The Third Widow - part two

Part 13. Questions and answers

"You're bleeding" she stated with a mix of shock and surprise to which I shrugged and quickly put my hand back down my side in the hope that would make them magically forget about it. Before I could reply to her obvious remark, Clint had walked over to me and forcefully grabbed my arm to spare a look at my injury.

I winced a little as he tore off the useless plaster, ripping open the small part of the wound that had started to heal. "Sorry" he mumbled quietly as he inspected the cut before ordering Kate to grab him some supplies. He went to work on cleaning it thoroughly before getting started on stitching the cut up. The final step was wrapping it up with a proper gauze and dressing before he gave me a little pat on the back of my hand to indicate he was done. I silently looked over his work and nodded a little to thank him for his help before he sat down next to me, giving me his 'worried' look.

"I'm glad to see your face again, but what are you doing here" he started off with a serious voice. I took a deep breath for dramatic effect and stared directly back at him.

"I told you, I need your help" I shot back at him. "And it seems like maybe you could use some of mine" I carefully added after while I watched Clint facepalm himself.

"How did you know where I was?" he questioned like he didn't already know the answer.

"I might have followed you when I saw you a few days ago" I shrugged but continued when he continued to silently ask me for more information. "After I watched Kate here, kick some ass in y-... in the Ronin's costume and saw the tracksuits were after her" I answered him honestly, hoping he wouldn't notice my slip up.

A large sigh left his lips while the girl beside me tried to sink away in her chair after the realization that yet another person had seen her face that day. Clint took a moment to order his thoughts before he looked back at me again, more questions clearly on his mind.

"I see, but why do you need my  help?" he asked genuinely curious and suddenly I found the ceiling very interesting.

"Uh, since you guys are dealing with the tracksuits, I was wondering if you had any information on them" I tried with a cautious voice.

"And why would you need information on them" Clint shot back almost immediately. Just the look on my face was enough for him to let out a deep sigh and even go as far as pinch the bridge of his nose like some disappointed parent.

"Listen, it's nothing important, just a job" I hoped to convince him without having to spill too much of the contents of said job. "And I was wondering if you could tell me where Bruce kept his research" I blurted out in one breath.

Again his curious look made me cringe as I knew I'd have to tell him more about the topic and I really wasn't feeling like sharing any stories about the episodes I'd been having for the past eight months. 

"What research?" he questioned dumbfounded which struck a slight nerve inside me.

"Don't be a dick, you know what I'm looking for" I growled back, slightly offended but also too uncomfortable to speak about my struggles in less vague terms. Kate just kept darting between the two of us, feeling a little intrusive but also too curious to step away from the conversation.

"Alright" the archer held up his hands as he noticed the angry look on my face. "I haven't spoken him since... you know. I believe he left everything behind in the compound, but I don't know if any of it survived" he told me in an unsure voice, wanting to show sympathy for my situation but not exactly sure how.

I let his words sink in for a moment and thought back to the last time I had visited that place. A cold shiver ran down my spine at the thought I would have to go back but this was too important to just discard. "Thank you, it's a start at least" I tried to cheer up the man whose mood seemed to have gone down more than my own.