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Kate Bishop wasn't sure how she got where she was. Sure, she had always dreamed of becoming a hero and helping others, but she never once thought that she would be partnered up with THE Hawkeye. She remembered back when he had inadvertently saved her from the Chitauri. It was at that moment that she knew that she could help others and be a hero. Ever since the death of her father, Kate dedicated herself to making herself what some would call a living weapon. She became a master archer, a black belt, and an amazing gymnast.
However, Kate still felt like she wasn't good enough. Of course, she always had this happy-go-lucky attitude and always tried her best to make people smile, but everyone had a breaking point. Kate could feel herself slipping and cracking under the immense pressure she put on herself.
Kate found herself sitting on a roof in Hell's Kitchen. She knew that Daredevil was a bit territorial with Hell's Kitchen, but he made exceptions to close friends. That included her, Hawkeye, and Black Widow. She never could figure out why she favored Hell's Kitchen or why she always found herself coming to the same spot whenever she was feeling down.
"Is it normal for teenagers dressed in a super-suit to chill on the roofs of low-budget apartment buildings?" Kate jumped and jerked her head to the side, looking at Blindspot. He walked over and plopped down next to her, sitting with his legs criss crossed. "What brings you up here, Hawkeye?" Sam used her superhero alias instead of her civilian name, despite almost everyone knowing it.
"Eh, just thinking," Kate shrugged, swinging her legs off the edge of the roof. "What about you, Blindspot? Don't you live near here?" She turned back to look at the dark city skyline.
"Yeah I do," Blindspot confirmed, taking off his mark. "Please, call me Sam, Kate. Besides, what is going on? You're usually very, err, confident and upbeat like nothing can hold you down." He bumped her shoulder. "Come on, you can trust me. I'm only an invisible kid. Think of me as an imaginary friend who talks back."
Kate chuckled and bumped him back. "Please, I'd never be able to talk if that were true. You'd just chatter my ear off instead of the other way around." She huffed and stretched her arms. "I'm fine, Sam, really. Just dealing with a lot of pressure."
"Pressure like a tick tick tick 'til it's ready to blow, whoa?" Sam sang, smirking at Kate, who promptly slapped the back of his head. "Ow!" he yelped. "That really hurt. I was just speaking the truth."
"Listen, as much as Encanto is extremely relatable, it's not like that." Sam gave Kate a look of disbelief. She sighed. "Fine, yeah, it's exactly like that."
"I HEARD ENCANTO!" Amy yelled, jumping on the roof from the adjacent rooftop. She laughed as both teenagers shrieked and spun around, nearly falling over the edge.
"Who are you?" Kate yelled, grabbed her bow.
"Amy?" Sam raised an eyebrow. "Why are you here? Also, Kate, meet Amy. Amy, Kate." He introduced the two women to each other. "Kate, Amy isn't a threat. She's like us. She works with Frank."
"She works for the Punisher!?"
"With, I work with him," Amy corrected Kate, sitting down across from them. "So."
"That doesn't make it better." Kate warily eyed Amy as Sam sat down. She sat next to Sam. "I was going through a depressing moment when this idiot sang the most relatable song from that masterpiece."
"So, to answer your question, Sam." Amy put extra emphasis on Sam's name. "I live here. Top floor." She rolled her eyes. "The only reason I told you was that Frank trusts you because Daredevil trusts you." She eyed Kate. "Aren't you Hawkeye? Well, one of the Hawkeyes."
"Yeah," Kate nodded. "What's your alias?" She hugged her knees, keeping an eye on Amy, but also glancing at Sam.
"I haven't thought that far ahead," Amy shrugged, picking at the pebbles on the roof.
"Eris." Sam grinned at Amy. "She’s the Greek goddess of chaos. You are the embodiment of it," he explained after seeing the confusion on her face. "Even if you give off Hermes' kid energy.”
"You don't even know me," Amy pointed out. "We met three weeks ago, Samuel." She rolled her eyes and thought about the name and seemed to consider it. "However, that is true." She fidgeted with her gauntlets.
"What do those do?" Kate wondered, eyes widened. "They look high-tech. You make them?" The gauntlets were black with a silver glow.
"Oh, umm, yeah?" Before anyone else could speak, a loud explosion followed by screaming erupted. The blast of the explosion threw the three teenagers airborne and they plummeted to the ground. Smoke filled the air as the buildings surrounding them caught fire. Screams echoed through the alleys, both young and old.
