Akrasia

Chapter 21

      Lainey ended up eating with Peter and May after the movie. And after building the Death Star out of legos, which took forever. Even though Peter considered it easy sense he's done it before.
By the time she was heading home it was pouring out and she couldn't talk May out of giving her a ride. She had to make up an address, but couldn't think of any. In the end she used her own old one, and when May dropped her off she hid behind the house until she left.
    She didn't even attempt to get Tony's bike back. It was already a long way to the tower, and the pouring rain and gusting winds didn't help. In the end, Lainey decided to run back to the tower. When she finally got there she was drenched. So much that she left an actual puddle in the elevator. Clint and Nat were both sitting at the counter talking when Lainey walked in.
"What happened to you?" Clint asked after seeing Lainey red faced, breathing heavily, and soaked.
"I had to run back." She replied out of breath while grabbing a chair and plopping down on it.
"Back here, where were you?" Clint asked again.
"I went to Peter's house. Bucky must've not told you."
"No he didn't, but that doesn't explain why you're soaking wet." Nat said raising an eyebrow.
"Well, I rode Tony's bike to his house because I didn't want one of you guys driving me." Lainey was about to go on but Clint cut her off.
"Tony has a bike?"
"Yeah, but most likely it was very expensive." Lainey grinned and then carried on. "Moving on. When May, Peters aunt, saw that it was pouring she insisted on driving me to my house. I couldn't talk her out of it, and I didn't want her dropping me off here. For obvious reasons. I ended-"
Once again Clint interrupted her. "Actually the reasons aren't that obvious."
"Well, it's Avengers Tower. It's- just- um, how about no. Anyways, I had to make up a fake address, but I couldn't think of one. And I ended up giving her my old address. When she dropped me off I hid behind the house until she drove away."
"Was your dad there?" Nat pressed.
"No. But I had to run all the way back here. It took my about 23 minutes of sprinting in the rain."
"23 minutes? How many miles, three?" Nat asked.
"Yeah, I'd say about three miles." Lainey clarified.
"Not bad for timing." Nat commented.
"Oh, well thanks. It would've been quicker on bike, but I didn't have time to go back and get it. So now a million dollar bike is chained to a tree." Clint and Nat grinned at her last comment.
"I'm sure he doesn't care. He probably didn't even know he had one." Clint added.
"You should probably head to bed. We have new ideas for your training tomorrow." Nat stated motioning her to leave.
"Okay, night guys." Lainey said leaving towards her room. Right when she got there she changed immediately into dry clothes. After brushing her teeth, she jumped straight into bed and fell asleep.
In the morning she ate a small breakfast so she wouldn't throw it up training. After she finished conditioning with Nat she worked with Clint.
"The first time we fought you, you caught one of my arrows and could dodge them. I want you to do just that. Either catch them or dodge them, I don't care. But I'll be firing at you while you run across that side of the room to the next." Clint explained pointing to the start and finish.
"Got it." Lainey said walking to the start. Clint took his spot at the far wall and drew his bow.
"Ready. Go!" Clint yelled.
Immediately Lainey sprinted dodging each arrow. The first arrow was leading her, so she slid under it before rolling to stand back up. The next one fired was aimed to her feet. When she realized that she jumped and completed a dive roll before carrying on. She had avoided the first two easily, so Clint nocked three arrows into his bow, and let them go. Lainey couldn't calculate all three. The first was aimed for her head, second for her torso, and third for her shins.
She jumped avoiding the third arrow and was able to catch the first arrow for her head. But the second one was able to hit her in the side. Lainey sat down defeated as Clint strode over to her.
"I'm very thankful you dulled the tips of those arrows for me." Lainey said our of breath.
"Mmhmm. What happened?You were doing so good." Clint asked lending her a hand.
    "I don't know. I just couldn't get the last one I guess." Lainey answered grabbing his hand as he lifted her up.
    "Well we are doing this until you can complete it. Go to the start." Clint said heading  over to his spot and he heard Lainey grumble from behind him.
     They did the same routine over and over. Every time Lainey would get caught when Clint let loose three arrows. Of course now one arrow was a piece of cake, but three or two, nope.
    Lainey started one more run. She sprinted and dodged the first arrow with lithe and grace. The second arrow was aimed for the side of her head, but before it could hit her she threw up her hand and caught it in a closed fist. For a dramatic effect she snapped it in half without pulling her attention away from the far wall, her destination. Next were two arrows fired at her. Easily she twirled over her left shoulder letting the arrows cross her body and keep soaring pass. Finally three arrows were fired, and if she got passed them she'd get to the end.
