Inhuman
Fandom: MCU Pairing: Bucky x fem!reader, eventually Loki x fem!reader, Stucky, more (some canon, some not). Word count: 1926. Contents: New problems. A/N: Any questions are welcome. Please comment and like and reblog. Let me know if you want a tag.
Chapter 24
... Reader’s PoV ...
Slowly, the blurry vision turns into the sharp image of the clock on the wall where the big red numbers read 11:52. As far as the radar can reach, activity’s boiling. Soon, it’ll be lunch break for most of the agents that aren’t on assignment. Lunch…food. Your stomach rumbles and your hands are shaking so you’re delighted to see the snack Jemma has left even though the drink’s lukewarm. You still swallow it in no time. It doesn’t fill that much, but it’s a start to steady the glucose levels and get you to the kitchen where you can scrounge for more.
You’re standing with the head in a cupboard to make sure you haven’t missed anything when two familiar shapes appear within the radius. Natasha and Steve. They’ll have to wait because you want more food. It’s like the terregenisis has turned me into a hobbit. In one cabinet, you find half a roll of crackers, in another there’s some jerky and a pack of raisins…and finally you take the liberty of stealing some tomatoes from Fitz’s lunch. You’ll apologize when you see him, of course.
You’re lining up the spoils as the two teammates arrive, presumably having come from Coulson’s office.
“Hey Nat. Hi Steve.” It might be considered cheating, knowing who’s approaching even if with the back turned, but it won’t get old. “What brings you guys here?”
They are exchanging glances before they answer the greeting.
“I need SHIELD’s help to find someone.”
Normally, Natasha is the one who knows where everyone has been, is or will be. For her, asking for help is as rare as a black rhino in the wild and it makes you put down the food, so you can turn and look at her. She is cool and composed as always, not showing a single sign of concern, but the student has gotten to know teacher well enough to realize that she is restless and potentially frustrated with the lack of success so far in solving the ‘assignment’.
Both of them are in workout clothes and you get a nagging feeling, that you might have to adopt their style soon.
“Who?” you ask, popping a tomato in your mouth.
“Bruce.”
“Bruce?!” It nearly makes you choke on the tomato. He’s been MIA before, but it hardly makes sense that he would do that again and the idea of the Hulk being AWOL is never reassuring. “If there is anything I can do to help…” You don’t expect there to be though.
“We got the machine running, now we just have to wait for Coulson to turn up some clues we might have missed.” There is confidence in Steve’s voice…but it doesn’t reach his eyes.
“While waiting, I want to see how far you’ve come since last time we sparred.” Yup, she’s restless.
“Sure, just let me get changed I’ll meet you on the mat.”
Steve catches you by the elbow, drawing you slightly nearer. “Buck says hi.”
You don’t like the tone of that, eyeing the captain warily. “Is he...?”
“Just for a while. Doesn’t want to hurt anyone.” He manages to muster a little smile. “Thought you should know.”
…
Before sparring sessions, you normally boost the adrenaline a bit, but this time it comes naturally. It’s been a while since you’ve faced Natasha and you’ve heard enough tales to know that she won’t hold back when she’s in that mood.
Unfortunately, it’s not just her standing ready on the mat. Wearing sweatpants and a tank, Steve’s swinging his arms and pacing around in an attempt to ready himself whereas Natasha is just standing quietly in the middle of the padded area. Maybe rumour has already spread – at least there are suspiciously many people suddenly hanging out near the room.
This is going to hurt.
Stepping out of the shoes at the edge of the soft floor, you pull the hoodie over the head, giving you just a tad longer to asses how to best deal with this. Most likely they’ll be against you to test how far you’ve come, and that means you’ll stand a better chance if you can take the initiative by striking first.
The moment you fling the shirt towards Steve, you drop and roll over the right shoulder bringing you close enough to Natasha’s feet to bring your right leg around in an arch just above floor level. This should in theory knock the woman off her feet and give you momentum to turn and get up facing Steve without having to make any extra effort in just a few seconds.
For once theory and practice seem to have decided to agree. You’re not left with time to rejoice the move, though, before the American wonder boy is up in your face. He has a tendency to adopt a wide stance which allows him to stand secure and still shift his weight around both when in the offence and the defence. It’s a consolation that he hasn’t got his shield for this, but even so his punches are hard: jab, jab, right hook and then either an uppercut or a kick if there is room for it. It’s almost like clockwork and that wouldn’t have been the case in a real fight or with his trusted vibranium disc.
Who am I to complain, though?
He’s still fast and he grazes you with his right foot as it comes thundering past your back as you twist out around and behind him, linking an elbow with his and bringing him down on his back…just in time for Natasha.
