Hope was sitting on the sofa with her hair down in soft beachy curls, which Maria had learned was its natural state when she didn't blow dry it straight. The woman was in an oversized white cashmere sweater and had earbuds in as she was knitting something with blue yarn.
"What?" Hope muttered to herself as her face scrunched in confusion right before she tossed her knitting to the side. She then picked up her phone, tapping it as if she was pausing something, as her other hand moved to pick up a journal. Hope dropped her mobile on the cushion before grabbing a pair of black-rimmed reading glasses from off the ottoman in front of her. She put them on and shoved her nose into the book. She then started biting at her nail as she seemed instantly lost in what she was reading.
Maria, who was leaning up against the wall ever since she'd left the bedroom after her shower, had been studying her. Her cheeks were hurting as she realised that she'd been smiling the entire time that she was looking at Hope. She was just so gorgeously adorable when she was lost in concentration. It also didn't help that her thick-rimmed glasses were sending Maria over the edge; she'd never seen Hope in spectacles and it was arousing her sexy scientist fantasies.
Hope had been a perfect respite for Maria for the past five days. She was extremely effective in allowing Maria to disassociate from her actions with A.I.M. Though, she knew that her utopian vacation wouldn't last. Soon she'd have to report back to S.H.I.E.L.D. and everything would come crashing back down on her. But for now, she'd take every opportunity she had in her temporary paradise and spend it with her angelic love.
"What are you doing?" Maria's smile never faltered as she sauntered over to Hope.
Hope abruptly peeked up from her notebook like she'd been startled, only to then smile back at Maria.
"My mom made notes on the particle activity she observed in the quantum realm." She pulled her earbuds out, tossing them to the side. "And – I swear – there's a pattern here," she said, shaking the book. "Particularly looking at entangled particles and their spin. Like not only how they behave opposite of each other, but also when and where they disappear and reappear too." Maria reached her, lowering down while she straddled Hope's lap as the other woman moved all her things to accommodate her presence. "So," Hope continued, "I'm listening to a math lecture to see how one would even approach an equation to make sense of all this." Maria nodded along, not understanding a thing she was saying as she rested her arms on Hope's shoulders while Hope dropped the notebook to free up her hands to wrap them around Maria's body. "But right now the lecturer is talking about equations for supersolid phasing. Like, looking at calculations for measuring the energy of weak atomic bonds as they're being squeezed and condensed for their molecules to pass through them, which isn't what I need. Like, at all." Hope cocked her head to the side. "Yet it's still closer than the ten-dimensional string theory calculation he was talking about in the last lecture I listened to."
"Yeah, totally followed all that," Maria nodded as she said sarcastically. Hope grinned at her, full well knowing that her words had flown over her head. "So, are you about to make a scientific breakthrough here?"
"No. I'm more so doing this as a thought experiment." Hope snorted a chuckle as she shook her head. "Trust me, I'm the last person to ever make a scientific breakthrough. I keep my head above water in the S.T.E.M. fields, that's all. I'm not my dad."
Maria wasn't pleased in hearing her words. Yes, she may have technically not even so much as finished high school herself, and was nowhere near an expert on the subject, but she undoubtedly knew that Hope's knowledge expanded way further than she'd given herself credit for. Keeping her head above water on something like quantum theory seemed much more apt to describe someone like Natasha, not Hope. Someone who literally had a masters degree in the scientific field.
"That's not what Bruce thinks," Maria made sure to communicate to her. "He told me you're a wealth of knowledge in quantum mechanics and he wishes he could tap directly into your brain to understand everything you know." She hoped that a scientist other than her genius dad would give her a better perspective of her abilities.
Maria was pleased to see a smirk on her face like she was trying to pray away a blush.
Hope then reached to push her glasses up, like she had intentions of resetting them atop her head, but Maria was quick to push her hand away.
"No," Maria barked, sliding her glasses back to rest them on the bridge of her nose. Her tone then shifted to a purr. "You're not allowed to ruin this whole sexy nerd look you've got going on here." Maria's then leaned in to nip at Hope's bottom lip, not able to hold back from her any longer.
Her teeth soon let go of their hold, but not before yanking at her lip. Maria then pushed her tongue inside of the other woman's mouth as Hope responded to the action by tightening her grip around Maria's waist, pulling her closer.
Shortly, Maria's mouth was busy making its way down Hope's neck when she cried out in annoyance, "Maria!" Her outburst came through heated breaths as she began to squirm under her touch. "Cassie's gunna be here any minute now."
Maria dragged her bottom lip over Hope's throat before muttering into her skin, "You can't just wear glasses" – she kissed under her jaw – "spew hot science babble at me" – she moved to her ear, pushing her hair out of the way – "and expect anything else."
Hope shuttered at the feeling of her breath lightly moving inside of her ear, before Maria cheekily took a hold of her earlobe, between her teeth, and pulled at it playfully.
"Maria!" Hope came again but this time louder than before as she screeched through a laugh.
Maria released her bite. "Fine." She teased through a mischievous smile. "But you'll be in a lot of trouble later," she teased through a mischievous smile
She then looking over to an object of interest, off to the side of them on the sofa. "Hey, it's your basket of knitting." Maria reached over to grab the mentioned item, tugging it closer. She instantly rummaged through Hope's handy work, putting on a blue toque, a green scarf with black speckles, and a pair of oversized mittens to match. "Okay." Maria put her hands up between them as to show off just how bundled even her fingers were. "Now I'm finally ready for all these cold California nights you warned me about."
"Shut up!" Hope grinned while ripping the mittens off of Maria's hands.
"Hey." Maria gawked. "I need those!"
"You know what you need?" Hope gave her a look of warning right before she grabbed a hold of the green scarf, only to wrap it around Maria's head while she growled, "You need to stop talking."
"Yes, good," Maria said in a muffled voice, her mouth presently covered in a thick layer of wool, "now I'll survive the harsh southern windchill that's coming up from Mexico."
Hope dropped her head back to rest it on the top of the couch as she sighed. "You're impossible." Maria started to unwrap the scarf as Hope rolled her head to the side, looking at her knitwear. She rested the back of her hand on the pile as she thoughtfully said, "I should really donate these."
"Not all of them. I want this hat," Maria said, referring to the toque that she was wearing, liking how comfortable it felt on her head. She then tossed the green scarf around Hope's neck, instantly loving the colour on her as it made the green in her eyes pop. "And you'll need some of these in New York."
