Clintasha- The beginning

first training day

Barton was right.
This is so boring.
I stop listening to Coulson at all after about half an hour or so and observe the others instead.
They are all young probably between 20 and 21 so not so far away from my own age and wear similar clothing. Black shirts with the iconic S.H.I.E.L.D eagle on the chest and what I assume is their last Name between the shoulder blades together with dark grey cargo pants. I stand out in my civilian clothing but they didn't give me anything else yet so I have to stick to what Barton brought me.
After two hours the briefing is finally over and we get assigned into groups to trainers who are already waiting at the door to take us down to the training floor for physical evaluation and training.
My group consist of 10 other soon to be agents. 8 boys and two girls, all looking quite fierce but I can tell by the look in their eyes that none of them has ever seen a real battle.
Our Trainer approaches us while I am still assessing my fellow group Members. "My name is Agent Winston you will call me Sir and I expect you to answer directly if asked a question, understood?" Everybody nods, I raise my eyebrow.
"You have a problem with that Miss...?" he asks "And why aren't you wearing your training clothes?"
"Romanoff" I correct him "I wasn't given any since I arrived with Agent Barton 2 days ago."
"Barton brought you in?" He asked laughing out loud. "I hope you aren't as crazy as he is! I don't want any more cadets in the hospital." I wonder if he also trained Barton since he seems to know him or if Barton just generally has a bad reputation amongst the other Agents here. "Now go with cadet Williams he will show you where you can get proper clothing." Winston gestured for one of the men in my group to guide me. "We will be in training room 4. The rest follow me."
Williams turned to me and stretched his hand out for me to shake it "Hey my name is Ted." I shake his hand and reply "Natasha". I suppose it is always good to have at least some people like you. I am probably staying here for a while so it won't hurt if I make some friends. Except that I don't do friends but let's say the people I hate less than others. I follow Williams through the hallway to a room labelled with "clothing storage" which only contains a large counter and a fairly old guy with a S.H.I.E.L.D baseball cap. Jesus they print their logo everywhere. How are they even a secret organisation? I ask myself while following Ted into the room.
"Hello Mr. Fergusson we are here to get a set of training uniforms for Miss Romanoff here." Williams politely greets the old man.
"Sure son. Miss would you mind to fill out that form for me with your name, status and clothing size?" Fergusson asks while handing me a clip board and a pen. I quickly fill in the information he requested and give both back. "It will take a few minutes if you don't mind waiting you can take them with you directly." The nice old man says and leaves into another room behind his counter to get my clothes.
"So, um, is it true that Hawkeye brought you in?" Ted shyly asks after Fergusson left. It takes me a moment before realising that he is referring to Barton. I am not accustomed to that codename yet. It is kind of silly. "Yeah I was his kill mission."
He gasps and takes a step back "Oh my god. Then you can be lucky you are still here!" He exclaimed. "As far as I know he never missed his targets. You have to be special that a man like him would hesitate killing you. Some say he is as cold as stone. There are rumours you know."
If you knew. I think of him dropping out of the air duct, looking like a beaten dog this morning, while still smiling to Ted. "I consider my skill set worth his decision."
Ted looks like he wants to ask something else but is interrupted by Fergusson, who comes back with two sets of black shirts, like the one Ted is wearing, that have my name and the S.H.I.E.L.D logo imprinted on the left chest, and cargo pants.
"You can change here" He says and gestures to a curtain in the left corner while handing me a duffle and the clothes. I quickly change and together Williams and I make our way back to the training room where the rest of our group is already training hand-to-hand combat.
I spot a familiar figure with dirty blonde hair next to Winston watching the other recruits fight. When we approach them Barton turns to me smiling.
"So Fury apparently wants to punish me." He exclaimed "I have to do the whole training with you again to make sure you don't damage our other recruits." Clint fake-pouts and takes a protein-bar from the pocket of his cargo pants. 'Is he always eating?' I think before Winston orders the group to gather.
He assigns everyone to random sparring partners including Barton who complains over not being able to finish his, now third, protein bar.
"We need another man either way they are eleven because of that girl you picked up from the sidewalk so do something to contribute if you have to disturb my training." Winston argued slightly annoyed.
"Okay okay I am on my way. Who is Michaels?" he threw his hand up in defeat and went to the side of the mat where one of the cadets raised his hand to stand beside him. 
We all gathered around the mat and Winston announced the first pairing. "Romanoff and McKinney" we both stepped forward on the sparring mat. He was big and muscly next to him I must seem like a child for I am not very tall myself. Quite the opposite I was always one of the shortest people in the business but hey that's what heels were made for right? It wouldn't be hard to put McKinney down though. There are bigger and more experienced guys who were brought down by the petite Black Widow.
I nod to him and wait for the guy to strike so I can estimate his speed and strength. He starts with a powerful swing to my head, probably trying to knock me out at first try. In a swift motion I sidestep the fist and grab his arm. Then I swing myself up in the air using his arm as support and kick him in the head. Not enough to let him pass out but at least enough to send him to the ground.
Before he is able to recover I wrap my thighs around his head and keep him in a deadlock until he pats out.

Next up are Barton and a guy named Michaels. He is tall and has about a head to Barton who is, even though he is taller than me, not very tall at all for an agent. Maybe 5'10 or so. Michaels looks strong but not bulky. Nothing to slow him down and Barton is still injured and probably didn't even really sleep this night.
Somehow I get the feeling that Winston picked the hardest opponent for Barton for him being uncooperative at the beginning.
When Clint steps on the mat, his stance seems relaxed and casual at first sight but if you look closer one can see his feet shifting several inches to gain stability and his fists are ready to be clenched.
As soon as they start circling each other I can see that he is holding back, a smirk on his lips.  The first blows are exchanged without either one hitting the other but Clint doesn't seem to try and hit something. He just dodges and throws a casual punch that is easy to block.
"Quit stalling you cowards!" Winston yells and Michaels immediately straightens his posture a little at the insult. Barton seems unconcerned, as usual.
The other guy quickens his movements and gets more offensive trying to prove himself to his trainer. Barton moves along not even breathing fast still dodging everything.
His expression is mocking, saying "catch me if you can" to his opponent who gets more and more frustrated.
I can sense he's waiting for something. For an opening to bring Michaels down without too much trouble. His bullet wound probably hurts more than he lets on otherwise he surely would be more offensive.
A few seconds later Michaels lets his fists drop for a heartbeat only but it is all Barton needs. He aims for the head with a roundhouse kick and before his opponent even hits the mat, he returned to his seemingly relaxed stance bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet.
Then he walks over to Michaels and offers his hand to help him up. The other man looks wary but takes the hand to pull himself up.
"Good match" Clint says but it should be obvious to everyone that he could have won blindfolded. Still Michaels nods and smiles.
The next few fights are not very entertaining. Most of the recruits aren't bad at hand to hand but they aren't particularly good either.
After an hour in total Winston allows us a break. Not that I would have needed one. I hardly broke a sweat but I enjoy the opportunity to wander around the training room a little.