An Arrival and a Video

[bowsniper]

(Action Closed to Natasha)
He’s alone. Clint can tell that much from the position he is in on his back. His eyes are closed but he doesn’t hear a thing, not even the tell-tale sign of someone breathing. He’s also outside. Which is weird because the last thing he remembers is falling into an exhausted sleep next to his exhausted wife. Newborns were tough, and he would know he was on his third kid.

He takes a breath and opens his eyes, staring up at the night sky. Only…it’s not the night sky. Not the one he knows, and he’s spent plenty of time on the farm laying on the roof of the house with Laura and with the kids naming and pointing out constellations. He knows the stars and those aren’t them. That’s his first clue that he isn’t at the farm.

The second clue were the hedge walls that surrounded him and the clear paths that lead out from where he lay in the middle of a clearing. What? He sat up and glanced around, if he was being watched then whoever was watching him was very good. This wasn’t the first time he had woken up in an unexpected place, but it was the first time he had no memory of any kind of mission he was on. He looked down at himself…flannel pants and a tank top, exactly what he had worn to bed. So. He was taken from the house.

The thought of Laura and the kids has him standing immediately turning in a slow circle to see if he could catch movement. If they could get him out of the house and out of his bed then they knew about his family and they could have taken them too. It didn’t matter who “they” were, Clint didn’t care. He cared about his family and what had happened to them. They were fine, they had to be, anything else wasn’t an option. He spotted a phone on the ground next to him and scooped it up, not his phone but it seemed to work and get a signal. He pocketed it, if they were stupid enough to leave that laying around then he was going to use it to his advantage. Looking around the noted that there was nothing else to take and he started to move, taking a running leap and climbing to the top of one of the hedges. A maze- as he suspected and in the distance there was a mansion and its grounds, a forest and an ocean?

“Yeah. Definitely not in Kansas anymore, Toto.” He muttered and figured his first step was making his way towards the mansion, the rest he would figure out as he went. So he set off, walking on top of the hedges, keeping his eyes peeled for anything suspicious.
(/action)


[ After he got his room picked out and his mind wrapped around the fact that he was in a pocket dimension they called Wonderland (because fighting an army of robots couldn’t be the craziest thing he ever encountered, not to mention gods and aliens, no, now he had to be kidnapped to a children’s story) he figured maybe it was time to let the others know he was here. If Natasha hadn’t already that is. And he had to do it in of course the most public way possible. Because he was sometimes a jerk like that.

A click of a button and there’s his stupid smirking face on the network.]

So I haven’t seen a white rabbit yet. I gotta say I’m a little disappointed about that. What’s the point if there’s no rabbit with a pocket watch? I hear the cat is here though. What about the caterpillar on LSD?

What about an archery range? You guys have one of those? Or am I going to have to shoot targets from the roof? [ He would do it too, if he got bored.]

Speaking of…hey Stark. Feel like building me a new bow? I seem to have left the old one back home, where I was, before getting kidnapped to a freaky LSD flashback.

Yeah, uh, I heard I might have been here before. Um sorry if I don’t remember you. For those of you who don’t know, the name’s Clint.
[ With that the feed cuts out.]

Comments

[widows_kiss]

It's late and normal people are sleeping, but 'normal' has never worked for her, so she's been taking advantage of the quiet gym and Training Center to work out some of the frustrations that have been building over the last week. The missing memories, the people that know her but are mere strangers to her.

The constant reminder of how this place has taken from her and she doesn't know how to get that part of her back. Or if she even wants it back, but as it was hers, that's not really a debate for her, not for long. She's not one to disregard something just because she doesn't like it.

Destroying one of Tony's targets doesn't cure all her problems but it certainly works as a decent outlet for the time being. Now though, she's headed for the foyer and the stairs, the halls dark and quiet as she slips through on silent feet, absently wiping the sweat from her neck with a hand towel.

She senses the presence before seeing or hearing anything, that tell-tale awareness that she's no longer alone.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you lurking is rude?" she calls out to the shadows and whoever is hidden in them.

[bowsniper]

Clint had made it to the mansion without incident which was actually the most concerning thing. He was waiting for something to happen, someone to come out and stop him but there was no one around.

