Table At Lunch ~ Jonathan/Callie

[Callie Barton]

<sub>”Jeez…” Callie’s face scrunched up lightly as she looked at the ‘food’ that was available in the school cafeteria. Was it actually food? Proper food? Kinda looked like road-kill. Old road-kill. Stank like that too. Placing down her tray, Callie shook her head when offered a huge ladle of some green, goopy stuff and instead just picked herself up a strawberry milkshake from the fridge. It had milk in it, and that was good for your body. Perhaps not the most nutritious lunch but it would just have to do. …She’d be starving for the rest of the day though. Oh, she’d have to get to persuading someone to give her some lunch that they’d brought in themselves. Last time she’d skipped out on the school lunch, her stomach had rumbled half-way through her last class. And though she had laughed it off that time – the noise was pretty funny – she didn’t think it’d be quite as fun this time.

At the end of the line she handed over her money – the exact amount, she was getting pretty good at that – and turned away.

Her eyes quickly scanned the room, looking for either a few of her friends or an empty table. For the most part, Callie sat with different people everyday aside from a few closer friends who would always be there. Today, she didn’t spot any of her close friends just yet though. Callie’s eyes moved about once more just to make sure she hadn’t missed them. But nope. They weren’t there. She did catch the eye of a few of her other friends though and returned their smiles. However, all of them were sitting at already full tables. Little loner Callie for a while. Smiling, not all that bothered yet at the prospect of sitting alone for a short period of time, Callie veered off to a small empty table set apart from all the others.

With a sigh, she flopped down onto a seat and heavily placed her milkshake down as well. Groaning softly, she let her bag slide off her shoulder and onto the floor with a Thud!. ”Stupid school books,” she moaned softly as she rubbed her shoulder that was sore after lugging her bag with it all it’s books all day. Stupid school just in general, really.

Reaching her hand across the table she picked up her milkshake bottle, and unscrewed the lid. The milkshake inside was an unnatural pink color, but what the hey. It tasted pretty darn good. That’s what mattered.</sub>

[Jonathan Fury]

This slop is our food? This was what was going through Jonathan's head as he got the gruelling food that they made high schoolers eat. Luckily, whenever he ate this stuff, he made sure he didn't breathe through his nose, as most of the taste was in the smell. Instead of getting one of the revolting drinks that they were offering, he got a chocolate milkshake. While they weren't entirely healthy, they were delicious and he had a craving for them, due to the fact they were nutritious and delicious. However, the milkshake did not make up for the fact that this lunch was just going to induce intestinal and stomach destruction. Sighing, he payed for his “Lunch” in the exact amount as he got to the front of the line. He payed in exact change because it was simpler that way.

Lifting his tray, Jonathan looked at the food with a grimace. He was just going to gulp it down and make sure that he didn't think about what he was eating or breathe through his nose while he ate. Looking around Jonathan saw that there were not any tables that were free near the doors. This was bad, because if his meta-human power activated, he might not have enough time to get out of the hall before it activated fully, and his duplicate leapt out of him. But, unless that did happen, he didn't need to worry about it. Walking through the cafeteria, he looked for a table. He was treated like a loner because sometimes people did not want to sit with him half of the time.

Looking around, Jonathan spotted a table with only one person at it. Looking at the girl, he noticed who she was. Callie Barton, daughter of Clint Barton and Barbara Morse. She was a part time agent for S.H.I.E.L.D, and he had spoke to her only rarely. However, he had been trying to get to know several other agents in S.H.I.E.L.D. Walking towards the table, Jonathan thought about what he was going to say. They had only met in some meetings and talked at those meetings. As he got to the table, he sat down at it. Unscrewing the lid of his chocolate milkshake he drank some of it and then screwed the lid back on. Looking at Callie, he said “Hello Callie. Nice to see you outside of meetings.” Smiling at her, he said “So, how have things been?” Looking at his food, he stopped breathing through his nose and picked up a bit of mouldy chicken. At least it looked like mouldy chicken. Taking a bit, he quickly swallowed and briefly grimaced.

[Callie Barton]

<sub>Taking another drink of her milkshake, Callie glanced about the huge room. The chattering background noise was as loud as to be expected from a high school – there were a few shouts, some laughs, a scream once, but mainly just people talking to one another. A buzzing backdrop to her lunch.

Placing her milkshake bottle back down on the table, she noticed that someone was headed her way. It took a second for her to place him, and then she smiled brightly at him, ”Jonathan, hey.” Another S.H.I.E.L.D. agenty person. And one her age, there weren’t many like that. But even with their similar ages she hadn’t gotten around to talking to him that much. Which was probably a shame, but here was a change to correct that. It’d also be nice to chat with him outside of their work place, people were usually pretty different in different environments, right?

”It’s good to see you outside as well.” Callie smiled again and then shrugged, ”Can’t say things have been exciting. Interesting at times, I’ve really started getting into work now. …Kinda. S’pretty weird and crazy, huh?”

She glanced at the table and noticed his food. Ugh. Nasty stuff. ”Uhm, are you sure you want to eat that? I mean, it looks disgusting. And smells like… Rotten things. Bad rotten things.” she made a face, then grinned at his milkshake. ”Oh, cheers.” She lifted her milkshake up and took a drink. ”I think the milkshakes are the only things those “cooks” back there can’t have tampered with. Y’know, I really wouldn’t put it past that one big cook at the end to poison us one day. She hates kids.” Callie tilted her head slightly, looking at the cook in question with a small frown. It was strange, the woman did really seem to hate kids. So working in a school was like the worst possible place ever.</sub>

[Jonathan Fury]

Jonathan smiled a bit when Callie gave him a big, bright smile. They barely knew each other, but she seemed to be happy to see another person that she knew at least a bit. She seemed a nice person, and he'd heard some agents say that he cracked jokes at the most inappropriate times. Jonathan could relate to this due to his general suppression of his emotions, which had also caused him to develop a sort of fearlessness, or what some people called it “Suicidal Insanity.” It was only suicidal to them because he showed little indifference to his safety or chance of survival. However, to him it seemed perfectly sane, but that was just to him that it seemed perfectly normal and sane.

Jonathan smiled as Callie said ”It’s good to see you outside as well. Can’t say things have been exciting. Interesting at times, I’ve really started getting into work now. …Kinda. S’pretty weird and crazy, huh?” He nodded and said “Yeah, I know what you mean. I've been working there for eight months, and only recently did I get into a perfect routine. It hasn't been easy.” As he was about to take another bite of the chicken, he thought about everything that Callie said, about the food being rotten. Quickly biting the chicken and gulping it down, he said “I know its disgusting, but you just need to not think about it. And the milkshakes are the only good things they serve.” He then looked to see who the cook was, but he instead saw his ex-girlfriend standing where Callie was looking.

Jonathan's stomach cramps began to begin. The reason for this was because he had loved his ex, but they had broken up because his duplicate had messed everything up. “Excuse me Callie.” Standing up, he grabbed his milkshake and he quickly ran towards the cupboard right across from the cafeteria. He needed to get there in enough time before he duplicated. Opening the cupboard door, he slid in, and he barely closed it as his clone came out of him. Putting his milkshake on cupboard, he said “What are you doing?! I look at my ex, and you come out!” His other smiled and he said “Well, due to the fact it causes a lot of heart ache, that is why I came out.” Sighing, he said “Your the reason me and her broke up!”

[Callie Barton]

Taking the chance, Callie looked over the boy in front of her. Her eyes were pretty good, and she usually managed to pick up on things that others couldn’t see. Even super-powered others. Her observation skills had proven useful time and time again, though of course, she had gotten into trouble for it a few times as well. Last time she’d talked back to higher up agent at S.H.I.E.L.D.. It wasn’t her fault that he had completely missed out some things in his report of a fight. She had merely pointed out his mistakes – albeit in a slightly sarcastic and then funny tone – and Bam!, Steve had had to talk to her. And give her that whole I’m disappointed spiel, but in an older brother sort of way, which hadn’t left her feeling too or guilty about her tone.

