Happy Tuesday everybody! So far this is the longest chapter yet, but I enjoy re-reading it and editing for sure. It's fun to see what you create come to life!

Chapter 6:

If at First You

Don't Succeed...

You'll Probably Kill Each Other

"What or who are we looking for exactly?" Harlow questioned as she slipped her communication device in her right ear. Natasha drove smoothly down back alleyways, the only light in the dark coming from the headlights of the car. Soon, the car came to a stop, hidden from view. A large warehouse looming in the distance, a few scum ridden docks nearby.

"Fury has found that some of Shield's tech has gone missing. He's afraid we might have a mole..." the hazel eyed girl watched as Natasha put her own com in, then adjusted herself in the seat to where she could look the girl straight on. "We're to gather intel to see if it's true. There's been a tip that a sale is going down in that warehouse."

"I don't understand how I am going to be of help. Anyone could do this job."

"The best way to learn is to be in the field."

Harlow didn't argue as it went quiet, making sure to keep her breathing even as she called upon the other part of her. The picture before her became clearer, seeing a little farther than her own eyes normally could. Rain pattered against the the car, puddles forming on the ground. The pair sat in amicable silence for what seemed like eons, never seeing anyone coming or going.

"Stay here." Natasha told the girl, making to leave the vehicle.

"Romanoff, we're just supposed to survey. It could be a trap." Harlow panicked, heart beating a million miles a minute. The woman looked over at her, expression calm and collected, green eyes no less piercing than usual.

"If I'm not back in thirty, you take the car and go."

"But-" Before she could say another word, Natasha was out of the car, door shutting behind her. Harlow couldn't see where she went, the red-head already having blended in with the shadows. The blonde took a deep breath before moving over to the drivers seat, fingers now anxiously tapping on the wheel. Time ticked by, rain getting heavier as it did so.

"Romanoff are you there?" the girl tried the com, only hearing static in response. She did her best not to panic, continuing to wait as the woman requested. The building itself could be interfering with the connection, but Harlow's gut was trying to tell her otherwise.

Finally, the window Natasha had put on the girl to wait had come and gone. Harlow made to turn the keys to leave, but something nagged at her. Something told her to go find her partner, all while Natasha's voice rang in her head. 'If i'm not back in thirty, you take the car and go.'

"Sorry Romanoff..." She said to no one, pocketing the car keys. Rain pelted her like bullets as Harlow quickly and silently made her way to the warehouse. Sneaking in had been easy as she took a guard down who was on a smoke break, swiping his key card.

Her hair and clothes clung to her, but the girl ignored it, only focusing on the mission like she had been taught. Sniffing deep, she caught the familiar scent of her roommate...Along with something else that seemed familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. The halls were dimly lit, sometimes flickering lights were all the girl had as she swept the area's, following Romanoff's trail.

The trail led her further and further into the warehouse and Harlow began to wonder why she hadn't come across anyone else except for the one guard outside. It was odd, but maybe she had infiltrated the wrong area or what was worse, maybe they had Romanoff. Pushing back the panic, the girl continued forward, right hand ghosting the pistol hidden under her shirt at her back.

Smack.

Sounds of someone being hit caused her ears to prick up and Harlow breathed deep, Natasha's smell even stronger now. The girl remained hidden behind boxes, circling until she caught a view of the familiar figure. Two men held her tightly, while a third stood in front of her, smirking...So that had been the other smell, Agent Hendricks. Harlow swallowed hard, flinching slightly as she watched another smack come across the woman's face. Anger prickled all over the girl, every nerve in her on high alert.

"...No one is going to save you Romanoff...You are supposed to be the best and yet you fell right into this trap..."

"I don't need saving." She told him, a smirk on her face. However, from where the girl was, it looked as though Romanoff needed help. Harlow looked around for anything she could use, seeing a glass bottle, she tossed it away. It shattered on impact, startling the men. Hendricks gestured for the goons to investigate the noise, while he handled the red-head himself, gripping her by the face. All that Hendricks and Natasha heard were yelps of pain before being followed by silence.

"Who's here with you?" the beefy man commanded, giving her face a squeeze.

