Hawkeye
| Jun #6 |
Written by: Scott Chamberlain
Edited by: Van Plexico
|
Manhattan. The Central Park West apartment of one Clinton
Francis Barton, better known to the public as Hawkeye.
Two weeks have passed since he returned from Los Angeles*
after the ill-fated trip to Mephisto's dark realm. The interior of the apartment is dark, the shades drawn. The decor has been ruined. Liquor bottles litter the floor, some of them shattered with arrows lying among the pieces, as if used for target practice. On the sofa lies Our Hero. Passed out and smelling of stale alcohol after a two week binge. He drank to forget, but in the end failed. Which brings us to the present. *At the end of Issue #5-- Scott |
A knocking at the door. Clint turns over in his sleep when hearing it.
The knocking again, followed by a soft voice of a woman. "Clint?"
After a few moments when he does not respond, the knocking comes again, loudly. "Clint Barton, I know you're in there! Open this door!"
Clint's head rose off the couch and his eyes opened, recognizing the voice. He got off the couch and almost fell over again, his head swimming his vision blurred. He waited a minute for it to clear, then went to the door and opened it slightly, leaving the chain latched. "Hello Tasha. What do you want?"
Natasha Romanova* looked back at him with a frown. "I'm not
going to talk to you through a door, Clint. Let me in."
| *AKA the Black Widow-- Scott |
Clint sighed and closed the door momentarily, unlatching it. He leand his head against the door, his head throbbing with pain. "I need a drink..." he whispered to himself, then opened the door. "Come on in, don't mind the mess." He invited Tasha in with a mock sweeping gesture. "My maid hasn't been in this week."
Tasha looked at him with that crooked frown she always gave him when she disapproved. He couldnt help admiring it, even after all these years.
She shook her head at him. He hadn't shaved in probably a month. His eyes had that glazed over look they always had when he was drunk. "Jesus Clint. What are you doing to yourself? You look a like a wreck."
Clint slammed the door shut and walked over to the kitchen, looking for a bottle that still had something in it. "Yeah? What do you care?"
Tasha brushed the junk off a chair and sat. "I care because I'm your friend and believe me, you need a friend right now. I talked to Steve and he told me what happened to you. How you went to find Mockingbird, but she wasnt there. How he tried to talk to you, but you wouldnt answer the door for him."
Clint sighed. "Steve is an interfering jerk. Mr. Captain America has always tried to but in where he's not invited as far as my life is concerned."
"That's not true and you know it! Steve is your best friend, he wants to help. He and I both know how much pain your in right now."
Clint slammed down an empty liquor bottle on the counter in anger. "Why are you so suddenly concerned about my feelings!? You didn't seem to care when Bobbi died! No, you couldnt even be bothered to show up at her funeral! You were Chairperson of the Avengers, Tasha. And you didnt even show up! Then to pour salt on the wound, you disbanded the West Coast team a few weeks later!" Clint shook his head in disgust. "Yeah, I'm real touched by your concern..."
Tasha rose up out her chair, her face livid red. "Look Clint! I made a lot of mistakes as chairperson. I'll be the first to admit my stint was pretty much a disaster, but I'm not here to dredge up old hurts! You and I could do that to each other for hours!" she paused, collecting and calming herself. "look Clint, I'm sorry for what's happened between us in the past, but I'm really here because I care about you." She looked at him and around the apartment. "Look what you're doing to yourself. You're trying to kill yourself by drowning in alcohol. Is that how you really want it?"
Clint shrugged. "I don't much care to be honest. I don't really want to go on living without Bobbi..." he suddenly slumped to the floor and started sobbing. Years of pent up grief poured out of him.
Tasha walked over. She knelt and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I dont believe that's really true, Clint. You've got a lot of living left to do and you've got too many other people who want you alive." She thought a second what to say next, then went on. "Clint, wherever Bobbi is now, don't you think she sees you?"
Clint drew a shuddering breath. He looked at Tasha through tear-moistened eyes. "Yeah... I suppose she does..."
"Well" said Tasha, "Don't you think its tearing her up to see you like this? She is probably as grief-stricken as you are right now."
Clint leaned against Tasha. She put her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "She wants you to live again, Clint. Wherever she is, she wants you to start living again."
Clint nodded. "I want to live again too, Tasha."
Tasha smiled "I'm glad to hear that." She looked around the room. "Of course, the first step to living again is to get this place cleaned up!
The pair shared a brief laugh.
"Thank you, Tasha..." said Clint.
| Interlude We return to the previously visited* South Pacific island that is the new homebase of operations for A.I.M.**
*Last issue-- Scott |
A blonde-haired man fires arrows at targets on a practice range. He has been shooting for over an hour and every shot has been a bullseye.
From off panel come two voices. Discussing the young man and his ability.
"I have to admit, when I first hired you on for this job, I had my doubts... but your student seems to be performing beyond expectations."
"O'course!" said the other. "When ya get me ta do a job, it gets done right. That student O mine is nearly as good as Hawkeye himself. I stake my reputation on't."
"Yes, well" said the first voice "nearly as good is good enough for our purposes. When we unleash him on the world, Hawkeye's rep will take a serious beating. And that is just what I want..."
"I wouldn't mind seeing that myself, ya know." Both laughed.
| Avengers Mansion, the next day. |
Clint smiled. "Thanks for sending Tasha. It really helped." Cap shrugged. "Your my friend Clint. I couldn't stand seeing you like you were."
Clint figited and looked embarrassed. "Yeah, well..." he changed the subject "All right Steve, what gives? Why did I have to throw on the purple, just to come down and see you?"
Cap had a seat. "This is official Avengers business. I thought the costumes would be fitting for the occasion."
"Okay" said Clint "Lay it on me then. What's the scoop?"
"Well..." Cap cleared his throat. "When I was talking to Black Widow about coming to see you, she and I discussed some things. Namely, our decision to fold the West Coast branch. We decided that maybe we made the wrong decision, in retrospect."
"Ha!" Clint folded his arms across his chest. "You bet your star-spangled shield you did, Methuselah!"
"Be fair Clint. We thought at the time we were doing what was best for the Avengers as a whole. Your compound was in a state of shambles. It was serious drain on the Maria Stark fund to keep out fitting a team that was only four members strong, and three of those members were pretty much novice Avengers at that."
"Yeah well, if you had given Wanda a chance, she would have proved what a great Chairperson she was, but you cut her off before she had the chance."
Cap nodded "I know Clint. That's why I wanted you here today. It was a mistake to dissolve the West Coast team. A mistake that I want you to fix."
Clint blinked in confusion. "Me fix? How?"
"By going back to Los Angeles and re-founding the West Coast branch."
Clint held up his hands in a protest. "Now hold on Steve! I'm not ready to go back to full-time Avenging right now!"
"No?" said Cap with a smirk "Well, I suppose I'll have to talk to the USAgent then. He's my back-up idea in case you declined the offer."
Hawkeye's jaw dropped. "USAgent! But...but...but, you cant! I mean Jack is a peach of a guy and all but I don't think even I am ready to see him lead an Avengers team!"
Cap grinned and slapped Hawkeye on the shoulder. "Great! Let me know how soon you can get out to L.A. then. And give me a list of everything you need to re-outfit the compound." He rose to leave. "It's been good seeing you again, Clint."
Hawkeye was completely flustered. He stammered and stuttered as Cap walked out of the meeting room. "Now just you hold on a second, Steve! I am not, I repeat, NOT going to take over the West Coast branch!" Cap kept walking, barely keeping himself from laughing out loud at his old friend. "You hear me Rogers? I'm am not doing it! No way! Now how!
| Two days later, Clint Barton is onboard a flight to Los Angeles, California. |
Clint shakes his head and smiles at himself. "What a sucker I am."
| This story
continues in Avengers West Coast #103, as Hawkeye gathers
the biggest assemblage of Whackos to date! And in Hawkeye #7: If imitation is the highest form of flattery, then what is impersonation? Be here for "Too Many Archers!" |
Send all letters to beezer@webtv.net. Be sure to include "Harangue" in the subject line!
Taking a month off from the lettercol. We'll be beack next month.-- Scott