Hope's face lit up as Maria assumed it was due to her mention of the East Coast. They'd talked quite a bit about it over the past few days; both of them were excited by the notion of them being together there if Hope were to join S.H.I.E.L.D. full-time as an agent.
"What if I want that hat?" Hope moved to take it from the other woman, but Maria was too quick and clamped her arms over her head to protect it from her grabbing hands.
"You can't have it, I already claimed it."
Hope ceased her attempts to take it from her as she yielded to her wishes with a smirk. "Fine. You can keep it."
Maria smiled while removing her hands from her head just before Hope casually reached over, adjusting the hat that had nearly slid completely over her one eye.
After Hope straightened out her toque, Maria began fiddling with the scarf around Hope's neck as she still couldn't quite believe that she'd made all of the items before them. Maria understood all of her high adrenaline hobbies like surfing and fighting. She accepted her love for reading since she'd shown her that she viewed literature through an intellectual lens. She even got why she enjoyed being in the kitchen since both cooking and baking were a science. But this particular past time was befuddling to her; she just couldn't understand it.
"I still can't believe you knit. It seems so off-brand for you." Maria shook her head in puzzlement.
"My mom taught me when I was little." Hope warmly smiled. "And, yeah, I admittedly didn't love it at first." She cocked her head to the side. "But after she disappeared, I got back into it." Her eyes then drifted to the basket as she reached over and rubbed her fingers over the knitting needles that were attached to what she'd just been recently working on. "It reminded me of her when I did it." Hope then looked over to Maria with a heart-melting smile. "She'd always create such beautiful things. Not just knitting, but sewing too. She used to design all her evening dresses ever since I could remember." Hope looked as if she were picturing them in her mind's eye as she continued, "They were so stunning, and she'd wear them to all these black-tie events and just stand out in them."
"She sounds talented," Maria said, not the least bit surprised to learn that Janet would be one to add beauty to the world, not only through her love and compassion but through tangible things as well.
"Yeah, she makes gorgeous ball gowns, and I make" – Hope slid on the same mitts that Maria had on shortly beforehand – "oversized mittens with uneven thumbs." Hope shook her hands in front of their faces, her mitts flopping about. "As you can see, I clearly inherited her artistic gifts."
"I love your mittens." Maria chuckled (now noticing the uneven thumbs after she'd mentioned them) as she slid her hands inside of them too. "Because they're tandem."
Hope giggled. "Just how I planned them to be."
"You're a genius."
Suddenly, they heard the elevator ping open when Maria looked up and caught sight of Cassie and Scott. The little girl made Maria slide her hands out of the mittens, rip off her toque, and jump to her feet as the girl cheered, "Commander Maria!" Cassie hurried over to her as Maria quickly moved to the other side of the sofa to meet her.
"Hey, kid," Maria smiled, dropping to her knee right before Cassie threw her arms around her neck. Maria hugged her back, finding the utmost comfort from the unadulterated love that Cassie had shown her through her innocence. "Or should I say, Agent Lang." Maria tugged her back so that she could look at her.
"I did exactly what you told me to do." She smiled with pride.
"I know. You saved the whole planet."
She asked in surprised awe, "I did?"
"You sure did."
"Wow." Her eyes lit up. "Saving the planet is really easy."
Her comment brought Maria's thoughts back to all the horrible sacrifices that she had made. All the people who had to die due to her choices for the sake of saving the world. "I'm glad to hear that," her voice came out hollow.
Maria's facial expression must have matched her voice for the next thing she felt were little hands on her cheeks.
"Are you feeling okay?" Cassie asked her with concern in her big eyes. "Are you sick like Hope was?"
"Like I was?" Hope came around the couch to stand closer to them, her reading glasses and scarf now off.
"Yeah." Cassie let go of Maria to walk to Hope. "Daddy said you weren't feeling well, that's why you've been away for so long."
"Oh," she said so softly before shifting her gaze to Scott who was giving her a sympathetic look.
Maria assumed Hope hadn't seen Cassie in a long time, and by the pain in the other woman's eyes, she concluded that it may have been her own fault.
"But you're feeling better now, right?" Cassie asked.
Hope nodded as she looked at Maria. "Much better." she smiled, which confirmed her suspicions that Maria was indeed the cause of her absence.
"Good." Cassie hugged Hope around the waist.
"So, I hear you guys are gonna watch Star Wars," Scott finally got a word in as he put Cassie's little Ninja Turtles overnight bag – which was covered in both Avengers and My Little Pony stickers – on the floor, off to the side.
"Yep," Maria said as she stood back up.
"A New Hope?"
"Of course. That's the only rational place to start."
"Ah man," he groaned, "I'm not only gonna miss Cassie's reaction to seeing Star Wars for the first time but I'm gonna miss Hope's too."
"You want to stay and watch it with us?" Maria suggested.
"I don't want to crash your party."
"Daddy, you can stay but only for the movie, then you have to leave because it's a girls-only sleepover."
"That's fine, 'cause I have to go check in with Uncle Luis tonight anyway." He nodded with excitement, clearly pleased that he was invited to stay for awhile.
"How come he's my uncle but Hope and Commander Maria aren't my aunties? Aren't they part of the family too?"
"Of course they're part of the family," he said earnestly.
"So they are my aunties?"
Scott looked back and forth between Hope and Maria like he was trying to get them to telepathically tell him that they consented to this new title.
"Yeah." He focused on his daughter. "They're your aunties."
Maria had to bite down on a grin, ecstatic that she'd been deemed a part of Cassie's family, along with Hope.
"Does this mean I get to call you Auntie Hope now?" Cassie asked the woman who was still wrapped up in her arms.
Hope smiled warmly at her, pushing hair out of the girl's face. "If you'd like to."
"Yeah!" The girl literally bounced on the balls of her feet before moving back to Maria, looking up at her. "And Auntie—" She cocked her head in confusion. "Commander Maria?"
"That seems rather long, doesn't it?" Maria smiled.
"Yeah."
"Well," Maria concluded, "'Auntie' definitely outranks 'Commander'."
She looked to Maria in puzzlement, not understanding what she was saying.
Scott jumped in as he began to explain, "You don't have to call her 'Commander' if you call her 'Auntie' because Auntie is more powerful."
"It is?" She looked at him with surprise.
"'Commanders' boss agents around, but 'aunties' convince moms to let their nieces have sleepovers on school nights. Which one do you think is more powerful?"
"Auntie!" she cheered, turning back to Maria with a huge grin which nearly made the woman tear up.
"Speaking of agents," Maria continued in her happy mood, "we got something for you, Agent Lang."
