Hope you liked my last chapter. :) Have fun reading!
I arrived on the roof of Sta-Avengers Tower at 2pm. I got off the plane and into the lift, where I was greeted by JARVIS.
"Good afternoon, Agent Hill."
"Good afternoon JARVIS. Where are the Avengers?"
"Mr. Barton and Miss Romanoff are in Miss Romanoff's room." Interesting. "Dr. Banner is in the laboratories and the other Avengers are in the kitchen." Kitchen it is.
"Please take me to the living room floor. Thank you."
"Of course, Agent Hill." JARVIS said and took me to the living room, which didn't take long because it is on one of the top floors.
I walked through the living room, to the kitchen, put my bags down and saw Stark, Pepper and Cap eating the lunch.
"Maria, it's good to see you." Cap said, smiling.
"Thank Steve. You too, but I heard that you got hit in the battle. Are you alright?"
"Yeah, i'm fine now." he said, but I could tell that he was lying. I chose to bring it up later.
"A super soldier serum may have helped with that."
He laughed and said "So how long are you staying with us?"
"Um...I don't know..Stark?" I said to Tony. I had no idea how long I was gonna be here for.
"Fury didn't put a time limit on it, but there's already a room ready. It's white and icy, so you should be right at home, Agent Chill." he said smiling. I gave him a death glare and Pepper hit him. "Quit being an asshole!" she said.
She smiled at me and asked "Do you want anything to eat?"
"Yes please, Pepper. I haven't had the chance to yet."
"By the way, later. Me. You. Romanoff. Food. Wine. Complaining about the boys. Sound good?"
"Sounds great."
"So how's S.H.I.E.L.D?" she asked as she served some pasta into a bowl.
"A bit shaken from the tesseract incident, but standing strong."
"And Fury?"
"He doesn't seem to be…affected by anything."
"Really? Not even Coulson?" she said. She didn't realise what she had said until a second later.
I froze. I hadn't thought about Coulson in a while. I hesitated for a second, wondering whether to speak, and then said "He doesn't seem to be affected even by that…"
Pepper noticed the uncomfortable vibes I was giving off and came forward, wrapping me in a hug.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring it up. It just slipped out."
"It's okay." I said and hugged her tighter. She pulled away from me and went back to clearing up.
"She cried for ages last night about it too, so don't think you're the only on upset by it. God, it was annoying." Stark said, earning another hit from Pepper.
"Don't worry about the pasta actually. I'm going to go and assess each floor, so I'll see you later." I said, going towards the lift.
"Wait up Hill. I need to train, so I'll go down with you. I'll see you later. Stark. Pepper." He said, nodding at them as a form of goodbye. So old fashioned.
"Remember we're going clubbing tonight Cap!" Stark shouted.
"I still don't know what that is, Stark." He replied.
I held the lift for him to walk over and saw Stark smiling knowingly at me. Pepper rolled her eyes at him, but had a slight smile on her face also. I decided to ignore them.
Steve got in the lift and the doors shut. "Gym floor please JARVIS." Steve said, but the lift only jolted slightly and didn't continue to move.
"JARVIS?" I asked. What's happening?
"I appear to have malfunctioned and the lift is stuck between floors. I'm sorry for the inconvenience caused. Please remain calm whilst the issue is dealt with."
Oh great. Trapped in a lift with Captain America. Most fan girls would kill for this moment. Well fan girls and Coulson.
"Come on." Cap said trying to prize the doors open with his hands, but they wouldn't budge, so he gave up and went back to leaning against the wall of the lift.
"JARVIS, how long will this take?" I asked.
"Approximately 30 minutes Agent Hill."
"Great." I said sarcastically. I leant against the lift and sank down to the floor. He looked a bit upset about my comment, like I was upset to be in his company.
"Could be worse." I said trying to lighten the mood. "I could be stuck in here with Stark instead of you."
He chuckled and sat down on the floor too. He winced slightly as he did. Was he still injured? "Now that really would be dreadful."
I laughed too and said "So, how did the battle go?"
"Well we won, so that's a plus, but my body hasn't fully healed yet."
"What do you mean?"
He looked a bit nervous about telling me, but said "When I was hit, the serum clotted it up quickly, but it still hurts to move sometimes."
"Let me see." I said. He looked like it was the most inappropriate thing in the world. "Cap, I'm not a stranger to you and all S.H.I.E.L.D. agents have first aid skills, now let me look at the injury."
He nodded and lifted up his shirt to reveal the big scar forming on the left hand side of his body. His beautiful, toned body was very distracting, but I managed to keep focussed as I traced the wound with my forefinger.
He sucked in a breath slightly and I whispered "Sorry." I took my hand away and he pulled his shirt back down, much to my disappointment.
"It's alright" he replied.
"You shouldn't be going to the gym with that injury Cap."
He shook his head. "The world always needs to be protected. Someone's got to keep working to make sure it stays that way."
