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SHIELD is, ideally, a 24 hour operation, 7 days a week. The office staff are busy little beavers, watching newspapers, watching the news, making all those transatlantic phone calls, calling Washington, Los Angeles, and Moscow (thanks to a new phone system installed!). Agents get a little more leeway; while they may be on call 24/7, they're not necessarily cooped up in the office for that amount of time.
A gathering, then, made the decision to head to a little watering hole in order to relax in a pre-weekend night out.
Barney Barton was actually seen haunting the halls of the HQ, his left arm in a very basic sling designed to keep the arm as still as possible, and in the right, a largish case. Sadly, that case had to be left behind.. for this.
The bar. It's music plays in the background, giving something of an abience of relaxation, but with booze. Settled in now, there's a glass of whiskey in front of Barney in the booth, but the three fingers are only really at 2 and a half at this point, and he's taking the drinking slowly. With great forethought…
*
Really it takes a lot to drag Sean out to a bar, or ya know, asking 'Do you want to go to the bar?' seems to do it. So when a group of SHIELD types are gathering to head out, Sean is definitely in.
However since he is drinking with coworkers Sean is really showing restraint by drinking beer instead of whiskey. Thankfully they had agreed on an Irish bar so Sean can at least have a Guiness.
Only a few sips into his beer Sean decides the beginning of the night is the better time if he's actually going to talk to Barney. So he approaches his table and asks "Mind if I sit?"
*
Someone has to make sure that the senior "agents" get home safely. Or at least without falling into the bed of some pretty Russian agent. Ava knows better than most how that works. So when a group of agents headed for the bar? She fell in with the group. Sort of. She's more on the perimeter of it, flitting here and there until everyone's settled with a drink.
Even coming from the office, she still looks more like a vagrant than an agent, coat oversized, pants more loose than the fitted styles that are currently more popular. Sean comes up on one side of Barney and she settles in on the other, waiting for the bartender.
*
Barney looks at his drink, single ice cube sitting in there to chill it down a little, and lifts it, swirls it around, and takes a swallow before he catches the voice off to the side. Odd man out, but that's okay. It's a face that, at the very least, SHIELD is going to have to get used to.
Turning around, brows rise and there's a ghost of a smile that creeps up. Gesturing towards a chair with drink in hand, it *clinks* against the side of the glass, he finishes, "Be my guest." Barney isn't going so far as to buy the man a drink (he's scraping the bottom of the barrel himself. Assets frozen, thanks to SHIELD…
Ava's settling on on the other side of him merits its own expression, though right now, he's tired and fresh out of them. So, Barney makes do with a glass wave followed by a swallow of the amber liquid. The glass is set with a *thunk* onto the bar, and his own introduction, "Figured I'd show once and then not be seen again. Hard to be all secret when everyone knows who you are." Not to mention, the more visible, the more chance there is for other agencies to catch on…
*
Taking a seat with a wry smile, Sean pulls out a chair and sits down. He reaches across the table to shake Barney's hand. "I'm Sean Cassidy." Might as well make a proper introduction now that there isn't a set of bars between them.
Sean smiles at Ava as she takes a seat as well, and makes a small scrunched up face at her appearance. Was she always dressed like that? Did he just not notice before?
*
Ava's smile quirks faintly at Barney's look, but she doesn't reply. Instead, she waits for the bartender, putting in an order for a bottle of coca cola. Only once she has it does she dip her chin, the slightest nod of agreement with Barney's assessment of it all. There's a reason she dresses like that. Government agents wear suits. Street kids aren't government agents.
She takes a sip from the bottle, only then sliding up onto a stool and looking over at the other pair. "How's your nose?"
*
A shower, haircut, and a shave does wonders. A clean suit with loosened tie adds to the respectable look; believe it or not, he dresses like this on a reasonably regular basis. Clear blue eyes watch the man, watches as the hand is extended, and takes another swallow of his drink, sets it down, wipes his hand and then extends it, clasping the other in a single shake before making to retrieve it again. "Irish." He's got Barney's name, but he offers it anyway, out of courtesy, "Barton." Like the other guy. "By the way? Yeah.. that's my crossbow. I'm repossessing it. Damned things are expensive, and accounting hasn't unfrozen my assets yet."
Barney looks to Ava again and brows rise before he chuffs a soft laugh. He's got his arm in a sling; and yeah. "Still broken. If I want it back the way it should be, I'd have to go to the hospital, and I'm not about to start that now." Ribs are sore but healing… it's that shoulder that's the worst.
"If you don't mind, though, I think I'm gonna keep you all and Hilde separate."
*
Nodding to Barton as he introduces himself back. Sean is doing his best to extend an olive branch but he's not exactly warm and friendly. Taking a sip of his beer he smiles and says "Well then ya might want to stop leavin' it in strange chimneys." Sean actually looks less respectable than Barney at this point, but there's a reason for this, promise.