"Two somethings, actually." Hope passed Maria Cassie's gifts from off of the sofa's armrest.
Maria threw one of the shirts over her shoulder as she unfolded the 'Agent In Training' one, holding it up for Cassie to see.
"That's me!" Cassie gasped while wasting no time in taking the item and yanking it over her head (putting it on over the rainbow shirt that she was already wearing). "Look, Daddy!" She spun around to show him.
He read it before smiling. "Oh, that's very—"
But before he could finish his complement, the girl twirled back around and blurred with excitement, "What's the other one?"
Chuckling at her enthusiasm, Maria held up the second shirt. "I get to be an Avenger like Auntie Hope too?" Her eyes widened with shock.
"Hey, I'm also an Avenger," Scott pointed out.
"Oh yeah. I forgot," Cassie admitted.
"Really?" he scoffed light-heartedly.
Cassie then looked back to Maria as the woman began explaining. "Yeah, you can be an Average when your Auntie Hope gets old." Maria's then teasingly looked to Hope. "Well, older than she already is." This resulted in Hope making a face at her. "She's gonna need you to take her place on the team," Maria focused back on the girl as she concealed a chuckle.
"I get to be The Wasp?" she asked in the utmost excitement before turning to Hope.
"Only if you can prove you can handle it." Hope crossed her arms in performative seriousness.
"Oh, I will! I'll be the best Agent Commander Wasp, I promise."
"Commander?" Maria asked.
"Yes!" Cassie focused on Maria. "You'll need someone to take your place too when you get old."
"You better grow up fast then, 'cause she's already looking pretty worn out," Hope said cheekily as she looked to Maria, who narrowed her eyes at her.
"Okay," Scott interjected, "but how about before we ship you off to S.H.I.E L.D.'s training program and Avenger boot-camp, you finish the fifth grade first?"
Cassie agreed with her dad, "Yeah, okay." She then have Maria another big hug. "Thank you for my shirts, Auntie Maria."
"You're welcome." She rubbed the girls back, happy at how positive she'd reacted to her gifts.
Cassie then moved to the other woman. "Thank you too, Auntie Hope." She hugged around Hope's waist again. "I won't let you down," she said, clearly referring to being Hope's successor, which made Hope giggle. "Can we watch the movie now?" The girl smiled up at her as she began tying her second shirt around her neck like a cape.
"Yes." Hope grinned with a nod.
"But first we have to get snacks ready, 'cause your Auntie Hope failed to do so," Maria teased while moving to the kitchen. "She was too distracted by science to do her important food preparation job." Cassie instantly fell in line next to Maria, evidently wanting to help her.
"They're ready!" Hope gawked. "The kernels are already in the air-popper, all you have to do is turn it on and then butter and season it." She pointed off towards the salt and margarine on the counter. "And the chip bags are sitting in bowls, just needing to be opened and poured into them."
Scott then called over to his daughter, "Cassie, is a job that's partially done considered completed?"
"No way! Mom says if it's not one hundred percent it's not finished."
Maria noticed Hope glaring at him before the she looked to Cassie. "This is why you're my top agent. You understand these things."
Next thing Maria heard was a whomp sound, looking up to find a pillow in Scott's arms that Hope had clearly just hurled at his body.
"Hey!" Scott cried.
"Can we make the popcorn in the dark?" Cassie asked Maria right before she ran off to her knapsack, pulling out her night vision goggles.
"Is that why your bag was so heavy?" Scott threw his hands to his hips while watching his daughter quickly run back to Maria. "You better have packed actual clothes in that thing too."
Cassie ignored her dad's comments as she put on her headgear, which made Maria chuckle. She was so touched that she was still having fun with her gift.
As Maria began flicking off all the kitchen lights she heard Hope muttering something to Scott before she addressed the two in the kitchen. "We're just gonna go to the bedroom for a few minutes, okay?"
"Kay," Maria said, already knowing the reason for their dismissal. She then gave her a reassuring nod, noticing the nervous look on Hope's face as they passed by them to disappear into the other room.
Hope led Scott into the bedroom, hearing the sound of the air popper before she closed the door and went slowly to the dresser, turning around to lean up against it, practically sitting atop it. She crossed her arms, hugging herself as she looked to Scott who chose to stand a little ways away. He scanned over the room, which made Hope wonder if he'd been thinking about the last time that they'd been in there alone together.
Their relationship had been so different then. Though, it was such a brief fling (both times), that it often seemed like it never happened at all, until little reminders like this would pop up. Or perhaps it wasn't the duration of it that made their relationship feel almost non-existent, but it was her feelings for Maria that put everything else into perspective of what they truly were. She and Scott had been two isolated people who were forced together by circumstances, only to quickly use each other out of loneliness. He was fresh out of prison, and she was living in a self-isolating prison of her own making.
Maybe they could've worked if things had been different. If they didn't rush into things. If she had emotionally let him in. If he'd emotionally let her in. If he hadn't gone to the Raft. If she hadn't met Maria. If he didn't have a family. If she had the desire to settle down. Who's really to say? The only thing she knew for sure was that she loved having him as a friend and never wanted him to be absent from her life.
"Ah," She began timidly, not knowing where to start or how to say what she needed to say, "I've been thinking that" – she awkwardly cleared her throat – "I'd like to— It's just." She struggled to find the words. "I've been talking with Maria and—"
"You want to relocate to the East Coast and join S.H.I.E.L.D.'s agent program so you can work with the Avengers full time?"
"How?" She cocked her head in confusion. "Did Maria tell you?" she wondered, though she didn't believe that she had. Maria knew that it was Hope's news to tell him, and not hers.
"No." He smirked. "Honestly, ever since we joined the Avengers, I've been waiting for this conversation to come."
"You have?" she asked in complete shock.
"Yeah. You love throwing down way too much." He shrugged. "It was inevitable you'd want to seek out as many opportunities to fulfil your need to punch people in the face."
Hope couldn't help but smile at how he was reacting so far. "You make me sound so violent."
"Hey, if the shoe fits."
She chuckled. "Shut up!" He gave her a lopsided smile. She then continued in a more serious manner, "So, if you've been waiting for this conversation, does this mean you know where you stand with it?" She then timidly asked, already knowing the answer, "You wouldn't want to join me over there, would you?"
He sighed before responding, "My family's here. I can't leave them. Not for that kind of long term commitment. I already missed so much of their lives – especially Cassie's life – when I was in prison." He then added, "Both times."
"Yeah, I know," Hope said in a small voice.
