School and Training
It had been raining non-stop for a week and a half, but people were talking about how the snow would begin any day. Once she got over her cold, she was able to drag herself across town to the school she would be taking a long term substitute teacher position for. Eleanor hadn't been in a classroom for more than a week since her practice Teaching days. She distinctly remembered the high school students she worked with and their attitudes. This school was expected to be a little different.
"So here at MidTown Middle, we focus on project-based results rather than your average grade based school. I know you were here a few weeks ago, but the lesson plan will be a little more complex with you teaching while I'm gone." Jessica as she insisted on being called said as they sat during her planning period that morning. "My first class is planning, which is nice- sometimes I come to school a little late to capitalize on it." She laughed. "Right now, we're finishing our application projects. The students created applications for characters in their individual reading books." Jessica was a relatively small woman, who looked no older than 25, though she had insisted being closer to 30 years old. Her stomach protruded from her skinny and otherwise fit body, and despite being able to tell she was tired, she smiled and constantly put her hands on it.
Ella looked down at the small stack of papers with proposals and updates on the project. It looked way more interesting than anything she ever did in school. "The project you'll mostly be overseeing is part of the world problem unit. They'll be selecting an issue that they see in the world or New York and creating arguments and persuasive solutions." She pulled out a small binder. "This is what we did last year. I have all the lesson topics and some of my ideas for classes, but feel free to modify them, and give the kids plenty of time for their work."
The woman laughed at Eleanor's face when she opened the binder. Her eyebrows had raised almost to her hairline and she'd blinked a few times in shock looking at the detail and lesson materials matched for the school year. "this seems more advanced than for middle school students."
"Yeah. Kids are smart when you let them be smart." Jessica remarked. "I like to try and make things as relevant and interesting as possible. You'll need to find some modern articles, I put my sign-ins for some websites there," She reached across the table they were sitting at and pointed to a tab in the binder and Ella flipped to it, looking down the list.
Looking away from the binder, Eleanor glanced around the classroom a little closer than she had when she'd first entered the room. It displayed all the kids work, and everything looked very carefully created, she hadn't recognized how complicated the topics and arguments were within the works. "I'm excited to sit in on classes today," Her words were perfectly timed with the bell, which signaled a passing period for students. The elder teacher nodded and patted her belly as she slowly rolled to her feet. She directed Eleanor to a seat in the back of the room and made sure she was settled before waddling over to open the door for the first students. In small groups, they walked in and peeked curiously at the woman sitting in the back as they took their own seats.
Seven minutes later, Jessica began class by introducing her and then starting their topic discussion for the day. Ella sat back and relaxed, content to watch.
Steve was almost excited that SHIELD called him into the New York base office. He'd sent in a request to begin the process of joining shield, as Pepper had suggested. Pepper the other night had also suggested he ask them to slowly let him on, to give him more time adjusting in New York, and keep the missions at bay for a little longer. After a few short words with Maria Hill, they arranged for him to begin a few sessions with an appointed doctor, and for him to begin on a fast-tracked version of training alongside Clint and Natasha. Rather than their normal sparing sessions, this would be more specific in Shield protocols, and new or improved fighting techniques.
After that discussion they had him fill out some brief paperwork before leading him to the gym. It was busier than the gym in the tower, which shouldn't have been a surprise. The moment he stepped in there was a wave of quiet as people looked over to him, before they turned and went back to what they were doing originally. Maria, clipboard in hand gave him a short tour before showing him the locker room and letting him know there was already one assigned to him.
Steve couldn't help but feel like things were moving much quicker than he had expected when he'd agreed to come in and have a meeting with SHIELD.
The locker was already biometrically assigned to him, it responded at his handprint and was large enough for someone Eleanor's size to fit inside completely. Steve smiled at the thought. Gear was set out for him, enough to last almost a week without being laundered. His gym clothes at the Tower were nice, but these seemed to be more sleek. He changed into some clothes that were already placed in the locker, glancing at the tighter 'dry-fit' shirt and feeling out its material. It was much different from the cotton he usually wore when he worked out, and it fit to his body tighter- reminding him of his Captain America Uniform. The shorts seemed the most normal to him, and when he bounced on his heels in his new shoes he couldn't help but note they seemed to be a lighter material than the new Balance ones that he'd bought at a store. He'd try them, but he wasn't sure how they would last with his mileage.
When he walked out, he was surprised to have Natasha already standing next to the door and waiting for him. Agent Hill had disappeared.
