An Unlikely Romance - The Avengers (Part 2)

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Despite Natasha and Clint's best efforts, you managed to survive your alcohol poisoning, and things went relatively back to normal after that. Training and confinement went back to a routine that was rarely broken, becoming almost boring... or as boring as things could be while actively training with two secret agents, anyway.

Most of what was new came to you in your private hours, spent mulling about the apartment while bored. You were running low on things to do aside from mindlessly watch television, or doing basic exercises on the floor. That hadn't been an issue until recently - one of the many benefits of having no memories was that everything on television was brand new. Even if it was technically a twenty year old rerun.

But lately, ever since you started training, you had started to have a lot more free time on your hands at night...

It had started out small - you woke up an hour or two early one morning, but felt oddly awake. You figured that it was just a fluke, or a nightmare you didn't remember anymore, and tried to go back to sleep. You tried until your alarm went off, but your mind was awake and alert. You groaned when you slammed your hand down on the blaring device, sure your slight loss of sleep was going to catch up to you later... but it never did. Even with Clint and Natasha pushing you to your limits in training, you never felt drowsy or like you were losing awareness.

That happened again only a few days later, only this time you woke up about four hours after going to sleep. It was three in the morning and you felt more awake than you had in days, your mind racing over pretty much anything. What was on TV? What was going on with Clint and Natasha? Were they going to include you in more anniversaries? Were they just trying to get you drunk to spill information? How many sheets of paper did you have left for journaling? How much food did you have left in the refrigerator?

It wasn't an overwhelming stimulation by any means - you were pretty used to your rampant thoughts, it just... wasn't usually at this time of night or while feeling so awake and alert. When Natasha showed up for training that day she actually commented on it, wondering why you were up and roaming so late. You had to remind yourself that they had cameras before you responded.

"Ah, rough night, haven't been sleeping well lately."

"Happens a lot with SHIELD agents, but... not usually before they've been out on a few missions gone wrong," Natasha noted, meeting your gaze. "Do you need sleeping pills? We haven't discusses it much, but if you think you need any kind of medication, Fury can get it for you."

"No, I think I'm okay. I'm not that tired, actually, it's weird," you noted, gritting your teeth as you readied up into your sparring stance again. Natasha squared off against you, cocking an eyebrow as you readied yourself for another round of combat.

"I can tell," she said, seeming almost sarcastic as the two of you exchanged blows. You were starting to get the hang of reacting to her attacks; you watched her chest and abdomen to see how her body was shifting, and you were starting to understand how to block or dodge blows with quick movements instead of seeing a punch coming and immediately throwing your entire body the other way. You still hadn't landed a shot on the agent yet; she ended up landing a palm-strike to your solar plexus that knocked the wind out of you. While you were still recovering she grabbed you by the wrist, threw herself against you, then launched your entire body over her shoulder with a gesture so effortless you barely believed it had happened until you hit the mat... hard.

"You can? I seem to be failing as spectacularly as ever," you wheezed when you had recovered slightly.

"I don't do much teaching, but you're catching on fast," Natasha admitted, offering a hand to help you up. "Plus I have a lot of experience with fighting against opponents with a lot of different levels of training. I would be able to tell if you were slower than usual. How long has this sleep thing been going on?"