The Nine Tailed Foxx

Chapter 13

((A/N: No, I haven't forgotten about my other stories. Just waiting on one muse to step back and let others have some time.

A wonderful thanks to my friend Lady Moonhawke, who is also my co-writer, co-conspirator, Idea tester, plot hole finder, monkey wrench thrower, and ghost editor.))

You got Schooled!

Second week of February…..

"Again! First!"

Johnny dropped his form, took a few steps back and flexed his ankle before stepping up once more. Once more he brought his heels together, toes apart as his feet formed a V shape. His arms rose in front of him in an oval shape, fingertips barely touching.

"Wrong!" Nat stated as she moved around Johnny, inspecting every placement and line of his body. "Hands, farther apart. I should be able to pass my hand, flat, between your fingertips." She made another circuit around him. "Chin up, head back. Eyes forward. Shoulders down!"

'Slave driver' was the term that ran through Johnny's mind at the moment. Reaching the two hour mark he hadn't progressed past the third position. Or rather he hadn't reached the level of perfection that Natasha demanded of him to move to the next position. But he didn't complain, didn't talk back or make a sound past 'Yes Madame' or (very rarely) 'No Madame'.

"Again! First!" It felt as though she was missing something as Nat walked around Johnny again. This time she was satisfied with Johnny's form. She caught Clint's reflection in the mirrors and nodded ever so slightly. "It will do for now," she said as she turned away. "Cool down then you are dismissed."

With a wince at the twinge of over-worked seldom used muscles, he dropped the form and bent over, head touching his knees. Straightening up, he bent over backwards, bridging into a handstand before dropping back to his feet. He continued to stretch and twist for several more minutes before he started pacing back and forth in the final stage of cooling down.

"Thoughts?" Clint inquired.

"Obedient. Doesn't complain. Trainable," Nat replied.

"How often?"

"Twice a week until I'm satisfied then once a week. Unless we find something else to work into the schedule." Nat shifted her weight as she turned to watch Johnny go through the cool down steps. "Why do I feel like I'm missing something?"

Clint crossed his arms as he leaned against the door frame and chuckled. "How about a stick, say shoulder height. Something you can bang on the floor or use to point out the flaws in his form. It's a bit stereotypical, especially when Russian Ballet teachers are portrayed."

"Hmm… You know, I remember… yeah, they did use something like that…" Nat murmured softly. She nodded to Johnny as he slowly walked towards her. "Do you have any muscle liniment?"

"Not anything I trust to use from the supplies I was.. sent with," Johnny admitted. His eyes darted past her to the others in the gym. "They ever ask for you to teach them?" he asked with a nod to those hanging around in the gym proper.

Nat glanced over her shoulder then shrugged. "No. Nor have I offered to teach anyone else. Feel privileged."

Johnny nodded. "Their loss. Anything I will need for tomorrow?" he asked, turning to face Clint.

"Bruise balm and more liniment," Clint replied with smirk.

The Next day…..

The sound of escrima sticks hitting against each other echoed through the room. It was rhythmic in nature, punctuated with the sound of a stick hitting flesh followed by a yelp or curse. Two men, dressed in only pants, circled each other as a woman walked the outer ring, waiting for an opportunity to strike. One man, with close cropped light brown hair, who was older and a little shorter than the other was instructing. The one being trained was younger and taller, with pale skin that was mottled with bruises in various shades of healing.

"Damnit!" Johnny yelped, dancing out of range and shaking out his hand. Flexing his fingers he eyed the skin. Right now it was red, but in a day or two it will be bluish-black. Just like every other place he'd been hit this day.

"Oh come on, I barely even tapped you," Clint said with a laugh as he rotated his wrist, spinning the stick end over end. "If I really wanted to, every bone in your hand would be broken right now. I'm going easy on you. Now focus." He was in what could be called 'Instructor mode', something he was called into do from time to time.

"I know…." Johnny replied as he brought his hand up to his mouth and sucked on his knuckles. "I hope you know, Alexei has a one hundred percent accuracy on hitting my bruises…." Shaking his hand one more time, he adjusted his grip and stepped up again.

The rhythmic ping of metal hitting metal started up again. It lasted for about five minutes before it was broken. This time by Nat as she slipped in from the side, smacking Johnny on the thigh even as he attempted to dodge. "Situational awareness. Pay attention to what's going on around you, not just what's in front of you. I could have easily slid a knife between your ribs just now instead of slapping your thigh."

"Mother… Nngh!" Johnny cursed once more as he limped/stumbled out of range.

