The Tear of Celeste

Chapter 18: Bonding

The first change of behavior you noticed was the twins. Wanda and Pietro would now follow you around the tower or drag you along if they wanted to do something. It would have been kind of annoying if it was not so endearing, you were not sure why they were doing it, but it was nice to be included in stuff.

Vision would talk more with you also, you find him to be a very curious soul, who only just started to explore having feelings and being a person. It was very interesting talking to him and you now understood why he enjoyed the movie Pinocchio so much.

The next one was Tony and Bruce, they would invite you more down into the lab when they were working on stuff. Tony would mostly show off the stuff he was working on while Bruce would explain it to you, Tony having no patience to explain stuff. But they were both pleasantly surprised to learn that you knew a lot about engines and before long you and Peter were both shadowing Tony when he was building stuff.

Stephen also took you to his sanctum, showing some other magical artifacts to you and showing you some magic tricks he learned, enjoying the look of wonder in your eyes.

Thor would talk to you a lot about Asgard, telling you stories as Loki gave you books from there and started teaching you how to read their language. It was very fascinating to learn about their world that was so different from your own and had only ever been a place of fiction for you before.

And lastly, there was Nat and Clint.

It happened very suddenly. Nat had knocked on your door early one morning with a new outfit she wanted you to try out, pushing you into your bathroom while she waited in your room.

You walked out after you had changed to show it to her. You were kind of confused about the outfit yourself.

"This is pretty advanced training clothing," you said, it kind of reminded you of the outfit you saw Nat wear when she went on a mission, but more basic. The fabric felt different too, feeling both flexible and strong. Like you could easily move in it, but it would protect you.

"It's combat training," Nat simply said, gesturing for you to follow her as she walked out of the room, "you start today."

"WHAT?" You asked shocked, following after her and noticing she is wearing similar clothing. "Nat I've never really been in a serious fight!"

Nat took you to the elevator and swiped her security card before pressing a button to another floor. "All the more reason to learn," she said seriously, smiling at your horrified expression as the elevator doors closed.

She led you into a training room where Clint was waiting for you in the middle of a boxing ring. He too dressed in a training outfit.

"Don't worry kiddo," Clint said, grinning at you. "We are just learning the basics today."

"I'm 24," you mumble a bit irritated that Tony's nickname for you was rubbing off on the others.

And so you had started combat training, starting out with testing how well your body worked. While you were about average strength Clint would quickly find out your endurance was pretty insane.

༺☆༻

It had happened on a day when you, Sam, Bucky, and Steve were sent to run some laps. Nat and Clint rented out a running track nearby so that you could run without strangers around. The tower did have a small running space, but Nat thought it better to do it outside and with a longer track

You were stretching with the boys on the tracks, getting yourself warmed up before running.

"Is this really fair?" Bucky started asking, he looked over at Nat and Clint who were standing off to the side. They were there to keep track of your time. "First of all she is female, second of all she is not soldier trained, and third of all she has not been boosted in any way, we are all gonna run laps around her."

Nat rolled her eyes at his comment, looking at him with her arms crossed. "It's not about who runs the most, just that she is not running alone, we are not comparing her to you guys."

Sam laughed and gave your shoulder a pet. "Don't worry, I keep pace with you," he said with a grin. "Just steer clear of the left lanes, unless you want Cap to sound like a broken record," he said, nodding toward Steve. You were not sure what he meant by that but would take his advice.

You looked over at Steve and Bucky, both of them in running outfits too, and froze.

Bucky always had long sleeves on and gloves, but right now he was only wearing a tanktop, and so for the first time you noticed one of his arms was made of metal.

He noticed your stare as he was rolling his arm, and he slowly lowered the arm and looked away. "... It's okay to stare, it's kind of freaky."

You walk over and without thinking very carefully put a hand on the scars where the metal and flesh meet. "... Does it hurt?" You ask, looking up at Bucky with big eyes.

He looks back at you, your eyes not filled with pity or disgust as he expected, but only finding kindness and worry. His shoulders relaxed a bit and he sighed. "Not anymore," he says, giving you a warm smile. "Try to keep up," he told you, his smile turning into a teasing grin.

You roll your eyes as you all finish warming up and get ready to run. This is a test of endurance, not speed, it's not a competition with the others, only your own body.

And so as soon as Nat says go you begin to run.

Steve and Bucky both shoot forward like a bullet fired from a gun, both sprinting so fast that they become a blur for just a moment.

You don't sprint, instead getting into a comfortable rhythm with your body that was still considered a jog. Sam kept his promise of keeping pace with you so that you don't run alone, encouraging you to go just a little faster.

You didn't have to run for long before you found out why Sam had told you to keep the left lane clear.

You had only cleared one side of the track when Steve and Bucky came racing past you, both of them in the lane you were keeping clear. Steve only slowed down to give Sam a smirk and an: "On your left." Before he raced off again, Bucky following close behind him.

From Sam's face, you could clearly tell that he had heard that phrase one too many times, making you chuckle.

And so you just kept running, keeping your pace even, your breathing steady, and just fell into the easy pace of running.

You didn't go running often, when you exercised it was more nature walks and climbing, stuff that lets you see new things, but you did run sometimes, mostly when you just wanted music in your ears and to zone out for a bit.

So after you ran a few laps and had run out of small talk with Sam, you decided to do just that.

"Hey, Sam, why don't you run ahead for a bit, and catch me on the next lap?" You asked, giving him a warm smile.

He hesitated, looking at you with a worried frown ."You sure? I don't mind keeping pace with you," he said honestly.

You gave him a nod, pointing to the earpiece Nat had given you. "I just wanna zone out for a bit with some music if you don't mind."

"Fair enough," Sam said with a grin, "see you next lap." And then he picked up the pace, still not as fast as Steve or Bucky had been, but still pretty fast.

You pressed the earpiece to activate Friday and asked her to play you some music. You had made yourself a playlist when Nat had told you that you would be running and made sure Friday had it before heading out.

Before the music starts you notice Bucky laying on the grass, gasping for air with Nat at his side calling him an idiot. Apparently, Bucky could keep up with Steve normally, but they had been racing each other, not at all trying to keep a safe pace, so he had run out of energy quicker.

Nat looked up at you as you passed. "Still good?" She said, looking kind of impressed.

You gave her back a smile and called over your shoulder. "Yeah I'm gonna put some music on," you said as the music started playing, making you relax and just zone out.