WandaWidow - Book 1

Chapter 48 - Evaluations

A/N: Happy Sunday everyone! This chapter and the next are very highly based on the Captain America comic "Road to War", so if you haven't already read it you should! I came across it during my research into the timeline, and thought we could include it. Hope you enjoy, and have a nice day!

Another two weeks had passed, and Natasha was extremely glad to be back at training again. She felt more like herself than she had since she went to Europe, and things were also going well with Wanda. The two just couldn't seem to get sick of each other, and Natasha found herself falling for her more and more with each passing day.

As much fun as they had been having training with one another, Natasha did realise that training on hand to hand combat with Wanda wasn't as beneficial for her as it was when she trained with Steve. He presented more of a challenge as the two were closer in skill level, so she was making sure to set aside time to work with him. It also gave Wanda an opportunity to work on her powers. Her flying was as easy for her as walking now, and she'd become very proficient in using her energy balls. Wanda still had some concerns about the control she had on her powers, so wanted to work on their dexterity.

The two racked their brains over some tasks she could do with her powers, but it was Sam that suggested she tried to build with them instead of break. It seemed so obvious, but it made sense. So, she had got herself a deck of cards from the common area, and set to work building a house from them using only her powers. It was frustrating, and required a lot of patience but she was getting there and was now able to manage a few tiers at a time.

So while Wanda was hard at work on her latest attempt, Natasha was in the training room sparring with Steve. They often chatted while they trained, usually over mundane enough things but on this particular morning Steve had a question on his mind.

"Nat?"

"What's up?" she asked, keeping up with their sparring.

"I remember hearing that you did a psych evaluation on Tony when he was being recruited."

"Yeah, Fury asked me to," she confirmed, "Keep your guard up," she added as an instruction.

"Don't worry about my guard," Steve laughed, "So I have to ask, you being the professional and all. What do you think of the new recruits?"

"Well, since you asked nicely," Natasha smirked before taking a moment to think.

"Try to be impartial," Steve added.

Natasha cocked a brow in reply, before starting to give her assessments, "Sam is a very sweet guy and a real charmer. He's already proven himself in the field with that whole Triskelion mess. Since he's had more time to train with his wings, he'll be invaluable when we need an eye in the sky."

Steve nodded in reply, and gestured for Natasha to go on.

She continued, "Wanda does seem to be settling in well, even considering the culture shock. I think you'll agree that she hasn't been as withdrawn, even though she spends most of her time with me. The time she spends with Sam to talk about Pietro and her grief have really helped."

"Yeah I can see that too," Steve agreed.

"She does need a little more work with her reconnaissance skills, but she hasn't been training in that for very long so it's to be expected really. Her powers have seriously stepped up since Sokovia, and I'm sure with a little more time she could put us all on our asses," Natasha smirked.

"Agreed," Steve nodded again, "What about Rhodes?"

Natasha shrugged, "He's a soldier. He knows how to line them up, and take them down with precision. He hasn't been here as much, that's true but he's working every day. Tony is constantly upgrading his armour, so he's got some serious fire power."