The alarm on her phone went off at the same time it did every weekday morning. Groaning, Natasha hit the snooze button and rolled onto her side. Warmth from the other side of the bed made her start for a moment until she remembered that she was not alone in the room. The room wasn't hers either! "What is that?" groused a mound that was all but hiding under the duvet.
"That, sleeping beauty, is the sound of humanity calling. It's time to go to work," she said. There was a muttered grumble from the covers and she couldn't help the grin on her face.
"What about the drug?" He rolled onto his back and scooted out of the covers so she could see his face.
"It's been over seventy two hours and I slept through the night," she said.
"You don't feel it?" he asked. She was sure she could detect a hint of disappointment in his voice when he spoke.
She shook her head, "It's still there but it's not all consuming as it was before," she said, "It's different." He grumbled again and she sat up. "I need to be there today, there are a bunch of new recruits who need a few things explaining to them," she said.
"I need to go with you?" he asked. She thought he knew the answer to that already but she gave him a nod anyway.
"I'm going to shower, coffee and breakfast can happen there," she said. Bucky nodded and she heard him mumbled something incoherent. It brought a soft smile to her lips before she scooted out the bed and headed off to the shower.
He had given her a ride on the back of his motorbike back to the base and it had been rather nice. The weather was such that it made for perfect riding conditions too. The morning sun was warm but not stifling and it lit up the city in a way she had never really appreciated before. The fact that a simple thing like riding on the back of the bike could make her smile was something in itself, smiling generally wasn't her thing, feeling generally wasn't either but this weekend she had done so. More so that in the previous years it would seem, the emotions had been a wide range of both negative and positive and if she was going to be honest with herself, she was looking forward to some quiet time to be able to think through everything that had happened. She was sure James felt the same.
By the time she'd had coffee and a bite to eat, she felt miles better, almost her old self again. Striding into the meeting room, she knew she looked the same. The same gasp of air and the shuffling of the recruits said they still felt the same way about her. "Good Morning," she said.
"Glad you could join us," Steve was at the other end of the room and she strode over to him, "How was New Mexico?"
"Vigorous," she replied, unable to keep the twinge out of her voice. Steve raised an eyebrow but made no further comment about it.
"Good to have you back," he said, "Going to get them doing cardio this morning, that sun will certainly be too hot for them this afternoon."
She picked up the name list and nodded, "Will do them some good, I want to keep a couple behind for some more advance combat, I have someone here who can help with that," she added. If James thought he was going to get away with sitting about today then he needed to think again, he may as well lend a hand if he was around! He stood at the doorway leaning against it as though he belonged there when Steve looked around. She saw his face light up and the embarrassed little smile that touched his lips, if not his eyes.
Letting Steve speak to his friend, her attention turned to the recruits, "I want Julia and Peter to stay here, the rest of you, circuits." There was no questioning the command in her voice and the recruits headed off to the circuit. The two who she had asked to remain behind were the best fighters they had so far. Their discipline was exceptional and she had been impressed with the bouts they had displayed in the past. They had also shown level headedness and knew when to stop unlike some of the others.
"You two are going to spar together," she said. She wanted James to see this. She beckoned him over after Steve left to deal with the other recruits. The way he sauntered over forced her to repress a smile and she gestured at the recruits, "Pop your coffee down, watch these two," she said. He did as she asked before standing beside her.
"I'm not good at training people," he said.
"Watch none the less," she said. He shrugged and she gestured for the two recruits to begin their spar. They did as they were asked and she watched James almost as much as she watched them. The expression on his face was one of complete concentration, one that she found to be utterly sexy.
"Do you mind?" he asked. She shook her head and he unfolded his arms. "I'm not really dressed for this today but never mind, what's your name?" he asked, speaking to the girl.
"Julia," she replied.
"OK Julia, I want you to kick me in the same manner you just did to…" he waved at the lad.
"Peter,"
"Thanks, kick me as you did him." She looked to Nat for a moment and she nodded, encouraging her to do so. Julia then threw her best kick at James' chest. He caught the leg in a swift movement, yanked it forward sending her off balance and stepped to the side. Julia hit the floor. "As I thought, you need to recoil that leg quicker otherwise this could happen." He held out his metal hand to help her rise, which she took and then stepped back.
"Thought you said you were no good at this," she said. She watched him press his lips together and he shrugged.
"I had to make a point of that," he said.
"Continue," she said to the two recruits. They did so and once more they resumed watching their technique. Nat was forced to agree that they were clean in their movements, both of them clearly had background in these arts and that was easy to see from how they circled one another. Both of them were competent and Julia seemed to act instantly on Bucky's advice, her leg now recoiling much faster than it had done before. Natasha offered a couple of pointers to Peter and briefed both of them, informing them that when the others returned, they were going to showcase their new skills to the rest of the group and then teach them what they had learned themselves. She then turned to James and said, "Maybe we could show them a thing or two."
He looked down at the jeans he was currently wearing and shrugged, "Not really dressed for it, can do if you want though," he said. She nodded, already looking forward to that particular session in a few minutes time.
