Natasha wiped a hand across her sweaty brow and got up from pinning Clint on the ground. They had been working hard in the gym for the past five hours, and Natasha had successfully 'killed' Hawkeye at least ten times in the past hour.
Clint slowly stood up from the far-from-comfortable position Natasha had pinned him in, and swiped at her playfully. "What's the matter, Natasha?" Natasha glared at him and busied herself with picking up the accessories they had thrown or hit each other with.
"You can pin me down at least fifteen times per hour...when I let you." He continued. Natasha rolled her eyes, and he smirked and wiped the sweat from his face with a towel on a bench in the corner of the private gym room they were using in Stark's old tower. It had been remodeled to suit the Avengers and all their needs since Tony Stark had insisted on building a whole other building for himself instead of rebuilding the old Stark Tower.
Natasha by this time had picked up all the accessories and strode out of the gym. Hawkeye followed her, keeping his distanced from experience. He knew just from the way she walked and her stubborn silence that she was in no mood for nonsense.
Natasha continued on past the elevators and towards the stairs. She never used elevators unless it was an emergency. She paused at the bottom of the stairs, shook her head, and then began to run up the stairs quickly. As soon as she reached the last stair, she quickly put all her weight in the balls of her feet and did a double flip in the air onto the main floor. However she didn't quite regain her balance and smashed her head against the wall.
"Gosh, darn it!" She muttered angrily. She slowly picked herself up and whirled around to stare angrily at Clint, who had raced up the stairs after her.
"Sometimes I have the feeling that I have an extra shadow." She hinted coolly.
Clint looked around the room quickly. "I don't see any extra shadows." He teased, but inside he was worried about her. She definitely was not acting normal.
Natasha sighed in frustration and put a hand to the gun at her hip. Clint knew she would never use it on him unless to protect herself like when Loki had taken control of his mind, but he also knew that she wouldn't hesitate to hurt him if he overstepped his boundary.
Without saying anything, he quickly strode off in the opposite direction that he thought Natasha was going in, wisely leaving the Black Widow to herself.
As soon as he turned the corner, Natasha sank to the ground and groaned. Her head was throbbing so hard that it felt like she had been hit over and over again by the Hulk. Not to mention that she was hot and then cold the next second. What was the matter with her? She never felt like this except for after a rather difficult mission for S.H.I.E.L.D, and lately she hadn't been doing anything strenuous.
She stood up slowly and walked over to the next set of stairs. Since the gym was below ground level, there were at least fifteen flights of stairs before she reached her room. She took a deep breath and began to jog up the stairs.
Five minutes later, she reached her floor and walked into her room. It was very plain and simple without any extra accessories, but it wasn't a cold, sharp room either. The room was mostly white, and there was a small twin bed in the center. The only other piece of furniture was a desk where she worked on paperwork for S.H.I.E.L.D. On one wall was a small closet with her clothes, and a door to the bathroom. That was all, but Natasha liked it. It didn't remind her of her past as most places she stayed at did. There was no red to remind her of all the blood from the people she had killed. It was perfect.
Natasha walked into the small, compact bathroom and unzipped her suit. She stepped into the shower, and turned the faucet on. The icy cold water hit her face hard, and she sighed, relaxing just the tiniest bit. She shivered but did not turn the water warmer. She hated warm water. It always felt like the warm, sticky blood from the helpless victims she had killed in the past.
Three minutes later she turned off the faucet and grabbed a towel. She wiped herself off quickly and dried her hair. Then she got back in her jumpsuit, and sat on the edge of her bed to put on her thin, flexible shoes that helped her grip the floor and gain momentum for running and jumping. As soon as she sat down though, her whole body relaxed, and she found it extremely hard to get up.
"Oh, gosh no." She muttered and slowly stood up, but looked longingly at the bed. Sleep sounded so inviting right now. That was unusual since she hated sleeping and always tried to sleep the last amount of hours she could to get through the next day.
She shrugged off, blocking it out just like she had her headache, and her aching body, and the frequent dizziness she experienced. Just then a knock sounded on her door, and Natasha opened the door quickly. It was Dr. Banner, shifting from one foot to the next uneasily. The higher up he was, the more uneasy he got.
"Hey Natasha." He said in his rough but low voice.
"Hey Banner. It's not often I get to see you up here."
Banner looked down at the ground and nodded. "Well, yeah, I came up to tell you Tony wants you down in his training center. He's teaching Pepper some moves to protect herself, and he wanted you to show her some simple but effective moves."
Natasha smiled and shook her head. "I'm sure Pepper is loving every minute of it."
Banner snorted. "Yeah..." He trailed off.
"Why did Tony send you? Why didn't he just comm me?"
"He's trying to add a new thing to the coms so that there is a three dimensional video of the person you are calling." Banner took off his glasses which Natasha knew was a sure sign that he was going to launch into a scientific explanation.
She coughed and nodded towards the stairs. "Thanks for telling me. I'll be heading down there now."
Banner nodded and raised is hand to say goodbye and then headed towards the elevator. Natasha walked the opposite way to the stairs and ran down them. It was only twenty minutes ago that she had ran up the stairs hoping that she could somehow relax. She continued down the stairs until she reached the main floor. Then she turned left towards a heavy metal door with two securities on each side. Natasha flashed her card towards them, and they waved her on. She went down twenty steps and continued on into a carpeted hallway with newspaper clippings and pictures of Tony Stark hanging all over the walls. She saw no point in so many accessories for such a thin hallway, but you didn't question Stark. He did whatever he wanted.
