valuedstrength | missing scenes

She just lifts her eyebrows, leaning against the counter to watch him for a second.

"Doesn't Stark have robots or something that could do that for you?" Or, like, a dishwasher. Whatever. She finds this whole thing incredibly endearing and she's not trying too hard to hide it. "It's too bad we're not at his Malibu estate. He has a whole boxing arena."

He chuckles softly at that. She does have him there. "There's a dishwasher. I'm just not brave enough to use it yet." Steve breezes through the job pretty quickly. He didn't make too much of a mess. He's soon drying off his hand and sucking any last bit of sweetness of his lips in a quick gesture.

"Ready? It may not be a whole boxing area, but..." He cuts himself off with a shake of his head. "You probably know this place better than I do." He'll just head to where he hangs his bag.

"Ready as I'll ever be," she admits, but follows him into the room set up as a makeshift gym. Oh yeah, this should work. She's already unlacing her boots to get ready to roll. "Want to start out showing me what you know?"

Natasha straightens up and takes a loose stance on one side of the mat, eyes watching him like a hawk and one stubborn curl falling in front of her face.

"Sure." Steve takes a stance on the other side of her. It's a generous thing to call it that. It's really Peggy's advice to always plant your feet firmly on the ground with his fists up. The last one coming from Bucky before the procedure. It's a poor imitation of what might have been solid advice once. He takes a swing at Natasha a second later.

With any luck, she won't fall over laughing that this is how a legendary super soldier fights. At least he keeps his arm straight?

So... nothing? Cool. She ducks his fist neatly and goes right for the leg sweep, figuring it will only get harder to attack his center of gravity as they go. And her best weapon is as always the element of surprise. Nat puts her hands on her hips and looks down at him with his back on the mat like she isn't sure how he got there.

Steve doesn't look like he's sure how he got there either. He is nothing if not a good sport. He's not the least bit bothered as he stares back up at her. Steve draws his legs back and kicks himself back up to a standing position. He goes to shove her with both hands which might work better if he had the shield with him.

Points for having half of a winning concept. The idea of getting some distance between them is solid enough even if the execution is weak.

She watches him with that same intense emerald gaze that followed him in the kitchen, though it's for a whole new reason now. He pushes her and she doesn't try to meet him in strength where she knows she could never win. Instead, she rocks back and uses that leverage and space to kick up a knee to strike at his unprotected middle. Her elbow hits the mat a second later, but like it's made of elastic it bounces her right back up so she can dig her other elbow into his opposite abdominal. Nat isn't necessarily holding back, but she is using moves she wants him to understand conceptually rather than just take the abuse.

It hurts though not as much as it would if she wasn't essentially hitting a tank. Steve grunts lightly at the double hit. He's still not put off. If anything his gaze is sharpening as he starts to process what she is doing. This is a challenge and he is going to meet it.

He is so used to dealing with opponents who take wild swings. This is the first time he's dealing with someone who utilizes their entire body in a fight. He is going to have to track every limb if he has even a chance of keeping up.

This time he borrows one of her moves. He goes to knee her to get some space between them, following with a quick jab just to see how she reacts.

She's more pleased than she ought to be that he follows her direction, and she has to jump back to keep from taking the full weight of his knee. Already behind, her block isn't as strong as it could be, but she does catch Steve's meatfist of a hand by some miracle though the force pushes her almost to the edge of the mat. It's time for her signature move. Natasha leans back to get him to lose his balance some then ducks under his arm and bounces off the other side of the mat rush his back, vaulting over him so she can wrap her thighs around his neck in a headlock.

He couldn't be more pleased with himself. It isn't that he's smug about finally starting to catch up. Steve is just so excited by these baby steps. This has been going on for five minutes and it's already more emotionally fulfilling than hours pounding away at a sand bag. As expected life comes back at Steve fast. Just as quickly as he feels he meeting the challenge, Natasha is gone and then just as suddenly on his shoulders.

He's pretty sure she is going to choke him with her thighs. Oh God. Steve really never knew that this is a thing. He's both amazed and kind of panicking?? Steve lifts his hands off to pry her thighs off his neck on instinct.

Leverage and speed are on her side though he's much bigger and stronger - which tends to be her whole schtick really, but it's challenging. He isn't as strong as even the strongest men she's faced, maybe more like three put together. She can keep her hold, but not forever, and she's already anticipating hitting the mat. Nat makes sure she's at least facing the other way so when he does toss her off, she'll hit her back and not her front, and on the way down she manages to slam her elbow hard into his ribcage.

That elbow bites more than the other two hits. His hand goes over it as he takes a second to breathe it out. God knows he's had worse hits just by existing in a broken body, but still that doesn't lessen the sting. Steve smiles at her, stepping forward to hold out his free hand to give Natasha a lift up. "That was amazing."

Sometimes, she gets so caught up in these things she forgets it isn't life or death. That hand being offered to him is met with a raised eyebrow even as she takes it, briefly considering flipping him, but if he considers this match over then she supposes she can let it go this once. Natasha pulls herself up with his strength, breast heaving laboriously as she finally plants her feet on the ground, coming up much closer to him than she calculated.

"Any time you want a rematch... come find me." Nat winks just to really seal in the cheese. He needs to stop smiling like that or she won't be able to hold hers back.

