Cooking for the Avengers

12. No Promises

                 

~Allison~

As the last of the guests piled into the elevator, I let out a long breath. Things had gone better than I had hoped! "Harry!" I reached for a fellow staff member. "I gotta go check on Jemma, do you mind finishing up for me?"

"Yeah, go ahead!"

"Thanks!" I made my way over to the elevator, Tony keeping in step beside me. "You did good tonight! The food was amazing!"

"Thanks Tony!" He nodded slowly and pushed the elevator button for me. "So, I have a proposition for you." I looked at him waiting. "How would you like to be the personal chief to the Avengers?"

I laughed. Just the idea of cooking for the heroes of New York made me giddy. I couldn't help it. His face scrunched up. "Um, does that mean yes?"

"Oh" I giggled. "Yeah totally!"

Tony shook my hand. "Great! I'll have Pepper send you my preferences as well as my eating schedule!"

I raised an eyebrow. "You have your own eating schedule? Like, one that's separate from... a normal one?"

Tony grinned and walked off. "Thanks again Allison!"

---One Week Later---

Natasha bounced on her toes with her guard up. "Again! Hands up! Don't forget to keep moving!"

I mimicked her motion and dodged out of the way as she struck left, than right.

"Great job Allie!" Clint called from the sideline. I grinned and ducked, coming back up with an uppercut. Natasha blocked my strike and held her hands up; our signal to stop.

I put my hands down, breathing heavily. I waved at Clint and he tossed me my water. "You're doing really well Allie! I'm actually impressed!" Natasha nodded approvingly.

"Yeah, and she's never impressed!" Clint added as he slid into the ring.

I recapped my water and smiled. "You really think so?" I jumped up and down a few times, earning amused laughter from them both.

Clint shook his head. "You, are insane, you know that?"

I gave him a cheeky grin and curtsied "Why thank you kind sir!" He threw his bottle at me and it struck my knee. "Hey!"

"You've still got a lot to learn, young Padawan." Clint bowed his head solemnly. I mirrored him. "Yes master!"

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Alright enough fooling around, this is serious!"

"Yes..." I looked away dramatically. "The Dark Side is strong. It pulls at me everyday... we must be prepared master!" I sense movement, and jump back, narrowly avoiding a kick to the head.

"I said be serious!" Natasha repeated. She punched left, right, and left again. I barely avoided each one. Anticipating her next move, I dodged right.

Natasha anticipated my anticipation and punched left, her fist connected with my jaw and I fell back. I had no time to nurse the pain. I rolled away as she tried to kick my side. I rolled onto my knees and brought my arms up, blocking a kick to the face.

My arms stung. I fell back as she spun into a roundhouse kick, crying out as I did. "Wait, wait!"

She ignored my plea and stomped her foot, nicking my forearm. I cried out in pain, and rolled to the side, curling into a ball. I braced myself for the next onslaught.

"NATASHA! STOP!"

Her foot hovered just above my ribs. "Steve, butt ou-"

I felt someone pull me out of the ring. I looked up at Steve as he set me on the ground, his mouth set in a hard line.  I could feel the tears coming and I looked down, avoiding his eyes.

"That's not how you teach!" Steve cried.

Hands on her hips, Natasha gave him a steely look. "Look Steve, you don't understand. She needs to realize that this isn't a game, Hydra won't-"

"But she's not a SHIELD agent!" Steve interrupted. His chest heaved and he looked like he was about to explode.

Natasha narrowed her eyes and said nothing.

I stood and put my hand on his arm. He jerked his head around, his eyes softening as they took me in. "Steve, it's okay. I wasn't taking this seriously."

He shook his head. "Yeah, but you don't have to Allie. You're not an agent. You're only doing this for fun." He looked back at Natasha.

Her face relaxed, and if at all possible, she looked guilty. "I'm sorry Allie... I shouldn't have... I didn't mean to..."

I held up a hand. "It's alright. I get it."

Silence surrounded us. Clint coughed. "Awkward..."

"Hawkward..." I whispered.

The tension broke as everyone laughed. Natasha held a hand out. "If you're still willing, I'll still train you."

I took her hand and jumped into the ring. "Of course!" I rubbed my arm. "But, can you not step on me again?"

She grinned wickedly. "No promises."