Notes:
I have truly enjoyed reading all of your reviews! I thank you all for all the positive feedback and as for the errors in some of the previous chapters I am really trying to catch them all, as are my 2 betas. I hope you enjoy this chapter. It is by far my favorite so far!.
Chapter 4: The Stark Expo
]The incident in the locker room was three weeks ago and neither Maria nor Natasha spoke about it again. Not that they were given a chance. The next morning Natasha was sent on an undercover mission at Stark Industries. The OP was the first thing Maria read with her level 9 clearance.
From the SHIELD reports, it seemed that Tony Stark was dying. The palladium in the arc reactor that kept Stark alive was slowly poisoning him. Not only was SHIELD dealing with Tony Stark but Fury just pulled Phil from the Stark mission to investigate an O84 that showed up in New Mexico overnight.
"Deputy Director Hill," echoed the computerized assistant in her office.
Maria only slightly jumped at the voice. It was hard to get used to but at least she wasn't jumping from her chair with her service weapon anymore.
"Director Fury is requesting a video conference."
Maria stood up from her chair and approached the large monitor on her wall.
"Patch him through."
Maria took position in front of the screen. Her hands were placed behind her back and she stood tall.
Fury driving in his SUV showed up on her screen.
"Hill," said Fury not taking his eyes off the road. "Coulson is requesting my presence in New Mexico, it seems the O84 is something bigger then we could have ever imagined. I need you to take my place in the Stark mission. I am having Agent Ruddy bring you everything that I need you to point Stark in the right direction. Also there is an injection of lithium dioxide that I need you to give to Stark. It's not a cure but it will stop the symptoms. Romanoff will be picking you up from the air strip."
"Sir, is it wise to have both you and I off the helicarrier? What if something goes wrong?"
"I gave the order to lower the ship. I am putting Agent Ruddy in charge until either one of us gets back. You will only be a 20 minute plane trip away from the ship if something critical happens."
"Yes sir."
"Also Hill," added Fury, "Romanoff is reporting that Stark is not in his right mind right now. There is a great possibility that he may be not only a danger to himself but others. Romanoff last reported him drunkenly flying away from his home in Malibu in his Ironman suit."
Maria rolled her eyes at this, "great," she mumbled to herself.
"Be ready for anything and subdue him if you need to but don't break him. SHIELD will need him in the future."
As he said this he looked away from the road to give her a look.
Maria couldn't help but smirk at his remark.
"Did Romanoff report his location?"
"No," said Fury his eyes going back to the road. "But it is Tony Stark, he leaves a mess where ever he goes, Ironman suit or not. Check YouTube."
And with that the screen went blank.
Maria sighed as she walked back to her desk.
"Computer, run the most recent search on Tony Stark or Ironman. Search all social media. I need to know where he is at."
Just then Agent Ruddy walked into her office with a file under his arm and a small box in his hand.
"Commander, here is the Stark file and the lithium dioxide," he spoke as he handed her the objects.
"Thank you Agent Ruddy. I understand that you will be in charge while I am off the ship. I want you to call me with even the slightest problem."
"Yes sir."
"Deputy Director Hill," the computerized voice once again echoed throughout her office, "a YouTube video of Ironman was just posted two minutes ago. Would you like me to bring it up?"
Maria sighed. She knew she was not going to like what she was about to see but nonetheless gave the order as she rounded her desk.
"Put it on screen three."
Maria and Agent Ruddy stood side by side in front of the screen as they watched Tony Stark, in a partial Iron Man armor, sitting in a giant rooftop donut display snacking on a box of donuts in his lap.
"That man is a disaster," sighed Maria.
Agent Ruddy was trying but failing miserably at keeping the smile off his face at the video in front of him.
Maria took one final look at the screen before walking out of the room.
"I want my wheels up in two minutes. Get ahold of Romanoff and tell her to meet me at that location in twenty."
Even with her sunglasses in place Maria cupped her hand over her eyes to shield them from the sun as she stared up into the sky. The man wasn't even trying to hide. He was still sitting in the donut display staring out into the city, the box of donuts in his lap completely ignored.
"Sir," called out Maria removing her hand from her face to cross both arms over her chest as she stared up at him. "I am going to have to ask you to exit the donut."
Stark instantly brought his gaze down to her. She allowed him to stare at her for a few more seconds before she indicated with her head to the diner door. She didn't wait to see if Stark would follow as she walked towards the diner. She knew he would.