"Yea, I don't t'ink tha's going to be a problem. Most o' the people here still want to kill you as soon as they get a chance." He makes a small motion around "But lucky you, I'm new. I didn' know the guy ye killed… but they were his friends. An' that's not going t'get over that any time soon."
*
"You should go back to the clinic," Ava suggests, pensive. "Look for the blonde receptionist. See how your nose feels after." She'd like to know if it's a one-time thing herself, or if there's actually someone there who can heal. She sets the bottle down, weighing his words. She doesn't seem angry about the dead agent. But she's not terribly friendly either. Then again, maybe that's just her.
"Hilde," she echoes. "The woman who was with you." Of course she checked on the files. Nosy. "She was leaving before everyone showed up. What tipped her that didn't tip you?"
*
"I'm allowed to protect myself," is said flatly. The smile remains, but there's that ice in the blue eyes. "Luckily, I'm not really one of you guys. I keep doing what I'm doing, but this time, I get to collect a regular paycheck while I'm doing it. And should the director be so inclined to use my particular talents, she has it." Just like J Edgar Hoover did years ago. "No stakeouts for me." He snorts another soft laugh and shakes his head, "That was an old FBI place they forgot about. Anyone could take it over and they'd never remember. But, impressive you thought to look there."
Barney looks around and half-shrugs, lifting only the right shoulder, "I don't expect people to be happy because I killed one of their own. But they are gonna have to understand this is a rough business." It's something he fully understands. And now, after a conversation with the paramedic, so does she.
"The clinic, huh?" Barney takes up his drink and has a little more out of it. He's drinking slowly and doesn't seem to be inclined to get hammered. He still has to make his way home, without a tail. "The blonde receptionist. I'll swing by there tomorrow." Which would take brass 'ones' as it is in the same neighborhood as the hit not yet a week ago.
"Hilde, yeah." The one that was leaving. "What tipped her?" Barney shrugs before, "She's got a sense about her when it comes to death. She can tell when something really bad is gonna happen, when someone is gonna die, I think. I don't know. It was the first time she ever really freaked out on me like that." Which is why he listened. "Wasn't anything you did. And I wish we were quicker before Clint shot her."
*
"Yea, 'm sure tellin' them to get over it will go real well. It's probably better ye don' talk lad." He's not trying to be a jerk, but he would prefer to keep Barney from starting something that might end up with more agents hurt. After all Barney appears to be capable of taking down all of the FBI agents sent after him, they don't need any dead SHIELD agents on their hands. "An' try t'use less deadly force on our people if it comes t'tha? Yea? Big boy like ye can probably stop someone without killin' 'em, right?"
He glances over at Ava and the stern eyes and hard lines on his face soften as if he remembers there are other people about. He relaxes and takes a sip of his beer, not going down the path he was starting down.
*
Ava tilts her head at the explanation, mulling it over. Skeptical. It's a good trait for a spy. Good for staying alive. Just like being willing to hear if she made a mistake. "Then yes," she says after a moment. Whether or not she believes what he's said. "It's probably best she not be around people who deal with death on a regular basis." She lifts her bottle again, taking another drink before looking over at Sean with a flicker of a smile. "Evening."
*
"Irish, been around this before. They don't try an' kill me, and I won't kill them. Pretty easy trade. I'll trade punch for punch, but I sure as hell wanna be the one goin' home at night if it comes down to it." Barney offers that same ghosted smile, the sort that simply doesn't finish up at the eyes. "Anyone who doesn't like it is gonna have to put their big boy pants on and deal. I could put it all polite like, or I can tell 'em to suck it up. Either way the message is the same. I'm not the sort to go runnin' to Momma. Mine's been dead for years and it never worked anyway. I take care of my own problems."
Barney sits back in his seat, and looks to Ava before he shrugs again. "She wasn't real happy about bein' lied to. I mean, seriously. I don't kill women and kids. That's just dumb. But for a moment, you had her goin' real good." That's why he's keeping her away. "Besides, business and personal never mix. Ever. She's never been a part of that life, and her only thing for that is she fixes me up when I get hurt." Then pushes him back out the door. "As for the death thing?" Barney shakes his head again, "It's not like that. She has to be in the situation. Like.. sitting here, she'd be fine. If she thought someone in here was gonna die in the next few minutes for some reason, she'd feel that."
*
Sean does let a small smirk cross his face at the part about women and children. Maybe he overplayed his hand, but it worked, it got her on their side, he just shouldn't have left the room to keep the connection. He says "I respect tha' an' we won't ever drag her in, unless you do somethin' stupid."
Looking to Ava he smiles and says "They don' even let ye get a proper drink? Tha's terrible."
