Becoming Agent Rushman

Two Days Later

                                                          Sasha's POV

It was quiet. I wanted to get up, but the needles in my arms confined me to the bed. I wanted Natasha to come, she'd save me from boredom. I groaned and sat back, knowing that one of the doctors would come soon, to do the tests that I've been dreading. I knew I'd start overthinking it any minute now. My chest started to hurt, and I tensed my muscles up. They were already feeling numb as more memories came back to me. I was breathing quickly, my attempts to calm down failing. My eyes stung with tears, my body shaking. I cried, shaking as I choked on my tears. My head hurt so badly, I couldn't think straight. I was crashing, loosing my sense of reality as I passed out, the drugs overwhelming me. I could hear muted voices, like I was under water. I blacked out moments later, any hope of getting up that day gone.

"Sasha? Hey, are you awake?" I heard...Nat's voice? It was faraway and I couldn't really tell if it was her, but it was real. My head still hurt, and I felt the needles prick at me again as I shifted, opening my eyes. I looked up, and instead of seeing Nat, I saw a girl about my age, maybe 8 or 9, fiddling with the machines. "Who...who are you?"

"Oh, you are awake! I'm Elizabeth, but you can call me Eli."

"Nice to meet you Eli...! What were you doing with the machines?"

"I was reducing your medication levels, that's part of what knocked you out. I'm in the youth sector too, Agent Romanoff said I'd be your partner!" She seems really nice...my partner, huh. I had a feeling I'd be seeing a lot of her in the future. She sat down next to me, but just as she was about to speak, I looked to the door to see Natasha and Dr. Harver come in. "Elizabeth what are you doing here?"
"I-I was just talking to her...Agent Romanoff told me I'll be her partner!"
"I did tell her that, and even so, she's training under medical, she's allowed to be here."
"Well, I'm going to be examining Sasha now, so you're free to go," He sat down on a stool. Natasha patted Eli's shoulder, and she walked out. I gave her a small smile that she excitedly returned. I like this girl, I bet we'll be good friends! "So Sasha," Dr. Harver ran his hands over my chest and back. I flinched, my muscles still tense. I still wasn't sure if I liked him or not. "Did you have another anxiety attack?"

"I guess...it just happened so fast, and then there was nothing," He checked the drug levels, and lowered them even more. I played with my fingers, unsure of what to do. "Agent Romanoff thinks you'll be ready for a physical in the afternoon. We're prepared to let you, but what matters is that you think you can do it."
"I'll be ready!" Finally! Despite all the tubes and machines attached to me, I'm still ready to show what I can do, and prove I can be a great agent. "Alright then, Agent Johnson will come get you this afternoon, so get some rest!" He left, and Natasha gave me a short squeeze before leaving too. I pushed back my lengthy hair, and fell asleep.

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I woke up slowly, all of the needles and tubes taken out, a few monitors being the only things that remained attached to me. Confused, I sat up. I couldn't see anyone, and it was quiet. I shifted, removing the monitors, and held onto the bedrail as I stood up. "Well, I might as well get used to being on my feet, I've got a fight soon," I quietly said to myself, and took a few shaky laps around the room. As I got more used to my feet, I tried some spins and some combat moves. Realizing I was still in the hospital gown, I looked to see if there were any clothes. I spotted a t-shirt with the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo on it, some black pants, and boots. I pulled them on, the shirt a bit big and the pants a bit loose, but they were comfortable. I braided my hair into a tight bun like we'd been taught, and took a deep breath. I paused, remembering that I was no longer on the medication keeping my powers at bay until I could contain them. Just as I thought this, Natasha came in with some arm guards. "Sasha, I see you've gotten ready. Here," She held out the dark blue gauntlets. "These are to help control your powers. For now they'll make sure nothing can trigger your powers, but tomorrow Wanda and Agent Johnson are going to start helping you control them. Daisy'll be here in a moment, and you can show her what you can do!" She fastened the gauntlets onto my wrists, pulling them tight. I felt a tingling emptiness, but passed it off as being tired. And then Daisy-sorry, Agent Johnson came in. "Sasha? Hey, I'm Agent Johnson. You ready?" I nodded. "Great, let's go get started shall we?" I followed her out and down the hall to the training room. She pulled the door open, and I looked around, seeing the large matted area. "Once you become an agent, you'll be able to come here and train whenever you want. It's not a bad place to be alone, if I'm honest. Anyway, we're not here to chat!" She smiled, and I laughed a bit. We both got into fighting stances, and began. In the Red Room, they made us learn ballet. It was supposed to make us graceful and better killers, and as Agent Johnson and I sparred, I understood why. It felt like a dance, smooth yet jagged at the same time. I landed all my punches, flipping and moving all around. Eventually we finished, and we shook hands. "Fight well fought, you're a strong one! Come on, let's go down to the shooting range," I nodded; guns were my speciality. "Thank you, so are you!" She led me a short way down the hall, opening the large, paneled glass doors. I looked over to the guns, picking up my favorite: a Glock 19. "I trust you're familier with these?"

