New chapter ready to go. So sorry for the delay. Your patience is greatly appreciated.

All For Jesus: Glad to make you smile and glad you found Maria's response true to character

do you see the stars: Thank you. I'm enjoying writing these two as well.

imtellingmyfatheraboutthis: Your welcome. I hope you enjoyed the rest as well as the first chapter. I'm also glad to hear you enjoy those little details. Sometimes, I wonder if I'm trying to put too much in

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captainhillshipper: Thanks much. I figured she try very hard to convince him that he really doesn't want to marry her. I always figured Hawkeye and Margaret would end up together. I'm glad I'm not the only one.

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BleachedAmerican: There's a very good chance that Benjamin will be making an appearance in his mother's life at some point in the future. I'm glad you're enjoying.

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All follows and favorites appreciated. Reviewers utterly adored! As always, they still aren't mine. That's why I have to go to work. Heavy sigh. Here's your next chapter.

Stroll 19

Maria looked at the clock and cursed. She rolled out of bed, ignoring the twinges of discomfort from the morning's activities.

"What's wrong?" Steve asked, propping himself up on his elbow to watch as she darted to her dresser to grab a uniform.

"I only have a couple of hours before I have to be back at the base," she told him, heading into the bathroom to start the shower. She turned to find him standing behind her, holding her phone.

"You might want to check your messages first," he told her.

Eying him suspiciously, she took the device and punched in her code, surprised to find a single message in her inbox. It was from Fury.

XOXOXOX

Vacation was the subject.

You are on one, effective immediately.

I will be handling any and all threats arising, be they from

HYDRA, the KGB, AlQaeda, the IRA, or KAOS. I have

instructed security that you are to be shot on sight should you

attempt to return to base before 6 am Monday morning. Captain

Rogers has received the same orders.

You'd damn well better enjoy yourselves. That's also an order.

XOXOXOX

Steve looked at her in puzzlement. "I've heard of the others, but what's the background on KAOS?"

She chuckled. "KAOS sprang from the minds of a couple of comic geniuses. The spy genre was very popular back in the 60's and these guys came up with a television show that was a spoof of that. It was called 'Get Smart.' The main character was a somewhat bumbling secret agent who worked for an agency called CONTROL. The bad guys were from an agency called KAOS. Phil introduced me to it when I was in the hospital. For some reason, he and Nick seemed to pop in about the time it came on. Guess we kind of bonded over it. Maybe we can watch some while we're off."

"Sounds interesting," he replied.

"So. You've been ordered on vacation, too," she said.

"Yeah. Director Fury informed me last night before I left the base. Forgot to mention it. Sorry."

"I suppose you were a bit distracted," she acknowledged, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her body close against his. "I'm just glad you remembered before I got myself shot for showing up at work."

He returned her kiss. "I'm sure he wouldn't really have you shot," he assured her.

"Do you really want to test that theory?"

"Not really," he agreed.

"So what DO you want to do?" she asked with a seductive smile. She could feel his arousal pressing against her stomach.

Suddenly, his stomach growled loudly. He laughed as he leaned down to nibble at her neck. "Maybe I should find something to eat while you get your shower," he commented.

"Or," she suggested, "You could join me in the shower. It would save time and conserve water."

"Conserving water is good," he commented, trailing kisses up her neck. "And it is a very large shower. Plenty of room for two."

"Then we could find something to eat together. We'll probably have to head upstairs. I doubt there's much in your kitchen."

He shook his head.

"And the only thing in mine is some yogurt and granola bars."

"I think I need a little more than that," he told her as his stomach growled again.

Her teeth lightly tugged at his earlobe as his wandering hands drew a moan from deep in her throat. "Quick shower, then breakfast," she said, her hands going to his hips to pull him along as she walked backwards towards the still running shower.

"It really doesn't need to be that quick," he murmured, lifting her as he strode smoothly into the steamy glass enclosure, his lips claiming hers.

She pulled her head back as he closed the door behind them. "Do you have"

He held up a strip of condom packets as he pushed her against the wall.

"Such a boy scout," she commented.

"Always prepared," he agreed.

"Though the Coast Guard motto would be appropriate, too," she added with a saucy grin.

"Always ready," they quoted together, laughing until their lips found more interesting things to do.

XOX

In the common area kitchen, they agreed on pancakes, even though it was closer to lunch time than breakfast time. Maria mixed the batter while Steve heated the griddle and cleaned fruit. Noting his pensive look, she gently touched his arm.

"What's on your mind?" she asked softly.

"Nothing," he replied quickly, then shook his head. "Just a little confused by some things that you said earlier," he finally admitted.

"What things?" she asked, pouring the batter onto the griddle. "You know you can feel free to ask me about anything." She considered a moment, then added. "At least, when we're not on duty. I'm happy to explain things to you."