He'd just pushed the front doors open and was lurking in the shadows when he heard her. He would know Natasha's voice anywhere. He's still a little wary when he steps out, but she knows someone is there, he can't hide forever.

"Natasha?"

[widows_kiss]

The sound of his voice comes as a surprise, because she'd known he wasn't here. Part of her was glad for it, that he was home with his family, keeping an eye on things. To see him here, now...

"Well. They got you too, I see," she drawls slowly, the hand holding her towel lowering slowly to her side as she prowls more fully into the foyer towards him.

[bowsniper]

"Yeah, apparently they did." He eyes her. It looks like Natasha and it sounds like Natasha. She looks too calm though, like she didn't just wake up in a creepy hedge maze but has been here for a while. "Whose they?"

[widows_kiss]

"A white rabbit and the Queen of Hearts, apparently," Natasha drawls mildly, staying where she is and watching him, letting him decide what to make of that - and her - as he will. She recognizes the way he's waiting, watching, and it's what has her relaxing a hint in reassurance that it's really him, suspicions and all.

It's also what has her sauntering forward with a careful alertness. "Welcome to Wonderland, Barton. You've fallen down a rabbit hole. Carson will be glad to see you."

A sentence that might not make sense to anyone else here, but there's a purpose in it - at least for her, as she watches his face and his posture for a reaction to the codeword.

[bowsniper]

Clint snorts in disbelief his suspicion growing after she mentions the white rabbit and the Queen of Hearts. They really don't know who they have if they think he'll believe that. He's tense and in alert as she walks closer, his brain flipping through scenarios until she speaks again. Carson. It has him relaxing, and taking a step towards her. There are only two people in the world who know what that word means and Natasha is one of them.

"Christ, Nat, what the fuck is going on?" She said welcome to Wonderland. "Did I fall asleep watching Alice in Wonderland again with Lila?" Because that's the only thing that makes sense right now.

[widows_kiss]

"I don't know what you were doing, Clint." An honest answer, because they'd been states apart, last she remembered. "Before I arrived here, I was at the new base in upstate New York. Getting ready to start training the new team. You were at home, as far as I was aware. Then I woke up here, and Steve found me. We're definitely not in Kansas anymore. This place is apparently a pocket universe - if you want a more thorough definition of that, you're probably going to want to seek him out. Or Tony. Or Bruce. They're all here." He'll pick up on the relevance of that quickly, she's certain.

"This place is fueled by magic - or technology - that no one caught here completely understands. Or can manipulate, yet. We're apparently caught outside of time - we can be sent back, but it's to the exact moment we left, and with none of our memories of this place."

Another pause as she takes a deep breath. "Steve believes he's been here for about two years, even though we've noticed nothing back home. Apparently I've spent a year here in the past as well."

[bowsniper]

That's...a lot to take in. He listens to her knowing everything she is saying somehow is significant. She explained where she was when she was brought here, there was a reason for that.

"I just laid back down after a two a.m. feeding. Nate isn't sleeping through the night yet." But she would know that probably, he's still an infant. He pauses, the look on his face turning slightly vulnerable once he confirmed that it was Natasha. "Laura and the kids...that's means they are still back home? They haven't been taken?" Because that fear has been eating at him since he woke up.

The rest of what she was saying filtered through his head. If Tony and Bruce both couldn't figure out how to get home...that really didn't bode well. "Steve has been here for two years?"

If anyone else was telling him this he'd think they'd gone crazy, but Natasha...Natasha wouldn't lie to him, not about something like this.

"I think I need to sit down."

[widows_kiss]

"Not that I've seen," she answers him in regards to his family. "This place seems more interested in fighters or people capable of coping with what this place throws at them - not always, there are some exceptions here, I've noticed, but those exceptions are also well looked after too. I haven't seen Laura or any of your kids. Kids get noticed fast here and Laura would have made it known the moment she arrived because she would give hell to whoever was responsible here and you know it."

Her respect and affection for the woman was clear, even as she tries to give him the reassurance he needed. Having a family to worry about getting caught in the same crossfire they faced on a regular basis was a terrifying concept. It was only one of the reasons she'd never allowed herself that.

"My room's upstairs, if you don't mind a bit of a hike first. We can talk privately there. Or there's a coffee shop down the hall. Darcy runs it. Doctor Foster's assistant, you remember her?

