A/N: Well, this is much later than I liked. Fair Warning- lots of angst and violence in this one. Next chapter should be up much quicker. It's already halfway written. Thanks to everyone who's liked and commented. Makes me happy to know others are enjoying it too!

Day 12: Arguing Part III

The room remained silent other than the audio crackling through the surround sound system. Many of the agents had turned away from the visual streaming from the warehouse, but the audio was impossible to tune out. Most of the people in the room were technological specialists who were not used to observing field situations first hand. They ran down possible targets, extraction protocols, and recoveries that were turned over to the handlers to implement. They were not used to seeing an agent let alone their boss in the direct line of fire. Fury forced himself to unclench his fists as Hill took an especially hard blow to her face. If the brunette managed to make it out of this one he doubted anyone would ever question her authority or loyalty again. It was clear many agents had forgotten she had been one of the best field agents SHIELD recruited before moving up the ranks.

"Someone better fucking tell me we have something," he barked.

The hushed silence that greeted him made him want to growl.

"We've cleared over half the theatres in Times Square, and should have the remaining ones swept in at least an hour," a soft-spoken agent volunteered.

"Does it look like we have that kind of time?" He bellowed while gesturing towards the screen.

A harried looking man burst into the room.

"Sir, Captain Rogers is here requesting to speak to the Deputy Director."

Fury exhaled slowly, and was about to tell the agent to direct the Captain to his office when he heard a loud commotion from down the hall.

"This shitstorm's about to get a whole hell of a lot worse," he muttered under his breath as he turned to face an enraged super soldier.

"Director Fury, I do believe you'd like to fill me in on the situation," Steve said with thinly veiled anger when his eyes locked onto the live feed.

"Captain Rogers, I didn't realize you were planning on stopping by today."

Fury hoped the Captain understood his unspoken warning.

"Deputy Director Hill informed me she had some information about volunteer efforts in the city I may be interested in. I wasn't doing much today, and decided I may as well stop by for a meeting."

Fury nodded, and knew Hill would be happy she wouldn't be the subject of even more office scuttlebutt.

"An incident occurred during a training exercise this morning resulting in a hostage situation. The man responsible is a longtime enemy of SHIELD and the Deputy Director. He allegedly has a bomb planted in Time Square, and has threatened to detonate it if the Avengers were involved or if Deputy Director Hill did not meet with him in person. She knew the risks and volunteered against my wishes in order to minimize the civilian casualties. I trust her threat assessment and ability to handle the situation. Agents Barton and Romanoff are standing by as soon as the threat to the City is neutralized."

"What can I do to help?" Steve asked, and both men turned towards the monitor.

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Her head was swimming, and the pounding from behind her right eye socket was excruciating. Testing the limit of her newest injury, she tried to open her eyes to focus on the grinning man in front of her and softly hissed. Her right eye was definitely swollen shut. Maria swallowed hard and willed her body to keep it together while she slowly raised her head. After the children had gone, Porter had increased the intensity of his assault without delivering anything life threatening. He had avoided her face until that last blow that caught her right cheekbone when the timer had gone off for the second time. She hauled herself to her feet, catching herself on the back of the chair when she sucked in a breath that made her lungs feel like they were on fire.

The other woman wouldn't look her in the eye. Maria didn't take offense. She knew the woman was frantic to be rejoined with her children and was no doubt feeling a tinge of survivor's guilt. Porter didn't say a word, only gestured towards the door with a smile. She wanted to carve off that smirk with a knife. She settled for a one eyed glare and bit back the laugh that threatened to escape when she wondered if this is what Fury felt. Damn it all to hell, she was losing it. The door felt farther away this time, and as they neared it she stumbled and the woman reached toward her with a fearful expression as Maria grasped her forearm.

"Tell them Apollo," she whispered.

The other woman blinked hard before giving a slight lift to her chin in acknowledgement. The door was pushed open, and Maria sunk her weight into the doorframe as she turned her face away from the harsh afternoon sun. The woman scrambled passed her and out the door before turning with a thankful look and speaking to one of the agents close at hand. Lingering in the sun for a few seconds more, Maria turned and let the door slam shut behind her.

