It had been three days since the party and Hope had poured all her energy into training with the team within that time. She hadn't even seen Maria since that evening around the pool table. She didn't know if she was out of the building or if they'd just happened to be missing each other. But either way she dared not asked anybody in regards of her whereabouts.

Hope was enjoying herself with the Avengers. Both her and Scott were getting along nicely with everyone. She even had a chance to meet Bruce Banner the day before as he had stopped in to say hello. Her and Banner ended up having an interesting, in depth conversation about quantum theory. It was the first time that someone with seven PhDs had ever picked her brain. She found the experience quite delightful and confidence boosting.

At present, they were all back in the Ready Room working up to a field training day at some point during the following week to come. Needing to do it before Hope and Scott were to return back home. Currently, they were taking turns sparing with one another.

The first to fight that day were Natasha and Sam. It was an interesting duel; him with his wings and her with her advanced mixed martial arts combat style. She seemed to be the better overall fighter with very honed skills as she continually landed hits on him. However, he proved resilient and eventually found an opening where he managed to subdue her by using his strength alone. In turn, winning the match. Though, Hope didn't doubt for a minute that in an actual combat situation, where Natasha was free to use deadly force, she wouldn't lose a fight to someone like Sam. She'd subdue them in seconds.

Now it was Scott's turn as he was in the ring with Steve. Her partner wasn't too pleased to be up against him since – supposedly – Steve was the best in a fight and rarely lost in a match. Scott evaded Steve a few times by shrinking down in size. But the man caught on quickly to his game and ended up snatching him in his hand when Scott did a shrunken flying kick at him. Once he was captured, Steve threw him to the ground only for Scott to grow back to size as his ass hit the mat.

Just as the man began sitting up on the floor, Maria had entered the room. She was wearing solid black fatigues with her hair back in a ponytail like she'd just come back from an active assignment.

Her mission ready look was so powerful and arousing to Hope that it made her want to spar with her far more than anybody else. She just had the urge to manhandle her to the ground in opposition from how Maria had pushed her about at the pool table. She wanted to see her try and fight her way out of it too, and feel her struggling from underneath her body once again.

Maria made her way over to Tony, who was standing on the opposite side of the ring as Hope. Maria was doing her same routine that she had done before; head in her tablet as she barely acknowledged the room. The man, in his suit with his helmet open, stepped to her automatically. Like he was expecting her. They started talking amongst themselves as it looked like he was giving directions to her on the tablet.

Well, Hope wasn't having any of it this time. She was not to be ignored by her again. So she then brazenly stepped into the ring next to her partner, who was just getting up to his feet, and said, "It's okay, Scott, I've got him," while she eyed Steve with determination.

Scott nodded while panting, "Oh thank god." He rubbing his lower back while he limped out of the ring. "Make sure to watch out for his everything 'cause he's…" Scott turned to gesture at Steve who was decked out in his uniform with his shield on his back. "Yeah, that."

"Kay," she said without a hint of concern before she activated her helmet. Without hesitation, Hope ran at Steve where he got into a stance, preparing himself for an attack. But to his confusion, Hope didn't try to make contact, instead she dove to the ground right at his feet where she shrunk down right before the moment her palms hit the mat between his legs. She then did a front handspring and just as she pushed herself up off the floor, she grew back to size when she then grabbed Steve's shield, right off his back. She flipped over onto her feet, now behind him.

They both instantly spun around to face each other, but as Hope turned, she swung the shield right at his face with a tight two handed grip. The man, with both inhuman speed and strength, moved to catch it with an extended reach. But unbeknownst to him, Hope was counting on that and had shrunken down again; using his unwavering grip on the shield to slingshot her miniaturised body over the vibranium plate. She then quickly grew back to size; making contact with her foot in his face which sent him hurtling down to the mat.

Hope, before clumsily falling onto Steve's body, speedily shrunk down and flew out of the man's space before growing back to size; her feet once again touching ground. She looked to the fallen captain who had put his hand out with his head still on the mat. "Alright, I yield," he huffed.

She deactivated her helmet, completely pleased with herself as she turned to Maria, making sure that the agent had noticed her handy work. To her satisfaction, Maria's gaze was already fixed on her which made her feel utterly jubilant.

Sam then spoke up from behind her at the edge of the ring. "So ah, should we just go ahead and make Hope team leader now or…" Hope then turned to look to him where he smiled at her, giving her a thumbs up with a wink.

