Beyond Duty: Roaming Thoughts and Avengers

Summary: Maria reflect on the fact that their best team had dispersed and that she had now found a little time to let her thoughts roam on a particular topic she'd rather not dwell on.

P/N: This had been long overdue. I confess that I forgot about it. Thanks for reminding me, Aibo.


The helicarrier was still far from being completely repaired. It was now at sea level once again as the multitude of engineers and electricians they had on hand continued to work on the mammoth ship. A lot of the soldiers had flown home to their families after the big ruckus with Loki had already died down. They all had someone to go home to.

Maria Hill, however, didn't have anyone to go back to. Thus why she stayed to oversee the repairs going on and continued to coordinate the people left on the ship.

The Avengers, aside from Clint have left to who knows where. None of them really filed for a leave so where they were was anyone's guess. Well...except maybe Tony Stark, since he had been on Television every now and again. He was never far from the spotlight. Whenever he did pop up, though, Maria couldn't help but feel tense. After all, among the most affected when Fury called in Coulson's death was Tony Stark AND Steve Rogers.

Coulson was on the road to recovery but none of the Avengers knew this. She could only imagine the chaos this would bring once they do find out.

These were one of the times that she wished Natasha had stayed behind. She could always use the female company. Unfortunately for her, Natasha had been assigned to train a potential new recruit from Asgard. A warrior that had been sent for immediate back-up in case anything otherworldly happened again. Natasha never told them where she would be taking Sif but Maria supposed that they'd have a tough time looking for it even if they really tried.

Another case was Banner. He was a ticking time bomb that, in her opinion, shouldn't be left out on his own. Then again they haven't gotten any word of Hulk-related attacks lately so maybe the doctor had it under control.

And then there was the Director. The man that caused Maria's latest headaches. The man continued to work like a machine and she was yet to see him relax. If she thought about it, she had just seen him lurking about earlier and declined when she had offered him coffee.

Sighing heavily, she walked away from the deck to head inside. She had a Director to find, tie down and feed. The rest of her musings could wait until later.