Street Magic

Training

"Another raid?" you asked Hill as she passed you a tablet. "Didn't we just do one last week?"

It's been a year since the fall of Shield. Since then, you've been working with the Avengers as they've been tracking down and eliminating traces of Hydra. You had grown accustomed to working with the team and using your powers for more intense situations. 

"This one is a priority," Hill informed you. "We got a lead on Loki's scepter and Strucker."

You both walked into the elevator and pressed the button for the training room. "Where did the lead come from?"

"Not important," she said, brushing off your question. "Stark and Rogers think you should be heading there by tomorrow if the rest of our information comes through."

You swiped the screen of the tablet a few times before passing it back to Hill. "I'm meeting up with Rogers right now; I'll talk to him about it."

"He's still teaching you self-defense?" she asked, amused.

"You can't always depend on your powers, (L/N)," you said, mocking Steve's tone. 

Maria smiled as the elevator stopped on your floor. "You're going to appreciate these training sessions when they save your life out there."

"I know, but don't tell him I said that."

After parting ways with Hill, you walked into the training room. There you found Cap talking to Dr. Banner, who didn't hang around here often.

"You're a rare sight around here, Banner," you said. "What's the occasion?"

"Nothing special," he told you. "I just came by to update some data on your powers and see if there's a change."

"You're keeping tabs on that stuff?"

"It's so Jarvis can better analyze things out on the field and help strategize."

"Well, as long as it doesn't come back to bite us in the ass," you joked as you hopped into the sparring ring.

Steve joined you. "You remember the technique I showed you?"

You put up a defensive stance. "I got this."

Steve took it slow when sparring with you but started to get more aggressive once he knew you could keep up. He didn't want you using your power but started to incorporate them more into your training. It also helped give more of a challenge to the super-soldier.

"Getting tired already, Steve?" you taunted. You teleported behind him, but he reacted quickly.

"You wish," he responded. He caught your arm before you could make contact and used your momentum to flip you on the ground. 

You got the air knocked out of you as your back hit the mat. Steve then leaned over you with a smile. "Are you okay?"

"Just give me a second," you said as you caught your breath. "I'll kick your ass when I can stand up."

Bruce approached the side of the ring. "I see you still need to work on your stamina."

"Only if you compare it to this guy," you pointed at Rogers. "Otherwise, I think I did fine."

"You were teleporting a lot more rapidly." Bruce went over some charts on his tablet. "Are you feeling any fatigue from your powers like you used to?"

"Are you kidding; I can teleport to China and back in a snap," you exaggerated.

Steve pulled you back to your feet and handed you a water bottle. "Let's take it easy for now. We got a big assignment tomorrow."

"Right," you said, remembering what Hill had told you. "How early do I have to get up?"

"3 AM."

You groaned in annoyance. "Why can't we catch bad guys at a reasonable hour?"

"I'll keep that in mind for next time."

After Steve had ended your training session, you got cleaned up and teleported into the kitchen to look for something to eat. You've got so accustomed to using your powers freely in the tower you forgot it freaked people out sometimes.

"Holy shit," Clint shouted when he noticed you pop out of nowhere. "You got to stop doing that. We're going to have to bell you like your cat."

"Sorry," you told him when you noticed the phone in his hand. "I didn't mean to interrupt you."

He took a seat on the counter and sighed. "It's fine; I just hung up anyway."

"I forget I don't live alone anymore," you commented. "I was used to hiding my powers from others."

"Must have been exhausting," Clint responded. You two never really spoke much casually since you started working together. When you did, Natasha would always be there, or it was brief.

From everyone else on the team, Barton was always away from the tower. He would also always make a phone call before or after a mission. Tony told you they all thought Clint had a secret girlfriend he would visit, but nobody pressed the matter.

"It was," you confessed as you looked through the fridge. "Especially when I was younger. I would sneeze or zone out, and suddenly I would be on the other side of the room."

The archer laughed at the thought. "How did you manage?"

You grabbed some leftover take-out and shrugged. "Practice, I suppose."

"I bet your parents had their work cut out for them."

You shrugged again, clearly not keen on opening up about your parents. "It was what it was."

Clint noticed the shift and changed the subject. "What made you decide to get into magic?"

"My grandpa got me into it. He bought me a magic kit, and I incorporated my powers as I learned."

"What about the bank robbers?" he asked with a smirk.

You chuckled nervously. "You heard about those?" 

"I'm pretty sure the whole tower knows by now."

"Magic doesn't pay all the bills."

After breaking the ice, you both started to talk about the mission you were going on tomorrow. You both knew it was important, but you weren't aware of just how much it was going to change things around here.