Kevin & Clint | An Unexpected Job Offer
Jan. 3rd, 2022 02:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xp_hawkeye posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
xp_logsKevin stops by the Chapel to speak with Clint. (backdated to early January)
"This is a piece of shit." Kevin muttered, wandering down through the old chapel and into the basement. As soon as he got down, he saw the spread of Hormel chili cans, jury rigged tech, and a badly out of date cot at the bottom.
"Barton, you down here?" He called out.
"Yeah," Clint said, sliding out from under the table where he'd been making sure his latest addition to the monitoring equipment wasn't going to short anything out or blow up. Then he saw who was coming down the stairs and raised an eyebrow. "Sydney. What can I do for you?"
"Figured you could use a break. Jesus, this thing did a number on this place." His gaze took in the cracked beams, broken stone, and other damage from the bridge manifesting. He dropped a pair of glasses on the table.
"This is better than it was," Clint shrugged. "Structural integrity was questionable for a few days, but turns out the work we had done to prep for eXcal a couple years ago shored things up enough that nothing above is in danger of collapsing, so."
"Can't imagine a wormhole under a couple of tons of rubble is any easier to monitor." Kevin pulled out a bottle from the pocket of his overcoat and poured two glasses of clear liquid before setting it down and slipping off his coat. He passed one to Clint before taking the other.
"Nope," Clint said, shaking his head slowly. He took the glass and offered Kevin a small salute with it, though he didn't drink. "So, just checking up on me and the Einstein-Rosen anomaly for funsies?"
"I did have a big song and dance about threat assessments and the like, but it feels like it would seem forced." Kevin sat down with a smile and tossed off his drink. He refilled it unhurriedly. "I came down to see if you're looking for a job."
Clint settled back in his chair, shifting a little so he could face Kevin head on. "Depends. What kinda job are you offering?"
"I took a look at your file. You came up in the science and tech division for SHIELD and yet opted for field work instead. We could use another field ready operative."
Glancing from Kevin to the glass in his hand, Clint swirled the liquor around the bottom slowly and tipped his head to the side. "I'm not interested in undercover work right now. Infil, exfil, retrieval, observation... basically anything that isn't undercover, actually -- that's all fine. Short or long term?"
"We're not a big enough shop to limit your role, but we're also not a big enough shop to roll out people in deep cover either." Kevin said. "I need people who can work the field, run intel networks, manage assets, and funnel intelligence back for analysis. But that also means doing whatever we need at the time, so it can run the alphabet from acquiring assets to wet work. And it's a full time job. Actually, it's closer to two full time jobs, but I'm told that doesn't help my recruiting pitch."
Gesturing toward the equipment around them, Clint said, "I can do that. But what about this? People here can handle it, as demonstrated when it spit out April Parker. But what if something bigger comes through? Something malicious? We don't know what this thing is capable of and all the monitoring equipment in the world isn't going to help us until we have a better handle on its baseline."
"That I can't help you with. I know you're not the only one in this place with an advanced degree or two." Kevin said, although the machinery meant nothing to him. "If you want to come onboard, we can't work around another priority with how, when, and where we deploy you. If this takes precedence, I get it. You should have a better sense of its threat profile than I do."
"As long as this offer isn't a limited time offer, I can get the monitoring equipment and various defensive precautions in place in a couple weeks and we can revisit it," Clint said. "I just don't want to agree to a contract and then have something here explode that I could've helped prevent."
"I can't imagine there isn't a point that we're going to need people. You can contact Colbert once you have this tightened up and let her know. Although, there is one thing." Kevin finished and refilled yet another glass. "Between now and then, if anything happens that involves the people in the mansion and our kind of work, I need to know that you're not going to try and cowboy off on your own after it. Or try to leverage your relationships with our people into helping you."
Holding the glass at an angle, all the liquid pooled to one side, Clint tapped the edge of the glass against the table and frowned. "You're worried because of how I reacted after Darcy bounced and Collins went AWOL. You don't need to be. I didn't run off half-cocked then and I'm not going to in the future. What I did do was get what information I could from people I knew I could trust. Tasha's got some kind faith in you and that's honestly good enough for me."
"I don't need you to have faith in me, kid. After all, it's Colbert's shop. You need to trust her." He said. "I just needed to know that if something happens, I don't need to doublecheck and make sure there's not other factors getting involved. That said, a situation like that comes up again, call Marie-Ange or I if you want to help. I'm not going to turn away resources so long as we're all on the same page."
"Yeah," Clint said, nodding slowly. "Yeah, we're on the same page. No random variables gettin' thrown in from my side of things." He offered his glass for a clink. "I'll get back to you on the job thing. Or Colbert."
