Avengers: Behind the Uniform

22nd of January

                  

Kristina Rushmore wasn't very impressed. Not only with the woman who was currently flirting with her fiancé but also with her fiancé who was currently flirting with the woman. But her job tonight wasn't to beat the woman to hell and back, it was to watch out for a very special scientist who had entered that evening under the name of Robert Ross. Her gaze swept through the crowd, disregarding those who were simply looking for a fun night out. It didn't take long before she honed in on a very nondescript man. Natasha, Natasha. What did you ever see in him? Kristina tsked at herself before signalling to her partner where their target stood. Hunter nodded and pointed out where another man sidled up to the scientist. That must be Montgomery. He hadn't bothered to disguise himself. Why would he, when he had spent his whole life underwater?

She prodded Hunter again, to deter him from Blair not out of jealousy, she told herself, but to get on with the mission.

"Ah yes, if you will excuse me Miss Windsor, esteemed doctors." He bowed his head to each person before leaving.

They murmured with their heads inconspicuously bowed together as they made their way over to where Bruce was slowly being cornered by Lucius. Sensing the time was right, Kristina let herself slip away and let Nat come to the rescue.

"Hunter, you may not have noticed since you were so deeply lost in Miss Doe-Eyed Windsor over there but she put something in your drink."

Steve's expression – for it really was Steve when the two of them were alone – was one of the most innocently shocked Nat had ever had the frustration of seeing. "Are you sure?"

Nat was taken aback. He'd never not taken her word on something before. "You think I would lie to you about something like this?"

"No!" He raised a few glances from powdered faces but made quick apologies and lowered his voice. "No, I just thought that," he fidgeted restlessly then sighed, "forget about it, it was stupid."

Laughing, Nat poked him in the ribs playfully regardless of the possible gentlemen who were fainting with the lack of etiquette. "You thought I was jealous, didn't you?"

Seeing his sheepish expression, she knew the truth. The elderly gentleman who was watching them with a horrified look on his face though, did not know what was going on and so could only assume the worst. His eyes widened further when Nat, having spotted him eyeing them with disgust, patted Steve's bottom. Surreptitiously, she stuck one finger up behind her back – which the old man unfortunately saw. While doing so, she whispered in Steve's ear that there was a polite old man who had been staring at them and that he had just gawked and turned back to his wife, flustered. Steve laughed and then secured her arm in his again. Always so perfectly polite. She had also made sure that pageant queen Blair Windsor had known the finger was for her.

***

Aleksandr was pleasantly surprised with the facilities. They were nothing alien to him, he had been training like this in the Fulcrum headquarters too but the atmosphere here was different. There was a certain kinship between everyone in the training room both when they were throwing punches at each other and when they weren't. He found himself enjoying the time he spent here more and more with each passing minute. I could get used to this.

They were in the Mess Hall which was a cafeteria of sorts but that would be an understatement. For one, it was much cleaner. Everything seemed sterilised and the tables were polished to reflect. Everything was orderly, there was a sanitising station– which Aleksandr learned was different to the cleaning station – cutlery, plates, bowls and glasses. And of course the food. It wasn't lavish to any degree, there was just a lot of it. Along the walls of the hall were serving platters heaped with different pies, pastries, salads, fruits, meats, soups and all manner of other dishes the director had considered to be healthy. This was, after all, where the protectors of the earth lived and they couldn't very well be spending their downtime eating junk food.