Relax for now

"Alright team mates, band together, and together, you both will shoot at the targets at the same time" said Romanoff as he looked at the cadets as they all looked at him and they rearranged their positions as they stood beside their team mates.

"Alright, in the order that you all are lined up in, from Tatiana and Artem first, to Natasha and Alexi last" said Romanoff as he considered the order that they were all lined up in.

"Now, chop, chop, we don't have all day, go suit up, and load your guns" said Romanoff.

"Yes Commander" said all of them in a chorus as they disbanded and they walked to the shooting range as Romanoff continued to stand there, deep in this own thoughts, hopefully everyone passed this test so they could move on to more interesting things, things that were more his style, because what was happening right now, was more for babies than full grown adults.

Romanoff snapped out of his thoughts as he lazily walked to the shooting range as they were all getting ready.

"Artem and Tatiana, you are both up first" said Romanoff.

"The aim of this test is to watch just how in sync you and your team mate are, you will individually face your targets and individually shoot at all of the targets, while maintaining your own focus while still trying to time your team mate and anticipate where he or her will shoot, and in which time they will shoot" said Romanoff as he was trying his best to try to explain this in a simple way.

"Do you all get what I am saying?" asked Romanoff.

"Yes Commander" replied all of them.

"Good now Artem, you stand at the first stall, Tatiana at the second just like that, aim, fire" said Romanoff as Tatiana and Artem nodded their heads as they did as they were told and they stood at their stalls.

"Whenever you are ready" said Romanoff as Artem took a moment before he shot his first shot and then Tatiana followed after him in a delayed manner as they continued on with their shots and Artem hit all his shots and finished first as Tatiana finished a few moments after him.

"I can see that you have accuracy, but the timing, it's not there, you see, if you were in a shootout, your aim would be to cover your teammate, make sure that you are both on the same page, that you know who you are aiming and not aiming for" said Romanoff as Vicki scoffed internally, this was not like magic or telepathy, how were they supposed to know what their teammates were thinking.

"Anyway, I can see improvement" said Romanoff.

"Thank you Commander" said Tatiana and Artem as they nodded their heads.

"Kira, Vicki and Rodion, you are up next" said Romanoff.

"Stalls 1, 2, 3, go on" said Romanoff as Rodion stood at the first stall and Vicki at the second as Kira stood at the third.

"Let me give you some help, alright, I will tell you when to fire" said Romanoff as he did realize that these were different people, who all had different thoughts and ways of doing things.

"When I say fire, you fire, alright?" asked Romanoff.

"Yes Commander" said Rodion Vicki and Kira as they nodded their heads.

"1, 2, 3 Fire" said Romanoff as Kira shot first and then followed Rodion as Vicki was the last to shoot as they all hit their targets.

"Alright, from what I can see, Kira and Rodion have a closer range of when they decide to shoot, while you Vicki are lacking behind, work on that, we don't need slow shooters here, imagine if Kira asked you to cover her, and you are late by a second, and she ends up getting shot, that would be on you" said Romanoff as he looked at Vicki.

"Do you hear me Vicki?" asked Romanoff.

"Yes Commander" said Vicki as she nodded her head, even though she was boiling on the inside, why did Romanoff always pick on her? Always.

"Alright Sofia, you are next" said Romanoff as Sofia and her teammate nodded their heads as they got ready to shoot.

…

"Natasha, Alexi, your turn" said Romanoff as the targets were being changed to new ones after being shot at so many times.

Natasha nodded her head as she walked to the first stall and Alexi in the second stall as she took her stance and got ready to shoot.

"1…2…3, Fire" said Romanoff as in the same moment Natasha pulled the trigger as her first bullet hit the target as surprisingly, it would seem that Alexi knew just when she was going to shoot as he followed her in a very close range.

Natasha took all her shots until she ran out of bullets and Alexi ran out of bullets as well.

"Impressive" said Romanoff as for once, he was liking what he was seeing.

"Alexi, tell me, you seemed to know just when Natasha would shoot, why is that?" asked Alexi as Romanoff looked at him and Natasha looked at him as well, their bullet shots were synchronized, that surprised her, she did not expect that at all.

"We have been practicing together, Natasha always shots her bullets in one go" said Alexi as he had been watching Natasha for the past week, and her style of shooting never changed, it allowed him to know in which time she would shoot, and Romanoff counting them down helped him to pinpoint the time in which she would shoot.

"Well you are very observant" said Romanoff as he smiled, he was impressed for once, meanwhile, Natasha wondered if her shots, were really that predictable.

"Predictable shots are good in this sense, it allows for your teammate to know what exactly you will do, and when you will do it" said Romanoff as if he could read what was on Natasha mind.

"Well today was good progress, I like how you all have improved in one way or the other" said Romanoff.

"But get ready, because next time, done with all these sissy moves, we are going to move on to better things, in more degree" said Romanoff as he smiled and for some reason, they all did not like the sound of that.

"But rest assured and relax for now, because you have all done well, I am giving you the day off tomorrow, relax, and on Friday, we will return energized" Romanoff.

"That is all I have to say now, you are dismissed" said Romanoff as the walked away without giving them a chance to reply to him.

"Oh I really need that break tomorrow" said Olga as she cracked her neck.

"You know what, let's all go for lunch, I am hungry" said Tatiana as she smiled.