"Wow." Steve laboured while addressing Sam as he dragging himself up off the floor, "Thanks for the vote of confidence there, buddy." His friend only laughed in response where Steve smirked at him once he found his balance.

The captain then focused on Hope where he nodded, "That was very impressive." He then nursed the side of his face. "I haven't been hit in the jaw like that in a very long time."

"Is that why you yielded?" Tony asked. "Didn't want to get hit unconscious by her next blow? Because that would've been very educational for all of us to see." Steve threw his hands on his hips as he sighed in reaction to his jab. Hope then turned to see Tony smiling innocently at Steve, not that she had cared much for their little tiff; for her focus was suddenly ripped away as her gaze was glued to Maria as she was now walking away and out of the room.

It was like the high of her victory just faded away along with Maria. She sighed to herself while stepping off the mat to stand next to Scott. Her partner smiled, while lightly elbowing her, as he whispered, "I knew you could do it." Hope simply nodded, half-heartedly acknowledging his words.

The rest of that morning continued on with sparring. They just kept rotating through partners. The only other person Hope had an opportunity to fight with during their session was Clint who she had fairly easily defeated. She was merciful in her final take down move when she'd tossed him to the mat, with his head scissored between her thighs; flipping him. She had made sure not to power kick him in the face like she had with Steve. Knowing that the super soldier was the only one there who could have handled that, save for Tony in his Iron Man suit.

Once they breaked for lunch, Hope and Scott went to the side of the room to take off their suits. The others were always faster at getting out of their gear than them. So the team had just been allowing the two to take their time as they made their own ways down to the cafeteria after them.

Once the rest of the team was gone, Scott turned to Hope in what looked like nervousness. "Are you embarrassed by me?"

Hope looked at him in utter confusion. "What?"

He sighed. "It's just, ever since we got here, you've been acting kinda distant. And even just this morning, after I got my ass kicked by Cap, you stepped up like you had to show the others you're not pathetic like me." He looked to her with concern. "Are you embarrassed I'm bringing you down?"

Horrified by the conclusions Scott had gone to, Hope tried her best to assure him as she said, "You're not pathetic and you're not bringing me down." She then began to unzip her suit and peel it off of her as she continued. "And besides, we're here because of you, not me. I wasn't in Germany, remember?"

"Is that what it's about then?" He too then began stripping off his suit. "Germany?" he asked softly, as if he didn't want to upset her. "You feel like you have to prove yourself independently of me because you weren't there with the rest of us?" He then muttered, "And you're still kinda mad at me for not inviting you, which put you in this particular situation in the first place."

"No. I'm over you not inviting me. I told you this weeks ago." She sighed. "And honestly, by what I've heard you guys saying about it, I'm actually glad I wasn't there. It all sounded pretty petty."

"Yeah no, it was." He nodded and shrugged. "I'm not gonna argue with you there."

"Good," She hummed with a small smile as she stepped out of her suit.

"So, there's nothing bothering you then?" he asked with worry still written across his face.

She turned her head away from his troubled eyes as she focused on her suit in hand while she began zipping it up. She felt the weight of her guilt crushing down on her. She was being stupidly childish. Here she had someone who cared for her so deeply, who she too cared for in return, and yet she'd been ignoring him in order to show off in front of someone else.

She shrunk her suit and put it into a small drawstring bag before placing it into her yoga pant pocket. She then shrugged. "Well, I am kind of hungry." She forced a smirk, looking at him as she picked the cowards way out.

He smiled, yet she could tell that he knew that she wasn't being completely honest with him. "I can help you with that." He then shrunk down his own suit and tucked it away before extending his arm to her. "May I escort you to the dining hall?"

Hope nodded her head as she stepped forwards, wrapping her arm around his. "That'd be great." She then leaned in and kissed him tenderly on the cheek, loving him for the patients he was extending her, while hating herself for needing it in the first place.

They then left together where she hoped to enjoy a meal with him by her side and feel a sense of normalcy once again.

Maria hadn't eaten all day, so shortly before noon she'd decided to carry her work down to the cafeteria with her and grab a bite. The floor was completely empty when she arrived, with the exception of the kitchen staff. It wasn't much of an oddity to be the only one in the mess hall when so few personnel were stationed in the tower. The Avengers project really was a skeleton crew endeavour in which they were aiming to grow over time.

