Shield Day

(Prelude to Asgard)

Gabrielle sat down on her bean bag with a box of smores, a container of strawberries, and a large caramel frappe with extra caramel. This was her favorite thing to do before she started her day. She would wake up early, go to the training room, and eat breakfast in perfect solitude. From behind her, she heard the door open.

"Whoever you are if you turn on the light, you're a dead man." She warned, reaching for her dagger on the floor beside her. The person chuckled and moved closer to her.

"It's just me, Brielle." Thor said walking toward her. He sat next to her. "What are you doing here?"

"I would ask the same. But if you must know I do this everyday." Gabrielle took a sip of her coffee then offered it to Thor. "Here. I trust where you mouth has been. Try some."

Thor took it and looked at it. What was this? I sniffed at it before he came to the conclusion that he had no idea. He trusted her enough to know it was safe, so maybe it wouldn't be so strange. He took a drink and then another. It was creamy, sweet, and very satisfying.

Gabrielle laughed and took the cup back. "It's great. I know." She took out a strawberry and dunked it in the whipcream. She popped the cream covered fruit in her mouth. Gabrielle smiled as the rich taste coated the inside of her mouth. She looked over at Thor, her mouth ceasing to chew. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Whm?" She asked with a full mouth.

"Very attractive." Gabrielle swallowed the mouth full and stood up. "I know, right?" She walked over to the weapons closet and took out two staffs. She tossed them around in her hands.

"These'll do alright for your first lesson." She handed Thor one and he gave her a look of question.

"Staffs? Can't we move onto swords?" Gabrielle laughed.

"Please. You may be a hot shot with a hammer but you never know when one of these will save your life. Let's start off easy. I go right, you go left! Right, left, right, left, you got it!"

"Of course." Gabrielle smirked a bit. He thought just because he was the god of thunder, he could do anything. But she was going to prove to him he couldn't.

At first, it was slow. Back and forth. Back and forth. Strike. Block. Strike. Block. Then she began to speed up, going at a rate where Thor could barely keep up.

Then she struck the back of his legs, knocking the ground the ground out from under his feet. He fell on his back and Gabrielle hit her knees beside him. She held the staff over his throat hovering over him.

"Not so easy now is it?" She asked, standing up. She offered him her hand to help him up. Thor took it and stood.

"Funny, Evony."

"Thanks. Now let's try this again." Gabrielle tossed Thor his staff and she took she stance in front of him. This time they went after stance in front of him. This time they went after each other with everything they had. It was as if their inner warrior spirits were at war with each other.

Their stafffs cracked across one another with a speed no human could see. The more he went at her, the closer she got to the wall. Thor knocked her staff out of her hands. Gabrielle stood there with her back to the wall, Thor's staff against her throat. Thor's heart was racing as he stood there, so close to her. Gabrielle put her hand on his chest.

"Calm yourself. You don't want them to here this." Gabrielle looked up, seeing Nick Fury standing in the door. She pushed Thor away and faced Fury.

"Just what are you and Hammerhead doing?"

"We were training."

"Mmhm. Believable. We need you in the weapons room."

"Why? You already know I can handle any bla-"

"We want to see how you fair with an arrow."

Gabrielle was handed three arrows and a dummy was wheeled in front of her. Her job: Shoot the dummy in the red paint. Fatality shots: The head, heart and neck. She had handled an arrow before when she was younger but not since.

Carefully she raised her bow and took aim. The first hit the dummy right between the eyes. For a beginner she was doing better than she though she would. Maybe this arrow business wouldn't be so bad after all. She reached for another arrow and raised her bow. She fired again, the arrow hitting it on the heart/target. Just one more arrow to go and she could rival in the skills of Hawkeye himself. Right before she fired the final arrow, she found herself distracted by something.

Thor was walking to his locker, shirtless. She could definately see that he had changed now. the first time she met him, he was just strong and broad shouldered. But now he had muscles. Perfectly sculpted muscles that had taken years to build up. Gabrielle felt like a idiot watching him like that. He looked behind him and saw her staring at him. He smiled. If spontaneous human combustion was possible, she would've died.

But she was snapped back into reality by te sound of Fury cursing. She turned her head and her heart dropped. While she was drooling over Thor, she had fired her arrow, hitting Nick Fury in the shoulder.

"EVONY!" Fury broke the arrow in half and slid it out of his shoulder with ease. He glared at her, his eyes seething. "My offce. Now!"

Gabrielle dropped her bow and sulked away. She sunk down into the chair, preparing for the worst. Nick simply walked in and said nothing.

"Sir, I'm really-"

"Save it, Evony. You're distracting mistakes are dangerous. If that were a real mission you couldn've been killed. You could've gotten other killed. What if I was an innocent person that you killed?"

"Look, SIr. I'm sorry."

"But sorry won't bring back a dead bystander." Gabrielle sighed and was dismissed. She felt so horrible. She knew that she would never hear the end of it from Steve. But Fury was right. She would have to avoid arrows from now on.