Valor ↠ Prequel [0] ✓

03 | Itsy Bitsy Spider

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VALOR
iii. ITSY BITSY SPIDER

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   RILEY HATED AGENT ROMANOFF. She had no doubt about it. Riley O'Dair absolutely, positively, truly, completely, wholeheartedly despised Agent Natasha Romanoff.

   Well, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration. If Riley was being honest, she'd never actually hated anyone, not even the infuriating Agent Romanoff. She just hated things that people did, especially the things Natasha did.

   See, Riley really just loathed training. It was all she ever did at this point. As much as she needed the extra training, it was exhausting! While normal kids got recess and snacktime, Riley was off training and practicing running defense on outfield missions.

   Riley always found it fascinating how she was still learning new things everyday despite training nonstop for... her entire life, really. Riley was convinced she, a level 4 agent, would never catch up to the Level 6 agents at this rate. It seemed impossible!

   Before her upgraded training, courtesy of the council, Riley spent a lot of time alone. In her free time, she'd get to watch movies and bond with her colleagues. However, now, all Riley did was spend her "free" time with Natasha Romanoff. To say that it was a nightmare was a huge understatement.

   Riley wasn't stupid, even if she could be naïve at times. She knew what people said about her and her colleagues. People weren't exactly quiet about their personal feelings toward one another. After all, with all the secrets S.H.I.E.L.D. kept, being so truthful with each other was actually healthy for agents. Riley knew what people said about her, most of it being fairly negative. And she knew what people said about Romanoff.

   Romanoff was a legend, to say the least. Her dark comeuppance and history in this industry was a popular topic that surprisingly, not many knew about. She'd been through a lot, though, and it certainly showed. Natasha Romanoff was always reserved, yet she was incredibly open regarding her expansive skillset. Natasha Romanoff was an incredible agent who would undoubtedly go down in history as one of the best in her generation.

   So when Riley learned that Natasha would be training her, she was actually a little excited. Even if they didn't get along, who wouldn't want to be personally trained by someone as godly as Agent Natasha Romanoff?

   Of course, that's what she thought before they actually started training.

   The best way Riley could describe her training sessions with Natasha was by sharing a memory from their first one. To make a long story short, Riley had been in the midst of a workout that would build her stamina when Natasha had started screaming out of nowhere.