"No one." She found herself lifted off the ground, her feet swinging.

"Don't lie to me."

"Let her go." the man turned to see Harlow, holding out her gun in his direction. He merely smiled, chucking the woman to the ground. She cocked the gun as he tried to walk toward her. "Don't move. I should have known it was you. Always skulking where you weren't wanted. I'm just glad I get to kick your a** again."

"You think I'm afraid of you little girl? It is you who should be afraid of me." Harlow watched as he deftly pulled out his own gun, shooting Natasha. Her world stopped, hot tears springing to her eyes as she saw the woman stumble backwards into a crate, holding her abdomen. The women locked eyes and Natasha shook her head, as if she was telling Harlow not to worry about her. That she needed to worry about the threat in the room. She couldn't help herself and all but flew over to the woman only to hear a siren blare, followed by a robotic voice.

Simulation Terminated.

Soon, the entire area disintegrated into a large white training room, Hendricks fading away as he was just a part of the program. Natasha stood, brushing herself off, no trace of injury. Her expression was neutral, though her following tone said otherwise, coming out harsh and grating.

"What were you thinking?" It had been too easy and now Harlow knew why and internally she kicked herself for it. And apparently, Romanoff was going to as well.

"...Wait, you weren't. You make sure you complete your mission before anything else. What would have happened if it wasn't a sim?" Harlow could only stare at her feet, a lump in her throat, hot tears in her eyes, wolf like abilities long extinguished. She shouldn't have cared, she should have completed the mission, but part of the mission was watching your partner's back.

"...I hate you..." the girl whispered at first, causing the woman before her to stop her stony rant. Her green eyes took in Harlow's slumped posture, how her arms wrapped around her middle...She seemed to shrink further and further into herself.

"What?" Natasha asked her again, only to find herself internally startled at the heartbroken look in the girls eyes.

"...I said, I hate you. I hate that you made me go through that..." The lump in the girls throat caused a few tears to slip down her cheeks and she hastily wiped them away.

"I don't care about-" Her words were cut off as Harlow shoulder checked her, running out of the building. Natasha made to go after her, but she felt a familiar grip on her arm, Clint Barton standing next to her. He had been monitoring the entire simulation at Fury's request.

"Let her go."

"She failed Clint. How can I trust that she'll follow through on a real mission?" The man sighed, looking the woman head on.

"Have you ever thought that she feels you're a part of the mission?" Natasha rolled her eyes and gave into a mock laugh.

"That's ridiculous."

"The way I see it is this, she was told and trained to watch her partner's back. If it had been a real mission, she would have let herself die before anything happened to her partner."

"She has to learn Barton." He ran a hand over his face, knowing that right now Natasha wouldn't listen to his advice. She was too angry and on edge at the whole thing.

"She's not the only one Natasha."

"Goodnight Clint." The woman told him with a pat on the side of his arm before taking her leave. When she arrived at the car, she was surprised not to see Harlow in the passenger seat, but it was inevitable she supposed. Natasha shrugged, going to get in, noticing the car was locked and the keys were missing. Thankfully, she happened to have a spare on her, knowing Harlow probably had the others.

The drive was quiet, radio stations only mere static as the rain continued. Once she had finally made it home, Natasha was thankful to get out of her wet clothes. The cold had begun to seep into her bones and the warm apartment helped to chase that away.

After milling about in the kitchen for a snack but finding nothing to her liking, the red-head decided to put on one of her favorite films, relaxing under a blanket on the couch. However, her eyes would occasionally flicker to Harlow's bedroom door, wondering if she was going to come out. Though it would take a miracle, seeing how angry and hurt the girl was.

"...Just leave her be...She has to learn..." Her brain told her, frustration still bubbled in her chest. Eventually, Natasha gave up on trying to watch her movie, tired of continually looking at the girl's bedroom door. She turned everything off and went to bed herself, ignoring the warning that she needed to check on her roommate.

To say that the night was restless would be the understatement of the year thus far. Natasha swore that the night came and went as her alarm blared for her to wake up and get started on her pre-workout routine. Her eyes continually watched for Harlow to leave her room, but she never came. In the past year, they had acclimated to several things the other did.