Maria was drinking half way through her coffee much needed before Stark walked in. She figured he wouldn't come right away. This was Tony Stark after all. He did things at his pace and his way.
Maria followed his movements as he walked towards the booth she was sitting at. He sat down across from her, bringing his glasses down his nose, to level her with a look over his them.
"I know I am really hungover right now but I don't believe we have ever met."
Maria had to physically fight the small quirk from forming on her lips at his statement. Even hungover the man was a helpless flirt. She allowed him to rake his eyes down her body and give her that famous "Tony Stark" smirk.
Maria rolled her eyes behind her glasses. This man was a handful.
The sound of the diner door being opened saved her from having to comment on his poor blatant attempt at flirting. Maria looked past Starks shoulder to see Natasha stroll in. Natasha met her gaze and gave her a small smile as they made eye contact and Maria could have sworn Natasha put an extra sway in her step as she moved closer to them.
"Commander, we have secured the perimeter but I don't think we should hold it for too much longer."
Maria nodded and moved to her left, a silent invitation for Natasha to have a seat.
"Huh...you're…fired."
Maria couldn't stop the twitch of her lips at Starks comment that she quickly hid behind her coffee mug.
"That's not up to you," said Natasha leaning back in the booth and leveling Stark with a look.
Interrupting any future argument between the two, Maria spoke.
"Stark, my name is Maria Hill. I am the Deputy Director of SHIELD," she paused to indicate to Natasha with her head, "and this is Agent Natasha Romanoff."
She finished her coffee and placed the coffee mug on the table, more firmly then needed. The crack of the ceramic hitting the table made Stark jump a little in his seat.
"You have been very busy. You made Pepper Potts your CEO, you're giving away all your stuff. You let your friend fly away with your suit. Now, if I know better...
"You don't know better. I didn't give it to him. He took it," said Stark interrupting her.
"I find it hard to believe that he took it," fired back Maria.
Stark opened his mouth to retort but Natasha beat him to it.
"According to Mr. Stark's database security guidelines, there are redundancies to prevent unauthorized usage."
Stark shut his mouth at that and then after a few moments he sighed in defeat.
"What do you want from me?"
Maria brought her hand under the table and slipped Natasha the injection of lithium dioxide. The fact that their hands lingered over the injections a second too long wasn't lost on Maria. Natasha then stood from the booth to exit the building.
The chime of the bells on the door signaled to Maria that someone walked out of the building, but Maria knew it wasn't Natasha. Stark didn't know that though. She turned to the man and spoke.
"We don't want anything from you Stark. I am here because you have become a problem. A problem that I had to leave my post to deal with. Contrary to popular belief, you are not the center of SHIELD's universe. I have bigger problems to deal with then you."
Maria saw movement over Stark's shoulder and knew who it was. She was impressed by Natasha's approach. Maria didn't even sense her coming until she was almost on top of them.
"Hit him!" ordered Maria.
Natasha moved fast and injected Stark in the neck.
Stark groaned at the injection as his hand shot up to his neck, "Oh God! Are you gonna steal my kidney and sell it? Could you please not do anything awful for five seconds? What did she just do to me?"
Maria rolled her eyes at his dramatics.
"What we did for you is inject you with lithium dioxide. It's going to take the edge off. We're trying to get you back to work."
Natasha slipped back into booth. She crossed her legs as she sat, her foot coming into contact with Maria's shin. It could have been an accident but the fact that she didn't move it had Maria believing it wasn't.
"Give me a couple of boxes of that. I'll be right as rain."
"It's not a cure, it just abates the symptoms," said Natasha.
Natasha's leg flexed out under the table, her foot now curling under Maria's knee. Definitely not an accident.
Maria cleared her throat before speaking.
"Doesn't look like it's going to be easy."
"You don't think I know that," said Stark a slight edge to his voice. "I'm good at this stuff," he said pointing to the reactor on his chest. "I've been looking for a suitable replacement for palladium. I've tried every combination, every permutation of every known element."
Maria reached over to a file on the table and slid it over to Stark.
"Well I am here to tell you, you haven't tried them all."
Maria sighed next to Stark Industries CEO Pepper Potts as she tugged on the collar of the button up shirt. This was not her scene. She would much rather be hunkered down in some third world country in a sweaty uniform, covered in dirt fighting some rebel militant force then be here, at the Stark Expo, dressed in a suit.
