Unexpected

Testing, Testing, One, Two, Three

"That is the funkiest pen I've ever seen." Barton's observant eyes flicked down to my hand.

"Oh, it's not a pen." I said, pulling it out of my pocket and holding it up for Barton to see.

"Then what is it?" he took it from me, bringing it to his face to inspect it.

"Stark tech." Nat said as explanation, which only served to make Barton raise his eyebrow in a questioning expression.

"A gift from Stark. Got it in the mail today."

"That's why we came down here." Nat nodded, taking the device and twisting it in her fingers, "We were going to test it out."

"Testing out some mysterious piece of Stark tech?" For a moment, from his deadpan expression and suspicious eyes, I thought he was going to tell us that it was a bad idea, that we should let the labs figure out what it was, but I was surprised to see a mischievous smile crack his face as he handed it to me, "Count me in."

The three of us strode out with me in the lead into the middle of the floor, near a rack of dumbbells and benches where no other agents were. Turning around I found the pair of them a few feet away, arms crisscrossed over their chests, watching me, "Okay, so what do we do now?" I asked.

"Test it out." Nat said matter-of-factly.

"How? I don't know how it works."

"Stark didn't give any instructions?" Barton asked, his eyes moving between me and Nat.

"Nope."

"Typical."

"Just mess around with it." Nat suggested.

So I did. I twisted the dial one way, then the other, noticing how the dashes on it grew in length as it circled the device. So maybe the dial was to show a growing or shrinking degree of something, like a volume dial. Then, I did the only other thing I could think of and clicked the button with my thumb.

Instantly my muscles clenched for a second as a jolt of sparking energy rushed from my hand throughout my body. Sounds like static quietly burnt through the air as I gasped a startled sound and looked up from my hand where I saw a few miniscule arches of electricity momentarily flash over my forearm and knuckles, to stare wide-eyed at the two assassins "Whoo! That's a rush!"

"What was that?" Clint questioned, stepping closer, in case I reacted poorly. I realized he'd never actually seen me get energized before. He wasn't there during Tony and Bruce's experiments or when I'd been Tasered by Broussard.

"I'm fine!" I assured him, my voice far perkier now than it had been a second ago, "I feel great! It's a kick-starter!"

"Like the Taser?" Nat asked, interest pricking her eyes as she gingerly took the device from me.

"What Taser?" Clint asked, looking at me with a bit of shock, though it was mostly curiosity now that he knew that I was not hurt.

"We'll tell you later." I smiled, pointing at the silver device, "That thing is awesome! It's perfect! Now if I need a jolt on some mission or whatever I don't have to be Tasered or stick my finger in a socket to get my strength!"

"That is useful." Nat nodded with a teasingly raised eyebrow, "Stark was bound to do something useful eventually."

She then turned to Barton and started explaining more in depth what we had discovered about my powers, then she gave him a quick rundown of the mission we had run the night before as I investigated the device again. How in the world did this tiny thing hold so much energy? Obviously clicking the button caused whatever energy inside it to become kinetic and transferred it to me so I could quickly absorb it. Was it all used up now? Twisting the dial again, setting it to a lower setting I clicked the button again and felt the surge of energy, building up like a balloon being puffed up. Nope! Definitely wasn't out. Would I need to recharge it? Wow, that was a buzz! I needed to start ridding myself of this energy!

"So that explains it." I heard Barton say as Nat finished as I grabbed one of the larger dumbbells from off the holders hanging over a pressing bench. Even though both sides of the thing claimed to be fifty pounds, I picked it up like it was a measly fifteen pounds total.

"Dang, Penny!" I turned to see Barton looking impressed, "You're gonna make Steve look bad!"

I laughed, though it was cut short by another familiar voice coming from the elevator. "Who's going to make me look bad?" It was Steve, of course, wearing a regulation grey S.H.I.E.L.D. training t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. He came up and took Clint's hand in a firm handshake, "Good to see you again."

"You too, Cap." Barton said before tilting his head in my direction with a joking grin, "Penny here's gonna kick you out of a job."

Sheepishly I tried to replace the dumbbells delicately on its holder, though; of course it rang out a clanging sound as they dropped into place. "'Course I won't."

"Her abilities are impressive." Steve agreed with Barton, making me flush as he grinned at me in his usual friendly, warmhearted way, "And from her mission report, she has proven herself in the field. Maybe one day I'll have her on my team during a mission."

"Oh, no thank you!" I said whipping my hands in the air in a 'no way' gesture, "I've had just enough missions and gunfire and undercover makeup to last me for a long, long time!"

The three Avengers laughed and I strolled up to the group of them, my fingers tapping rigorously against my leg, unable to keep still with the sugar-rush-style energy flowing through me.

"Fair enough." Nat assented.

"I'm just looking forward to sitting at my desk with some translating work... which I should probably get back to now that we've discovered the secret to my new gadget."

"What? Now?" Clint asked, sounding surprised.

"What gadget?" Steve asked overtop of Barton who quickly started filling him in as Nat spoke to me.

"Penny, if you start typing on a keyboard now you're gonna smash those keys into itty-bitty pieces. You're too ramped up." Nat said, nodding knowingly to my fingers that gave me away. "No, you need to blow off some energy..." her voice trailed off as she looked out of the corner of her eye at Barton whose mouth was curved into a wickedly playful smirk, "And I know just how."

I instantaneously hated how they seemed to be reading each other's minds, coming to some conclusion that I was certain I wasn't going to like. Part of me wanted to ask 'what?', but I dreaded the answer. Steve asked instead, looking suspiciously at the silver gadget that was now hooked back onto the pocket of my slacks, instead of at the pair of conspiring agents.

"You two should have a match off." Barton answered, placing a hand on one of Steve's wide shoulders.