"I have to stay here," he admitted with a heavy heart.
She nodded. "I figured you'd say that." She unfolded her arms, clasping them in her lap. "So, where does this leave us then?"
"Well, we'll definitely see each other less, that's a given." He then smirked at her. "Which is lucky for you 'cause you'll finally be spared from me constantly asking you to pick a card – like ten times in a row – every time I'm learning a new trick."
Hope smiled. "Which is honestly the real reason I'm wanting to go."
"I knew it." He nodded before shrugging. He then continued, "And I guess I'll have to find a new trainer to beat me up in your absence." Hope chuckled at his words. "And you'll have to watch all of Cassie's school plays over phone camera. 'Cause there's no way she's gonna let you off the hook for missing any of those, even if you're off far away saving the day." Hope loved that he wasn't allowing the thought of a physical separation take away from her importance in his daughter's life.
"And us?" Hope asked in all earnestness, "What about all that stuff we agreed to about how we'd always be partners? That we're 'Ant-Man and The Wasp' no matter what?" She referenced their conversation back in the Avengers Tower.
"Well, first of all, we should finally be honest with ourselves about what we truly are and always have been. Which isn't 'Ant-Man and The Wasp' but actually 'The Wasp and Her Sidekick Ant-Man'." Hope laughed, finding his words to be ridiculous. "And once we acknowledge this fact, it'll be much easier to accept that the sidekick isn't always present in the hero's journey."
"You're hardly my sidekick," she scoffed, thinking on how he got to use his Pym Particle suit before she had.
"No?" He raised his brows like she was challenging his analysis. "You're a legacy Avenger who literally trained me. Everything I know about being Ant-Man I learned from you. Also, I don't even know how my own suit works. Every time it malfunctions I have to get either you or your dad to fix it for me."
"When you put it that way, I'm starting to see your point," she said half-jokingly (but only half).
"Yeah." He nodded with a smirk. "And let's not pretend that you're not the intense one and I'm not the goofy comic relief." Hope couldn't help but laugh, seeing the undeniable truth to his last statement. "We are the formula, through and through. You're SpongeBob and I'm Patrick."
"I have no idea who those people are."
"That's exactly what the hero would say to her sidekick about two cartoon characters." He pointed at her with a goofy intensity.
She shook her head, biting down a grin. "So." Her light-hearted mood soon dropped, guilt seeping into her conscious. "You're not mad that I'm wanting to do this to us?"
"Mad?" He shook his head as he approached her. "No way." His proximity and overall understanding of the situation made her stand upright so that she could wrap her arms around him. He hugged her back as he said, "You're going to do great over there." Hope smiled as she breathed a sigh of relief into his shoulder. "And every time the Avengers are all together" – he tugged her back so that he could look at her – "I'll be back by your side."
Hope was so touched as she said in a small voice, "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For not giving up on me through this."
"I mean, I did tell you I'd support you and be there for you in whatever capacity you needed." He looked to her with shining eyes.
She nodded with a smile. "It's true, you did say that."
She was still a little amazed that he kept his word. Not that the scepticism came from her distrust in Scott, but rather a distrust in humanity as a whole. Most talked the talk but didn't walk the walk. But Scott was different. He was better than that.
Suddenly, the door opened where Cassie poked her head through, goggles still on, as she asked enthusiastically, "Are you guys done yet? 'Cause the snacks are ready and so are we!"
Hope and Scott shared a look as they both ended up smiling at each other before Scott answer, "Yeah, we're coming."
He then went to his daughter as she pushed him towards the living room. She then grabbed Hope's hand, pulling her into the dimly lit room and over to the sofa, that had been cleared off of Hope's knittings and things, where she positioned herself right between her two aunties. Scott sat on the love seat next to the chesterfield.
Hope turned to Maria, who was looking at her with curiosity. She simply smiled and nodded, indicating to her that their conversation had gone well. Maria smiled back, reaching around Cassie's head to place a hand on Hope's shoulder; her arm rested on the top of the couch. Hope folder her arm up to take a hold of Maria's hand in her own, lovingly squeezing it before turning to grab the remote next to her, pressing play on the D.V.D. menu that was being projected onto a screen. A screen that was normally rolled up into the ceiling, out of sight, and usually out of use. Hope very rarely watched anything in her apartment, unless it was the news, a lecture, or a documentary, all in which she'd view on either her laptop or smartphone, so her entertainment equipment got very little usage.
Cassie took off her goggles before grabbing the bowl of popcorn from atop the ottoman-table. Hope let go of Maria's hand so she was free to take a handful of popcorn, ready to watch this movie that she'd been ridiculed long enough for not seeing.
They'd been watching the film for about forty-five minutes (In that time, Hope was somewhat enjoying it, yet she still didn't quite understanding all the hype around it) when they were interrupted by a phone ringing.
They all looked about, noticing that it was coming from the kitchen.
"Is that yours?" Hope looked at Maria as she paused the movie.
Maria hopped off the couch, speedily moving to the counter. "Yeah," she said to Hope right before she answered it, bringing it up to her ear. "Hello?"
Hope could only hear a muffled voice from the other end before Maria responded into the phone, "Yes." After a brief pause, she said, "Okay, I'll be right there to let you—" She seemed to be cut off as the person talked. "Oh, the fourth floor," she said as she looked towards the elevator, which piqued Hopes interest as Maria then hung up the phone. She then turned to Hope as she mouthed, "Parole officer."
"They're here now?" Hope was a little surprised, thinking that they'd give her a bigger heads-up.
"Yeah."
"Who's here?" Cassie wondered.
"Do you want us to get out of here while you bring them up?" Hope asked her while temporarily ignoring Cassie. She needed to know in that moment if she had to herd the Langs downstairs out of the way.
"Nah, It should be fine. It kinda sounded like he's already on his way up anyway." Maria started making her way to the elevator after flicking on a few lights – brightening the space. "Hopefully it'll be quick and we can get back to Leia saving the day." She made sure to say that last part while looking to Cassie, giving her a cheeky wink.
"Princess Leia," the girl adorably corrected her. It was plain to see that Cassie was loving the movie so far and had a soft spot for Carrie Fisher's character.
"Yes, Princess Leia. Who is also a member of the Imperial Senate and an agent of the Rebel Alliance." Maria nodded as she pushed the button to call the elevator.
"An Agent? Like us?"
"Exactly like us."
The elevator doors opened as Hope noticed Maria taking a step back as a man's voice was heard from within the lift.