From the sidelines the rest of the Avengers looked on. Tony let out a bark of laughter making a snide comment to Sam and Rhodey, happy he wasn't the center of attention right now. Steve had a disapproving look at the lack of clothing as he watched the trio with a serious expression, this was the first time he'd seen either use such methods while training. Banner was looking a little nervous but not for any obvious reasons, a small first aid kit close at hand. As for Wanda, she wasn't sure what she may have been looking for, but as per her instructions, she kept her eyes open. Vison just looked on in polite interest, automatically analysing every move that was made.

"Again," Clint ordered, raising his escrima sticks again in a ready position. As soon as Johnny was in position, he moved. He kept the pace even, the hits stead for close to five minutes before he suddenly increased the pace. A single strike to Johnny's face and he turned flipping the stick end over end, ignoring the muttered curses. "Variable acceleration. If your opponent is working at the same pace, you switch it up and throw opponent off his game."* He spoke loud enough for the rest of the team to hear. It would be up to them as to whether or not they used the advice. (*Oliver to Diggle, Arrow Season 1)

Moving with the blow prevented anything worse than a small split on the corner of Johnny's mouth. "Fuuu...oow…" He brought his hand up to dab at the split. "Shit…." He turned away from Clint to watch Nat a few moments. When he turned back around he jerked backwards as a stick passed through the space his head just was. He brought up his own, blocking a strike. Twisting he swung his second stick to the side, deflecting an incoming attack from Nat. Dropping onto his back, he kicked out with a foot before flipping upright again, gaining only a second or two of breathing room. Attack, block, counterattack, counter block. What little chances he had to attack soon disappeared completely and he was forced to go full defensive. Even though he could sense the attacks coming with his gift, he wasn't fast enough or skilled enough to counter them completely. At best he could only avoid them. At some point he lost first one stick. It wasn't long after that he lost the second. He was forced to use every single trick he knew to just to keep from getting seriously injured.

As soon as Clint made his move, Nat joined in. They were, to be honest, toying with the younger man. At any point either one could have killed him with a single move without breaking a sweat. But that wasn't the point of this exercise. The point was to test him, force him to stop holding back and to respond with the everything he had. In essence, this was a stress test designed to trigger Doom's sleeper attack.

There, that was what Wanda was looking for. The moment in time when Clint attacked outright, she spread her hands creating a barrier to prevent the rest of the Avengers from interfering. Ever since the Ultron incident, she had been experimenting with her powers whenever she had the chance. Learning how to multitask without losing control. While holding the barrier up, she reached out with her telepathy and skimmed the surface of Johnny's mind. Even though it worked better up close, she could still do it at a moderate range. What she found was as intriguing as it was repulsive. She caught Natasha's eye and nodded, signaling she was ready.

Having worked as partners for so many years, all it took was a glance between Nat and Clint to communicate their readiness. Clint swapped places to secondary attacker, letting Nat lead the almost deadly dance. They ignored Steve's bellowed orders to stand down as he tried to get past the barrier. Tony was typing away at a virtual keyboard while Sam and Rhodey looked on, ready to move the moment the barrier dropped. Vision, who could have easily stepped through the barrier, was aware of what was going on so merely watched in child like curiosity.

'Now!' Clint's mind supplied. Slipping behind Johnny, his back to him. Left handed, he reached over his shoulder, hand snaking under the other man's chin to wrap around his throat. With his right, he grabbed a wrist to immobilize it. He dropped to a knee as he bent forward. Gritting his teeth, he ignored the sensation of something crawling across his skin as he firmly denied whatever it was access to his mind.

Johnny had no choice. Move with Clint, bending backwards or have his neck snapped. The moment he came into skin contact with Clint, he felt like he had been dropped into a storm of ice and fire as electricity ran wild along his nerves. A choked scream of pain slipped past his lips as he bit down hard enough to draw blood. His world narrowed to the need to get away.

Nat slid to a stop, one hand gripping Johnny's inner thigh with a bruising force. With her other hand, she gripped the wrist Clint wasn't holding and twisted, effectively immobilizing any attempt to escape. She narrowed her eyes, throwing off the attempted mind control with little difficulty. "Any time now, thank you…"

Stepping closer, hands weaving strange patterns in the air as she traced the energy as it spiderwebbed across Johnny's skin to arc around Natasha's hands and down across Clint's shoulders and back. "I've got him," she said as her power wrapped around Johnny, slowly lifting him into the air until he was floating at chest height. It took just the lightest of mental touches to nudge him into unconsciousness.

Clint moved forward as he stood up and turned around, rotating his shoulders and flexing his fingers. He waited patiently for Wanda to finish. He felt as much as saw Nat move to his side.

"Do you wish for me to disassemble what was placed upon him? It can be done, but will take time," Wanda spoke softly.

"No. It has to be Johnny's decision on whether it's removed or not," Nat informed her. "For now, can you tell us what it is?"

