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The very last person that Eli would expect to knock on the door to his apartment at 2:30 on a Sunday afternoon was Kate Bishop but here she stood, in the flesh.
More unexpected was how she presented herself. Instead of the expensive clothes and the designer bag that he might have seen back when he first met her, she was in a simple white t-shirt and dark blue jeans, black hair loose and spilling onto her shoulders.
“Did poverty strike or something?” he asked, rather than providing an actual greeting. “You’re dressed like a normal person.”
She snorted. “I am a normal person. Your memory is probably just skewed because the last time we saw one another was at a wedding. Of course, I was dressed nicer then.”
“I was thinking further back,” he told her.
“I guess I’ve just been spending too much time around Clint Barton,” she said with a shrug. “I don’t really need all of that fancy stuff anyway. It’s nice sometimes, but not always necessary. You gonna let me in?”
“Should I?” he asked, but moved to let her through the doorway anyway.
If he knew that she was going to show up then he would have cleaned. It wasn’t that his apartment was a disaster , per se. His mom came over far too often for him to not keep it relatively clean. Still, there was something about seeing his old friend and, well, ex-girlfriend, that made him wish that his place was impeccable. On one hand, he didn’t care what she thought. On the other, he kind of wanted to impress her, even after all this time. Perhaps he just wanted to prove that he was thriving, even without being a superhero.
She probably knew that, though. He wasn’t the greatest at keeping in touch with the team but he’d made it out for the wedding and he still spoke to Tommy fairly often, who probably still talked to her.
“This is a nice place,” she told him, eyes glancing about the room.
“I mean, it’s not exactly Avengers Mansion, but it does well enough,” he said with a shrug, leading her toward the living room. “Can I get you anything? Water? Coffee?”
Kate shook her head and took a seat on the couch, motioning for him to do the same. “I need your help with something.”
He sighed and took a seat at the opposite end. “Unless you have questions about voter registration, I’m afraid that I’m not sure that I’ll be much use to you.”
“I’ve been tracking this mad scientist dude all the way from Cali,” she told him. “He’s been building killer robots, pretty basic supervillain stuff. The robots aren’t terrible to fend off, they have some weak points that I can exploit with a good shot to take them down. The problem is the guy himself. He always seems to be a few steps ahead and keeps slipping away. Of course, the more time he goes without getting caught, the stronger the robots get, right, and-”
“I’m sorry,” he said, holding up a hand to interrupt her. “What does any of this have to do with me? If you’ve got a guy that’s a little too fast, you should be calling Shepherd instead. Plus, don’t you have an entire team back in LA?”
“As you just said, they’re all the way back in Los Angeles . And sure, Tommy could get here in a pinch, but speed isn’t even really the problem here,” she replied. “Eli, the guy is in Phoenix. That’s why I need you.”
“So you need me to draw you a map? You know you can pull one up on your phone, right?”
“You know that following directions on a map isn’t as reliable as having someone who actually knows the city by your side,” she reasoned.
“I’ve only been living here a few years.”
“Don’t be humble.”
He sighed. “I would slow you down, Kate. I’m not a hero. Not anymore.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “I just told you not to be humble. You are a hero. Nobody could look at everything you’ve done, including your current job, and say that you aren’t one.”
“Okay,” he said with a nod. “Let me correct my statement. I’m not a superhero . I’m just a guy. The supersoldier blood transfusion worked well enough for the first few months but all the blood coursing through my veins now is my own. No powers and I’m certainly not fucking touching MGH again.”
“I’m not asking you to,” she told him. “I would never ask you to do something like that. I’m just asking for some help.”
“I’d hold you back.”
Kate pinched the bridge of her nose. “Eli, you have to stop thinking that way. I don’t have any powers either, remember?”
“That’s different,” he replied. “You’re very skilled with-”
“It’s not different!” she snapped. “You’re great with hand-to-hand combat and you think really well on your toes. Not to mention that you’re a great leader, even if we all were a bunch of assholes when you were taking point. Look, if you don’t want to help, tell me that. Don’t go spouting shit about how you’re not good enough.”
