Hope fell atop Maria, bare skin to bare skin, as the agent crashed her head down to the pillow below, wrapped her arms around the woman whose stomach pressed down against her hip, with one leg sprawled over her lower body. They were both panting as Hope tucked her face into the crook of Maria's neck.
While Maria started to catch her breath she slowly raised her hand to push long golden brown locks away from Hope's sweaty brow. The woman leaned her head back, giving her better access as her beautiful, flushed face was revealed beneath her messy mop of hair.
Maria then looked up to study the ceiling as their body's came back down, when all of a sudden a sense of dread came over her. She felt like this wasn't just some typical one-night-stand where she'd have her fun and go on about her life after parting ways without a seconds thought. This seemed different somehow. There was something inherently intrinsic about the woman in her arms; like she could have belonged there to stay and the thought of losing her made her feel uneasy.
She then felt the weight of Hope's head lift off of her shoulder before she muttered, "Shit, it's late." Maria noticed her looking at the alarm clock on the night side table. "I gotta go. My dad's probably worried." She sat up, making Maria shiver in the loss of body contact as Hope crawled out of bed. She then speedily scavenged the floor for her discarded clothing before she sat on the edge of the mattress and proceeded to get dressed.
Maria sat up in bed, pulling a sheet over her naked body. She silently watched her getting ready to leave which brought the feeling of a heavy weight in the pit of her stomach. "I suggest you get any more needed parts from Burch." Maria forced herself to say. Wanting Hope to stay safe and concealed away from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s eyes.
Hope, about to put on her sock, suddenly stopped her actions and stiffened her back at her words. "Right." Her tone was sharp. "According to S.H.I.E.L.D., our operation is dead and we're now no longer associated with eachother." She never turned to look at her as she aggressively yanked her sock on before shoving her foot into her shoe.
At that moment, Maria longed to lean forward and wrap her arms around her from behind, pulling her in close. But she knew that that would only make it more difficult for herself. She needed their parting to be casual. To not mean anything. Or at least, she needed to make herself believe that. She knew that their lives were parting ways indefinitely. Their relationship was far too high risk now.
Hope, now nearly completely dressed, stood to grab her final item; her sweat jacket that had been tossed close to the door. She went to it, slowly putting it on as she zipping it up to her chest. She then sighed before she turned to lock her gaze with the woman's in bed. "Goodbye, Maria." Her voice came almost as soft as the expression on her face.
Maria took in a small gasp of air. "Goodbye, Hope," she said but her voice betrayed her as it faltered, almost failing to get the words out.
Hope turned her head away and took a couple steps towards the exit, but as soon as she reached the threshold of the doorway she stopped. She then dropped her head, shaking it as she murmured, "Fuck." Then suddenly she spun around and beelined it back to the other woman.
Just as Hope got her one knee onto the mattress, Maria reached out and pulled her up by her hips so that she could straddle her lap. Their lips came crashing together once again as their kiss communicated what their words could not. Maria pulled her in close in an aching necessity; their time they had spent together wasn't nearly enough. She needed more. She needed so much more.
Like a flower bud that had been ripped off its stem before it had time to blossom, Hope tore her mouth away and rolled off of Maria. She didn't stop to look back that time. She merely walked out of the room, and to an extent, out of Maria's life.
Maria brought her knees up to her chest, hugging them tightly while she listened to Hope as she trotted down the stairs. The next thing she heard was the sound of the front door shutting, then shortly after the rev of her car engine before it sped off down the driveway.
Maria buried her face into her palms as she took a deep breath before dragging her hands downward, pulling her cheeks along with them. It was then that she got a waft of her fingers that still smelled like Hope which made her groan out as she crashed her body down onto her side, hands falling to the bedding in front of her. She didn't know how long she'd been dissociated, staring out blankly at the far wall in the dimly lit room before she heard the sound of a motorbike followed by the rumble of the garage door opening.
Maria slowly lifted herself up and crawled out of bed in annoyance of having to snap back to reality. She picked up her clothing before carrying them into the washroom to take a shower.
