𝐇𝐀𝐖𝐊𝐄𝐘𝐄

i   think   about   you

you   make   me   nervous

you   feel   like   home

don’t   leave   just   yet

i   missed   you   today

i   want   you   close

you’re   hard   to   ignore

you   matter   to   me

my   heart   knows   you

i   care   too   much

you’re   all   i   want

i   waited   for   you

i   feel   it   too

i’m   drawn   to   you

it’s   always   been   you

i   can’t   stop   looking

i   like   you   more

don’t   make   me   fall

stay   a   little   longer

i’m   not   over   you

you’re   more   than   beautiful

you   feel   like   safety

i   need   you   here

you’ve   ruined   my   plans

i   can’t   unfeel   this

i   like   your   laugh

you   have   my   attention

you're   in   my   dreams

i   noticed   everything   about   you

i   didn’t   mean   to

just   say   the   word

i’d   choose   you   again

you’re   impossible   to   forget

i   want   more   time

i   still   remember   everything

i   can’t   fake   this

you’re   not   just   anyone

i   want   to   try

i   want   you   badly

i   wish   you   knew

i   think   you   know

i   meant   every   word

you’re   more   than   enough

you   make   me   better

i   feel   something   real

you’re   messing   me   up

i’m   not   afraid   anymore

don’t   make   me   say   it

i   love   your   voice

you’re   too   important   now

i’d   ruin   everything   for   you

i’m   trying   not   to

you’re   in   my   blood

don’t   let   go   yet

i   ache   for   you

you   already   know,   right?

i   didn’t   expect   you

you   mean   so   much

this   can’t   be   casual

i   need   to   tell   you

it’s   killing   me   inside

you’re   all   i   see

i   feel   so   alive

i   wanted   you   first

it’s   always   been   this

i’d   wait   for   you

you’re   more   than   temptation

i   keep   choosing   you

i’m   not   good   at   this

please   don’t   walk   away

you   were   worth   waiting

you   make   it   hard

it’s   not   just   physical

i   feel   every   second

i   want   to   stay

i   can’t   do   this

say   something,   anything   please

you   still   have   me

i’m   not   pretending   anymore

this   is   all   real

just   let   me   in

i   feel   everything   now

i   tried   to   hide

you’re   already   in   deep

this   changes   everything,   doesn’t   it?

i’m   terrified   to   lose   you

don’t   make   me   guess

you’re   all   i   crave

i   wasn’t   supposed   to

this   is   more   serious

i   didn’t   expect   this

i’ve   never   felt   this

you’re   messing   me   up

can   you   feel   it?

i   don’t   regret   us

i’m   scared   it’s   real

we’re   not   just   friends

you   feel   like   forever

do   you   feel   it?

@purplearchcr 𝗔𝗦𝗞𝗘𝗗: Plops down in the couch beside him, "Sup, pretty boy"

ᡕᠵデᡁ᠊╾━ ​ ┈⌯⁍𖦏 His eyes are wide and a blush takes his cheeks before he can do anything else. His skin is patchworks. His scars take residence over most of the territory. He was merely reading when she joined him and sent his head spinning like she just tested some new phycological warfare on him. He buries his face in his book.

❝ That's not funny. ❞

𝙆𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙩. Large bag of Hot Cheetos, hand instantly shoving into the bag and popping a few into her mouth. The crunch nearly drowns out his reply. A brow is raised, another few popped in her mouth, ❝ What? 's not a joke. ❞ She continues to chew loudly. ❝ Why would it be? ❞ Kate finally turner to face him, watching him try to hide his face behind his book and she huffs before reaching out, making sure not to use her Cheeto dusted fingers, to push the book down from his face. ❝ You don't think you are? ❞

ᡕᠵデᡁ᠊╾━ ​ ┈⌯⁍𖦏 ❝ 「 I fought my father and had to go into hiding. He nearly killed me. 」 ❞ Hell, Jason nearly killed him and the Joker. Fun and fast times. Still, he was back now and Hood guided her to the back office away from prying eyes of his underlings. He wasn't worried how it looked. Though he knew it would be bad for her reputation to be perceived as colluding with him.

❝ 「 I pay extremely well in comparison to the other crime lords. Also I threatened to kill them if they didn’t join me. 」 ❞ That was the deal. Kick it with Red Hood or be killed like criminal scum. He wasn’t a bad boss either. But he did not care for most of these people.

𝙏𝙤 𝙨𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙩𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙥𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚 would be to put it lightly. She's pretty certain she'd broken a few hands and shot a few limbs in this crowd before. Eyes were fixated on the young archer, she should probably head out now, but leaving Jason's side would probably be the worst decision of the night in a long string of bad decisions.

