For years, she'd worked alongside him—taking assignments, completing missions, and generally making herself useful without the inconvenience of being part of a team.

Fury had tried convincing her to join the Avengers more times than she cared to count. Every attempt had ended the same way.

No.

Unfortunately, Fury wasn't particularly good at accepting that answer.

So, rather than asking Y/N again, he'd decided to bring the Avengers to her.

The team had questions, naturally. Fury offered very few answers, simply instructing them to follow him to one of the facility's training rooms. Agent Hill accompanied them, equally unsurprised by Fury's refusal to explain himself.

Inside, Y/N was busy fighting a room full of faceless orange holograms.

She was sweating, her breathing becoming heavier as the simulation increased in difficulty, but she barely seemed bothered by the growing number of opponents. She dodged, countered, adapted—occasionally looking almost delighted when a particularly difficult combination forced her to change tactics.

The Avengers watched from the entrance.

At first, the sight was entertaining. Then they recognised the fighting styles.

Tony's technology. Steve's techniques. Natasha's training. Bucky's calculated precision.

And Y/N was taking them all down.

She had no idea who the holograms were based on. To her, they were nothing more than generic combat programs designed to give her a decent challenge. She certainly didn't know that the people standing behind Fury were watching digital versions of themselves get defeated one after another.

By the time the final hologram disappeared, the room had fallen silent.

Y/N caught her breath, pushed her hair out of her face, and turned towards the entrance—expecting to find Fury waiting alone.

Instead, she found an entire collection of unfamiliar faces staring back at her.

Fury looked insufferably pleased with himself.

Y/N glanced at the group, then back at him, already suspecting that whatever he had planned was going to be a complete waste of her afternoon.

She just didn't know how right she was.