Devotion [Book 1]

Good At Goodbyes

Chapter 5

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592, 593, 594, 595...

"Alright, good work - now give me one more set."

Steve looked up from the faded blue sparing mat beneath him. On the other side of the gym his teammates were training under the watchful eye of Natasha. If you could call the room they were training in a gym. In reality, they were making do in a large garage that had been converted in to a sparse workout room complete with worn gym mats, a punching bag and a set of weights.

"You said that two sets ago," Scott panted, using the bottom of his shirt to wipe the sweat leaking from his brow. "Are you trying to kill me? Cos if you are - it's working."

Natasha shrugged apologetically. "You were the one who said you wanted to train like an Avenger; this is how we train."

Scott grimaced. "Yeah, but I thought you would train me at a human level, not as if I was Hercules over there." He gestured to Steve who had paused mid count in completing his push-ups.

Feeling sorry for his exhausted teammate, Steve decided to offer Scott some encouraging advice. "You'll get used to it, Lang. Don't worry – you're doing great!" He added a thumbs up alongside of his reassuring smile.

"I'll die before that happens," Scott whined, clearly not swayed by the positive can-do-attitude the super solider was projecting. He swore openly as Steve finished his six hundredth push-up and switched to doing the next set one handed.

"Don't worry about what Rogers is doing – he's just showing off." Steve heard Natasha comment and he swallowed a smile as he continued.

"I'm seriously tapping out here," Scott continued to plead his case. "Please, don't make me do another set - my arms are legit going to snap off."

"If they snap off, then I'll switch to teaching you to use your legs to lift the bar instead," the redhead rebuked without a trace of empathy. Steve glanced back over at the duo across the room. With her hands on her hips, Natasha delivered her best do-it-or-else glare to the whimpering Scott.

Beside him, Wanda attempt to smother a giggle behind her hand. Steve quickly sent her a cautionary look and she obediently returned to her set of crunches - though she didn't bother trying to hide her grin as Scott continued to protest under Natasha's instructions.

"Can I at least have a five-minute break?"

"No."

"What about some orange slices?"

"I don't have any orange slices."

"A protein bar?"

"You can eat when you've finished."

"What about a lung transplant, I'm pretty sure I need one of those."

Steve knew Natasha well enough that without looking at her he knew she was currently rolling her eyes and screwing up the side of her mouth.

"One more set and then you can take a quick break."

Steve switched arms as he finished another set and quickly glanced across the room. Natasha had reached forward and picked up the set of weights effortlessly from their cradle. There was a ridiculously large part of Steve that got a kick out of watching a strong, confident woman bark orders and put full-grown men through their paces. The first time he'd experienced such a feeling was watching Peggy pick apart the ragtag group of soldiers still wet behind the ears back in the early days of WWI.

Now it was Natasha. The ex-KGB agent was talented both on and off the battlefield and didn't waste a second on seeking the acceptance of her male counterparts. Both women took no prisoners and made no apologies.