Directly after the diner Natasha informed her that she had a suspicion that Hammer Industries were employing Ivan Vanko to help in the production of combat suits. Natasha had no hard evidence to support this claim but after radioing Agent Ruddy at the SHIELD command center he was able to supply her with enough evidence that concerned her.
Maria ordered Natasha to stay with Stark which meant she would need to go the Stark Expo to see just what Hammer was up to.
Pepper Potts offered Maria Stark's ticket since it was clear Stark was not going to attend Maria could go in his place. Ms. Potts was a wonderful woman. Maria respected her highly. She was the CEO of Stark Industries and because the woman has been dealing with Tony Stark for years. The woman should earn a noble peace prize for the later.
"Not comfortable in your suit, Commander?"
Maria was dragged out of her thoughts and she lowered her hand from the collar of her shirt to turn towards Ms. Potts.
"I haven't worn a suit in eight years Ms. Potts. I forgot how stifling they can be," replied Maria as she tried to fix to readjust her tie.
Ms. Potts laughed and moved to stand in front of Maria, gently pushing her hands away before adjusting the tie for her.
"None of that Ms. Potts business. My name is Pepper," she gave Maria a smile as her hands worked on the tie. "And as far as this suit goes…by the looks you are getting all night, I believe some people wished they could see you in one every night," she teased winking at Maria before putting the finishing touches on the tie and stepping back to inspect her work.
"Yes, I do quite agree with them, you look very good in a suit Commander."
The announcement of the Stark Expo getting under way saved Maria from saying anything too embarrassing, as she was not used to so much attention.
"Pepper," nodded Maria both in thanks and invitation as she offered her arm to her.
Pepper smiled at her and took her arm as Maria began to lead them to their reserved seats in the front row of the expo.
Just as they took their seats the show began to start.
The lights dimmed and she watched as Justin Hammer danced into the stage. Pepper gave her a disturbed look as the man continued to dance. Maria couldn't help but wonder if it made it easier for him to move like that because the man had no spine.
"Ladies and Gentleman for far too long this country has had to place its brave men and woman in harm's way, but then the Ironman arrived and we thought the days of losing lives were behind us. Sadly, that technology was kept out of reach. That's not fair. That's not right, and it is just too bad."
Maria rolled her eyes at this as an "Oh…lord," was mumbled from Pepper.
"Regardless it was an impressive innovation, one that grabbed headlines all over the world. Well today, my friends. The press is faced with quite a different problem. They are about to run out of ink."
Maria took a small amount of glee in watching as Hammer realized his joke, that he was clearly impressed with, only had a small amount of people clapping.
Hammer cleared his throat uncomfortably as he too recognized the fact that his joke didn't make the impression that he had hoped. He stepped back from the podium and undid his suit jacket.
"Ladies and gentlemen, today I present to you the new face of the United States military. The Hammer Drone!"
The stage floor started opening up.
"The Army!"
Coming up from the opening of the stage was a small group of beige large drones.
Maria stiffened and her eyes narrowed. Pepper shifted uncomfortably in her seat. They both silently were agreeing that this idea made them very uncomfortable.
"The Navy!"
Another group of drones rose from the stage floor, these ones a dark blue.
Hammer pointed to the other end of the stage and yelled.
"Air Force!"
Gray drones started to rise from the floor.
"Marines!"
Maria heart was beating rapidly now as she watched the camo group of drones rise from the stage.
The large applause from all around seemed to get Hammer even more excited.
"That's a hell of a lot better than some cheerleaders let me tell ya!"
The applause continued as he stepped to the front of the stage.
"But as revolutionary as this technology is, there will always be a need for man to be present in the theater of war. Ladies and gentleman today, I am proud to present the very first prototype of the variable threat response battle suits and its piolet, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes!"
The middle of the stage opened as the suit that Stark gave to Rhodey now stood on the stage with an overwhelming amount of weapons attached to its body.
The sound of blasters could be heard interrupting whatever Hammer was saying. Maria and everyone watched a few seconds later as Ironman land in the middle of the stage.
"Commander."
Maria had to tilt her head to the side and hold her earpiece closer to her ear at the sound of Natasha's voice in her ear. She could barely hear it over the screams of elation from the crowd at the sight of Ironman.