One of which would be Harlow joining her now at 4:00 am and Natasha would coach her on her forms so she was getting the most out of the crunches, push-ups, and the like. For some reason she didn't realize, the red-head was antsy at the idea of not having the girl next to her. Though she wouldn't admit it out loud, it was nice to have somebody else as focused as she was. It kept her accountable for keeping in shape.

Finishing up about an hour later, Natasha promptly made herself a smoothie and then sat down on the couch. She bit her lip slightly as she kept her gaze on the door before grabbing the remote, turning on the television. Her fingers messed with the volume, turning it up a little too loud, in hopes that Harlow would wake up and come out of the room cussing her out like she usually did when she napped in the afternoon.

"What are you doing Nat?" The woman chided herself before taking a long drink of her breakfast. Connections were nothing but baggage...She shook her head, knowing that was the conditioning talking. Sh*t she had even made at least two friends, Barton and Fury. A lot of the agents usually gave her a wide birth, often causing the woman to feel sick to her stomach. It definitely wasn't something that she liked and when Harlow came along...

Often, it felt like it was hard to explain, at least to herself. She saw what she could have been if her younger years hadn't been stolen from her. But she also saw the potential in the girl, but maybe that's what scared her. That she was afraid that Harlow would turn out just like her, even more so when Fury assigned her to be the girls mentor. After that, she had relived some nightmares of the Red Room for sure, but that's what made her extra careful helping the girl to train. The last thing she wanted to do was rob the nineteen year old of her heart. Something Natasha had almost lost herself.

After finishing her smoothie and washing the blender, the red-head made her way to Harlow's door, giving a hard knock. Sometimes the girl slept hard and was almost impossible to wake. There was no answer and Natasha took that as a sign to enter. Flicking on the lights, her eyes caught the clothing littered floor, books stacked all over the nearby desk. Ignoring the sty of a room, she looked over at the bed to see there was no Harlow in it. It was no wonder why the girl never came out...

She hadn't come home.

Shoving away the panic that she felt at Harlow not coming home, Natasha did her best to carry on like normal. The woman began her jog to SHIELD HQ , something in Harlow's routine that she adapted herself. It helped to have the cool morning air in her lungs, her brain settling down, focusing on the exercise.

When she finally arrived, a few agents were also arriving early in the morning. The blonde would usually greet them, Natasha only nodded as she passed them. She only had one focus and that was to make her way to the gym and as she opened the door, she found her body sighed in relief.

Her green eyes caught a familiar blonde working a punching bag, face set in frustration. As she neared, Natasha could see the sweat rolling off the girls face in waves, her shirt completely soaked. Something told her that Harlow had already been working out for quite some time before she had arrived.

Harlow could feel someone watching her and her hackles rose, having a good idea of who it was. Briefly she looked over at her roommate and Natasha felt a pinch of fear, though her face didn't show it. The girls gaze was cold and angry, amplified by the bruising from her broken nose. That definitely hadn't been Natasha's intention, to cause the light in Harlow's hazel eyes to waver. Maybe there was some sense to what Barton had been talking about. Maybe the pair of them had started to care for one another, even if it was small.

"Adjust your stance. You're putting to much weight on your right leg and-"

"I don't need your help. Go away." Harlow spat, throwing another punch at the bag. Other agents, who had arrived to begin their workouts, took notice of the tension between the Widow and teen. Natasha rolled her eyes, her own irritation bubbling.

"How do you expect to get better if you don't let your mentor...mentor?" It was a weak attempt at a joke, but she could tell the girl wasn't in the mood for laughing. "You know what, forget it." Natasha shook her head, making her way out of the gym, crossing over the sparring mats.

"You know what your problem is?" The woman stopped, hairs on the back of her neck standing up. A warmth of concern and defense crossed over her body as Harlow's voice came from behind her. She dared to turn, seeing the girl toss her gloves off to the side. All the while stares widened from other agents, a new kind of silence falling over the gym.

"I have a feeling you'll tell me anyway."