Wanda nodded, "Yes. It is layered, one over another. Doom has placed a… a compulsion… to protect the child, though it was never needed. Doom has twisted the powers…" she frowned. "A moment…" she reached out over Johnny's chest, twisting her hand around as she moved her fingers in a complicated pattern. Two of the tattoos seemed to rise up, and move on their own before vanishing into wisps. "I see….Doom has twisted the gifts he was given, taking what once used to sustain them and turned it into a form of revenge against the Avengers."

"What 'gifts'?" Nat asked.

"The gift of the Kitsune, trickery and illusion," Wanda answered, finger gently tracing over one of the blue foxes. "The gift of the Babast Romani, the gypsy cats, is one of fortune and luck." This time it was one of the black cats she traced. "The illusion he wore was shattered, his tricks became visible. His fortune fled and his luck turned."

Clint snorted. "Sounds like a bunch of hocus pocus to me."

"To you, it may be just 'hocus pocus' but to one like Doom, it is a real, tangible power." It wasn't very hard for Wanda to tease what she was looking for to the forefront of Johnny's mind now that he was unconscious. "He got… how do you Americans say… 'screwed over' when he was just trying to protect his daughter. Doom took advantage of the damage done to him by the other person," Wanda replied.

Nat moved closer, lifting her hand to brush the hair off of Johnny's forehead. She looked at Clint, understanding the desire to protected family and loved ones, and the lengths someone would go to do that. "Can you tell us more about that?"

The look of Disappointment and Disapproval was was practically shouted for any and all to see on Captain America's face and in his stance. Back straight, arms crossed, a tight frown and a hard look in his blue eyes. To invade another person's mind and dig around looking for secrets rubbed him the wrong way. But to attack someone for no reason, forcing them to defend themselves in any way possible, or to make someone else do the attacking, smacked of bullying. And if there was anything he hated more than anything else, it was bullies.

"I can try," Wanda said. She looked to where the rest of their teammates were gathered. She then looked over to where Clint stood. A hint of a smile and a nod of approval from him out weighed the disapproval of Captain America. A thought came to mind. "Come here. Both of you," she said. "Place one hand over his heart, the other on his temples. Please."

Nat raised an eyebrow, a slight frown marring her features. "What are you planning?" she asked.

It was Clint that answered though, having an idea of what Wanda wanted to attempt. "You want to try and bring us with you. To let us see what you see." He walked to the other side of Johnny, opposite of Nat. He didn't like the idea cause it reminded him too much of Loki's mind control, but he was willing to try.

Wanda nodded. "I cannot promise you it will work, but I know he holds you two in high regards and sees you as… safe, familiar. If he becomes lost in the memories, you offer a way home. To here and now."

Clint only hesitated a few seconds before placing one hand on Johnny's chest, half over his heart, and the other against his temple. With renewed physical contact, he felt the attempt to invade his mind once again and blocked it. He looked at Nat and nodded. "Ready."

Nat, for her part, trusted Clint's judgement. Afterall, it was that judgement that saved her life when he brought her into SHIELD instead of killing her as ordered. Doing the same, she placed one hand over Johnny's heart, her hand touching Clint's, and the other on his temple. She nodded back to Clint then looked at Wanda. "Ready."

Wanda took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she placed one hand over their joined hand and the other on Johnny's forehead. Closing her eyes, she drew in the barrier closer, reducing the amount of energy required to keep it up. In turn she used that same energy to touch both Clint and Natasha's minds, waiting till both accepted the touch then drew them in with her.

Images flashed past the trio in a kaleidoscope of color and sensations. Nothing stayed long enough for the conscious mind to take in fully. Symbols and icons, a general sense of knowing where the events were taking place. A familiar face or two morphing into the unfamiliar. The closer they got to the here and now, the faster everything flashed past until they figuratively hit a black wall of nothingness. A jolt and they were back in their own minds. No one was sure if they had been thrown out or if Wanda had lost control at the end.

Both Clint and Natasha were dealing with the overload of information in their own way. They let go and took several steps back. Clint was rubbing his temple and Nat was pinching the bridge of her nose. Neither one had spoken yet as they filed everything away in their minds for later, closer examination.

"UUuhhh….lets not do that again any time soon, until I'm better trained," Wanda uttered as the connection was broken. She staggered as she lost control and her power retreated. She was easily caught by Vision. "How long?" she asked.

"A mere ten seconds have passed," Vision supplied as he steadied Wanda. Once he was sure, he let her go and easily picked up Johnny off the ground where he had dropped when she lost control. "Hmm interesting...Shall I take him to medical?"