"Vanko is in the Hammer system. Everyone there is in danger…"
Maria's eyes shot to the stage as she saw all the drones on stage, including Cornel Rhodes suit all take aim at Ironman.
"Shit…" she mumbled just as Ironman flew off and the drones opened fire after him.
The screams of people around her made it difficult to hear anything else Natasha was saying in her ear. Maria was currently covering Pepper's body with her own as the gun fire continued.
Still shielding Pepper's body Maria looked up to the stage to see Hammer run off towards the back as his drones began jumping from the stage and entering the crowd. Grabbing her gun from her back holster she grabbed Pepper's arm and dragged her to the back of the stage in the direction of Hammer.
Pushing the com on her ear she yelled to Natasha.
"Romanoff, I need you to get to Hammer Tech now. This is clearly Vanko. Get in there and disable the connection to these drones."
"Yes sir."
Pushing the com on her ear again but now twice Maria was now barking an order at Agent Ruddy.
"Ruddy. The Stark Expo is under attack by a team of war drones created by Hammer Tech. I have Romanoff in route to Hammer's lab but I need an evacuation team here to get these civilians to safety. And find a way to patch me through to Stark!"
"On it sir."
Maria and Pepper reached the back stage where Hammer was standing in front of the computers yelling at his staff.
"What is going on here!" growled out Maria her voice clearly getting his attention as Hammer whirled around from the computer.
"Look I don't know who you are but we have this completely under control, now go away."
Maria's nostrils flared in anger at Hammer's word. Just as he turned around, no doubt to yell at his employees some more, she stepped forward and grabbed Hammer before slamming him down to his desk, pinning his arm behind his back. Maria ignored the startled gasp from Pepper behind her as she leaned down and growled in Hammer's ear.
"Is Vanko doing this?"
"Vanko who?"
This man was really starting to piss Maria off. She pulled up on Hammer's arm, almost to the point of breaking it as she heard the man cry out in pain.
"Yes!" he cried out. "It's Ivan Vanko."
"Is he at your facility?"
"Yes, yes. Please stop you are going to break my arm!"
Maria glared down at him, actually considering breaking his arm, it was a small punishment for what he has done. In the end, she let go of his arm and pushed him away.
Touching her coms she spoke.
"Romanoff.
The sound of heavy fighting could be heard over the com. Maria waited a few more moments as the sound of a sickening crunch and then a body hitting the floor could be heard before she continued.
"Vanko is at Hammer facility. Once the drones are disabled, I want him neutralized."
There was a slight pause at her order before finally Natasha spoke.
"Yes sir."
Maria could hear the breathlessness in the woman's voice but she also heard the smile. Natasha was in her element.
Pressing her com again she called out to Ruddy.
"Ruddy, where is my evacuation team?"
"No, no, no don't call the police…" Hammer trailed off as Maria turned on him and the man didn't need to see her eyes to know she was glaring.
"ETA five minutes."
The sound of heavy gun fire continued in the front of the building as well as the screams of civilians.
"Make it three."
She stepped forward in front of the screens and started typing furiously at the computer trying to determine how bad this situation really was.
"Commander, I am patching you through to Stark."
Maria stopped typing at the sound of heavy gunfire in her ear signaled to her that she was now in Starks coms.
"Stark."
"Commander Hill, how nice of you to call."
Maria shook her head, even in situations like this the man was still childish.
"Stark I need you to keep these things as far away from the expo as possible. I have an extraction team in route and Romanoff is at Hammer Tech trying to disable the drones."
"Yes sir…I mean Mam…Commander…Oh hell…whatever…I got it."
Maria smirked at his response as she started typing away at the computer again. She noticed that each set of drones was communicating in its own language but she couldn't crack it.
"Commander, the extraction team is there. But they are coming under heavy gun fire. The drones are now targeting civilians."
Maria instantly pushed herself back from the table. She ordered Hammer's employees to try and disable the drone's communication while yelling to Pepper to stay there and supervise them before running out the back emergency exit.
She was instantly greeted with heavy gunfire and had to hide behind a corner to avoid it. Peering around the corner she saw several SHIELD Agents pinned behind a SUV as ten drones closed in. Maria reached up and loosened her tie around her neck before rounding the corner. She ran as fast as she could to the SUV.
She barely made it as gunfire sailed above head. She crashed into the SUV next to a very startled female Agent.