I didn't argue with him. I just turned my head to the side, which sent a shooting pain from my neck to my back. Damn that grenade. Steve must have noticed my discomfort, because he asked "Were you injured at all?" I shook my head at him, but stopped immediately and winced. Great give away Hill. "What happened to you?" he asked.
"A grenade was thrown into the bridge. I went straight over the railings."
"Then maybe you should take your own advice. Take a break."
"Not me Cap. I have a duty to S.H.I.E.L.D just like you have your duty to protect the world. And I am usually running S.H.I.E.L.D or on missions, so looking after the Avengers is a break in my mind."
"I don't see how looking after us is a break. It is just as, if not more, stressful than a mission."
"True. I can't wait to work with Stark." I said sarcastically. "And sounds like you're going to have fun with him clubbing later." I bet someone's going to kiss him. My heart ached at the thought. Why the hell is your heart aching?
"What is it? I heard something about dancing?" I wouldn't call it dancing.
"Not exactly Cap. It's loads of girls, in little, mini, slutty dresses trying to get with guys." I said simply. I felt like puking at the thought of Steve dancing with one of them.
"Uh..'get with'?" Oh great.
"Um…girls trying to kiss and sleep with guys."
He came to realisation and flushed red. "Why?" he asked with a slightly disgusted tone.
"Some people don't want stable, established relationships. They just want to have a good time. The old Stark was like that. He's changed now he's got Pepper." I smiled at the thought of them. They found true happiness.
"How long have they been together?" he asked.
"A couple of years."
"Have they…you know…" He was so adorable.
"Yes."
"But..they're not married?" He asked with a confused expression.
"You don't need to get married after sleeping with someone. It's not the forties anymore. Things have changed."
"So what else has changed then?" he asked, I think trying to get off the topic.
"Well, we have new music, mostly singing about…inappropriate stuff, new tech, which you must have seen mostly over the past couple of days and new buildings most. Apart from that, not much has changed. Oh and these…" I said pulling out my iPhone.
"What is it?" he asked confused.
"It's a portable telephone. You use it to call, text people, play games, anything really."
"You're kidding right?"
"Nope. Here, see for yourself." I said, passing him the phone.
"Slide…to unlock." He said slowly and dragged his finger across the screen. "It says password?"
"Oh…sorry." I said, as I slid myself across the elevator floor to sit with him and type in my passcode. Our shoulders were touching as I told him what each icon meant.
"So…" he said after a while. A long while. "texting is a form of messaging people elsewhere?"
"Yep. Very helpful."
"And Facetime is…video calling someone?"
"Yes. I can't believe you don't know this. It's weird that you're with us now."
He turned to look at me. "Is it…a bad thing that I am?"
I shook my head. "No, no. Of course not. It's completely the opposite of bad. It's incredible that you're still alive, let alone on the same team as us."
"I was always dedicated to S.H.I.E.L.D."
"I don't doubt it, but it's amazing that you got to work with people like Howard Stark and Peggy Carter." His face dropped when I mentioned that. "Did…did you work closely with them?" I asked, curious at his connection with them.
"Howard made my shield and I worked with him a lot, but Peggy..." he said looking down at the ground. "Peggy was a lot closer to me."
"Oh." I knew the meaning behind his words. I can't imagine how he felt, so all I did was place a hand on his thigh and say "I'm sorry Steve."
He shook his head and said "It's fine.", but I could tell he was more upset about it than he was letting on.
After a few moments of silence, he placed his hand on top of mine and said "Thank you."
"For doing what? Bringing up bad memories."
He paused and stroked my hand. "For being a good friend."
I looked into his eyes and softly said "Anytime." I didn't realise how close I had shuffled to him during me showing him how to use the phone. We were less than twenty centimeters away from each other. I'm always precise. I felt my heart rate increase and my breathing pattern change. I came forward slightly and so did he.
Was he going to kiss me?
Suddenly, the lift jolted and our foreheads lightly hit each other.
"Ow." I moaned and stroked my forehead.
"I'm sorry. Are you okay?" Cap asked.
"I'm fine." I said, but he still looked concerned. "Honestly, i'm fine." I said with a slight laugh.
He pulled me up to my feet as the elevator descended and the doors opened to revealed the gym. "Hopefully I will see you soon Maria." he said. He came forward and placed a kiss on my cheek. Oh my goodness.
I lost the ability to speak, breathe and even move, so I just stood there as he smiled and then walked away. I froze, with my lips slightly apart, until the doors shut, finally taking a breath and sitting on the floor again.
God, that was embarrassing. The guy you like kisses you and you don't even say anything? Are you that stupid?
Nice work Hill. (Cue slow clap in head) Real nice work.
"Are you feeling unwell, Agent Hill? Should I call Doctor Banner?" JARVIS asked.
"Lets just start at the bottom floor." I said finally, ignoring his question, because I didn't know the answer to it.
Hope you liked that. Had to write it up like ten times because my computer malfunctioned and is really stupid. Please review. x