Unexpected Romance

Chapter 1

Valerie:
I wake to the sound of my alarm. Jesus, it's so early. It's really only 6:00 in the morning, for us Avengers, that's not early at all. I wake up this early every day for work but it always feels earlier than it actually is. I slowly roll over to shut off the annoying alarm. I sit up on the edge of my bed and just stare at the wall for a few seconds before stretching my whole body out. It feels so good. I hop out of bed when I'm all stretched and start to get ready for the gym. I choose to wear black leggings and a tight white crop top. I quickly put a brush through my hair and put it up into a high ponytail. One of the pros to having long hair: I can do it any way I want but a ponytail is always my go-to look.

When I get to the training room, I can see Cap, Sam, and Wanda already working out. I get myself prepared to work out, mainly by putting my AirPods in and listening to some rap to give myself some energy, then start doing some pull-ups. I happen to be next to Wanda.

"Good morning, Valerie!" She calls to me.

I really like Wanda, she's always been super nice, even when I was brand new to the Avengers a while ago.

"Good morning, Wanda!" I call back with a gentle smile.

I'm on the pull-up bar for about 10 minutes before I move on to running on the treadmill. I run just over 4 miles, I would do more but today feels a little off so I'm giving myself a break. I wore myself out quicker than normal but that's fine, that just means I can eat breakfast sooner. I'm starving.

I head back to my room to take a quick shower before going down to the kitchen. As I walk in, I'm greeted by Clint and Tony.

"Hello there, Valerie!" Tony shouts from across the room.

"Hey guys." I gesture to the both of them.

I just get a wave from Clint. He's never been much of a talker, at least from what I've experienced with him.

"I'm making toast, want some?" Tony offers.

"Yeah, sure, thank you."

He hands me a plate with three pieces of toast and I take it to the table to eat. I sit at the edge of the table, a few seats away from Clint on the opposite side.

"Good morning boys," a very familiar voice says from the entrance of the kitchen.

Natasha Romanoff. I was wondering when I was going to see her today.

"Valerie," she greets me with a slight head nod.

I give her a little half-smile and a small wave. Natasha and I have never gotten along that well. It's not that we don't like each other, it's more that we just never really bonded. I guess. I mean, she's okay, I just wouldn't know because we never got to know each other. She accepts a plate of toast from Tony and sits right next to Clint. Those two are pretty much best friends. I've never seen a day, in all of my time here, where they don't hang out most of the time. Even on missions, I see them together! I would love to have a friendship like that with one of my team members.

Soon enough, every Avenger is at this table eating breakfast. Tony stands up from his seat and announces a mission we've been assigned that starts in a few months. He only mentions it so early so we have "time to prepare" as he likes to put it. We really don't ever need time to prepare, as most missions that come up are super last second. After his short explanation of our upcoming mission, we all part ways to do our own things. I head back to my room to truly get ready for the day. I don't really have a solid plan for what I'm gonna do today but you never know what's going to happen so getting ready feels like a necessity. I wasn't in my room for more than 10 seconds before my phone starts to ring.

"Hello?"

"Valerie. It's Fury. I need you in my office, please."

Before I have the chance to respond, the dial tone sounds, telling me he hung up.

I open the door to Fury's office and I see him leaning against his desk with his arms folded. Oh no, this can't be good. He just stares at me for a few seconds before starting the conversation.

"Did Mr. Stark give you the rundown of the new mission?" He asks.

"Yes, he did. At breakfast," I respond still kind of scared and confused about what's going on.

"Good... good." He just looks at me.

"Is everything okay, sir?" I ask with a hint of fear in my voice.

"Yeah. It's just... you're not going on that mission," he responds sternly.

"Wait, what? Why? If it's because I'm 'new', I've been here for a while and I've been on plenty of missions. I didn't think this mission sounded like something I couldn't-"

He interrupts me with a short, "It's not that."

I stare at him with a mix of a bunch of emotions, confusion, anger, even a bit of sadness.

"I have other plans for you. I will be pairing you with another team member and sending you off to London. You'll be there for approximately two months. You leave as soon as both you and your partner are ready. It's a long time. Do you think you can handle that much time away from here?"

I take a few seconds to process everything he just said. I start to question things in my head. Is this a real mission he's sending me on? What if this is some fake thing and he just doesn't want me going on the real mission with the rest of the crew? I don't want to seem like the Avengers' weak link so I oblige with his request.

"Yes, I can handle it. I just have one question. Who are you pairing me with?"

Instead of responding with words, he just tilts his head down and points to the doorway. Oh crap, this is gonna be interesting.

I guess I might've been staring at her for a little too long in disbelief because Natasha says to me, "Well? Are you just going to stare at me or can we get a move on?"

I snap out of staring. She's a bit scary, to be honest.

"Uh, yeah. I'll go get packed," I answer as I slip past her and through the doorway to my room to pack.