"You must be Commander Hill." A Chinese-American man, wearing a suit with a black bag slung over his shoulder, stepped out. "I'm—"
"Agent Woo?" Scott stood up to the man's presence.
"Scott?" He looked totally taken aback.
"What are you doing here?" Cassie then sprang off the back of the sofa, taking a few steps towards the new arrival. "My daddy didn't do anything wrong, stop bugging him!" she said, clearly upset that he was there.
"I'm not here for your daddy," he said a little condescendingly before pointing to Maria. "I'm here for her."
"Well, you can't boss her around because she's the commander, and no one can tell her what to do." She folded her arms over her chest.
"No one is bossing anyone around, okay," Woo almost sounded defensive as he explained, "I just have to fill out this report." He held up a clipboard that he had in hand. "Do you not understand contractual obligation? Because even the commander here has to abide by certain parameters," he said as he gestured to Maria.
Maria moved to Cassie, standing behind her as she rested her hands on her shoulders. "Cassie, it's okay. He's just doing his job," she gently reassured her before taking her hand. "Come, lets allow Agent Woo to come in." She guided her to that back of the sofa where Hope, who was kneeling on the other side facing them, reached out to Cassie, turning her around to stand in front of her. Maria planted herself next to Cassie too like they were both guarding Woo from her.
The agent scanned the room, but as his gaze locked with Scott's, he huffed, like there was bad blood there, and abruptly looked to his form. His behaviour instantly piqued Hope's interest, realising that Scott had never told her about the agent who was responsible for monitoring him while he was under house arrest.
"Okay, I need a visual of your ankle monitor." He looked to Maria, taking a step towards her. Maria complied, looking completely unbothered, as she lifted her pant leg up for him to examine it.
"Whoa, that thing is so small compared to what I had," Scott gasped.
"Your's was an arrest monitor, this isn't," Woo said coldly before bending down to get a better look at it. "Alright, it appears to be untampered."
He straightened himself upright. His eyes then darted quickly towards Scott before he presented his pen like he'd grabbed it right out of thin air.
"I see you picked up a little sleight of hand there," Scott pointed out, yet, unlike Agent Woo's attitude towards Scott, Scott didn't seem to have an attitude towards Woo.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," he said like he was trying to be nonchalant about it.
He then started writing. Shortly he looked to Maria as he said in a professional manner, "I will be needing a urine sample from you today."
Scott then piped up. "Is that really necessary? She'll be off probation before it even gets to the lab."
He then snapped, pointing his pen at Scott, "I don't tell you how to do your job."
Scott then muttered under his breath, "No, you just tried stopping me from doing it in the first place."
"Wait." He examined him through slitted eyes while taking a step towards Scott. "Was that a confession that you did violate your house arrest to do your little Ant-Man thing?"
Scott pursed his lips as he casually shook his head. "Pretty sure it wasn't."
"I know what you did, Scott. And one day I'll prove it." He continued with the same accusatory tone while staring him down.
"Sooo," Maria interrupted the tension as she said, "should I pee in a cup now or..."
Hope had to bite down a chuckle at the whole ridiculous situation.
"Yes." He turned to her, falling back into a professional tone. "I'll have to monitor you to make sure you don't tamper with the sample."
Cassie then asked in confusion, "You're gonna watch her go to the bathroom?"
"Yes, I had to do this to your father too. It's protocol," he said in slight agitation towards that particular question.
Hope heard the girl in front of her gasp before blurting out, "You watched my daddy pee?" She then snapped her head to look at Scott. "Daddy, he's a pervert!"
"I am not a pervert," Woo said quickly before he started stuttering out in clear agitation, "It's not like I looked looked at him as he—"
"Dude!" Scott gave him a look which communicated for him to stop talking.
"You know what? It's fine." He took a calming breath before focusing back down to his form. "I don't need a urine test. You'll be off parole by the time it reaches the lab anyway," he said as if that was his conclusion and not Scott's. "I do have to ask you a few questions still." He looked up to Maria. "First off, why are you, the Deputy Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. – and, yes I know who you are, despite your completely blacked out file – why are you staying with Scott's girlfriend for the duration of your parole?"
"That's not on your questionnaire." Scott put his hands on his hips.
"You don't know what's on here." His words came sharply as he addressed Scott. "And it's perfectly within procedure to ask about ones residents while on parole."
"Auntie Hope isn't my daddy's girlfriend," Cassie clarified. "He's dating my mom and Paxton."
"Wait, what?" His focus fell to the girl, with his hardened facial expression now looking confused and possibly a little hurt too.
Cassie then elaborated, like she was reciting an explanation that she'd had to say before, "Sometimes couples are two people and sometimes they can be three people."
"'Couple' literally means two though. That's the definition of the word."
"Not the time, Man," Scott stopped him, clearly not wanting Woo to confuse his daughter.
Woo then looked back to his paper as he quietly huffed, "So, I guess when you said 'no' to going out with me, it was just me, and not because I was a guy."
"Daddy, you hurt his feelings." Cassie looked over to her father, now seemingly feeling empathetic towards the man.
"I do not have hurt feelings," Woo grumbled before he pushed along. "Next question, have you handled any firearms during the duration of your parole?"
Maria simple answered, "No."
"Have you consumed alcohol and/or recreational drugs during your parole?"
"No."
Cassie then kindly asked Woo, "Did you find someone else to go out with?"
"Cassie!" Scott gasped.
She then said to her dad. "Agent Woo may have been annoying when he used to always show up at your place and bug you, but that doesn't mean he should be sad and alone."
"I'm not sad and alone," the agent snapped defensively. "Well," he huffed, "I might be alone, but unless you're secretly twenty-one and can play wingman for me at the bars, I don't know how you're helping the situation any." He then focused back on his paper. "Next question."
"What if me and Paxton were to take you out and be your wingmen?" Scott suggested, with a kind sincerity in his voice.
"What?" He looked to him in surprise. "You guys would do that?" His question came softly.
Scott shrugged with a lopsided smile. "Sure."
"Okay. Well, ah." He suddenly sounded so giddy as he fumbled to take his business card out of his pocket. "I don't know if you still have my number or whatever. But here." He walked over to Scott, giving him the item.
Hope then leaned into Maria, talking in a low tone into her ear, "I'm so glad we didn't leave for your visit."
"You and me both." Maria smirked back at her.
Hope then reached to grab the bowl of popcorn from the sofa cushion, putting it to rest in front of her on the back of the couch, as she started to snack on it with amusement while watching the two men.
