FYI, Stein is just a made up minor bad guy. I have no idea if there is any actually Marvel or Rick Riordan villain named Stein. When I first wrote the name, an asshat I know was being pretentious and telling people if they hadn't read Frankenstein they were, essentially, uncultured swine. So in honor of generic ass number one, generic villain Stein was created.
Percy's POV
The sun was gleaming through the window and for once Percy was awake without her mother having to entice her with blue cookies. She was scurrying around her room looking for training clothes, she decided on long black leggings a light grey shirt and a navy jacket. Natasha had told her she would be teaching her self-defense but she wasn't quite sure what that would entail, nor did she know where they were going and in Manhattan it was better to be safe than sorry.
Smiling she looked out her window almost unable to contain her excitement. It was going to be a good day.
Natasha's POV
Natasha hadn't gotten much sleep. A bunch of Stein's goons had tried to blow up a police station in an attempt to lure both her and the files she had, out of hiding. She had gone, without the files, and aprehended them, unfortunately the bullet wound she had gotten from them yesterday had opened up and DAM it hurt!
So there she was stalking through the artifically lit halls of the Shield Helicarrier, injured, sleep deprived and just generally pissed off. She really hoped no one bothered her or else there was going to be one less shield operative running around. As she was brooding an announcement sounded through the halls.
"The seven thirty meeting has been moved from room 2B3 into room 3D9, thank you for your cooperation."
It's 7:30, Shit I'm going to be late! Today is going to be terrible
Third Person POV
Percy had arrived ten minutes late, she would have been on time but the strange creatures had kept distracting her. There was a huge variety of them, ranging from small brown rat like creatures to the large pink tentacles she had seen the day before. There had even been a scaly green woman who had tried to get Percy to follow her, but had left when a pink tentacle had gotten too close for comfort.
Eventually she had managed to make her way to building where she had agreed to meet Natasha, feeling terrible over being late the entire time. That is until she was greeted by the woman, running to the meeting place, as panicked as Percy was. When the two reach each other they both couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculous expression the other sported. It took a while but eventually the pair finished laughing and grinned at each other, glad they weren't the only one that was late.
Natasha walked to the front gate of the building, motioning for Percy to follow her, and punched a long code into a keypad. The metal gate slide open with barely a sound revealing a small, beautifully landscaped yard. There was a gravel path leading to the etched metal door, which required a numerical code, verbal password, and fingerprint and iris scan. The inside of the building was designed in a modern style, while the exterior was more industrial and had a less finished look. However the two styles complemented each other and seemed to enhance the positive qualities of both.
Natasha lead the slightly awestruck girl through building, chuckling internally. There was a home theater, huge kitchen, multiple fire places, an abundance of bed and bath rooms, an Olympic sized swimming pool and a whole floor devoted to training/gym equipment. And it all belonged to Natasha.
After the tour it was decided that Percy's physical abilities, general knowledge and tech knowhow would be tested, and that the language she wanted to learn should be chosen. Percy was extremely excited at the prospect of learning another language, when she was younger she had known a bilingual girl and it was so cool when she switched between languages. She decided that her first language would be Spanish, as it was related to English, with similar gramar and sentence structure. That day Natasha agreed to speak in English, however from there on out she would only speak in the chosen language.
Next came general knowledge, Natasha quizzed her on anything from traditional topics like science and math, to worldly topics like formal dancing and the ability to cook. Percy did well in school subjects and was around three years ahead of what should be expected from a child her age. She was also able to do simple household chores such as cooking and cleaning, however she had never received a "noble" instruction. She would have to be taught about various hierarchies and the behaviors that were expected for each one, dinner etiquete, formal dancing and a variety of other "high-class" knowledge, so that she could easily mingle with the upper crust of society.
When Percy's abilities with technology were tested, Natasha was blown away. The child typed faster than most adults, had a considerable knowledge with how computers were physically built and actually surpassed Natasha when it came to coding and programing. Something that was no easy feat.
Finally it came time to test Percy's physical capabilities. First her flexibility was tested, she was young so she was naturally flexible, but she also had quite a few double joints, allowing her to contort her body in ways most people couldn't even dream of. Her strength was also surprising, contrary to her thin frame, the girl could manage fairly large weights. However if her strength was surprising, her reflexes were out of this world. She could almost react before she saw the danger.
