A/N : Hello fellow geeks and nerds ! As you can see, I'm new on Fanfiction and this is my first fanfiction *Yip!* Moreover, it's not just a fanfiction : it's an Avengers fanfiction. It's an idea I've had since the movie came out two years ago, but I didn't know if it was a good idea to start one because there are so many characters and I love each of these characters to death but there are some that I will not try to write - Black Widow - because of their complexity. And Marvel is such a big universe, you'll see some comic references. So yeah, I don't want the characters to be too O.C, so I'll be careful with that.
Basically this is the Avengers movie in Hill's P.O.V, because I wanted to focuse on her, but the point-of-view will eventually change through chapters. Mostly, it'll be Maria, Steve and Bruce. It won't be longer than ten chapters, I think - started writing the fifth chapter this morning - and will definitely have sequels. What can I say ? My imagination is that big !
It'll follow the Avengers, Captain America, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D storylines.
SUMMARY : It's S.H.I.E.L.D. They hide a lot of things. People weren't who they pretended to be. No one should be surprised anymore. Especially if they decided that the best way to save the world was a misfit group of superheroes. However, there's only a few things that Maria Hill can handle. Working for a secret governemental compagny. Check. Being the unknown daughter of an imbecile who believed that the Hulk was a good weapon. Check. An alien invasion was not on her list, this monday.
Rated T for language and mild violence (pratically inexistant)
I do not own the Avengers, but I thank God - Stan Lee - in each of my prayers for its existence.
"She's stronger than you know, a heart of steel starts to grow."
by OnceUponAPenname.
- Prologue -
MIDTOWN MANHATTAN
NEW YORK
New York City. Maria didn't see the appeal others did. And she lived in the city. Sure, it was a nice place. Loud. Crowded. Awake. Sure, it had its benefits. Shops at every street. Thick crowd to get lost in. Long avenues where she could walk and think without paying attention to another person. Its sights, museums and historical monuments. The new Stark tower might become own, the brunette thought, glancing up at the freshly finished batiment through her dark fangs.
The one problem she had with the city, so far, was its inhabitants. Loud. Rude. All and always seeming to be in a rush. Not that the young woman minded. It reminded her of Chicago, in some way. Maybe if she wasn't used to it, she'd mind.
Maria took a long sip of coffee as her phone started buzzing in her back pocket. Knowing she couldn't stop without being pushed around by others, she let it buzz, trying to found a quiet place. Uh, more like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Groaning in annoyance, she took the device out to find out that she had a new message. Quickly taping against the screen, her lips quirked up at she read the text:
'Rumor has it that my little sister is in the Big Apple. Jr texted me yesterday, saying that he was trying to win back. Who knew guys talked that much?'
'I suppose the rumor doesn't say that he finished at the hospital with the several stitches in his hand – which had found its way on my behind – after I stuck my fork into it. And I knew it. B. talked that much.'
'Maybe. So I guess you're on a break since you're talking to me?'
Maria couldn't help the wave of guilt as she read the words. Sentiment that she didn't feel that often.
She wasn't payed to feel. Quite the opposite, actually. As she started compozing a response, her phone locked itself before unlocking again, a red alert sign appearing on the screen. The brunette sighed, brushed back her hair, clicking a few times on the sign before it finally dissapeared.
'Not anymore, Be-
Too busy writing to be aware of her surroundings, she suddenly ran into someone. Cue flying coffee cup. Cue stained white shirt. And then, Maria remembered why she, most of the time, hated New York City. Crowds. Arrogants pedestrians not paying attention to the world around them. New Yorkers. She started cursing, quickly putting her black-brownish hair into a ponytail and completely ignoring the Cause Of The Accident. Well, she ignored it until he started talking:
"I am so sorry, I wasn't looking. Are you okay? I hope it wasn't hot."
She looked up to stare him. Maria knew she was the one not looking. Or was she? How was she supposed to know? She wasn't looking. The brunette took her time to look at the man in front of her. He was taller and stronger that her, that was for of his arms seemed to be the double size of one of hers, at least. He had blond hair and deep blue eyes, was wearing a simple white shirt and jean, a brown leather jacket.
Noticing her staring, he stuffed his hands in his pockets, obviously looking for something while keeping to apologize:
"I'm truly sorry, ma'am, I-"
" 'Ma'am?'" Maria interrupted, cocking an eyebrow "Seriously, how old do think I am? If anything you're older than me."
