She had decided she hated Hong Kong. Too hot. Too humid. Too many street thugs with low trousers and fake watches giving her the creeps.
And right now, as she sat with her feet resting on the window sill looking at the house across the street, too boring. For the last week that they had watched their mark, nothing whatsoever remarkable had happened.
"He's got another visitor." Maria lifted the binoculars resting on her thighs to her eyes and focused on the black town car down on the street. Coulson was reading something in the armchair while May was dishing out the take out she had brought with her minutes ago. They both looked up at her words.
"Hua?" Coulson asked, slightly perking up.
She let the binoculars drop with a deep sigh. "Negative. Just another one of his girls."
"Here." May walked up to her and handed her a bowl and chopsticks. She had insisted they both learn to eat with them and to Maria's chagrin, Coulson was doing better than her.
She nodded her thanks and halfheartedly picked up a piece of chicken. Coulson suspected that it was dog."What are we even doing here? This is a standard surveillance op."
"Hodge is punishing us." May said resolutely as she sat down next to Coulson on the threadbare sofa. Maria couldn't even tell what colour it was once supposed to be. Right now she would say vomit.
Coulson gave her sideways look. "Hodge is punishing you. We're just guilty accessories." He tried to explain his superior agent's motives. "You thought taking the new plane model for a spin over the Alps was a good idea."
"And I told you if you were too scared you were happy to stay behind and run interference if necessary." May pointed out.
Maria just rolled her eyes and got back to her dog. Chicken. Whatever. She had heard this same argument for over a week now and it was getting old. She glanced at her watch and sighed. Two more hours before Coulson would take over.
May excused herself after dinner and left. Maria and Coulson were left guessing where she went in her free time, she never told them. Coulson did the dishes before he took pity on her and kept her company by the window, going back to his reading.
Maria was bored.
Probably beyond bored.
The ceiling fan creaked above them but did little to put a dent in the rooms stale climate. And the tab in the kitchen was dripping. They had all separately tried to fix that but so far without luck. By now it was reminding her of Chinese water torture.
She turned to look at Coulson. He had lost his suit jacket after three days but was still wearing his tie. Why was beyond her. They had two bedrooms and one bathroom to share and it's not as if they didn't see each other in their respective sleepwear every day.
"Please stop staring at me." He said without looking up.
"What are you reading?" Maria asked instead.
He wordlessly lifted his hands for her to read the front. A comic book. Captain America if she correctly made out the letters.
"Huh." She just said. "So I guess it's true."
Coulson frowned, only now meeting her gaze. "What's true?"
Maria shrugged. "What they say about you."
A small smile played over his lips. "And what do they say, Agent Hill?"
"Well, you know…" She squirmed and hoped this was not a trick question. "That you like Captain America."
"I even collect the trading cards." He acknowledged proudly. "Almost have a full set."
Maria had to smile at his boyish glee and shook her head.
"Anything else they say about me?" He asked amused.
"That you're dating a professor from SciTech." She said with a smirk, hoping to get more out of him on that matter.
"Who told you that?" His face didn't give anything away.
Maria shook her head. "Sorry, I can't reveal my sources."
Coulson snorted. "Your sources? You mean Agent Erikson?"
She had to frown. He knew her friends?
"You are friends with him, aren't you?"
Maria nodded.
Coulson just made a non-committing sound at the back of his throat and went back to reading his comic.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Maria asked carefully.
"Nothing." Coulson said. She wasn't convinced.
"No, seriously, tell me."
"There's nothing to tell." Coulson replied.
"I know you met him a few months ago." She tried to goad him.
"I did." Again with the impassiveness.
"And what? You didn't like him?" She questioned further.
Coulson put his comic book away and met her eyes. "It doesn't matter if I like him."
She crossed her arms. "You wouldn't say that if you did. Look, I know you two didn't get along in that little advanced training seminar you held-" She broke off when Coulson just shook his head. "What?"
"You're right. I don't like him. Let's leave it at that." He said with finality.
"No." Maybe it was her frustration with this op or just the damn heat or the funny tasting dog they had just eaten. "Just spit it out."
"Agent Erikson is lazy." Coulson explained distantly. "He lets others do the work and wants to take credit for that. He wants to be remarkable without putting in the work and doing something remarkable."
Maria just shook her head. "You don't know him."
"He tried to pass off your work as his own." Coulson interrupted her forcefully before screwing his eyes shut and shaking his head. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."
Maria just looked at him in disbelief. "What?"
"Forget I said anything." Coulson said gently, rubbing over his eyes.
"That's not going to happen." Maria sat up straight. "Tell me."
Coulson heaved a deep breath. "He took the project you were working on before you were reassigned to May and tried to sell it as his own. Your former S.O. told me."
Her eyes were burning and her throat threatened to close off. She didn't know whether to be sad or angry. "That little prick." Angry. Definitely angry.
"I'm sorry." Coulson said. "I know he is your friend."
"How long have you known?" Maria asked instead. "I mean I've been with you and May for a few months now. When were you going to tell me?"
Coulson shrugged. "We hadn't decided yet."
Maria's eyes went wide with disbelief. "We? So May knows, too. Great." She shook her head and avoided looking at Coulson.
