The Avengers team met every morning for training in the spacious training arena with Steve and Natasha. Wanda, Vision, and Sam were regulars to their classes, with the fairly regular drop in from T'Challa and Clint as time allowed. Tony attended as it suited him. Today everyone was present, for everyone was needed.

Steve gathered everyone around and began his introduction, "Alright everyone, I know we've been focusing primarily on hand to hand combat these last few weeks. Thanks to T'Challa for stepping in for a couple classes, that was very helpful." T'Challa nodded. "Today our focus is a little different. Today we are focusing on how to use each of our strengths to work as a team."

Natasha grinned, "The drill today is simple. All of you against Steve and I." Clint snorted, "What?"

Nat smirked at him, "Too hard?" Vision raised his eyebrows, "I predict that this drill will not last even two full minutes. Your odds are very low." Nat shrugged, "Here are the rules; Steve and I are the villains, and you've been asked to bring us in. If you make a kill shot, that is, you hit the head, throat, heart or gut, you're out. The same goes for us. The first team to take out the other wins." Steve nodded, "Obviously this is a training drill so Clint, training arrows please, Wanda and Vision, watch your powers. The rest of us will hit only hard enough to make it obvious that you're out." Natasha shot a look at T'Challa, "And no claws. Those suck." He smirked.

Tony picked at his teeth, "Seems like a flawed drill Cap, when neither you or Nat really has any powers other than super healing. That's good for after your asses have been handed to you but not so much in a fight. Wanna borrow a suit?" Nat rolled her eyes. Tony shrugged, "Suit yourself. Pun intended." He pressed a button on his wristwatch and the Iron Man suit enveloped him.

Natasha pressed the star on her bracelet, opening her mind to Steve. "Everyone spread out." She set a countdown on the wall timer. "When the buzzer sounds we go." Ten seconds was put on the clock.

Natasha thought at Steve, We need to take out the natural leaders first. Clint literally can't miss a shot and the others respect him. He needs to be your first target. Natasha felt his affirmation.

Then you take Tony, he'll get them organized and we can't have that.

Steve and Natasha moved to separate sides of the room, noting with pleasure the uneasy faces of their teammates. Wanda looked from Steve to Natasha with alarm, "Wait, we need a plan! They can hear-"

The buzzer sounded, and all hell broke loose. Steve launched himself at Clint, quickly getting too close to shoot and wrenching away his bow. The two broke into hand to hand combat, but without his arrows and at close range, Clint didn't last long. Steve landed a light slap to the side of his head. "Kill shot," Steve said grinning as he ducked under T'Challa's punch. Clint kicked the floor in irritation. Natasha had managed to wrap her legs around Tony's helmet and was struggling to land a kill shot through his armor. Tony lifted off the ground, trying to shake her loose. Wanda and Sam flew close behind, trying to help, but Tony's movement was too sporadic. Finally Natasha hit the side of Tony's helmet, sending it rolling back away from his face. She smacked the side of his head, "Kill Shot!" Tony gritted his teeth and suddenly lurched sideways, throwing Natasha off of him from eight feet off the ground. "You've been studying my suit Romanoff! That would never happen in a real fight!"

Falling!

Coming!

Steve disentangled himself from T'Challa long enough to scoop Natasha out of the air and send her swinging back towards him. She landed a strong kick to his side, her arm around Steve's neck for stability. Turning once more for momentum, Steve threw Nat at T'Challa, directly at his head. Natasha caught herself around his throat, swinging behind him and landing on her feet. "Kill shot." she grinned at him, and he glowered in response before going to sit with rest rest of the "dead." Turning she found Steve struggling to block Visions laser attacks, turning them aside with his shield. Coming up behind him, Sam was preparing a divebomb. Quickly Natasha sent Steve a picture of Sam's exact location, and ran full tilt at Visions back. Jumping she wrapped her arm around Visions throat, distracting him from Steve. Steve quickly and without looking threw his shield at Sam, knocking him out of the air. "Oh come on! You didn't even look!" He picked himself up off the ground and grumbled his way to the sidelines.

Natasha strained at Visions neck but it didn't seem to be making a difference. Vision spoke calmly, "Technically that can't kill me." Vision suddenly disappeared, and Natasha fell to the ground, her arms wrapped around nothing. Stay down Nat!

Natasha froze, and Steve appeared over her, blocking an attack by Wanda aimed at Natasha's back. Vision reappeared at Wanda's side, and the two teams regarded each other for a moment. Those on the sidelines were yelling and cheering for Wanda and Vision.

Natasha watched them warily, How do you wanna do this?

Steve hesitated, I'm not sure…

Wanda smiled, You mind if I add a few more to the conversation? Steve and Natasha looked up at the sound of her voice in their heads. Visions forehead began to glow, and soon he was chuckling. Genius Wanda, now the playing field is even. Wanda looked at Steve and Natasha, Technically I could just stick you both to the ceiling and be done… Steve and Nat began to glow subtly red and lifted off the ground.

Natasha immediately thought to put up her shield to block Wanda, but Wanda just shook her head. "I made that shield. It won't work if I really try to get in your head." Tony called up to the four as they floated above the ground, "Guys it would be great if you spoke out loud so the rest of us can hear. Just a thought. This whole CapNat mind control thing still kinda freaks me out." Sam chuckled and called out, "Wanda can't you just make them surrender? You know, Scarlett Witch mind control and all that." Wanda's brow furrowed, "I don't really think that's ethical. Besides I don't need to control their minds when I can just as easily control their bodies."

