Running
When Michelle agreed to this whole whatever-this-mess-was she had not been told it would involve running until she thought she would see her breakfast again. If she had, she probably would have gone back to the picket line after her run in with Mr. Stars and Stripes. However, Michelle was not a quitter and she already had made up her mind. Besides, as a military brat she’d been taught the importance of physical health and self-defense. Hell, her dad had her running through the Presidential Fitness Test in middle school! Better than average, however, was not up to the super spy’s standards.
Michelle leaned against a tree, attempting to slow her breathing, and running physics equations through her head in an effort to not think about the uneasiness in her stomach. She opened her eyes, looking at the woman who seemed to be breathing regularly despite the workout, a small smile on her face.
“At least you aren’t starting from square one. More like square one and a half, possibly three-quarters.”
Michelle put on a mock glare. “You’re not my favorite anymore.”
Natasha laughed, moving to sit beside the girl. “Come on. You’re smart enough to know all this,” the spy pointed to the girl’s head before gesturing to the rest of her body. “will mean nothing if this can’t protect it.”
Michelle’s breathing was the only sound for a few moments, the shaded area of the tree branching out over the grass that was either thriving or dying from lack of attention. It was an old forgotten track field on the outskirts of one of the suburbs. There hadn’t been one car in sight beside the one they had used to get there through the New York traffic. The paint on the grass had long since been faded, along with most of the neighborhood from the sight of it, but she supposed that’s why this location was picked.
“Still better than listening to Flash attempt to sound smart in Physics.” She joked easily, her breathing finally stabilizing before she turned to the woman next to her. “So… what’s you’re deal?”
Natasha lifted an eyebrow. “Deal?”
Michelle nodded, still looking her in the eye as if she would be able to tell she were lying. The thought was laughable. “Yeah. You were one of the first to sign the Accords, but you’re sitting here with me because the very people you fought about the Accords asked you to.”
Natasha paused, seeming to analyses the girl like a code she was trying to crack with a timer on the clock. “It’s complicated. I agree with the idea of the Accords and will continue to be subject to them. I choose that.” A moment went by. “While they don’t agree with the Accords, we should have handled it differently. Simply taken them off the Avenger initiative, put them on suspension until we could perfect the amendments allowing more freedom. I understand why they are against it, I just couldn’t sit there and wait for a perfect version of the Accords to agree to. We need to be accountable to the people we’re protecting.”
Michelle looked at the ground in confusion. “Why not wait for the perfect Accord though? It wouldn’t be that hard-.”
Natasha took a deep breath before starting again. “Let me explain it another way. What are some precautions we take with other civil servants? The police, the fire department, the elected officials, any of them. Just name some precautions we have.”
Michelle fought the urge to launch into a monologue, deciding instead to name a few things. “Police either have dashboard camera or body cameras, sometimes they have both. Elected officials generally go public with their official documents. I’m not too sure about firefighters, but I’d imagine they have something open with the public. What does this have to do with the Accords?”
“A lot, actually.” The woman reasoned, turning her body to face the high schooler. “There were more precautions geared toward accountability local police and officials then there was towards the team of Earth’s mightiest heroes. One group that could act outside the law with no system of consequences set up should an individual go rogue or disobey orders. Your high school probably has a rule book, right? A small booklet with things against wearing tank tops or leggings. That had more rules then a team of superheroes. Our one rule was don’t let the world end. Everything else, at least on paper, didn’t matter.”
Michelle nodded slowly, though she still trusted the Accords were wrong. She… saw where Natasha was coming from, but it didn’t mean anything to the people who would need help faster than the UN could gather a meeting allowing the Avengers to assemble and prevent disaster. The lives of the innocent matter, both the lives lost when they could act and when they couldn’t. It was complicated, but it was politics so she assumed it came with the territory.
“So, why are you helping them?” the spy asked, leaning her side against the tree.
Michelle looked up quickly. “What?”
“Why did you take Steve’s offer? It’s odd you didn’t call the police after you saw him. It’s odder that you didn’t delete his number.” Natasha gave the look that got her information every time in the past, curiosity mixed with amusement. “What’s really striking is the fact you agreed to work with a known criminal and his team of vagabonds. You don’t seem gullible or overly trusting, too young to be going through a mid-life crisis, so I’m going with some dramatic event.”
“You’re good.” Michelle stated the obvious with awe in her voice.
“You’re stalling.”
Michelle turned to face the woman. “My friends were saved by Spider-Man the other day. If he signed the Accords, he would not have been there to save them and he may have gotten in trouble for saving them if he did somehow get there. I don’t want anyone to get hurt, or worse die, because people have to live in fear of doing what they know is the right thing.”
Natasha looked her over again, a few moments into the stare off she smiled. “You’re not lying. You pass the first test.”
“Wait, the gym class from hell wasn’t the test?”
Natasha shook her head, smiling. “I was to make sure you weren't working for Ross. The location was to get you away from all signal, just in case you were wired. Running was to increase exhaustion, which tends to lower physical and emotional guard. You aren’t the only one who’s clever. You gotta learn to examine situations exactly like you do people, Foxglove.”
The girl looked impressed and confused as the woman pushed herself up before offering her a hand.
“Wait, what? Foxglove?” She asked as she took the agent’s hand.
Natasha pulled her up easily, smiling as she started walking back to the car. “It’s your new codename. They don’t want to risk your safety by using your actual name on their lines. The lines are private, but we want to take every precaution needed.” She turned, walking backwards as the teenager staggered behind. “Be grateful Wanda was there. It was between She-lock and Ms. Clever before she thought of Foxglove.”
Michelle shuddered. “Ugh. So, are we going to meet them?”
“Nope, you’re going back to class. You passed part one, now go learn like a normal kid your age. You shouldn’t have missed that much.” Natasha, opened the car’s driver door, waiting until the other girl was inside.
Michelle picked up her backpack from the floor of the passenger seat, rummaging through for her phone as she plopped down and shut the door. She found it at the bottom, unlocking the screen to see what she had missed.
“Shit! Liz’s gonna kill me!”
“Language.” Black Widow chastised, starting the engine, and putting the car in drive.
Michelle glanced up at her, clearly amused.
“Sorry. Must be hanging out with Steve too much.”