❝ Oh . . . ❞ her attention flicks back over to him and she stares into the crimson helmet where his eyes lie beneath. ❝ So, a little extortion and threat of bodily harm . . . sounds like a good deal. ❞ Kate presses her lips together and nods her head slowly. ❝ Speaking of bodily harm, I don't really think most of these guys enjoy seeing me here with you and you with me at all. Pretty sure I shot that guy through the wrist a few months back. ❞ Kate uses her thumb to point behind her shoulder.

Take a look around.

OFF CAMPUS

🦻 ᴠᴏʟᴜᴍᴇ: □□□□□□□□   ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢ ɴᴏ ʙᴀᴛᴛᴇʀʏ     —     ❝ I know. ❞  It was a dick move. He doesn't make a joke. He doesn't try to lighten this conversation. The air is heavy, and he lets it be. Let the weight of his mistake hang without making any excuses.

❝ Middle of nowhere. And a few other places in between. ❞ It's been a lot of soul-searching. A few benders. A sober month, then he'd lose his grip and fall again. Not in any actual rehab centers. He went once under Tony's dime, and it helped for a while, but he always seemed to slip when things got hard. Clint did what he always did. He secluded himself somewhere deep without contact. He was in the Canadian Rockies for half a year when he and Bobbi got divorced.

He's back now. ❝ I was wrong, kid. I was wrong, and I'm going to make it right even if it takes years. ❞

❝ 𝙔𝙤𝙪'𝙡𝙡 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙤𝙛𝙛, ❞ Kate doesn't move to unravel herself from his grasp. Only flexes her jaw side to side to keep the emotions at bay. It was certainly a losing battle. She felt that aching throb in the base of her throat. It crinkled the moment she swallowed and her eyes burned right after. She does her very best to keep the tears from falling, but she's only human and that's what made her a Hawkeye.

❝ I'm gonna ask Nat for an implant tracker or something instead. Knock your butt out and stick it somewhere you won't even think to look. ❞ Half a joke, half a threat; couldn't guarantee she would go through with it if given the opportunity.

❝ You got a hell of a lot of work to do to make up for it. ❞ Finally, Kate pulls away from him. Hand cocks back and she launches her fist forward to strike his shoulder. Immature? Definitely. But certainly well deserved.

Maintenance day was overdue, at least he had to miss the last one thanks to the New York needing some saving. It's not the kind of thing that he put off for too long. Equipment needed checking. Weapons, tools, vehicles. Especially anything with chemical components and explosives. That could be life or death or a whole lot of bad injuries if everything he worked with wasn't good anymore or not secure.

Any of his explosives going off too early, without his rigging their impact threshold, if they were too sensitive. Clint always grimaces when someone implies he takes things too lightly, acts as if his equipment wasn't the best thing he's ever taken care of. It's dangerous, he's not foolish, and he's got one handled now.

It's not supposed to be live, but the arrowhead wasn't fitting on properly. So he's got a precision tool in hand, almost alike tweezers as he careful moves the explosive into the correct place for this particular arrowhead design of his.

There's a hesitance to her question, his eyes darts up to her for only a moment. ❝ Uh-oh. ❞ He clips the wiring in the arrowhead to kill the explosive. He was his own definition of busy, yet his attention goes to her nonetheless. Over the years, Clint likes to think he has a pretty good read on his mentee. ❝ Nope, not at all. ❞

𝙏𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙙. Deep breaths. This was bound to happen eventually. She'd spent the better part of the last few days contemplating how to go about this. On other occasions, he'd been around. He'd seen the beginning of things, even violently interrupted her notdate, date, to test her mettle. Considering recent standings, she thinks she should have taken that as a sign for years to come.

Kate moves to stand closer to her mentor, watching him disassemble and reassemble his equipment. What'd he say about the gear again? Always maintenance. The gear is an extension of the archer. Without it and constant practice, you're just a guy with a bow and arrow.

❝ 's not bad, I swear. ❞ Then why did her hands feel so clammy and her heart feel like it was about to fly out of her chest? Is this what it was like for normal girls? Going up to their parents and breaking some news. Baby girl's first dating experience! Dad going to grab the gun, or whatever the heck normal dads did when protective of their daughters.

❝ Well, ❞ Kate slowly squats down to the floor and sits criss-cross applesauce. ❝ It's been a while since the whole engagement ending, right? ❞ Boy, this sounded incredibly cringe-worthy even to her.

❝ So, I've been going out alone a lot more. Doing my own cases, right? Gotta be my own Hawkeye too. ❞ She reaches out and takes one of his arrows in her hand to keep herself busy. ❝ On one of those outings, I ran into someone. ❞ Her eyes flash up, peering through her lashes to look at him briefly and gauge his state of mind.