She was instantly met with a hand around her throat that lifted her off the ground and slammed her into the concrete wall with enough force to make her see stars. She bit back the rising wave of nausea at the sudden movement. With the civilians gone, she decided it was time for the rules to change and immediately fought for leverage. The man currently crushing her larynx was one of Porter's goons who wasn't expecting her to fight back. She caught him in the eye, and he loosened his grip enough for her to shift her weight forward and grab the back of his neck with her hands. She twisted abruptly, falling backward, and snapped his neck using his own body weight against him.

She slid to the floor, her heart racing, and shoved the dead man to the side. She coughed hard, and the movement sent waves of pain crashing inside her ribs. She could feel the blackness encroaching on her vision and knew she was running out of time.

"I thought this was just between us," she said hoarsely.

Porter just laughed.

"You're quite right, my dear."

"How long can a person go before passing out?" Clint muttered despondently as he watched the scene play out beneath him.

Natasha shot him a warning glare, before sending a signal back to Fury alerting him they were in place.

Barton continued to watch, his teeth gritted. He was prepared to be in situations like this. What he wasn't prepared for was to see his friend thrown about the room like a rag doll. Hill always had a larger than life reputation. She was stone cold in the worst situations, rarely letting her sarcastic side slip through, especially when she was aware of the live stream. She was an intensely private person, but somewhere along the way she had taken a liking to the two assassins and let them see beyond the ice queen persona. It was hard to remember she was just as human as the rest of them. He glanced at his partner. Well, almost the rest of them.

Natasha clenched her fists when Porter landed a blow that sent Maria's head reeling backward. The agent was still for a moment, her head bowed. Even from a distance, it was easy to see the swelling and bruising that was beginning to cover her face. Her hair hung limply, and she slowly reached up to tug a strand of blood-matted hair behind her ear before fixing Porter with a sharp glare. Natasha felt her lips quirk upwards. Same old Maria.

Barton tensed beside her when Maria struggled to her feet. She was moving sluggishly as she escorted the last civilian to the door. Barton narrowed his gaze when the agent whispered something to the woman.

"Apollo. Clear the Apollo Theatre immediately," he whispered into the com.

The wait was agonizing as the two assassins braced for action as soon as they received the all-clear. They could only watch while Maria killed her assailant while Porter watched with a smile. With a quick nod of his head, the rest of Porter's men roughly pulled the rookie agents to their feet while he sauntered over to where Maria sat collapsed against the wall. He didn't spare his dead accomplice a second glance, before he wrapped his hand around her forearm and jerked her up. She couldn't hold back the muffled whimper of pain, and he practically cooed at her in response. He pressed the muzzle of his gun against her temple, and dragged her back towards the center of the room.

"Well, here we are," Porter whispered into her ear. "I could just shoot you and be done with it."

She remained silent.

"Or I could draw it out, and make you beg for it. The Mighty Maria Hill-," his voice trailed off. "But you'd never do that, would you darling? You're a good little soldier, loyal to the end, and yet you'd give your life for them wouldn't you?"

His grip on her tightened as he waved the gun around the room.

"Can you clarify that pronoun? Did you mean them as in the agents or them as in the city in general, because that was a little vague," she slurred.

He looked down at her with a mixture of murderous rage with a hint of fondness, and she crinkled her nose.

"I'm just saying if you're going to give threatening speeches, vagueness isn't a sought after trait."

"What the hell is she doing?" Barton hissed.

"Stalling," Romanoff responded.

"And do you know how long it took me to pick out that color for my front door?"

Porter smiled, his thoughts redirected.

"I knew you'd figure it out," he replied. "I thought you might appreciate a little foreplay."

His hand trailed down her side, and she winced at the pressure he applied on her ribs.

"I'd say you need to work on your skills. Flowers would have been simpler," she said dryly.

"I had to get your attention somehow, darling. Maybe I'll visit Chicago next. I've heard it's a beautiful city."

"What did you say?" her voice hardened as she twisted to look up at him.

He stared down at her with a sickening smile, and she remained expressionless despite her growing rage. A soft tap above her clued her in.

"Green, Delta Strike."

"You'll die alone, you know. No one out there cares what sacrifices you make."

"You've made a mistake, Ethan."

He quirked an eyebrow.

"I'm not alone."

