Author's Note: To the Sif and Thor thing: they were married in the Mythos and got shacked up a lot in the Marvel verse. In the movie it seems like they try to make a nod to that, cus Sif is always half a step behind Thor, not to mention the whole 'Live-Sif,-while-I-touch-your-face -and-ask-you-not-to-die-fighting-a-impossible-battle-against-a-killer-robot' scene between Sif and Thor. That's my reasoning, I'm reading in-between lines here. So it's not totally out of character. It could happen. Maybe. This is how I'm explaining it anyway. I'm trying to make drama.

Please continue to let me know what you guys think! When I drag my corpse home from a rough day at work and see your reviews, it makes my day. Anyway, on with the drama!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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Chapter 10: Pain and Gain

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The room was spinning. Why was the room spinning?

Rooms shouldn't spin, not unless it was a freaky carnival ride or part of a Nancy Drew novel. Jane groaned. The ceiling had started doing some sort of complex ring-around-the-rosie technique and she closed her eyes to keep them from rolling right out of her head. Jane took deep breaths. She was sore all over and her body refused to comply with her brain's desire to move. Something poked at her side and she opened her eyes. Natasha's concerned face hovered above her, forehead creased.

"You okay?" Natasha said, poking again at Jane's inert body with a finger to be sure nothing was broken, "We can stop practicing take downs and go back to working on holds if you're not ready."

Jane rolled over and got to her feet. "I'm good. Let's try it again."

Natasha still looked a little doubtful. "Don't worry if you don't get this on the first go. Take your time. Batman wasn't created in a day."

Jane put her hands on her hips and blew a sweaty strand of hair out of her eyes. "Did whoever trained you go easy on you?"

Natasha snorted. "Ever see Kill Bill?"

"Yes."

"Well my Master, if he can even be called that, made Pai Mei look like a harmless guppy."

Jane shuddered. "Well, you don't have to go that hard on me."

"If I did, I think Darcy would murder me in my sleep or poison my coffee," Natasha said, chuckling.

Jane didn't argue with her. Her demure little assistant had dark side that had a smart mouth and frequently tasered Thunder Gods.

"Okay, again," Jane said, raising her hands and sinking into a crouch.

Natasha bounced lightly on the balls of her feet and darted towards Jane. Jane's brain registered the fact that Natasha was still moving slow enough for her to still be able to process things, watch the way she moved her feet and used her weight, but she was still incredibly fast. Natasha hooked her arm around Jane's and twisted, thrusting her hip into the astrophysicist's stomach.

Jane tried to grip both of Natasha's wrists and block, but it was too late. Natasha dropped to the mat with a graceful spin, and once again Jane found herself flat on her back on the gym mat. Jane was grateful that Natasha controlled her fall; she'd seen the Black Widow use the very same move to break a man's neck.

"Ouch."

Natasha helped her up and Jane straightened the hem of her black gym capris, shaking her head at the sight of yet another bruise that was forming on her body. Training with Natasha was rough but it also left her exhausted enough to sleep through the night. It left her so sore and tired that her body didn't have the energy to create the nightmares that usually stopped her heart with terror and would yank her from sleep. It was hard, but it was so worth it. She felt stronger and more sure of herself. She knew she was still a tiny fish in the sea of Avengers that could probably take down a dinosaur with their pinky fingers, but it was still a start.

"Okay," Jane said, crouching, "Again."

"Hook your arm," Natasha said, demonstrating the hold, "Use the body's torque to spin and throw so that when you drop down and roll, their own momentum does most of the work for you."

Jane's scientific mind processed the science of it as she flew through the air for the fourth or fifth time, but her practical mind muttered that it was going to be a long time before she stopped getting her ass kicked and started making progress. She landed on the mat hard and the air left her lungs in a woosh.

"You're getting there," Natasha said, trotting over to help her up.

"Be careful. Thor will not be a happy panda if his hunny bunny looks like Mike Tyson after getting knocked out by Buster Douglas. And lemme tell you, you're on your way to it boss lady."

