Chapter 7: I Can Do This All Day Part 1

"I can't believe you let her talk us into this."

I turned to Happy Hogan.

"She's the daughter of a family friend, I thought I'd help her out." I said, smiling as Happy and I watched Michelle hit a punching bag.

Happy sighed.

"So how are we gonna do this?" He asked.

I crossed my arms.

"You teach her boxing, I do archery?"

Happy shook his head.

"Do you know why she wants to do it?"

I rested my hand on my chin.

"Because she's a tough kid."

Happy shook his head.

"Peters gone. I think it has to do with that."

I turned to Happy, confused.

"He was on a mission with Sam, James and Scott. Things went south and he stayed back. The base exploded. He's MIA."

I turned back to Michelle. She appeared angry, hitting the bag as hard as she could.

I nodded.

"Vengeance is a shitty motivator. Trust me, I know."

Happy shook his head.

"It's not vengeance. A desire to help maybe. Or perhaps it's fear. I guess only time will tell." Happy said, strapping his boxing gear on.

He walked over to Michelle, tapping her on the shoulder and leaving me with my thoughts.

——————

3 nights.

I'd gone 3 nights without leaving my lab when she walked in.

I heard the door slide open behind me.

The Mark 86 armour, my latest project, lay on the table in front of me.

"Tony..."

Pepper walked up behind me, wrapping her arms around my waist and resting her head on my shoulder.

"You need to come out."

My arms were resting on the table, my head down.

"Tony, it's been 3 days and everyone's getting worried."

I sighed, long and deep.

"I can't face them Pep."

Pepper sighed.

"Sam can't face you, Tony. He feels so guilty..." Pepper paused. "He knows the kid means a lot to you."

My hands turned to fists.

"I've lost him already. Then he lost me. I told him if he died, that'd be on me. I worked through that guilt already Pepper. I didn't think I'd go through it again."

"He's not dead Tony. If anyone can find him, it's you."

"Boss, something's come up!"

——————

"Come on, I know you can shoot straighter than that."

I tapped Michelle's bow up as she shot, this time actually hitting the target.

She scoffed.

"Don't blame me. I've never done this before."

"And I'm used to training people worse than you. Again."

She drew an arrow from her quiver, pulled back and shot.

She hit the target again.

I smiled.

"Keep this up, and maybe you'll be almost as good as me."

Michelle rolled her eyes.

"Are you really serious about doing this Michelle? I'm perfectly willing to stay and help, as us Happy. I just don't want this to be something you're not sure of."

Michelle's eyes widened at the question.

"Why wouldn't it be serious?"

"A lot of kids want to be superheroes, if I'm training the next Hawkeye, I want to be sure she is 100% willing and committed to do it."

I stuck my hand out.

Michelle grasped it firmly.

"I am."

I smiled.

"Good. Now get back to shooting."

2 weeks later...

Summer was coming to a close, but I was determined to keep up my training.

Over the course of two weeks I managed to bulk up a bit (I could easily lift 40 pounds in each arm now) and I could consistently hit Clint's target.

"Again!"

A flurry of punches towards Happy Hogan.

"Good. Again!"

I punched him again.

"Again!"

Happy had lost weight from the constant training I noticed.

"Again!"

I fell into a rhythm. Every few punches, Happy would yell.

"Again!"

We'd probably keep this up another 10 minutes and Happy would call a water break.

"Again!"

I found myself thinking of Peter.

Stark had a lead on Rumlow, and if there was a lead on him, there was a chance of finding Peter.

I couldn't imagine what he's probably going through.

And so I punched harder.

A little fatigue wasn't going to stop me. I'd need to endure more to do what I want to do.

"Again!"

Sam and Stark. I heard about his outburst after they returned.

And Rhodes.

Getting his suit torn through by someone who just doesn't know how to die.

How frustrating that must be.

"Again!"

Clint was surprisingly willing to teach me.

I approached him, asked him if he could train me and he said yes.

That was it.

He went to school with my mom. I'd only met him a couple of times before hand.

Now he knows my motives. To help Peter when he gets back.

If anything from this episode is clear.

Peter needs someone to watch his back.

I plan on being that person.

And so I punched harder. I ran harder. I worked on my aim.

My name is Michelle Jones.

3 weeks ago, I was a regular school girl spending time with her irregular boyfriend.

Now, I'm going to become the next Hawkeye.

If only it didn't take so long to train.

Happy lowered his hands.

I was so lost in my thoughts, I punched him square in the nose.

"Shit!" Happy cried as blood spilled from his nose.

The gloves dropped from my hand instantly.

"Happy?!? My god I'm so sorry!!"

I ran over to him, trying to help him up.

"Don't worry about it. Tony's done it a few times, and I'd be a bad bodyguard if I hadn't been in a few scraps." He said, straightening himself.

He pointed over to our bench outside the boxing ring.

"Can you get me a paper towel?" He asked.

I ran over and grabbed the roll, ripping a piece off and giving it to him.

He sat down on the bench, placing the towel over his nose.

"I assume this means our session is over?" I asked, starting to remove my gear.

Happy shook his head and stood up.

"What is it Steve used to say? 'I can do this all day'? Get back in the ring Jones." He said, smiling.

I nodded and climbed back in.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y. can you bring up a training dummy in the ring please?"

"Of course Mr. Hogan."

In front of me, a holographic dummy appeared.

"It's made of hard light. You can hit it. It was for Steve. Now Sam, Scott and Clint mainly use it."

I poked it, my finger hitting it as if it were solid.

I may not be overly fond of Tony Stark, but the man is a genius.

I started hitting it, harder than I was hitting Happy.

Tony better find that dork soon. He's gonna be surprised by how strong the fist that hits him is gonna be.

"You can make it look like different people. It can even fight back." Happy called from the bench.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y.?" Id never addressed the AI before.

"Yes Ms.Jones?"

"Can you make this thing look like Crossbones...Brock Rumlow?"

"Of course."

The dummy morphed, becoming the bulky black and white bone painted criminal.

Much better.

I started punching it harder, letting the projected image of the man feel my wrath, my rage, my fury.

My pain.

All the while, Happy Hogan sat on the bench. His face expressionless, but deep down he was worried for Michelle Jones.

A/N: Apologies for the long gap between updates. I was camping for the past week and was unable to write. I'll be back to cranking out some chapters soon though, as I've got a plan at least for the next few.

I've got a few characters waiting to be introduced, as well as something I thought would be fun (like MJ as the new Hawkeye).

I've also got a few spin off story ideas floating around in my head.

As always, thanks for the continued support. Feel free to leave a review and if you are interested in spin off stories from this, let me know (as it is an AU).

Thanks for reading, and I hope you continue to enjoy,

~Maca56