Callie took another gulp of her milkshake and nodded, ”Tell me about it. I’ve been around that place practically my whole life and things change so often. It’s hard to get used to. And then there’s that whole feeling of Big Brother spying on you the whole time.” She rolled her eyes. S.H.I.E.L.D. was mega crazy with it’s defences and safety things.

She made another face as he took another bite. ”Uh huh. Right…” she gave a small laugh shaking her head, then looked back at Jonathan just as he was turning his head to look in the direction of the cook she had pointed out. She picked up on a few things straight away. He became paler. One hand shook slightly, but then he got that und control – subconscious behaviour, that was. His eyes dilated too. God, she hated picking up so much. But she had been taught to observe things.

It came as no surprise to her then, when he said excused himself. The only thing she didn’t understand was why. What? Did the cook hear them or something? Was it something she said?

She sighed, running a hand through her hair, and tapping a foot on the ground along to the rhythm of a mix of Led Zepplin songs. Least, it sounded like that to her. Callie took another sip of her milkshake, looking around at other tables again. She caught the eye of a friend of hers named Tara and gave her a bright smile and wave before looking around once more.

But she was a little worried. Why had Jonathan left? And was he alright? The questions kept coming back to her.

[Jonathan Fury]

Jonathan had heard what Callie said about being with S.H.I.E.L.D her entire life, and while he had not been there his entire life, his father had told him stories of S.H.I.E.L.D and trained him in some techniques he had learnt while director of the agency. However, his thoughts had been interrupted as his Emotional Duplication had kicked in. Now, his clone was beginning to annoy him. Rubbing his face, Jonathan said “Look. I'm thrilled I've got a power, but you need to let me have some control.” The reason he said this to his clone was that his clone was like a second mind, more of a conscience when he was not out of Jonathan. And he triggered the power, so that was why Jonathan, as the primary mind, had no controlled, as it was tied to his emotions and essentially his other self.

His other sighed and said “I'd give you the control if I was sure you'd let me out. But, I know you because I am you, apart from some differences. If you had the chance, you;d only let me out when you needed backup in a fight. So, no. You can't have any control.” Shaking his head, Jonathan said to his other “Well, if you hadn't broken me and Caitlin up, I'd be happy and you wouldn't need to come out!” His other chuckled and said “And you don't even care that she cheated....five times!”

Losing his temper, the original Jonathan grabbed his clone, turned him around and pushed him against the door. Snarling, he said “Listen here you jumped up clone! I loved her! I still love her! And YOU ARE THE REASON SHE DUMPED ME!” Jonathan roared these last few words, and everyone in the cafeteria would probably here him. Along with his roaring, he had slammed his clone into the door with each word. However, the clone knew every single fight move Jonathan knew, as they were the same person with some differences. They were like twins.

Head butting his original, the clone said “I only did what needed to be done. She was going to keep cheating on you! Understand damn it!” On some subconscious level, Jonathan did understand all of this. But right now, he was too full of rage to comprehend. Reeling back his fist, he punched his clone in the gut, and then rammed his knee into the clones groin. This brought his twin to the ground. Grabbing his milkshake, Jonathan gulped the rest of it down and said “Sometimes, I hate this stupid power.” His clone said “You loath yourself. And its because you feel Mother didn't approve of your choices to get the power and to join S.H.I.E.L.D.” Jonathan glared at his duplicate, but he said nothing, as he thought that his clone was right.

[Callie Barton]

Callie took another swig of her milkshake, tapping her foot to a song only she could hear. She had no idea what was going on with Jonathan, he had disappeared into the cupboard about five minutes ago now. Part of her was curious and the other part of her really did not want to now. It was pretty weird. Another minute passed and she heard a soft, lilting voice from over to her right. She turned around a bright smile on her face, but she wasn't really feeling that happy. "...Hello Caitlin."