"You are always hungry Tatiana" said Artem as he laughed and everyone else laughed as well.

"Hey, I'm not always hungry" said Tatiana as Natasha laughed.

"You always are" said Natasha as Tatiana shushed her so she could not tell them all about that time that she asked her to buy potato chips for her as Natasha just laughed.

"Anyway, come on" said Kira as she walked ahead and they all followed after her as Natasha removed her earmuffs from her ears.

"Do you want to go to lunch with me?" asked Alexi.

"Ahh well no, I'm not hungry, I was going to spar a bit" replied Natasha as honestly she was surprised that Alexi would ask her to go to lunch with him, he usually did not speak to her unless it had something to do with their training.

"I see" said Alexi as he gave a quick smile and he walked away as Natasha just stood there, blinking,

"That was… weird" said Natasha to herself as she sighed, it would seem that weird things had been happening to her lately, first it was Igor's appearance, and now Alexi was acting weird.

"Anyway" said Natasha as she removed the gloves on her hands.

…

"Mommy, mommy, can you see me?" asked Joy excitedly as she held Dom's phone close to her face.

"Yes my baby, I can see you" said Natasha as she laughed.

"Mommy, are you alone?" asked Joy.

"Yes my baby, I am alone in my room" said Natasha as she smiled, she wondered why Joy was asking her so many random questions.

"Okay mommy" said Joy.

"Happy Birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, happy Birthday my mommy, happy Birthday to you" said Joy as she sand happily and Natasha smiled.

"Aww my darling, my baby, my love, you remembered my birthday?" asked Natasha as she just had a warm feeling in her heart right now.

"Yes mommy, I did, but I forgot the date, I was confused, but then daddy told me that your birthday is on the 29th" said Joy as she explained and she gave a thumbs up to Dom who was on his laptop as he smiled at her, she was so precious.

"Oh my darling, my heart feels like it's going to explode" said Natasha.

"Happy Birthday mommy, I love you" said Joy as she smiled.

"Thank you my heart, I love you too" said Natasha as she blew kisses over the phone and Joy giggled.

"Mommy, I made you a birthday card" said Joy as she removed a paper from all her crayons.

"Aunt Amalia helped me make it" said Joy as she turned the phone around to show her mother.

"I can't see it clearly my princess, but, I am sure that it is beautiful" said Natasha as she smiled, her baby's gestured warmed her heart, it made her miss her even more.

"Wait, mommy, wait, let me read it for you" said Joy as she smiled and she got down from the couch as she held the card in her hand and she ran to Dom.

"Daddy, daddy, I need you to read this for me for mommy" said Joy as she handed the card to Dom as he looked at her.

"Alright princess" said Dom as he smiled and he carried her on his lap as she held the phone to her face so Natasha could still see her.

"Happy Birthday to the most wonderful mommy in the world" said Dom as he started to read and Joy smiled as Natasha smiled even more.

"I love you mommy, and I miss you, I want you to have a very happy, happy birthday, and I hope you eat lots and lots of cake" said Dom.

"Your baby, Joy" said Dom as he finished reading the card.

"Oh my baby, I love you so much, thank you, thank you" said Natasha as she smiled and Dom chuckled as Natasha could see the both of them, her family, she missed them so much, her place was over there with her baby.

"You are welcome mommy, do you have cake?" asked Joy as she giggled.

"Oh my baby, it's very early over here, it's 4am, and well, I don't think that I will be able to go out to buy cake today" said Natasha as she smiled.

"Aww, okay mommy, but have an awesome birthday" said Joy as she smiled.

"I will my baby, I will have an even better one now with all your well wishes" said Natasha as she smiled.

"Well princess, it's your bedtime now, I only let you stay up a little longer because you wanted to wish your mommy a happy birthday" said Dom.

"Okay daddy, Mommy, I have to go now, Bye, I love you" said Joy as she looked down at the phone.

"My love, my darling, I love you to "Mwah*, *Mwah*" said Natasha as she blew Joy many kisses over the phone as Joy giggled.

"See you Natasha, happy birthday" said Dom as Natasha smiled and he ended the call.

"Time for bed sweetie" said Dom as he looked down at Joy as she gave him his phone.

"Daddy, you did not wish mommy a good enough happy birthday" said Joy as Dom laughed, that was all he could do, he and Natasha had agreed not to argue anymore so it was best for them to limit the things that they said to each other.

"I did princess, we adults aren't really as sweet as you are, which is a shame" said Dom as he pinched Joy's nose and she giggled.

"Come on now" said Dom as he smiled and he carried Joy in his arms as she giggled and they walked out of his office.

…

Natasha smiled, she was so happy, so very happy, she could not have wished for a better way to start her birthday, Natasha was all smiles until she heard a knock on her door, which made her frown, no one usually knocked on her door.

Natasha got out of bed as she walked to her door, oh how she hated how the doors did not have holes to peep through to check who was there.

Natasha opened her door reluctantly as she was surprised to see Romanoff right standing there with his hands behind his back.

"Romanoff what are you doing here…?" asked Natasha as Romanoff walked into her room without asking as she closed the door.

"Happy Birthday devochka (girl)" said Romanoff as he smiled and he removed his hands from his back as he held a little cupcake in his hand as Natasha was very surprised as she looked at him.