By the end of the day if Natasha had, had any reservations about training Percy, they were long gone. The girl had met her expectations and blown past them, in some cases even reaching the level of a trained agent. So as a reward for both of them Natasha went and got swimming clothes for them before diving headfirst into the pool. Percy changed and followed suit.
Percy was like a fish in the water and acted like one too, flying from one end of the pool to the other unimpeded by the laws of physics. Natasha found the girl's antics hilarious, and wasn't able to resist splashing her. After a silent moment Percy launched herself at Natasha sending huge waves towards her, sparking an all out splash fest. Natasha wasn't able to remember the last time she'd had so much innocent fun, at least until Percy accidentally kicked her leg, right on the bullet wound.
She felt the ripped flesh move and knew her stiches had broken, her suspicions were confirmed when the surrounding water quickly went from clear to scarlet. With a groan she made her was to the side of the pool, leaving a stunned and unmoving Percy in the middle of the red water. She tried to pull herself out of the water, but after ripping her stiches for the second time in less than twenty-four hours her injured leg was having none of it.
Percy finally broke out of her statue like state and rushed over to the bleeding woman. She felt terrible about injuring her, but she didn't quite know how she had, at least until she remembered her bleeding leg on the catwalk. Percy wanted to swear at the woman, how could she be so reckless! Still she did her best to stay calm and help Natasha before she lectured her.
As Natasha saw Percy making her way over to her she tried to tell her to get the first aid kit in a cupboard near the door, but as she started to speak a wave of dizziness swept over her and kept her from talking. She knew she was in a bad state, judging from how quickly she was bleeding out, she must have hit an artery. Knowing how dangerous the situation was she once again tried to speak, but was met with the same reaction. Her consciousness was now going dangerously black around the edges and she knew it was only a matter of time until she succumbed to blood loss.
By the time Percy reached Natasha, she was struggling to keep her head upright and her eyes were unfocused. Blood was staining the water like a morbid depiction of a flower. Realizing how serious the situation was, Percy frantically looked around for a first aid kit or a phone but saw none. She tried to lift the woman out of the water but the difference in weight was simply too much. She was panicking, she didn't know what to do! She had finally meet someone other than her mom who liked her and wanted to teach her things! It was so unfair, why couldn't she just live!
As Percy's emotions reached a crescendo and Natasha started to fall into the darkness a gentle blue light grew from where Percy's hands were pressing on the wound. The light mixed with the red water pulling it in. Before Percy's very eyes Natasha's blood was being taken from the water and sent back into her body. With each second that passed Natasha's complexion was changing from a waxy bleached white to her former light tan. As the last of the blood was taken from the pool, Natasha woke up, just in time to see her torn flesh knit itself back together. Knowing she shouldn't be alive, she looked at the Percy in shock, only to see her sporting the same expression.
The two pulled apart, Natasha to see if her leg was actually fine and that she wasn't dead and Percy to stare at her hands. Both knew something had happened, something that shouldn't be possible, yet they didn't know what.
Percy was terrified, just another thing to make her a freak. She couldn't just be normal, no, she had to have weird powers along with being polygender and ADHD and dyslexic. Even if she had saved Natasha's life, she knew it was only a matter of time until she was abandoned.
Natasha was mostly confused, an emotion not often experienced by a world class assassin. She was sure she would die and that there was nothing she could do about it, yet there she was, alive and actually feeling better than she had before. The only explanation she could think of was that Percy had done something and from the look on her face she had no idea what. After a while Natasha decided that Percy's newfound powers were a good thing. They could train her powers just as they could her body and in time they could make her a force to be reckoned with.
Natasha turned around wanting to talk to Percy and found her staring at the surrounding water, looking like a kicked puppy. The assassin's heart softened, just a little, and realized while she had been thinking about harnessing her power, Percy was scared. She made her way over to the girl and when she reached out to touch her, she flinched. That was the straw that broke the camels back.
Natasha once again reached for the girl, wrapping her in her arms. Seeing Percy so scared and shying away from human touch brought back her time in the Red Room. She knew what it was like to fear those who were supposed to be teachers and mentors, what it was like to fear a part of yourself. And Natasha wanted with all of her being that Percy never have to experience that. A surge of protectiveness rose from a part of her she thought long dead, as Percy started weeping in her arms. She would train this girl so she would be powerful enough to never have to go through heartbreak or pain and until that day came, she would protect her. She would protect her with her life.