Welcome to the official start of the journey! If you're new to this universe, "All of the Reasons Why" chapter 43 is a good place to start; you can find the whole thing in my bio. Not required reading, but you'll understand it a lot more!

*throws away everything I know about the MCU and comics universe just because*

Enjoy!

Greece, 2005

A rush of wind.

A gasp of air.

The crunch of gravel.

Bobbi flew around the track, her long legs effortlessly completing another lap as she handed her gold baton to Maria, who took off without a word. Her chest heaving, Bobbi jogged over to the sidelines, uncapping and taking a large swig of her water as sweat poured down her forehead. Maria was already halfway around the track by the time she'd properly hydrated, and she jogged back out, preparing herself to receive the baton once more.

"Thor it?" Maria hollered to Bobbi as she approached, and Bobbi grinned. She loved when she got to play with the baton.

"Thor it," she hollered back, and in a glint of gold, the baton was hurtling in a vertical fashion towards Bobbi, who caught it lengthwise and threw herself into the last lap, knowing that she was under pressure. As she crossed the finish line for the second time, she heard the distinct beep of a stopwatch, skidding to a stop.

"Five minutes and three seconds," May said approvingly, checking her clipboard. Her quiet voice echoed in the large, empty, stadium, bouncing off of the steel beams and rounded ceiling. "Shaved thirty seconds off of your time." She turned to Maria, who had gotten her own water bottle before joining them. "Hill, think you can sprint like that during the actual event?"

"Remind me why, if we're undercover, we actually have to run?" Maria complained as Bobbi regarded her skeptically. "If we lose, we're going to make the entire country look bad. Why couldn't we have gotten an actual Olympic runner to run for SHIELD?"

"Because - "

"Because it would've compromised the entire operation, we could've gotten our cover blown, yada yada yada," Bobbi cut off May with a roll of her eyes, tossing a small towel to Maria. "You've heard this speech, what, thirty times?" she teased her friend. "And you still decide to put me through hell by asking."

"Intelligence has it that there's going to be a large Red Room presence there," May said, checking over her clipboard once more. "We need to take out as many of its heads as possible, cut them off so that they don't come back." She regarded both of them solemnly. "So yes, we will need to compete, no matter how bad we may look. Besides, it's just one event. All eyes will be on the Russians and their gymnasts," Maria and Bobbi nodded. They'd heard the rumors about the famed gymnastics team - small, deadly girls who had their routines down to a t. Their prize competitor was supposedly young Natalia Romanova, their smallest, yet most accomplished. None of the girls socialized during meals, which was why no one had learned a thing about them.

"We have any intelligence on the Russians yet?" Bobbi asked. "I mean, it's in three days. We have to have something on them." May shook her head.

"Coulson and I have tried everything, and there's nothing on them," she admitted. "All of them have clean records. It's like they don't even have records. Which is worrying in itself," She frowned. "Like they've never seen the outside world."

"Then there's only one way to do it," Maria said, earning glances from Bobbi and May, who silently prompted her to go on. "We have to sneak into their practices. Or, if we want to go straight to the source, we go to her practice. Romanova's."

"They'll have set up a private practice session for her," Bobbi realized what Maria was getting onto. "There won't be anyone else there, May, it's perfect." She turned to her 'coach' and supervising officer. "Let me go in. I can get any intel you might want."

"Hill's going in," May decided quietly. Both girls exchanged looks of shock. What?

"With all due respect, Agent May - "

"But Agent May, I possibly couldn't - "

"Hill. Goes. In." May's verdict was final. "She'll blend right in with the Russians, especially if we get her the stuff she needs." She turned to Bobbi. "You're too much of a Southern belle, Morse. You'll stick out like a sore thumb. Hill's plain enough that she can go unnoticed."

Not for the first time, Bobbi cursed her height and hair. "I can always dye my hair or something, or mess up my face a little bit -"

"And what will I tell the Olympic officials?" May asked. "That you decided to dye your hair out of nowhere just for the hell of it? We've had a hard enough time getting you two into the Olympics at all - do you know how hard it is to make two runners materialize out of nowhere? No backstory, no previous wins - I don't need to draw any more attention to ourselves." She gave Bobbi an apologetic look. "I know you want in on this mission, Morse, but I can't risk the entire op."

Bobbi deflated. "Yes, Agent May."

"Besides, you've done quite enough," May's voice was gentle as she placed a hand on the small of Bobbi's back. "The way you and Hill were running today, you two are probably slated for a gold medal if you keep it up."