Jane raised her head off of the mat as Natasha extended her hand, and saw Darcy striding into the room, toting a bag of muffins and wearing the rattiest sweater Jane had ever seen.

Darcy's mom made knitted sweaters for her daughter on a regular basis and Jane's assistant refused to get rid of any of them. Therefore Jane thought she knew every single one of them, but this garish purple and pink creation was a new one. Pepper followed Darcy in, expertly balancing several cups of coffee and wearing a very practical looking set of gym clothes consisting of a black spandex top and shorts.

"Break time," Pepper called, "We come bringing breakfast gifts of coffee and muffins."

Jane took her muffin and stuck her face in it, inhaling deeply. Mmm, blueberry goodness made the previously painful and sweaty world she'd been existing in turn to a lovely sugary fruity confection one. The group sprawled out on the mats with their muffins and coffee, and soon Jane's body began to forget that it was being used as a punching bag and instead began to concentrate on breakfast.

"So," Darcy asked, slathering butter on her muffin, "How's my wee grasshopper doing?"

Natasha winked at Jane before answering, "Making progress. She could defend herself admirably against Big Bird should he decide Sesame Street wasn't for him and go into the mercenary business."

"Hey!" Jane said, "I'd like to think I could take on all of Sesame Street all at the same time."

"I don't know," Pepper said thoughtfully, "The Count would probably challenge you to a numbers game, and Big Bird would molt to create a defensive smoke screen."

Darcy nodded. "I read a blog once that said that Sesame Street was a cover story for a secret government infiltration unit."

Natasha moved on to her second cup of coffee and nodded sagely. "I always knew Elmo was shady."

Jane snorted, her childhood suddenly becoming more convoluted if she factored in the possibility of muppet spies.

"I don't know for sure about the feather screen, but the Count has nothing on me," Jane muttered, "I could number his brains out and then some. I would destroy him with math."

"That, I have no doubt about," Darcy muttered. "Your brain is scary smart."

"Just because I have a PhD in math and astrophysics does not make my brain scary."

Darcy snorted. "Um, it totally does."

Natasha drained her cup and brushed off the muffin crumbs on her red and black leotard. "Okay kiddies, play time is over. Jane, you're running with Pepper. How fast can you do a mile?"

Jane made a valiant effort to swallow the sticky muffin chunk she'd shoved into her mouth when Natasha stood.

"Um, I cahn phiniff won?"

Pepper choked on her coffee. "Well, it's good that you can finish one. We'll time you and see how you do."

"Okay." Jane stood and stretched, working out the kinks her muscles had formed in the brief time she'd been sitting.

Jane followed Pepper out the door, shaking her head. She was glad they were taking this so seriously.

Natasha was willing to take time out of her busy schedule to train her, and now Pepper let her tag along on her morning runs. Their help certainly made her feel better. When she'd initially asked (or rather Darcy had done the asking for her) Natasha to help her, she hadn't thought in a thousand years that Natasha would even say yes or that Pepper would jump on the band wagon as well. Not that she was complaining. Jane had clung to this new budding thing like it was air to breath.

The four women were forming a new camaraderie that was rapidly solidifying into something stronger, a friendship that Jane wouldn't trade for anything.

Her friends got her through her days, and now when she thought she saw green eyes winking at her from her bathroom mirror, she stuck her tongue out at them and mimed a Judo take down.

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Nick Fury shut Erik Selvig's white hospital door with a soft click.

The old man had regained consciousness sometime ago, and while he was still not all together there, he did have the best doctors and therapists the world had to offer. Not to mention a new set of teeth.

It wouldn't be long, would not be long until they would understand how Loki's so called 'magic' worked. The war was just beginning. There were reports, rumors brewing of things Nick Fury's practical mind did not want to even consider. But he had to believe them; he couldn't not. Better be prepared for something and have it not happen, than be caught with his pants down.

And Nick Fury did not get caught with his pants down.

The Avengers would need all of the help they could get, if they wanted to survive.

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To be continued...