The next morning, Laura was pulling up to an abandoned warehouse in East Los Angeles.

It was the address Nat gave her which she confirmed based on the SHIELD agents guarding the perimeter.

She drove to the entrance between two unmarked SHIELD cars.

They had finished cleaning up the mess of the Expo.

Pepper had Hammer arrested on site for working with Vanko.

They also helped pay the medical bills for all that were injured because of the drones and paid for the damages to the grounds.

She was happy Pepper had decided to stay on as CEO.

She got out as the dust settled around her and saw her standing by the door with her hands clasped.

"Good. You're right on time." Nat told her.

"Yeah, sorry for robbing you the opportunity to drag me out of my house again." she joked which Nat ignored.

"Director Fury is inside." she nodded towards the building.

"Joy." she mumbled and Nat escorted Laura inside where she saw him sitting in the middle of a circle of holographics.

"Watson." he greeted with a nod.

"Fury." she nodded back.

She sat down across from him and Nat sat down next to him.

"I brought you here because this is Agent Romanoff's assessment of you. Read it." he slide a vanilla folder across the table to her hands.

"Assessment?" she frowned, reading AVENGERS INITIATIVE PREMLIMIARY REPORT on the cover but opened it and read it out loud.

"Personality overview: Ms. Watson displays tendencies paranoia and…"

"I mean hello all of you guys justify that." she gestured her finger between them and the two shared a look.

"Prone to acting before thinking of the consequences…" she frowned at that.

"You pointed a gun at me after I warned you not too…" Nat pointed out, seeing the confusion on her face.

"You trespassed into my house." she argued.

"Regardless. You pointed a gun with unknown intentions at my most skilled agent. Most people who've done that don't live to tell about it." Fury agreed.

"Whatever…" she muttered and continued to read the file

"However she speaks multiple languages and displays the ability to work together in a cooperative. Laura Watson also has a full recommendation from Agent Coulson." Laura Watson: YES" she smiled at Phil's recommendation and placed the folder down on the table.

"How do you know I speak multiple languages? I didn't tell you that?" she asked Nat.

"I doubt Russian was the first one you learned. Let me guess… Spanish?" she asked knowingly.

"Si." She admitted.

"Again, what makes you think I'm gonna change my opinion?" she crossed her arms.

"Mr. Stark has agreed to be our consultant." Fury replied.

"Really?" she asked surprised.

"Yes. We'd like to bring you in. To help us bring this online…" Fury slid another folder to her.

She glanced through it and went wide eyed at what they were building.

"So what happens if I accept?" she asked cautiously.

"Agent Romanoff will be your handler and also your personal trainer." Fury titled his head towards Nat.

"Trainer?" she frowned.

"Director, may we have the room?" Nat asked professionally.

He raised and eyebrow at her but got up.

"Sure. Ms. Watson." he nodded and walked out, leaving the two alone.

"Look. I may not know what exactly happened in that cave but I have ideas on what you were willing to do." Nat stated bluntly.

"So?" she leaned back and crossed her arms.

"It impressed me. You don't have a suit, or any special powers. I like that." Nat complimented with a shrug.

Laura paused for a moment to think about the offer.

"Fine. I guess I shouldn't say no to the world's deadliest assassin." she joked and the two shook hands.

"We can split the sessions between here and D.C. You're familiar with The Triskelion right?" Nat asked her.

"Yeah, actually Tony, Rhodey and I are being honored at a ceremony in Washington in two days anyway." she answered.

"Perfect. I'll come and get you afterwards. This is yours, by the way." she reached for her pocket and pulled her revolver out.

"My gun!" she smiled and took it from her.

She placed it in her leather jacket pocket but Nat leaned over the table

"That will be the last time you ever aim a weapon at me." she warned her seriously while narrowing her eyes at her.

She swallowed at the sharp tone in her voice, kinda afraid of her and sank in her chair.

"Yeah... got it."


Early the next morning, Laura was sleeping in her bed when her Stark phone began to vibrate, waking her up.

She reached over to her side table to place a hearing aid in and swiped open the call.

"Hello…" she greeted grouchily with her eyes closed.

"Is this Laura Watson?" she heard a African accented man ask.

She opened her eyes to see "Unknown Number" on the screen.

"Yes…" she looked over to see 3:12AM on her alarm clock.

"And do you know what time it is?" she asked annoyed while slouching into her pillow.

"I apologize for the hour Ms. But I have been trying to reach you for quite some time." he replied.

