Clint had been sorely tempted to arrive late to this particular party. It would've been so easy. He could've hemmed and hawed a little longer, pretended he'd misremembered the invitation, claimed fashionable lateness... all excuses that were, he knew, too flimsy for the President to take seriously. But it was hard not to at least consider it. Wanda's punishment, especially so soon after her own awful, heart-wrenching Games, was worse than his own, but it was hard not to think in terms of sunk cost. His own public punishment was looming closer every day, and it was so hard not to say fuck it since he knew how bad this was going to be.
But it wasn't as bad as this, he reminded himself. This was worse, and he owed it to Wanda -- to all the Victors, really -- to stick it out just like she was. Given that they were all required to attend, it was something of a punishment for all of them, a display of power, but everyone knew who the real target was here, and it was so unfair that it made Clint sick. The rest of them, at least, had at least a few years of experience dealing with how subtly awful Stane could make Victors' lives, but Wanda had only been here a few months, she was still grieving, she wasn't prepared--
And so, inevitably, Clint had ended up at the bar. He'd tried to avoid it, of course, and he'd done a pretty good job for the first half of the party, but after the speech, one that was so clearly barbed, he absolutely needed a drink. The concoction he received was pretty and sweet, a deep plum color that felt warm on his lips, the kind of thing that was easy to drink too fast.
Fortunately, Scott distracted him, and he grinned, happy for the familiar company. "What can I say, I'm incredibly charming." Clint said, with an air of confidence that made him sound sincere, even though they both knew that the real reason they'd gotten off the hook had more to do with publicity than anything else. "And I stressed that all the fish would be headed to good homes. And they did! So I think it was a win-win for everyone, as far as I'm concerned. The only issue for Geyser will be the possibility of copycat crime. Personally, I'm hoping for it."