"Finally got you recruited?" Natasha smirked at him as she pushed off the wall.
"We'll see. They said I needed more training."
Natasha snorted. "Just a little."
The pair of them entered the boxing ring in the room. Steve looked around for gloves but didn't see any. When he asked, Natasha rolled her eyes. "We're starting with some more traditional training. Ever heard of Aikido?"
"Sound's Japanese." Steve quipped back, and Natasha smiled.
Natasha, in her ever clipped and succinct manner went through some of the basic movements of the fighting style. He was easily able to see some of the moves she'd used on him. Deflecting and using your opponent's strength against them was not something he often needed to do. His body and his shield could usually take whatever he was hit with. They had a short match of anticipating and deflecting open hand movements. Natasha dodged and hit him with an open hand no less than fifty times in 15 minutes.
They worked more on his footwork too. "It's like dancing. You at least did that in the 40s." He couldn't help but sigh when her words brought up his memory of Peggy. Natasha had been trying to figure out different analogies for the movement. They had paused when he told her that his formal training had been very limited. Most of the fighting techniques he had learned in the 40s were from trying to fight bullies or winging it. While they did go over some of it during his military training, he hadn't learned too much. Yet once he got the Super Soldier Serum he never got to practice or use any of it. When he did, it was all instinct and less tact. This training, on the other hand, was a lot more mentally challenging for him. Time passed quickly as he picked up on different techniques and throwing them back at Natasha, who still had an advantage of the practice.
"Actually, I didn't." He grunted out, shifting his body again to aim for her shoulder. He wasn't using full strength or speed at the moment, just trying to make the odd movements feel more natural. Natasha had warned him that it'd take a bit of time and practice, and at that moment technique was more important than force. Still, it was difficult not to get annoyed when she so easily deflected.
"How boring you must have been." She responded dryly.
After almost to hours, Steve felt more mentally exhausted than he did physically, though he was able to see a light layer of sweat marking Natasha's forehead. She'd pulled her hair up into a ponytail about halfway through. When they stopped Steve walked over to get some water, but also acknowledged that they'd gathered a few spectators. More of the machines facing the boxing room were being used than when he had first started.
Natasha jumped out of the ring after him, also taking a drink. "Most of the New York SHIELD HQ is level five and under. Odds are you won't be seeing much of them for the next few years. We're looking at getting you into the STRIKE team, but you'll have to work up to getting an operations team. How often did Hill say you needed to come in?"
"Three days a week." Steve wasn't looking at the black widow at that moment though, he was watching the movement of some of the weight lifters closer to the back. He scanned the room a little closer. A man waiting his turn for squats was spotting someone, but also looking around. Steve was surprised to recognize him.
It was the man from the baseball game. Marley. The hair on the back of Steve's neck still went up when they made eye contact. It was an odd sensation, but he brushed it off. Even SHIELD spies had lives outside of their work. If anything, if he was recognized in the first place, his secret was probably safer with a shield agent than it would have been with someone else.
"Who's that?" Natasha asked she'd paused when she saw he was distracted.
"I've run into him before, with his wife."
Natasha hummed. She picked up her towel and put it under her arm. "Well. You should say hi." She said over her shoulder as she walked toward the women's locker rooms.
Steve considered it, but then he thought otherwise, making his own way back to his stuff.
After the last bell rang, Ella had a much better sense of what school was going to look like over the next few weeks, and she was so excited. The students were great. While it was considered an Inter-City Magnet school, the students were exceptional, and the school didn't adhere to a lot of the normal test-based competencies. In fact, because it was so project-based, the teachers had more of a facilitator role to student learning.
Unfortunately, there was one moment that spoiled her day. At lunch, she'd walked with Jessica to the teacher's room where they sat down and chatted more about the school culture. She'd been introduced to a few other teachers in the English and Social Studies department along the way. Yet, the door opened, and a face Ella had forgotten about stepped in.
"This is Harold. He's the biology teacher here." The man looked unchanged from the last time she'd seen him in the back of the classroom when she had to dodge around him to escape. The memory returned to her swiftly.
The man's predatory eyes recognized her as he put his hand out for her to shake. Ella gave a polite smile, but immediately regretted not reporting him. Too many things happened that day with SHIELD breaking into her apartment, and it had all slipped her mind. She wished she had, as the grin on his face seemed more threatening than it had the first time they met. His presence made her deeply uncomfortable, and he was somehow able to sense it. Luckily for her, Harold didn't stick around to interact for very long. Just enough time to use the Teacher's Restroom and the microwave.