He pulled her tightly against him as the rest of his men dropped to the floor with arrows in their chests. She could feel the cool metal digging into her cheek, and her eyes briefly flickered shut as she bit her lip to keep from crying out. She opened her eyes and stared directly at Barton.

"Shoot him. Shoot him now."

She hated how weak her voice sounded to her own ears, but knew no one had a clean shot. Drawing her eyes back to Barton's, she let her knees buckle.

A gunshot echoed.

The soft silence of an arrow ended with a thud as it met its target.

Maria looked around mutely as Natasha rushed towards her and Porter, her mouth moving but no sound escaping. She blinked hard, and the noise began to rush back to her ears. Porter was on the floor in front of her. She was on her knees, swaying slightly as Porter stared at her with a grin. An arrow had pierced his throat, and she knew he'd be dead in a matter or seconds. Her hands were wet, and when she glanced down she was puzzled to see them covered in red.

"Oh god," she heard someone say.

The first wave of pain hit her hard and sent her collapsing to her side. Barton caught her head before it could hit the floor. She could hear the faint gargled rasp as Porter laughed one last time.

"I can count the number of friends I have on one hand, and she is one of them," Romanoff said emotionlessly before shooting him in the head. "I only wish you could suffer more."

"Didn't know you cared so much, Romanoff," Maria gasped, her body arching in pain.

"Shut up Hill, you're bleeding out," Clint growled as he pressed his hands harder into her abdomen.

"Tell him I'm sorry," she whispered.

Her head lolled towards Natasha and she tried to focus on the redhead. Her one good eye wasn't cooperating, and she found herself frowning.

"No can do, Hill. You'll be back bitching us all out in no time," Clint replied with a worried glance towards his partner.

"Where the fuck is medical?" a voice yelled.

She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood. Fucking hell, she'd forgotten how much getting shot hurt. The beating may have exacerbated it though. At this point, her muddled mind couldn't tell. Her breathing grew more ragged, and she wanted to tell Barton there wasn't any point. Her lung had been punctured, and the percentage of her living through this steadily dropped. She tried to move her head, but she could feel herself drifting further away, and her body was no longer cooperating.

"Goddamnit Maria, don't do this!"

The world became blissfully quiet once more, and she felt her breathing slow, before everything went black as someone grabbed her hand.

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"She has a collapsed lung. Hand me that syringe."

"She's not breathing."

"Fucking hell, hand me the paddles."

"Charging...Clear!"

"We're losing her."

"Fury's going to murder us all."

"Come on, Commander. Come back to us."

"Charging-"

"Barton's going to eat all your cheese dip.'

"Clear!"

"She's back."

"I told you not to mess with Hill's cheese dip. She doesn't share well."

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All activity in the control room had ceased when Barton's arrow found it's mark. Fury breathed a small sigh of relief that quickly turned to dread when Hill didn't get up. They watched as the Deputy Director swayed and looked at her hands before collapsing on her side.

"Motherfucker!" Fury yelled and slammed his hands down on the console as he watched Barton frantically apply pressure.

The pool of blood surrounding the brunette agent continued to grow, and it was clear to see she was in pain. The scene was in chaos, and all he could do was watch from afar. He could hear the quiet acceptance in Hill's voice muddled together with Barton's edgy comebacks as he told her to hang on. Fury's eyes shifted to the right side of the feed as Steve Rogers burst through the door having obviously ran all the way from Times Square. His eyes frantically darted around the warehouse until they settled on the huddled group in the middle. One of the medics yelled for the paddles, and the super soldier just about came unglued.

He fell to his knees beside her, gently grasping her hand in his as if it were the only thing tethering him to the world.

"Don't you dare die on me, Maria. Not like this," Rogers pleaded as Hill's head fell limply to the ground.

"Your brother said he'd kill me if anything happened to you. And what about Hermes, huh?"

His voice broke, and she was pulled away from him.

"I'm coming with you," he ordered, leaving no room for argument.

"Cap-," Natasha started.

"I don't care. I love her," he stubbornly replied before following the medical team to the ambulance.

"Cut the audio," Fury ordered with a sigh.

So much for that staying secret.

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"She's coding again."

"We're two minutes out."

"Charging-"

"I love you, damn it."

"Clear."

"Nothing."

"Increase the charge."

"Please, Maria."

"Clear."

"We've got her."