A/N: This is the most obviously edited one of the three I pulled from this story. Definitely gaping holes, but I hope the idea of what's happening still is there. I cut where I did because it was supposed to be a story about making up. I actually did cut out part of the making up part and not just the sex. ;) In the story it's two-person POV so all the Steve parts have been removed since this story is only Maria's POV. Parts have also been removed because I don't want the whole story revealed right now. :D I hope it still make sense. :)

The title is from The Pretenders song.

Please R&R.

Maria remained in federal custody for two days after the Feds raided all SHIELD facilities on US soil. On the third day Agent Ching from the CIA showed up and Maria knew it would only be a matter of time before she was spirited out of the country for more "persuasive" interrogation.

When she was being questioned, or when she was in her isolated cell, Maria easily wore her stoic mask. She had been through worse, and had the scars to prove it, even if the CIA took her to one of their "secret" locations offshore, she'd never give them anything. They already had all the information she knew as it was, though they had no idea she'd been the one to compile it.

She'd made sure there was no way to connect her to the evidence. Someone on top had to take the fall. She knew how the politics worked. Even though she and Nick had nothing to do with it, one of them would have to hang to satisfy the blood lust the depth of the corruption would excite. She'd known that from about a year into her investigation, she supposed. But even then she really thought she'd figure a way out.

Maria's only problem was when she slept. She had no control what her sub-conscience would dredge up. It usually dredged up Steve. Tonight it dredged him up with her kidnapping nearly five years earlier. Only this time, instead of rescuing her he walked away. And, even though she knew that's how it had to be, in her dream she couldn't breathe from the pain.

She woke with a start, gasping for breath, expecting to find someone's hand around her throat. Instead there was only a man in a red mask. She closed her eyes for a moment, then shot them open again. She stared in shock at the masked man. It had to be a dream. Or, in the case of waking to find Deadpool looking at her, a continuation of her nightmare.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Rescuing you, princess," he replied.

When she only continued to stare at him he continued.

"This is the part where you say, 'Aren't you a little short for Captain America?'"

At the mention of Steve, Maria closed her eyes. She wondered how much worse it would be to go with the CIA than with Wade. Finally she decided she should at least hear his plan.

"So how exactly do you plan to get me out?" she asked.

There was a noise in the hallway and Wade sank back into the shadows, but the guard just walked past and didn't even look into her cell.

She was about to take up the conversation again when Wilson motioned to her to be silent. After a few minutes, Maria heard the lock on her room open. She looked up at Wade and he motioned to her that they were going to leave.

Once they were outside and well into the woods surrounding the facility, she asked how he had pulled that off. He only told her it was magic, but Maria highly doubted that. She thought about bolting and trying to get away on her own, but she knew that as soon as she was discovered missing everyone she might contact on the outside would be under surveillance. Maria didn't want to put any of her friends through that, so she didn't think she had much of a choice but to follow him.

They came to a clearing and Wade stopped her on the edge of the trees. They could see a limousine parked on the dirt road that ran back into the woods. Maria didn't know the car or the chauffeur waiting outside.

"There's your benefactor," Wade told her.

She turned to him and shook her head.

"I'm not going out there," she said. "I have no cover. I don't know them at all."

"Look," he said. "They paid to get you out. You don't really have a choice."

Maria wanted to explain just how many choices she had when Wade went on.

"I'll just follow you and drag you back," he said.

She hated when he could read her like that.

Taking a deep breath and hoping that whatever was about to happen wasn't worse than what the CIA had planned, she stepped out into the clearing. The chauffeur looked up as soon as she did.

"Aren't you coming?" she said to Wade.

"What kind of an idiot do you think I am?" was his reply before she was certain he took off in the opposite direction.

She was easy to see in her prison orange. But the chauffeur only appeared to be waiting for her. She walked steadily toward him and kept her face masked to show no emotion.

When she arrived at the car, the driver nodded at her in greeting, then opened the back door and indicated she should get in. She glanced in, but there were no lights. All she could make out was a tall man in the corner on the opposite end of the seat. He was wearing a large coat and a hat to further conceal his identity. She crawled in to face whatever it was that awaited her.

