notahawkingbird | [post-canon] outside a war is waging

[It's been on of those days.

One of those days where trying to talk to Billy and getting no response or recognition had just gotten too much for him. One of those days where Teddy moping and trying to put on a fake smile for the both of them was just irritating and Tommy just wanted to scream at him to fix his brother. That's Teddy's job, isn't it? Billy's other brothers were getting on his nerves too, and being cooped up in that tiny room, on that tiny camp-bed was just too much tonight, and after he excused himself from the table at dinner, he bolted.

At first, he's not even sure where he's going, and has to stop in the middle of the bustling streets of Manhattan, with people looking at him strangely for just appearing in a suden rush of air. He sneers at them and then stomps down the street, shoving his hands into his pockets, finding his beat up phone. He pauses for a few seconds, looking through his contacts and then his stomach lurches at a familiar name. It takes him a few more seconds before he moves out of the street into an alley so he could clumsily type a message.]

im comin 2 c u b ther in 5

[he debates on whether or not he should just show up without sending it, but seemed to recall that Kate didn't like it when people just turned up. Plus, he's pretty sure she has butlers, and Tommy wasn't in the mood for fighting butlers.

He's there in less than five minutes though, and when he sees the apartments and the doorman he immediately thinks this is a bad idea. Jesus, what if her dad answers? What if she's not even in or anything and he's just showing up to an empty apartment? He didn't know if she was visiting Eli or not, or had a cello ...thing (tournament?) this weekend or was prepping for exams or what. He was so out of the loop with her that it hurt.

The doorman looked at him like he was something that should be shooed away, and Tommy eyed him, getting his phone out again to see if Kate had texted back.]

kate i think ur doorman wants 2 kill me u there or wat??

Edited 2012-09-14 18:55 (UTC)

[ Kate wakes with a start when her phone buzzes soft against her stomach. She sits up, heart thudding a little too hard in her chest, while the rest of her body protests her aborted nap. For a moment she isn't sure why her phone is cradled in her palm. When she finally unlocks the screen, it takes her awhile (three tries, to be exact) to properly absorb the message scrawled there.

Right. Tommy.

Christ. She thought she'd dreamt it.

She sets her phone down, rubbing her hands over her features before she rises to pad towards the Intercom mounted on the wall. The motions are easy: Hi Cindy, I have a friend coming over and I think he's already downstairs. A pause. No, not from school. Ha ha, no, not a suitor, ew Cinds, really you need to stop investing in my nonexistent love life. Some chit-chat. Yeah, hair as white as snow, that's the one. 'kay, thanks sweetie.

She hangs up and sends a response Tommy's way. ]

tell maury you're here to see me and that i told reception to expect you. top floor.

[ She turns then and surveys her schoolwork: half on the coffee table and the rest on the floor and runs her hand, half-resigned through her hair. ]

[It feels like an eternity before his phone buzzes back and the doorman had made some pointed glances his way and Tommy had to pretend like he wasn't loitering. About three separate times he almost just gives up and bolts away, running better than waiting for something that might not even come. He didn't even care where anymore.

So when the phone does eventually buzz, he can't help but smile a little, and went over to the doorman, and smugly told him he was here to see Miss Bishop and slipped past into the building. He took the stairs up to the top floor because he was faster at running up them than waiting in an elevator, and it didn't take him long to reach her apartment. A part of him questions why he's here, what he's actually going to say to her, but he guesses that he'll figure that out when he sees her.

He reaches forward and sort of knocks awkwardly on the fancy looking door, shoving his phone back into his pocket.]

[ She's halfway to the door and trying to align all the papers when the knock sounds against the wood. Rolling the papers in a loose kind of tube, she takes those last few barefoot steps and turns the latches with the swift efficiency of habit and when the door opens, she's framed in it. Possibly looking a little creased around the edges, maybe a little tired or half-awake still dressed in her uniform's pleated skirt and a cotton shirt. ]

Hey.

[ She doesn't expect the hitch in her breath when she greets him. Or the warm sensation of bittersweet relief that spreads outward from the center of her chest. ]

So, what? [ Kate, don't. But she tries. Better to laugh, right? Make jokes and be perfectly fine. It's not like her best friend died or anything like that. ] You just happened to be running--

[ --she meant to say "in the neighborhood".

Poor girl doesn't get that far.

Her jaw clenches and she looks away, blinking back tears. ]

Edited 2012-09-15 17:59 (UTC)

[He's still running over what he's going to even say to her when he does see her, but stupidly his head manages to produce nothing of merit. He kinda wishes that he'd spent longer getting here, going over everything in his head. It had been months since he last saw Kate, and to just drop in on her unexpected like this? He hadn't even thought about what she'd want.

But before he could even make the descion to chicken out and turn tail to run, she's opened the door and he's blinking at her all of a sudden. Absence certainly makes the heart grow fonder, and even though Kate probably wouldn't think she looked great, Tommy thinks she looks perfect.

He on the other hand, doesn't look like he's had a good nights sleep in weeks, and has dark rings under his eyes. His hair is all over the place from running and he's dressed in jeans and a zip up hoodie, his goggles hanging around his neck. He smiles--the first genuine one he's had in a while--at the sight of her, and rubs the back of his head.]

Something like th--... Kate?

[suddenly the mood shifts, and Tommy doesn't bother waiting to be invited into the apartment, stepping straight over the threshhold so he could move his hands up against Kate's arms, frowning. He swallows thickly. Maybe this had been a bad idea? He has no idea how to react to sobbing girls, that usually doesn't happen around him. Hell, he's not good at comforting at all, if his efforts with Billy are anything to go by.]

Wow. That happy to see me huh? [he laughs weakly. God he hated his mouth sometimes.]

[ The sound that escapes her is half-laugh, half-sob, half-frustrated... something and Kate just sort of steps into the space between them so that her cheek finds a resting place on Tommy's shoulder. Because while the speedster can be the most infuriating person in the whole of the universe, he is here and alive and there are no words for her to express just how relieved she is that he is not... gone. Like Cassie.

She makes a move to put her arms around him but they go limp instead. It seems too presumptuous to seek comfort that she's not entirely sure she deserves. ]

You tell anyone about this and I will end you, Shepherd.

[ Softly, she adds ] I missed your idiotic face okay.

[Tommy shifts, moving his arms so they are sort of around her in an awkward hug, unsure of exactly what to do. She obviously wasn't angry he was here, or else she wouldn't be holding him like that. He can't help but smile, pulling her close.

Seems like they had both had better days.]

Your secret's safe with me. Nobody believes anything I say anyway. [He moves his hands so they go along her arms, lifting them so she could wrap them around the small of his back, in a gesture that speaks more than he can articulate. It's okay Kate. It really is.]

It's not that idiotic, is it?

[ It's been a long, long time since she allowed herself the luxury of being held.

Her family isn't the type to do hugs or little gestures of affection, at least, in the way her mother used to before she'd passed away. Her older sister is alright, Kate supposes, but she's no longer around as much as she used to be before her marriage and they were never very close to begin with. As for her father... Kate mentally shakes off the thought and opts instead to lean into Tommy's solidness. ]

You look like a wreck, [ the words are muffled when she murmurs them against his shoulder and she pulls back, still encircled in his arms, to get a second look. ] Have you even slept?

[ Her hand comes up instinctively to brush at the strands of hair that have fallen into his eyes. It's not a gesture she would normally do, but it's been a rough week at school and her peers have seemed nothing but inconsequential and shallow in the light of everything else. ]

[He holds her tightly against him, resting his chin on her shoulder. He's not really one for gestures of affection either. His mother was never really there for him in between the drinking and abuse and his father had his new family to pay attention to rather than deal with a delinquent teenager. And that had always been fine with Tommy. He didn't need them, and they didn't need him.

