Chapter Text
On the last day of school before summer vacation started, absolutely no work got done. Nobody expected it to. It was a short day and grades were already submitted so there were no assignments to be turned in or tests to take. The main purpose of the day was for each student to meet with their teacher during their English period to get their report cards and to fill out their class requests for next year. Skye was one of the first to go in her class.
Professor Coulson was pleased with her report card and he went over her choices for next year before helping her fill out the form and sending her on her way with a list of books that she would need to choose from to read over the summer. He also mentioned that he would be teaching some summer theater classes if she was interested, but she wasn’t sure that acting would be her thing. Natasha, however, who seemed to be planning for a future as a super spy, thought that acting classes sounded perfect, and Skye suspected that she would be dragged along.
He wasn’t the only teacher to suggest summer activities. Thanks to a generous donation from one of the school’s patrons, the school was issuing lap tops to every student for the next school year, and Professor Collins requested that all of his computer science students come in to help him get them set up when they arrived. Professor Magneto reminded Skye that he still planned to meet with her to work on controlling her ability when classes were over, and Aunt May told her class that she would be having a few special cooking classes over the summer, which Peter Quill and her boyfriend, Clint Barton, seemed quite keen to take.
On top of all of this, Skye would start her two-week training class with Principal Fury on Monday. She was apprehensive about it, but also looking forward to it. She was happy to have the weekend break before it started, though.
When the school day finally ended, the entire school made their way back to the dorms together. Everyone seemed to be headed to the pool, which opened officially that morning.
“So, are you gonna show me your report card, Skye?” Clint asked, as they walked through the wooded path. “Here’s mine.” He handed her a folded-up piece of paper.
She pulled her own out of her bag and handed it to him, before unfolding his and looking it over. “Look at you, Hawkeye,” she grinned. “I can’t believe Aunt May gave you an A in Home Economics.”
“Of course, she did. Quill and I might have fooled around, but you know we took the cooking part very seriously. Well, at least the eating part,” he chuckled. “Your report card looks great. I’m surprised at this B in Science, though, young lady. It’s quite disappointing. I’m going to have to have a little talk with Kent. As your lab partner, he must be responsible.”
“Actually, Professor Richards gave Clark a B too. I guess there was no bonus for getting kidnapped and surviving for either of us,” she giggled.
Clint made a pouty face at her, and she grabbed her report card from him before giving his back to him. “Maybe if you two try hard not to get kidnapped next year, you can get an A.”
“Well, it isn’t part of my plan for eighth grade, if that helps.” She grabbed his hand and tugged him along to catch up with the rest of the group.
They spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool before going back to their rooms to shower and change for dinner. After dinner, Harleen and Joker organized a game of Pictionary and Skye was glad to have Steve on her team. He was easily one of the best artists in the school. Unfortunately, the rest of the team wasn’t anywhere near as talented, and they ended up losing to the Joker’s team, much to Harleen’s disappointment.
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The weekend had been a lot of fun with no homework and lots of free time. Monday morning, however, Skye’s alarm went off early, and she shut it off quickly so as not to wake her roommate, Wanda Maximoff.
Even though today was the first day of Principal Fury’s fighting class, she decided to go for her usual run with her running buddy, Sam Wilson, before she had to report to class. When they were done, she grabbed a muffin and a bowl of mixed fruit from the dining room for breakfast, and making her way to the basement a few minutes early. The door to the room was locked, so she took a seat on the floor in the hall, and started eating her breakfast.
A few minutes later, she was joined by Brock Rumlow. He’d been out running too, so she wasn’t surprised to see him there early. “So, are you excited for this?” Brock asked her as he took a seat next to her in the hallway.
“Do I have a choice?” She started picking grapes out of her bowl to hand to him. He gave her an amused look as he took them from her, and Skye realized it might seem like a strange thing to do. When they were kidnapped together back in February, she always gave him her grapes because she didn’t like them. Once again, they were sitting on the floor sharing fruit, but at least this time, they weren’t locked in a cell.
“No, I guess you really don’t. Still, it will be a lot of fun and I can’t wait to finally get that rematch.”
“Of course, you can’t,” she giggled.
“Are you still going on about that contest, Rumlow?” Diana Prince asked, as she and Clark came around the corner. “I don’t understand why you are so anxious to get your butt kicked again,” she teased him.