"If you stopped for one second Romanoff, you might actually care about something." Harlow's brow furrowed, her teeth gritted. She didn't call forth her powers, wanting to settle the tension between them as the human part of herself. A mock smile appeared on Natasha's face, hands on her hips.

"And if you actually listened to me, you'd much less of a pain in the a** than you have been. You are nothing but a petulant, whining child. Rushing in without thinking. Letting your emotions get the better of you."

"At least I'm not afraid to show what I'm feeling instead of being a cold, unfeeling, shell of a person."

It was then Harlow regretted what she said as she felt a fist connect with her nose. The pain was excruciating, hot sticky iron began to run down her face. Once she blinked the tears out of her eyes, she saw Natasha locking her jaw, fists raised as she kept her stance.

The girl sniffed, wiping at her face smearing the blood and soaking her jacket sleeve. She dutifully accepted the challenge, ignoring the pain, getting herself into a ready stance. Murmurs filled the air, no one sure if they should stop the two woman or if they should let them be, afraid they'd themselves get ripped to pieces. They watched Harlow and Natasha circle each other a few times before the blonde threw a punch, which the other blocked.

"You'll have to do better than that." Natasha lectured, moving like lightning as she faked a punch making Harlow dodge, only to have Natasha's fist hit her solar plexus. All of the younger girls breath left her and it was made worse by her now broken nose.

Harlow lunged forward, pushing through her breathlessness, ducking quickly as Natasha tried to grab one of her arms. Her arms deftly wrapped around the red-heads waist, soon falling backward onto the mat, slamming the woman down. Natasha groaned, her mouth slightly agape almost as if Harlow shouldn't have dared. She watched as the blonde got back up, scrambling away from Natasha's leg hook.

It was hard to tell at points where one blow started and one ended between the fighting pair. However, it was one move that caused the room to collectively gasp and remain silent with baited breath. Harlow watched Natasha's fist fly at her almost as if in slow motion and she moved just enough to catch it and she watched the red-head's eyes widen slightly.

She knew what was coming...Of course she did, it was the move she had taught the girl only a week prior. Before she could blink, she was on the ground, Harlow's legs around her neck, pulling her arm tight. Natasha struggled to get out of the grip, her body exhausted and with regret, she tapped on the girl's legs. Harlow let the woman go, getting to her feet, panting like mad. Everyone who had been watching was speechless, but also unsure if the match was truly over. And sure enough, a few seconds later...

"You...Give...Give...Up?" Harlow choked, blood still dripping onto her clothes and mixing with sweat. Fear peaked in her as she saw a smirk appear on Natasha's face before she spun on the mat, leg sweeping the girl. She landed with a loud, reverberating smack on the vinyl. The pair now laid next to each other, just trying to catch their breath. Both of them bruised and sore.

"Natasha..." The woman looked over at the blonde, her face red from exertion and blood. Harlow looked the woman in the eye, a few tears in her own. Some from the pain and some from the conviction she felt of how she spoke earlier. "I'm sorry for what I said...It's not...It's not true..."

"And you're not that much of a pain in the a**." She watched as the girl snickered only to scrunch her eyes in pain. "We should get that seen to." Natasha got up and offered the girl a hand, which she promptly took.

"What, you don't want to fix it this time?" Harlow mused as she let the woman guide her along.

"No. I painted my nails last night, don't want to ruin them...Besides, it's broken. Not just out of place like the last time..."

"Well I'm so sorry for the inconvenience that you caused." She watched as the woman rolled her eyes. "Seriously, your face is going to get stuck like that." Once again, Harlow heard the woman make a stifled noise and it was then she realized that Natasha was holding back laughter.

"Hey-" Natasha started out, unsure of how to really continue. However, it seemed the girl picked up on her inadequacies and made the transition easier as they entered a nearby elevator.

"You know, I am starving. After staying in Nick's office last night, he had nothing good to eat. Why don't we get some coffee or something after the med ward?" She watched as Natasha fought back a smile and the girl sighs. "He's behind me...isn't he?"

I can picture Fury's face just being like: -_-

I'm sure at some point off-screen someone had to have been pranking him and a bunch of other people. xD

Thanks for reading and I'll see you guys next week!