"Yeah well I don't answer strange numbers so this better be good because I'm about to hang up…" she yawned.

"Yes, yes. It concerns my donation to your charity." he clarified.

"Your donation?" she frowned.

"I donated $5 million a few weeks ago. Anonymously." he added and she jolted upwards.

"You did? Wait… who are you?" she asked surprised.

"My name is Prince T'Challa Udaku… of Wakanda." Laura paused for a moment in shock.

"Who…?"


The next day, in Washington D.C.

Laura was standing between Tony and Rhodey were standing side by side outside in front of a crowd of reporters.

Senator Stern was presenting their award at the podium for their actions in stopping the drones and Vanko.

"It is my honor to be here today to present these distinguished awards to Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes, Ms. Laura Watson and and Mr. Tony Stark, who are, of course, national treasures." he said through gritted teeth and Laura smirked at how forced that sound.

He picked up three medals and walked over to Rhodey.

"Thank you Lieutenant Colonel, for such an exceptionally distinguished performance. You deserve this." he pinned it on his uniform.

"Thank you sir." he shook his hand.

"Ms. Watson. Thank you for such as exceptionally distinguished performance. You deserve this. " he pinned the medal on her suit jacket.

"Thank you senator." she said smugly while shaking his hand.

"Mr. Stark. Thank you for such as exceptionally distinguished performance. You deserve this. " he pricked the pin through his skin, causing him to wince.

"Oh, sorry. Funny how annoying a little prick can be, isn't it? Let's get a photo." Stern put his arms around them and a photographer rushed up in front of them.

Laura smiled and Tony made a peace sign.

She checked her watch and sighed.

"You guys head out. I've got an appointment." she told Tony and Rhodey.

"You do? Here?" Tony asked surprised.

"Unfortunately." she mumbled while hugging Rhodey.

"Alright. See you tomorrow."

She grabbed her duffle bag that contained her sweats at the back of the stage and walked through the crowd and towards the road.

At the end of the manicured lawn she saw Nat leaning against a parallel parked SHIELD car.

"God you can't give me five minutes?" she rolled her eyes.

"I wasn't going to let you sneak away." she replied.

"I wasn't going to. I signed up for this. Now let's get my ass kicked." she sighed, not looking forward to it.

"You're not ready for that yet." Nat told her.

"Not ready?" she frowned as she opened the passenger door.

"Not even close."


Nat drove her over to The Triskelion which was SHIELD Headquarters.

The massive complex on a manmade island of the Potomac.

Split between three glass towers that were as tall as the Washington Monument with a large building connecting them all at the base.

Nat parked in the garage under the river and the two got out.

She scanned her SHIELD id into the double doors and they walked into the lobby.

"So I thought I was going to learn how to fight? Why are we not doing that today?" she asked, kinda disappointed as they entered the huge lobby with a glass roof multiple floors above them.

She couldn't help but notice the curious gazes from other agents towards her as they walked through the crowd.

"Because you need to build up your core strength first." Nat answered.

"I was working out with Happy for…" she began but Natt stopped and turned around on her feet right in front of her so their eyes met.

"If you're feeling so confident do I need to give you another demonstration?" she reminded her and Laura could hear the taunt in her voice.

"Net." she frowned.

"You don't need to speak in Russian with me." she told her.

"I like to practice. You're the only Russian I know and besides I hardly get to use it unless I'm breaking into firewalls or when they're trying to steal our shit." she shrugged her shoulders and Nat smirked slightly.


An hour later, Laura has changed into her sweats and a t shirts and the two were currently in one of the gyms.

Nat had reserved it for them and it consisted of a workout room and a boxing ring in the corner.

Laura was currently on the bench press, clutching the barbell with her shaking arms as she tried lifting the weight up.

Nat had taught her the proper forms how to use the equipment as they went through them.

Her whole body and shirt was drenched in sweat.

It was only the first session but it was brutal.

Nat was brutal.

Her arms were shaking with the weights on the bench press.

Nat was standing behind her with her arms crossed while looking down at her.

"You should be able to finish this set. This isn't heavy." she said unimpressed.

"You said that three sets go!" she exclaimed while failing to lift the weights back into place.

Nat grabbed the grips from her and placed the weights down.

Laura sank into the bench, panting with exhaustion.

"You're being dramatic, Laura." she said as she stared down at her.

"I'm not like you Natasha. I didn't choose any of this." she nodded down at her legs.

Nat shook her head as she shifted upwards.

