The Vents
Clint was right of course, things all worked out. The trio in D.C. had destroyed 3 helicarriers, the triskelion, and all of S.H.I.E.L.D. Unfortunately, Fury was still alive. Luckily he was in the wind and so were Steve and his new friend.
“His name is Sam Wilson, and he goes by ‘The Falcon’,” Natasha told them.
“What about the other guy?” Clint asked, “Was he really, him?”
She nodded, “The Winter Soldier,”
“Did you guys take him out? Given his kill list I figured you and Cap would be anxious to get rid of him,” Tony interjected.
“No, Steve and Sam are looking for him right now,”
Clint looked worried, “Is that safe,”
Natasha took a deep breath, “I don’t know, but Steve wants to find this guy pretty badly,”
“Figures,” Ren said, “I’ve never seen anyone fight like him. A guy like that can’t be allowed to be out there,”
“That’s not why he’s looking,” She said quietly.
They all stopped to look at her. She made eye contact with all of them before continuing, “The Winter Soldier's real name is James Barnes… Bucky. Steve’s Bucky,”
Even Clint stopped fidgeting, “What,”
“How is that even possible?” Ren asked.
Everyone knew who James Barnes was, he was almost as much of a WWll icon as Steve. Captain America’s best friend and the only one in his team to die on a mission. She even remembered when they saw his picture in her high school history class, half the girls had a crush on him. Nat just shrugged, “The files I found didn’t tell us too much, and the boys probably know more at this point. All we know is that Hydra picked him up after he fell from the train and experimented on him until he became…”
They’d all seen what he’d become. But Ren found it strange that Nat seemed to know so little about him. From what she’d found on the former assassin, she was one of the best spies in the world. How could that be all she knew? She hated to be suspicious of her teammate, but the way Natasha talked just felt odd.
…
The next day Ren was working out in the gym. No flames for the moment, just gloves and the punching bag. Even though she had improved a lot with her powers she wanted to be able to defend herself without them too. The only problem was that she was terribly out of practice. She hadn’t boxed for a couple of years. The last time she had, had been in a self-defense class her friend Erin had dragged her too.
Sure, New York was supposed to be dangerous, but she had grown up as a foster kid in Seattle. Her technique was lacking but she’d always been able to defend herself and dish out as much as she got. Now she was trying to remember the moves the instructor had taught them. It didn’t help that the girls had spent most of the classes talking and oogling the teacher.
“Your form is shit,” Echoed a voice near the glass doors.
Straightening to look over her shoulder at Natasha she angled her head, “Got any advice?”
Nat smiled and strutted over before shrugging off her athletic jacket. Jesus, her arms were amazing. The Black Widow appraised her form, “You need to keep your weight evenly distributed, you are leaning too heavily on your front leg,”
Ren shifted, “Good. Now, when you hit the bag, twist your hips with the motion of your arm, and make sure to keep your other hand in front of your face,”
They spent a couple of hours in the gym. Natasha instructing and demonstrating, and Ren trying to keep up. The last hour was spent on the mat, sparring. It was absolutely terrifying. The Widow was fast, not a single movement was wasted in her technique, and she trounced her every time. But it was constructive, she would point out what had been wrong and how to fix it. Afterward, both women were drenched in sweat and starving.
Shower first, food second she decided. Under the hot stream of water, Ren eased her sore muscles. She had a lot to learn, but it had felt good. Satisfying, in a way that using her abilities wasn’t. She also felt a little guilty for mistrusting Natasha the day before. But only a little, because something about the way that she fought was tickling the edge of her brain.
…
The girls made a habit of training together in the mornings, and getting lunch after. Clint joined them sometimes too, and conversation was easy between the three of them. Tony and Nat were still on strained terms, and after Clint told her about their history she couldn’t blame him.
Clint didn’t talk about his life outside of S.H.I.E.L.D. much. Even though they were getting closer Ren didn’t want to pry. She wasn’t exactly an open book either. No, they didn’t bond over their pasts, they bonded over pranks. Pranks on Tony specifically. She was confident enough in their relationship to mess with him… and she was too scared to try anything with Natasha.
They had started small by hiding one of Barton's arrows in the vents. He would let it beep randomly. It drove Tony nuts and had taken almost an entire week for him to find it. They and Nat enjoyed the security footage (courtesy of JARVIS) over popcorn. But their latest prank had been the last straw.
Natasha had come up with it, and the two tricksters were more than happy to enact the plan. So, while Tony had been out on a date with Pepper they snuck into his penthouse and made a beeline for the bathroom. Once in, he pulled a purple bottle out of his pocket while she opened up Stark’s expensive shaving cream.
The next morning they received the fruits of their labor. A scream echoed from Tony’s floor, loud enough to hear it on the level below. Ren almost spat out her coffee when she heard it. Less than a minute later they had a pissed-off billionaire in the kitchen. The plan had worked beautifully. Before the three of them stood Tony Stark, lacking his iconic facial hair. His skin was still a little pink from the Nair they’d put into his shaving cream. Even Nat cackled a little. Clint was practically on the floor. Tony was murderous.
So they’d decided to leave him alone for a bit.
She’d assumed that meant no more pranks for a while. Apparently, Hawkeye had decided to change targets.
...
Natasha was demonstrating a very impressive takedown when she started to fidget. When they moved on to boxing Ren caught her scratching her arms. By the time they’d finished, She was scratching like crazy.
“You alright?”
“Yeah, I’m just gonna take a shower,”
She was in the process of finishing her smoothie when Nat stormed in, her workout jacket had been replaced by a tank top that showcased the red spots adorning her arms. “Oh my god!” Ren exclaimed.
“I’m gonna kill him,” She said with a terrifying amount of calm.
“What did he do?”
Until now Ren had had a healthy amount of respect for the Black Widow, but this was the first time she’d actually been afraid of her, “Itching powder. They use rose hip hairs. Either the bastard forgot or just thought it’d be funny… I’m allergic to roses,”
She put her cup in the sink, wisely choosing to stay out of it, “Happy Hunting,”
The woman stalked over the elevator and headed down, probably checking the specialized training rooms on the lower floors. Ren headed in the opposite direction toward her room. She was nearly there when a heavy thud sounded just above her head. Looking up she spied the grating of the vents and a flash of movement. Out of curiosity, she sent a small spark up through the metal plating. The answering yelp confirmed her suspicions.
Smirking, she addressed the vents, “Are you hiding from Natasha?”
“I might’ve gone too far,” Came the muffled response.
“No, you definitely went too far. But I will make sure you have a beautiful funeral… if they ever find the body,”
The vent cover dropped open and he popped his head out, “She won’t find me up here, Nat hates small spaces,”
“I don’t know, it looks pretty roomy up there,” It was true, the air vents were much bigger than she would’ve thought.
It was a good thing too, because they heard the elevator ding from the common room. Panicked eye contact ensued.
“Ifyoudon’thelpmeI’lltellheryouwereinonit,” He said hurriedly.
She pressed her lips together out of frustration, glancing toward the end of the curving hallway. “Fine. Help me up,”
“What?”
Not bothering to respond she threw her arms up and jumped. He caught her and pulled her into the space beside him. Wow, it really was roomy. He reached back down and closed the grate moments before a mop of reddish-orange appeared below them. She looked around for a second before continuing on. They let out matching sighs of relief.