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Since Clint had left SHIELD his efforts had at first been aimed at himself, spending some time travelling, enjoying a bit of a vacation. He even bought a '62 Norton motorcycle that ran like a dream. But he couldn't stay unoccupied for long. Eventually he found himself showing up at the ACT-F offices. It didn't take much, apparently a lot of the footwork had been done before he even got there. The interview was brief, and it wasn't too long before he was back at work doing what he did best, running down leads, training operatives, and performing fieldwork.
But, to be fair, he was trying to separate work and home life now a bit. No longer the same long hours, though… to be fair, he'd been tempted. But he'd been good. He'd ditch out of the offices sometimes even while there was a bit of light left in the sky, even at this time of the winter. So it was today. Sure he came in on the weekend, but now he was stepping out of the ACT-F facilities, pausing at a nearby bus stop bench to take some time and light up a cigarette. He leans forwards in the seat, occasionally taking a drag and enjoying the steady snowfall that's casting the area in that gentle sheet of white.
*
Agent Mockingbird, Bobbi Morse, had had a week from hell. Or at the very least, had been in the worst situation a spy could find herself in on more than one occasion. It had only been now, that she dared to venture forward and away from Shield Headquarters. With aliens, Asgardians, and other chaos in her life, she'd been on her toes, and it showed in the shadows around her eyes. She had had little sleep.
So the bus was her transportation to Act-F headquarters, hoping to leave a message for former Agent Barton, and be on her way. The bus slid to a halt and she stepped off, leather jacket clad and blonde hair falling around her shoulders.
Bobbi paused however at the sight that greeted her, the very man that she had been told to track down by Coulson sat smoking on the bench.
Maybe she still had some luck after all.
Bobbi made her way over, winter boots stepping softly over the ice and snow, salt and sand that occupied the sidewalk. "Hey Clint, just the man I wanted to see." She slid onto the bench beside him with a grin.
*
As she stepped down off that bus, his eyes lifted and a half-smirk settled on the corner of his mouth. He shakes his head and ashes his cigarette to the side, as if he just knew she was going to turn up like a bad penny. But then he eyes her sidelong as she takes a seat and he offers her a butt from the open packet beside him.
Whether or not she accepts it from him, he tells her, "Morse. Figured you couldn't get enougha me." But he looks up a bit and adds, "You or Danvers at least." His lip twitches, amused. "Lemme guess, yer coming to throw your resume at the boss lady? Or something else got you all takin' advantage of the city's public transit?"
That said, however, he brushes off the legs of his jeans with the back of his hand, just making sure what snow blows into the bus stop shelter doesn't accumulate too much on him.
*
Bobbi took the offered cigarette, arching a brow as he teased her. She looked, for her part, unimpressed and faint amusement flickered on her lips with a twitch of her lips. "Oh, damn, you're onto me. Clearly." She drawled, snapping her fingers as if she'd been caught.
"But no, actually.. There's.. " She exhaled heavy gust of a breath, blonde hair ruffling in the chilly breeze that swept snow into the bus stop. A glance was spared around the area, and finding it suitably quiet she continued.
"There's a situation, at headquarters. It seems that the Director.. wasn't the Director at all. The whole prison idea was something the real Director didn't want.. And well, Coulson is now Acting Director. He wants to have a chat with you about everything."
*
The only answer she gets for a bit is a furrowing of his brow. That look of puzzlement, however, probably conveys a fair amount in its brief existence. Incredulity, wariness, suspicion, all in the span of a single second. But then he covers for it by taking another drag on his smoke and turning to look the other way.
Another bus rumbles through the sloshy winter traffic, starting to decelerate as it gets ready to pick up the two apparent passengers. But Clint waves the man off so he doesn't waste his time trying to pick up these two vagrants.
He looks back at he finally, one eyebrow cocked suspiciously, but then he murmurs. "He tell you anything else about it?" For a moment he lets that serve, but then he adds, "This a come back in from the cold sort of thing, plea to take the job back, or just gonna pump me for intel and observations?"
*
A pursed of her lips follows as the bus drives up and pauses before it continues on its way, the exhaust swirling in the street behind it along with the gusts of snow. She kept her silence for only a moment, before she choose to speak.
"I don't know what Coulson wants to offer you, or not. But can you tell me that it doesn't sit wrong with you? To know that the Director is pregnant and alone somewhere? That she was captured by something that replaced her and walked around as her for months and none of us noticed enough to catch it?" She arched a brow, folding her arms as she leaned back.
"I'm willing to do anything to get the Director back. I failed my job.." She squared her jaw, staring out at the street.
"I've got a few more details, but I'm not quite willing to share them, Barton till I know whether you feel the same or not."
*
"Shit, Morse." Clint looks down as he tosses his butt aside, crushing it under one foot before he looks back at her, blue eyes meeting her gaze. "Not like I'm not gonna come in. I just wanna know the lay of the land afore I sit down in the guy's office."
With that he gets to his feet, rising slowly and stretching. "You don't need to tell me more. I think I got the picture. The folks m'with of late are sorta dealing with stuff like that so…" He gestures to the side with one hand as if brushing the situation out of the way before he slides it back into the pocket of his jacket. "Kinda makes sense now, but then again… hind sight."
"You guys still in the same place?"
*
A nod, and Bobbi offered a faint grimace. "Sorry, I just.. it's been a long week. Finding out that it wasn't Peggy? Shit. I had to go through her office to try to figure out what the hell happened. And then the realization that these things can be anyone? NATO is compromised, Clint. The Academy.." She dragged a hand through her hair.
"I figured out that they were going after Fitz and Simmons, but only just. Those damned thing nearly got them, if I hadn't asked for Agent Maximoff and Danvers to come down to the lab?" She shook her head. "We've got one on ice, and three on lock down, but shit. Clint, this is way over my head." She blew a cloud of smoke from her lips, leaning back against the bus stop's glass.
"Yeah we're in the same place. Your brother has been a real pain in the ass, but at least he's still around."
*
"Yeah, had a vibe he'd step up." Clint rubs at the bridge of his nose and then points at her, "You tell Coulson I'll be in either tomorrow or the next day, depending on how this one thing works out. If not for some reason check with Sue Storm in there." He gestures with one hand over his shoulder.
He steps out of the shelter of the bus stop into the steady downfall of the snow and walks backwards as he moves away. "Pass word if ya like, but if they push you for more tell em that I didn't look like I wanted my old job back. Happy with what's up, or whatever. Right?"
*
A short exhale follows and Bobbi arches a brow, folding her arms as she watched Clint stand and step out into the weather. "Yeah, sure." She recrossed her legs, boots leaving imprints on the snow beneath her feet.
She flicked the embers of the cigarette off to the side, smoke wafting upwards in the breeze. "I'm not gonna get pushed for more, Coulson has too much on his plate. He'll just be happy that you're coming in at all. Too much is up in the air just now, and there are too many chances that important people have been compromised. These things have been here for a while Clint. Our working theory is at least since World War II, and I haven't found anything to disprove it. Watch your back out there, yeah?"
*
A faint smirk lights his features as he says, "Here, if ya ever suspect I'm not me, just ask me what the name was for Barney's favorite teddy bear." He keeps on backing up then gives her a wave, "Seeya round, Morse."
With that said he turns around and stuffs his hands into the pockets of his jeans, his footsteps even as he casually kicks at some of the snow while he walks. It doesn't take him too long to reach the end of the block and then without further ado he steps around and is gone from view.