"Commander," nodded the Agent clearly shocked to see the Deputy Director of SHIELD fighting alongside her.
"Agent," nodded Maria before reaching inside the SUV and pulling out multiple guns.
Looking down the line of five Agents pressed up against the SUV Maria started barking out order.
"You two," she called out pointing to the two Agents on the end, "I need you in that building escorting the rest of the civilians out the back. I need the rest of you out here. Provide cover for the civilians. The only weakness these things have are the arc reactors in their chest."
"You ready?"
"Yes sir!"
"Okay, on my mark, three, two, one, GO!"
Maria stood up with her assault rifle and began firing. She instantly hit the first drone in its reactor, dropping it to the ground. But as soon as the drone dropped to the ground the other 9 all turned on her.
"Oh shit," mumbled Maria. "Move, move, move," she yelled to the Agents pushing them out from behind the SUV behind a water fountain.
She barely got them out of the line of fire as the bullets tore through the SUV. Maria was gasping for breath behind the fountain as the SUV exploded next to them.
"Shit Commander, your hit," said the female Agent from earlier.
Maria watched as the female Agent moved in front of her and put pressure on a gunshot wound to her right shoulder.
"The Commander is down. I repeat the Commander is down. I need a med evac here now."
Maria could feel the blood running down the right side of her body from her shoulder. Reaching up she moved the Agents hand away as she brought her other hand to feel the wound. She winced as she felt it. It was a very large whole. What the hell kind of ammo did Hammer put in these drones? She moved her hand over the large hole and then to the back of her shoulder she could feel the exit wound.
She almost pulled her hand back but as something moved under her fingertips she froze. She could feel the wound still but it was getting smaller. Something, was bubbling against her fingertips closing the wound.
The wound was completely closed in a matter of seconds. Her fingertips now feeling nothing but skin.
"This is Romanoff in route. What is the status of Commander Hill?"
The shakiness in Natasha's voice seemed to snap Maria out of her daze. Maria looked down at her shoulder to see her white shirt was drenched in blood.
"This is Commander Hill, disregard that med evac. I will be fine. Romanoff where are you?"
The sound of a body crashing up against the fountain to her right had Maria turning her head to see Natasha, back up against the wall with duel pistols in hand. Natasha rotated on her knees just barely peeking over the fountain as she unloaded her clip. The distinct sound of a drone hitting the ground could be heard over the heavy gunfire.
Natasha rotated back down as a hail of bullets were directed at her.
Maria watched as Natasha loaded her weapon before turning to look at her. Natasha turned to her with a smile but it quickly disappeared as her eyes settled on Maria's white shirt stained with blood.
"That doesn't look okay."
Maria huffed at her words and rotated her shoulder, testing its movement. There wasn't any pain. No stiffness. Nothing. It felt…normal.
"It's fine."
Natasha narrowed her eyes at her but didn't respond further. She knew better to argue with her CO while in a battlefield.
"How do you want to handle this?" she asked.
Maria took a steadying breath and looked around at their surroundings.
Chaos.
That is how she would describe what was going on. Sweat was trickling down the back of her neck. The sun had long set and the air was chill but Maria felt like she was cooking. It felt as if that same scorching sun that beat down on her every day for the four tours was now over New York cooking her like it did all those years ago.
She shook her head and while opening and closing her eyes trying to stop the flash backs that invaded her thoughts. This was no time for PTSD. She felt herself starting to get back under control and looked to her right ready to bark out an order.
"Romanoff, I want you…" her words died in her throat as the person next to her wasn't Romanoff but instead a man. He was smiling at her as he crouched behind the fountain. He was dressed in a full beige combat gear, his hand wrapped around a M16A4 decorated with a Captain America sticker on the stock. His bright blue eyes, so full of life stared at her.
"This looks like a shit show Cap," he laughed as he ducked deeper into the wall as a reign of bullets sailed over his head. He was now sitting with his back against the wall. He turned his head to her, even with the bullets flying over his head he still had 'that' smile on his face.
"Looks like they are gathering in the center square Cap," he spoke with a calmness to his voice. His voice, a calming voice that could only belonged to one Matthew Coulson.
"How about you, I and Garrison handle it down here," he paused to nod forward. Maria followed the gesture of his head to see Drew Garrison on his belly crawling towards them keeping out of the gun fire. He had a frown on his face but when he looked up to meet Maria's gaze he smirked.