She sighed. "Thanks." It was only slightly bitterly that she remarked, "I'm going to go a few rounds on the bag before I turn in,"

"Wise choice, Morse," May complimented, making eye contact with the blonde agent. "I want you to get a full nine hours of sleep. I don't need you slowing down on the track tomorrow." She turned to Maria. "Hill. Romanova has the gym booked for herself in an hour. We need to get you prepared."

"Not good enough, my ass," Bobbi muttered in the gym later that afternoon, trading blows with the trademark punching bag. It barely swung, mocking her skills further. "I could totally act like a Russian if I wanted to." Gritting her teeth in frustration, she lashed out harder, driving her fist Into the bag. "Just...a...matter..of...opinion..."

She was so busy punching away at the bag that she barely noticed when the door to the all-gray gym swung open, a lithe redhead slithering in. She took a place at the bag next to Bobbi's, beginning to whale at it like it had done her a personal wrong. Soon, the bag was swinging wildly back and forth, so much that Bobbi stopped and watched in amazement as the young girl lashed out, undescribable force going into her blows.

"I can hold the bag for you, if you want," Bobbi offered, breaking the odd silence. The girl stopped beating up the bag and let it swing, staring curiously at Bobbi. There was no emotion in her eyes, Bobbi noted, only a mild curiosity as to why Bobbi was addressing her, of all people.

"What?" the girl asked finally. To the untrained ear, her voice sounded plainly American, with maybe even the slightest hint of New Yorker. But Bobbi caught the slightest hint of a Russian accent - a very well-disguised Russian accent, but a Russian accent, no less.

"The bag," she motioned nonchalantly, jerking a thumb at the bag the redhead had been kicking at not less than a minute ago. "I can hold it for you, if you want." She offered the girl a reassuring smile. "They can be hell to kick at if you don't have someone to hold them for you."

The girl was silent for a few moments, and Bobbi began to wonder if she'd done something wrong. Then, after a few moments: "If you want to."

Bobbi said nothing, just took a place behind the bag, holding it steady as the girl resumed her motions once more, landing jabs and kicks at the bags that would've made May proud. She watched as the redheaded girl fought the bag as if it was a real person, and it began to dawn on her that she just might be dealing with a Red Room agent. "Hey, you know what?" Bobbi asked, stopping the girl once more.

"What?" No inflection in the tone, she mused. Monotone.

"Wanna spar?" Lowering her voice, Bobbi whisper-confided, "I did a lot of fighting back home. My coach would kill me if she knew I was doing this, but I figure you won't tell, right?"

The girl regarded her carefully. "You think you could take me?" Slightly affronted, more of her Russian accent began to peek out. "I am not as defenseless as I seem, you know."

"Hey, I'm not saying that," Bobbi said, putting her hands up in surrender. "I saw what you did to that bag. I'd be a fool to call you defenseless after that. I'm just offering you a chance to spar," she said as she watched the girl's body language shift. "By the way you fought, I'm guessing you've got some fighting blood in you, too,"

"I suppose it couldn't hurt," the girl shrugged, and the two of them fell into step as they headed towards the sparring ring. Once on, they stared at each other, daring the other girl to make the first move.

Suddenly, the redhead was a blur of motion as she launched an attack on Bobbi, the blonde barely deflecting a punch to the stomach as she kicked her fighting instincts into gear. For a few minutes, both of them were a blur as they parried, kicked and punched, not quite fending off the other's attacks, but not exactly landing one either.

Finally, after having blocked one too many of the redhead's punches, Bobbi signaled for a stop, grabbing two towels that they'd placed on the ropes and tossing one to the other girl. She wiped the sweat off of her forehead and checked her arms - those would be some nasty bruises to have in the morning.

"I expected you to be worse than that," the girl admitted, and Bobbi felt a flare of irritation rise up. Why wouldn't she have been good, she'd graduated top of her class at the Academy...

...right, because the other girl didn't know she was SHIELD. These are the assumptions that get you killed, Morse, she scolded herself. Get a handle on yourself. "Well, you weren't so bad, either," Bobbi quipped back only slightly spitefully, running a towel across her forehead. "More of a challenge than I'd expected."

"No one else has been able to match me," the girl admitted, raising an eyebrow at Bobbi. "Maybe we can spar again sometime?"

"I'd like that," In spite of herself, Bobbi grinned as she held her hand out for the other girl to shake. "Barbara Morse." (She wasn't about to get too casual with the Russian...)

The other girl stuck out her hand. "Natalia. Romanova."

And so we begin! Unfortunately, our favorite tiny scientist isn't showing up anytime soon, but I hope that doesn't deter you! Please leave reviews - I love them! :D