"what the fu-", she started but stopped when the dog made a noise. kate looked from her to the poor dog, "food. you want food. uhh, of course, yeah. i'll, uh, i'll get you some food, okay?", kate opened the fridge, the pizza karla had just put in there now being offered to dog. "there you go. go on." she said, standing over the box like a puppet. the dog grabbed the slice and began eating it. kate's eyebrows furrowed, "wow, you really like pizza."
karla put her hands on her hips, "i saved that slice for you." kate looked up, "aw shucks. you ate the other seven?" karla rolled her eyes playfuly, putting her gun into her waistband behind her back, "yeah no shit, i didn't throw them at the pidgeons." kate suddenly grabbed her phone from the counter, "i, uhh, gotta figure out what's wrong with armand." she then grabbed her keys and bag, pointing at the dog.
"do not destroy this apartment.", and then at karla, "and you. where'd you get the damn gun?", she asked, and right as karla opened her mouth to answer, kate shot back, "nevermind, we'll talk later. keep an eye out for him, 'kay?" karla nodded, "aye aye, capt'n" kate headed for the door before slinging her bag over her shoulder, and rushing back to her. karla was kind of taken back by the sheer force of the hug, but she returned it nonetheless.
without another word, kate left the apartment. karla sat on a chair and stared at the dog, and he stared back. she tilted her head, and he followed suit. she switched sides, and so did he. she sighed, sittig down onto the cold floor, and the dog came up and did a sniff test to see if she's a threat or not. after a brief check, he determined that she was, in fact, not a threat, even if she felt his snout move the handle of her gun ever so slightly.
she sighed and leant back against the pillar, the dog sprawling himself over her lap. her hand absentmindedly went down and started petting his head, which he seemed to enjoy as her thoughts started going mach five down the subways of her mind. in the past year and a half, the two have been thinking about the other in a way the other was almost completely obvious. by that, i meant the fact kate reblogged a post on tiktok about... love? that karla found strange, her reblogs were usually utter and complete nonsense.
as her thoughts ran, she heard the intercomm buzz. she got up as the dog followed her, and she pressed the button to speak, "yeah?", she said, having a vauge idea of who might be on the other side, "hey, uhh, open, please?" it was, of course, kate. karla immediatelly knew something was off, because kate would always make a fool of herself at her own expense, she has been saying 'open na noor' for the last year, for god's sake.
she buzzed the door open as the comm fell silent, as she heard footsteps approaching. two sets. one was kate, she knew her walking pattern no matter the shoe, but the other one was unfamilliar. as she heard the keys jiggle, she grabbed the handle and opened the door, being met with kate and- that guy from the pizzeria? there was no way- "oh my god." kate sighed, once again wrapping her arms around karla, who returned the gesture as the man gave her the same look she was giving him.
the man looked around, at the dog and at the apartment as a whole, "some guards you got here." kate broke away from karla as she set her bag down onto the chair, "uhh... he's not my dog." the man looked at her, "yours?" she shook her head, it finally clicked in her head. hawkeye. clinton francis barton. former avenger and shield agent. the man who saved natasha romanoff. the man whose footage she had seen countless times over, she knew his fighting style, preferences and even his wild cards down to the last detail. "i met the dude, what,", she looked at the clock on the wall, "fifteen minutes ago?"
clint nodded, extending his hand, "i'm-" karla interrupted, repeating the same things she had just throught to herself, "clint barton. former shield agent. also former avenger. i know you.", she extended her hand, and clint shot her a look but his gaze softened when he caught a glance at her partialy hidden widow bites, "karla nikolaeva." clint shook her hand before a look of realization crossed his eyes. karla recognized it and slightly panicked, giving him a pointed one back.
clint nodded as karla actually paid attention to what kate had on her. she recognized that suit, from somewhere... the balaclava resting around the base of kate's neck, the golden details too memorable to forget. "kate... where'd you get that?" the bishop gave her a saddened but serious look, and no words needed to be spoken between the two of them. "nice place for a kid." clint remarked, looking around. kate gave him a look, "how do you know it's not hers?" clint shrugged, "dunno. not the vibe."
kate narrowed her eyes slightly, "no, i inherited it." clint was looking at the dog now, still speaking to kate, "what are you, eighteen?" kate put down the jacket, the suit now fully revealed, "i'm twenty-two.", she said, looking at the man. other than the fact she could replicate the man's fighting style perfectly, she knew more about him as a hero because of her, currently wide-eyed, roommate. the man was her hero and karla honestly didn't know how kate didn't freeze up right away.
"same thing," the older archer said, "so, wanna get that vest off so i can get going?" kate shook herself back to reality, "uhhh, yeah. uh, be right there." as she went upstairs and to her room, she mumbled to herself, as karla sighed and crouched down, taking a mag from underneath the kitchen cabinets. clint gave her a look but she shrugged in a way that was so familiar to him that he had to distract himself, so he wouldn't think about her.
"where'd you get the suit?" he asked kate, who was still upstairs, "black market auction.", she responded as clint and karla gave eachother an alarming look. "and... you bought it." clint pointed out but the answer came right after, "meh... not exactly." karla breathed out a sigh of relief, as clint pressed on, "what'd you do in the suit?" she could basically see kate shrugging, "beat some guys up. saved the dog. some light b and e." clint looked away and to the kitchen, where karla was taking a sip of water. she nodded her head and clint nodded back in confusion, "twenty-two year old vigilante...", he muttered to himself, "shouldn't you be in school?"
just then, both of them looked up as kate began coming down. karla shot her a deadpan look as she came down in an all purple tracksuit. "funny that you ask... so, uh, now that i've asnwered all your questions, i have so many for you, uh, starting with... can you sign this?" karla groaned internaly, as clint put down the suit, "i'm not done yet." kate gave him her signature goofy smile, "but when you are, can you sign my bow? you're kind of my favorite avenger."
clint looked at her, "are you okay? by the way?" kate's eyes shot wide, "oh yeah, yeah, i'm totally fine. you should see the other guys." clint nodded a bit, " i did. tracksuit mafia." karla snorted as kate put her thoughts into words, "that's their name? that's a little on the nose, dontcha' think?", kate looked away and back at clint, "do you think they're the ones who killed my mom's fiance's uncle?" clint stepped back, "your mom's fiance's uncle?" as karla put down her glass and came to lean on the table, "eleanor and jack are engaged?" kate shrugged, "apparently." she then looked back at clint, "armand III. of at least seven."
clint was genuinely taken back, "i... i do not know. but what i do need to know is if anybody saw your face?" kate shook her head, "no. kept the mask on like a pro." clint nodded, "good, cause the person that wore this suit made a whole lot of enemies, alright? and the tracksuits are just one of them." kate looked deathly serious for once, "that doesn't sound good." karla tuned out the rest of the interogation as she looked outside the window, aside from the neons of the slice, there was a car, probably pulling up, and after a few seconds, a warmer, almost a fire-like light.
"oh fuck." she said as a molotov came flying through the window. karla jumped down and grabbed the dog as she checked that her remaining mags could not be found by the authorities if she was to return. she jumped on the table, dog still in her arms as she held the dog up, "kate! grab him!" kate got up and grabbed him by his front paws, the other three running for the fire escape. karla sighed and jumped up, grabbing onto the ledge, she managed to pull herself up easily as she grabbed a trenchcoat off the rack and ran for the escape.
YOU ARE READING
violet - kate bishop
Fanfictionkarla nikolaeva had encountered violet many times through her life - violet dresses, violet colored punches served at the parties she attended, violet bruises from when her victims fought back. she never liked the color, but the day she met her - it...