He thought about it for a moment. On one hand, he had been out of the life for a while and he had no intention of returning to it. On the other, he kind of missed spending time with Kate and it was just one job. Besides, he did know the layout of Phoenix pretty well. She might be right about him being at least somewhat of an asset.
Eli let out a sigh and nodded. “So, Phoenix is a big city for the manufacturing of electrical components. I’m guessing that’s why he’s here.”
She smiled. “Great. Let’s start figuring out which place he might go after for parts.”
He was kind of shocked to find out that the Patriot suit that he had neatly folded in a box at the top of his closet still fit him. Even if he did work out pretty regularly, he’d expected that he’d be swimming in the suit without the muscles that the MGH had enhanced. And sure, it hung a little loose on him, but overall it was still comfortable.
Kate smiled when he stepped out into the living room wearing it. “It’s still a good look on you.”
“Obviously,” he replied, heat rushing to his cheeks. God, he felt like a fucking teenager again.
“Let’s get going,” she told him. “We’re going to have to get to the factory soon if we’re going to catch him. You remember the plan?”
“You handle the robots, I’ll go after the guy,” he repeated. “I remember. I’m not about to try to fight those robots anyway.”
“And you’re the better choice to chase him down since you know the city,” she reminded him. “We’ve got this.”
He couldn’t help but smile, even if he did still feel a little skeptical about getting back into crimefighting, even for just a night. “We sure do. We’ve always been a pretty good team.”
Together, they left his apartment and snuck to his car through the shadows, not wanting him to be recognized in a place where people could put together his identity.
The factory was downtown so, after a bit of navigating through the city, they parked a few blocks away and stealthed their way over. Theoretically, the place should have been empty at this time of night but the faintest of light shining through the windows and the sound of mechanical shifting was a telltale sign that the person that they were looking for was likely inside.
“Stick with me until we have to split off,” Kate whispered to him. “I don’t want you to get caught up with one of those robots alone.”
He nodded and followed her lead, quietly slipping into the building through a smaller door along the side with a lock that she was able to pick.
They crept through the building as quietly as they could toward the back, where shipments of parts were left loaded onto wooden slats to be loaded the following morning. Sure enough, the huge loading dock door was open and robots were loading parts onto a truck as an older man yelled at them, berating them for picking up the wrong parts as if it would cause any emotional response.
Kate pulled three arrows out of her quiver and nocked them simultaneously. “There are ten robots. I can take them no problem. Which way do you think he’s going to run? I can cover you while you chase him down.”
He thought about it for a moment and remembered the fence that they had scaled fairly easily in order to sneak onto the property unnoticed. Something told him that the skinny old man that was having robots load his truck probably wouldn’t be able to climb it with as much ease. Chasing him one way or the other was a fifty-fifty gamble and he would have a head start regardless. If he ran back and met him at the front, he could catch him either way.
“Don’t worry about me,” he said, slapping her on the back. “I’m taking a shortcut.”
“Eli, what does that mean?” she hissed, but he had run back out of earshot before she even finished her question.
He made his way through the building as fast as he could, ignoring the loud commotion behind him as he lept over boxes and dashed through hallways, eventually making it out the front door just as an older man came around the side. He lept at him, taking him to the ground.
“Get off of me,” the man shouted. “This is for the good of everyone, can’t you see? These robots will revolutionize the world and help put criminals in their place.”
“Right,” he snorted. “You’re the only criminal here, man.”
“My robots will be here to rescue me in a moment. You don’t stand a chance,” he shouted.
“I think my friend can handle them,” he said confidently.
“Master, what are your orders,” said a mechanical voice. He looked up to see a red-eyed robot bearing down on him, arm cannon aimed at his head. They hadn’t looked nearly this big from a distance.
“I’d stand down, kid,” the man snickered.
He faltered for a moment before loosening his grip. Eli could help more people by staying alive than he could by taking down one mad scientist that was bound to get caught eventually.
“Now then,” the man said, standing up and brushing himself off. “I think that I’ll be go-”
The red light in the robot’s eyes flickered out and it fell forward, trapping a now-unconscious man under it. An arrow was jammed deep into a crack in the plating on its neck.