There was nothing else for him to say and when Maria just kept looking out the window with a frown and a clenched jaw he picked up his comic again and kept reading. He was surprised when she did speak a few minutes later.
"So, about that SciTech professor. Is it true? Are you dating her?"
He looked up to find her looking at him with a neutral expression on her face. Not a completely withdrawn but it was a start. She had definitely learned a lot from May.
"Dated her. Past tense." He said, accepting the distraction.
Maria hesitated. Sure, they had gotten to know each other better over the last four months, but they weren't that familiar with each other yet. On the other hand, they had been stuck in this tiny apartment for a week by now, how much more familiar could it get?
"The phone calls and misery in Paris?"
Coulson just nodded.
"Did you break her heart?" When he didn't immediately reply, she kept going. "Oh, did she break yours? Do you want to take revenge? We could make it look like an accident."
He just raised his eyebrows at her in question.
"Okay, so May could make it look like an accident." Maria relented.
"Not necessary. But thank you... I guess." He said with a slight frown and met her smile with one of his own.
::
Coulson took over not long after and instead of keeping him company she went to bed immediately. Not that she was able to close her eyes. Her thoughts kept drifting back to Eric and how the idiot had tried to take credit for her work.
She was still awake when May returned to the apartment two hours later and the creaking front door announced her arrival. Even if the bedroom door hadn't been ajar, the paper thin walls allowed her to hear every word spoken in the other room.
"Hey." Coulson's soft voice greeted her without a sign of tiredness.
When May didn't immediately reply Maria heard Coulson's chair creaking as he turned around to look at her. She was up by the time he gasped and standing in the doorway just as he had reached May.
"What the hell happened?"
May swatted his hand away. "Nothing."
Maria bristled. Nothing looked a lot like it had kicked her ass. Her tank top was dirty and even bloody in some places while her arms bore cuts and bruises. A large bruise was forming on her left cheek and jaw.
May stiffly walked over towards the couch and sat down gingerly. She leaned back into the cushions and closed her eyes.
Coulson went into the bathroom and Maria took over for him by the window. He returned with a first aid kit.
The coffee table creaked as Coulson sat down on it, setting the first aid kit down next to him. He nudged May's knee and she slowly opened her eyes.
"Street fighting?" He asked and pulled out antiseptic cream and bandages. May seemed to check his face for any sign of judgement. When she didn't find any she shrugged and had to wince at the motion. "It was just a little friendly sparring match."
Coulson pressed a bit harder on the knife wound he was bandaging and May had to clench her teeth. "Just a little friendly sparring? And when did the knives come out?"
"Well, they couldn't handle me winning." May smirked as she caught Maria's look.
Maria just shook her head. This woman was unbelievable. Incredible, but unbelievable.
She kept watching from the corner of her eyes as Coulson gently tended to her wounds without saying another word. When he gestured for May to take off her top she smirked at him but complied none the less when he just rolled his eyes.
His brows creased as he inspected her ribs. Even in the dim light the bruises were clearly visible. Coulson's hands moved over her rib cage tenderly. May pulled in a sharp breath at one point and Coulson sent her an apologetic smile but kept his hand where it was. Their eyes met and he waited until she gave a slight nod before he continued his examination. "Nothing's broken."
"Didn't feel broken." May said but Coulson ignored her.
If he was fazed that she sat in front of him in only her sports bra, he didn't let it show. His eyes were fixed on her torso as he cleaned a cut just under the hem of her bra with clinical precision. May watched him as his fingers ghosted over her skin. Maria suddenly felt like she was intruding on a tender moment.
Which was ridiculous she berated herself.
She got up and searched for something May could use to cool the bruise on her jaw with. All she could find was a cold water bottle in the fridge so that had to make do. May smiled in thanks as Maria handed it to her.
"Everything's quiet with Zhen. I'm going back to bed."
May nodded and Coulson bid her a good night. He had another hour left before it was May's turn to take over the observation.
As she settled back into the too soft mattress she listened to Coulson returning the first aid kit to the bathroom as May quietly made her way into the room they shared. She turned and watched as the older woman searched for a change of clothes.
"When were you going to tell me about Erikson?" She asked quietly.
May sighed and met her eyes in the half darkness. "Coulson told you?"
Maria sat up and leaned against the headboard. "More by accident."
When May didn't say anything else about it, Maria kept going. "Why did you want to tell me and he didn't?"
May's eyes swept towards the door before she took a step closer to the bed. "Coulson is an idealist. Our organisation was founded on noble principles and Coulson thinks everyone in SHIELD honours these principles." It sounded almost resigned the way she said it.
"That's a nice thought." It really was, if she thought about it.
"It's foolish." May argued. "And thinking like that gets you killed." She grabbed her towel and went over towards the door.
"What do you think?" Maria called after her.
May turned around in the doorway. "Don't trust anyone."
"Not even you?"
The older agent smirked. "Don't trust anyone else."
::
When Maria's alarm woke her at the crack of dawn for her next four-hour shift and she stumbled into the common room in the search of coffee, she was surprised to find Coulson still awake and watching the house across the street. May was fast asleep on the sofa, her bruises more colourful in the morning light and a light blanket drawn over her sleeping form.
Looking back on it years later, she really shouldn't have been surprised.