"Sorry." he repeated, wincing. "For that, too. Uh-, I can replace if you want, just tell me what you ordered and I'll buy it."
Uh. Weird. Were New Yorkers nice? Nope, that was a well-known fact. And they didn't stop to offer to replace your coffee after they previously spilled it on you. Even so, that was definitely a Brooklyn accent she heard in his voice as he apologized to her. Despite his nice attitude, she couldn't help but snap at him:
"Buy me a new coffee? So what, you can dump it on me too? No, thank you."
At least she had stayed polite. Kinda. She threw her empty cup into a trash nearby and walked away, not paying to the tall and muscular blonde man. Maria quickly wrote a reply to her sister before composing a number and bringing the device to her ear. After a few seconds of wait, she heard a familiar male voice pick up:
"Coulson."
"I need someone to pick me up."
"What time?"
"In half hour, tops. I need to change, some moron made me spill my coffee."
"Roger that, Hill."
Maria was half-amused, half-annoyed when she heard the, bearly, repressed laughter in his voice. She hung up and started walking toward her apartment, hands stuffed in her pockets as Steve Rogers sat at a café, trying to forget the strange encounter he'd had with a stranger dark-haired woman.
S.H.I.E.L.D PROJECT P.E.G.A.S.U.S FACILITY
NEW MEXICO
As the helicopter slowly lowered down to the landing pad, Maria watched, her jaw clenched in concern and frustration, as men and women evacuated the building in a state of panic. Landing, the brunette could also a man in a suit, standing a few yards from the landing pad. A small smile formed itself on her lips as she recognized Phil Coulson, standing tall and proud, sunglasses on his nose even though night had fallen.
She got out of the chopper, quickly followed by Fury. Both of them approached the agent, Fury slightly yelling over the noise made by the helicopter as he asked
"How bad is it?"
"That's the problem, sir." he answered, shaking his head "We don't know."
Maria and Fury exchanged a look before following Coulson into the facility. As they walked through the radiation section, the young woman watched as hundred of technicians rassembling their stuff before running out of the building. Still walking, Phil started talking, again:
"Dr Selvig read an energy surge from the Tesseract four hours ago."
"NASA didn't authorize Selvig to test phase." The director retorted, frowning.
"He wasn't testing it. He wasn't even in the room" he explained "Spontaneous advancement."
"It just turned itself on?" the brunette asked, crossing her arms.
Her face was stoic, professional, as usual and if she was with someone else than these two men, the concern in her voice wouldn't have been heard. Both of them chose to ignore it while Maria silently hoped that it wasn't bas as it sounded.
"What are the energy levels now?" Fury asked.
"Climbing. When Selvig couldn't shut it down, we ordered the evac."
"How long to get everyone out?"
"Campus should be clear in the next half hour." he replied.
"Do better." he ordered in his emotionless voice.
Coulson quickly nodded before turning around and walking away as both of them continued walked toward the radiation facility floor. Ignoring the psychological fight raging inside of her brain, Maria took a deep breath before saying:
"Sir, evacuation may be futile."
"We should tell them to go back to sleep?" He retorted, her words reaching deaf ears.
"If we can't control the Tesseract energy, there may not be a minimum safe distance." The young woman persisted.
"I need you to make sure that PHASE 2 prototypes are shipped out."
"Sir, is that really a priority right now?"
The SHIELD director stopped his tracks to stare at her with his one good eye. If she looked close enough and listened carefully, Maria would probably hear him growl and see smoke coming out of his ears.
"Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on. Clear out the tech below. Every piece of PHASE 2 on a truck and gone."
She restrained a sigh and glared up as she heard a snicker coming from higher grounds.Stupid Hawk. She clenched her jaw before erasing any human expressions from her face and saying, in a monotone voice, almost robotic:
"Yes, sir."
As she walked toward some agents, Maria indicated them to follow her with a nod and quick hand gesture. Sure enough, both of them followed her without any discussion as they descended a few floors. When the brunette and her escorts arrived in front of a reinforced door. She quickly unlocked it by taping on an eletronical tablet.