"You don't know the first thing about me. You're far from the first person to have bad things happen to you. Now stop using it as an excuse because I know you're stronger than this." she spoke louder, trying to encourage her.

"Okay…" she nodded and shifted off the bench.

She heard her phone vibrate in her duffle bag on the floor and walked over to it.

"Pardon me." she walked past her to answer the text.

"We're not done." Nat said unamused.

"Relax. It's related to my charity and… done." she placed it back in her bag.

Nat raised an eyebrow but decided not to ask about it.

"Alright. So what's next?" she asked.

"We're actually done for the day. I just don't want you distracted by your phone in our sessions." she answered and Laura tossed her arms up in annoyance but felt the sourness shoot through her arms.

"Ah…" she winced, immediately dropping them.

"I see you survived her first torture session." a man's voice spoke up.

The two turned around to see a man who looked in his mid thirties with sandy brown hair leaning in the doorway.

"Don't encourage her." Nat told him.

"I'm sorry. I don't know you." Laura said.

"Clint Barton. Her partner." he walked over and the two shook hands.

"Ah, Laura Watson."

"Yeah I figured that."" he smiled.

"Agent Romanoff. Got a minute?" they heard Fury from the entrance.

"Yes, sir." she nodded and headed towards him.

Laura reached down for her water bottle and Clint leaned into her ear.

"If it makes you feel any better the fact that she agreed to train you, a civilian who she doesn't have to, it means she likes you." he whispered.

"She has a funny way of showing it." she muttered and he smiled.

"Yeah, she does." he said but noticed the hearing aids in her ears.

She glanced her eyes to where he was staring at, feeling self-conscious about it but he quickly glanced away.

"Sorry it's just Natasha told me about you and I'm struggling with hearing loss myself. It comes with the job." he explained and she nodded.

"Yeah I get that." she shrugged her shoulders and he nodded in understanding.

"So are you planning on popping in here more?" he asked.

"Yeah when I'm not back out in Los Angeles." she replied.

"I'll see you around then. Good luck." he smirked.

She frowned as he walked out.


For the next month, Laura had fallen into a routine.

Taining with Nat, working on the top secret project for SHIELD with Fury between D.C. and Los Angeles.

Working as Stark continued to grow and when she was in D.C. she continued to run into Clint.

She liked him.

After all anyone who was Nat's partner had to be good at their job.

She also did begin to notice some results after a month of Nat's training.

They were walking her into the training room they had been using in The Triskelion.

"So what are we doing today?" she asked.

"Something different…" she pointed towards the punching bag hanging from the ceiling and she smiled widely.

"Don't get too excited. I need to teach how to throw a punch." she lowered her expectations.

"I know how to throw a punch." she frowned.

"Do you…?" she asked knowingly again and she sighed.

"I suppose you're going to tell me how…" they walked over to the bag and Laura looked around.

"So what no tape?" she asked.

"Agents don't use tape for their hands in the field. These techniques are to keep you alive in life and death situations. Not for boxing with Hogan." she said seriously.

"Alright geez. So let's get started?"


The summer of 2011 flew by for Laura with her busy schedule and the next thing she knew it was fall.

Her workload had increased thanks to an idea from Pepper actually, not Tony.

Using Arc Reactor technology to power a building.

A tower in New York.

Laura loved the idea of a Stark tower as a part of the skyline so she and her were working hard to secure a prime location by Grand Central with the city and state officials.

The work on the top secret project with Fury was also on schedule.

She was also make more progress with Nat, despite his best efforts, than she ever could with Happy.

Her arms and core strength were becoming toned with muscle and they had worked their way to her teaching her moves that agents used on the field.

Nat was surprisingly patient with her and a good teacher.

Always asking her questions and correcting her mistakes.

The two spent a lot of time together.

And she could tell there was something growing between them.

She almost wanted to say a friendship even though she really didn't know anything about her personal life outside of SHIELD.

Clint always popped in, knowing when she was in town.

She was also in contact with Prince T'Challa.

The Prince of Wakanda.

She had mentioned she was also Wakandan so the two remained in touch via text mostly.

She liked him.

What she didn't know was Nat observing her smiles when she would answer his texts during their sessions.

Today though Nat was driving her in the countryside of Virginia which confused her.

"So what are we doing?" she asked her in the passenger seat.

"Well you're always saying how good with a gun I need to prove that." she answered.

Laura smiled as Nat turned off the road and into a dirt parking lot, pulling up to a SHIELD shooting range.