Coming back to his earlier topic Sean agrees "Barton, I'm not worried your going to do something stupid. I'm worried they are and tha' ye'll be too damned efficient, tha's all. It's a young agency, full o' people from all over. Many o' them never served and never lost a man." Yea, Sean didn't exactly serve in the military either, but lying just comes so damn easy sometimes when you're trying to make a point. "So, thanks. I appreciate ye not bringing a crossbow t'a boxin' match." Or something like that.
*
"What makes you think I'm old enough to drink?" Ava counters Sean with an arch of her brow and a sly smile. She is. Technically. Probably. She doesn't actually have a birth certificate, so there's not much in the way to prove it.
Her brows furrow a bit at Barney's clarification, though. "It may only be close death that she senses, but I suspect that some of us are more likely to encounter death than the average citizen," she points out.
*
Barney takes his drink and empties it, setting it back on the table with a *thump* to underscore what he's about to say. Leaning forward, his voice is low, "I do something stupid, you try and bring me in. Don't go after women and children who got nothing to do with it. Be a man, use them damned balls for something other than shootin' your mouth off."
It is true, though. SHIELD is a young agency, and Barney appreciates the heads up as to the abilities of a number of agents within the department. Gives him a basic idea of what he can expect. Still, it isn't the FBI, and that's a good thing.
Shaking his head, Barney tries to clarify a little more. "No.. it's like.. if you're about to die. Not if you're gonna go kill someone. The people around her, the ones who are killed passively, the ones who are the victims around her trigger it. As far as I can tell. She doesn't feel a thing when I go out. And I don't tell her what I'm doing, where I'm going. Hell.. I don't even tell her when I'll be back. If it weren't for the fact that she got picked up, my walking in 3 days later wouldn't have been too different than usual."
*
Glancing at Ava and giving her a quirked brow at the of age comment. "Well yer na exactly twelve, have a proper drink if ye want." Sean doesn't know exactly how young she is, but drinking soda at a bar just feels awefully wrong to him.
Sean smirks at Barney as he wonders how using his balls to shoot off his mouth would work. "Alright killer, easy. We c'n threaten t'cut off each others heads and piss down their throats another day." He lifts his glass here "Promise. I'm 'ere t'keep things civil. Who knows we might have t'work t'gether." Pointing to the empty glass, Sean asks "C'n I get ye another?" His first beer down, Sean is tempted to join him, but he'll be good and stick to just beer. Sadly, that's a minor victory for Sean.
*
"No, I know what you're saying," Ava smiles faintly back at Barney. "I'm just saying that we're more likely to die than other people. On account of the people who want to kill us." Grim words for someone so young. Then again, she doesn't seem terribly bothered by them either. Russians.
"I like coke," she shrugs to Sean. "Besides, it's better if I don't…let loose. I'm not sure yet how that would go."
*
"No threats here," Barney replies evenly. "Jus' my studied opinion on the matter." He pushes his glass away, and shakes his head. "Nah.. I still have to walk home. Gotta make sure I'm not being followed." Which is something that Peggy insisted upon as a point of employment. Still, he did it once so far today, and he'll be doing it each and every time. He sees it as a tail giving away tells so that anyone who catches scent of a tail can follow them back. Circuitous, but it does work, after a fashion, and Barney is nothing if not a little paranoid. Sometimes everyone really is after you.
"I'm good, thanks." Beat. "You? I'll put in for another round before I head out. Didn't get much sleep the last few nights, and I'm always up early for stakeouts and stuff." More 'and stuff' because the man does not sit and wait for anything.
Barney glances to his side again, nodding. "Yeah, then she'd know it, but only by a minute, tops. That's not why I keep her around, though. She's a good person. One of those that don't come around often."
So! Not to get too morose, Barney checks with the two. "This place have darts? I'll play you, and my throwing hand is in a sling, so I'm off-hand."
*
Nodding to Barney about the reality of the matter, Sean doesn't doubt it for a second. "Yea, 'n make sure ye send us the new address, so we can send ye a fruit basket 'r somethin'." Oh yes, he checked out the address that Hilde gave them and found not but a scrap left. With that Sean stands and says "Well I'm gonna grab another beer and catch up wit the fellas." He indicates the other agents with a tilt of his head.
"Ava, see me later about that .. " he doesn't want to mention any specific but her control issue that she just alluded to is what he means ".. I might be able t'help. Honestly." After all he's had to teach himself how to not explode all the glass around him just by raising his voice.
*
"I'll play a round," Ava volunteers, dropping down from the stool with her bottle in hand. "I won't wager with you, though." Her smile quirks, wry, before she heads over toward the darts. Not the most talkative thing, but she's certainly willing to engage, even if it's as much to observe as anything else. Although she's got nothing else to say about control issues. Not in public, at least.
*