"This is a complete shit show Cap!" he yelled up to her.
Coulson laughed next to her.
"That's what I said!"
"Braddock, Mathious and Ward are taking cover behind that vehicle," Garrison paused to point back to the Cadillac riddled with bullet holes about 25 yards away. Braddock, Mathious and Ward were kneeling behind by the trunk of the car looking at her.
"THIS IS A FUCKING SHIT SHOW CAP!" yelled Mathious from behind the car, Braddock and Ward were nodding behind him in agreement.
Coulson on her right and Garrison now on her left laughed.
"What do you say Cap? We can handle them here, you want the triplets on the roof?" asked Coulson.
Maria's thoughts were accelerating inside her head and she stared at her team. She wanted her thoughts to slow down so she could breathe but they wouldn't. Her breaths were coming out in gasps and black splotches appeared in her vision.
"You are all…dead," choked out Maria staring at her team before her eyes came to rest on Coulson.
"Not yet Cap but we will be if we stay here," he joked.
Her heart started beating furiously inside her chest as if it were trying to break through her ribs. Everything started to spin and she felt dizzy. She tried to concentrate on Coulson's face as the world around him faded away. He was no longer smiling, a rare frown marred his face.
"Cap are you good?"
Maria fell to the side and had to hold out her hand to stop her from completely hitting the ground. She closed her eyes trying to make everything slow to something her brain and body could cope with. Her stomach turned and she had to fight the overwhelming urge to vomit.
"Shit something is wrong with Cap!"
"Cap you good? Cap you hear me?"
Their voices were fading. Was she passing out?
"Braddock, something is wrong with Cap. We need an evac now!"
Their voices were farther away…too far away.
"Maria can you hear me?
The sound of a panicky Coulson reached her ear. He was probably hoping her rarely used first name would snap her from whatever was going on. It didn't.
In. Out. Breathe.
"Come on Maria we need you here. Come back to us."
There almost gone now. Too far away.
"Maria."
Breathe. Just Breathe.
"MARIE OPEN YOUR EYES DAMN IT!"
Maria eyes shot wide and she gasped for breath.
Black dots blocked very vision momentarily but she could make out a body crouching in front of her.
"Matt…" she croaked out.
"Matt?" questioned the voice as Maria's vision finally cleared.
Natasha was in front of her, staring at her with wide green eyes, her fingers are white-knuckled holding the lapels of her jacket.
"That's it keep your eyes on me."
Natasha's words had her mind reeling. Where was her team? What was going on? Did she have an attack? How could Natasha see her eyes?
Maria reached up a shaky hand to the side of her face to feel bare skin where glasses should be present.
"My glasses," gasped out Maria.
"I got them," said Natasha quickly sliding them onto Maria's face and clipping them into place. "You spaced out for a second there. I think maybe from blood loss. I had to take them off to see what was going on."
Maria let out a breath of relief at the sound of the glasses clicking firmly into place. She took a few steadying breaths and shook her head, trying to clear her mind. Natasha thought her episode was due to the blood loss. Good. That would make things easier.
"You good?" asked Natasha concern still evident in her eyes.
Maria closed her eyes and shook her head up and down in confirmation, taking one last steadying breath before speaking.
"We need to start drawing these things fire," said Maria her voice steadying.
Natasha nodded in agreement.
Maria turned to the three agents to her right. "I want you three," she paused the word 'triplets' running through her mind for a split second before quickly moving it to the back of her mind.
"I want you three to run to that car park," Maria pointed to a car park around fifty yards away. "Get to the third floor and start picking these bastards off from above. Romanoff and I will handle everything down here."
She saw Romanoff grab her pistols from her their holsters at her order. Maria watched as Natasha quickly checked over her pistols making sure they were loaded before giving Maria a nod, indicating that she was ready.
Maria gripped the rifle in her hand and took a steadying breath.
"Okay, go now!"
Maria and Natasha turned and began firing. Maria dropped two more drones and Natasha dropped one before then both had to take cover again. Maria looked to the car park, she was just able to make out the last Agent safely.
She sighed with relief before looking down at her gun. She quickly changed out the ammo and looked to Natasha to see if she was ready for another round.
Gunfire started to come from the carpark and the sound of two more drones dropping to the ground sounded. Natasha met her gaze and nodded and the two turned again and fired.
There were only two drones left and they were taking hits from both angles.