“Yeah, yeah. She gets lucky once, and I have to spend the rest of my life trying to live it down,” he grumbled, but Skye knew very well that he wasn’t really upset about it.
Soon they were joined by Dick Grayson, Anna Marie and Scott Lang. Principal Fury showed up right at 7:30am. “Looks like everyone is here,” he said, as he unlocked the door.
Skye had never been in this particular room in the basement. There were small and large punching bags set up to one side, mats for sparring on the other, and a full-sized boxing ring in the center of the room. Principal Fury motioned for them all to take a seat inside the ring.
“I’m sure it’s obvious why I picked you seven to be my first group this summer. From everything I’ve heard, you all handled yourselves quite well when you were kidnapped last February, but a little training never hurt anyone. This class will not only teach you different fighting styles, but we will also work on situational and mental awareness as well. I expect each of you to work hard and we may even have a little fun along the way.”
“Is fun the right word, Sir?” Scott looked at Principal Fury with a grin.
“Fun is a matter of opinion, I suppose, Mr. Lang, but yes. I think you’ll have fun.” He turned his attention back to the whole group. “Okay, so rules. Don’t be stupid. If you aren’t sure if you should do something, you probably shouldn’t. Be on time and work hard. Safety first. Those of you with abilities? Don’t use them in here. Eventually you will want to learn to use them in a fight, but this is not the time or the place. Any questions?” When nobody seemed to have any, he motioned for them all to stand and spread out on the mats on the floor.
They began a warm up routine that Skye was pretty sure was created by HYDRA as a means of torture. Sit ups, push-ups, squats, burpees and more of the same. Just when she thought they were done, Fury passed out jump ropes, and Brock cackled at Skye’s disbelieving face. She lost count of how many times they jumped rope, but the way her legs felt when they stopped, she was pretty sure it was in the billions. Finally, they were given a quick water break before Fury began teaching them the basics of boxing.
“Let’s get some gloves on and try out some of these moves,” Fury finally said. “Gloves are hanging up in the corner. Grab them and split into groups of two. Anna Marie, why don’t you start with me first?”
“Sure,” she nodded. “Ah’m still not sure that boxing is a great idea for me.”
“You’ll be fine,” he assured her.
“Sir, how is anyone going to fight me anyway, considerin’ they can’t touch me?” Anna Marie’s ability wasn’t one that could be shut off, and as such, no one could touch her bare skin. She had dressed herself in long pants, a long shirt and, of course, her gloves. Skye couldn’t help thinking how awful that must be in the heat, but she seemed used to it.
“Professor Magneto suggested these jumpsuits for whomever with partnering with you,” he responded, waving his hand toward another corner where the suits were hung up. She seemed to accept his answer and wandered over to where the rest of them were checking out the wall of gloves.
“How do I know what size gloves I need?” Skye asked as she looked at the different sizes hanging on the wall.
Dick took down one of the smaller pairs. “I’m pretty sure these will fit.” He helped her put them on before grabbing his own pair.
Boxing gloves were very strange. They were like curved mittens, only huge. How she was supposed to do anything with them on, she had no idea. It made her miss her gauntlets.
Anna Marie seemed to think that the gloves were hysterical. “They are so squishy,” she giggled.
“Yeah, but you can still hurt somebody when you are wearing them if you hit’em hard enough,” Brock reminded her.
They spent what seemed to be a full hour practicing basic moves. Diana and Skye worked together, Scott and Clark paired up, and Brock and Dick partnered up, which worked for them since both of them were familiar with the basics of boxing already. Anna Marie worked with Principal Fury in the middle of the ring as he demonstrated what to do.
After a while, they were given a short break before they moved into wrestling. This was at least familiar to Skye, thanks to Natasha’s training, and she and Scott teamed up for practice.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, Principal Fury stopped them. “That’s enough for today. Normally we’ll start the day with a run, but today we’ll end the day with it. Rumlow? Show Skye how to use the bags, since I know you both ran this morning. Next time, wait to run with the rest of the class.”
Dick helped Skye get her gloves on again before he and the rest of the class headed outside for their run. Skye dutifully walked over to the large punching bag and considered it for a moment before attempting to hit it a few times. She wasn’t sure what was supposed to happen, but she sure didn’t make it move.