Eleanor wasn't sure, but the rest of the teachers seemed to get along fine with him, even laughing at his jokes. She wondered if that day had just been a fluke, but the unease she felt didn't settle until he was out of sight.
For the rest of that day Eleanor debated her options, but in the end she decided to leave the situation be. Weeks had passed since the incident, and if he tried anything again, she would take immediate actions she told herself. Hopefully, it had been a one-time thing, and maybe he had just read her signals wrong. She also knew to avoid being in the same room alone as him.
Placing her thoughts very carefully into the back of her mind, she was able to focus on classes once more.
Once the bell rang and Eleanor moved back up to the conference seat across from the Teachers Desk, Jessica asked, "Do you have any other questions for me?" leaning back in her chair at the end of the day.
Ella couldn't think of any.
"Cool. So I'll finish out this week, and you'll start next Monday. The baby is expected at the end of next week, and I'll hopefully be ready to go again in January. I don't expect you'll need anything from me, and the other teachers will be super helpful. But just in case of an emergency, my phone number is written in the contacts section of the binder." Jessica smiled. Eleanor couldn't help but admire how organized and kind she was as a teacher who was almost ready to have a baby. She couldn't imagine how exhausted she must be at this point. As if on cue, Jessica stood up and moved to gather her purse. "I'll walk out with you, I'm taking a taxi home."
Together they made their way out to the sidewalk and waved goodbye to one another.
Once she hit the subway station and the temperature was above freezing, Ella finally took out her cellphone and turned it on. Because she was at school for the day, she figured it'd be best to keep her distractions to a minimum. Two text messages came up after it chimed, the first was stamped just after 7:30am and the second closer to 1:15pm.
Steve: Good luck at school today!
Steve: Went to SHIELD, ended up being my first day of training. Plans for the evening?
The train rolled in and Eleanor stepped on, finding a seat. The school day ended at 2:30, so most of the people on the bus were students. Rush hour wouldn't start until closer to four or five. She pondered her plans for the evening.
Eleanor: School was good, but training that sounds exciting! What does that mean exactly? Plans for the evening are Pizza, a glass of wine and a movie, you're welcome to join.
The response came after she stepped out of the subway and on the main road home. She noted it was starting to get dark earlier now, the sun peeking over the buildings.
Steve: We'll talk about it later. I'll bring some wine. Leaving in 45.
Perfect. Eleanor couldn't help but think when she passed PEGGY's, glancing up at the now-empty building and continuing by it. Things looked like they were going in the right direction. She felt a little more pep in her step as she pocketed her phone and made her way down the street.
Steve had gone to the main floor to find some peanut butter. Sometimes the people who did the grocery shopping forgot to leave stuff at his apartment if he requested it, but he could always count on finding it in the common area. Since it was almost two, Tony had just rolled out of bed after another late night in the lab. He sat at the counter with coffee and cereal alongside Bruce banner chatting about Science. They exchanged brief hellos, and Steve set his phone down, looking into the cabinets. Taking out the bread, Steve just came to terms with the fact it'd be easier to do it all upstairs. As he spread the jelly, Pepper also walked in with documents for Tony to Sign.
It was a moment, as tony took the tablet pen to scribble his name across the digital copy, but Steve's cellphone vibrated once, then twice. It was just across the table, and Tony reached for it, but Steve pulled it quickly off the table, glancing at it and then pocketing it in one movement. He didn't say anything about it either. Bells of suspicion rang in Tony's head, bright and red.
"Who're you texting?" The technical genius asked trying to sound nonchalant.
"Nothing, it's just a notification." Steve was a good actor, but Tony knew immediately that he was lying. First of all, a notification was too good of an excuse, and where did he learn to download apps and get notifications? That didn't make any sense. The second indicator was the lack of eye contact and the third was the Captain changing the subject swiftly and entering the conversation that Pepper and Bruce were having.
The kicker was that no one else was suspicious. Pepper just went along with the subject change; Bruce didn't seem to care either. At the very least Pepper should have made eye contact with Tony and acknowledged that something fishy was happening with Capsical. Yet she didn't. What did they know that Tony didn't? And why didn't Tony know in the first place?
A/N: Thanks for reading! Updates happen the faster you review!
Lots of Love from MONA.