A/N: Hello my dear readers!

Here is as requested, the following part of " A smile of Hope" where the reader and Stephen trained and then went on their first mission together.

I will open the new book " Legendary Partner" very soon. 

Has anyone seen Avengers Infinity War?  I did, and if you want to talk about with me, Mp me ;)

Hope you'll enjoy.

Thank you.

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Getting to know Stephen made you feel happy for the first time in years. You're not saying you were not happy with your siblings, it's just you didn't have to hide your true nature to him and it helped you to be comfortable. He was curious about your werewolf abilities, not as curious as a mad scientist would be, but more curious  a bit like admiration.

The Avengers watched your interaction with the Sorcerer Supreme evolved into something more  than a partnership. However, neither of you were aware of the birth of your feelings for each other. Perhaps, it was going to bloom very soon as you never know what the future holds.

The first step to working well with your team is to train together and to adapt to the other's abilities, so here you were with Stephen, in the training room, watching him opened a portal and blazing shields. He wanted you to attack him in your wold form, and so you did.

« I'm not going easy on you Stephen, » you warned before the transformation began.

He smirked at you, not surprised.

« I wouldn't hope any less. Bring it on, She-wolf »

Your body shrank a bit before spreading to the animal form of a giant wolf, which, according to Thor reminded him of Fenrir, and once the pain faded away in your limbs, you raised your head up.

The cloak of Levitation floated gracefully behind Stephen, lifting him up in the air, while he raised his shields, ready to fight.

You bounced in the air, breaking the distance in one jump and kicked him with your paws. However, he quickly dodged your attack, stepping on the side, while gravity brought you back to earth. You landed quickly on the floor, and spun around, while Stephen threw a golden whip at you, in an attempt to catch you. You growled loudly when the lasso was wrapped around your neck. You clawed at the lasso which didn't last two seconds at your impact, broken under the bewildered gaze of Stephen.

« You broke pure energy. How ?», he gasped, while you surged at him, tackling him to the floor with one paw, and tackling the cloak with the other.

« Never underestimate your enemies, Stephen. That's the lesson of today. »

« So do you, Y/N. »

With these words, he punched your chest, and you felt flew out of your body. You blinked, seeing your wolf from beneath you, while you floated in the air. You were human there which was weird to see your wolf form from above.

« Y/N. »

You raised your head up and saw Stephen in front of you, his arms crossed over his chest.

« What did you do? Am I dead or something? »

He chuckled.

« No, you are very much alive. I pushed you in your astral form, where matters do not exist. »

You nodded slowly at him, absorbing the information.

« So I'm a ghost, but still alive. »

« I suppose we could say that, but to be in the astral world does not mean you can not die. If you stay too long out of your body, your heart will stop beating. However, if your body is hurt while you are not in it, you will feel all the pain it caused. »

« I see , it's interesting. »

He walked closer to you and explained.

« Now, to go back in your body, you have to surge forward and embrace your return. »

You turned your head, noticing he was just behind you, his hands on your waist while he gently pushed you towards your body.

« Here we go » you murmured and jumped towards your body.

To go back in your body was as if you could see the light again, take a deep breath and feel refresh, as if you had awakened from a deep slumber.

You shook your head and released the cloak and Stephen from your grip. You changed back, quickly, getting rid of the weird feeling in your body and said :

« I think that should be all for today. Thank you. »

He nodded at you, getting up before you had the time to offer him a hand. You observed his handsome features, his barely tired eyes, and the light shaking of his hands as he dusted off his outfit.

While you stared at Doctor Strange, J.A.R.V.I.S snapped you out of your thoughts :

« You are both needed in the living room. Mister Stark is waiting for you.» announced the AI as the lift's doors opened.

A small smile enlightened your lips and you stepped forward, ready to see Tony even if you heard the sigh of Stephen who quickly followed you. The cloak swiftly stroke his cheeks and he sighed louder.

Today was going to be a heavy day, he thought as he stood in the lift, your form standing by his side.

The moment the doors clung open, you saw Tony's evil smirk made you want to crawl back in the training room. You knew he was going to announce something you wouldn't like, not one bit.

Stark, a hand in his hand, raised his glass of whiskey and stated proudly :

« Wolfie and you are going on a mission together. Suit up, lovebirds! »

Before you had time to react to his statement, Strange sighed loudly and dropped :

« We leave in five, Y/N. Be ready. »

You nodded slowly, while he left the room, heading God knows where. You were a bit dumbfounded by his behaviour but perhaps, was it because it was your first mission together. At the thought of it, a wave of joy overwhelmed your body and a smile enlightened your lips, to which Tony playfully winked at you.