Caitlin. Most people at school had heard of her - not really for the best of reasons, but not many seemed to care about that. Callie for one thing wasn't a fan of Caitlin, and though she never showed much of an interest in the girl, Caitlin seemed to like to come over and annoy Callie every now and then. She watched as Caitlin sat down opposite her and smiled brightly and falsely in her direction, her bright make-up making her glow almost.

Ugh.

"Callie. It's been a while. I haven't seen you in how long?"

"Since yesterday. At school. Y'know this place? Where we both go?"

Caitling waved her comment off, her false smile never wavering. "Oh, yeah. Of course. Look, I was just glancing your way... I was off over their, y'know with my friends, and not..."[/color] She glanced up and down Callie who had now been sitting alone for seven minutes. "Yes. Earlier, and you were talking to Jonathan."

Callie's eyes narrowed slightly, then nodded slowly. "Uhm. Yes... Yes, I was. So good of you to notice and then come over to annoy me. I'm flattered honest."

Caitlin's eyes also narrowed and for a second a hint of annoyance broke through her mask. "Yeah, right. Anyways, I was just...." Then the girl paused, seemingly unsure of what to say, and Callie wasn't about to prompt her to start speaking again.

[Jonathan Fury]

Jonathan leant against a wall and rubbed his face. His clone was really annoying him, and he just wanted to beat him to within an inch of his life. But, then he would technically be beating himself up, and that was just stupid. Looking at his clone, he said “I wish I'd never gotten this power. I wish I'd gotten something better, like wall-crawling powers or a healing factor! But no! I got emotional duplication, which I can't even control!” His clone looked hurt, and tried to talk, but the original Jonathan cut him off. “And, you don't even think you are doing anything bad, so you make situations which don't need to be bad worse!”

Jonathan was trying to calm himself down, but when his clone stood up and said “Powers are cruel. But, you are cruel to yourself. You hate yourself and you just want to impress everyone!” Jonathan lost it, and with the full extent of his strength, kicked his clone straight through the door of the cupboard. The clone came hurtling to just three feet from the cafeteria. He then got up, and quickly ran down a hallway. Running out, Jonathan shouted “BRO, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!” He said bro, because if anyone saw this, which they probably had, they'd think they were just identical twins. Running after the clone, Jonathan cracked both of his knuckles.

Jonathan then noticed what he had saw before he had run off. He had seen Caitlin sitting across from Callie. Maybe she was jealous, or maybe she just wanted to see her ex. Whatever it was, he had taken in his clone's words, and accepted the truth. This would lead to some sort of inner peace, but right now he was too angry to care about that. Running after his clone, he tackled him and punched him in the face. The punch broke his nose, but also did a bit of damage to Jonathan's hand. Wincing, he quickly looked around, made sure no one was here, and forced his clone to merge with him again.

[Callie Barton]

Running a hand through her hair and glanced over at the cupboard in which Jonathan was still holed up. She wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, but surely it couldn’t be a good thing. Of course, she didn’t know how well she was holding up either. Caitlin had started to ramble on about Jonathan – but none of it made any sense, not really. She said that she’d gone out with him. Then something about different views and then… Then a lot of things that had hidden, cruel meanings.

Callie groaned inaudibly. ”Caitlin, I have no idea what you’re going on about. Yes. I was talking to Jonathan. Yes, I will be talking to him again. Probably.”

She really didn’t understand the girl. Caitlin seemed to sometimes talk about Jonathan as though he was her everything and then as though he was nothing but a piece of unwanted and annoying gum on her sneakers. And that just wasn’t cool.