He rubbed his neck, then finally met her eyes. "You said something about a shot?" When she looked confused, he continued. "We were talking about condoms? You said that we wouldn't have to use them for long because you had a shot?"

She laughed and he turned his attention to the pancakes, deftly flipping them. She could see the faint blush creeping up his neck and placed her hand on his arm again.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have laughed. You've adjusted so well that sometimes it's just so easy to forget that things that are so common are completely foreign to you. Will you forgive me?" she asked, looking up at him.

He turned, smiling down at her. "Of course." His arms wrapped around her, pulling her close again. "I've picked up a lot from listening to people and television and the computer, but I find myself walking away when the topics start getting too personal. Even though people don't seem bothered by talking about some of that stuff in public..."

"That's fine," she assured him. "Your modesty is part of what makes you the man that you are...the man that I love." She stretched up to kiss him. "I hope you never feel that something is too personal to talk to me about."

When their pancakes were ready, they sat down at the table to eat. Over their meal, she explained to him various methods of birth control. He was pleased to hear that Peggy had been a driving force behind SHIELD becoming one of the first organizations to offer no charge birth control to all female agents.

"In fact, female field agents are strongly encouraged to take advantage of some of the long term options," she told him. He stared at her for a moment, his eyes going wide when he finally understood the reason.

"One less thing to worry about just in case," she told him. He continued to watch her and she shrugged. "Hazard of the job. Unfortunately, one Peggy understood far too well. She hoped to spare any other recovered agent at least that part of what she went through."

"She was..." He couldn't finish the question.

Maria nodded. "When she married a few years later, her husband adopted her son. He's now a SHIELD liaison with MI6."

Steve looked down at his plate, then back up at her. "Have you..."

She held up a hand to stop him. "If you ask, Steve, I'm going to give you an honest answer. Do you really want to know?"

He reached out, lacing his fingers with hers. "I think that's all the answer I need," he told her. He held her gaze. "I'm sorry."

She shrugged. "I knew the risks. Besides, it was a long time ago."

"If you ever want to talk about it..."

"I won't," she replied, "but thanks."

"What other questions do you have for me?" she asked, ready for a new subject.

They moved on to the topic of fertility treatments as they worked their way through the double recipe of pancake batter she had mixed. He ate three for each one of hers, stopping only when the stack was gone. They moved to the kitchen to clean up, then settled on the sofa to watch Bucky and Calista chase each other around the room.

Cat sat nearby, grooming himself as he very deliberately ignored the canine duo. After several minutes of not being noticed, he moved, settling himself right in the middle of their path before resuming his cleaning. When the dogs were forced to stop by the obstacle in their path, Calista started barking at him. Cat flicked his gaze to her momentarily, then turned his attention back to his paw.

Steve laughed. "He's going to be the ignorer, not the ignoree," he noted.

Maria nodded. "Yup. He'll plop himself down on my keyboard, then give me a dirty look if I start to pet him."

Finally, the black cat stood, stretching before he walked over to the cat condo sitting by the window. Calista and Bucky following. When the feline perched himself on the top level, the lab puppy stood at the foot, barking. Bucky turned around, lying down nearby to watch.

"What would you like to do while we're off?" Maria asked, snuggling close to Steve as they sipped at their coffee.

"I've been thinking I'd like to go visit the old neighborhood," he told her.

"Have you been there since you came back?" she asked.

He shook his head. "I've gone down there a few times, but I've never been able to walk around. I guess I'm nervous to see how much things have changed," he confessed.

"I'd be happy to go with you, if that's what you want," she told him.

A startled 'BARK' drew their attention back to the animals. The bouncy younger dog had accidentally stepped on the older dog. In a flash of motion, the cat moved smoothly down a level and reached out to swat the pup.

With a high-pitched 'YIP,' she backed away.

"You ever think about having that beast declawed, Hill?" a voice asked. They turned to see Tony Stark settling into a chair, reaching towards his dog as he set his coffee cup on the end table.

"No, I haven't," she replied. "And if you did a little research on the subject, you wouldn't either."

Stark glanced at her, then bent to examine Calista.

"Besides," Steve told him, "Cat didn't use his claws. It was just a warning."

"How do you know?"

"Because he will give you a warning before he actually uses claws. Calista barked because she was startled. If she had been scratched, she would still be yelping. Do you see any sign of bleeding?" Maria asked.

"No," Tony admitted. "I don't see anything."

"He was just warning her to be more careful around Bucky," Steve explained.

Calista licked her owner's face, then turned around and went over to join the other dog at the foot of the cat tree, looking at him with a soft whine. He licked her ear, barking softly before curling up again. Cat jumped down from his perch, curling up between the two dogs.

