The range wasn't somewhere Wanda could have ever imagined being. She wasn't a fighter, the closest she had been to any type of firearm was during the War in Sokovia back in childhood, then they had been something to fear. To some extent in her mind they had never ceased being something to fear. They would kill you, or, at best, they would cause a very serious injury.
It was all part of being accepted by S.H.I.E.L.D, even though she never intended to be an agent she had been told there was basic training they all had to have. This wasn't something she would ever be comfortable with. Her brother – her twin – had been murdered by one of these things. Steve Rogers, the kind and charismatic team leader, had taken her aside after the mention of firearms training. He had gently explained she would only have to do this once. She only had to know how to handle and how to fire, then she would hopefully never have to go near another pistol again.
This was part of the reason there were only three of them on the range, the other part was that the other new members, James Rhodes and Sam Wilson, they had army training. Vis, he had his own on-person weaponry. It was only her that was a complete beginner. That was why – begrudgingly – Natasha had agreed to give her a one on one lesson, straight from the top. Steve had appeared only to stand in the back of the room and secretly hope he might learn a little.
For the first lesson, Natasha had fished out a pair of ear defenders which she had handed over before teaching anything.
"I know your enhanced, but none of us know how and what exactly for. I can handle the noise, we don't know you can."
In preparation Natasha had set up a table in the centre of the room, hosting a few different hand guns. Wanda didn't doubt they were all part of Natasha's own collection.
They were all reasonably small, black and smooth in shape. Each had a neat row of ammunition sitting at their sides. Wanda swallowed.
Natasha started simply, she asked Wanda to simply pick up each of the weapons in turn, getting her to feel the weight in her hands, see what felt right. To Wanda they all felt wrong, they made her feel sick to her stomach. These things were powerful, but, as she needed to remember, nowadays so was she.
After having tried it out, felt it in her hand and been able to get a good grip on the gun. Natasha picked up a little slanted black oblong, took the pistol from her hand and shoved the black oblong into the bottom of the handle.
"That's the magazine," Natasha began, "It holds the bullets in a semi-auto. In a single action , you would."
She paused, lifting an older looking, battered pistol from the end of the table, and continued, grabbing a large bullet, " have to insert the bullet,"
She pulled back a top section of the gun, dropped the bullet in and pulled back a small lever on the back of the pistol using her thumb.
"Cock it, slip the safety and." She moved a small slide on the side of the pistol and then before Wanda was even aware, Natasha straightened her arm and fired the pistol against one of the targets on the far side of the range.
Wanda jumped, her hands lurching for her ears even though she wore the defenders. Natasha's wrist jumped backwards towards her body with the movement of the gun and there was a satisfying, but loud, thud as it hit the black centre of the target.
Natasha grinned, shaking her head in a way that Wanda could only have described as being with contentment.
"Love that noise." Natasha explained before turning back to Wanda, arm still raised.
"And now," Natasha continued, unfazed by the shocked look on the face of her protégée. She went to pull the trigger once more and Wanda flinched again but this time there was no loud bang. There was a soft click, like the type that belonged to a toy.
Natasha seemed to warm in a second, she became less the teacher and more the friend.
"It only has one bullet. It can't fire again, if you carried a single action you wouldn't have to worry about the blood bath. You'd have a safety net. An auto, fires continuously once you've pulled the trigger, a semi-auto you pull the trigger each time without having to cock it. A single action, you keep it locked and loaded till you need it."
Natasha laid the pistol back on the table.
"You're not a killer Wanda, you're a fighter. Those are different things, trust me, I've learned the hard way. You carry one if you want to, if not you've got a sniper and a close-range shot on the team. What's a team if we haven't got your six? Now, let's say we've dealt with this crap, I've trained you ok, if anyone asks you can fire a 2mm Kolibri all the way to a .600 Nitro, with your eyes shut. If things change, if you want more, you know where to find me."