Looking back at that first meeting with May and the first time she watched those two interact, she tries to remember. Should she have known then and there that they would end up here? She doesn't know. It had been such a long time ago. Though she does remember the weeks and months following that gathering outside Fury's office quite clearly. They had been hell.

::

"Ugh." Maria gritted her teeth as her back hit the mat. Again.

It had been a week and so far they had spent every day of it in the gym. They started with an hour of running each morning which strangely reminded her of her track-and-field days in high school. Afterwards they would spent three to four hours practicing hand-to-hand. Agent May switched so easily between techniques and styles that it left Maria dizzy and at an enormous disadvantage. Not that she'd had any chance to begin with. After a thirty minute break they would pour over tactical theory before Agent Coulson took over. He would go over old missions with her, detailing the mission's parameters, analysing the outside factors. She felt like she should know this already because surely they had covered this at the Academy. But when he asked her something and looked at her expectantly with a small smile on his face, her mind was blank. She was just so damn tired. And frustrated. And she began to hate his damn smiling face.

After that the next three hours of getting her ass handed to her by May almost felt like relief. Shooting range, stick fighting, sword fighting, climbing, swimming, hand-to-hand. It differed every day. At least that provided a small outlet for her frustrations. At eight o'clock sharp every day they were done and Maria was exhausted.

"Get up." May said.

For today she had chosen double Kali stick fighting and Maria hated it. Not only did her fingers hurt from where May tapped them with her rattan sticks regularly - "keep your sticks moving"- but she repeatedly incorporated other fighting styles and sent her flying to the mat.

Just once she would like to stay down here and let the time pass.

"Come on, get up."

"Why?" She asked irritatedly. "You'll drop me again in 30 seconds. I could just stay down here and safe us both the trouble." She felt like crying and only her father's mantra repeating in her head kept her from doing so. She was tired, she was hungry, her whole body ached and she had had enough.

She heard soft feet coming closer and an outstretched hand came into her line of sight.

"Get up." May said again. But this time her voice was gentler, more quiet.

Maria grabbed the offered hand and let herself be hauled up, desperately trying to blink away any moisture in her eyes.

"Now get your sticks and get ready." May said lightly. Maria's eyes flew to her rattan sticks where she had lost them moments earlier. She clenched her teeth.

"Do you want to quit?" May's voice held no anger, no accusation.

She wanted to say yes. She really did. Every aching muscle in her body begged her to. Only her stubbornness kept her from opening her mouth.

"Right now you see this as punishment." May said.

"No." Maria shook her head.

"Yes, you do. You feel frustrated and out of place. You don't know why you are here."

"Because no one tells me a damn thing." Maria burst out heatedly. "I was doing a damn fine job before and now I'm stuck here. And with all due respect, but you don't know a damn thing about me or how I feel."

If she had felt any less tired or upset or irritated she might have thought twice about confronting Agent Melinda May in such a way. As it was, she could only wonder later how the older agent had remained so calm and collected.

"Your name is Maria Agnes Hill. You're from Chicago. Your mother died in childbirth which your father never forgave you for. You joined the Army and went on to study International Relations. S.H.I.E.L.D. recruited you out of college."

"All that proves is that you read my file."

"You have an older brother you're not in contact with although you wished it was different. Even though you've been here for quite some time and had no problems getting around socially, you still think about a guy from college." May continued gently while Maria's gaze hardened. "His name is Jason. You prefer your coffee with milk and sugar but drink it black because you don't want to be seen as weak."

"Okay, please tell me that's not in my file." Maria tried to joke.

May just went on, not paying her any attention. "I also know that your friends invited you out to drinks four times this week and you always passed. Why?"

Maria looked at her with what had be a dumbstruck look on her face. But May waited her out.

"Honestly?"

May nodded once, waiting patiently.

Maria took a deep breath. "Because all they want to talk about is what it's like being trained by you."

A small smile appeared on May's face and her voice grew gentler than Maria would have thought possible."So tell them. Complain to them. Get it all out. But you should stop seeing this as a punishment and think of it as an opportunity." Her gaze flickered over Maria's shoulder before settling on her again. "I'm not being hard on you because I enjoy it. But I'm not here to be your friend. I am responsible for you. And I have to make sure you have everything you need to make the right decisions out there and come back alive."

Maria wondered what out there meant specifically while May bent down and collected Maria's abandoned Kali sticks. When the older agent spoke again, she was back to her detached self. "Clear up the mats. Go out with your friends tonight. We meet tomorrow at six."

Maria nodded stiffly and turned to watch after her as she crossed the emtpy gym hall. She was surprised to see Agent Coulson standing in the doorway, arms crossed unhurriedly and obviously waiting. She couldn't hear what they said as May reached him, but she saw him smiling down at her. Then he looked back at her and Maria returned his nodded greeting before she watched them leave and turned back to the mats.

Right. Clear up. That she could do.

.

::

.

"It's about damn time you came out with us again. I almost forgot what your ugly face looked like!"

Maria rolled her eyes at Jane good-naturedly and took another swig from her beer.

"And I'm so desperate to hear about your adventures with Agent Melinda May, but Marshall would kill us if he missed anything." Jane complained with a pout.

"Where is he anyway?" Maria wondered and let her gaze wander through the bar. It was the usual crowd of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and various other government agencies' people. Nobody really liked to advertise their employer and that was fine with everyone.

"He and Don were signed up for an advanced training in strategic analysis and procedure of something or other. I didn't pay that much attention, you know how whiny he can get. Agent Coulson has them working pretty hard for it. Heard they even had to do homework."

Maria snorted. "Yeah, that sounds like Coulson."

"Wait, you know him?" Jane asked surprisedly.

She was saved from having to explain by two strong arms wrapping themselves around her from behind and a scratchy three-day beard grating against her right cheek. "Maria, you light of my life. Where the hell have you been?"

"Oh leave her alone, Marshall." Jane told him good-naturedly, while Maria fought the impulse to dislocate his shoulder. Maybe the last week of training hadn't been for nothing after all.

Marshall and two other agents, Don and Michael, rounded the table and Maria and Jane scooted over to make some space for them in the booth. They had already brought their own beers from the bar. Maria leaned back as she listened to her friends and their complaints. It had only been a week and she already felt so far away from all this. A week ago their problems had been her own problems, but now she felt different. Almost separated from this life that used to be her own.

"I swear that guy Coulson is going on my last nerve." Marshall sighed after he sat down next to Maria. "Nothing I do is good enough for him. He is such a stickler for details. And oh my God, does he need a detailed plan for everything? Remember what old Wickham used to say in the Academy? To always leave room for lateral thinking. But I bet Coulson even needs a plan to make his own bed."

"Agent Erikson?" A voice sounded from behind them.

Marshall shot out of his seat while everyone else watched with baited breaths. "Agent Coulson, sir."

"I just wanted to tell you that you did a good job today." Coulson said as he came to stand next to their table.

Marshall sputtered and nodded and Maria had to nudge his thigh to get him to say something in response. "Thank you, sir."

He held his breath while Coulson nodded at everyone else. Maria couldn't be sure but she thought his eyes stayed with her a moment longer. Then he left and Marshall dropped back into his seat while everyone else started to laugh.

"Holy-" Marshall took a swig of his beer. "What's his deal? I'm pretty sure he hates my guts."

"Maybe he's trying to smother you with kindness." Jane joked and clinked her bottle against his.

Maria just tried to hold back a grin as she tried to follow Agent Coulson with her eyes without attracting any attention. He made a bee-line for the bar where a small group of suits opened up a spot for him. Maria could see him sidling up to Agent May before the gap in people closed again and the two were out of sight. So they had that drink after all.

"I think that's just rude." Don exclaimed with a frown. "This is supposed to be a work-free zone where we can say whatever we want. Our superiors shouldn't be able to just walk up to us in our free time. I mean he left us in peace the whole week."

"He's been here before?" Maria asked innocuously.

"Yes. Every evening we've been here this week, he's been here too. Usually with that Asian woman."

Don leaned over to table conspiratorially. "Think that's his girlfriend?"

"Nah." Michael said. "I heard he is seeing one of the professors at Sci-Tec Academy."

Marshall shook his. "Yeah, but look at her. I mean she is hot."

"Yes, but he's Coulson. I mean the guy collects Captain America cards for fun. He's a real nerd. And she is so obviously out of his league. A guy like him would never have a chance with her." Michael chipped in.

"They just know each other distantly from a few ops." Maria said without thinking.

"How do you know?" Marshall asked while Jane sent her a look. One intended to remind Maria that sometimes it took less than that to hook up.

"Actually... that's Agent Melinda May." Maria said off-handedly, a small smile playing on her lips. She wasn't so far detached from her friends that she couldn't have a little fun with them.

As her friends showered her with questions about Agent Melinda May as if her whole name ought to be written in capital letters, Maria couldn't help but risk another glance at her new S.O.. She watched from the corner of her eye as May leaned up to Coulson, saying something directly into his ear that made him laugh. And she wondered just what might be going on there.

What is it with us writers that we're so thirsty for reviews, in need of approval?! Maybe because when writing, we pour a little of ourselves into our words. And thus show the world a part of our heart, hoping we are liked.