"I am indeed. And a bow and arrow, they taught us how to use pretty much any weapon."

"Well then, let's see what you can do," She set up targets around the room as I put glasses on, finding a good position. She gave the thumbs up, and 5 shots rang out as I fired, hitting every target with perfect aim. We continued like this for a while, before Agent Johnson made some notes, and said we were done. "You did really really well! I'm sure once Agent Romanoff reads this she'll have you in the youth sector tonight!"
"Really?"
"Yep! You'll have a bunkmate, and you'll be an agent in no time! I hear you've taken to Agent Bennet?"

"Eli? Yeah, she's really nice!"
"Well, since you've already been declared her mission partner for when you get older, I'm sure you'll be bunkmates! Now come, let's go show Romanoff what a good job you did," She smiled and walked to Natasha's room, and I followed, hanging back a little as Agent Johnson showed her my results. "Sasha this is great! Come on, I'll get you set up in the youth sector now, going through Coulson and Fury will take too long!" She smirked at Agent Johnson, and took me to what seemed to be like commons. Small two bed rooms branched off the large space. A fireplace surrounded with poufs and couches was in the center, and there were a few girls lying about. I spotted Eli sitting with them, laughing about something. She spotted me and jumped up. "SASH! Joining us already? Romanoff must've went soft on you!" Natasha stepped up, and looked down at Eli. "Not spreading rumors, are we Bennet?" Eli instantly looked regretful, but Natasha smiled, and just handed me a badge. "Don't worry about it, I know you mean well. And if I was to go soft on anyone, it'd be Rogers. But don't tell anyone!" Eli and I both went wide eyed, before laughing. "Sasha, this is your agent badge. You need to have it on you whenever you're in the base, it's your key to everything. I'll check on you in the morning, and we'll go over everything else then, okay?"

"Yes ma'am!" Natasha smiled, and patted my shoulder before walking out. "Come on Sash, I want you to meet everyone here!" She took me over to the group of girls sitting by the fireplace. She pointed to a short Asian girl. "That's Ming, or Agent Lyons. She's probably the fastest runner here, and definitely the most talkative!" Ming laughed, and I smiled at her. Eli went on to introduce Rhea, Sam, Lexi, Amirah, and Zoya. We chatted for a bit more, and I almost felt at home. After a few hours and many cups of cocoa, I said goodnight to the girls, heading into the bedroom. Flicking off the lights, I climbed into bed and pulled the heavy covers over. After a few minutes of lying there, I heard Eli come in and close the door. "Sasha, you still awake?"

"Yeah...I probably will be for a while. I can't really sleep without thinking about everything that happened to me there, so if I wake you up with my nightmares, I'm sorry."

"Sash, I'm really sorry that that was your entire childhood. You don't have to worry about waking me up, from now on I'll be here for you. We're partners after all!" I smiled a bit, still feeling off. I never knew what it was like to have a friend, but I hope Eli and everyone else will change that... "Thanks Eli, I just have a lot to get used to. And you won't mind if I need you? For anything?"

"I won't mind in the slightest. Sleep well!" I heard her climb into bed, and fall asleep. I lay awake for a couple more hours, but when I fell asleep, I didn't have nightmares, or bad dreams of hurt. I just thought about today, and everything good that happened.