Seven Days of Torture

After explaining most of my life story to Steve, it was about 7- O'clock. The door to the gym swung open, allowing Natasha and Alexa to enter, followed by Clint and Caleb.

I tossed the two pairs of gloves into a nearby laundry basket, walking over to Alexa. "Morning Alexa!" I said "You want a hug?" I asked, reaching out with a huge grin.

"No thanks," she frowned, wrinkling her nose. "Go take a shower."

"Don't worry, you'll all be dripping by the time I'm done with you." Clint said as he cracked his knuckles.

Rachel, Jess, Hanna and Aidan trodded in next, looking quite tired. For once I was glad that I could cope with 2 hours of sleep.

"All right, round the track five times!" Natasha yelled, pointing to the rubber track that swept around the large gym.

Two minutes later, I lay on the mat, sweating and panting along with the rest of my team. This was not good.

During our run, the rest of the Avengers had trickled in, and now we stood in a half sitting, half standing, deformed circle.

Cap grabbed the clipboard that Tony had handed to him, glancing at the group. "So for the next month or so, we're going to be pairing each of you with one of us. Just for training purposes." He stated, making eye contact with everyone. "I will not change mentors, so don't bother asking." He glared at Tony and Alexa separately. He began to read off the list.

"Aidan and Tony, Nat, you've got Alexa,"

Alexa and Aidan high fived each other as Cap continued.

"Caleb, you're with Bruce, Sam, you've got Hannah,"

Bruce and Caleb fist bumped, each other happily, Hannah saluted Sam.

"Barton, Jess. Steve, I mean me, Melanie. Rachel and Wanda." He finished, blushing slightly. "So

find your mentor and we'll get started with training."

Everyone scattered instantly, Tony, Aidan, Caleb and Bruce, (now dubbed the Science Bro's) headed up to the lab, Rachel and Wanda left the gym, while Jess, Clint Nat and Lexa Headed to the range.

Steve turned to me. "No combat for you kid. How about we work on some core muscle strength?"

"Sure thing Cap. Sure thing"

I mentally sighed. I couldn't wait for this week to be over.

We spent that entire week strength training. I hurt in places I didn't know I had. We worked on stuff like leadership, tactics, and using Sims to prepare myself for my leadership role. It was nice to finally be able to keep pace with someone like Barton and Romanoff. Thanks to our four tech guys, everyone got new suits and gadgets. I spent most of my free time talking with people back home and

painting with Steve.

Halfway through the week, the chips turned themselves off for some unknown reason, which meant that Aidan and I could actually do hand to hand combat without putting the others in danger. Aidan normally did things with tony in the Lab, but any physical training he did with cap. It was less messy that way, because it meant Steve was the only one who knew about our predicament.

On the last day, the Avengers had decided to organize a "friendly little competition". We basically just fought each other for first place. Not very creative, but it helped me know where my team was at.

There were two rounds, the first being pure strength, and the second was with our powers and gadgets. I tied in fourth place with Rachel when it came to pure strength, Jess finishing third, Aidan in second and Alexa taking first place. I had a nasty hand shaped bruise around my neck from Lexa, and it wasn't going away anytime soon. I'd taken to wearing scarves around the house.

Overall, Alexa was the best, Aidan, Jess and Rachel all tying for third, I came in fourth, followed by Hannah and Caleb.

Today was Saturday, and Aidan and Alexa were having it out in the bullet proof practice chamber. Alexa had Aidan in a head lock, but Aidan had his gun held to her head. The rest of us were watching from behind the glass as we stretched our sore muscles. Aidan and Lexa pulled away quickly, panting as they chased and pounced on one another like Simba and Scar.

I glanced up as Cap and the two master assassins plodded in wearily. Barton had a nasty looking cut above his right eye. Nat seemed to be her usual glowering self, but I noticed that she kept on wincing as she walked. Not good at all. Rogers, with a huge bruise on his arm and his wrist wrapped in gauze, plopped down on a nearby crate, absentmindedly rubbing his head.

The other Avengers were enjoying their day off, either meeting with friends or just hanging out with family.

I glided over to Steve, joining him on the crate. "You okay there, Cap?"

"'m'fine." He mumbled, glancing at Trickshot and Artix. "Aidan's for his sloppy. He should have more force behind his punches." He deadpanned, leaning his head back against the wall.

"I'm going to try something." I warned him, gently cradling his sprained wrist between my hands. He nodded, eyes closed. I concentrated on the task at hand, as thin wisps of green coloured energy twisted round my hands, then wrapped themselves around his wrist, disappearing like smoke. I pulled away a minute later, then unwrapped the bandages.

"Did you just heal my wrist?" he asked, opening one eye.

"Yeah, I think I did." I said in shock.

He nodded, then closed his eyes once more.

"Do you mind if I keep going?"

He shook his head. "No, but it tickles."

I smiled, then continued with my ministrations. He had a cracked rib, the bruise on his arm and a bad nock to the head. In the background, I could hear Clint and Nat arguing about something, oblivious the glowing green light that surrounded the Captain like an Alien creature.

As I finished healing Cap, I noticed my team had left for the showers. Cap had fallen asleep, no surprise there, given his various injuries, and the bowman was massaging Widow's back. I stood up, leaving a perfectly healthy but sleeping Steve behind on his crate.

"He okay?" Nat asked, chin in her hands.

"I patched him up. He's just tired." I explained, grabbing my gym towel from the hook.

Barton's head popped up. "You can heal people?"

"Somewhat. It honestly depends on the situation."

"Barton." Romanoff growled. He gave me a pleading look, placing his hand on her side. She swatted it away, but couldn't defend against the green wisps that swirled around the burn on her side. Before either could react, I'd healed her and the cut above Clint's eye, then walked out of the gym.

I headed straight to the showers, grabbing a change of clothes from my room before entering the steamy confines of the bathroom that the girls shared.

Turned the water on, allowing the hot liquid to ease my muscles, to wash away the pain of a new day. I t was oddly comforting, a hot shower. Not something I'd been able to have during my years at the facility.

Next thing I knew, my legs had given way, and I slid down the shower wall, unable to move. My eyes darted to the curtain where a shadow stood, head tilted, as if it could see me. It snapped its fingers, then turned and glided out of sight. My body tensed as my mouth opened in a silent scream.

I was Having A Flashback.