Callie opened her mouth to come up with an extremely witty and cool comeback – probably – when Jonathan was flung out of the cupboard. Callie’s mouth droppe open and then suddenly. ”Holy doubles, Batman, she muttered as Jonathan – another Jonathan appeared out of the cupboard. She just caught what he shouted. Bro? His brother? He had a twin? Weird…

She watched, her mouth still wide open as he ran out the room. Caitlin laughed, brightly, in a mean way – there wasn’t another way to describe it- and her little minions tittered as well. “What a… A freak. What does he think he’s doing?” Caitlin asked, shaking her head lightly, allowing her beautiful hair to properly frame her face. Callie, confused and not having a clue what was going on. She stood up, her hand sliding on the table as she pushed herself up – and said hand happened to knock into her open milkshake bottle over, causing the milkshake to run out and over the table top. A little drop of the milkshake spilled onto Caitlins lap, who didn’t notice quite yet as Callie grabbed up her bag and left. A howl echoed as she swung open the door and left. T’was a pity there wasn’t much milkshake left in the bottle and only a dribble had fallen onto the girl – though that was quite a mean thought… It’s just, Callie didn’t understand Caitlin at all, nor her feelings towards Jonathan. She didn’t really want to, it sounded confusing, and at any rate, she’d rather be Jonathan’s friend that Caitlin’s and… Yeah. Complicated.

Looking about the hall, she tried to spot her lunch buddy.

[Jonathan Fury]

Jonathan hadn't really expected himself to kick his clone through the door of the cupboard, but he had lost his temper to such an extent that he had physically assaulted his clone, which was actually himself. So, he had really just assaulted himself. This cloning is such a pain! I'm still reconciling the fact I am attacking myself in a way! Jonathan, however, had also been stunned to see Caitlin talking to Callie. When he had run after his clone, however, his thoughts had been disrupted. However, a few seconds after re-absorbing his clone, Jonathan felt the thoughts come back and cause more turmoil within his emotions. Groaning, his clone burst out again and said “Listen to me. You can't just suppress everything you hate. Just like you can't suppress your hated of yourself.”

Jonathan groaned and nearly shouted “You don't get it! I suppress these things because I can't, and don't, want to accept them just yet! That way, I can come to grips with things in my own time! But you force me to rush it! And that is why I hate myself! Because its not me I hate! Its YOU!” And with that, Jonathan grabbed his clone by the scruff of the neck. His clone responded by grabbing the original by the scruff of his neck. They both had the same combat experience, but the clone was more of a pacifist. However, he did fight with Jonathan sometimes, like now. They simultaneously reared their heads back, and head butted each other. Both clone and original fell to the ground, groaning in pain due to the simultaneous pain in their heads from the joint attack.

Jonathan got up, and he then saw Callie. Sighing, he said “Hey Callie. Listen, uhm, your confused probably by the appearance of my “brother.”” He had used air quotations because he was about to explain. Lifting his clone up with ease, Jonathan threw his arms backwards, pulling his clone into his body. Looking down at his feet, he said “There was a procedure that they let me take at S.H.I.E.L.D. It gave me a power. But, unlike some powers, I got one which I have no control over. Emotional Duplication. The moment I feel an intense emotion, my clone bursts out of me. He represents every emotion, every thought and everything I have ever suppressed. He's got all my skills. And Callie, you can't tell anyone about this. I trust you, because you are a good friend, and I feel like I can trust you.”

[Callie Barton]

Callie strode down the hallway, throwing her bag strap over her head so that she didn’t have to carry it in her hand anymore. Looking to and fro she turned a corner then spotted Jonathan. Then, she spotted another Jonathan. Callie had seen many, many weird things, but this… It was certainly strange. She blinked, but no, there was still too Jonathan’s.

Neither of them looked too happy. She bit her bottom lip, struggling to come up with something to say – which was unusual for her. But what was there to say? This wasn’t something she usually dealt with. She watched as one of the Jonathan’s stood up, and a few ideas flashed through her mind – because she knew, she knew that he didn’t have a brother. She didn’t know much about the guy but of that she was certain. He could be a skrull, one of them. Or a robot. A vision thing, a hologram. Something like that.

