Her Hidden Past

- Chapter Eighteen -

All eyes quickly moved to Natasha and Clint as they moved to the centre of the sparring mats. Natasha blocked out the other agents focusing solely on Clint as they began to circle casually on the mat. Clint moved forward and threw a punch at her stomach, starting the sparring match. She blocked him and just as quickly threw several punches back at him. He danced to the side letting them fly past him. She stepped forward following through, giving Clint the chance to attempt to trip her. She foiled the attempt, jumping over his leg and pivoting in the air to throw a kick towards his chest. They traded several more punches and kicks, neither of them landing any blows as the other managed to block or evade each attempt. Finally, Clint managed to get close enough to hook her leg out from under her. She threw her weight to the side, managing to roll into a handspring and flip back to her feet. They circled again, this time Natasha was the one to lead the attack. Feinting high, she swept his legs out from under him as he moved to block the feint. He swept a leg out knocking her to the ground, hesitating slightly before moving to pin her as she fell. She pulled up her legs pushing on his chest so he couldn't get close enough to trap her. Pushing harder she sent him rolling away from her. She was quickly on her feet again, Clint made it to his feet as well throwing another punch towards her. Natasha grabbed his fist, pulling down hard as she stepped sideways so the blow flew past her. He stepped forward unbalanced by the move. Using his momentum against him she flipped him over her shoulder and knelt to pin his arms with her knees. He tapped out when she placed an arm across his neck.

"Want to go again?" She asked, a little disappointed that he'd given in so easily.

"Nah," Clint sighed as she let him go.

"You could have had me earlier if you hadn't hesitated," She rebuked him, offering him a hand up.

"Not even close," Clint shook his head, refusing her attempt to make him look better. Natasha glanced around the room, as they left the mats noting each of the other agents' reactions. Ward looked disdainful, obviously expecting more. May had her usual impassive, unreadable expression while the younger agents looked on in awe.

"Good match you two," Coulson nodded to them both. "Nice to see you haven't been slacking."

"Hill took over as our handler after- She tried to replace you," He muttered. "She couldn't."

"She handled our training and most missions except when Fury took over." Natasha told Coulson softly.

"It didn't last long," Clint smirked. "They had to let us train ourselves after we managed to drive her off."

"Why am I not surprised?" Coulson almost rolled his eyes.

"She wanted to change the way we trained," Natasha explained. "She wanted us to do more drills, academy style. We told her no, we like our way of training and I strongly suggested she leave us to it. When she wouldn't agree, I put her on the floor several times. She backed off after that, she even joined our training sessions a few times to see what she could learn, on Fury's suggestion of course."

"You two never did take the easy route," Coulson sighed. "Who's up next?"

"Hey, we take the easy route when it's the best route," Clint shook his head. "Ladies first?"

"Agent May, Agent Romanoff?" Coulson asked, waving them onto the mats when they both nodded. The two women stepped forward to the middle of the mats. They circled for a few moments before Natasha went on the attack, assessing what May would do. May swayed sideways allowing the punch to fly past her. Natasha was ready for it and kept her centre of gravity back so she wouldn't lose her balance. May brought the next attack, which Natasha made sure to block. They kept moving, trading blows, blocking most of each other's attacks. May eventually threw a high kick towards Natasha's shoulder. Natasha grabbed her ankle throwing her off balance, then used her advantage to put May on the floor. Quickly moving she pinned May to the floor ending the fight.