Bad Ideas: An Avengers Fanfic
Disclaimer: All rights go to their respective owners
Chapter 1: Introduction
Bad ideas. Natasha was full of them. Trying to calm Bruce Banner down on the helicarrier was one of them and let's not even mention the Budapest incident. Her latest had to be one her less favourable moments. As she walked down the hall from the gym, Natasha wondered just what she was thinking when she had agreed to help Maria Hill train the new recruits. Alcohol must have been a sure factor.
As Natasha pushed open the door of the female locker rooms, the sound of someone singing from the showers interrupted her thoughts. Great, Sparky's back, she thought. Agent Jamie Hennessy, or Sparky as Natasha liked to call her, was an Irish agent recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D eighteen months ago due to her… talents and abilities. Though Natasha suspected the fact that Hennessy had an electric current running through her veins may have played a factor.
The locker room was pretty big with rows of bright red lockers stretching across the room with a couple of benches between each row. Natasha took a towel from the rack on the right and made her way toward the shower room on the left. Pushing open the door, she heard the singing stop as she walked over to a cubicle at the end of the room.
"Hey, Romanoff," Natasha heard Hennessy say.
"Hey, Sparky. How was the mission?" Natasha queried as she turned on the water. Sparky and Clint had just got back from a mission in the Sahara.
"It was fine, some guy was playing with gamma radiation in the middle of the goddamn desert. We shut him down, but now I got sand in places sand should never be." Natasha allowed herself a laugh at Sparky's candid description of the mission.
"How's Clint doing?" she asked.
"That big baby? He's fine, got burnt pretty bad in the desert. Other than that he's fine," the other woman replied. Agent Hennessy and Clint were partnered together after the Battle of New York. After having Loki run riot in his mind, Hawkeye had to go through basic training again, much to his dismay. Natasha was partnered with Captain America, otherwise known as Steve Rodgers. They were two unusual partnerships: a walking power generator and a mentally unstable archer, and America's golden boy and an ex-Russian and ex-KGB spy. Natasha contemplated this as she washed her hair. After about half an hour, she turned the water off and wrapped her towel around her. Hennessy was already almost dressed, having finished showering about ten minutes ago. As the Irish agent pulled on her white vest top, Natasha glimpsed just some of the scars that marked Hennessy's back. Natasha walked over to her locker, directly opposite Hennessy's.
"You got a hairbrush, Nat?"
"No, try one the newbie's lockers." Breaking into lockers was on of Sparky's best talents. A burst of laughter caused Natasha to whirl around while she was putting on her top.
"Oh my god! Look at this, Nat!" Hennessy had broken into one of the lockers, apparently this locker belonged to a Captain America super fan. There was posters, photographs and newspaper cuttings.
"Who the hell owns that?" Natasha said, laughing.
"Some girl called Beth. You train her?" Hennessey asked turning toward Natasha as she pulled on a red and black button-up shirt. Natasha thought back to the sparring session she had come from.
"No, she must have gone to the range with Hill. Oh my God, I gotta show Steve." Natasha took out her S.H.I.E.L.D issued smartphone and snapped a picture quickly. Hennessy took out a hairbrush and promptly locked the shrine. Natasha returned to her locker, stepping over the bench.
"I was thinking of going out to a pub tonight. Ireland are playing England in the rugby. You and Cap wanna come with?" Natasha whirled around to face the other agent who was brushing out her light brown hair with her head upside down. People didn't usually invite Black Widow on a night out.
"Don't you have a mission report to fill out for Fury?" she asked.
"Yeah, what's your point?" Hennessy asked, throwing her hair back. Natasha laughed, there was no possibility of persuading Sparky to stay home, especially if her beloved Ireland were involved in any type of televised competition. Natasha sighed.
"What time?"
"Half seven, maybe?"
"I'll think about it?" Natasha said as she packed up her gear bag.
"Always the mysterious answer, Romanoff," chuckled Hennessy as she put Beth's hairbrush back into her own locker and threw the dirty, sand covered clothes from her mission into the laundry baskets in the corner.
"Where are you headed?" Hennessy asked as Natasha walked toward the door.
"Food," the redhead replied.
"Let's go." Hennessy practically ran over to Natasha and they walked out the door, toward the food court.
Natasha filled her tray with a burger, a slice of cheesecake with a drink of Sprite. When she turned toward Hennessy she saw that the other agent's tray was laden with food, with a hamburger, a slice of pizza, a portion of fries, a slice of fudge cake and a large Coke.
"Hungry?" Natasha asked, eyebrow raised.
"You try living off camel milk and dehydrated fruit for three weeks." Natasha rolled her eyes and scanned the food court for a table, her eye was caught by someone waving them over. Steve and Clint were sitting at a table in the middle of the court.
"You ladies took your sweet time," Clint said as the girls approached the table.
"Didn't realise you boys were so desperate to see us," Natasha replied with a wink as she sat down opposite Steve. Steve blushed slightly while Clint rolled his eyes.
"Sparky's going out tonight, you two in?" Natasha said as she tucked in to her burger.
"Sure."
"I don't know, Nat. We've got a mission on Saturday and Fury said he wants us to behave between then and now," Steve reasoned. Clint and Hennessy looked horrified at the notion and Natasha rolled her eyes for the fifth time that day.
"All the more reason to go out, and I'm pretty sure by us he meant me," she told him. Steve sighed, admitting defeat, and looked down at his tray.
"7:30," Hennessy informed him. The group finished eating in silence until Clint stood up and announced his departure, Hennessy left with him stating that Clint owed her a ride home as she had loaned him sun cream in the desert. That left just Black Widow and Captain America at the table.
"Those two are pretty close now, considering they couldn't stand the sight of each other at first," Steve said as he watched the other two leave. Natasha nodded absentminded as she pulled her phone from her pocket and turned the photo of the shrine Hennessy found in Beth's locker towards Steve.
"Hennessy broke into some newbie's locker and found your biggest fan," she said as Steve took the phone from her. He laughed quietly at the picture and Natasha couldn't help but notice how his smile light up his handsome face. Wait! What? She thought, how the hell could she think that. She shook her head slightly to clear those thoughts out of her mind.
"Wow… Wait, did you say that Hennessy broke into this poor girl's locker," Steve asked, eyebrows raised.
"Yeah. I knew people adored you but this seems a little extreme, don't you think."
"So you're telling me Hennessy broke into someone's locker?!" Natasha sighed wearily.
"Yes, pay attention." Steve looked at the phone, then back at Natasha, then, taking one last look at the shrine, he handed the phone back to his partner and shook his head.
"I need new friends…" Natasha laughed at him and stood up from the tabled, tucking her phone back into her pocket.
"I'll you tonight, Captain Rodgers." And with that she walked away, leaving the super soldier alone at the lunch table.
Hey guys! Got this idea and meant to upload it sooner but my internet sort of... broke! But never mind, it's working now! I have the next part ready to upload, if anyone wants it, let me know in the reviews. This is just a kind of introduction and a bad one at that, but the story does improve (I think) But if anyone has any constructive criticism or advice I would be really grateful. Thanks for reading and feel free to review! :)
Next Time: Why taking Clint to a bar with a karaoke machine is never a good idea!