Oh come on�you think I�d have an Arrow flying around this place if I didn�t have my bow again?
Category: Blogging

The Location: Bed-Stuy, New York; apartment of Clint Barton

Clint rubs his fingertips across his temples as he falls backward into a chair, then lowers his hands back to his lap, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. His head was throbbing. The past twenty four hours had been a hell of an ordeal and his body was feeling the bumps and bruises of it. He hurt in places he had forgotten existed on his body...especially his head. A thrown bottle upside the head that connects has that affect on a person. At least he had made a friend. A loyal one it appeared from what had happened earlier in the evening. Arrow. That was his name and he had saved Clint's ass in a way that most human's wouldn't have. For that reason, he had a home at Clint's place as long as he needed or wanted it.

He couldn't help but think how funny life can be sometimes. Things that he thought were dead and gone seemed to be popping up all over this new world. Old friends, old habits, people checking in on him, and people causing static. What was he to do? Show his mettle and pull a Pinky and the Brain routine? Get a sidekick again? Pull a yearlong drunk? Hell, maybe even adopt a dog? So many choices were before him, especially while he waited to be rescued and took back to his home world. The question was..did he want that now? The longer he stayed here, the more he called it home.

Sure, he knew he was gone for weeks on end at times but it didn't mean he didn't think of those at home almost every day. He missed them. He missed them in a way that most could never comprehend. It was what it was though and his work kept him away for longer periods of time that he would like. He had to keep going though. Partly for his own sanity but mostly for those that depended on him. Yet, he had found recently that what made him feel like himself was the one thing he was missing in his life. The adventure, the purple suit, his friends and those he looked at at times as closer than his own family. His home away from home.

Clint spoke silently as his mind drifted off to a special place, a hilltop that visited quite often at one time in his life. He thought of something a close friend and confidant once told him.

'How do you live if your ruled by your past but how do you let go of a past that helped mold you?'

It was a question he asked himself over and over for the past few years. There wasn't a definite answer in his mind until the past few days. It was like someone finally pulled his cord and the light bulb came on over his head. He finally understood. Most of all, he 'got it'.

He didn't have to change who his was despite what others thought. He didn't have to be with the in crowd. He didn't have to fall in love to be loved by those that really mattered to him. He didn't have to go out of his way to make someone smile or say hi. Quite honestly, he finally came to the conclusion that he didn't have to give a shit about anyone that didn't deserve his time. Which was hard to come by to begin with.

Slowly, he sit up and made his way to his feet, making his way over to a panel on the wall in his rooftop apartment. For a very long time, he hadn't put on the suit, opting instead to be Clint Barton instead of Hawkeye. With a smile erupting on his face, he pushed a small hidden switch on the wall and watched as a sliding wall panel slid open. Inside hung the purple costume the world knew as Hawkeye, along with all of his bows and specialized arrows. He reached for his bow and took it into the palm of his right hand, gripping it as if his life was renewed.

Once again, he spoke in light voice as Arrow looked over at him and barked happily.

"Oh come on...you think I'd have an Arrow flying around this place if I didn't have my bow again?"