Rather than pressing you simultaneously, they seem to take turns either backing out or taking over when you manage to floor one or the other, and unfortunately for you the initial success doesn’t last forever. More than once, you find yourself pinned down or skidding across the floor and each time it’s harder to get back on the feet.
Eventually, you just stay down, lying flat on the back and looking up into the lamp swaying gently from the ceiling.
“I give up.”
“Thank god for that!”
It’s not Steve, as you could have expected, but Jemma. Her voice brings the rest of the world back into focus and with that the impression of a lot of other people who must have been watching.
“What were you thinking? With what you’ve been doing this morning you should really know better than to throw yourself into physically strenuous activities like this! I only found out you were here because I needed to check your glucose levels and you were –” With a sigh she gives up, crossing her arms over her chest and frowning ever so slightly at your two sparring partners.
An awkward silence permeates the air. Suddenly a lot of the onlookers remember that they really were on their way somewhere else or that they actually were very busy with something.
It had actually been kind of fun to let off some steam, and thankfully you’re not as rusty as initially feared. Needless to say, though, your opponents today could beat you with their eyes closed if they had wanted to. Right now, however, Steve is looking sheepishly from one to the other.
“You’ve better go with the Dr. Simmons.” Your mentor might be amused, but outwards she is pure business.
Grabbing the shoes and hoodie you had left on the floor, you nod. “Yeah. Good to see you both again.” Sending a wave over a shoulder, you follow in the footsteps of Jemma.
She doesn’t say a word until they are at the lab and she’s stuck on the electrodes and placed the oximeter on a fingertip.
”She knows who I am…why would she know who I am?” There is a distinct crimson tint to the Brit’s neck and cheeks.
”Natasha knows everything about anyone and seeing as you’ve collaborated with Bruce it’s hardly a surprise that it includes knowing about you.”
Now and then, you manage to forget just how inaccessible these heroes appear to outsiders which is odd because you don’t see yourself as anything remotely as important as the Avengers, but in cases like these…Maybe I should just feel cool?
A soft beeping indicates that Jemma has gotten the reading she needs and you start detaching yourself from the machinery as the doctor walks to the storage. Coming back, she brings several vacutainers, a hypodermic needle, the plastic hub and a rubber cuff.
You hadn’t realized, you needed the full checkup. “I thought you only needed my blood sugar count…”
Keeping the eyes on the equipment as Jemma lays it out on the little table, she doesn’t answer. And when she stays demonstratively silent while putting on the gloves and places the cuff on the arm, you start to feel unsettled.
Bending down to force Jemma to look into your face. “What is it? I can’t detect anything wrong with me, why are you so worried?”
“It’s nothing alarming.” Which is Simmonsish for very worrisome. She has lowered her voice almost to a whisper. “It’s just…I ran a sample from Vasiliev’s used dressings and…there was…something. I’m still analyzing it. In the meantime, I’m just making sure that no one has been exposed to it.”
“You and Coulson are both clean, right?” There is nothing different about her.
“Yes it seems so, but of course it may not be detectable in our blood, so I’m just taking a few precautions.”
Don’t you dare lock me up in one of the pods. Maybe she is a mind reader. At least she hurriedly adds that they’ll stick to just observing the next few hours, but you will be free to do anything within the compound.
“I have to stay…?” Not again.
She nods apologetically before busying herself with filling the test tubes.
Thankfully, just then Fitz shows up, looking around slightly confused as though it’s the first time he steps foot into this lab but then he seems to remember something.
“Oh, speaking of nothing, [Y/N], have you had a chance to look at my report on the babel-device? I send it to you last night and it would -”
Throwing your free hand up in front of you to stop his flow you interrupt him. “No, not yet and either way I don’t like the idea of being a guinea pig.”
He looks disappointed and you almost feels sorry for him…but it’s your brain he wants to play with!
“Oh the implant? I’ve seen it and I must confess that that’s one of the inventions of Dr. Radcliff that I could be tempted to make use of myself.” It’s surprising to hear this coming from Simmons as she always is the cautious one of the two. It won’t make a difference.
... …
Why didn’t I bring a book?
A woman can only take so many beatings in foosball by her team mates before she gets bored, so you’ve excused yourself to one a corner of the couch where you’re trying to pass time on the laptop. At least it gives a great chance to check socials and send emails to the family. You’ve gotten a short and concise note from your dad for once. Normally, he isn’t one for communications unless its face to face, but this time he’s managed to type in several lines about everyday events. The warmish weather has come early and both he and you mom have had a few sunny days where they’ve been prepping for the arrival of the gardening season.
