A time to vent, a time to breathe [Open]

[nothawkingbird.livejournal.com]

Kate was back up from the city, her knuckles now abraded and bloodied. Her hands were sore and likewise so from the stick she found. The clockhouse was there, but they were gone. It was over. Still feel like crap, but going down there helped in a big way. Now she was just walking around, some of the earlier weight lifted a little.

Or at least it was easier to hide any vulnerabilities now.

Comments

[pie-bitches.livejournal.com]

Hey, a girl wandering around by herself. Dean's attention, once on the buildings around him, goes to Kate. No, not in a pervy way, in a concerned way. Dean acts like a pig, but really, he's always looking to help the victims. The girl looks like she feels like crap, and Dean can empathize.

"Hey, everything alright?" He asks, falling in step with her.

[nothawkingbird.livejournal.com]

Kate glanced towards him, and paused her steps for a moment.

"Yeah, it's a lot better." She remembered seeing him at the meeting.

"So you're Dean, one of the just-popped, right?"

[pie-bitches.livejournal.com]

"Guess I'm famous." Dean says, giving her a grin. He pauses his steps as well. "Yeah, I'm Dean. I don't know your name, though, sorry."

[nothawkingbird.livejournal.com]

"Got a good memory, and saw you at the meeting," She explained, and then added with a small smile back, "I'm Kate. It's ok, lots of new faces there."

[pie-bitches.livejournal.com]

"Right, right. I was a bit busy at the meeting. Y'know, giant-ass bule horse with a spike tail and all." He jokes. She looks friendly enough, and Dean works well with friendly. "Nice to meet you, then, Kate."

[nothawkingbird.livejournal.com]

"Nice to meet you too. You mean Ax? He's not that weird."

She added, "Then again, I'm used some mutants looking a little like it back home. Some are X-Men."

[pie-bitches.livejournal.com]

"Hey, I've seen my share of weird things. Just never anything like him." Dean explains. "Definitely not like X-Men. Don't have anything like them back home, 'cept for in comic books."

A beat, then: "... You part of the X-Men?"

[nothawkingbird.livejournal.com]

She shook her head, "I'm not a mutant. Just good fighting skills."

Kate then added, "I'm an Avenger. A Young Avenger."

[pie-bitches.livejournal.com]

"Avenger, huh?" Dean says thoughtfully. "Still, that's pretty damn up there, isn't it? The Avengers kick ass."

He grins. "Definitely more kick ass than my title."

[nothawkingbird.livejournal.com]

"Thanks, well we sometimes work with the older Avengers on the bigger events."

Kate smiled brighter, and added, "We do, and what's your title?"

[pie-bitches.livejournal.com]

"Yeah? Bigger events like end of the world, events?"

Dean shrugs. "They just called us Hunters, back home. Boring, but the majority of us are too busy to come up with something better."

[nothawkingbird.livejournal.com]

"Exactly, and Hunters? What are you hunting exactly?"

[pie-bitches.livejournal.com]

"Demons, vampires, ghosts, other things like that. And witches. I hate witches."

[shes-intense.livejournal.com]

Brenda is still getting a sense of the ship. Although she knows where things are she still gets turned around in the halls from time to time which lends her toward a lot of wandering.

She's run into a whole bunch of new and unfamiliar people by now, but running into the one she already knows is a billion times more awkward than introducing herself to various strangers.

The first thing she notices are Kate's ragged fists and she struggles not to point them out.

"Hey. How are you doing?"

The concern in her tone is genuine even if she's obviously nervous about speaking to her again.

[nothawkingbird.livejournal.com]

Kate nodded a greeting to her, "Hey, and better. No more Yeerk. They're all gone."

She had checked.

[shes-intense.livejournal.com]

Brenda's voice and posture all shift into clear relief, tension and worry banished just a little.

"I'm glad. Seems like everybody's finally in the clear of those damn things." She shuffles her feet, trying to bite her tongue, but she's never been one not to say what's on her mind.

She nods to Kate's hands, wishing she had pockets to shove her own into sheepishly.

"You get in a fight or something?"

[nothawkingbird.livejournal.com]

Kate nodded and wryly commented, "Should see the other guy. Or building." She glanced down at her hands.

"It's ok. they'll heal, Had worse than this."

[shes-intense.livejournal.com]

"Building must have pissed you off but good." She smirks just a little at that. "I'm sure they'll be fine, yeah."

There's an awkward silence for a moment, Brenda rubs the back of her neck, then finally just sighs.

"Listen. I'm sorry if I was... insensitive with you earlier when you were fighting off the Yeerk. I didn't mean to get all standoffish when you mentioned Paco. I was really confused and upset at the time and I feel like I kind of turned my back on you."

She's thought about it a lot, and it's bothered her more than a little over the last few days. She's got no idea what awful memories Kate might have had for the Yeerk to bring up, but she's sure whatever they were it would have been better for her not to be ignored by someone right next to her.

[nothawkingbird.livejournal.com]

"It did," Kate sighed, and glanced away. There was still pain, deep set pain hiding under the surface, but she wasn't going to let it out again.

"You didn't know me, and I was distracted at the time. It's cool. Doesn't matter really." A note in her voice almost suggest otherwise, but she won't say so. Some of the worst memories the Yeerk took full advantage to try to break her.

[shes-intense.livejournal.com]

"Still. I feel like we got off on the wrong foot." Brenda holds out a hand, trying to put on a warm smile. "Can we just... try and start over minus brain slugs?"

[nothawkingbird.livejournal.com]

She took her hand, hiding the sting of her sore hands behind a slightly tightened expression.

"Sure, I'm Kate Bishop aka Hawkeye of the Young Avengers."

[shes-intense.livejournal.com]

"Brenda Del Vecchio." She takes it easy with her grip; doesn't want to make anything worse than it already is. "I... guess I'm on Jaime's Beetle Squad or something of the sort. I mostly just have fistfights with aliens on occasion and play sounding board." A pause. "I'm sure your resume is much better."

[nothawkingbird.livejournal.com]

"Right, and it's only because I'm on a team that's like that. It's ok."

[shes-intense.livejournal.com]

Brenda nods, then just lets out a breath. This isn't... comfortable but at least she feels a little less guilty.

"Anyway that's... really all I wanted to say. You're probably on your way somewhere. I won't hold you up. If you need anything though, I'm easy to find."

[nothawkingbird.livejournal.com]

Kate nodded and started to turn.

She then added, "We spoke. Paco and I. Not sure where we're at right now, but we uh talked."