« Be careful, though, princess. J.A.R.V.I.S will communicate with you at any moment with the earpiece, until you changed of course. »

You nodded enthusiastically and headed back to your room to change into something less sweaty and comfier.

Once ready, you knocked at Stephen's room and entered.

« Stephen ? Are you ready ? »

A deep voice murmured at the shell of your ear, taking you by surprise despite your wolf's abilities :

« Are you ? »

You shivered at the intensity of his words, small butterflies erupted in the depth of your belly.

« Y..yes, of course. »

With a small nod of his head, he opened a portal, leading you to the destination of your first mission. You didn't know yet, who you had to fight against but what you did know was that you were in good hands, with your partner.

« Listen, lovebirds, there is a bunch of bad guys firing things up, I already evacuate the area and I need you to take out these guys. Careful with their guns, though, their bullets are made in vibranium. » Tony's voice echoed in your ear, giving you all the information you needed.

« Copy that, Stark. »

Stephen scanned the area, analysing and deducing the possible casualties of this mission while you played on your feet. You madly wanted to change into your wolf form, the intensity of danger and excitement causing you to growl slowly.

Stephen turned to you, a frown playing on his forehead.

« I'm going to trapped them in the Mirror Dimension and take them out, without hurting any civilians. Stay behind me and then do what we did in training. Team work. »

« Got it, Stephen. »

Then you closed your eyes, letting your barriers collapsed to the growing will inner wolf and the familiar warmth and pain welcomed you. Your body cracked in thousand pieces while your form slowly changed back into a primitive predatory form, the werewolf standing proudly next to Doctor Strange.

Stephen raised his hand and activated the Mirror Dimension. The world froze, floating for a moment until the intruders broke that moment of peace and you knew it was your opponents. You growled at them, which made some slowed down in their rush, eyes widening in fear at the incoming danger. Stephen glided in the air, thanks to his relic and threw his blazing whip at a few of them.

You threw yourself in the battle, the adrenaline pulsing in your veins and the hours of training telling your body how to react to each movement: dodge, jump back, bite, attack and so on.

However, as the enemies slowly diminished, the piercing sound of a bullet hit your ears, causing you to grunt loudly.

Freezing, you slowly turned your head to the man holding the gun and your blood boiled in your veins when you realised he aimed at Stephen.

« Y/N, don't!' » Stephen shouted while he spun around to look for more enemies.

Nevertheless, you let your heart guides your step and bounced forward, stopping the bullet to hit your partner and hit you instead, piercing your skin deeply. You whined in pain but clawed at the man before he had the time to react to what had happened. The pain, invisible while the adrenaline burst through your veins, you clawed at the enemy, destroying the gun in one strike and clawing his chest with claws marks.

You didn't hear the pleas of Stephen until he knelt in front of you after a wave of energy knocked out every enemy in the perimeter.

A streak of blood streamed down your furry shoulder, the pain throbbing at the rhythm of your heart and you slowly raised your head up to see Stephen knelt in front of you.

His blue eyes were full of concern, his pupils moving from your face to the wound, and you licked his face in order to reassure him. He chuckled at your demeanour and said :

«I'm here, I'm going to take care of you, all right ? Stay awake for me, Y/N. » he mumbled while the cloak gently stroke your black coat.

« Stark, sent a suit, now ! »he shouted in the ear chip.

Then he cupped your head in his heads, observing your features, and noticing the slow veil of pain altering your usual relaxed face.

« You shouldn't have done that, Y/N. The Cloak could have stopped the bullet, » he stated.

You shook your head.

« It was vibranium, Stephen. My bones are as strong as vibranium and I knew I could stop the bullet with my body. That 's what partners do, they protect each other. »

You started to pant a bit, and in the corner of your eye, Iron Man flew towards your forms.

« Back up is there, » you said and put your head in Stephen's chest, letting your body relaxed into his embrace.

All you knew was that Stephen didn't let you go until you were safe in the Avengers Tower and the echo of his words driving you to unconsciousness :

« Thank you, Y/N. »

A small smile of hope tugged at your lips while you drifted to darkness.

A/N: So what did you think? Good? Not good?