The SHEILD headquarters in DC loomed above the car as Natasha pulled up to the front. Ava had been here before, but this time was different. She wasn't visiting Nick Fury, she was headed to the labs to get her work up done. The night before she had had a dream, or maybe it could have been called a nightmare, about walking into bright white rooms and being put into a cage. Of course she was just being silly, the men and women who work for SHEILD are professionals and she doubted they even had cages in the labs. Why would they? "You have nothing to worry about." Natasha said quietly. "I know." Ava nodded, "Do you think I'm dressed appropriately? I mean, we just went to IKEA and now I'm going to get my blood drawn and asked a bajillion questions. And these are the people I'll be spending the next five months with! I should have curled my hair. Or put on lotion, my legs are ashy." The red head looked her over, from her loose dress and cardigan to her oxfords. "You look a little preppy for my taste, and bajillion isn't a word. You're an intelligent young woman and these people know that." The girl rolled her eyes and smiled. "Ava, you look fine! Now you better hurry if you want to keep your appointment." Ava got out of the car and smiled at Natasha as she walked away from the car the woman called out, "Remember to sit up straight! And Fury's having someone drive you home."
Ava walked up to the large front desk and smiled at the receptionist. "How can I help you, miss?" "I have an appointment. My name is Ava Romanov." The woman behind the desk looked at the computer and typed quickly. "Yes, Miss Romanov... you're headed to the left wing... lab 3E. You are right on time, but I am afraid your escort is not. I'll call someone to take you there." "Wait! I'm here." A young man jogged towards the desk, stopping to catch his breath. "Sorry for the tardiness, I was attempting to get some paper work done and was deep into an analysis when I remembered. Are you Ava Romanov?" The girl nodded. "Great, have you got her checked in?" The woman behind the desk nodded and gave Ava a smile and a "You're all set here." "Right, follow me." With that the man led her down a large hallway. "My name is Nak Datta. I'm a lab assistant and I'll be helping you fill out all of the lovely paper work." They arrived at an elevator and he pushed the button for floor eleven. "We can start that as soon as we get there." The girl just nodded at the young man and gave him a nervous smile. They stepped into the elevator and the doors closed. "Romanov... you wouldn't happen to be related to Agent Romanov... as in the Black Widow would you?" Ava smiled, she loved this question. Even though this young man didn't have the clearance to know that she was in fact given the last name because Natasha was her legal guardian, she loved to answer it. "No, I'm afraid not. I'm Russian and its a very common last name. Perhaps we are very distantly related, but it would be very very distant." "Oh, of course, of course! It's probably as common as Smith is here in the United States." Nak said as the elevator doors opened. "One thing I should warn you about before we get into the lab is that some of my coworkers are a bit eccentric. We aren't a normal lab, we've been given a different kind of clearance than most of the labs within SHEILD. And I'm guessing that you aren't a normal field medic trainee coming to get her work up and training?" Ava nodded slowly, "I guess you caught me." "It only makes sense. Most medics are trained in lab A or B for specialties. Lab 3E is known for being a bit different in many ways. Don't worry, in five months you'll be certified, but in more things than just your medic training. Of course that all depends on what the big guys want us to train you in." They had been maneuvering through hallways, taking a left, a right, then another left before stopping at a lab door. Nak smiled, "Welcome to Lab 3E, Miss Romanov."