The agent was situated at a long picnic bench style table with a tray of food, her tablet, and a stack of files, that were annoyingly not digitalised yet, in front of her. The woman pecked at her lunch as she worked. She was a little behind; having to still go over Tony's plans for upgrading the tower's security network. Her three day assignment to Montréal had really thrown a wrench in her Avenger's duties. Not that her work piling up on her was the true culprit of her stress. What had really sent her over the wall was her little trip to the Ready Room that day. She had to go down there to ask Tony for the updates that she was currently perusing through on her tablet.

Maria stupidly thought that her night with Natasha while coupled with her short trip out of country, had done the trick and put her on the path that would move her right on past Hope. But unfortunately seeing her again, like a warrior goddess kicking the shit out of her genetically modified super soldier friend, had made her break a sweat all the way from her brow to the pads of her toes. Then, to boot, Hope had the audacity to deactivate her helmet; revealing her beautifully flushed face while she looked over to Maria with the most satisfied smile. It was like she was purposely taunting her while Maria couldn't so much as remember how to breathe.

Maria huffed, pushing the image of Hope's victorious defeat from her mind as she glanced up and took notice of the Avengers entering the cafeteria; heading towards the buffet table. Though, they were short their two new recruits. She tried not to speculate on where Hope and Scott were; forcing herself to get back to checking over Tony's work.

Suddenly she saw a hand reach over her shoulder and take a hold of her empty mug that was sitting in front of her. She didn't have to look up to know who it was, she just smiled to herself and continued looking over the data on her tablet. A few minutes later she saw Sam and Tony sitting down at the table next to hers where Steve placed his tray across from them. Before the captain sat down he went over to Maria and put her mug back in its original place, now full of fresh coffee. "Thank you," she smiled at him with appreciation; always finding the gesture very enduring.

"You're welcome," he replied before he walked back over to his food, respectfully leaving her to her work. They often gave her her space when she had set up shop down in the cafeteria. But on days when she was simply eating, and didn't bring along her temporary office, they always gather around to visit with her.

Maria picked up her drink in both hands, allowing its warmth to comfort her as she took a sip. She focused her attention to the back of the room where Clint and Natasha were tucked away having their lunch. Due to Clint's hearing aids and their inability to tune out surrounding noises, he'd often separate himself from the crowd when he could. If Natasha was around, he'd even take out his aids. Then the two would communicate using only sign language. It was interesting, even though many of them knew A.S.L., Natasha seemed to be the sole person he trusted to be around while making himself vulnerable, by removing his ability to hear.

Maria loved watching the two from afar. Natasha always sat in the corner so she had eyes on the room, and Clint sat with his back to everyone, like the only person in his world was Natasha. They always had this aura about them. With the comfort of an old married couple, yet still having the spark of two newlyweds. What they shared was so pure and merely being present to it had always made Maria feel good right down to her core. Like a reminder that there was something in humanity that was worth fighting for.

Then, from the corner of her eye she noticed Hope and Scott walking over to the buffet table. She sighed, putting her mug down before hiding away back into her tablet as an avoidance technique.

After a few minutes had past she heard footsteps approaching her. She gazed up to see an apprehensive looking Scott holding his tray of food, with Hope still at catering with a facial expression that she could only read as annoyance towards him for being there. "Hey." The man started while Hope slowly made her way over to him. "So in prison I learned that when you're the new guy you should always make nice with the scariest person in the yard. So, even though I'm kind of terrified right now, may I sit down and join you?"

"Your muscle has just arrived." Maria acknowledge Hope when she reached them. "So you really have no reason to be terrified," she said flatly.

"Scott, why don't you let her get back to her work and we'll go sit somewhere else?" Hope strongly suggested to him while avoiding Maria's gaze.

"It's fine," Maria surprised herself as she said, "You guys can sit." Her voice even shockingly had a slight hint of warmth to it too.

Scott grinned as he bustled around to the other side of the table to sit across from her as Maria could hear Hope sigh in aggravation before she walked around to sit next to him.

"I gotta say." Scott said, "I feel kinda weird. All of us sitting here at what's clearly The Plastic's table, and none of us are wearing pink."

Maria couldn't help but smirk, knowing exactly what he was referring to while she said, "It's not Wednesday. We're fine."

Scott's face lit up which made Maria bite down a smile. 'Dammit,' she thought as she could feel her rigidness instantly soften in regards to her feelings towards him.

"Is this another movie reference I'm not getting?" Hope eyed them suspiciously.

"Seriously, Hope." Scott threw his hands up in the air. "How have you not seen Mean Girls? It's a cinematic masterpiece!"

"You know I don't watch movies all that often," she defended herself.

Scott looked at Maria. "See, this is what I have to deal with. Like the other day she told me she's never even seen a Star Wars movie before. How is a person supposed to react to something like that?"

