Deadly Attachment

Chapter 3

- some women fear the fire. some women simply become it.

Sweat trickled down my back as Natasha ran me through the exercise for the eighteenth time. I counted each time. It was looking fifty-fifty with times Natasha bested me, and I got the upper hand.

When she easily won possession of the weapon in front of us, she jumped in my face. "If you let someone get the gun that easily, you're dead." The hostility in her voice made me shiver, but I kept it hidden as usual. "Again." The weapon was placed in front of us, and this time I slid towards it, grabbing it and pointing it at Natasha before she even got halfway. "Much better." She nodded, and I handed her the gun. "Steve will run you through with the heavy bag." She said, grabbing a towel and reaching for her jacket.

"Wait," I stopped her, and she looked at me, urging me to continue whatever I wanted to say. "Teach me what you did yesterday. When you pinned me." She hesitated for a moment, then nodded, dropping the towel and stepping back onto the mats.

"Let's do it full speed. Try to defend my take-down." She went to punch me, and I lifted my hands to my face to block it, and she advanced, coming face to face with me. She pushed my head backwards, to break my balance and suddenly I was on my back. She lifted me up, then said, "I'll do it again, but slower this time." Suddenly we were back to where she broke my balance, hooking one of her legs around mine and shoving me backwards. I landed on my back with a thud.

I helped myself up this time, and prepared myself for her take-down. I knew it was coming, and I knew how it would happen. I just needed to stop it.

Natasha circled me, then moved lightning quick to take me down, and when she hooked her leg around mine, I grabbed a hold of her arms so when she pushed me, I landed on my back with her on top of me.

"You're getting better." She lilted, pulling me to my feet by my shirt. "Do it again. This time don't let me get you on the ground." It took me three more tries before I could successfully get myself out of that take-down. "Khorosho. Good." She translated her own word, and ran me through it twice more to make sure I got the hang of it. Finally, she did what I had asked her. She taught me how to take someone down in that way. "Take me down, using what I taught you." She instructed, and I did it just as she told me.

The second time I went to take her down, she fought back, nearly sending me onto my back instead of me sending her onto her own.

"Never let your guard down." She scolded.

I was the stronger one, so when I caught her leg with mine, I shoved her back with enough force to make sure she ended up on her back. What I didn't realize, was that she had her hands locked around my arms. One of her knees went into my ribs, hitting the air out of me as I landed on top of her.

"Shit," She mumbled, pushing me off and onto my back. "I'm sorry Katya." I held myself up by my elbows, and waved it off. "You alright?"

"Yeah, just got the wind knocked out of me."

She stood, and offered me a hand which I gratefully took. Hoisting me onto my feet, she breathed heavily. It seemed like the training session tired her out. "Go over to Steve, before I hurt you any more." She mumbled distractedly, grabbing her towel and draping it over her head.

"I'm not hurt, Natasha." I insisted, but she was already walking away.

Steve was hitting the heavy bags pretty hard when I walked over, but stopped to greet me. Sweat lined the collar of his cutoff shirt, and made his skin glisten. "Hey." He pulled the edge of his shirt up to wipe his sweat, revealing his toned abdomen. "Ready to start?" I nodded, and he ran me through some simple techniques which I had mastered when I was young. He must have noticed I needed something more complicated, because soon he was showing me more complicated combinations.

We stopped, and I sat on the floor, tired from the first half of my first day as an avenger. Steve looked at me, studying my face.

"There isn't anything else I can teach you that you don't already know. Now you can just get creative with your combinations, and develop a routine with a few secret moves." He smiled, and I tried to return it, but only half of my mouth went up. "Lunch is in a half hour. How about you go back and shower up, get ready for lunch?" He offered, and I agreed with his idea, getting to my feet and walking off towards my room.

-

I squeezed my wet hair in the towel, twisting it up and then letting it go. The shower was refreshing, and a good idea on Steve's part. I'm glad he brought it up to me. I sat down on the soft bed, one of the softest I'd ever been able to use. I stared out the window, which seemed like a luxury to me. But thinking it was a luxury made me feel like that was silly, because everyone else seemed so used to these windows. I was never able to have a room with a window, and for that, this window makes me feel free. Privileged, even. I wondered if Natasha felt the same way when she first joined the Avengers.

The knock at the door made me flinch, but I quickly composed myself and opened it. Wanda stood, curiously watching me. "Would you like to accompany me to lunch?" She asked, and I was surprised by the question, but accepted the invitation nonetheless.

"Thank you," I acknowledged her kindness. She smiled in response, and for most of the way we walked in silence.

This first day was going to be very difficult to cope with, and it all started at lunch when Clint Barton completely ignored my presence. He had not counted me a part of the Avengers team, and when everyone sat around discussing the mission after we all ate, I wasn't a part of it. 

Steve was the first to mention me, and Clint shook his head. "Too young." He decided and tried to continue the discussion about some dangers in the Middle East.

"Peter is younger than her, and you included him," Steve argued. Clint grits his teeth and glared at Steve, who continued to try to get me included on the mission. "She is more than capable of handling this mission with us. You saw her spar with Natasha yesterday, and I can't teach her anything new with the heavy bags. Her skills can compare to any one of ours, and come close to equal or better." Steve seemed fixed on getting me on the mission. Although I was a little ticked at Clint for not including me, I didn't want any attention drawn to myself.

"She and Wanda are staying, Steve. And that's it. Wanda is too unstable to be let out into public, and we don't know enough about Volkov to be letting her out with the team on a mission." Clint was fixed on his view, and he wasn't going to be swayed. "On top of that, she's too young, with too little experience on a team." Clint pinched the bridge of his nose, and Steve leaned back in his seat, annoyed with Hawkeye.

Wanda placed her hand on my arm and gave me an apologetic smile. I just shrugged and waited for the meeting to end. While the others prepared for their departure tomorrow, Wanda and I sat on the couch, unsure of what to do.

But as we sat around, we talked to each other, and I found out that she was a pretty cool person, who wasn't as odd as I had first thought. Of course, I knew she wasn't odd, but she was different. She and her twin Pietro had powers, from being experimented on. Similar to Steve, and Natasha. Somewhat similar to myself.

"You're not that bad, Katya." Wanda mused.

I pretended to be hurt, holding my hand over my heart. "You thought I was bad, Wanda? How long have we been friends?" I teased.

"Hmm," She checked her watch. "About an hour and a half now."

"Wow," I sighed. "The longest friendship I've ever had." My joking tone made her laugh, and I perked up at the sound. I don't remember the last time I've made someone laugh, and it was good to make someone laugh again.

"Same with me," She grinned, and I knew that this girl was going to be the longest and probably one of the most important friendships I'll have on the team.