Rage

The last few days without Steve had been strange. Nikita was used to always being with her Dom, with Volkov, either acting as a body guard and awaiting orders or carrying out those orders. Normally she would only have been given a few days to rest from her injuries before being back to serving her Dom. But Steve was different, he wanted her to heal before training with the Avengers. So Nikita found herself at loose ends during the day, usually reading or watching TV with Darcy who seemed to be obsessed by Food Network at the moment.

The days when Steve had stayed home had been different. His attention and constant small touches were disconcerting, but Nikita found that she missed them when he was gone. He came back to the Tower each evening and they shared dinner with the rest of the Tower residents after which they either stayed on the Common Floor to watch movies or would retreat to their apartment to do something from Steve's list.

Now all but the worst of her wounds were healed. Bruce had examined the stab wound in her side and declared that it was healed enough for careful training and light conditioning, but no sparring or combat yet. So today Nikita was joining Steve at the Avengers Initiative. Clint was flew them in the quinjet along with Natasha and Bucky.

Steve gave Nikita a tour of the facility, introducing her to War Machine, Quicksilver, and the Scarlet Witch, all recent addictions to the Avengers. War Machine was Lt. Colonel James Rhodes, the Dom served as liaison between the Avengers and the US Military and was also Tony's best friend since college. He hadn't been to the Tower since Nikita had arrived because he had been busy with missions for the Air Force. The Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver were a pair of young sub twins named Pietro and Wanda, both un-collared. Pietro was brash and mischievous, reminding her a bit of Darcy, while Wanda seemed more quiet and shy.

Steve left Nikita at the gym while he took Sam, Rhodes, Pietro, and Bucky to run battle drills out on the grounds. Natasha was in a meeting with Fury and Tony, who had flown over in the Iron Man suit. Apparently they were expecting the new Director of Shield, Coulson, along with a few agents for a big meeting later.

While Clint was teaching Wanda some basic hand to hand in the center of the gym, Nikita went to the locker room to get ready for a little work out. Keeping her BDU pants and combat boots Nikita exchanged her long-sleeved Henly for a black tank-top, embellished with a sparkly picture of Iron Man because Tony had a sense of humor and had ordered a dozen delivered after seeing the tee-shirts Darcy had picked out for her. She left her body armor, staff, and several of her knives (though she was still far from unarmed) in her gym bag which she brought out with her. The gym was a huge open room dotted with steel pillars holding up the roof filled with weights and exercise equipment, sparring mats, heavy bags, speed bags, and a boxing ring. First Nikita stretched out all of her muscles, loosening them up, before jogging a few warm up laps along the track around the gym.

After tapping up her hands Nikita sidled up to the heavy bag at one end of the room. She started slow and easy, testing her body, discovering her new range of motion. She grimaced at the first spike of pain from the wound in her side and backed off a little, but not much. Careful of her side, she tried a few combinations and kicks, short jabs, cross, bobs and weaves -slowly, pushing through the pain, gritting her teeth. Nikita lost herself in the rhythm of her fists and feet against the bag, the pain helping to center her body while her thoughts swirled.

This was the first time since coming to the Tower that she felt on familiar ground. This is what she did, what she was good at, what she was for. But she was still unsettled. She can't help but feel that she isn't really needed for this. After all, Steve is surrounded by geniuses, people with enhanced abilities and tech. So what is her role? What does her Dom want from her? She doesn't fully understand what is expected of her and she understands even less of what she can expect from him in return.

In her periphery Nikita noticed Natasha enter with a small group of people. Realizing that her thoughts were just chasing each other around her brain, Nikita decided to start her cool-down. She slowed her movements, gradually bringing down her heart rate and respiration.

Natasha was escorting SHIELD Director Coulson and a couple of his agents on a tour of the Avengers Initiative facility while they waited for Steve and Rhodes to return from their training exercise. Clint and Wanda paused in their training to join them. Coulson had brought along his protege Agent Skye, Agent Melinda May and Agent Tyler. They were planning a strategy session to get the new SHIELD, the Avengers Initiative, Stark Industries, and the US Military on the same page to more effectively deal with HYDRA and other threats. Coulson also wanted Agent Skye to cross-train with the Avengers and to serve as liaison between them and SHIELD. The young sub had recently developed powers after exposure to an alien artifact.

While they were all talking, Tyler found his gaze wandering over to a gorgeous blonde working on the heavy bag at the side of the room. The sub's brow was furrowed in concentration, a sheen of sweat covering her body, rivulets running between her breasts and down the her spine in the space between her tank top and the low waist band of her pants. He watched as she stopped working on the bag, peeling the tape off of her hands before lifting a water bottle to her lips. He wandered closer, watching as she drank down the liquid then used a towel to wipe the sweat from her face and chest. Seeing no collar on her, Tyler decided to try his luck.

Clint noticed Agent Tyler wandering over towards Nikita. He could tell from his body language that agent was interested in her as a sub. Fully aware that no good could possibly come from this situation Clint began to move towards them, hoping to head the Dom off.

Nikita noticed the Dom heading towards her. He met her eyes before deliberately raking his gaze over her body. He straightened his spine, squaring his shoulders, drawing himself up into a fully Dominant posture as he approached her. She shoved her water bottle and towel into her bag, intending to leave before the Dom reached her.

As she turned away from him, Tyler reached out to stop her, grabbing her right shoulder with his right hand. Nikita immediately grabbed his right wrist with her left hand as she brought the heel of her right hand up to shatter his elbow. Letting go of his wrist she spun around, driving her left elbow to his face, breaking his nose. Nikita simultaneously pulled one of her hidden knives with her right hand pressing the blade to his throat as she shoved him up against one of the steel pillars.