“Thanks for holding him off,” Kate panted, rushing toward him. “I was going to yell at you for not clearing this plan with me in advance but clearly your mind was about four steps ahead of me tonight.”
“No problem,” he replied, still a bit shaken. “Thanks for the rescue.”
“I’ll call it in,” she told him. “Meet you at the car in a few.”
He nodded, making his way back to his car parked a few blocks away, the best and the worst kinds of adrenaline still coursing through his veins.
After everything was handled, they sat together in lawn chairs on the rooftop of Eli’s apartment complex, passing a bottle of whiskey back and forth.
“You were great out there tonight,” she told him. “Felt almost like when we were kids again. You know, the world could do with a hero like you on the streets again.”
“I told you, Kate, at the end of the day, I’m just a guy,” he reminded her. “Being a superhero is great and while it had its rough patches, I wouldn’t trade any of that experience for the world. But what I do when I go to work every day? That’s the way I want to change the world. I was willing to step into the suit tonight to help you out or, fuck, maybe it was just to chase a bit of that youthful carelessness I had a few years back but what happened made me realize that I can never put it on again. Sure, we won. Sure, we didn’t get hurt. But I could’ve easily landed myself in the hospital or worse if you didn’t have my back right at the end there. My job is too important to me for me to put my entire life at risk just to be a kid again.”
She sighed but smiled. “Yeah, I know.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You do?”
“I never expected you to go along with any of this,” she admitted. “You have a life here and you do very important work. I’m an asshole for putting that at risk just because I might be chasing a bit of youth myself.”
“But you’re always a superhero. Kate, you lead your own team.”
“A team that probably should have come with me,” she told him. “Except I lunged for the past as soon as things got hard.”
“So you ran,” he said with a nod. “Why?”
She hung her head. “It’s stupid and it might make you mad.”
“It won’t,” he promised her.
“I got in a fight with my boyfriend,” she confessed. “And I ran back to my ex. God, I’m such a fucking-”
“Stop,” he told her. “You’re not the bad person you’re about to make yourself out to be. We’re friends, even if there’s been a bit of a lapse in conversation. What did you two fight about?”
Kate took another swig of whiskey before continuing. “There was a close call on a job and he got worried about me. He suggested I take a break from the action for a bit. Said I was getting reckless and I needed to rely on my teammates more. Classic superhero dilemma, I guess.”
He laughed a bit bitterly. “Yeah, we’ve all pushed a bit too hard on our own before.”
“I’m an idiot,” she said, putting her face in her hands. “I ran away because he cared too much.”
“But you still love him?” he asked.
She nodded, a bit mournfully. “I do. I really do.”
“Then go home, Kate,” he advised. “Tell him that. If he’s a good guy, he’ll be understanding. But listen to him. You aren’t a solo act.”
She nodded and pulled out her phone, pulling up a contact with a photo of her with her arm slung over the shoulder of a smiling black man about their age. She hovered over it for a moment before excusing herself and hitting the call button.
Eli couldn’t help but smile. Sure, he had loved Kate when they were kids and he always would, in one way or the other, but, if there was anything that he’d learned tonight, it was that sometimes the past should remain in the past. Kate was in love with somebody else and that was great. One day he would find someone too, and she probably wouldn’t be a superhero, which was probably for the best.
After a few minutes, she came back looking visibly relieved. “I’m flying back tomorrow morning. I ordered an Uber back to my hotel already. The driver is on their way.”
He walked over to her and hugged her tightly. “Well, I’m happy that I got to catch up with you. Let’s stay in touch this time around. I miss having you as a friend.”
“I do too,” she agreed. “You should come to LA for a visit.”
He snorted. “I don’t think that’s really my scene.”
“We’ll do a New York reunion then,” she proposed. “I don’t think either of us have had much of a chance to visit home in a while.”
“Sounds great,” he agreed. “It’d be good to see the others too.”
She smiled. “Goodbye, Eli Bradley.”
“Goodbye, Kate,” he replied.
When she disappeared back down the stairs, he leaned back in his chair and took another swig of whiskey. This had been a complicated day, that was certain, but it had also been a pretty good one.