The sound of a screaming child seemed to echo through the gunfire. Maria stopped firing as she saw what looked to be like a 4 year old girl in the middle of the gunfire. She was sitting on her bottom, her hands were over her head, screaming.
Maria didn't even give it a second thought.
"Cover me!"
She launched over the fountain into the water as she ran towards the child.
"No! Shit!" Maria heard Natasha yell from behind her.
"Cover the Commander!"
Maria felt a bullet slice her right and left thigh and another two hit her in the abdomen but it didn't stop her from pushing forward. As she got within 10 feet of the child she saw the final drone taking aim at the small girl.
She pushed herself even faster as she scooped the small child into her arms, rotating her body as she shielded the young girl from the bullets that were about to come. Maria closed her eyes and waited for the pain and no doubt her death but…it never came.
Maria turned around to see drone behind her with a perfect bullet hole in its chest. It stood there for a second its arch reactor flickering before crumbling inches from Maria and the small child. Maria looked around and was surprised to find Natasha standing 10 feet away, breathing heavily her gun in hand still pointed to where the drone once stood.
Natasha gave her a nod and before Maria could respond the panicked voice of Stark in here ear interrupted her ear.
"Commander, get out of there! The drones are rigged to blow!"
Maria's eyes went wide as she stared at the ten drones around her. She could hear the beeping of a timer, the pace of the beeps getting quicker.
"Run now!" yelled Maria.
Maria saw the woman hesitate but Maria yelled at her again as she scooped the little girl in her arms and started running towards Natasha, who finally turned around and was running.
Maria easily caught up to Natasha as she reached out with her right arm and scooped Natasha off her feet. She cried out in pain as she had to lift Natasha off her feet, the wounds on her body reacting painfully before running 15 more yards at a rapid pace before launching them into the fountain just as the drones exploded behind them. Maria could feel the heat on her back as they landed in the water. The flames from the explosion just making it over the water as they went under.
Maria sat up in the water her arm still wrapped around the little girl as the both coughed water out their mouth. Natasha was sitting next to them coughing as well.
"I guess…." Natasha gasped, "That makes us even."
Maria was rubbing the small girls back helping her cough up water as she heard the woman's words. She glanced over at Natasha, whom was now smiling at her. Maria couldn't help the laugh that escaped her throat as she shook her head at the woman's antics.
Maria watched the smile on Natasha's face form into a frown as her eyes were now staring at the water around Maria. She followed her eye movement and her eyes were greeted with a red pool of water that seemed to be pooled just around her.
Maria felt her heart drop at the sight.
"Wow…that's a lot of blood," slurred out Maria as her vision started blackening.
Maria could barely hear what was going on around her.
"Commander….blood…medical…"
The bits and pieces she heard were fragmented and before she knew it she was being helped to her feet by two Agents. Both of them wrapped their arms around her body as they carried her out of the fountain. Maria looked back to see the blurry image of Natasha holding the little girl and handing her off to a police officer.
The Agents carried her to SHIELD medical van. There were medical staffs waiting for them as they approached.
As soon as Maria was on the stretcher she didn't feel the pain from the gunshot wounds any longer. The medical staff ripped open her bloodied shirt and the other was cutting her pants both of them not being able to find any marks on her skin.
She ignored their questions about where she was shot and looked to the side to see the Agents standing around her, worried expressions on their faces.
"I'm not dying…stop looking at me like I am dying…" mumbled Maria getting the desired reaction from all the Agents as they smiled nervously at her. Natasha however had a frown on her face. Maria stared at her trying to understand the reasoning behind the emotion on Natasha's face before she frown was not directed at her but rather something going on behind Maria.
Maria turned her head to see what Natasha was staring at and what she found made her eyes go wide.
A man in a fully decorated military uniform with multiple medals, stars and badges on his jacket, was standing about ten feet from the stretcher.
"Captain Hill, it's been a while," the man's voice sending visible shivers through Maria's body. Maria stared at the man frozen, unable to breathe as she stared into the cold brown eyes of General Thaddeus Ross.
"Agents, I would like to speak to Captain Hill alone," said the General stepping closer to Maria.
The almost violent flinch that went through Maria's body as he stepped closer was noticed by everyone.
Every Agent around Maria frowned.
Maria's sight of General Ross was then blocked by a small body with red hair
"Commander Hill," said Natasha with a clear waring in her voice, "is injured and needs medical attention."
