i keep the ends out for the tie that binds

A few months later, Maria finds herself nearly fuming as she makes her way to the MedBay. "Where's the Captain?"

"I— Inside, Ma'am," the attendant replies.

He looks up from his seat on the bed when the door opens and sees her. "Lieutenant—"

She takes a deep breath and cuts him off by launching into a tirade. "Captain Rogers, here at SHIELD, we have protocols for dealing with these situations—"

"It wasn't a SHIELD op—" he tries. Alas.

"Regardless, it was a bank robbery. You're with SHIELD; you could've called. You should've called." She's angry and he knows it. To any normal person, it would seem like Agent Hill was formally reprimanding him in her usual stoic manner. But anyone who knows her well enough would notice the small crease between her eyebrows, the slight edge in her speech, the minute change in the tone of her voice, and the faint rhythmic sound of her breaths — normally, her silence and stealth allows her to sneak up on anyone, him included, enhanced hearing and all.

He winces and hangs his head. "You found out, huh?" He glances up at her with a sheepish look.

"I always do. Plus, you got shot and your life was on the line, along with 14 others' so yes, I found out."

"It's just a graze, Hill." He tries to play it cool but he should've known that nothing gets past her.

"The one on your side, sure. What about your shoulder?" He considers lying but when he remembers feeling pain from a simple movement earlier, he decides to keep his mouth shut. "Thought so. I've told you before, Rogers, if I wanted to know, I could. Easily and covertly."

"I'm sure you can. You're great at what you do." She frowns but he simply smiles and continues. "And 'covertly'... You enjoy being behind the scenes."

Her eyes narrow further because although they don't talk about it, she's sure he's already picked up on these things a while ago. "I do prefer it, yes." Then an eyebrow raises. "But don't change the subject." He sighs. Bingo.

"I know that you always want to make sure nothing goes wrong in every project you oversee, agents and assets included." She didn't know what she expected from him in response but it certainly wasn't this. "I appreciate that. I mean, it helps to see your name in mission statements."

She almost rolls her eyes and gives him the side-eye instead. "My name is on all of your mission statements."

"Yes, I noticed; I see it every time. You're very thorough."

"I am." She crosses her arms and continues, "Wouldn't want anyone coming after me for endangering Captain America. Especially when you already do that well enough on your own." She gestures then to the bullet wound and sees Rogers' shy and guilty expression. She huffs, "Look, frankly, I don't care if you have a death wish." This somehow tastes wrong on her tongue, especially after seeing the hurt look on his face. "I don't mind you veering away from the plan a little as long as you stick to it enough to ensure that everyone involved in a mission or, in this case, a robbery comes back in one piece."

He knows going against her when she's all riled up is futile but he feels the need to explain himself. "Agent Hill—" This, coupled with the clench of his jaw, lets her know that he feels a little offended. He's taken to calling her either Hill or Lieutenant (she thinks it's because he likes her title, maybe) and only reverts to Agent Hill when they're at odds, which happens more often than not but rarely regarding missions.

"I'm sure you'd never intentionally put someone else's life in danger so this is not a scolding, Captain Rogers." On her part, she's taken to calling him Rogers generally, Captain in formal contexts, and Captain Rogers when she's not particularly happy with him. And as she utters the latter, she realizes that she's been using it a lot less these days. "It's a reiteration of something you already know. The mission plans, the protocols, the simulations and predictions, the statistics? They all work to lessen the probability of failure, leaving a situation FUBAR. However, I understand that they can't account for the human factor or for other circumstantial factors, which is why you and your handler have leeway to take calculated risks should the need arise. And this situation is no different."

"I'm aware, and I couldn't have said it any better, Lieutenant." He gives her a pointed look and all of a sudden, all is well and no one's angry. "I apologize for not calling SHIELD in and for the way I handled the robbery; I acted on pure instinct." He watches her nod. "I can't promise that it won't happen again." At this, Maria scoffs and looks away. "But…" He waits for her to look back at him before he continues, "I'll try my best to remember it next time."

"'Do or do not; there is no try.'" She sees the confusion in his expression but she gestures for him to go on.

"As I was saying earlier, your name on mission statements gives me a certain sense of," he pauses as he searches for the right word, "Security. An assurance, if nothing else. I just wanted you to know that your efforts are appreciated, that's all."

Despite months of occasionally working together, eating together, and exchanging food, she still takes declarations and compliments like this one with a grain of salt. And so, with a blank expression, she deadpans, "Your appreciation, while unnecessary, has been noted. Like I said, no one wants to see America's favorite superhero hurt his pretty little head." And with that said, she starts turning away from him but stops with his next words.

"I thought you didn't care, Lieutenant?" His voice carries a slightly teasing tone, earning him an unimpressed look and a raised eyebrow.

"I'm forced to when a superhero is being a complete idiot." She's just reached the door when he calls out to her.

"Wait!" She pauses but only turns her head sideways to acknowledge him. And it's a good thing too because his next words catch her completely off guard. "Did you just call me 'pretty'?"

With her back to him and her hand hovering by the biometrics, she considers taking it back but instead keeps a straight face as she slowly turns back to face him. "I'm not blind, Captain." She puts on the illusion of distance in the name she uses to address him even as she appraises him. And if she notices him straighten up a little, she makes no comment and just says, "And I won't deny what seems to be a universal truth."

He feels a little flushed from her compliment and decides to return it, "For what it's worth, I think you're pretty too." He studies her when she doesn't acknowledge his statement and sees her go on lockdown. He's unable to read her so he tells her, "You're quite the mystery, Hill." He sees her head tilt in question and he shakes his head in response. With a lopsided smile, he says, "It was meant as a compliment."

She stares at him, unsure how to proceed. "Right." She blinks. "I'll be on my way then."

"Of course." He tries to bite back a grin; he is failing. "Can't have you slacking on the job, Hill." His grin is now on full display and it earns him an eye-roll.

With the hint of a smile, she leaves but not before she mutters, "Shut up, Rogers."

As she steps out of the door, she hears him call, "Heads up!"

With a confused frown, she turns in time to catch a brown paper bag. She looks at the bag then at Rogers who's grinning until the door closes and blocks her view. When she peers into the bag, she sees two cinnamon sugar cheesecake bars, slightly deformed on one side but are still mostly intact.

"Goddamn, Rogers."


A/N: Hello. This is the last chapter for the first part (The Avengers in the MCU timeline) of this series. The next part (CATWS) will be up in a week. I hope you guys stick around till then. And thank you for all your support!