Shadowbreath: The New Avenger

Chapter 16

Edit (02/02)

When Natasha waltzed into her room the next morning, Alex was stretching out along the area rug. The assassin lifted an eyebrow and leaned her shoulder up against the far wall. "You up for breaking out of this joint?"

Alex scrambled up to her feet, eyes wide. "You mean I can leave?"

Natasha shrugged, "I was thinking we could take advantage of the gym if you promise not to try and fly the coop the first chance you get. I need to test your hand to hand combat if you're going to come with us to get the Arc Reactor back."

A grin broke out across Alex's face, and she had to suck in a quick gulp of air when she forgot to breathe. This was...this was incredible. Somewhere between revealing bits and pieces of her past and Peter revealing his identity, Alex's relationship with the Avengers had shifted. She was no longer a prisoner they were trying to interrogate. Instead, she had evolved into an ally they were willing to prepare to fight alongside with. Alex buzzed with energy, intent on not letting them down, or doing anything to lose the inch of trust they were giving her.

"I'm not going anywhere." She promised, holding a hand out to the assassin.

Natasha smirked and shook it. She wound an arm around Alex's shoulders and led her out the door and down the hall. Alex hadn't left her 'room' since she arrived at the compound, so she took the opportunity she had been given to take everything in.

"This place used to be an old Stark Industries warehouse before Tony decided to convert it to a base of operations for the Avengers. He even sold his tower to move everything here." Natasha explained, watching Alex's face as she admired their surroundings on their short journey. The large windows reflected rich forests and deep green fields. It was a beautiful piece of property overlooking a glittering lake illuminated by a rising sun.

"He's been talking about buying the tower back, you know."

Alex tore her gaze from the scenery and cocked her head to the side. "Why would he do that? Isn't this place enough?"

Natasha led her to the elevator and down a few floors to the level containing a massive gym, complete with a full ringed boxing platform, state of the art weight sets, an Olympic sized swimming pool, and an array of obviously modified punching bags, presumably for the missing super soldier. "This place is great, but I think it's a little too far from the city for Tony's taste. A little birdy told me that Spider-Man took off his mask for you last night?"

Alex nodded, a little wary of the sudden change in direction. She slowly walked around the gym, gliding her fingertips across the equipment.

"Peter goes to Midtown High in Queens. It's quite the drive for him to come to the compound. It used to be just on the weekends, but it seems like he has a reason to come every day now."

A blush crept across Alex's cheeks without her permission and she moved to rub it away. After a few moments of silent thought, Natasha's words caught up with her. "Stark wants to be closer to Peter, right?"

Natasha gave her a small small. "Got it in one. Tony's got a soft spot for kids, in case you couldn't tell."

Alex turned and slipped underneath the ropes of the ring and bounced around on the balls of her feet. "I noticed. He's...." she struggled to find the words, "different from what I expected."

Natasha followed her around slowly, like a cat waiting to pounce. She occasionally lashed out, giving Alex plenty of time to dodge while they warmed up. "I have a feeling that is most people's experience when they meet him. How is he different?"

Alex gave as good as she got, working up a thin layer of sweat as she danced around the assassin. "My family was always about consistency. I had rules I was expected to follow and things I was expected to learn. Joey never went a day without telling me how much he hated Tony Stark." She rolled her eyes, "got a little dramatic, if you ask me. I learned to tune out his incessant rambling by the time I was nine."