Hello all! It certainly has been ages! The last time I was on this site was probably last summer when my friend and I were active in updating our Scandal fic. However, recently I have realized how much I have missed writing. So, here I am with a fic for one of my favorite Marvel couples! (Don't let the start of this story scare you off! I have an immense love for Steve and Maria so you don't have to worry about it ending any other way.) Also if you're a Scandal fan, I've got a one-shot I wrote ages ago ready to be published. Maybe I can even convince my friend to get that multi-chapter back up and running! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this first chapter! Let me know what you all think and if anyone has better idea for a title please tell me. I will try to update as frequently as I can :)
As for a setting I guess I would put it before the Winter Soldier. However, it's pretty AU (yes SHIELD is still standing) so I don't know if I can really say that. I just thought it would be better to set something rather than nothing!
Disclaimer: All rights go to Marvel!
Late one evening, Steve Rogers entered SHIELD's office headquarters with a file in his hand. He carried his muscular body down the halls. As he rounded the corner, he ran right into Maria Hill. She had coffee in her hand, which hit the ground after their collision. Her usual cold exterior melted whenever she was around Steve.
"Oh my" Steve started, as he crouched down to pick up the coffee cup. "I am so sorry ma'am"
A very small, almost invisible, smile appeared on Maria's face.
"Don't worry about it" She answered simply. "And how many times do I have to tell you to call me Maria?"
A quiet laughed escaped Steve's mouth, "I'm sorry ma'am-I mean Maria"
She chuckled softly at his awkwardness and watched him throw the cup away in the trash.
As silence filled the air, Maria said "have a nice night Steve".
When he turned to watch her walk away, he noticed Natasha had appeared a few feet behind them. Nat gave Maria a small smile as she walked by and then looked at Steve with a mischievous grin. He rolled his eyes because God only knew what she was cooking up in her head. It was Steve who approached Natasha, only because he was headed that way in the first place. Natasha looked up at him and he had seen this look many times before. Every time Natasha tried to "set him up" with someone, which she did a lot, she looked at him like that.
"She smiled at you" Nat stated simply.
He scrunched up his eyebrows at her, "So?"
Natasha squinted her eyes and looked at him like he was an idiot.
"She never smiles at anyone...yet she smiled at you" Nat told him.
"I'm a nice guy" Steve shrugged and gave Natasha a grin.
"And not cocky at all" She said, her words filled with sarcasm.
Steve chuckled and started to walk down the hall. Natasha followed closely behind him and continued to talk.
"You know she's got a thing for you..." Natasha stated.
Steve stopped and turned to look at her, "No she does not"
The redhead rolled her eyes at him, "Yes she does and you should ask her out"
Steve sighed and turned to walk away once again.
"I'm busy" He yelled back to her, but his long legs continued to carry him down the hall.
Rogers continued on his path to find one Agent Carter, which is what he was supposed to doing in the first place. After searching the building for a while, he decided that he probably missed her since it was so late. However on his way out he ran into to her and gave her the file he was supposed to.
"Agent Carter!" Steve called for the young woman as she exited the building.
The blonde turned to face him, "Captain Rogers"
"I was asked to give this to you" Steve stated simply.
She gave him a smile, "You know, I live right next to you. You didn't need to track me down here"
The soldier chuckled, "I don't mind dropping by here. I get my daily dose of hassling from Natasha taken care of"
The young agent laughed and smiled at Steve. She finally took the folder from him and the air was filled with awkward silence.
Sharon looked up at him and said, "Well I would say my goodbyes and go home but I guess we're headed in the same direction"
"Right you are" Steve chuckled, his blue eyes sparkling.
"Hey I know it's late but I'm starving. Do you want to grab something to eat?" Sharon asked on a long shot.
The watch on Steve's wrist read 8:00, so he responded with a delighted ok.
"Great" Sharon said. "There's a great diner a few blocks from here"
Steve smiled at Sharon and followed her down the street.
Around 8 the next morning, Natasha made her way into SHIELD. She entered one of the many break rooms and watched as Agent Sharon Carter walked out of the room with a huge smile on her face. As Natasha turned, a bit confused, she noticed Steve sitting in the room with smile. Clint, Tony and Pepper sat at a table with him. Maria was up working on making a cup of coffee. Natasha made her way to her.
She grabbed a cup herself before asking, "What's got Carter so happy this morning? It's way too much for me"
"Apparently her and Steve went out last night" Maria stated flatly.
Natasha narrowed her eyes, "Really?"
"Yeah and I guess they really hit it off" She replied, with a hint of what Natasha detected to be a bit of jealously.
She was going to comment on it, but decided to let the brunette agent walk away and out the door. Natasha made her way to the table. They all greeted her, but she went immediately to Steve. As she reached the table, Nat punched his muscular arm before sitting down.
"Ouch!" He said, even though there was no way it hurt.
Clint and Pepper looked her with confusion, while Tony just chuckled.
"What was that for?" Steve questioned her.
"Did I or did I not tell you to ask Maria out?" Natasha asked.
The group tried to jump in, but Natasha was only interested in Steve's answer.
"You did" He replied hesitantly.
"And what did you do?" Natasha asked, her words filled with annoyance.
Steve opened his mouth to speak but Natasha answered for him, "You asked Carter out instead".
"Actually-" He started to speak but the tiny redhead hit him again. "Will you stop that?"
Natasha rolled her eyes and the group continued to watch them intently.
"I didn't ask her out" Steve stated.
Now the whole group was looking at him with confusion.
"She asked me out..." Steve stated hesitantly.
Clint and Tony looked at each and began to laugh.
"That is so lame" Tony told him.
Pepper scolded him, but he continued to laugh.