[bowsniper]

That's relieving at least. Laura would storm this place demanding her children back, no one would be able to miss her, especially not Natasha. That was one worry off his chest at least.

"I think I'd rather talk in private." He said nodding at her. "Darcy? Yeah, I remember her. How many people does this place have?"

[widows_kiss]

"A lot," she answers as she tips her head towards the stairs to lead him up to her room. "And they don't all come from the same world as you and I. Or... not always the same reality."

Because that's going to have to be a thing you wrap your head around, Clint.

[bowsniper]

Clint falls naturally into step beside her as she starts up the stairs. He raises an eyebrow at her as they walk. "Wait...so you're saying alternate realities?"

Well that's something he wasn't prepared for. "And you're sure this isn't some sort of crazy, elaborate hoax?" Because if she's sure than he's sure, but if she's not...

[widows_kiss]

"Oh, no, I'm not sure of that at all," she replies with a smirk, casting a glance over at him to meet his gaze. "But if it is, no one's figured out who's behind it yet. Other than Wonderland itself. But yeah, there's alternate realities here. Including one of ours, which has a much stranger reality than even we do. Mutants and more aliens and a whole lot more Avengers."

[bowsniper]

The fact that she isn't sure tell him a lot. He meets her gaze, so even if it's a hoax no one knows how to get out. Might as well believe it's Wonderland until they can prove differently. It's a good strategy- probably the only one they could possibly impliment. He guesses he should make himself comfortable here for the foreseeable future then.

"Mutants?" That draws his attention, as does the mention of more Avengers. "More of us? How many more?"

[widows_kiss]

"Lots, from the sound of it. Even the few that are here from that world, that team, can't give me an exact number." She pauses before glancing over at him with a smirk that clearly means trouble.

"I asked a very reliable source."

[bowsniper]

He knows that look. He's seen that smirk on her face enough times to know exactly what he means. He doesn't miss a beat he just gives her a curious look. "What aren't you telling me?" Because there is something that amuses her and will drive him crazy that she knows and he doesn't.

[widows_kiss]

"A lot." A truth, even though he wouldn't like it any. Not that he should have expected anything differently.

She does relent a moment later, however. Even if her answer isn't going to clear things up any more.

"I asked the Black Widow."

[bowsniper]

Of course she's not telling him a lot, she's always not telling him a lot. He's about to counter that when he speaks again, and that gets an eyebrow raise...because, what?

"Either you have suddenly developed a fondness for speaking in third person or you started talking to spiders. Please tell me you haven't started talking to spiders, Nat." Hey, he woke up a few hours ago in some creepy version of a Disney movie, anything is possible at this point.

[widows_kiss]

She just rolls his eyes at the look he gives her.

"It's not in the third person if there's another me." Actually... She pauses to think that over a moment. "I think."

[bowsniper]

"I'm sorry, I'm not sure I heard you correctly. There's another you?" Don't make his brain explode Natasha, he's already woken up on a strange dimensional prison world. "Is there another me?" The question is cautious because what if there were doubles of everyone?

[widows_kiss]

"Not here, not yet," she answers with a casual shrug, as if meeting your doppelganger is an every day occurrence. "But she speaks of one, from her world. So he - you? - exists. From what I've seen, she and I are the only pair here that there are two of."

[bowsniper]

Clint listens to her quietly giving all that time to sink in. "Ok, so there is another Natasha Romanoff from another world here? And back home she knows a Clint Barton?" He's processing this. "Does she look like you? Is she...what's her story?"

[widows_kiss]

"Yes. Almost enough to be twins, actually."

There are a few differences, but she'll let him figure that out for himself, curious about what he'll see.

"Why don't you ask her that? I'm sure she'll make sure to cross your path sooner rather than later."

[bowsniper]

Well that's an almost scary thought. He raises an eyebrow at her. "What do you make of her." If Natasha trusts this other her then he would too, if she's wary he will be wary. He just wants to know what he's inevitably walking in to.

[widows_kiss]

Natasha gives that a moment of thought before shooting him a mildly wicked grin that should probably make him very worried.

"I like her. She's going to like you. This is going to be fun."