Clint reached them just as Nikita shoved Tyler into the steel pillar, the blade at his throat causing a thin red line to travel down his neck. Clint held a hand out, gesturing for everyone else to stay back. He carefully stepped closer, placing himself in Nikita's line of sight. Her eyes were glassy and her breathing was fast and shallow, he wondered if she even knew where she was. If she didn't things could get very bloody, very fast.

"Easy there kiddo," Clint soothed in a low voice. "Can you tell me where you are?"

Nikita's breathing started coming faster and a fine tremor developed in her hands, causing her to press the blade more firmly against Tyler's throat.

Clint watched with concern as the blade bit a little more deeply into the agent's throat. Of course this would have to happen to Nikita in a new place without her bonded Dom close at hand, and just his luck to be the one to have to deal with it. "Can you tell me who I am?" he tried again.

Nikita took a deep shuddering breath. "Clint," she responded after a long moment.

"That's right kid," Clint affirmed. "We're in the gym at the Initiative."

"Avengers," she responded, her eyes beginning to clear.

"Yes, remember we're the good guys now," Clint continued. "And the good guys don't kill if they don't have to."

Nikita met Clint's eyes, seeing the concern there. She was surprised to realize that concern was actually for her. She swallowed down the bile that wanted to rise in her throat as she fully took in the reality of her situation. She removed the knife from the Dom's throat, shoving him to the ground as she stalked out of the room. Clint grabbed her gym bag and followed.

Clint managed to steer Nikita into Steve's empty office room. He raided the mini fridge finding a bottle of gatorade and a chocolate power bar, placing them on the desk in front of her. He stayed with her, positioned in front of the door, as her breathing evened out and she stopped shaking.

The Avengers were in high spirits as they headed back to the Initiative building. Tony had flown out to join their battle drills, deciding that it would be fun for Iron Man and War Machine to team up as the op 4 (Operation Force, see Tony can totally rock the lingo when he wants to) against the others. After that Steve decided that they should practice fighting with unfamiliar teammates so the next few rounds consisted of Iron Man, Falcon, and the Winter Soldier against Captain America, Quicksilver and War Machine. It had been good training and a lot of fun, Steve was also glad that Tony seemed to be easing back into the field after his self-imposed hiatus.

As they neared the building Steve was hit hard with a wave of rage through the bond and he knew that something had set off his sub. As he hurried towards the gym where he had left her, he was stopped by a shout from Fury. "Rogers!" shouted the former Director. "Did I not make it clear that you would be responsible for the actions of your sub?" he demanded.

"Yes," Steve acknowledged, "What happened?"

"What happened is that your girl attacked a SHIELD agent," Fury growled, "she would have killed him if it weren't for Barton! He's got her in your office."

That didn't sound like the whole story to Tony so he suggested that Steve go check on Nikita before joining them in the conference room for the meeting.

That feeling of rage through the bond kept roiling in the back of Steve's mind as he headed to his office.

As Nikita's body settled down, her anger grew. Her rage was a molten thing seeping into every crevice of her being by the time Steve arrived.

Clint was relieved when Steve entered the office. While he had offered what support he could, he knew that the sub needed her Dom to reassure her before she could truly be calm. Hell, she was most likely in desperate need of a drop but this was neither the time or the place. Clint quietly slipped out of the room.

Nikita felt Steve's disappointment through their bond. He launched into an incredibly earnest lecture about how she couldn't go about attacking and killing people anymore, especially not their allies. The knowledge that her Dom felt that she had failed him made that molten rage within her turn to ice.

Steve's speech faltered as he felt the change wash over him through the bond. It was then he noticed her posture and expression had changed as well. While not what anyone would call expressive, over the last two weeks she had loosened up. Steve hadn't realized just how much until it was all gone. Suddenly she was stiff and there was absolutely nothing to be read on her face. Despite the icy rage (and never before had he thought of rage as cold), her face was blank and her eyes were almost vacant. Steve had the distinct feeling that this was the Nikita who had belonged to Volkov. The realization made him sick to his stomach.

Somehow he had missed something important. Taking a shaky breath to calm his sudden nerves Steve tried to fix it. "Why did you attack the SHIELD agent?" He asked.

Nikita didn't answer, she just stood there not moving. Steve really didn't want to use his Dom voice. Somehow he knew that if he did, if he forced her in any way, he would lose all hope of ever gaining her trust. Instead he quietly asked, "Why are you angry?"

When she still didn't answer he tried one last time, "What can I do for you?"

That got a reaction. That vacant gaze instantly sharpened, the icy blue cutting into him. Though he could feel her rage through the bond Steve was completely unprepared for the venom dripping in her voice when she answered.

"What exactly is the point of you?" Nikita snarled viciously, "What is the point of any of this? The only reason to belong to a Dom, to let a Dom touch me, is to keep all the other Doms off of me. I am no safer with you than I would be with SHIELD or out there on my own."

At that she turned to leave. Steve instinctively reached out, desperate to stop her. Nikita whirled around, slashing a deep gash in his arm with her knife. "Do. Not. Touch. Me!" She threw open the door and stalked out the office.

Steve stood in the doorway and watched her leave, his heart sinking with every step that took her away from him. Clint had never left the hallway and had clearly heard every word. He looked pointedly at the bleeding gash on Steve's arm which, even with the healing properties of the serum, would take a while to heal.

"Respectfully Cap," he said, "You're an idiot." With that he went to find Nikita and try to mitigate the damage.