Avengers: Behind the Uniform

Initiation

*A/N: I don't know the name of the artist whose work is on this cover but if you know who it is, please comment it so I can properly credit. I just found the artwork online and thought it was cool but couldn't find the original artist. Okay. Please enjoy the story :)*

The training room was in chaos. Falcon swooped around, his metallic wings slicing through the air silently as he dove in and out of intricate laser patterns. War Machine fired his - well - machine guns at the endless and randomly moving targets. Scarlet Witch was in the simulator amongst a crowd of people. She was scouring their minds for all their thoughts, fears and fantasies and tearing apart those who matched the description of 'criminal'. Captain America and Black Widow surveyed the whole scene from a balcony above. Their striking silhouettes served as a fearsome motivation for the trainees. If you were any ordinary person, you would have lost your head, hearing, arms and mind by now. But of course, S.H.I.E.L.D agents are no where near ordinary.

"All right everyone! Warm up's over." Natasha Romanoff's voice rung out over the training room. 

The Avengers-in-training scampered over quickly and stood in a line in front of their mentors. Steve Rogers walked forward, his boots not making a single sound on the multi-purpose floor. 

"Today you're going to be working on your teamwork skills. You will be joined by other trainees and will be put into teams. Each team must work together and get through the simulations. There is only one rule: don't hurt each other too badly." His lips quirked up into a wry smile. 

The doors at the side opened and S.H.I.E.L.D trainees poured in. It seemed they had already organised groups and made their way orderly to their captains. Most of the girls were with Scarlet Witch although there were a few men who fancied they had a chance with the darkly gorgeous Wanda Maximoff. The rest were divided evenly amongst War Machine and Falcon. They were given time to learn names and abilities before the simulator catapulted them into a seemingly alternate universe. 

Each team had been transported into a different location in this new dimension but one thing remained the same with all of them. They had the same target: The Avengers Team. All the agents - and even their captains - looked uncertain and uneasy. They were filled with apprehension as each team advanced towards where the Tower stood, a familiar yet deadly cut out of the cardboard sky.

War Machine's team - who had decided they were going to be called The War Machines - were going to surround and force them into each other so they had nowhere to go. Falcon's team, who had dubbed themselves Wings of Justice, were going for a more sneaky approach. They would send in Falcon first to distract and have some people move in for cavalry and others to hang back to pick them off from afar. Scarlet Witch's team had named themselves the Amazons and had gone with the well known tactic: divide and conquer. They would all go in suddenly and then Wanda would slowly lure each Avenger, one by one, away from the others and paralyse them with fear. The plan relied heavily on Wanda being able to distract, fight off and enter their minds but their training had paid off. She knew she would be able to deliver. The rest of her team were just happy to be under the wing of who they knew would bring them to victory. 

The War Machines reached the Avengers Tower first and they wisely waited for another team to either arrive first or attack first. Wings of Justice flew in second with Falcon circling high up. They too, waited for someone to go first. The Amazons arrived last but no one noticed as they were so quiet and subtle. Falcon detected movement on the ground aside from his team but wasn't sure which team it was. A distinct quiet hung in the air - unusual for Manhattan - as the three teams surveyed the Tower and the Avengers interacting within it. They knew they were in a simulation so it wasn't the real Avengers but they were exact clones who thought the same thoughts, had the same abilities, stamina, endurance, speed and skills as they did in real life. War Machine was positively quaking in his suit at this point and was wishing that he was cruising lazily around the Bahamas right now. God dammit, he thought, why does Thor have to be in there?

Wanda, meanwhile, had already implanted fear in both Captain America and Black Widow's minds. They were wandering off away from the other simulated Avengers, wide-eyed and blank. Training had allowed her to broaden her range so that she could manipulate people and things up to double the distance of what she could do before. The remaining simulations dismissed their disappearance as going off to have a 'private chat'. Tony and Clint were crowing and silently wolf-whistling like school boys at this point. Her crimson-lit eyes turned to Thor next and, with practised grace, she wound her chaos magic into the deepest crevices of his mind. The god's back stiffened then his eyes flickered and glazed over. He too, followed Natasha and Steve. Once Scarlet was sure that Thor wouldn't be a threat, she motioned her team forward and they advanced stealthily towards the Tower. 

Falcon saw the Amazons creeping around to surround the Tower and immediately radioed in his team. 

"Wings of Justice, prepare yourselves, we're going in." 

He swooped in through a window without checking to see if his team would follow. He knew they would. He brought his metallic wings around to protect himself as the glass came rearing up. The shatter caused the Avengers to turn around in practised alarm. Tony already had his suit piecing itself together on him and Hawkeye had equipped an arrow to his bow. Bruce Banner's human skin was tearing apart and left in it's place a green giant.

War Machine saw that he was missing out on all the action and decided to, even though it was probably not a good idea, tell his team to go in. As all three teams reached the Headquarters, mayhem broke out. Thor, Black Widow and Captain America were accounted for thanks to Scarlet Witch but the ones that were left were still a formidable foe. They knew that by themselves, they couldn't do it but if they teamed up they just might have a shot. 

From outside the simulation, Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff watched on. Natasha's eyes lingered on the green figure looming over Scarlet Witch. Steve looked over and saw the softness and aching behind their green depths and his heart broke, just a little. Oh Natasha, he thought, I'm so sorry. He knew that she knew it was only a simulation but he still felt his heart go out to her when she flinched as Scarlet Witch threw crimson bolts at him. Realising that it was a private moment, he turned back to the trainees.

The three teams had surrounded the remaining Avengers, each team had mingled with the others so that there was no more War Machines, Wings of Justice or Amazons. There was only the Wings of Amazon Machines. Or would they have been War Amazons of Justice? Falcon was darting between the Avengers, confusing them and blurring their vision. He took care to fly high enough to not be reached by the Hulk and darted through Iron Man's repulsor beams without having his wings torn off. He was being a nuisance, but a useful nuisance if there is such a thing.  War Machine hovered above the ground and focussed on Iron Man. Of course, Steve chuckled to himself. Scarlet Witch stood away from everyone and sent brilliant red streams of magic into the minds of Hawkeye, Iron Man and Hulk. Eventually, the chaos magic took effect and she strode in to finish them off. With an earth-shaking blast of magic she destabilised the Avengers enough for the rest of the agents to swarm over them and take over.

When Steve looked back over to Natasha to gauge her reaction, her face had rearranged itself into an unreadable canvas and he found himself thinking how much he wanted to see the painting underneath.