"Does this Saturday night work for you?" Scott asked. "I know Paxton's not working then."
"Saturday? Yeah, Saturday sounds great."
"Cool, we'll text you and figure out a time and place."
"Yeah. Okay." Woo nodded with a giant smile on his face.
Suddenly, the stairwell door swung open.
"Mom?" Hope addressed Janet, who'd stepped halfway inside the apartment. Her mother quickly scanned the room, with an urgent look on her face.
The woman nodded as she looked to Scott's new friend. "Oh good, Agent Woo, you're still here."
"Oh my god, your Janet Van Dyne. The original Wasp." He put his hand to his heart as he said with the utmost sincerity, "Thank you so much for your sacrifice all those years ago. You saved our city and… wait." He cocked his head to the side. "How do you know who I am?"
Instead of answering him, Janet addressed the room. "Come quickly, everyone." She waved them over before disappearing back into the stairwell, calling out, "To the lab."
The room all shared a look of befuddlement before rushing to follow the woman.
Downstairs they found, standing in front of the large suspended monitor in the lab was, none other than, Nick Fury.
Hope had only ever seen Director Fury in person the one time before this, from above, in the courthouse. But now seeing him up close and eye level, he somehow seemed even larger than she'd figured he was, from the vantage point she had on him the other day.
The man turned around to the sound of their arrival as Maria said in surprise, "Sir?"
"Hill," he greeted her as they all approached. He then looked to Hope and Scott, with a single nod as he merely said, in the briefest first introduction possible, "Lang. Van Dyne." He then focused back on Maria. "We've got a situation."
Hope looked to her mother, wanting to understand why the director was there in their lab, but the woman went straight to the computer, which was set up on the nearby worktable, fiddling with – what looked like – a video connection.
"Andreas de Ruyter," Fury continued to elaborate to Maria, with a single name, on why he was there.
Maria looked to be searching through her memory before she said, "de Ruyter. A.K.A. The Bull. South African rebel."
"Not just a rebel, a radical." Janet surprised Hope as she was the one to brief them with this additional information. "He believes South Africa should be racially purged and blames black people for all of Africa's problems. With a personal grudge against Wakanda. Not liking the black power their country represents."
"Goddamned white nationalists are everywhere," Hope grumbled under her breath.
"Yeah." Janet sighed, looking to her as she evidently made out her words. "I had the unfortunate opportunity of knowing his father, Adler de Ruyter."
"Hence why she's our consultant on this case." Fury gestured to Janet, which filled in quite a few questions for Hope.
Janet then nodded to Fury before continuing, "Adler was a friend and business associate of my father's. My dad overlooked this same ideology in his father that his son evidently shares, in favour of keeping him as a benefactor on his gamma-ray project."
"Wow," Hope scoffed. "Colour me surprised that grandpa Vernon, with his mansion full of Mexican servants, who he'd always referred to as "the help" could ever overlook that." Her words came dripping in sarcasm in regards to her late grandfather. He had died when she was seven-years-old from a mysterious lab incident when he was testing his gamma-ray beam. Her mother – to this day – believes that he had been murdered, even though law enforcement kept insisting that it was an accident.
"Ah, Cass," Scott discreetly addressed his daughter, who had followed them down into the lab, "why don't you go up and visit with the lab rats right now. 'Kay?" He lightly shoved her off in the direction of the stairs, that weren't terribly far away, as she obeyed his request without fighting back.
"So what's the current situation with de Ruyter junior?" Maria asked, her hands now behind her back and her feet shoulder-width apart – standing at ease.
"We got eyes on de Ruyter's rebellion occupying the old underground South African research base in Reneen." Fury seemed to be addressing Maria specifically. "We have intel they're using the place to find the impundulu."
Hope recognised the name immediately from a university literature class that she took in her first-year. "The legendary lightning bird of South African from Zulu folklore? Said to be as big as a human and can summon thunderstorms?" Hope asked, very confused as to why this cryptoid was being brought up.
"Yes," Fury confirmed that that was indeed what he was referring to.
Scott shook his head at her like he were equally impressed and confused. "Why do you know that?" She innocently shrugged at him before he addressed the room. "Also, should we care at all that Woo is here for all this?" He pointed to the agent who was standing off to the back of their group.
Fury completely ignored Scott's question before he continued. "We believe the impundulu is actually an old mutant creature who's been going in and out of hibernation for that past five thousand years and is currently hiding out in a dried-up subterranean river."
"And de Ruyter is after it as a weapon," Maria concluded out loud.
"Wanting to harvest the elements of the sky." Fury nodded at her.
Suddenly, there was static followed by the sound of Steve's voice coming out of the lab's speaker system.
"We're in position now," the Captain said, as a video feed – of what looked to be a body camera – appeared on the large suspended monitor.
Fury turned to the computer as Janet pointed out a button on the keyboard for him. He pressed the key as he lowered his body to talk into a microphone that had been set up on the table. "Hold position."
"We're at the base now," Maria stated, eyes on the monitor as another three body camera viewing windows popped up alongside Steve's.
"Correct. Problem is, we don't have the digital schematics of the facility."
Maria looked to him as she said in confusion, "We infiltrated this exact base six years back when we were working with the Wakandans."
"Yes, and all the data from that mission is gone. Wiped out during the A.I.M. attacks." Hope saw Maria physically flinch at his words. "Wakanda doesn't have records of it either, since it was an impromptu mission for them with Nakia alone."
"That woman is very good at showing up where the action is." Maria nodded, never dropping her serious demeanour. This was Maria in full commander mode. Tight jaw, rigid body, and pure concentration in her eyes.
Fury stared Maria down like they were having a telepathic conversation before he asked, "So, do we have the schematics of the base then?"
Maria swallowed before nodding. "Yes, we do, sir."
"Good." He broke off their intense eye contact before saying, "I need you to walk our agents through here. We think the research facility was initially built for the intentions of finding this creature, so if they're looking for it, they should be deep, probably on the lowest level."
"The lowest level is where the generators are. They won't be there," Maria said matter of factly. "I'd gather they'd be two levels up from there on level Q, half a click down the South East tunnel." Maria then turned to study the monitor before asking, "How many strong are we?"
"Ten. We've got Rogers, Romanoff, and Myer's tac team."
Maria leaned into the mic, speaking into it, "You have a go to breach the entrance."
"Hill?" Steve asked in clear confusion.
"Rodgers." Maria simply said back to him.
"Good to have you with us." Hope could hear the smile through his voice.
Natasha then came in as she teased her, "Are you violating your parole right now?"
