Disclaimer: I do not own Agents of SHIELD, The Avengers or anything else to do with Marvel. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Author's note: this takes place before the movies and the show.
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Natasha Romanoff wasn't easily impressed. She certainly hadn't been impressed by what SHIELD had to came to agents, at least initially. Then she had been defeated in combat by one, which should have been the end of her.
Instead Clint Barton had seen something in her and convinced her to switch sides in an attempt to atone for the atrocities she had committed while working for The Red Room.
She instantly became one of the best Agents of SHIELD, and she would argue the best. After all, she had proven time and time again that Clint had simply got lucky and when it came to one on one combat she was virtually unbeatable.
So far only one person had defeated her on the training mats, and that was Melinda May, who had been gracious in her victory. More importantly she had allowed an instant rematch in which Natasha came out on top, satisfying The Black Widow's precious ego. And she barely said a word the whole time.
Most of the other Agents she fought were smart enough to do the same, especially as normally she made an example out of the ones that were mouthy. But not today, because Natasha had been challenged by Bobbi Morse, a.k.a. The Mockingbird, who was both impressing Natasha and pissing her off with the insistence of living up to her name.
"What's wrong short stuff, getting tired?" Bobbi panted with a grin once they were both in a stalemate again.
It was an obvious ploy, one Natasha had used sometimes but wasn't something she was fond of doing, especially during training. Messing with someone's head was cheap, and just proved that without a hundred or so jokes about her height this ridiculously tall woman wouldn't stand a chance against her. But it was working, because despite her vastly superior experience level Natasha just couldn't seem to defeat Agent Morse.
Mostly because Natasha was struggling to keep her mask in place, Bobbi's words causing it to crack and reveal some of the frustration and anger that was slowly but surely building up as this exhibition fight continued on far longer than it had any right too.
At this point it felt like a fight too, as this was no longer simply about training. It was about pride, and it felt like the whole of SHIELD was now watching this fight unfold.
Obviously not everybody could fit down into the training area, but the hall was quite spacious and with the other mats having been abandoned there had to be a few hundred agents watching with bated breath to see who came out on top, and Natasha had no doubt that everyone else who could was watching via the surveillance cameras, no doubt including Nick Fury himself.
As for Clint, he had been watching from the start so he had a front row seat. So Natasha couldn't, and wouldn't, lose this fight.
Of course Bobbi was thinking the exact same thing. Ever since she had learned the infamous Black Widow had joined SHIELD she had tripled her training time just for the opportunity to beat her, bided her time, studied how the other woman fought and even gave her some condescending smiles to get under her skin, all so she could have the best possible chance of defeating the virtually unbeatable Black Widow.
Now, with everybody watching, including Agent Barton and Agent May, the only people recorded to defeat this woman, and no doubt Director Fury via the surveillance cameras, Bobbi was just as determined not to lose.
Ultimately though, something had to give. Unfortunately for Bobbi she was the one who made the mistake, and the next thing she knew she was frantically trying to get out of a chokehold.
She tried, and tried, and tried, but it was no use. The tiny redhead was clinging to her like a spider monkey and cutting off her air supply, giving the taller blonde two choices, tap out or pass out.
Stubbornly she wanted to go for the latter, although she knew that would result in her superiors giving her a lecture on knowing when she was beaten, so even though it physically hurt she tapped, causing the crowd to erupt into cheers and start exchanging money. To her credit Natasha immediately let go of the hold and instead of celebrating simply returned to her corner.
However being treated like just another notch on Natasha's belt infuriated Bobbi, and she jumped up and yelled, "Don't you walk away from me."
Natasha stopped and then slowly looked over her shoulder, "I've won. I suggest you be gracious in defeat."
"No way, it can't end just like that." Bobbi insisted, "Best 2 out of 3?"
Natasha looked thoughtful, glanced at the crowd, and then pointed out, "We have been fighting a long time-"
"What's the matter, afraid you can't beat me a second time?" Bobbi smirked.
"More that we are hogging the mats." Natasha shrugged, which of course only infuriated Bobbi more.
Which caused Bobbi to make a grave mistake, "If you can make me tap again, I'll let you do whatever you want to me. Right here in front of all these people."
Suddenly the room went very silent and the deadly Black Widow slowly turned round to smirk at her. There had been many rumours about Natasha Romanoff, but one of the most frequent was that not only did she swing both ways, but her tastes were very kinky and depraved.
Particularly with women, who she liked to sexually dominate. Stories varied exactly how, but it all sounded incredibly humiliating, and would hopefully give Bobbi the motivation she needed to win this time. Or maybe the irritating smirk on Natasha's face would do that.
"Right here and now, in front of everyone." Natasha grinned, "Are you sure?"
"Yes." Bobbi said, trying to sound confident and failing, "You're going down bitch!"