Beyond the hallway was a small room that was sparsely furnished with modern furniture. There was another heavy metal door with two guards that spoiled the look of all the decorations. Natasha flashed her id once again, and they nodded for her to go. Once she walked through that door, she was finally in Stark's own building across the street.
She heard a small creak behind her and whirled around. Clint was following her...again.
"Tony call you too?" She asked.
"Nah, I just wanted to see how they were doing." Natasha noticed a small gleam in his eyes, and she shook his head.
"Whatever you're up to, I wouldn't do it."
Clint pretended she hadn't said anything and lead the way to Stark's gym. He pushed open the door to see Pepper sitting on an expensive leather couch in the corner. She seemed somewhat more flushed than usual, but besides that did not look any different. She was still in her business type suit as usual, and she had her clipboard with her, jotting things down on it while talking on her cell.
Natasha turned to look at Tony who was drenched in sweat and working with a fitness coach who Natasha recognized as one of the best trainers in New York. She raised her eyebrows and glanced at Clint. Obviously Tony had been lying to her to get her down here, and she knew why. She hated having to 'demonstrate' for the fitness coaches Tony brought down sometimes. She preferred being as inconspicuous as possible which was pretty hard now since her face had been in almost every newspaper worldwide.
Tony turned around from dodging one of the coach's punches and saw Natasha staring at him coolly. He raised a hand, "Let me explain..." He started, but the coach kicked him in the back of the head, not realizing that he had stopped. Tony fell to the floor and lay there for a few seconds before slowly getting up again.
He rubbed his head and winced. "He's all yours." He said to Natasha and made his way to Pepper whose hand was still clapped over her mouth in shock.
Natasha shook her head, annoyed. She really did not feel like doing this right now. She didn't feel very limber right now, and her headache was demanding attention again. But the coach looked so eager to work with her that she inwardly shrugged and walked over to the coach.
Stationing herself opposite the coach, whose first name apparently was Dave, she automatically blocked his attacks. She waited for the split second for when he paused, and then wrapping one of her legs around his legs, used the other to take him off balance. She grabbed his torso while he was falling and yanked him, so that he twisted in the air onto his back. The whole fight only took five seconds, and everyone watching on the sidelines gaped in astonishment except for Clint who calmly nodded approvingly.
But Natasha didn't get up from her position on top of the coach. The whole room had started spinning, and her heartbeat pounded loudly. Everyone in the room looked at her confused, and the coach coughed awkwardly. Still she did not move. Her breath seemed hard to catch, and she was burning.
"'Tasha?" Clint asked. He ran over and bent over her. He touched her arm, and repeated her name. Natasha looked up slowly. Her face was flushed and sweaty, and her eyes had a glassy look on them. "Tasha." Clint said quietly. "I'm calling the medical team." He stood up and nodded at Tony who ordered Jarvis to call the medical team.
Clint helped Natasha up, who staggered backwards suddenly. Clint grabbed her arm and used his other arm to support her back. Just then the emergency sirens went off. Tony Stark swore under his breath and told Jarvis to turn them off.
Natasha watched confusedly as the room spun around again and again. Then she looked up to see Clint bending over her. But he wasn't Clint anymore. He was the assassin she had burned alive when she was a young teenager and who had come back again and again to haunt her dreams.
She struggled wildly in his grip and managed to make him let go of her arm. Then she began to run to the door. She heard someone calling her name, but she didn't look back. She reached the door, but the door suddenly had blood slathered over it. She heard the horrified screams of the children in the building she had bombed a long time ago.
She put her hands over her ears and collapsed the ground. Pepper had her hand over her mouth again, and Tony for once in his whole life looked like he had no idea what to do. The coach stood awkwardly in the corner, not sure if he should just leave or stay to make sure she was alright.
Both Tony and Clint began to run over to her, but Clint pushed Tony out the way. "Stay back!" He mouthed. Tony nodded and stopped. Clint slowly approached Natasha and called her name softly. Natasha staggered up from the ground and pulled out her gun. She pointed it in Clint's direction and pulled the trigger. Clint ducked and somersaulted on the ground. Natasha held the gun up in front of her with both hands. She was shaking visibly.
Clint by this time knew the only way to calm her down was to hit her unconscious. He slowly crept up behind her, but Natasha whirled around. Clint paused, trying to give her a chance to recognize her, but she didn't seem to recognize him. She still held the gun up, pointing it at his chest. Clint slowly raised his hands up above his head, and Natasha lowered the gun just the tiniest bit.
Clint stared at her until he was sure she was off her guard and then in a lightening move, wrestled the gun out of her grasp and hit her as hard as he could. Pepper screamed as Natasha fell to the floor unconscious.
"Where is the darn medical team?!" Clint yelled, and bent over her again, feeling her pulse. Everyone watched him as his eyes widened and he sank back on his heels. "Get the medical team. Now."
Hey guys! This is my first ever Avengers fanfic! How do you like it? I was really trying to keep everyone in character. Do you think I should continue? Read and Review!