"Are you violating your tactical equipment requirements right now?"
"Oh, god," Natasha groaned, "you're asking me if I'm wearing my knee pads, aren't you?"
"I am."
"How many vents do I have to crawl through in there?"
"A few."
"How long in total?"
It seemed that Maria was doing a quick calculation in her head before responding with, "Sixty-two metres."
"Damnit." Natasha sighed
Maria then went on to direct the team flawlessly through the facility, remembering every vent system and corridor like she was reading it off of a set of blueprints right in front of her. She was truly spectacular. Hope just couldn't believe how somebody could be that good at their job, she was truly born to be in command.
Hope had also wished that she was there with the team in Africa, especially when Natasha was navigating through all those tight crawl spaces. Hope would have easily been through all the vents there in literal seconds while in her shrunken form.
"We've apprehended de Ruyter's men, but de Ruyter himself isn't here," Steve came through the speakers after they took over level Q, a heap of men now laying on the ground.
"Yeah, and there's this." Natasha, with her bodycam, showed a giant hole in the side of a cement wall, that burrowed into the Earth, travelling upwards. "Looks like they may have found it and it breached the surface someplace else."
Fury sighed before he ordered them, "I'll send a science team your way to investigate. In the meantime, do a sweep of every floor."
Natasha responded with a, "Yes, sir."
Fury then nodded to Janet as the woman turned off the monitor.
The director then looked to the man standing off in the back. "Agent Woo," he addressed him.
"Ah, yes?" he said timidly.
"I hope you were able to ascertain from all this that S.H.I.E.L.D. is dealing with a situation here. A situation that requires its commander." Woo nodded in understanding. "So, I need Hill on the continent of Africa like yesterday."
"Yeah, no I can see that," he said like he was completely intimidated by the man
"So, what can you do about it?" Fury asked, yet it didn't come out like a question.
His words made Hope wondered if Fury had manipulated Woo's agency so that he would visit Maria at this exact moment for this very purpose.
"Yeah, no." He nodded more frantically. "I can definitely take off her ankle monitor and say she's been here in San Francisco for the remainder of her parole."
"Good," he said, but Woo didn't budge. After a silent moment, Fury raised his brow to him as he said, "The ankle monitor?"
"Oh right!" Woo fumbled through his bag, quickly pulling out a tool before moving to Maria's leg and removed it with ease.
"Mrs. Van Dyne." Fury turned to Janet. "Your assistance today was essential." He bowed his head. "We'll be in contact with you."
Fury then started towards the elevator as he called over his shoulder, "Hill." Maria walked over to him as he stopped to call the lift. "You got ten minutes. I'll be out front."
The door opened, but before Fury could walk into the elevator he stopped when Cassie shouted, "No!" She then came barreling down the stairs to the duo at the lift. "You can't take her!" she yelled at him, as he turned around in response to her outburst. "We're having a sleepover right now." She clung tightly to Maria's waist, as Hope could see the girl physically shaking.
"Cassie," Scott gawked, clearly not pleased by her actions.
"No, Daddy!" She looked to him while she starting to cry. "She can't go. It's not fair." She then buried her face into Maria's hip.
Maria then gently loosened Cassie's grip around her as she dropped to her knees. "Hey, it's okay," she spoke gently to her. "You can finish watching Star Wars with Auntie Hope and—"
"No, I want you," she interrupted her as she flung her arms around her neck and began to cry into her shoulder. Maria wrapped her arms around her body as she picked her up into her arms, standing to her feet.
Hope felt Cassie's pain, for all she wanted to do was scream and cling to Maria too, not wanting her to leave either.
"Cassie Lang, is it?" Fury calmly addressed the girl.
Cassie slowly turned her head, tears streaming down her face as she looked at the man. "Yeah?"
"You played a helpful role in Commander Hill's mission."
Cassie sniffled before she said through a shaky voice, "I saved the world. Auntie Maria told me so."
"She's right, you did." He nodded like he was working things through in his head. "So, to honour your heroism, we'll allow your Auntie to leave tomorrow morning instead of tonight."
"Really?" Cassie bounced in Maria's arms just after Fury nodded to her in conformation. "Thank you," she blurted before looking back to Maria. "You can stay!" she cheered like she didn't just have a breakdown mere seconds ago.
Before Maria could respond to Cassie, Fury addressed her, "At zero-six-hundred there'll be a transport right outside this building."
"Understood," she said professionally before the man loaded into the elevator, disappearing behind its doors.
"Wow." Scott shook his head like he still couldn't quite believe it. "That was some top tier emotional manipulation there, Peanut. I don't know if I should be mad at you or proud of you for getting big serious Director Fury to let Maria stay."
"She has to stay to watch Star Wars with us." Cassie hiccuped through a smile.
"Actually, I think I'm gonna let you girls continue on without me. It's getting late and uncle Luis has already texted asking where I am." He waved his phone in the air.
"Okay," Cassie said rather uncaringly. She had her Auntie Maria, and that's all that seemed to matter to her.
"Woo." Scott looked to him, after saying a brief goodbye to the girls.
"Please, call me Jimmy."
"Alright, Jim-Bo, how about I walk your cute, helpful butt downstairs?" He slapped his shoulder before guiding the, now blushing, man to the stairwell.
"Auntie Janet." Cassie looked to the woman who was wrapping a cord around the mic that they'd just previously used. "You're a girl. You can come watch the movie with us if you want."
"Thank you, sweetheart." She smiled warmly at her. "But I think I'm going to finish up some work here."
"Well, when you're done you can come then." Cassie smiled.
"We'll see." Janet nodded, though Hope could tell that she had every intention of going home after she was done.
Hope then noticed Maria wincing which made her assume that Cassie was hurting her ribs as she was pressed up against her torso. Hope then quickly stepped to them as she scooped her out of Maria's arms. "Come here, Cassie." She then lowered her to the floor. "How about you see if you can beat us to the apartment. We'll take the elevator, you take the stairs."
"Okay!" she ran off into the stairwell.
Hope looked to Maria, satisfied that she was no longer making a pain-stricken face before she focused on her mother.
"You're consulting?" she asked, very intrigued by her actions that evening.
"Yes." She nodded. "We'll talk about it later. Right now you have more important things to be doing," Janet said, gesturing to Maria with her head before she walked away towards the bridge's control deck, mic in hand.
When Hope looked back to Maria, she noticed that she was now staring off into the distance, with that same downtrodden expression that she had on that day that she was released from prison.