They got out and Nat brought out two rifles from the trunk.

The shooting range itself was designed for long distance shooting and it was over a mile long.

The targets were already in place as they climbed onto the roof and Nat gave her the gun.

"So what are we doing on the roof?" she asked confused as the two laid down side by side on the slated wooden roof.

"Field agents often have to take out targets in tough positions. Often urban ones. What you need to do is hit each bullseye the first time." she said while giving her five 6.5mm bullets.

"Now we're talking…" she smiled and eagerly placed one in the chamber.

They laid down so they were sloped downwards but she placed out the stand for the rifle.

After taking off her glasses and she closed her eye and peaked into the scope.

Nat peaked into hers as she shifted the gun over to where the first target was.

"You have one shot." Nat warned.

She aimed at the bullseye and fired.

Nat looked through the scope to see she hit the middle.

"Not bad… Let's see if you can do it again…" Laura looked over to her and their eyes met.

She placed another bullet into the chamber and aimed for another target.

"So I read your file…" Nat began.

"You said as much." Laura said uninterested and took another shot.

"I'm just saying… you're not as good at hiding it as you think you are." Nat said bluntly.

Laura was reloading the gun but looked over to her.

"Hiding what?" she asked angrily.

"Like it doesn't affect you." she accused and Laura narrowed her eyes at her.

"Those sons of bitches kidnapped Tony... and me I guess. I did what I had to do and even killed the leader myself because it was personal. I don't regret it." she spat and looked back into the scope to readjust it.

"I never said you did. But even most SHIELD agents haven't seen as much… action as you have." she improvised.

"And you're going to tell me you have?" she asked sarcastically.

"You don't know the first think about me." she stated.

"That's because you don't tell me anything. All I know is that your Russian." Laura argued.

"And it will stay that way." she replied and Laura frowned.

"Fine. If you're not gonna share then I'm not either." she fired her shot and Nat peaked into the scope.

"You missed." she said and Laura quickly looked to see the target without any bullet holes in it.

She frowned and glanced over to Nat's eyes to see the smugness in them.

"You need to control your emotions."


Fall had arrived and then came November.

Laura liked being in D.C. this time of year.

Breathing in the crisp air and seeing the leaves change.

She began to love her training sessions.

She could feel the progress!

Her arms had become muscular.

Not quite like Nat's but she knew if she kept the intensity of these sessions up she would be there in no time.

They had moved onto some more advanced lessons.

Laura had finally made it to the ring.

She was trying to strike a punch which Nat easily blocked with a grip but her punches were stronger along with her stamina.

She tried to sweep her ankle but Nat stepped aside and swept hers.

"Ah!" she groaned as she landed hard on her back.

"Mind your surroundings." Nat said.

"I'm dealing with a handicap here alright." she said while using her arms to get up.

"Don't use that as an..." she began but Laura tried to punch her in the face.

She blocked it just in time with her strong grip but Laura wasn't affected by it.

"That's called a mind trick." she joked while Nat stared at her without amusement.

"And I also think I saw some sympathy in your eyes after you swept my prosthetics." she smiled.

"You're imagining things." Nat argued as she yanked her arm back.

"You know I let myself fall to catch you off guard right?" she asked smugly.

"From a mile away. But you are improving... slightly. after many months." Nat smirked slightly at her and she rolled her eyes.

"Oh I'd say more than that." Clint complimented while walking in, getting their attention.

"Don't encourage her." Nat warned him.

"About time I made some progress right?" she joked.

"We're done for the day. Good job, Laura." Nat shook her hand.

"Thanks, Natasha." she nodded.

She strapped her bag over her old MIT t shirt as Clint walked up to her.

"Still doing these uh?" he asked her.

"I want to punch her so badly... just once..." she said dramatically and he smiled.

"If you somehow manage that you should quit your day job and become an agent." he joked.

"Yeah, no thanks. I'm not good with conformity and no offence but I'd never be caught wearing those uniforms." she joked while gesturing at his up and down.

"None taken. So do you have any plans for Thanksgiving?" he asked.

"Not really. Take a few days from everything usually. Sleep. Watch the cowboys loose." she answered.

"Would you like to join Natasha and I? Nothing formal. Just for the weekend at my place." he offered.

"Really?" she asked surprised.

"Yeah. It's usually just us two but you've been around us long enough now for me and I trust you." he complimented.

"Wow uh sure I'd like to spend time with you guys outside of SHIELD." she said with a smile.

"Great. Natasha will pick you up on Thursday."