"Yes," Bruce spoke up for the first time, gesturing to the door. "Let's go." He stops a moment then motions for the others. "You three also, come on. No refusals."

As the group got into the elevator, Steve stepped in also, still wearing the tight lipped disapproving expression. He planned on having Words with both Barton and Romanoff about their actions. Being the Leader of the Avengers, it was his duty to ensure the rules, including the unspoken ones, were followed. That duty included taking care of any and all disciplinary actions, if they were needed, which was rarely. A stern talking to usually solved the problem.

When the elevator arrived on the medical floor, Bruce was first out. The tension between Steve and the Trio was so thick, he could have cut it with a dull butter knife. He glanced back only once before hurrying over to the doors leading into the medical bay. He pointed to one bed, confident that Vision knew what to do, while he started pulling out various instruments he would need.

"Shall I start an IV Dr. Banner?" Vision inquired after he placed Johnny on the bed indicated, making sure he was comfortably arranged.

"No, not yet," Bruce replied as first Wanda then Clint entered. He pointed them to where he wanted them then glanced back at the door, looking for Nat.

"She'll be in, in a few," Clint said as he sat down next to Wanda, giving her a quick hug as he did. "Don't worry about it. Nat has everything in hand," he assured the young woman. He glanced at the door when he heard his partners slightly raised voice.

"Get off your moral high horse Steve. We knew exactly what we were doing. Wanda was briefed before hand, so she was aware of what we were asking of her. Besides, didn't YOU ask her to go poking around a few days ago?" Nat asked. The only reason she raised her voice at all was to cut Steve's rant off before he could get wound up. "IF we had done it your way, we would still be in the dark about what Doom did. He would have seen it coming and been prepared. Ambushing Johnny like we did was the only way. Besides, now that Wanda has been in once, she can do it again." She crossed her arms, matching Steve's hard look. "New flash Captain Rogers, Johnny doesn't trust you because you are so morally uncompromisable. He sees you as a threat to his safety and his life which makes you a threat to Alexei's life."

"Oh and he trusts you and Barton?" Steve shot back, waving a hand at Nat then in the medical bays direction. "A pair of cold blooded killers that conveniently forget to inform the rest of the team of their plans when it suits them." He winced internally, knowing he crossed a line with that comment.

Nat's eyes narrowed, one finger tapping against her arm as she shifted her weight minutely. "This pair of 'cold blooded killers' are exactly like the people that raised and trained Johnny," she calmly replied in an emotionless tone of voice. "To him, we are familiar and safe. You are an enemy to fear and avoid, especially after you completely over-reacted when he was on his own, in a strange place, in pain." She turned and strolled away as if without a care in the world. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have somewhere to be," she said with a finger wave over her shoulder.

Once the doors were closed and Nat was out of view, Steve let out an angry growl and slammed his fist into the wall. Turning the opposite direction he strode away, back ramrod straight. He needed time to cool down before he did something really stupid. Once in the, blessedly empty, elevator he punched the button for the gym floor. Looks like Stark would be ordering a few more punching bags soon.

Bruce glanced up when Nat came strolling through the doors. "Everything OK?" he asked as he pointed to another bed. He waited a few moments but when she didn't reply he continued his exam of Clint. "Alright, there's no obvious effects but if you start experiencing anything strange, let me know," he instructed even knowing the archer wasn't one to come running at every little thing (that was Tony). "You're good to go," he said as he moved over to Wanda. A few minutes later she was let go with a warning to take it easy with her powers for the next day or so.

"Thanks again," Clint said as he caught Wanda before she left. "Join me and Nat for dinner tonight? We'll explain everything a little more once we know how he's faring," he said with a nod to the still unconscious young man.

"Alright," Wanda replied slipping out the doors.

"Planning on keeping him here overnight if he doesn't wake soon?" Clint asked as he leaned against Johnny's bed. He could tell with a look, which bruises would color spectacularly and which would leave behind a lingering ache. He didn't think he cracked any of Johnny's bones but better to be safe. He'd rather take a few days off from the scheduled training then to push it and cause worse damage in the future.

"Honestly I'm not sure. From everything in his files, there is no medication for pain that will work on him other than topical analgesics. He'd be more comfortable in his own bed," Bruce said as he gave Nat a nod indicating he was finished with her.

"Go take care of Alexei, I'm sure he's starting to wake up from his nap by now. I'll stay with Johnny until he wakes up. Once he does we can go from there," Nat said. It would also give her time to spend with Bruce, even if it wasn't in private.

"You sure?" Clint asked.

"Yeah, no problem," Nat said. "Get out of here and go take care of that baby. I know you want to," she added with a soft laugh.

"Alright then, but you two had better behave," Clint responded as he headed to the doors.

"We will," Bruce replied with a chuckle.