Maria ignored the stares as she made her way through the courtyard. She was too wrapped up in her worry to care what everyone else thought. Deep down, she knew that worrying was pointless. Natasha Romanov had gone through much worse than a few weeks in solitary; she had read her file. Although it was far from complete, it showed some things that would destroy lesser men. Natasha Romanov was a rock. She did not need Maria's worry, but it was there, none the less.

She didn't know when she started thinking of Tasha as someone she would even consider caring about. Before Shield fell, they rarely spent time with each other. Somehow, somewhere between Hydra and their arrest, Tasha had become a part of her life, maybe even before that. She didn't want to dwell on those thoughts, as she was escorted through the prison to her cell, but it was there, in the back of her mind.

She heard the chatter coming from her cell mates, when she approached the room, but as she reached the doorway, it stopped. Silence filled the room, as she made her way to her bunk. It was untouched, since she had been there last, and she could hardly contemplate that it had been only a few days. She hated to think how Tasha would feel once she got out. She sat down on the hard bed, leaning against the wall, and looked at the other women around her.

All it took was a look from her, to set them of in to a tense chatter; they were desperately trying to avoid the elephant in the room. They kept sending furtive glances at her, but generally left her alone. After a couple of minutes, Maria grew bored with her thoughts.

'Hey, Chapman? Do you mind if I borrow your book?' Maria gestured to the book that lay on the bedside table closest to Chapman's bunk. She had missed the distribution of books from the library.

Chapman gave her a surprised look, before nodding nervously. Maria sighed. It would be a lot harder to socialize with the other inmates.

'Look. What you saw...' Maria blurted out. 'You don't need to tiptoe around me and Tasha. We're not going to fight with you, or beat you up. It was a mistake.'

Nichols snorted. 'It didn't look like a mistake. Those were some bad ass moves.'

Maria shrugged. 'It's not like we're the only ones who can fight.'

Nichols shook her head, 'Not like that. That's something else.'

Maria just sighed, and shrugged shrugged.

Natasha pushed up, and let out a deep breath. She thrived on the strain on her arms, and held herself up in position, before sinking back to the floor. Her chest almost hit the floor, before she pushed herself back up. She had been working out for the past half an hour. It was a distraction from her thoughts. It had only been a few hours since Tasha had realised she was alone, but she was already bored out of her mind.

She had experience staying in the same position for hours, having accompanied Clint on many an assassination. Tasha didn't know how he did it, just sitting there, lying in wait for a target, on a rooftop. She much preferred going in head on. She didn't have to worry about being seen, her targets never had the opportunity to talk. Despite this, she had been on Clint's missions, but this was different. Lying in wait for a target had a time limit. Sooner or later, they would come along and you would take the shot. But this had no limit. She didn't know how long she would be stuck in this cell and that's what was making Tasha antsy.

Tasha dipped down for another push up, and felt her arms tremble slightly from exertion. Good, she thought. If her mind wouldn't quieten, her tired body would let her sleep. She pushed herself for a further 10 minutes, till she was ready to drop from fatigue. Tasha struggled to straighten her arms once more, drained from her work out, before standing up. She wiped the sweat from her brow, and stepping towards her bed. It was hard, but she didn't care. She could sleep now.

She rested her head on her pillow, and let her eyes flutter close. Tasha ignored the blue eyes that stared back at her, seemingly imprinted on the back of her lids, and willed herself to fall asleep. There was no point dwelling on the fact that her mind appeared to be infatuated with everything relating to Maria. It wouldn't help her sleep. No, she pushed all those thoughts to the back of her mind, and let her exhaustion take her.

Maria stared at the mesh on the bottom of the bunk above her. She couldn't sleep, not without knowing that Tasha was okay, so instead she traced lines in the criss-crossing metal, finding shapes. It didn't help much to distract herself from her concern for Tasha. Maria expelled a breath of air in frustration, careful not to wake the other women. Why was she acting like a love sick child? Tasha was a grown woman, and a hell of a good one at that. She was being ridiculous by worrying about her, but Maria couldn't shake it.

With a huff of annoyance, Maria turned onto her side, and tucked her arm under her head. She hated Tasha for making her feel like this. She had seen how crushes turned out when Natasha Romanov was the subject. Heartbreak and sadness. Many agents had tried their luck, and had been turned away, and she refused to be foolish enough to think she was any different.