Maria looked over at Tony, finally really noticing him.

"Interesting outfit, Stark," she commented.

While he had on a dress shirt, suit jacket, and tie, his legs were clad in his usual ratty sweatpants and his feet were bare.

He reached up, loosening the tie and pulling it off. "My wife had a meeting by video this morning, but she was too hung over to get out of bed, thanks to you and Red, so I had to sit in on it." He looked at her, then at the clock. "At least, I have the satisfaction of knowing that she's not the only one suffering this morning."

"How do you figure that?" she asked.

"It's almost noon. You've normally been up for hours by now. You must not be feeling well if you're just now getting up," he answered.

"I'm pretty sure Steve's been up this morning," a voice purred. They turned to see Natasha and Clint enter the room, each clutching a mug of coffee and dressed for their workday. Katya was with them and walked over to join the animal pile.

"Several times, in fact," Maria added softly with a sly smile.

Tony froze in the middle of removing his suit jacket and stared at them, eyes going wide.

"Oh. My. G..."

A furious glare from Steve froze the exclamation on his tongue. He turned his gaze to Maria.

"You little minx. Did you make a man of our little boy scout?"

Remembering the circumstances of her earlier 'boy scout' reference, Steve and Maria looked at each other, grinning as Steve blushed furiously.

"Do tell, Cap," he urged.

The super soldier turned his attention to the other man. "A gentleman doesn't kiss and tell, Stark."

"It's not the kissing I'm interested in," Tony pushed.

"I find kissing very interesting," Steve replied, pulling Maria into his lap and leaning down to capture her lips with his.

"Ewww," Tony said, making gagging motions.

"I think it's sweet," Natasha protested, draping herself across Clint's lap.

"I'm going to see if I can find something to erase those images from my mind," Stark told them, standing up and heading for the elevator. As the door closed, the smile he had been fighting finally broke through. He raised his coffee cup towards the couple in a silent toast.

Nat stood, offering a hand to pull Clint to his feet. "You want to ride in to base together?" she asked the other couple when they finally broke their kiss.

"Thanks, but we're actually on mandatory leave," Maria informed her.

"Good," Clint answered. "Enjoy yourselves. Don't do anything we wouldn't do."

"What does that rule out?" Maria asked.

Clint and Natasha looked at each other for several minutes before she shrugged. "Not much, really. Setting off nuclear devices?"

"Actually, we sort of did that in Romania," Clint reminded her.

"That's right. I'd forgotten about that. But we did stop it before actual detonation."

They both thought for a few more moments. "We'll get back to you on that," the red head finally told the couple. On their way towards the elevator, she leaned towards Maria. "Feel free to help yourself should you need any more...supplies," she told her looking at Steve. "You really should try the flavored ones."

XOX

After they left, Steve and Maria dressed and took the subway to Brooklyn. As they approached the area where Steve had grown up, his steps slowed. Maria slowed her pace to match his, lightly squeezing his hand. He glance down at her, smiling nervously.

"You know, when I was a kid, I remember the older boys being so proud, strolling down the street with their best girl on their arm. I wondered if that would ever be me. Seventy years later, here I am, showing my best girl my neighborhood."

He suddenly looked at her worriedly. "Sorry. That's not...what's the term...'politically correct,' is it? I shouldn't be referring to you as 'mine' or as a girl. You are your own woman."

She laughed. "Yeah, if anyone else said that to me, I'd be handing them their testicles in a paper bag."

They had stopped at a corner, waiting to cross the street and several others also waiting turned to look at them with shocked expressions. An elderly woman grinned at Maria.

"You tell him!"

As the light changed, the group moved across the street and Maria continued. "From you, I don't mind it. I'm more bothered by the term 'best' girl." His eyebrows raised until she continued. "I'd damn well better be your only girl."

"No worries there," he assured her.

Taking a deep breath, he turned down a street, carefully studying the building numbers. He finally stopped in front of one, looking up to study the building front.

"It's been fixed up and painted, but this was the building I lived in with mom and Bucky," he told her. Stepping to the end of the building, he pointed to a window. "That was our place there, on the third floor. Sometimes, in the summer, when it got really hot, Bucky and I would pull our mattresses out and sleep on the fire escape. Maybe catch a little bit of a breeze."

After a brief silence, he resumed walking. He showed her where his school had once stood, replaced by a strip mall. A small corner grocery store still bore the name of the family that had operated it when he had lived there, now operated by the grandson of the man who had paid Bucky to make neighborhood deliveries and had offered Steve discounts on dented canned goods and unsold produce slightly past it's prime.

They continued walking as he pointed to various different places, telling her what had once been here or used to be there. When they approached a laundromat, he stopped, his head bowed and eyes closed.