Everyone around them watched the General's eyes zeroed in on the Agent in front of him. The General clearly did not like the tone of the woman as his eyes narrowed, stepping closer to Agent Romanoff, quite literally staring her down.
"Do you know who I am Agent?" The General growled down to her.
"No, and frankly I don't care," replied Natasha staring up at him with a deadly look in her eyes. "Get the Commander ready for transport," ordered Natasha not having to look back at the medical staff to know that they instantly started moving.
"I am ordering you to step aside Agent," growled the General as he moved to step around her but was quickly thwarted as the five remaining Agents blocked his path, each one of them forming a wall around their Commander.
"We don't take orders from you General," replied Natasha crossing her hand across her chest as she leveled him with a glare.
The General glared at every one of them as he watched over their shoulders as she was being loaded into the medical van. Each Agent stood fast as they blocked any path he had to her.
"I will find you Captain Hill!" growled the General as he stared at the Commander over the head of Natasha. "Fury won't be able to protect you forever," he yelled to her before stomping off.
The Agent that stood in front of the SHIELD medical van watched as the General walked away. Natasha hand was currently itching towards her side arm.
"Shit!" yelled one of the medic's getting everyone's attention as they turned to see Maria fighting their hands thrashing on the gurney.
Natasha jumped into the medical van and tried to assist them with holding Maria down.
"What the fuck is going on? Is she seizing?" growled out Natasha as she finally got a ahold of one of Maria's arms pinning it to the bed, having to put all of her body weight and strength into just holding that one arm down.
"No," yelled one of the medics. "It looks like a panic attack!"
Natasha's eyes went wide as she heard the medics answer. She looked down to see Maria thrash on the bed her mouth open in silent agony.
"My team! Where is my team! Get off of me. I will fucking kill you all!" screamed Maria fighting even harder now.
"Shit," cried out Natasha as she lost Maria's arm, the woman over powering her in her rage.
"Korski, Daniels, Fuller…get your asses up here and hold her down.
Natasha then turned to the medics.
"Give her something! Knock her out."
"We already injected her with enough sedative to knock out a bear!"
The Agents were piling on top of their Commander holding her down as Natasha stepped forward and grabbed Maria's head forcing the woman to look at her.
"Commander! Commander Hill! Can you hear me?" Yelled Natasha hitting the woman's cheek lightly trying to break her from her episode.
"Come on Commander, work with me here," growled out Natasha in frustration which only seemed to send Maria into a further rage.
Natasha's eyes went wide at the sight. Someone was going to get seriously hurt and this medical van was one more episode away from getting torn apart.
Then, a crazy idea finally came to her mind.
"Get off of her."
"What! Are you crazy?!"
"I said get off of her!"
Natasha leveled them all with her famous Widow glare.
The Agents and medics quickly got off and Natasha grabbed a flailing hand in hers. Natasha made sure not to put too much pressure on her wrist and made no move to hold the woman down. Natasha laced her fingers with Maria's as her other came up and stroked Maria's face as she got down low and whispered in Maria's ear.
"Come back to us Maria," whispered Natasha. "You are fine. I have you. You are not there. You are safe. Everyone is safe."
Natasha continued whispering down to Maria. The more she whispered the less Maria fought.
"Come on Maria I am using Coulson's coping statements and everything," Natasha joked. Maria finally stilled in the gurney.
"That's it Maria."
Natasha pulled her head back to see the woman was now limp on the gurney but breathing deeply.
"I thought I told you to call me Commander Hill in front of the other Agents," croaked out Maria.
Natasha couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her throat as she stared down as she and pushed her sweaty hair back from her head.
"If it makes you feel any better I don't think they heard it."
The two sat in silence just staring at each other before Maria's eyes slowly started to close.
"I thought you didn't believe in…" sighed Maria as she leant further into Natasha's touch, "Coulson's coping statements."
Natasha smiled down at her.
"I was running out of ideas. Coulson will be thrilled that I used them."
Maria chuckled weakly. Exhaustion was starting to set in and very vision began to blur. She turned to Natasha and gathered her final bit of energy. She reached up and grabbed Natasha's hand giving it a weak squeeze.
"Don't let them take my glasses off and no medical…" and with that Maria welcomed the darkness.
Notes:
Well what do you guys think? I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please Review!