily's thoughts were interrupted by Barton when he spoke again and she managed to catch what he had said before she pushed her eyebrows together. She barely was able to learn French and Japanese, how the hell was she going to speak any Russian. She watched Barton and the doors to the elevator shut before she bit on her lip. She had eight hours to kill, how fun was that going to be? She waited til she thought that the elevator would be clear before she headed out and was happy when the doors opened up.
She leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes. It really had been a long two months. Emily already felt deep exhaustion with everything that has happened. But she had to push on through. The doors opened and she opened her eyes up before walking out on to the second floor. She was sure she could get a bit of sleep in before the patrol tonight.
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Post by Ray on Mar 3, 2017 11:09:59 GMT -7
Eight o'clock rolls around, and Barton paces the length of the quinjet for the tenth time.
The day passed slowly, everyone more on edge than usual after Nat's meeting, all reminded of Valkyrie's lingering yet silent presence in their lives. Sam spent most of his time studying up on mechanics in a quiet corner away from everyone else, mouth drawn flat and head bowed over a textbook. Caesar was missing entirely. It's by no means the first time an argument has broken loose on base, and it was by far the tamest yet, but Sam and Caesar have been known to be the calmest people here -- always the ones to step in to get everyone else back down to a manageable level. Their sudden outburst at each other only solidified their need of outside interference. Their need of a cause. Their need of fresh air.
Barton fastens his arm guard as he waits for the other two, strapping it around around the inside of his elbow to protect what used be sensitive flesh. Years of snapped bow strings have killed the nerves there entirely, but routine always gets the best of him.
He doesn't hear when Asya steps on board, but movement out of the corner of his eye startles him for a moment until she comes within full view. Unlike Barton, she doesn't wear a uniform at all. Instead she stands there, hands pulling her hair into a ponytail, in flat black boots, loose holey jeans, red t-shirt, and a black leather jacket.
"That's what you're wearing?" Barton deadpans, somehow not that surprised.
Asya's hands fall back down to her sides. "Not everyone has a closet full of... what is that, spandex?" She says, motioning slightly towards Barton's chest.
"What?" He looks down for a moment at the black tactical t-shirt that clings to him, a purple arrow marking the front, "No."
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Mar 3, 2017 12:30:09 GMT -7
Emily had crashed as soon as she had got back to her room. Needing as much sleep as she could really get but left enough time to actually make it to the quinjet, or at least that's what she had told herself when she set the alarm. The tension in the oval room this morning had made it clear why she had decided to join the patrol, everyone on this base really was sitting around and doing nothing. After being agents for so long it was hard to suppress that down and hide away. They were used to going out in the world and stopping this from happening or that from happening. But thanks to Hydra, there were agents hiding because of the witch-hunt that was out there for them.
Some more than others, she did admit that.
When she woke up and changed into the black tactical gear that she had used on many missions of SHIELD, checking that the eagle wasn't on any bit of clothing before putting it on of course, she had made sure that she had everything she needed. A part of her had hoped that she would see Caesar before she left but he was around here somewhere, probably cooling off after the tension this morning.
That early start she had wanted so that she made it to the quinjet in time actually didn't happen because she had words with both Tripp, who seemed a little relieved at getting the night off, and Jemma who was worried about her going on patrol and started handing her things. She didn't need any of them but she took the bits and pieces anyway before smiling and finally getting into the elevator.
Emily had finally made it to the quinjet and saw that she was the last one to get there. "I'm sorry I'm late, got held up" she said and looked over at Barton.
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Post by Ray on Mar 3, 2017 13:12:46 GMT -7
"Why would you think this is spandex?"
"It's very tight."
"It's body armor."
"How is a t-shirt body armor."
"Whatever-- hi." Barton says with a sweeping eye roll, his attention turning away from the faint smug smile of Asya to Emily who finally joins them. "Don't worry about it. Either way we have a long night ahead of us." He huffs out, already feeling a headache forming. It wouldn't be so bad if he didn't know for a damn fact that Asya was fucking with him just for the fun of it. Could be worse, he thinks. She could be ripping the wing off of the plane. "Strap in. I'll get us to New York in twenty." He climbs into the pilot's seat, setting the headset over his ears and the microphone at his mouth.
Asya glances once around the plane with a crooked frown, not used to anything with a SHIELD stamp on it, before her blue eyes settle on a fold up seat against the black steel wall. She steps towards it, flips it down, and settles onto the uncomfortable perch. "Ne udivitel'no, chto u vas yest' zhestkiy nazad." She murmurs under her breath, her nose scrunching up as she tries to find a good way to sit. After a moment, she sets her elbows upon her knees and huffs out an indignant breath.
The quinjet's engines come to life with roar in he hangar as the large door opens. The night sky greets them, a low hanging moon provided light as they ease out onto the aged tarmac.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Mar 3, 2017 13:39:19 GMT -7
It was going to be a long night indeed but maybe that is what she wanted. A night away from the base and the tensions and to get back out there in the world. Emily looked around, the last time she had been in a quinjet had been when they went to England. That had been a long time ago, and definitely under SHIELD. She bit on her lip and moved towards the seat and pulled it down.
Emily took a seat and leaned her head back. That was what she loved about the quinjets they got them to a destination a lot faster than planes. The Bus, however was definitely one of the best planes she had ever used and it was basically their home from home and the reason why they went on longer trips than most agents, apart from the Avengers of course.
She watched the blonde haired girl out the corner of her eye and for a moment wondered if what Barton had said earlier about brushing up on her Russian had been directed towards Asya. Emily didn't know this girl but that didn't mean that she was actually going to become friends with her, it sounded harsh if she had said that out loud but at the moment she wanted to just get away from the base and put some distance between herself and them. She cared about all of them, really she did, but over the last couple months it had been hard living with everyone on that base.
She would never voice any of this to anyone else but it was definitely hard. Emily bit down on her lip before looking forward. The patrol taking priority in her head.
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Post by Ray on Mar 3, 2017 14:05:06 GMT -7
The flight is short and uneventful, their quinjet flying stealthily among the stars. These days, the shields are always up, making them unseen to any watchful eyes that might be lurking below. New Jersey woodlands give way to the city as they make a fast approach on New York, the sky blotted out by a million different lights. Barton sets the plane down on the harbor in an empty spot large enough, surrounding them with shipping containers like camouflage. He tugs the headset off of his head, throwing it onto the console, and lifts himself out of his seat.
"Alright, grab your gear and let's move out." Barton says, much more casually than a former SHIELD agent was likely to do. Picking up his bow in one hand and slinging his quiver around his shoulder with the other, he takes a second to glance back at the other two with him as he makes his way to the door. Asya stands, stretches out her back, and takes the few steps towards him without picking up a single thing.
He would say something, if he didn't already know what she could do.
Barton pounds a fist against the door release, and the side of the quinjet lowers into a ramp for them to step off onto the harbor.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Mar 3, 2017 14:37:59 GMT -7
The flight is short and quiet and she wasn't sure if she was glad about that. Mostly because of the fact that the quiet actually left her with her mind going over anything but then they were landing and she was getting up and out of her seat.
She watched as Barton grabbed his stuff and she grabbed what she needed. Mostly two guns, one of them being an ICER. Emily loved the gun that Fitz had made for them on the Bus. Plus if they ever needed to shoot someone then they would wake up in the end of it and not be dead. It was the only way she could really think of it if she was honest.
Emily watched as Asya didn't even pick something up. She raised an eyebrow. Was she really going out on a patrol without anything? Either this girl is completely crazy or there was more to her than Barton or even Nat told her, even if a part of her didn't want to know. There was still a big part of her that was finding it strange that Asya would be walking off the quinjet with nothing. She came to Barton's other side and watched as the ramp lowered, a vision crossed her mind of getting off a quinjet in the South of England but with a very different pilot.
She pulled her lip in between her teeth and was honestly wondering how the hell she had gone from chasing the supernatural to going after humans once more. It was definitely a change from the monsters that they had gone after when she had the team with her, but it felt good to finally be doing something that wasn't shooting at a target on the range.
She walked down the ramp with the other two before glancing over at Barton. "This really isn't going to go smoothly is it?"
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Post by Ray on Mar 3, 2017 15:05:04 GMT -7
The ramp closes behind them, leaving them out in the heavy humidity. This close to the river, the air smells pungent -- like all the worst alleyways and dumpster heaps piled into one watery grave. He used to be able to ignore it. But living in the interior of an underground bunker for months made the smell a whole new ordeal again. Barton cringes a little as he glances around their surrounding area, thinking of the best way to get into the heart of the Bronx from here.
"What makes you say that..." Barton murmurs in reply, the hint of sarcasm in his voice not missed by anyone.
If the world wasn't crazy right now, this mission would be cut and dry. Something best left to SHIELD underlings with too much time on their hands. But nothing lately had gone the way it was supposed to. A string of muggings turns into a vampire nest, a petty thief becomes a crime boss, SHIELD becomes Hydra.
"The file said that the car belonging to our guy shows up around bars this time of night. Probably uses the back rooms to make deals. If we head--"
"North." Asya interjects, nudging her chin in the same direction. Barton looks to her curiously. "The closet exit off the docks and into the neighborhood is through Park Dog Run. There are a few bars just on other side." Barton stares at her for a second, brows arched slightly, wondering how the hell that sort of information decided to file itself away in her brain. She seems to notice, before her ice blue eyes find his and almost looks insulted by the surprise on his face. "If you're dealing guns, you want to stay close to where your supply is probably coming in." She says, sweeping a hand towards the harbor. "Hauling guns all the way into the heart of the Bronx would be stupid. Besides. Park makes good getaway route."