Hope gently reached over to take Maria's hands in her own, stepping right in front of her. "You, okay?" she asked softly. Maria didn't look to her, instead, she kept her gaze fixed on some random point past Hope's ear as she nodded unconvincingly. Hope could see the turmoil in her eyes. "Do you want to go with Fury now?"
"I—" She dropped her head, shaking it. "It's just, we're missing crucial data." She sighed heavily before bringing her head up, looking into Hope's eyes. "All I want to do is set things right."
Hope hated to offer this, but she knew that she had to. "We can take this elevator down if that's what you need." Hope reached to hover her finger over the 'down arrow' call button. She was prepared to send her away if leaving would bring her even an iota of ease. She just hated seeing her suffer.
Maria stared at Hope's finger as she could see the cogs turning in her head.
Maria then reached out herself and pressed the 'up arrow' button before she focused on her, with a smirk on her face. "Cassie's waiting."
But Hope could still see the pain in her eyes. A pain that Maria seemed to be desperately trying to keep concealed.
Hope nodded, praying that Maria's decision was what she'd truly wanted and she wasn't making it because of her and Cassie.
When the elevator reached them, they loaded in together to restart their sleepover party as best they could.
The rest of the evening had still managed to be fun and enjoyable. However, Maria's smiles were smaller and the twinkle in her eye was muted. It didn't seem like Maria had been forcing herself to have a good time, rather, she was being distracted by a heavyweight. Not unlike a person with chronic pain just trying to enjoy a lovely moment.
It wasn't until eleven o'clock that the three of them all crawled into bed, Cassie insisting to be in the middle. It didn't take long for the girl to fall asleep. She'd been asking Maria so many questions about her job that eventually during her explanation on helicarrier battle tactics, Cassie had drifted off into slumber. Maria didn't take long after that to pass out too when Hope took advantage of the situation to watch the two of them as they laid there peacefully beside her. She was going to miss them, knowing that she'd be crawling into an empty bed for quite awhile after that night.
Eventually, she too fell asleep, not wanting the morning to come. Not looking forward to saying goodbye.
Maria had set herself an alarm for that morning but woke up a few minutes prior to it going off. Her body had developed a good internal clock over the years; she rarely relied on exterior means to get her up.
The room was dimly lit with Cassie's night-light partially illuminating the space. Maria turned her body over to find Hope hugging Cassie's little body into her side. The sight made her smile, though it was a sad smile. She hated that she had to leave them.
She then crawled out of bed before closing herself into the washroom to get herself ready to leave. She showered and put on her blue S.H I.E.L.D. uniform. It was one of her spares that she'd retrieved out of her S.U.V. that Hope had eventually agreed to grow to size for her.
Doing up her zipper to just underneath her collar, she sighed, feeling like she had absolutely no right to be wearing the uniform. She stared at the S.H.I.E.L.D. patch on her arm like it was haunting her, calling her a traitor. The insignia had reminded her of the evening before, while she was directing her agents. Her hands had been sweaty the whole way through it. She was nervous. Maria Hill did not get clammy palms on missions. She was always comfortably in control, knowing that her actions were just and that she herself was just in doing them. But that's not how she felt now.
She forced herself away from the mirror for her own sanity before she scooped up her bag and exited the bathroom.
"Maria?" Hope grumbled through a sleep drenched voice before she began pushing her body to sit up.
Maria dropped her duffle on the floor before she went to Hope, sitting on the edge of the bed as she wrapped her arms around her lower back to help her upright.
Hope hugged her in return as Maria quietly said, "I'm gonna bring your request to Fury and Steve." She wanted to assure her that even in the midst of their de Ruyter situation, she hadn't forgotten about Hope's desire to join the agent's program.
"Okay. Thank you," she replied simply.
Maria gently nodded as her thoughts fell onto all the things that were awaiting her with S.H.I.E.L.D. She didn't know who was privy to her double-crossing actions. The actions that brought about all the innocent deaths, and digitally whipped out pertinent intelligence data. Would she forever be known as the one who attacked S.H.I.E.L.D. from the inside?
"Hey." Hope pulled her out of her thoughts. "It's all gonna be set right," she said as if she was reading her mind while she cupped Maria's face in her hands. "Don't ever forget that it's because of you that there's something still standing to even be corrected in the first place." Hope referred to the fact that they were still alive to do anything at all.
Maria swallowed hard, knowing in her head that she was right, but the knowledge had not yet reached her heart, and probably never would.
Suddenly, there was a flash of light that shone through the window. Hope dropped her hands away from Maria's face as they both turned to catch sight of a quinjet descending next to the building as it landed.
Maria's gaze remained static as she looked out of the window. Her ride was no longer in view, but its lights illuminated some of the surrounding trees that she was now fixated on. Her anxieties shifted from her unworthiness with S.H.I.E.L.D., to her fears of abandoning Hope for yet another time.
"You know when you said you wanted to be with me, even if we only saw each other for a week out of the year?" Maria asked, her focus still diverted from Hope.
"Yeah?"
"Was that seven days consecutive or cumulative?" Maria sighed, shaking her head as she finally looked at her beautiful girlfriend. "Because I can't even manage to stay put while I'm under a multi-governmental sanctioned conditional release."
"You don't need to worry about that." Hope shook her head. "You don't need to worry about us," she said with purpose. "Go, do what you need to do. Call me when you can. And we'll see each other soon enough." Maria was always so overwhelmed by just how patient Hope consistently was with her. Hope then got a glimmer in her eyes before she went to reach over to the bedside table, grabbing the blue toque that she had knitted. "Don't forget your hat." She smirked, tugging it over her head. "I've heard African windchills are even colder than Mexican one."
Maria smiled at her silly comment before she slid her fingers into Hope's hair at her scalp, combing through it as she pushed her thick mane behind her ear.
"I love you," Maria whispered.
"And I love you," Hope muttered as she pushed her mouth to hers.
Maria savoured the kiss, already missing Hope before their lips even parted.
She hated to break away from Hope, but her time had expired and she had obligations to see to. Maria slowly stood up, taking one last look at Cassie, who was still sound asleep, and then to Hope.
Maria picked up her bag, throwing it over her shoulder as Hope said, with a touch of sadness in her voice, "Goodbye, Maria."
Maria smiled ever so softly, locking her gaze with hers as she replied, "Goodbye, Hope."
Maria then nodded, more to herself as a self-motivator to step away, before she turned around and left. Scared anticipation flowing through her veins, not at all emotionally prepared for what was ahead of her.