In the time that it took Ava and Nak to make it to the young man's desk his words had been confirmed. First of all, the lab coats were different colors. There wasn't a white one in sight and the men and women had on coats that ranged from light blue to neon pink. As they passed people's lab stations they looked up and waved, some giving a quick 'hello' or smile, one man calling out to Nak and asking about some kind of paperwork. The young man made a snide remark under his breath about where 'Bill could put his paperwork' before smiling apologetically at Ava. Once they were seated in a corner cubicle he grabbed a clip board and a pen and leveled a serious look. "Before we start the paperwork I need you to promise to answer all of these questions honestly. There are no level restrictions because your answers are important to find where you are in training, as well as other aspects in your life." Ava swallowed, "You have clearance?" "For this part of my work. I'm guessing you are over my clearance level?" Ava nodded and the young man gave her a reassuring smile. "I promise you that everything I write down is for me and my supers eyes only." The girl nodded. "The first few questions are simple. Full name?" "Ava Elaine Romanov." Nak nodded, writing it down. "Pretty." "Thanks." "Next question... Age and birthdate?" Ten questions later (questions like 'Natural hair color?' 'Allergies?' and whatnot) they came to a more difficult one. "Family history?" "... Unknown." Nak looked up at that and frowned. "What I mean is, parents names, ages, employment, medical history, that kind of thing." "Yeah, I understood, but it's unknown. I was adopted." "Oh, okay. Sorry about that." Ava shook her head at his apology. "No need to be sorry, the day I was adopted was the best day of my life." "What about your adopted parents?" "Guardians, I have co guardians but he's stays busy, and don't call her my mom to her face, she refuses to let me call her that." Nak nodded and smiled, "Next question..."
Half an hour later they were almost done, her blood pressure had been taken, along with her pulse and height. Ava was silently dreading the whole weighing thing. She knew that she weighed way less than she should, even as small as she was. Her bones were hollow, she was engineered since birth (or so they suspected) to be able to fly. She hardly weighed anything and there were going to be questions. Lots and lots of questions. Just as Nak gestured to the scale that sat up against the wall, an older man came over and introduced himself. "Miss Romanov! It's wonderful to finally meet you, we haven't had a trainee in quite a while, when I got your paperwork I was thrilled." Ava smiled, unsure on how to reply. "Happy to be here, sir." "The names Dimitri. We go by first names here, I hope you don't mind." "I don't mind at all." "Good! Great! Nak I don't suppose I could steal Ava away from you for the rest of her day here. Im guessing they told you today would be a half day for you?" The girl shook her head. "Well, that's awkward. Tomorrow you'll start full time. We don't want to overwhelm you." Ava just nodded, again unsure. "Why don't we go into my office, we have some things to discuss." Dimitri gestured towards a small corner office. The walls were made of glass, like some kind of fish bowl, but there was door, so there was a sliver of privacy. Once inside and seated the older man turned serious. "I just wanted to let you know that I have been fully briefed. I know about your... gift and know that that may have played a part in your placement in this lab. Director Fury speaks very highly of you and I know that you will do great while you are here with us." "Thank you, sir. I was starting to wonder if the Director had taken compartmentalization too far in this case." The man laughed and shook his head. "I would have been over sooner but we had a mishap yesterday and I had to fill out the proper paper work and make sure everything is correctly catalogued. I hope it wasn't a problem." "No, not at all." Ava gave the man a smile. "Good! Good!" Dimitri looked nervously out at the cubicles and the girl turned to see some of the employees looking at them. "I don't close my door very often so, everyone's a bit curious." The nineteen year old nodded understandingly. "Not everyone here needs to know about your gift, but if you'd like to tell the people you'll be working with, I have no problem with that." "Of course, I would like to keep it classified, if that is at all possible. I'm aware that my medical supervisor should know, but perhaps that the rest of the lab can be on a more need to know basis?" Dimitri nodded his consent before standing and gesturing to the door. "Would you like a tour?"
Lab 3E took up most of the 11th floor, if not all of it. There were many different departments within the facility and Dimitri explained what each of them did and pointed out which ones she may find herself working in in the next five months. The medical lab would be her main place of work and training but apparently Fury wanted her to broaden her horizons and look at medical research as well as some avionics and special biological research. Biology was her minor and she had done very well within that field, Ava was just surprised that Fury remembered that and wanted her to work in that field as well. She wasn't going to complain though, at least he wasn't attempting to put her through the specialist training.
