An Elemental Manipulation

Chapter Two

(1,257 words 6,180 characters)

I'm on my way to bed when I get a chilled sensation and shiver. It's the same feeling like someone or something is watching me. I shake off the feeling and close the curtains along the windows. I crawl into bed and fall asleep. I remember thinking about the look in Loki's eye when I asked him who he was. My mind goes blank and I find sleep.

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I'm woken up by a knock on the door. I roll over to look at my phone and I see the time, 7:30am. I quickly get out of bed walking over to the door in my sweats and tank-top. I open the door to find Thor towering over me. Glaring at him, I say "Can I help you?"

"Erm, Tony sent me up here to make sure you were meeting us for training today."

"....Yes, I'll be down in 20". I shut the door and walk to the bathroom where I stand in front of the mirror and brush my knotted hair up into a ponytail. I finish putting on my athletic clothes and shoes and jog down the stairs where I find Steve waiting for me. He's holding a pair of boxing gloves and tosses them to me. "What am I supposed to do with these?" I say with a disgusted look on my face.

"I'll be helping you train today, you'll be assigned to one or two of us everyday before the mission to ensure you are ready when the time comes".

He seems to think that I've never done any of this before, so I shrug and duck into the boxing ring where people watch as I warm up. Steve approaches me and nods when we are ready to start training. He teaches me a couple new techniques while we are working. It seems like we've been training for hours when Loki steps up and says,

"Show us what you've got. It's not like you can do much with how little you are."

Steve gives him a look that seems like he's telling him I'm not ready, so I turn towards Loki and ask, "You wanna fight against me?". Knowing full well what he is capable of, I dare him to fight me. He might be a sorcerer but none of them know what my powers are, and I'm confident that Loki won't leave a scratch on my body. His eyes go wide at my question and he steps away leaving Steve the one to fight me.

"Are you sure you're ready to take any of us on?". Steve sounds concerned but I'm laughing internally.

"Why wouldn't I be ready", I say to him with a smile on my face.

Steve puts his hands up, as do I. Everyone seems to be worried when they come to stand near the ring. Steve throws the first punch and I dodge it. A few minutes go by when I hit the ground and catch Steve off guard when I flip him onto his belly and hold him down. He laughs while he surrenders and stands back up. "Not bad for the first day of training", he says. Everyone looks at me like I just killed someone, so I turn back to Loki again and say,

"You sure you don't want to go up against me...?"

Loki looks at the ground and back up at me and shakes his head and exits the room. Tony walks up to me with a cold towel and a protein shake and proceeds to tell the team,

"That's enough training for the day guys, let's wrap this up"

Everyone but me, Tony and Steve, leaves the room. Steve and Tony look at each other for a second, then look down at me. At first, I thought I was in trouble when I realized Tony was handing Steve money. Frantically, I yell at them.

"You guys made a bet on me?!"

Tony shrugs and says "I didn't think you were going to beat him and Steve knew you were going to beat him"

I glare at both of them and proceed to walk out of the room. I'm walking into my room when I realize that I need to take a shower before I go back down to the lounge with everyone. I walk to the bathroom and get into the hot shower and let the water wash away all the sweat from training.

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I get out of the shower and look at my phone and it's 5:45pm, right around dinner time. I can hear Thor and Steve laughing at something. I dry my hair as best I can with the towel and put on a pair of skinny jeans and a black top. I'm walking down the stairs when I hear my name, so I stop and listen. I hear someone say,

"Harley huh, she really did beat you today. You must have gone easy on her, right?"

"No, actually I didn't, she's a good fighter and if you think that she's not meant for the team then I suggest you think again. She has a heart and no one knows what her powers are yet, so be careful. I assume we'll be learning tomorrow what she's all about"

Wow, Steve is defending me, but why would he do that? He barely knows me and I'm the one who beat him. I continue on down the stairs and walk over to where Wanda and Nat are sitting and I ask to join them.

With a smile on her face, Nat says "Of course, the boys won't shut up about you. They seem to think that Steve let you win. Wait till you get assigned with one of them and beat them in another fight."

I can't help but laugh when I ask, "What do you think? You think I'm strong enough to be on the team?" I turn to see everyone else when I see Loki and Thor quietly fighting in the corner. I turn back to Nat and Wanda that are talking to each other now. I get up and start walking over when Tony grabs my arm to get my attention and asks what my plans were like tonight, I try to think of an accuse but he interrupts and says,

"There's a big party going on tonight that we're all going to, if you would like to join us. We leave in about an hour, just so you know." He walked away with a smile on his face, I was going to continue my way over to Thor but my attention was caught by Steve sitting alone looking bored. I made my way over to him, he looked up at me as I was sitting down next to him.

"Are you planning on going to the party tonight?" I asked.

Steve looked at me with curious eyes and chuckled, "Is that your way of asking me if I'd like to go with you?"

I sat there shocked for a moment before I was able to say anything. "If that's what you want, then sure." I smile at him waiting for an answer.

"Let's make a deal, I go with you to the party and I'll ask you to dance with me, which you'll have have to say yes"

"Deal!" I say smiling at him, "What time do we leave?"

He looks down at his watch, then looks back at me and says, "45 minutes, better go get ready" he winks at me and I jog up the stairs to my room.