This is the original one-shot Agent Maris was based one. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing *grumbles about lack of money*
Truth or Dare
Maria wasn't quite sure how she ended up sitting in a circle in one of the guest rooms in the Avengers tower with Pepper, Darcy, Jane, Betty and Natasha participating in a slumber party, but she was.
All that she knew was that she completely blamed Phil for it, it was his fault she had to manage the Avengers, so it was his fault that she had been in the tower when Darcy had gotten them all to drunkenly sign a legally binding contract to attend this bloody thing.
She knew Phil was busy with his new team, but she still didn't see why he couldn't have at least let them no he was alive. She also knew that truth or dare definitely wasn't a good idea. This thought was cemented when the bottle landed on her, after having been spun by a certain slightly tipsy assassin.
"Truth or dare?" The deadly red head said, fixing her with a glare which she knew meant she getting asked questions whether she liked it or not. It was her first time, despite them having being at it for almost two hours.
"Truth, but only if we make a rule that what is classified, stays classified," Maria responded, giving the only acceptable answer. True to form, the others gathered into a huddle, all enjoying themselves (though it had taken a bottle of strong Russian vodka for Natasha to do so), as they discussed what they would ask her. She heard the name Steve mentioned several times, as well as the words masquerade and mystery. After what seemed like forever, but which was really only a couple of minutes, they turned around, mischievous, malicious grins on all of their faces.
"Are you the mystery woman that Steve has been going on about from the masquerade ball last month?"
She knew she should have been expecting it, they had all had their suspicions, but she was still a little stunned. She knew they had all heard about the lady in blue, white and red who Steve had kissed at the ball, he hadn't shut up about her, describing everything from the colour of her hair (raven), to the callouses on her hands (rough but soft), to the way her lips had felt against his. Luckily for her, it had been too dark, and they had been wearing masks, so he hadn't recognised her, but she had recognised him. She had wanted to kiss him for so long, but had never had the courage to do anything about it until then.
She looked around at all of the expectant faces around her, then felt something prick her arm. Looking down, she saw Natasha, a large needle in hand, an almost apologetic look on her face.
"Sodium Pentothal. We knew you would only deny it, so we brought it just in case. I ask again, are you the mystery woman from the masquerade that Steve won't shut up about?" She tried to think of some way to deflect their attention before the drug completely took over, but it was a vain effort.
"Yes, I am, but please don't tell him or the others. Its bad enough being the Ice Princess, but if they found out that it was me, well..." She trailed off as she looked at them. Jane, Betty and Pepper had guilty looks on her face. Natasha looked smug, as an annoyed Darcy handed her some money. Then she realised why they looked guilty. "Did you bug the room?" They looked at their laps guiltily, "please tell me its not a live connection?"
"Yep, with all of the others on the other end, listening. Including Steve." Darcy said smugly, trying, and failing, not to laugh at the horror stricken expression on Maria's face. Maria could feel her face burn. She had to get out of there. She got up quickly, running out of the door, seconds before the tears which had been burning at the back of her eyes began to fall. She ran into the bathroom off the lounge, ignoring the men who were clustered around the TV as they gawked as she rushed past. She sat there sobbing. She didn't know why, it was so unlike her. All that she knew was that the tears kept on falling, as her heart broke into pieces.
CAPTAINHILLCAPTAINHILLCAPTAINHILLCAPTAINHILLCAPTAINHILLCAPTAINHILL
Steve was sat on a sofa in the so called Avengers living room along with Bruce, Clint, Tony and Ian. They were all listening to the sounds coming from the receiver on the table, the one connected to the recently activated bug in the girls room. They were about to find out whether Mari- Agent Hill, she wasn't Maria to him, not yet, was the person he kissed.
He couldn't help but hope it was, oh how he wished it was. When he kissed that woman, all he could think about was Agent Hill, imagining it was her he held in his arms. When no-one had known who it was, he had let himself dream it was her. He kept talking about the woman, though he wasn't talking about the girl any more, he had been talking about Hill. Unless they were the same, as he hoped, but he wouldn't know for a minute. Then the bickering coming from the receiver ended, and he snapped back to reality.
"Are you the mystery woman that Steve has been going on about from the masquerade ball last month?" He heard Romanoff ask. He felt his palms start to go clammy. Why didn't Hill respond, why didn't she answer. The silence seemed to stretch into minutes, hours, an eternity. Then, there was a small gasp of surprise from the receiver. Hill. So they had decided to use the Sodium Pentothal after all. He felt bad about that, he didn't want her hurt, he cared about her too much for that, but he wanted to know so badly.
"Sodium Pentothal. We knew you would deny it, so we brought it just in case. I ask again, are you the mystery woman from the ball Steve won't shut up about?" He held his breath, as did all of the other men, even though they knew she couldn't hear them. She responded quite quickly this time.
"Yes, I am, but please don't tell Steve or the others. Its bad enough being the Ice Princess, but if they found out it was me, well..." Her voice tailed off. He was vaguely aware of Tony cussing and handing money to a very smug Clint, with Bruce and Ian soon following. All he could think was Maria. It was Maria he had kissed, not some stranger, or anyone else, it had been Maria. Maria he held in his arms as they danced, her lips he has pressed his against. Her who had pulled away from him. He grimaced at the last thought slightly, but was drawn back to the receiver by the sound of her voice. "Did you bug the room? Please tell me its not a live connection?" The desperation and hurt in her voice was like a dagger to the heart. He never wanted her to get hurt.
"Yep, with all of the others on the other end. Including Steve." He had a sudden urge to go and punch Darcy for being so cruel to Maria when she was so obviously hurting. Then he heard a door slam from the receiver, identical to a sound echoed in the distance. He could here feet running towards them, and he turned, just in time to see Maria run through the lounge, tears streaming down her face, before she locked herself in the loo. Everyone was stunned, no one speaking for a moment, until...
"I never thought I'd see the day the Ice Princess cried" Tony remarked. Steve lost it then. He turned around, and punched him in the face, before wheeling around and going to the door to the bathroom. He could hear her sobbing inside, and his heart broke. He raised his hand and knocked.
Finite.