Maria genuinely was taken aback by this information. She shook her head in disbelief, "Well I hope you at least got her to read out a CAPTCHA test – you know – make sure she's not a robot."

"Oh." His eyes widened like he just realised the possibility. "I didn't even think of that."

"Yeah." Maria nodded. "Skynet is out there. She could be one of them." The woman had assumed that he'd get her Terminator reference.

"She did just take down Cap without breaking a sweat."

"Not unlike a T-800."

"Or Arnold Schwarzenegger himself." He pointed at her in enthusiastic agreement, clearly on the same page as her as he was picking up what she was dropping.

"Okay." Hope dropped her gaze to her plate. "I'm ignoring you two nerds as I sit here eating my carrots like an actual human-not-robot." Hope stabbed into her cooked vegetables with her fork and shoved them into her mouth. She then looking up to give Scott the evil eye while she chewed her food.

Scott flashed his girlfriend a lopsided smile while looking at her with a tender mischievousness which made Maria want to cry. She quickly lifted her tablet and focused back on its screen while she tried to collect herself.

Scott so obviously loved Hope and it was overwhelming to her. In a way, she was relieved that the man Hope was with seemed to be fun, kind, and appreciative towards her. But in another way, it was agony that she wasn't the one who was with her to openly pour all of her love into her like he could. It was also frustrating as hell that Maria didn't hate him either. She so desperately wanted to hate him. It would've made everything easier for her if he'd just been a jerk. Then she'd have no issue in trying to steal her away from him. But he wasn't a jerk. He was annoyingly pleasant and he seemed to make Hope happy.

"Hey, Lang!" Tony called out to him from the other table. "I'm going down to my lab before we start up again for the afternoon. You still wanna see the Thirty-Two Flathead Roadster?"

Scott leaped to his feet and answered in excitement, "I wanna see all the cars!"

"Okay, well I'm leaving now." Tony stood up to clear his tray while Scott started shoveling food into his mouth as he hunched over the table.

"Slow down you're gonna choke," Hope said as if she were genuinely concerned.

"Yeah." Maria couldn't help but interject, "If she has to give you the heimlich, you're going to be crushed to death by her robo-arms."

Scott swallowed the large lump of food in his mouth. "This inside joke we have together about Hope being a robot" – he touched his hand to his heart – "is just so damn special to me." He shook his head vigorously with such sincerity in his eyes that he managed to make Maria smirk, even through her saddened state.

"Are you gonna let him test drive something?" Sam asked Tony where Scott whipped his head to the side in shock.

Tony looked to Scott and shrugged. "I guess we could let him take something out for a spin."

Scott gasped while Steve stood up. "I want to see him in the Flathead. My neighbour used to have that exact car when I was a teenager."

"Yes, yes, we all know this, Gramps," Tony sighed. "Shall we go?" The man started for the elevator where Steve and Sam followed, obviously both wanting to see Scott in one of Tony's luxury cars.

Scott grabbed his tray and bounded towards them. He then abruptly stopped and spun around to face Hope. "Are you coming?"

"I'll join you in a bit. I'd actually like to chew my food without inhaling it."

"Okay," he blurted, visibility too excited to try and convince her otherwise. "See you later!" He then turned back around where he was quick to shout over his shoulder and wave his hand, "And I'll see you when I see you, Maria!" He then dumped his tray on the cart at the elevator before he piled into the lift with the guys.

Maria, now realising that it was just Hope and her at the table alone, started awkwardly scrolling through her tablet; totally failing to concentrate on what she was doing. Just needing for her hands to be busy and for her attention to not be fixed on the woman in front if her.

After the most uncomfortable minute, Maria glanced up to find Hope pushing vegetables around on her plate with her fork. Maria couldn't help but smile. She looked almost childlike as she played with her food.

"How is it now with your mom back?" Maria couldn't believe she'd just so boldly asked that; hoping that she hasn't crossed a line.

Hope blinked as she looked to her. Then, a soft smile fell across her face as she answered, not seeming bothered at all by the question. "Amazing actually. She's just as kind and strong as I remembered her being when I was a kid. I don't know how she managed being in the quantum realm for so long while not only keeping her sanity in tact but her humanity too. It's remarkable."

Maria smiled, genuinely so happy for her. "Well, if she's anything like you, I can't say I'm all that surprised to hear." Hope then dropped her head like she were embarrassed by her comment which made Maria quickly push along. "So your dad must be overjoyed too, hey?"