“You aren’t doing it right, Skye.”
She sighed in frustration. “You want to show me, or just stand there and tell me I’m wrong?”
“Yeah, of course I’ll show you.” He came closer, and she moved away from the bag to give him room. He gave her a confused look. “Where are you going?”
“I thought you were going to show me?”
“I am, but you aren’t going to learn by standing over there. Come here.” He held out his hand to her.
She took a few steps toward him and allowed him to take her by the shoulders and position her in front of the bag. “First thing you need to do is plant your feet firmly on the ground and bend your knees. Balance is important. You only move your feet when you aren’t punching. Keep your hands up at all times, and your elbows in toward your body.”
She straightened up a bit as she set her feet on the floor following his example. He moved behind her and reached around either side of her to grab her wrists. Skye found herself glancing around nervously, before realizing that she was being ridiculous. He was in teacher mode, and didn’t seem to notice at all.
“Now, to start out, you want to throw three to six punches at a time in various combinations. Fights are fought in combinations, not just a single action.” Hearing a giggle escape from her, he grumbled. “Yeah, I know what you’re thinking, but we weren’t throwing punches, were we? You won’t always be that lucky.”
“I know. Still, it makes me laugh,” she continued to giggle.
“Well, I’m glad that I entertain you. Can I move on now?” Using his grip on her wrists, he set her hands into position in front of her. “There are a few ways to hit the bag, but for now turn your hand like you are turning a doorknob as you throw the punch. Make sure you are hitting flat on your knuckles. Like this.” Slowly, he stretched her right arm out and turned her hand slightly before it made contact with the bag. After pulling it back, he did the same with her left. He repeated it again, this time twice in a row on her right and once on her left. “See? Three to six hits at a time. You should mix it up.”
They did this a few more times, a little faster each time before he stopped. “Hey, it would help if you would breathe.”
She hadn’t realized until that moment that she was holding her breath, but she exhaled and tried to relax. “It would be easier to breathe if you weren’t crowding around me.”
He sounded like he was trying very hard not to laugh. “Oh? Am I making you nervous or something?” She couldn’t see his face, but she could easily imagine the smirk that was there as he spoke.
“No. I’m not nervous. I’m just trying to concentrate on what you’re telling me,” she grumbled.
“Yeah? Okay, if you say so.”
“Can we just continue, please?” He went back to directing her hands, but she could have sworn that he was holding on to her a little tighter.
A few minutes later, she was punching the bag on her own while he looked on approvingly. “There ya go. Great job, Skye. You’re gonna need a lot more practice, though.”
She stopped and glared at him. “I’m not gonna lie. I’m pretending that this bag is you.” She hit the bag a few more times, as hard as she could.
He glanced behind him at the ring in the middle of the room. “Well, whatever works for you. We could step into the ring, and you could try it out for real if you want?”
Skye shook her head and held up her hands in surrender. “Oh no. I think I’ve had enough punching today. I’m probably not going to be able to lift my arms up over my head in a few hours as it is.”
“Ice. Trust me. It will be your friend over the next two weeks. Use it and take it easy tonight.”
“Sure. Will you help me get these gloves off?”
His face broke into a wide grin. “Nope. Sorry. I’ve gotta get out of here. I’m meeting Garrett and some of my team for shooting practice. I’d hate to be late. Later!” He turned to walk away.
“Brock Rumlow, you are not going to leave without helping me!” She was trying hard not to laugh at the way he turned around, threw his hands up in front of him, like he was surrendering.
“All right. Sheesh. I don’t want you to shake my insides out or something. Give me your hand.”
He made quick work of the Velcro straps on her right hand and smacked her hand away when she started on the left herself, before doing it for her. He handed both gloves to her and smiled. “You did really well, today. You should be proud of yourself, Skye.”
She could feel her cheeks getting redder. “Thanks. I don’t think I’ll be challenging Steve anytime soon, but it’s a start. It helps that I had two great teachers.”
“Fury’s good. We’ll all learn a lot from him, I suspect.” She noticed that he purposely didn’t acknowledge the other part of her statement, but she could see the satisfied look on his face.
They put their gloves away, and walked back up to the lobby together before walking in opposite directions. As she made her way up to her room to get changed for the pool, she couldn’t help thinking that it was going to be an interesting two weeks.