Maria stood next to him, leaning her head against his arm. A teenaged boy bumped into them. He opened his mouth to say something, an angry look on his face, until he saw the glare on Maria's. Instead, he mumbled an apology and scurried on his way.

"This is where the restaurant was?" she asked.

He nodded slightly. "Sometimes, I still wake up, thinking I smell the smoke," he said softly.

"I know," she replied, wrapping her arms around him.

He returned the embrace. "I know you do."

They stood that way for several minutes, both reflecting on the life-changing role fire had played in both of their lives. Finally, he loosened his grip and started moving again.

The next time they stopped, his expression was happier. "Finally, something that hasn't changed."

They stood in front of an old church, it's steeple pointing upward, it's doors opened in welcome. Steve looked at Maria.

"Do you mind if we go in?" he asked.

"Not at all," she assured him.

Inside the small church, she slipped into a back pew, appreciating the beautiful woodworking and the stunning stained glass windows while Steve made his was to the front where he lit a candle, then knelt in front of the alter.

"You s'posed to be prayin," a small voice said next to her. She looked over to find a little boy standing at the end of her pew. "Like my gramma," he added, pointing to the woman across the aisle.

"I really don't know how," she whispered back to him.

He looked at her strangely. "You put you hands like this," he told her, demonstrating, "then you close you eyes and pray."

"But I don't know any of the prayers," she told him.

He giggled. "Me either. But gramma says to just talk to God like I would to her or mama or daddy."

"Okay," she told him. "I'll try." He nodded his head in satisfaction, sliding back in the seat next to his gramma and mimicking her position.

Maria saw him turn his head and open one eye to watch her, so she quickly folded her own hands and bowed her head. She thought for a moment. When she and her father had spoken, it usually involved a whole lot of screaming and yelling. Probably not what the kid meant.

She glanced over. He was still watching.

Deep breath.

Okay. She could do this. She had spoken to some pretty important people.

It was always good to start by introducing yourself, right?

Hi, God. You probably don't know me, but my name's Maria. Maria Hill.

No lightening so far.

I've never really thought about you much. I've seen so much ugliness and evil that I guess I figured you really didn't care.

She looked at the front of the church where Steve had risen and was crossing to a small booth at the side of the building.

But now, I'm finally starting to see the good, too, thanks to Steve coming into my life. He's such a good man and the odds are so against us being together at this point in time, against him having feelings for me. I guess I just want to thank you for letting that happen.

She sat in silence for a while, allowing the peace of her surroundings to fill her. Finally, sensing a presence next to her, she looked up to find Steve smiling down at her.

"I didn't want to disturb you," he whispered.

"It's okay," she told him. "I'm ready to go when you are."

As he led her from the sanctuary, she glanced over to see the little boy offer a quick 'thumbs up' before closing his eyes again.

Outside, she wrapped her arms around his waist. "I'm sorry," she told him.

"For what?" he asked, puzzled.

"For making you do something you needed to go to confession for," she explained.

He laughed and pulled her close. "First of all, you didn't make me do anything, Maria. If you're talking about this morning, I was a very willing participant, if you recall."

She smiled.

"Secondly, my confession is between me and God. If you're involved, I'll let you know. Otherwise, don't worry about it," he told her, lifting her chin to look into her eyes. "Okay?"

She finally nodded and he leaned to kiss her. Taking her hand, he led her around to the side of the church. An iron fence surrounded a cemetery and he opened the gate to lead her inside. Looking around, he sighed.

"Lots more markers here than there used to be," he told her. Hand in hand they strolled through the stones. Steve would stop occasionally when a name caught his attention, telling her about the person.

A Sunday school teacher.

The policeman who used to play stick ball with the kids.

The kindly doctor who had cared for him.

The Barnes. James, Sr. Elizabeth. Carly. All with the same date of death.

Steve squatted, running his fingers over the names. "I'm sorry I couldn't keep him safe," he whispered.

Finally, he led her to a small, nondescript marker.

It was plain and simple. A name and two dates.

Sarah Ann Rogers.

Steve knelt in front of the stone, his index finger tracing each letter and number. He leaned forward, resting his head against the granite as he spoke softly. Maria stepped back, allowing him some space and feeling a bit like an intruder. Finally, he stood up and turned, holding his hand out to Maria. When she slipped hers into his, he pulled her close, then turned back to the grave.

"Mom? You remember how you always told me that someday I'd meet a girl who would love and accept me for who I am?"

He smiled down at Maria. "This is her, Mom. This is Maria Hill."

And that's it for now. Thank you so much for your time. I certainly hope it was worth the wait. As always, I crave any and all feedback. I just love knowing what you think of my story. I can't believe this tale has gotten almost 200 reviews. I appreciate you all so much. You're the comfy bed at the end of my camping vacation.