Hope lifted her head again to look at her while she replied, "Yeah, he is. It's just" – she cocked her head to the side – "I think I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop."

"How do you mean?"

"My dad." She scrunched her face before looking back down at her food. "Ah – I've never actually told anybody this before – but ah, he used to be kind of erratic during his Ant-Man days."

"Erratic?" she asked softly.

Hope slowly nodded. "Sometimes, when he got worked up he'd take it out on my Mom." She then made eye contact with Maria. "Like, physically," she clarified.

Maria gasped in a small voice, "Oh."

"It didn't happen often. She knew to watch herself when he raised his voice." She then quickly added, "And he never hit me." Then, like she were being swept up in memory, she sighed, "Though, my mom always did tell me to go hide inside my wardrobe whenever I heard shouting. Which – I suppose – would indicate that she never quite trusted him around me either."

"Fuck." Maria felt a sense of powerlessness; wanting to go back in time and somehow make everything right for her. She wanted to protect her.

"Yeah." Hope slowly nodded.

"What happened after she disappeared?"

"He stopped being Ant-Man and began to mellow out. Not that it did much. I still pushed him away for the majority of my life anyway." Hope sighed, "But he has been getting better over the past few years, so there is that."

"Well that's good, right? He's changing."

"Yeah," her voice sounded hollow.

"But you still can't shake the haunting memories of the last time your parents were together." Maria understood.

"Even though I know better."

Maria sighed. "I'm convinced we're all stuck with our childhood traumas no matter how much we tell ourselves they're over and in the distant past."

"Well, hopefully confronting them will lessen their impact."

Maria chuckled with skepticism, "Yeah, let me know how that works out for you."

Hope studied her for a moment before she awkwardly started, "I'm assuming you haven't confronted your parents since… well…"

"Since they kicked me out?" Maria helped her out. "Actually, I have. I went back home in my mid-twenties for my little brother's funeral."

"Your brother died?" she asked with so much tender concern in her eyes that it sent a ripple of warmth through Maria's body.

"Yeah. Snowmobile accident. He was seventeen."

"I'm sorry." She gently shook her head.

"It's okay. I really didn't know him well in the end." She lied to the both of them as she tried acting unbothered by the death that had actually broke her to her core. "We were close when he was my kid brother, but after I left home, I didn't get to see him anymore." Suddenly all the pain of her past came flooding back, as she fought off tears while she added. "My parents made sure of that."

"Your parents suck." Maria could hear the bitterness in Hope's voice as she genuinely seemed angry.

"They really do." Maria sighed with an emotionally awkward smirk. She'd never really disclosed that information about her past to anybody. The only other person who knew those details were Natasha (and, to an extent, Sharon Carter because she independently went digging through Maria's past when they first met). She told Natasha a few years into their friendship. Yet, in that moment, she felt perfectly safe in sharing them with Hope. "My mom actually told me to leave his funeral. She said he was no longer my brother due to the choices I'd made. And I had no right in being there. So I left." She sighed heavily, now feeling a little more in control of her emotions; no longer fighting back tears. "The thought of one day reconnecting with him was the only thing tethering me to the family. But with him gone, I have nothing left with those people."

"God, and here I was complaining about my mild – in comparison – childhood experiences.'

"Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Compare damages." Maria then smirked. "At the end of the day we're both traumatised and that's what's truly important."

Hope's face split into a smile. "How silly was I to lose sight of the goal."

"Yes," Maria chuckled. "Putting money into the pockets of our therapists."

"We're doing our parts in helping the economy." Hope's eyes twinkled as she dropped her head to her shoulder; giving her the sweetest look. God, all Maria wanted to do was crawl under the table to her and then cup her beautiful face into her hands and get lost in her captivating green eyes.

"Thank you, by the way." Hope smiled while holding her gaze.

"For what?"

"For – you know – helping us disappear so we could find my mom."

"Oh." Maria shook her head modestly. "I wasn't fishing for a thank you."

"Yeah, I know." Her smile grew bigger on her face. "But you're getting one anyway." Hope then looked over her shoulder to the corner of the room where the other two Avengers were still sharing a meal together. "Was Natasha the trusted friend who helped you?" Hope turned back to her.

"Yeah."

"Figured. She keeps giving me these looks like she knows something about me that no one else does."

Maria chuckled, "Honestly, she does that to everyone in varying degrees. It can be very annoying. You don't know if she's looking at you because she knows what you ate for breakfast that morning, or if it's because she's just discovered your deepest darkest secret."

