Being a S.H.I.E.L.D-agent wasn't really something that allowed one a lot of spare-time; especially when you were the second in command*and one of the very best spies of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Or, Romanoff got long breaks, when she finally had them; so that she could work through the mental-terror which is bound to come with being a spy and near-death on a daily basis.
The red-haired didn't complain about the long breaks, she enjoyed them in fact, though she at times would get restless.
It was nice to be able to put her make-up on or take a long bath without it having to be for the sake of seducing someone, but simply being because she enjoyed it.
Thought, he widow hadn't understood the principle of the breaks in the beginning. She wouldn't receive any spy-related information or be instructed to train new techniques. She would merely be told to relax, enjoy herself, and train so that her skills wouldn't fall doing her break.
'Enjoying herself', the young* widow hadn't understood what that meant. She had never been taught how to 'enjoy' anything, only how to make people 'enjoy' her. Enjoying was merely a weapon used to make people fall for your trap and gather information.
She had decided not to ask questions about it – certain it was a test. And she simply used all her time on training, sleeping, patching up her body and training some more.
One day it had knocked on her door, and Agent Hill herself had stood in the Widows doorway. The Widow had been weary at first, but the agent had simply marched in as she informed Romanoff that she had brought food and ice cream, and one of her favorite shows would be sent that night, and she wanted to see it.
It had been an awkward evening for Natasha, or it would have, if Romanoff hadn't had her senses on alert, looking for every sign of Hills true intention with coming to her place.
It happened again the next time the Widow had a break, and again the time after that. And Natasha, slowly, ever so slowly, became less and less weary.
They didn't talk much together but the thing they talked about would be silly little things that had nothing to do with work, but could make both women giggle like little girls.
It became a normal thing for them to spend time together whenever they both had the time. They would usually stay in Hills apartment as it was more used than Natashas, and thus had a more homely feeling about it
- Though most people would believe Hill had only just moved in or were about to move out, if they should judge by how neat the houses insides were.
For both women had their shield-training in mind, even then they were off. Personal things could be used against one and messes could the used to track one or see what one had been doing. So neither one owned much, and both cleaned everything the moment it had served its purpose.
Once, Natasha had had a break-down, and she had cried on Marias shoulder for hours, before she got up and messed with everything she could, just for the sake of making a mess. That evening they had sat in the couch with a blanket over them and watched television, with lots of half-eaten ice-cream boxes and fast food trays all around them. One big giant mess. It had taken a long time to clean, but it had been worth it. And it became a little thing of theirs to do it every once in a while, though there was no seclude for when they did it. It was one of those things and would be destroyed if it were planned.
That was just how their relationship worked. Quiet and non-professional in a professional way. It was as good as anything one could get as a full time s.h.i.e.l.d-agent.
Perhaps that was why Agent Hill filled in complains about Fury and sent them to the council, when Fury decided to dream of superheroes, with her Natasha in their midst. It would be too dangerous, those freaks was nothing the Black Widow ever had been trained for, and they would most likely deal damage to their own, than they would to the alien-enemy.
But there wasn't much Maria could do. Except watch, with hidden fear in her heart, as Romanoff tricked a God, and later was thrown in to the midst of an unearthly battle against aliens, as if she was a mere soldier and not a spy.
Agent Hill regretted her actions later on, when the council decided to nuke Manhattan along with the Avengers. Nothing she would never forgive them for.
But that didn't matter in the small moment she heard her widows voice; "It's closed. The portal is closed". Natasha was safe, and she had done so much more than what she had been trained for.
A/N:
*Blah, I have no idea what rank Hill are, but she often becomes the new director whenever something happens to Fury in the cartoons and comics, so decided just to call her 'second in command' xD
* Yeah, I know she's old but I thought it would be better to put 'young' in, so that it would be easier to understand that this paragraph was a flashback-thing c: