Summary: Tony being Tony calls in a meeting with the Avengers and the extended family to tell the amazing idea he had: create Steve a playlist of their favorite songs to help with his adaptation.
or
… the time when Maria spared with Natasha after a rather difficult talk with Congress.
Characters: Maria Hill, Natasha Romanoff, Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Pietro Maximoff, Clint Barton, Jarvis.
Relationships: Maria Hill/Pietro Maximoff.
Tags of the chapter: BAMF Maria Hill, BAMF Natasha Romanov, Natasha is a good bro, Tony Stark is a good bro, Clint Barton is a joker, Tony Stark hates Senator Stern, Maria Hill would rather not deal with Congress, Jarvis' organizational skills.
A/N: Playlist available on Spotify with the songs of the chapters posted. Check it out and tune each song with your reading! Link available on my profile.
Something to Hold Onto
Chapter Eight, Cherry Bomb, 1976
"I think this will do now." Tony got up and analyzed the treadmill for a few seconds, twisting the screwdriver on his right hand. "Yeah, I'm pretty confident, why don't you give it a try?"
Just as Pietro was about to climb the treadmill, the doors to the gym were roughly opened. Natasha and Clint stopped their sparing, Steve steadied the punching bag he was using and Pietro stepped back next to Tony, who had effectively stopped his screwdriver.
They watched as Maria entered the room, walking briskly and looking very pissed off.
"Hill? What's going on?" Steve started unwrapping his hands with a frown. "Maria?"
She roughly shook her head and moved with purpose towards Natasha.
"Jarvis, play Cherry Bomb." She nodded to Natasha as the heavy notes started playing.
"Can't stay at home, can't stay at school. Old folks say, 'ya poor little fool'. Down the street, I'm the girl next door. I'm the fox you've been waiting for!"
Clint stepped away and went to stay next to the other men as Natasha lounged herself at Hill, who managed herself quite well despite her high heels.
The two continued sparing as the song continued blasting the speakers. Natasha picked up a sparing baton and Clint stopped Steve when he took a step forward.
"Stone age love and strange sounds too, come on baby let me get to you. Bad nights cause'n teenage blues, get down ladies you've got nothing to lose!"
Maria quickly evaded Natasha's attempt to move behind her and landed a solid kick to her stomach, making the Widow take a step back and Tony gasp.
Hill lounged herself at Natasha who angled her body down and was able to throw Hill over and moved so that she was on top of her.
"Hey street boy, what's your style? Your dead end dreams don't make you smile. I'll give ya something to live for, have ya, grab ya, til you're sore!"
The two rolled around for a few more moments until Natasha secured her legs around Maria's body, cutting off her air supply with one arm around her neck.
Just as the song was about to end, Maria tapped the Russian's arm and Natasha let go.
Pietro was the first to reach the two and he helped Maria up as Clint helped Natasha. Tony passed them bottles of water and Steve crossed his arms across his chest.
"What is going on?"
Maria handled her bottle to Pietro and tucked her shirt neatly back into her pants while she calmed her breathing.
Tony noted with an impressed tone of voice that she still looked impeccable.
"How did you manage to do that? You still have your shoes on! Both of them!"
"Tones, I already told you, you're the only one of the group that loses your shoes when fighting, man." Clint playfully hit Tony's arm.
"What happened?" Natasha asked, completely composed again as well.
"Senator Stern is out of prison." Hill did not beat around the bush, as this was not her style.
"What?" They heard the metal of the nearby weight holder caving underneath Steve's hands. "How is he out? We exposed him. He's Hydra!"
"I have no idea." Maria seemed to be getting angry herself, once again. "I was giving my statement to those kindergarters at Congress¹ when he walked in, saying that he had been set up." She clenched her hands by her side. "He threatened to sue and all of the other senators just took him back in. It should be breaking news by now."
Tony already had a StarkPad on his hand and he was asking Jarvis to project the image as a hologram. They watched a video of an interview Stern had given outside the Congress building and they were surprised when they heard the sound of glass breaking. The video stopped playing. Natasha raised an eyebrow when she noticed how tight Tony's grip was at the now broken tablet.
"I hadn't reinforced this one yet." Tony dismissively threw the tablet at a nearby table. "God, I fucking hate Stern. The guy is like a nightmare, Nat!" He looked with wide eyes at Natasha, as he remembered how Stern was friends with Hammer and the whole Ivan Venko fiasco.
She comfortingly put a steadying hand on his shoulder and considered the next steps.
"Cap, what do you want to do? I can talk to my contacts at the House and see that intel I can gather."
"Do that, Romanov." Steve frowned deeply. "Hill, talk to Coulson and find out what he knows about Stern, besides what was on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files. The priority here is to figure out who are his allies and if Hydra is resurfacing or if a new group is trying to take its place."
They all nodded and the group began to scatter, leaving only Steve, Pietro and Maria behind.
"Are you better now?" Pietro's voice was thick.
"No. I hate Stern and Congress with a passion. They always figure out ways to make my work harder." She shook her head and forced herself to relax for a few seconds. She leaned against Pietro, who kissed her head. She noticed Steve's apologetic smile at being caught and she grinned. "I bet you didn't know Cherry Bomb, huh, Cap?"
A/N: Song: Cherry Bomb, by The Runways – 1976.
¹ Reference to a comment Hill made on an Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. episode – Nothing Personal to be specific – S01E20 to be even more specific.