"So, you two are close then?" she asked while dropping her attention back to her food; swirling her fork into her mashed potatoes.

Hope seemed nervous as she avoided eye contact while the agent answered simply, "Yes." Choosing not to elaborate. Initially Maria would have dropped a hint that they were sleeping together to try and make her jealous, but something was stopping her from doing it. Maybe it was due to her short time spent with Scott and seeing him with Hope. What the two had looked so simple and real, unlike what Maria had with Natasha. Which was complicated and unknown. Bringing it up just seemed somehow silly and disingenuous.

Hope nodded slowly as she put a fork full of potatoes into her mouth. There was a silence that was growing in length which had encouraged Maria to change the subject. "Have you really not seen a Star Wars movie?" Her thoughts falling back to their initial conversation topic.

Hope swollowed her food before she chuckled and looked up from her plate. "I really have not."

"So you don't watch movies. You had a pool table in your house yet never played it. I'm just curious as to what the hell you do to unwind – I mean – besides going to the gym and training to become the world's next super soldier, that is?"

Hope smirked at her before sighing, "I don't know. I've been so busy with Pym Tech and then the quantum bridge, I haven't had much time for anything else." She then shrugged. "But I guess, on occasion, I'll read or like knit something."

"Knit?"

Hope eyed her like she were warning her to tread lightly on the subject. "Yes."

Maria held back a giggle. "I cannot picture you knitting. What do you knit? Hand wraps and boxing gloves?"

Hope broke out into laughter. "No, like hats, gloves, scarves – you know – normal things."

"You live in California. What do you do with them after you've made them?"

"I don't know. Put them in a basket and never look at them again." Maria chuckled at her answer. "No but really, I've made slippers before that I've worn. And sometimes I'll put on a scarf. It can get cold there at night, okay."

"God, you're such a Southerner."

"Yeah, so maybe I am. I'd take it that you're originally from somewhere up north then?"

"Chicago."

Hope then started with the most insincere tone, "I guess that explains things."

"What things?"

She leaned forward, resting her elbow on top of the table as her chin fell into her hands. "Why you're such a cold bitch." Her eyes twinkled deviously.

Maria couldn't believe her cheekiness as she gasped which resulted in Hope giggling at her reaction. "Well then, if I'm a cold bitch than that would make you a salty bitch."

"Ah yes" – Hope closed her eyes and took a long peaceful breath as she tilted her head in her hand – "the salty ocean air has settled into my bones. It's now a part of my bitch personality forever." A satisfied smile rested on her face.

Hope was so psychically close to Maria as she was resting the weight of her upper body on top of the table that was separating them. All the agent wanted to do was lean in too, and then capture her lips with her own and shut her audacious yet perfect mouth up. Everything about Hope in that moment was intoxicating. Her words. Her smile. Her scent. Just her overall presence which had a way of making Maria feel safe and at home.

When Hope fluttered her eyes open to look at her, it was too much for Maria to handle. The agent had to quickly look back to her work in front of her; busying her hands in her files. "Ah." Maria started to pile up her papers. "I just realised I should probably get back to Controls and start testing some of this stuff here." Maria lifted her tablet while keeping her eyes down. "Make sure if I need to call Tony, I'll get him before you guys start up again for your afternoon training."

"Oh, okay. Yeah, you better get to it then." Hope's voice sounded a little confused, or possibly even hurt. Maria couldn't quite tell. "I should get down to the boys and their cars anyway," she added.

The agent picked up her files and tablet in one hand while grabbing her tray in the other as she stood up and stepped over the bench. "Okay – ah – see you then." Maria looked at her for only the briefest of moments before flickering her eyes away; scared that Hope would see her insecurities.

"See you," Hope repeated back in a similar flat tone that had matched Maria's while the agent turned away and hurried for the lift. Calling the elevator before dumping her tray so that she wouldn't have to stand awkwardly in front of it waiting.

As soon as it arrived and opened its doors, Maria abandoned her plate, that she'd only partially scraped her food off of, and beelined it into the elevator; punching the button for the control room floor. As soon as the doors closed and the lift started to move, she walked to the back wall and clanked her head against it. With her forehead pressed up against the cold surface, she felt her eyes welling up, with a single tear escaping; dripping down her cheek.

Hope was even more perfect than she'd ever imagined. In all her years Maria had never felt such an intensity of emotions towards another person, and the fact that she had to watch her with someone else was completely tearing her apart. She didn't know what to do about it. Maria felt utterly powerless.