"You are so weird." Barton sighs out, but looks to the north where the park lies, knowing damn well that she's right. He just doesn't want to know how she knows that.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Mar 3, 2017 15:22:26 GMT -7
Emily wrinkles her nose at the smell but she tries her hardest to forget about it and then couldn't help but smirk slightly at the sarcasm in his voice. It felt good to be outside, even if at the moment the smell of the water was something she wasn't used too. Living in DC right up to the fall had actually saved her from smelling any of this. Most of the time she didn't venture into New York City all that much.
Everything really had gone to hell with the fall of SHIELD and with Hydra running the show now. They wanted as much chaos as they could get. SHIELD had kept most things in control but then Hydra came out and now things were like well a war-zone. Barton had started talking and then Asya interjects and she raises her eyebrow at the girl before looking back at Barton. "I like her" she admitted before looking towards the park.
If Emily thought any of this would be easy then she really had been living underneath the ground for too long because nothing was going to be easy again. They were in hiding for a reason and it wasn't for anything fun. If she was honest she would rather be living up here in the world rather down in the base but Hydra had made that completely impossible for any SHIELD agent that wasn't dead to have a normal life. To actually live in the real world. Emily bit on her lip before sighing softly under her breath. "Should we get this over and done with?"
A part of her had wished that she had seen Caesar before leaving just in case it went south.
"Do you think that it will be a successful patrol?" Jemma asked after a while and looked over at Tripp who had grabbed a beer from the fridge and was in the process of opening it before she asked her question.
"It's Emily and Barton, I honestly believe that they will make as successful of a patrol as they can but the world is crazy right now" he was being honest, he had seen things while out in the quinjet that even he wished that he hadn't seen. But Barton and Emily were level-headed and would try their hardest to be as safe as they could. "Have a beer, it might help ease the nerves" he said with a smile before he held the bottle out towards her. She took it from him and he grabbed another one from the fridge. It had been a while since he was able to have a beer.
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Post by Ray on Mar 3, 2017 15:56:37 GMT -7
They make their way to the north exit and through the park, keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings. It's no Central Park, with fountains or sprawling green fields or pathways winding lazily between the foliage. Here, a bare minimum of trees stick out of the ground awkwardly, surrounded by plenty dead patches of grass and scattered litter here and there. In the center of it all sits a large circular mound of dirt surrounded by a fence, where dogs spend the day running in rampant circles. Barton frowns a little as they pass, remembering a similar park between two brownstones in Bed-Stuy. It was shitty, far far shittier than this one -- sometimes literally -- but Lucky had liked it.
Barton shoves that thought aside, and they continue on.
Just as Asya predicted, a couple bars lined the street on the other side. None of them were high-class clubs or hipster dives, but when you needed a drink, they weren't nothing to shake a stick at. Honestly, the perfect kind of environment to make a deal under the table. Maybe he owns Asya a drink. As they stayed hidden in the shadows of the park, Barton scans the road, looking for their vehicle detailed in the one page report from Nat. Sure enough, two blocks down, he spots a grey Saturn sitting with it's front end hanging out of an alleyway.
"All right." He says, voice low, keeping an eye on the target. "I'll hit the rooftop, try to find a back entrance into the bar. Emily, dig through the car and make sure it's ours. And Asya-" He turns his head to look at the two women with him, but his eyes only find one. His brain falters, skipping a beat. "Asya." Barton says again, a little more sternly, looking in the dark for her blonde head. When his head swings back to the bar, it's only then that he catches sight of a familiar figure jogging across the street in the direction of their mark, fingers tugging the tie out of her hair. "Jesus fuckin' Christ." Barton huffs.
She carries herself down the sidewalk, her hands stuffed in the pockets of her black leather jacket, her eyes set on the door to the bar stationed next to the parked car. An annoying voice chirps suddenly in her ear. "Asya. Regroup. Now."
"No." She replies simply.
"This isn't how we do things. You're going to spook him."
"You don't catch a thief by playing cop." She retorts, and yanks the door to the bar open. "You have to make him interested."
It's loud inside, crowded with locals needing a drink with the humidity and the shit cycling on the news. She carefully twirls her hair down around the side of her face, covering the comm plugged against her eardrum. A few eyes turn towards her, taking in her long legs and stark appearance. She ignores them, walking straight for the bar. The tender glances in her direction as he fills two glasses with craft beer, foam spilling into the ice tray.
"Something dark and strong." Asya says, tugging a bill from her pocket and handing it to him between two tattooed fingers.
"Yes, ma'am."
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