Once the door was shut, the man locked the back doors. She realized the car would be rigged to prevent any escape attempt. The driver got in and drove them back into the woods. She turned to face the man in the seat with her but she couldn't see his face. He said nothing for several minutes. Then they were on the on the parkway, heading east it appeared.

"Maria," the man finally spoke and Maria's heart nearly stopped.

She jerked her head back to look at him.

"Steve!" She exclaimed. "What are you doing?"

"They were going to take you out of the country in the morning," he said, removing his hat.

"I know," Maria told him, still upset that he was deviating from her plan like this.

He just gaped at her.

"You really don't have a problem with that, do you?" he said through clenched teeth.

"It's the way it has to be," she said snapped at him. "Would you rather I sacrifice Nick?"

Steve took a deep fortifying breath and turned to look out the window. They were both silent for several minutes.

Finally, Steve broke the silence.

"I can't let you do this to yourself," he said quietly.

"I don't have a choice, Steve," she replied. "You don't understand politics."

"No, I don't," he said. "But I do understand unnecessary sacrifices."

Maria huffed.

"Because you always make them," she remarked.

Steve was silent again and they drove further into the night, having turned south now. Maria wondered where they were headed. She no longer wondered who was driving, though. The moment she saw Steve she put it together. It had to be Tony in disguise. She smiled slightly at that thought. Who'd ever have thought Steve Rogers and Tony Stark would be partners in crime. She certainly hadn't called it at first.

"I've missed your smile," Steve said softly and his words caught Maria so off-guard that she reacted for a second before she could pull herself quickly together.

"You know," Steve continued. "I never understood why you used to think you weren't good enough for me."

Maria turned to him, her confusion evident on her face.

"We really are very much alike," he told her. "At least in the most important things."

She shook her head.

"We just accomplish those things in different ways," he said before she could get a rebuttal in.

Reaching across the seat, he took her hand in his. There was no hesitation as he pulled at her to try to make her move next to him. Maria swallowed down the emotion that was threatening her, but she didn't move. She couldn't. If she did she'd give herself over to it.

Instead, Steve moved closer to her until he sat right next to her. He reached up and touched her face. She was pinned between him and the door, there was no place she could go. She did know, however, that all it would take was one word from her and he would stop. She opened her mouth to say it, but no words would come out. Instead she stared into his blue eyes, so close, so full of love and desire.

"How many years will it take for me to convince you that I will love you regardless of what you do?"

His voice was barely a whisper heard over the rush of blood her quickly beating heart was pulsing through her. Steve leaned his face down and gently brushed her lips with his. She tried to resist, tried to remind herself what was at stake. But she found her body had hijacked her mental responses and she was returning the kiss and wrapping her arms around him.

Steve was merciless as he took possession of her mouth. And Maria gladly gave him everything. He pulled her into his lap and her hands acted of their own volition, unbuttoning his shirt. Somewhere in the back of her mind a voice tried to reason with her, screaming that she should stop if for no other reason than they were barreling down the highway in the backseat of a limousine driven by Tony Stark.

Maria had never been so reckless.

Steve had never been so reckless.

His hands reached for the hem of her prison shirt and he pulled it off her in less than a second. The rest of their clothes went quickly after that. And when they were spent they clung to each other as if at any moment they would be torn apart.

"I'm so sorry," Maria said, panting as she recovered her breath.

Steve hushed her and kissed her temple.

"Just please don't ever do anything like this again," Steve said, his voice choked with emotion. "I need you, I can't be without you."

Maria lifted her head and looked at him. She hardly knew how to respond. It had been a long time since she'd seen tears in Steve's eyes. She kissed him and rested her forehead to his.

"What did I do to deserve you?" she asked rhetorically.

Steve chuckled.

"I knew you were going to ask that," he smiled. "Hand me my pants."

"Yeah," Maria said. "We should probably get dressed."

"Well, that," Steve admitted. "And I have the list in my pocket."

Maria smiled and shook her head.

"You're incorrigible," she laughed as she kissed him again.

A/N: Yes, I know. I didn't do Deadpool justice. To be fair to me, a lot was cut. To be realistic, I'll work on him. :D

Well, that was a nice seemingly happy ending. Enjoy the smiles. Last you'll see of them for a few days. But, it's almost over, and I'm an "angst with a happy ending" type gal so you don't have anything to (ultimately) worry about. :)