This is different. Kate is part of his new family, ven if they hadn't seen each other in months. He actually lets himself care about her a great deal, actually lets him risk getting kicked in the guts again by letting her in. And that's saying something. He doesn't even really let Teddy hug him, and they were rapidly becoming close.

He laughs wryly when she pulls away, looking up at her with his panda eyes, giving her a half smile.] Yeah. I mean, not for a few days, but.

[The gesture makes his expression soften, and he looks up at her, trying to figure out what she was thinking.]

What about you?

Some. [ She shrugs, but the gesture is tired, half-hearted. ] Not very well.

[ The words are out before she can think to edit them. It's just that... she's been pretending to be okay in front of everyone at school. At least at home her father kept mostly to himself, so she didn't have to try as hard. It's gotten easier over the last few months, wasn't as bad to keep up appearances as it had been during those first few weeks when news of the death of Cassie Lang, Young Avenger had been a hot topic for the gossip-mongers at school.

That was the tough thing about keeping your identity secret.

When things like the death of a comrade happened, you mourned in silence. Alone. ]

Sorry, um, [ she steps back in a gesture of invitation. ] Come on in. It's only me here. Dad's off on a business trip to London and won't be back until next Wednesday at the earliest.

[Tommy isn't sure if any of them have slept since everything happened. He knows Billy really hasn't, and with Teddy keeping a constant vigil beside him, the idiot hadn't slept much either. They were all exhausted and emotionally frayed, and all having a hard time keeping things together. He had thought that Kate would have been doing better. She had Eli still, and her family. And friends at school, he figured. To see her like this sort of makes him want to kick himself for not coming sooner. He's been going to Canada and Europe and he should have been coming here.

He swallows thickly when she steps away and looks around the room for the first time since he stepped into it, moving into the house more so she could actually close the door. Tommy's never been in Kate's apartment, so he does spend a good few moments looking around the hall, standing a little awkwardly since he wasn't sure where to go.]

Shoulda told me. [he looks back at her and runs a hand through his windswept hair to try and tame it a little.] D'you know how boring it is at house Kaplan?

I'll keep it in mind for next time. [ The smile she offers him doesn't really reach her eyes, but it's something.

She doesn't tell him that she'd been afraid to call. Had been afraid that if she'd have dialed that number she would have been in a cab headed over to where the Kaplan's lived... the same place that Tommy and Teddy lived now.

It had felt like the best idea at the time. Hang up her suit in the far back of her closet between dresses so expensive and so uncomfortable she never wanted to see, much less wear them ever again. Stow her bow and arrows in a safe place, away from prying eyes.

What she hadn't counted on was the way she would automatically tense whenever the news picked up on the activities of the heroes who practically littered New York. Or the way the archery range seemed too constricting. To tame.

No. Calling Tommy would have been a mistake. Just as ignoring Teddy's initial bout of texts had been the better decision all around. ]

Hey, don't just stand there. [ She had no right to be Hawkeye any longer. She wasn't fit enough to lead. ] If you're hungry there's stuff in the fridge. Or we can order pizza or... something. [ She had no right to want back in after she'd said no more. ]

[he smiles weakly, rubbing the back of his neck, following after her.] I did too. [Okay, that doesn't make any sense. Words, Tommy. He hurriedly adds:] Missed you, I mean.

[And now he's not looking at her because that's admitting more than he'd rather, so he goes back to shoving his hands into his pockets and looking at the apartment. If he had known what was going on in her head... Teddy was the only one who knew he'd been getting out of the house, doing stuff on his own. It was different--not the same as working as a team--and though it managed to blow off his steam, he's not sure he likes doing stuff on his own. It's almost sad.

He perks a little at the mention of pizza. Even though he's just had dinner, Tommy's appetite is rarely sated.]

Pizza sounds good. [he moves to stand next to her. And then sudden;y he's not sure what else to say. Like they had been apart for so long that they'd somehow lost touch with how to talk to each other. Well, that was stupid. They might've been through a lot, but they were still the same people, still friends, right?]

How's Eli doing? Teddy said he stopped texting him a couple of weeks ago.

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