She allowed the water to fall over her body; almost hating it for wearing away at the residual sensations on her skin that Hope had left on it from her touch. She gently caressed below her jawline, dragging her fingers over it; remembering how it felt when Hope's mouth was suckling on the supple skin at the pulse point at her neck. She sighed, dropping her hands away from the tender spot before she grabbed a bar of soap to wash up as she had intended.
Shortly, Maria was dressed, hair damp, as she descended the stairs to find Natasha sitting on the sofa, bottle of red wine open with two goblets sitting on the coffee table in front of her. Her friend looked up from her tablet, that she had in hand, before she smirked at her knowingly. "Wow, she was sure here a long time." She teased with a hint of pride. "I thought I was gonna have to find a motel room of my own for the night."
Maria couldn't find it in her to play along and entertain her as she looked to the spot, underneath the end table, that Hope's lab had previously been in, now empty. She took a breath, almost wanting to cry, as she stiffly went to sit next to Natasha. Pouring herself a glass of wine. She then asked, ignoring the other woman's comment, "Did you call it in?"
Maria sat back in her seat as she locked her gaze onto the fireplace that sat in front of them, across the room, while taking a sip of her drink. "Yeah." Maria could hear the curiosity in her friend's voice. "S.H.I.E.L.D. now has both of our accounts that the quantum bridge has been destroyed."
"Do they suspect Hammer Industries?"
"No more than anyone else. But they did order me to investigate. Figure out if the Pyms got out alive."
Maria still didn't look to her, instead she dropped her gaze while running her finger over the mouth of her glass, making it sing. "What are you gonna tell them?"
"Probably that I found them in that motel there. I already snapped a few pictures when I was there earlier. I'll send them in. Then when they eventually pop back onto our radar it won't raise suspicion." Maria nodded before taking another sip of her drink, but this time she nearly downed half the glass. Natasha then put her tablet on top of the table before she turned in her seat to face Maria. "Talk to me," she gently requested.
Maria shook her head, refusing to verbally acknowledge her feelings. "I've got nothing to say."
Natasha sighed as she gently took the wine glass out of her friend's hand and placed it next to her tablet. She then wrapped her arms around Maria, pulling her towards her to place a kiss on her forehead. Maria then allowed her head to drop on top of her shoulder, hugging her back.
They sat there for a while in silence before Natasha asked, "When do you have to report back?"
"Tomorrow, zero-eight-hundred." She recalled back to her conversation with Fury. The one that she had before Hope had shown up at the house.
"So, you want to watch a horrible Hallmark movie and make fun of it before you have to fly back to D.C.?"
"Okay," Maria answered softly, not ready to give up the comfort of her friend and leave for the airfield. Natasha reached for her tablet again, searching it for a movie. Maria then lifted her head to look at her friend, so grateful for everything she'd done for her. For going along with her unsanctioned plan, and now, for being an incredibly supportive friend. "Thank you." She managed a small smile.
Natasha looked over to her as she smirked. "You're not going to be thanking me in a moment, because I found a movie that rips off 'Armageddon' called 'Supernova'." Her eyes lit up in a devilish glimmer. "A disaster movie on a made-for-T.V. budget. It's gonna be an amazing trainwreck." Maria couldn't help but chuckle at her. "I've been wanting to watch this with you ever since I found it on here last month." She then gazed back to her screen, clicking on the mentioned film. She then propped up the device with its case, that doubled as a stand, on the coffee table before she leaned back, resting her arms around Maria once again.
Maria sighed into her, closing her eyes as she sucked the bottom of her lip into her mouth, reminiscing on the sensation of Hope's lips around it. Once she realised what she was doing, she popped out her lip and forced her eyes open to focus on the screen in front of her. Mad at herself for dwelling on Hope again.
She tried to convince herself that Hope was just some offhand fling, already in the past with nothing else to it. Yet, the sad emptiness that she was feeling was making her inner dialogue hard to accept as truth. She huffed through her nose as she stubbornly force fed herself the lie. The lie that she had no intention of giving up on; that Hope meant nothing.