"Perfect. I understand if this takes priority, but if not, we can use you, kid. Even if it's just to torment Lewis and Romanoff."
"This is a piece of shit." Kevin muttered, wandering down through the old chapel and into the basement. As soon as he got down, he saw the spread of Hormel chili cans, jury rigged tech, and a badly out of date cot at the bottom.
"Barton, you down here?" He called out.
"Yeah," Clint said, sliding out from under the table where he'd been making sure his latest addition to the monitoring equipment wasn't going to short anything out or blow up. Then he saw who was coming down the stairs and raised an eyebrow. "Sydney. What can I do for you?"
"Figured you could use a break. Jesus, this thing did a number on this place." His gaze took in the cracked beams, broken stone, and other damage from the bridge manifesting. He dropped a pair of glasses on the table.
"This is better than it was," Clint shrugged. "Structural integrity was questionable for a few days, but turns out the work we had done to prep for eXcal a couple years ago shored things up enough that nothing above is in danger of collapsing, so."
"Can't imagine a wormhole under a couple of tons of rubble is any easier to monitor." Kevin pulled out a bottle from the pocket of his overcoat and poured two glasses of clear liquid before setting it down and slipping off his coat. He passed one to Clint before taking the other.
"Nope," Clint said, shaking his head slowly. He took the glass and offered Kevin a small salute with it, though he didn't drink. "So, just checking up on me and the Einstein-Rosen anomaly for funsies?"
"I did have a big song and dance about threat assessments and the like, but it feels like it would seem forced." Kevin sat down with a smile and tossed off his drink. He refilled it unhurriedly. "I came down to see if you're looking for a job."
Clint settled back in his chair, shifting a little so he could face Kevin head on. "Depends. What kinda job are you offering?"
"I took a look at your file. You came up in the science and tech division for SHIELD and yet opted for field work instead. We could use another field ready operative."
Glancing from Kevin to the glass in his hand, Clint swirled the liquor around the bottom slowly and tipped his head to the side. "I'm not interested in undercover work right now. Infil, exfil, retrieval, observation... basically anything that isn't undercover, actually -- that's all fine. Short or long term?"
"We're not a big enough shop to limit your role, but we're also not a big enough shop to roll out people in deep cover either." Kevin said. "I need people who can work the field, run intel networks, manage assets, and funnel intelligence back for analysis. But that also means doing whatever we need at the time, so it can run the alphabet from acquiring assets to wet work. And it's a full time job. Actually, it's closer to two full time jobs, but I'm told that doesn't help my recruiting pitch."
Gesturing toward the equipment around them, Clint said, "I can do that. But what about this? People here can handle it, as demonstrated when it spit out April Parker. But what if something bigger comes through? Something malicious? We don't know what this thing is capable of and all the monitoring equipment in the world isn't going to help us until we have a better handle on its baseline."
"That I can't help you with. I know you're not the only one in this place with an advanced degree or two." Kevin said, although the machinery meant nothing to him. "If you want to come onboard, we can't work around another priority with how, when, and where we deploy you. If this takes precedence, I get it. You should have a better sense of its threat profile than I do."
"As long as this offer isn't a limited time offer, I can get the monitoring equipment and various defensive precautions in place in a couple weeks and we can revisit it," Clint said. "I just don't want to agree to a contract and then have something here explode that I could've helped prevent."
"I can't imagine there isn't a point that we're going to need people. You can contact Colbert once you have this tightened up and let her know. Although, there is one thing." Kevin finished and refilled yet another glass. "Between now and then, if anything happens that involves the people in the mansion and our kind of work, I need to know that you're not going to try and cowboy off on your own after it. Or try to leverage your relationships with our people into helping you."
Holding the glass at an angle, all the liquid pooled to one side, Clint tapped the edge of the glass against the table and frowned. "You're worried because of how I reacted after Darcy bounced and Collins went AWOL. You don't need to be. I didn't run off half-cocked then and I'm not going to in the future. What I did do was get what information I could from people I knew I could trust. Tasha's got some kind faith in you and that's honestly good enough for me."
"I don't need you to have faith in me, kid. After all, it's Colbert's shop. You need to trust her." He said. "I just needed to know that if something happens, I don't need to doublecheck and make sure there's not other factors getting involved. That said, a situation like that comes up again, call Marie-Ange or I if you want to help. I'm not going to turn away resources so long as we're all on the same page."
"Yeah," Clint said, nodding slowly. "Yeah, we're on the same page. No random variables gettin' thrown in from my side of things." He offered his glass for a clink. "I'll get back to you on the job thing. Or Colbert."
"Perfect. I understand if this takes priority, but if not, we can use you, kid. Even if it's just to torment Lewis and Romanoff."
