Way We Go Down ｡ Natasha Romanoff

7 - OUT OF THE FRYING PAN

Weeks turned into months and finally, Alec Thayer was beginning to shine brighter within the organisation, already turning too many heads. He had always found himself working almost too hard but where some found that a weakness, he considered it a strength, and he was not the only one. Natasha Romanoff kept her eye on him, always hiding a coy smile when he tackled down his opponent in advanced hand-to-and combat practise. It was not that long ago she was telling him his skills needed improvement. Now, he had risen up the ranks, quicker than anybody she had ever witnessed, even Agent Mercer.

Currently, Alec was going head-to-head with Elliott Mercer. She was a skilled agent and was able to multitask more than others. Not only was she strong in the field, she had medical training which came in handy at times. It did not hurt that she had a pretty face too, meaning she could go undercover without a meat headed man suspecting her. Natasha was standing by the training room entrance, her arms crossed over her chest, watching him. Over the past months, she had grown somewhat used to seeing him around and strangely enough, it didn't even annoy her that much when he called her Natalia now. "He's come a long way, wouldn't you say?"

 Mitchell Davenport had popped up behind her, a bruise near his eyebrow, most likely from a little trouble from a pervious mission. "Maybe Fury wasn't wrong about him." Natasha nodded, not even tearing her eyes away from the intense practice. She didn't mention out loud how she had been wrong about Alec Thayer, that just maybe, he was more than a simple boy soldier. 

The agent beside her just scoffed, knowing all too well that Natasha was playing a very dangerous game. A game maybe she wasn't even aware she was playing just yet. "Underestimating a soldier, you should know better, Nat."

A sound of skin slapping against the hard gym mats echoed through the room. Mitchell glanced away from the redhead, finding Elliott on the floor, a knee pressed to her chest. A loud clap came from Natasha, stepping towards her friends. "Nice work. Pretty impressive." She muttered out but Alec caught the tiny compliment and was already grinning. 

"Okay, handsome, you can remove your knee from my chest." Elliott puffed out, her forehead drenched in sweat. She was taping on his thigh, trying to snag his attention, but naturally, he was too caught up with the Russian towering over them now. "Come on, Alec, play nice with me!" She added in, her voice rising slightly. 

Alec glanced back down at her with a laugh, pushing himself to his feet. He shoved out his hand, helping the flirtatious woman to her feet. Elliott was already rolling out her shoulder, a little annoyed she had been beaten by Alec once again, her reputation for being a ruthless badass would take a hit. Mitchell was throwing a water bottle over to her which she caught effortlessly and stalked towards the bench where her towel and phone waited, she was expecting an incoming text message from her little sister, Louise. 

Natasha and Alec were standing closely, harmless banter bouncing between them. Elliott was already rolling her eyes, Mitchell laughing quietly beside her. Both of them had been watching the two of them like this for months. "Ugh, can't they bang already or something? This sexual tension is killing me." Elliot groaned, Mitchell only agreeing with her.

"Fury is pretty impressed with your improvement." Natasha was now telling Alec, watching as he flexed his arm over his head, watching the muscles shift. "He's decided it's time to test you in the field. Do you think you're up for that, soldier?"

The news had somewhat surprised him. He knew his skills were improving, it had been months of blood, sweat and tears but with the sudden announcement, his blood was warming in his veins and his heart flipped, or maybe that was because Natasha was standing so close to him and he could smell her sweet perfume. "I'm up for anything, Natalia."

***

The kitchen light was on when he arrived home, rather late since his meeting with Nick Fury about his up coming mission had taken a lot longer than he had expected. His kid sister, Poppy, was standing at the stove, heating up some macaroni and cheese. "Hey, you! How was school?"

"I aced my calculus class." Poppy grinned across at him, watching as he dumped his heavy training bag by the door and kicked off his shoes. It was such a comfort returning home after a long day of intense training and seeing his sister, always chipper to see him, despite the overwhelming homework she had from her classes. Although the change in scenery was still a challenge for the young girl, she was getting used to the harder classwork and slowly making new friends. She was just glad Alec was home at night, always offering a joke and a story about Natasha Romanoff, a woman Poppy was hearing so often about ever since moving to Washington, D.C. 

Alec smiled, dropping into a free seat at the kitchen table and dragging Poppy's homework into view, double checking her math calculations, which were perfect anyhow. "It seems you got our mother's brains." He told her with a quick glance. "I'm proud of you, Poppy."

Poppy pushed some hair behind her eyes, enjoying the compliment. "I'll take what I can get." 

The two siblings sat around the table, scooping yellowish goodness into their mouths and talking about their days, a nightly ritual. "Actually, Fury has set me up with mission. I roll out in a few days." Alec brought up, a little worried what his sister would say about it. "It will only be a day's mission and Nat will be with me, nothing to worry about."

"A mission. It's only been a few months?" Poppy asked, a swallow working its way down her throat. Although she wasn't overly worried about her brother's welfare, she had grown up with him on a battlefield and he always came back home. "What if you're not ready, Alec?"

The thought had worked deep within his own mind, tiny bits of doubt creeping out of the darkness. He was trying very hard to remain calm, he was trained for this type of thing. He also trusted Director Fury, as much as one could, but he couldn't help but think he was being thrown out of the frying pan too quickly, and into the hot flames of possible danger. Despite the uncertainly, he was giving his kid sister a big grin, nudging her shoulders with his own. "Don't worry, it will be fine. I always come home, don't I?"

Too bad, one day, he would break that promise. Because one day, he wouldn't come home.