"It's not lame" Steve defended himself. "Plus I was going to ask her out anyway"
As soon as those words left his mouth, he regretted them. He noticed Natasha's widened eyes and she took a swing at his arm.
"Do you listen when I talk to you?" She asked the super soldier.
"I don't" Tony answered unnecessarily.
"Never" Clint threw in his two cents as well.
"I do" Pepper chimed in.
Natasha smiled briefly at her friend, before turning back to Steve. She started to rebuke him once again, but Clint stopped her.
"You're always trying to get him a date. So why are you so upset when he finally gets one?" Clint asked his super spy friend.
"Because Carter is not who I was trying to set him up with" Natasha told the group.
"So?" Stark asked, in his usual tone.
Suddenly, they were interrupted by the ringing of a phone coming from Steve's pocket.
He pulled the device out, "I should take this"
With that, Steve stood up and left the room.
"I ask again" Clint started. "Why does it matter who Roger's dates?"
"Sharon seems nice enough" Pepper threw in "So I don't understand-oh"
The two men look at the women in confusion.
"What 'oh'?" Tony asked his longtime girlfriend.
"You told him to ask Maria out" Pepper stated.
"Yeah, so?" Clint asked, trying to figure things out.
Natasha nodded at the CEO.
"Maria has a thing for Rogers?" Pepper questioned.
"Bingo" The Russian nodded.
Clint and Tony looked at each other, "We knew it"
Natasha rolled her eyes the boys.
"Well that's...different" Pepper stated.
"I can't wait to bug her about this" Tony said with a grin on his face.
"Stark I swear to God if you tell her I told you I will kill you" Natasha threatened. "It took me months to get her to admit it"
"I guess I always thought Rogers had a little crush on her too" Clint said to the group.
Pepper looked at him with an eyebrow raised, "Really?"
Clint started to speak, but Steve reentered the room. Steve felt all of their eyes on him and he questioned it.
"So, you and Carter?" Tony, of course, was the first to ask.
The super soldier rolled his eyes.
"Don't roll your eyes at me!" Stark said, dramatically. "You two did go on a date...correct?"
"I suppose we did" Steve answered, hesitantly.
The group looked at him, hoping to get much more information than he was giving.
"Well" Pepper started. "How was it?"
She gave Steve a small smile as she talked to him. The blonde' cheeks began to redden.
"Uh" Steve started, his hand scratching the back of his neck. "It went really well"
"Yeah?" Pepper questioned, with a smile on her face. She was happy for Rogers.
He nodded with his typical Steve grin.
"So you get any action?" Stark asked.
"Did I get any what?" Steve looked at him with confusion.
"Tony!" Pepper scolded him, but he just chuckled.
Steve remained confused; however he decided he didn't care enough to ask.
After a few moments of silence, Natasha spoke up, "Are you sure she's really the right girl for you?"
Bright blue eyes met Natasha's, "What?"
"It's just you don't really know her. She seems like a nice enough girl, but she did lie to you continuously for months" Natasha reached for a reason for Steve not to date Sharon.
"It was her assignment" Steve stated flatly.
As Natasha struggled to think of something else to say, Clint spoke "What about a certain brunette that you had your eyes on?"
Redness began to rise in Steve's cheeks.
"You and I both know that was never going to happen" Steve told his friend.
Natasha hesitantly spoke up, "You don't know that"
Steve looked at her with confusion, because as far as he knew she had no idea who he was talking about.
"Oh don't look at me like that. You know that I know everything" Natasha told him. "Therefore I know that this 'certain someone' has feelings for you"
As Pepper, Tony and Clint gave her a look, she regretted what she told Steve.
"Are you kidding me?" Steve started. "You knew that I had feelings for Maria-"
Nat interrupted him, "No I didn't"
He rolled his eyes, "You just claimed you knew everything, so yeah you did"
Everyone's eyes widened as they looked at a very annoyed Steve.
"You knew that I had feelings for Maria but you decided not to tell that she had the same feelings" He finished the statement that he started. "That makes so much sense" His words dripping with sarcasm.
"Well. Now you know" That was all Natasha could think to say.
Rogers narrowed his eyes at his teammate.
"Look she didn't want anyone to know but...now they do. So, to hell with Carter go get-" Natasha was interrupted by Steve before she could finish.
"No Natasha you don't understand. I shoved those feelings aside because I just assumed nothing would happen" Steve explained himself. "So not 'to hell with Carter', I'm going to see where this goes. So far it's caused me a lot less pain"
As silence filled the room, Natasha felt bad for Steve. She wanted to continue the conversation, starting with an apology, but the 'topic of discussion' entered the room. All eyes went to her and she furrowed her eyebrows.
"Um" Maria started. "Rogers...Fury would like to see you"
Steve cleared his throat and stood up to leave the room. He avoided Natasha's apologetic eyes. He followed the slender woman out of the room. Since she was a recent topic of discussion, he was thinking about her and looking at her as she walked. Steve forced his eyes away from her figure in the tight skirt.
"Am I in trouble?" Steve chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.
Maria turned her head to look back at him, "Hardly"
His blue eyes met her dark ones, until she turned back of course. Maria cleared her throat and Steve watched as she tucked a piece of dark hair behind her ear.
"So, you and Carter huh?" She asked him, without even turning around.
'Christ' He thought. 'How did everyone know already?'
"Uh" Steve started. "Yeah..." He trailed off towards the end
"Did you two have fun last night?" Now that he knew what he knew he could sense the jealously in her tone.
"We did" He said simply.
As they arrived at Fury's office door she turned to him and stopped, "Good". She opened the door for him and he entered the room without saying anything else to Maria. After the door shut, she walked away in frustration.
Thanks for reading everyone!
P.S. Sorry my writing is subpar *insert laughing emoji here*