And They Were Roommates (STEVE ROGERS X OC)

Chapter Eight

When an unknown number called Taylor early in the morning, right before she could start getting ready to go to work, she didn't want to pick it up first. She looked at the number more than once as she picked out the clothes she was going to wear for the day, but it wasn't anything she recognized. There were times when random people called her, people who somehow figured out her number through the internet or through some old acquaintances, and all the scammers happened to find her a lot as well, but even those people didn't bother her so early.

Yet the more it rang, the more thoughts crossed her mind about all the possible emergencies, all the worst things that could happen to her family, so with a deep breath she grabbed a hold of the phone and with a quick clear of her throat, answered the phone.

"Hello?" She called into the phone, clutching it to her ear with a rapidly beating heart. Her nervousness didn't ease when the voice of a woman began talking – cue the death grip on the poor phone.

"Taylor Stark?" From somewhere, Taylor felt like she knew the slightly raspy voice, but she couldn't quite place her finger on it. That thought only made her more fidgety.

"Yes,"

"I'm Natasha Romanoff. Fury asked me to call you about scheduling the training throughout the week." She talked tonelessly, as Taylor wanted to hit herself across the forehead for her overthinking. "How many are you up for?"

"How many do you recommend to get better as soon as possible?" Taylor asked impatiently, tapping her fingers on her knee in a random rhythm. The comfort of her bed didn't appear to make her shoulders less tense as the conversation went on.

"Do you have any experience with self-defense? Any sports you played before?" Natasha interrogated, causing her to frown.

"I would say I'm fit as I exercise regularly, but probably pretty far from your physical condition. And no, no consistent sports, no martial arts if that's what you want to know." Taylor replied thoughtfully, thinking back to the other day when she kicked a man's legs out from under him in a dark alley. Her form when she did it must have been horrible from a martial arts master's perspective, but Tony didn't want her taking karate classes when she was younger because he thought it would be too violent for his sweet, little sister.

"If you'd like, we could start today," Natasha offered, the clicking of heels sounding in the background. Taylor was somewhat happy to know that they had one thing in common. Heels. "Training three or four times a week would speed up your improvement for sure. Especially if you really are a fast learner."

"Who said I'm a fast learner?"

"Fury, the media...your brother." Natasha listed teasingly. "Are you not?"

"We'll have to see," Taylor replied in confusion, finding her friendly banter a bit too early. She knew she was sent undercover to look out for her brother, she met her more than once when she still lived in the Malibu mansion but never trusted her enough to talk to her for more than a sentence.

And surprise, surprise, she turned out to be an agent under S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Meet you at three at the facility then,"

With that, the call ended, leaving Taylor staring at the fading screen with a frown. She was about to have real training with a supposedly deadly assassin, who definitely wouldn't go easy on her, the rookie with no special fighting abilities or past experience.

Oh, what had she gotten herself into?

╰┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉❮❖❯┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉╮

Natasha met up with Taylor at the reception of the facility, leading her down to the lower floors of the building where she had never set foot before. As Natasha was at a higher level than Taylor, she didn't have any trouble accessing certain parts of the building, but Taylor still wondered how trusted she must have been by Nick Fury himself.