    Same placement as the first time, head, torso, and shins. Like before, she caught the one flying for her head. A split second after she jumped over the third arrow whilst twirling in the air avoiding the second arrow. Lainey landed perfectly allowing her to sprint the rest of the way to the wall. Right when she reached it she yelled,
     "Yes! Finally!" Her smile was wide and Clint's was too. When Lainey realized Clint was still around she sprinted to him and bombarded him with a big hug. "I did it!" She squealed.
    Clint returned the hug and said, "Yes you did! You're also very sweaty." He jokes and Lainey pulled away.
   "Sorry about that." She apologized while rubbing her sweaty palms on her shirt.
    "You can be done for today. You did good and looked very skilled doing it too." Clint added smiling. Lainey walked out beaming and rewarded herself with a long, warm shower. Of course, she listened to classic rock the whole time which only made it better.
    When she was done showering and simply relaxing on her bed sorting through Spotify, someone knocked on her door.
    "Come in." Lainey called. Natasha and Wanda walked into her room. They both sat next to Lainey as she sat up. "What do you two need?"
    "It's what you need." Nat said patting the box on her lap. Lainey looked at them both curiously.
    "I'm lost." Lainey commented inspecting the smiling women.
    "Well, sense you're now an Avenger, we thought it was necessary that you have a suit." Wanda explained as she watched Lainey's smile grow as she caught on.
    "So open it up." Nat added handing the box to Lainey. Lainey dug into the box and pulled out a cat suit. She inspected it with awe. The fit was very similar to Nat's. Obviously it was black, but along the sleeves were silver, intricate swirls threaded down to the wrist. The neck line dipped low, and immediately Lainey knew Bucky wouldn't be fond of it, but she loved it. Finally, she pulled out the belt holster. It had the same design as the sleeves. Plus, plenty of slots to slips knives, Lainey's personal favorite.
    Lainey was beaming at the suit which only made Wanda and Nat smile greater. "I love it. Thank you guys so much!" Lainey exclaimed looking at the two. Wanda leaned in to hug Lainey and Nat did the same. Lainey accepted it and felt pure joy. These past weeks she felt like a family with everyone in the tower. Even more considering Natasha was hugging her. Eventually Nat and Wanda pulled away. One more time Lainey thanked them, "Thank you guys sooooo much. I really appreciate it!"
    "Of course, you always have to look good." Wanda beamed.
    "We're glad you like it Lainey." Nat said smiling while standing up. "You'll have to wear it to train tomorrow. All of us are going to train together."
    "I wouldn't want to be the only one wearing a suit." Lainey added.
    "Then don't do it and surprise them on your first mission." Wanda suggested.
    "I'll do that." Lainey said putting the suit back in the box.
     "Okay, we will see you at dinner." Nat said before walking out. Wanda followed her out the door too. When Lainey's door shut she immediately pulled the suit back out and tried it on. She fell in love with the suit. It fit her perfectly and made her look eccentric also.
    After a while Friday told her that supper was ready, so Lainey headed to the kitchen. No one was there other than Steve, who smiled at Lainey as she walked in.
   "Sense you are first, you get first pick." Steve said motioning to the dishes laid out. Lainey picked her plate then sat down.
    "I'm surprised that I'm first because Friday told me supper was ready about five minutes ago." Lainey commented glancing to the elevator.
    "I know. It seems that no one likes my cooking."
     "Someone else should make food for once. Or at least pay for take out of they're lazy." Lainey jokes eating her food.
    "You know what, you're right. Someone else should." Steve said taking her seriously. Right when he said that Clint and Natasha walked in.
    "Someone else should what?" Nat asked grabbing a plate and sitting next to Lainey.
      "Cook food." Steve answered.
      "But I love Steve's cooking." Clint joked.
       "Yeah, because that explains why you didn't bother to come to eat right away." Steve smiled slightly chuckling. Eventually everyone else came in and ate. That was until Friday interrupted them.
    "Nick Fury demanded your presence as soon as possible, sir." Friday explained.
    "Gosh darn. What does he need now." Tony exclaimed exasperated.
    "I don't know, so let's go." Steve said standing up and heading to the elevator.