Steve looked at Natasha, their little game had backfired. Nat we can't lose...

Natasha looked at Steve, shooting a flash of an idea at him. Her thoughts came so quickly that he only caught every other word, Vision. Empath. Weak link. Before Steve had really understood what she was saying, Natasha screwed up her face and unleashed some of her most painful memories, pulling them up out of the depths of her mind and aiming them at Vision. Visions eyes widened in horror and sorrow at what he saw, his perceptive and sensitive mind flooded with the pain of Natasha's past. The effect it had was staggering. Vision dropped to the ground to steady himself, leaving Wanda on her own in the air. She looked at Natasha, who was concentrating fiercely. Shocked by what Natasha was showing them, Wanda listened for a moment. There was no story, no real detail that Natasha was giving them, only raw, personal pain that she was making both of them feel. For Vision, the barrage of images and emotions was too much. The desire to fight was draining out of him, replaced by sorrow and compassion, and all three of them felt it. Wanda's emotions changed from confident to alarmed as she faced finishing the fight on her own. Sensing her distress, Vision became desperate to overcome Natasha's attack, a protective instinct goading him forward. He quickly aimed a laser at Natasha but Steve wrenched his shield up in time to block it, Wanda's hesitation allowing him to move slightly. Tilting the shield just enough, he bounced the laser beam, not back at Vision, but at Wanda. It struck her square in the chest. The three of them fell hard to the mat.

Panting, Steve sat up. Vision had his hands pressed to his forehead, kneeling on the floor, still recovering from Natasha's onslaught. Wanda and Natasha coughed as they regained the breath that had been knocked out of them, and the rest of the team blinked silently at him. "Kill shot," Steve said softly. Finally Sam spoke up, "What exactly just happened?"

Wanda stood quickly and ran to Vision, "Are you ok? Natasha what did you do to him?"

Natasha stood calmly, rolling out her shoulders, "Hey, you let me in your head and in Visions. I used what you gave me." Softening she put her hand on Visions shoulder, "You have a real capacity to feel. It's a gift, but it can be exploited."

Vision looked up at Natasha from where he knelt, his eyes still haunted, "How… How do you bear it?" Natasha looked at him, her face impassive, and sighed. "Wanda, will you connect us again please?" Wanda shook her head, "I don't want you in my head." Natasha smiled sadly, "It won't hurt this time, I promise. Please, for Visions sake."

Warily, Wanda reached into Natasha's mind and listened to her thoughts. Relaxing, she sighed, then turned to Vision and connected them. Vision locked eyes with Natasha, listening to what she was showing him. She pulled up memories of friendship, of loyalty and laughter. Natasha remembered all the times she had been truly happy, and those memories revolved around the Avengers team. She trusted them, she was proud of them, and for the first time in her life, she felt like she had found a home. I hold a lot of pain it's true. But I don't hold it alone. Let that comfort you. Visions eyes glistened with compassionate tears and he smiled at her, his pain relieved. Natasha looked up, and the whole team was looking at her strangely. Nat looked at Wanda who smiled sheepishly, "I'm sorry, but it was something the whole team benefited from hearing."

Natasha pursed her lips, embarrassed. She put her hands on her hips and addressed them, "Well you all officially suck at this. An old man and the tiniest woman on the team just handed your asses to you." She stood next to Steve, "We should not have been able to beat you. The only reason we did was because we have been practicing playing off each others strengths and covering each other's weaknesses."

"That and you can read each other's minds," muttered Clint, "That helps."

"Having our minds connected has been difficult, but we are finding ways to make it useful," Steve intejected. I want you all to think about how your gifts could be useful to another team mate, and spend some time brainstorming ways to collaborate. You did decently today."

Natasha snorted, "Now take 5 laps around the building. And do better next time." A collective groan went up, and the team trickled out the door until only Tony was left.

"I'm not feeling the laps today coach. Think I'll pass."

Natasha smirked, "And that's why you're easy to beat Tony. What was that like a minute it took me to bring you down?"

Tony's eyes narrowed, "I'm off to the lab. I have some upgrades needed for my suit that suddenly became apparent." He walked out the door nonchalantly, pausing in the doorway. "Question. So you hear like, every thought Rogers has?" Natasha nodded. "Any dirty thoughts or is Cap as squeaky clean as he appears to be?"

"Goodbye Tony."

Tony squinted at her then turned to go, "I knew it."

Steve came up beside and she turned to face him with a smile.

We did it. I thought we were going to lose.

I knew we would figure something out. Steve pulled her into a kiss and she felt herself melt into him. She listened to his emotions as they spilled into her through their open connection. She suddenly felt a tightness in her chest, a fierce sense of possession and pride, and a wildness in Steve that she hadn't felt before. He felt… free. Happy. Joy welled up inside her suddenly, so much that Steve pulled away to look at her in wonder. "What is happening?" Natasha just laughed and kissed him again hard, "I'm really happy." Steve lifted her up off the ground and gave her a squeeze. "I am too." He tossed her over his shoulder unceremoniously, "Come on, it's time for food. I'm gonna make you some."

"You're going to need to put me down sir, or carry me in a more dignified manner."

Steve grinned, "Nah, I think this is good."

"You know I could kill you in seven different ways from this position, just off the top of my head. I'm sure I can think of more."

"I am aware. That's why this amuses me so much."

Natasha flipped herself forward and rolled onto the ground, then sprung up and jumped onto Steve's back piggyback style. She pointed straight ahead, "To the food!" Steve snapped into a salute, and ran out the door towards the kitchen, Natasha's laugh bubbling up behind him.