With a sigh, Maria shut her eyes, trying to will away her thoughts. She just wanted to sleep, but it was strange, not hearing Tasha's voice, lulling her to sleep. It had served as a promise, that Tasha would be there, when she woke, but that voice was gone. At the back of her mind, she was certain; she never wanted to sleep again, if it meant waking up without Tasha.

Tasha was woken by the sound of the large metal door to her cell opening.

'Wha-? What's going on?' Tasha moaned before rubbing her eyes. She sat up, but the light from outside was too bright to show anything more than a silhouette .

'Shhhhh. Be quiet. ' was all she got in response from the intru- Wait a minute. Tasha knew that voice.

'Maria?' Tasha asked in disbelief.

'Yeah, it's me,' she responded.

Tasha shrugged off the thin blanket she had thrown over herself, and swung her legs around over the edge of the bed. 'What are you doing here? You'll get caught.'

Maria closed the door, and turned to Tasha with a smirk.

'Please, I was the Assistant Director of Shield; I practically ran it. I wont get caught.'

Tasha smiled. 'Someone's confident,' she joked teasingly, before turning serious. 'Why are you here?'

Maria frowned, choosing her words delicately.

'I was worried. About you.'

Tasha sighed, before replying, 'But you don't need to be. I'm fine in here, nothings going to happen.'

Maria went to Tasha, and sat by her side. She looked at her in the eyes, before saying, 'I know I don't need you worry. I cant help it.' Maria placed her hand on Tasha's thigh, before continuing. 'I hate the idea of you being here, all alone.' Maria began to slide her hand up and down her thigh. Tasha felt her breath catch in her throat, and looked at Maria in surprise.

'All alone, with nothing to do. I couldn't help my self.' Maria finished, her voice barely a whisper. She gave Tasha's thigh a gentle squeeze, only reminding Tasha how far up it had risen since it had been placed there.

'Maria, what are you doi-?' Tasha couldn't finish her sentence, as Maria put her finger up to Tasha's lips, silencing her.

'Just don't think,' Maria murmured, eyes dropping to Tasha's lips, before she leaned in to close the gap.

Tasha felt Maria's mouth on hers, and all worry about getting caught drained away. She didn't care. Not when Maria was sucking on her bottom lip and-

Tasha let out an uncontrollable moan, and Maria only took it as a sign to continue. She slid her tongue in, and swirled it around Tasha's, as they fought for dominance. Tasha felt Maria's hands slide to her chest, and she leaned into the touch. She had never imagined this would be happening, and yet here she was, getting it on with Maria Fucking Hill. And god, was she talented with those hands.

Tasha pulled Maria down on top of her, till they were both lying on the bed, and broke the kiss. Before Maria could make a noise in complaint, her shirt, having been near ripped by Tasha, was off. Tasha's shirt soon joined hers on the floor, and then Tasha was on her, sucking hard on Maria's neck. She pulled away, and began gently lavishing the growing bruise with her tongue. Maria groaned, before whining, 'Enough playing, I need to touch you.'

Tasha was wholeheartedly agreeing with that plan, and so, she let Maria slide down. Her hands briefly caressed Tasha's chest and stomach, as she trailed down, but they were soon needed else where.

Maria shot Tasha a questioning glance, silently asking if she was okay with this.

Growling, Tasha said, 'I swear, if you don't tou-' before Maria suddenly- Oh god.

Tasha suddenly sat up, covered in sweat, Maria's name dying on her lips. She looked around; she was alone.

'You idiot. Just a dream, its not real.' Tasha muttered to herself.

Her sides seemed to tingle, despite Maria's hands never trailing there. Tasha brushed away a tear that threatened to fall, and lay back on her bed as she tried to fall back to sleep. She wasn't sure if she wanted another dream, or if she wanted to wake in what felt like seconds to greet a new day. Either way, she would be waking without Maria, and that made her heart sink a little. Tasha shut her eyes, and drifted back to a dreamless sleep. It was better that way.

Hey, so I Kinda don't like this chapter, so sorry if you feel the same way. I kinda have writer's block, so it took me ages to even spew out this crap, but i promised a chapter, even if it is a short one. Let me know what you think, even if you tell me i suck, it will motivate me to write better.

I am going away to Germany, next week, so there wont be a chapter till i come back. Sorry. I will try to write something on the plane or at the hotel so i can post it as soon as i get back.