He's got that pleased puppy smile even as she stands close to him. That wink only seals the fact that Steve likes her because wow is she something. "Deal. I think you might be the best fighter I've ever faced." It's not empty praise coming from him even if HYDRA wasn't exactly producing master fighters. Steve realizes that he'd be an idiot to just leave this at a vague line exchange.

He decides to push his luck. "Think we can plan it? I could learn a lot more from you. If you're not busy." Big if but, he has to try.

"Thanks?" She could make a joke about him being inexperienced here, but something holds her tongue. Maybe it's just how disgustingly earnest he is, though it's probably more to do with how fond she is of him already. Natasha can't help it, she laughs at his follow-up, rushing to explain so he doesn't think she's laughing at the idea of doing this again. "You want to plan me kicking your ass again?" She's definitely not opposed.

Steve chuckles with her. He holds up both hands briefly. "If you don't mind." He's having fun. There hasn't been an absence of that in the moment he isn't completely overwhelmed. That doesn't make Steve treasure it any less. "I like to learn new things. Besides, how else am I going to keep up with two knights in shining armor?" Take pity on him. :( He's a total imposter like all 20-somethings!!!!

Her lips twitch at that description of Tony and Rhodey, and though she usually holds things like this close to the vest, she decides to admit something.

"That's kind of why I'm here. To see if you fellas have an empty slot on the team." So maybe Steve could put in a good word for her, wink wink nudge nudge.

His brow furrows together at the answer. Steve is actually surprised she didn't make the team before him. Natasha clearly has what it takes and then some. What really kicks him is this: "You usually break into Tony's house when you want to ask him something?" He has to know.

"Well..." God, she's weird, isn't she? It's times like these she realizes no matter how much training she's had fitting in with society, when left to her own devices she'll never quite be normal. Then again, weren't Tony and Steve freaks in their own way? She'd thought, in a flash of genius, that she could belong easier with them than SHIELD. Maybe that was foolish. "I thought it might impress him."

The admission catches even her off guard, but something about Steve makes her honest. She looks into his eyes again, heart beating fast as she realizes she hasn't put any distance between them in the past few seconds.

"You impressed me for what it's worth." Steve meets her eyes. That starry-eyed appreciation for what she can do has faded enough for him to take a step back. His heart picks up, but he is determined to power through it. "I think if he saw what you did a minute ago, he'd have to be an idiot not to want you with us." He tacks on playfully, "Maybe stop hacking JARVIS? He is on the team too. Usually a bad idea to tick off the guy who takes care of comms and research in my experience." Not that he was the guy. He sure watched others fall into that trap. Don't be like them, Nat!!

O-oh. For some reason. she wasn't expecting such a straightforward compliment though she feels she really should have. Her judgment really is clouded, and her cheeks heat up in a way she hopes isn't overly apparent. His follow-up has her laughing, thankfully.

"You even defend the honor of artificial intelligence. So noble." Natasha has a hard time keeping a straight face even after the laughter has subsided, lips twitching as her gaze finally relaxes some. She could see herself confiding in Steve, and that's a scary thought, not just because they literally just met either.

He doesn't quite see it because it is contagious. Steve visibly reddens at her joke. He doesn't know when he got so flustered. Something about her is just... bright. It makes him a little unsteady. "He's a good guy. Great company." Steve chuckles softly. "And you could be too if you're still interested in coming on. I think we could make a good team." He wonders if it's too soon to say that. He doesn't know her. The words escape him regardless.

Nat smiles, not sure which she finds more endearing: his assessment of JARVIS or of them as teammates. She sobers soon after, folding her arms across her chest as if to remind herself to keep some distance.

"Yeah, well, it's not up to you, right? And Stark doesn't really have any reason to be kind to me." It never occurs to her that this is a team in a real sense of the word: that they all get equal say in what happens. At SHIELD and every place before that in her life, she followed orders. She thought she was going straight by signing up with them, but now she isn't so sure. "I'm kind of the reason Fury didn't let him on the Avengers." If Steve even knows about any of that.

He looks confused both by the shift and the assumption. Steve takes a look around as something hits him. He is basically crashing on a rich man's couch. That does skew the power dynamics a little. Steve is fairly confident that a favor really is a favor with Tony. This isn't Stark's way of making him do what he wants unless what he wants is a guy to fight crime and hang out with his AI all day.

"Oh... it's not like that." He shakes his head. "I still get an equal vote on the team even while I'm on his couch." He shrugs bashfully. Obviously he isn't on the literal couch. She knows what he means!! Probably. This is his first time really hearing about the Avengers so he's not sure if that's big or not. "If he's still holding a grudge, we'll know when we talk to him about it."

Vote? She looks confused by the idea even while slowly nodding her understanding. So if she's got one vote in the pocket, she has a 50/50 shot of getting into their little club. Is that really why she came here? She's starting to doubt herself.

"Can I..." Nat trails off, about to ask him for something when she realizes she can just get it herself. She spins on her heel and goes to step back into her boots, pulling them up before inclining her head back towards the kitchen. "I'm getting some water."

It's said before Steve thinks she's just taking off, more consideration that she would otherwise give most anyone. She makes her way back down the hall and starts chugging a bottle, her mind working over the possibilities. Can she really leave SHIELD? Does she want to?

missing scenes

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)