But then the Jonathan standing up started to talk, and Callie had a feeling that she was going to get her – hopefully truthful – answer.

”Nice and short explanation, I like it…” she finally said after he spoke. She cleared her throat, looking over him for a second. ”That’s pretty strange, ya know.” Again, Callie paused then grinned, ”Kinda cool too. And I promise I won’t tell a soul. Your secret is safe with one Callie Barton.”

It was nice that Jonathan seemed to trust her – but given the circumstances there wasn’t much else he could do but put some trust in her. She rubbed the back of her neck, thinking for a second and looking at the ground before glancing up at Jonathan. ”Are you alright, then? You said it only comes out when you have like… like a strong emotion… So what happened? You okay?”

[Jonathan Fury]

Jonathan had always feared his power being discovered and being treated like a freak and an outcast. However, Callie was different to that, as they were both in S.H.I.E.L.D, and she was the son of two heroes, as was he. However, he knew that she might have been freaked out by his power, even if he wasn't a S.H.I.E.L.D agent. However, she was taking this in and handling it quite well. However, while he was showing he was okay, in his mind there was a conflict between his consciousness and the consciousness of his clone. He quickly stopped this however, as it was annoying him and his other was being a brick.

Jonathan smiled as Callie said that she wouldn't tell another soul. “Some of the other agents already know, as do my family, but that is only because the clone showed himself one day. Its a pain that I have no control over it though.” Rubbing the back of his neck, Jonathan's thoughts moved on to Callie's question on why he had cloned and if he was okay. He knew that he could lie, and say that it was just a feeling of sickness due to that rank food they were serving, but he thought it would be a better thing to tell her the truth.

Looking at the floor, Jonathan repressed every feeling he would feel right now and he said “A very simple reason for my cloning. My clone is the reason me and Caitlin broke up.....When I saw her in the cafeteria, I felt a strong feeling of heartbreak, and it caused me to clone. Plus, he was telling me hurtful truths, which is what he is meant to do. That's why I kicked him through the door.”

Trying to force a chuckle, Jonathan continued to clamp down and repress his emotions for the minute. It was something he was adept at doing.

[Callie Barton]

The whole Cafeteria Incident – as Callie would go to call it in her ‘Log’ (which was really a diary she kept, but she didn’t want it to sound girly) – had been strange and odd. But it had resulted in her finding out a little bit more about her teammate and that could only be a good thing. The boy had always seemed to be hiding something to her, and now she knew why. Though thinking about what he had just done…. She hoped that the other students at the school just didn’t care about anything other than their lunches, or hadn’t been paying attention as Jonathan and the Clone Jonathan had ran out of the cafeteria, because there wasn’t really going to be a way to explain what had just happened. ’Oh, yeah, I have a brother who looks exactly likes me and sounds like me and he goes here too but he doesn’t go to classes and you won’t have seen him around and… blah, blah. So. Not. Good.

She scrunched up her nose and made a small face, ”Jeez. Does sound like quite the pain. I’d hate not being in control of such a huge part of my life. Must drive you insane. And… That probably wasn’t the best thing I could have said here, sorry.” There she went. Callie really did have ‘foot in mouth’ syndrome. If there was such a syndrome – if not, she had just invented it and it could be named after her. She blinked and focused in again on Jonathan, hoping the whole shock thing was over now – a rambling Callie was not a fun Callie.

Callie tilted her head and watched him carefully. He was slumped a little now, and completely crest-fallen. And then he told her why he’d cloned. And then Callie stared for a moment. ”Oh.” She blinked and turned back to the empty hallway behind her. So she had just dumped milkshake – not a lot but some onto her new-maybe-friend’s first love. Huh. She rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly, best say it to him now, ”Uh… Yeah. That sucks. But I uhm, I may have just given her a milkshake bath.” Over-statement. But whatever. She looked at Jonathan, her expression softening slightly. Heartbreak? He must really have cared for the girl. Not many people suffered a true heart-break at high school.