#taking aim

There's two parties at work here. Whoever stole that hexcrystal and whoever kidnapled Lux. Both were on that boat. One of them attacked the boat, the other was using it to smuggle shimmer. But none of the shimmer was taken. If anything, it was consumed. Whoever was smuggling the shimmer would be the one to benefit least from the attention of a diplomat missing in Zaun, but would benefit most from a hexcrystal. Especially if I'm correct in assuming it's a chembaron - which I doubt I'm wrong. That brings us to the second party, the one that took Lux. I...

Caitlyn stands up and sighs, crossing her arms.

I don't want to admit it, but just the reports say it was animalistic, whatever attacked the ship. Without seeing, I can't confirm. But if the reports are to be believed... There might be truth to the tales of The Croaking Death. Which...

Prisoner 5 1 6?

"Diary ? Dear Diary ? None of that feels right.

The person I was writing this for came and went. I wanted to be something so bad that I bent every part of my life to that goal. And I did it. Almost. But all that willpower is nothing before the random cruelty of the world.

The Avengers are gone. Clint's gone. AIM has him and I don't know if I'm gonna be able to get him out. I keep thinking the storm will pass and we'll all be a team again. It's a fantasy, and I can't make it real. So I need to let it go.

I'm taking some contract work. Stuff I know Clint would raise an eyebrow at, but...

Don't have much choice now."

HAWKEYE - Message from Kate Bishop to her “Future Self”

"Idiot,

I should've listened to Clint. We needed to be there. When everything went to hell, where were we? Following orders. We watched all those people die in San Francisco from hundreds of miles away. Every one a failure on our shoulders. And it's tearing the Avengers apart. You'd think it would take more than that. More than just basic guilt.

It's been weeks since we heard from any of them. Fury and Hill are all we've got, and this time we're not gonna sit here and do nothing. I don't know where the Avengers are, and they sure as hell don't care to find us. So who needs them?

We'll do it ourselves."

HAWKEYE - Message from Kate Bishop to her “Future Self”

"Hawkeye (II ? Lady Hawkeye ? Ladyhawke ?)

This is it. I did it. We did it. After a final probationary run, I'm going to be an Avenger. I won't blow sunshine up your butt about how hard it was, because you know exactly how damn hard it was. And how hard it's going to keep being. Can’t stop just because I'm in the door. Everyone in the world is going to be watching now. I’ve got to show them every day that I belong here. That I deserve to be here. Because these other dudes can screw up again and again, but I'm not going to get that chance. No one ever said it was fair, but now that I'm in. I’m never letting go.

Eventually, I'll just have to be known for something beyond the bow. Break out of his shadow a little. But that's for later. For now, I can close this book. Because I did it.

Love,

Kate"

HAWKEYE - Message from Kate Bishop to her “Future Self”

"Lady Bullseye,

Sorry I haven't written in the last month, and for giving you a new name, but we've been very very busy. Without powers of my own, my path toward being an Avenger is limited, and I’m gonna have to work a bit harder. For now, I've been focusing on the bow, just as a baseline skill.

There's a club here at school. Sisters of Artemis. OH YEAH, that I sometimes go shoot with. They’re good. Stuck up rich kids, but good shots. I go easy on them. I can split an apple out of the air, and in a year or three I think I'll have it mastered, to Hawkeye’s level at least. But I'm good enough to get his attention now. He's celebrity judging the annual competition. I just have to get in front of him. This is it. Is it ? Well, you’d know.

Love,

Katherine"

HAWKEYE - Message from Kate Bishop to her “Future Self”