“We should go investigate.” Blindspot jumped into action, quickly followed by Kate and Amy. The three heroes raced across roofs and down fire escapes until they reached the burning building. The fire fighters had arrived along with the police.
“Why would someone blow up an apartment building!?” Blindspot shrieked. His eyes widened. “Oh shit, this is my apartment building! My stuff!”
“Damn it,” Amy grunted, the scanners in her mask short circuiting due to the smoke and heat. “Blindy, did anyone know you lived here?” she asked in a hushed tone.
“No!” Blindspot frantically shook his head. “But, I have been investigating some of my sketchy neighbors. I had suspicions they were building some kind of weapon. It must have malfunctioned.”
“Or someone is using this as a diversion,” Kate observed. “Think about it. It would make the most logical sense. If I were making a weapon that could kill people and I was caught, I’d destroy the evidence.”
“Shit, Mahoney is here,” Blindspot grimaced, and ushered the other two away before the detective could see them. The three heroes stayed back from the fire and authorities, choosing to observe from the alleyway.
“He’s not that bad,” Amy shrugged. “Anyway,” she snapped her fingers, “back to business. Sam, are you positive these neighbors were building a weapon of mass destruction?”
“Yes,” he firmly nodded. “I may have broken in and did some digging around. I found the plans and took pictures but those pictures were in my apartment.” He looked back at the burning ruins. “I remember they had circled the harbors in Hell’s Kitchen in red ink. So, maybe, we can find out more there.”
“Well,” Kate smirked, slinging her bow over her shoulder. “What are we waiting for? We have a weapon to find.”
Amy and Sam grinned and followed Kate on the long journey to the harbors. Along the way, they fought thugs, left notes for the police, and kept a look out for their mentors, who didn’t know they were out. Each one of them would have flipped out if they knew the teenangers went on a mission without adult back-up. The harbors were pretty quiet, yet the three young heroes slipped through the shadows and found a group of HYDRA agents loading glowing weapons into crates and into a shipping pod.
“Shit,” Kate swore, narrowing her eyes. “Those weapons look like they’ve been created using either the Tesseract or the mind stone from Loki’s scepter.” She gripped her bow tighter. “If that’s the case, things are about to get even worse.”
“Should we wait for backup?” Sam whispered, going invisible. “No,” Amy responded with an elbow to Sam’s side. “We would get in serious trouble, and it would take too long. We handle this ourselves. Hawk, you go left. Blindpsot, you go right. I’ll go straight ahead. Let’s take these assholes down.”
The trio rushed into action. Kate shot tranquilizer arrows at the agents on the left. Sam used his bo-staff to trip and knock out the agents on the left. Amy rushed forward, electrocuting an agent with her gauntlets. The HYDRA agents retaliated. Amy grunted as she was kicked back. She dodged another kick, grabbing the agent’s leg. Electricity ran through his body. She rolled to the side, shooting energy blasts at two more agents. They fell with cut off screams. Kate slammed her bow into the face of another agent, roundhouse kicking another, and punching one in the jaw. Sam swept through the remaining agents. He knocked each one out with precise kicks and punches.
“Now, what do we have here?” Amy giggled, looking into the crates while Sam examined the sides. “Definitely Tesseract and Mind stone weapons. I’ll leave a note for the police to call up the Avengers.”
“What do you have there, Blindspot?” Kate asked Sam.
“A location in Croatia. Looks like HYDRA may have a base set up there if these crates are being sent there.” Sam took a picture of it and sent it to Kate, who anonymously sent it to the Avengers HQ. “Eris, I think it’s time to go. Give the police the tip and let’s go back…” He trailed off. “Right, home burned down,” he mumbled.
“Hey, don’t worry,” Kate smiled, patting his shoulder. “You can stay with me if you want. Or maybe Peter can accommodate you.”
“Maybe,” Sam sighed dejectedly.
“Nah, you can stay with me. I only lived a few blocks away,” Amy smirked, walking over an unconscious body. “Besides, we should head back. Come on.”
Kate and Sam shared a smile before chasing after Amy. Sure, Kate was raised to be a weapon, but maybe she could change that. Over the next few hours, she laughed with her friends, played games, and ate Chinese food. Yeah, she would be able to change and live her life to the fullest. After all, she was Kate Bishop, and she never backed down from a challenge.