Entering the floor, the young woman noticed that this floor was as active as the radiation facility one. People obviously had the order to lock and evacuate everything before she did. In a corner, she could see a blonde woman standing. Unlike others around her, she was wearing a white coat lab and had a pair of glasses perched over her blonde loosed hair. Frowing her eyebrows, she called:
"Bobbi?"
Barbara – Bobbi – Morse a.k.a Agent 19 looked up when she heard the call of her name. She let out a sigh of relief when her blue eyes found Maria's brown eyes and started walking toward her. Her not-so-long coat lab was short enough that the brunette could see Bobbi was wearing a knee-length black skirt, hugging her thighs and a white blouse. Her heels clicked on the floor as she got closer.
"Maria, what the hell is going on?"
" 'What the hell is going on?', what are you doing done here? How did you even got in?" Maria retorted, cocking an eyebrow and crossing her arms across her chest.
"I'm good with computers, whatever. That's not important. What is important why Sitwell came in earlier, ordering us to pack everything and told us to evacuing the building."
Maria was about to retort when, suddenly, the facility was shaken by a wave of energy. The Tesseract, she thought worriedly as she looked up. She was brought out of her thoughts when Bobbi said:
"Now, that, don't tell me nothing, cuz' that was something."
Her brown eyes hardened as she stared down at the blond and slipped into her Deputy Director persona, saying:
"This isn't of your concern, Agent 19. Being a level 6 agent and a bio-chemist, your presence, down here, is unrequired and unauthorized. So you should followed orders, not defy your superiors nor hack into classified levels and evacuate the building as everyone else. Am I being clear, Morse?"
Scowling, the blonde swallowed her protest and muttered as she turned on her heels."
"Crystal, Deputy."
Maria ignored the young woman and looked around. They were too busy locking weapons away to pay attention to her. The brunette turned to face the two agents who had accompagnied her down. One of them had dissapeared to help his fellow colleagues while the other was still standing behind her, looking useless. She rolled her eyes, shot a quick look at her watch before yelling:
"WE DON'T HAVE ANYTIME TO STAND AROUND AND SMELL THE ROSES, PEOPLE! If you aren't doing anything, OUT! If weapons and files are locked, go down to the bunker to load the cases. This is an evacuation, not a freakin' break or recess."
She didn't wait for a reply before going down to the parking lot herself. To her relief, the few agents, there, seemed to be working actively. A young man stopped his work at her appearance. He closed the car and turned toward Maria, standing straight and putting his hands behind his back.
"Deputy."
"Ashton. How many vehicules are fulled?" She asked with a nod, adknowledging his greeting.
"So far, we have ten of them good to go, ma'am."
"Good."
As the young brunette turned around to leave, she saw Clint Barton a.k.a Hawkeye walking toward them, followed by Selvig, a few persons she recognized and a man she had never seen before. She frowned as Clint sai-, no, ordered as he pointed toward himself and people around him:
"Need these vehicules"
He didn't wait for a reply before going toward the car, the tall and dark-haired stranger looking at her with a strange curiosty. Frowning, Maria wondered:
"Who's that?"
"He didn't tell me."
Liar. She started walking away, still eyeing the strange team of the marksman, as her walkie started to crackle. That was when all hell broke loose. Litteraly. Cue gunshots. Cue dangerous car chases. Cue more shootings. Cue car wobbling, almost barreling. Cue behind sandwiched into a crushed car by a collapsing tunnel.
Maria groaned as she kicked the door opened. The walkie started crackling again, voices shouting:
"Director? Director Fury, do you copy?" Coulson.
"The Tesseract is with the hostile. I have men down. Hill?" Fury.
Pushing herself out, then up, she hook her walkie off of her belt and answered:
"A lot of men still under, don't know how many survivors."
Even if she knew, she would pretend to ignore it. She didn't want to know that kind of details. Especially if those deaths were caused by agents.
"Sound the general call. I want every living soul not working rescue looking for that briefcase."
"Roger that." The brunette quickly replied.
"Coulson, get back to base. This is level 7." She could hear the older man inhale before he continued "As of right now, we are at war."
A beat.
"What do we do?" Coulson finally asked what they were all wondering.
But as of right now, nobody had an answer to give him.
A/N : First of all, if you're reading this, I'd like to thank and congralute you for not stopping your reading. Secondly, it would mean the world to me if you would leave a review ! Your thoughts are more than important to me !
Ok, bye!