Worth (Sequel to Games of Deception)

Chapter 1 - Invitation

-Jacqueline-

Come on, Jacqueline. You've got this.

The impact of an unexpected blow sent me flying back onto the cold metal floor, and I landed with a hard thud. Before she could jump down to strike again, I rolled to the side and propelled myself back onto my feet. I dodged her next several punches rather easily and finally gained the footing to retaliate by launching a kick into the side of her ribs with one foot and then her stomach with the other.

She grunted more in frustration than actual pain, and when I took a few steps back she began to dash at me once she caught her breath, her eyes blazing.

I ran toward her, meeting her in the middle but stumbling when she swiftly attempted to trip me. I managed to catch myself and when I regained balance I spun to grab her wrist and pin her arm behind her back.

"Tired yet, Romanoff?" I asked through gritted teeth. This had been going on for some time at that point.

"Not a chance, Adams." She replied lowly. She then suddenly yanked her arm out of my grasp and I cried out involuntarily as she turned and swung her free arm upwards, her fist colliding with the side of my face.

I stumbled back angrily. "Ugh, damn you!" I shouted, holding a palm to my throbbing cheek. That had hurt. Natasha took a few steps away and shrugged.

"Don't get cocky until you've actually won. I thought that was one of our first lessons?" She looked down at her hands as she rubbed them together, dusting them off in satisfaction.

"Yeah, like anyone here abides by that rule." I replied in a mumble.

"Sorry, what was that?"

Another voice spoke up from behind us, and I turned to see Agent Clint Barton leaning his back against the training room wall.

"Exhibit A." I casually noted. Natasha smiled and shrugged, appearing to agree.

"What brings you down here, Hawk?" she asked Clint. He looked between the two of us as he stepped closer.

"Well, I knew it was about time for you two to finish up, so I wanted to let you know that Evangeline wants us all to meet for lunch.

"Why's that?" I asked, undoing the braid my hair had been in to keep it out of my face, and let it fall around my shoulders.

"Apparently, she has 'news'." He replied, using air quotes.

Nat turned to me. "Hm. Well, I kicked your ass again, so I guess we can call it a day here."

"I was holding back!" I replied in defense. "You know I can't fight full force without-"

"I know, and that's why I'm training you. I'll admit you're good, but you need to master hand-to-hand combat without depending on it to get you out of trouble."

The it Natasha referred to was, of course, my ability to manipulate the energy inside myself to bend to my will, allowing me to fight at a whole new level. The power of the Tesseract that remained within me was, although only a minimal amount, very potent. As time had passed from my initial discovery of my abilities and even months after the attack on New York, I had carefully experimented with both my capabilities and limitations. There was no denying it was an astounding force, and in fact, I had the only known remnants of the Tesseract on Earth; myself. Control was still an issue I'd been learning to work with, but I was slowly mastering that, as well.

Yes, I know I could just shoot everywhere and everything and cause enough damage to survive, but I've never been one to allow myself to be careless.