To Neptune And Back

Mission Report (Chapter 13)

"Morning. Are we still training today?"

"Why would we not be training today, Grey?"

Yelena's words come out blunt, which is not the most unusual for her but they are laced with a bit of bite that you have not experienced from her since you first walked into the compound. Trying not to linger on it for too long, deciding to blame it on the somewhat early hour, you continue pouring yourself a cup of coffee before pulling up a stool next to her. However, it's hard to ignore the fact that as soon as your body made contact with the stool, Yelena immediately stood up and walked into the kitchen to place her mug in the dishwasher.

"I just wasn't sure what was happening since Natasha still isn't back from her mission."

"Training does not stop just because Natasha Romanoff is not present to witness it. Though I am sure you much rather that the little witch is around to see you sweat than my sister."

She speaks to you without looking your way, continuing her movements around the kitchen. You watch as she makes Kate her coffee, no longer unaware of their dynamic and Yelena's daily ritual. Her comment about Wanda not going unnoticed by yourself.

"What's up with you this morning? Did I do something wrong?"

Yelena huffs out in annoyance, not answering your question as she finishes making Kate's coffee. "Do not be late to training, Grey." Leaving at that, you watch Yelena head toward the elevator.

Well that was fucking weird...

One coffee and a granola bar later, you quickly change into your workout attire and head to the training room. Pushing your way inside you immediately notice Yelena throwing blow after blow at a poor punching bag that definitely didn't do anything to deserve the attacks it was on the receiving end of. Dropping down to the ground, you join Kate who is stretching.

"What crawled up Yelena's ass today?"

Kate looks up and glances at Yelena who continues throwing punches at the bag, "Not sure. She might still be feeling the hangover and just trying to punch her way out of her headache." Kate shrugs, not seeming nearly as concerned as you are about Yelena's random attitude this morning.

"We are doing hand-to-hand training today. You two can warm up together but once you get through that, Y/n you are with me." Yelena barks out, slightly catching you off guard making you jump at the sound of her voice. Kate sends you an apologetic look for Yelena's behavior before the two of you finish stretching and make your way over to some of the punching bags, following the warm-up routine you have been doing for a few weeks now.

30 minutes of going over punching techniques, followed by a mile run leads you to where you are now. Hands up in a fighting position in front of a very irritated widow who has no intention of pulling her punches with you. When you first arrived, having Yelena throw punches and kicks your way would have ended with you on the mat not even 30 seconds into your sparring session, but thanks to your stubbornness and dislike of being bad at anything, you find yourself able to counter a lot more of her moves. Though, you still are nowhere near the level of skill as Yelena has.

"Ouch! Yelena, what the fuck. Stop trying to kill me!"

Another kick sends you flying to the mat, hitting the ground with a loud thud. Keeping her hands up, she waits for you to stand back up and continue your round with her. Your own annoyance starting to bubble up in your body pushes you to ignore the literal pain in your ass from falling, getting you to pick yourself back up off the mat quickly and rejoin Yelena. You throw a half hearted punch in her direction in an attempt to get her to take the bait, which she does. Once she pivots to push your arm past her body in the direction you were moving, you use that momentum to swing your body and land a backhanded punch into her chest. The hit only momentarily stuns her, not long enough for you to do anything else besides spin back around and face her fully.