Changes | Marvel

FOURTEEN. Training to be the Best

Life without Tony was different, something I never thought I would have to experience until I was older. Since waking up from my coma, shit truly shit the fan. When Phil awoke, he was confused, pushing him to have a large episode and the nurses were forced to sedate him once more. They physically strapped him to the bed after that, fearing he would hurt himself even more if he woke up again frightened and delirious. Being under heavy drugs for so long took a toll on his mind and body, he constantly awoke in short periods where he would mutter something about 'Tahiti', but I was confused considering we weren't there anymore. I didn't get it, why would Fury pull us out of Tahiti? It was a wonderful place to be healthy.

It took a few days for Phil to truly become conscious and understand what had happened, obviously he was a little put off and upset with any Norse characters, but he was finally able to be released a few hours after I was. Together we went through excruciating physiotherapy to build back our core strength and usability of our limbs considering we had been immobile for nearly a year. Phil healed extremely quickly for an older gentleman, especially as he woke up after me, and he was cleared for duty not even a month after physio. As upset as I was, I felt like I was losing another family member, Phil left to go build a team while I was left alone with Fury and a bunch of doctors. After being cleared two weeks after Phil had left, I was blindly transported to another secret base that Fury refused to give me the location of.

Constantly I was reminded of Tony as his face appeared on every channel on television. Every day, I thought of Tony. Avengers were now the popular kids of all news stations, Tony being an even bigger subject due to my 'death'. My heart thumps painfully every time I catch a glimpse of his tired, grey looking figure hiding under hoodies. It honestly looked like he had aged 10 years, and many nights I spent hours trying to stop myself from crying as I wished to be there for him. Fury has ripped out phones and telecoms from my hands just as I was getting ready to call Tony. He constantly tells me that "Tony isn't mentally ready for this." And that I should "wait a couple of months or even years." That never went down well with me.

This new base was isolate and quiet, not many people lived on site and even then, half of those who did barely showed their faces throughout the day. There was also the constantly changing faces that popped up daily, new ones entering and old ones leaving. Apparently, the base was kept under tight supervision by Fury himself and only those who the director truly relied on was brought here. There was one man who ran a couple of similar bases to this one; Billy Koenig, he and his other brothers ran 3 of the most isolated bases Fury has. He was pretty cool, but he was always running around making sure everyone had identification on them.

The first day I arrived at the base, (also known to Fury as the Stinger, and it was somewhere hot and muggy,) I noticed a large forest surrounding the base, dense trees and bushes hiding the entry from the common human eye. I attempted to go outside every day, but sometimes Billy wouldn't even let me even leave my own room. I felt like a prisoner in this place, and I was supposed to be training while I was here, but no one had talked to me about anything training-related. I assume it would have to be very soon considering I was on the list of immediate contacts to Phil if he was in trouble. He calls me; I would go in, no matter what age and range of skill I had. I would be no use if I had no self-defence though. Maybe I should ask Billy about it.

"Miss Stark." Speaking of the devil, the small man snuck up to my doorway behind me which physically made me jump with fright in my bed as I faced the wall.

"Hey Billy, what's up?" I stand up from the uncomfortable SHIELD bed, ruffling the shirt that I was wearing. It had slightly ridden up, so I pulled it back down.

"Director Fury has finally sent in your trainer. He asked me to bring you down to the gym, so get dressed." He bluntly says, before stepping out. Well then. I went over to the small wardrobe and ruffled through various clothes that SHIELD had before swapping out my pyjamas for a tank top and gym shorts. I headed out of my room before following Billy down to the gym – something I didn't even know existed in the base as I was told I wasn't allowed to explore. The man who waited for me in the base stood tall and strong, his face stoic and chiselled as his dark eyes focused on my incoming form. He introduced himself, but he only gave a slight turn of his lips as a smile.

"Miss Stark, pleasure to see you still alive. I'm Agent Taylor. Fury asked me to give you some lessons on fighting." I shake his hand, nodding slowly as he spoke professionally despite being in sweatpants and a fitting gym shirt.

"I'm glad to still be alive." is all that I say back, smirking awkwardly. Billy waves at me before leaving the room, which left me alone with this big buff dude who could probably snap me if he wanted to.

"Alright." He clasps his hands, watching me carefully. "Before we start, do you have any knowledge on self-defence? Anything at all?" I think about it and shrug.

"Well... I know how to punch properly and how to block a punch. Oh, and I can kick too!" I smile enthusiastically, remembering the 'lessons' I had with Happy when I was younger.

"Well, that's good enough I guess." He agrees, smiling more now. "We'll work out techniques for the first couple of days. We'll move on to defence, and then we'll move onto offense. Sound good?" I shake my head and he leads me over to a soft mat, the one that stops you from hurting yourself when you do stunts and dangerous things.

I have to admit, I should stop judging people by how they look because while he looked like a serious dude, he was far from it. Agent Taylor spent most of his time joking around and providing me with lots of entertainment and enjoyment, allowing me to laugh for the first time in a very long while. For the first couple of days, we were still getting the hang of our new timetable; I would wake up at seven in the morning, get breakfast at eight o'clock and train at nine o'clock until twelve. One o'clock is lunch time and I get to rest until after dinner which is at six, and then I train until ten o'clock when I get to head back to my room and do whatever I felt like. Agent Taylor has been telling me that I was a quick learner, I'm excelling through the techniques of fighting, so he was almost ready to start teaching me defence and offense.

Two weeks since our training began, and I was already play fighting with Agent Taylor. Billy would come in sometimes and supervise while writing notes and telling us to try new things instead of focusing on some aspects. I'm pretty sure he was testing both Agent Taylor and me, to see if we were fit to be agents (or in Agent Taylor's case, a good teacher.) Although he was truly a great guy, after spending so much time with him I've noticed that he has some certain questionable quirks. He constantly disappears for hours at a time and is secretive in comparison to his playful side he brings out with me. I shouldn't really spend too much time thinking about it. It's probably nothing.