This story may seem disjointed at times but I hope you all bear with me. I hope to include all the Avengers couples with a focus on my ship of Agent Hill/Captain America. Though I love the comics, I don't exactly follow their canon in this story and I give the characters the back stories I need. This came to me after watching the Avengers earlier, when I saw a little something between the Cap and Agent Hill.
Chapter One
Every S.H.I.E.L.D agent had a story. Phil Coulson had been married once but lost his wife at the murderous hands of international criminal, Carlos Layton. Natasha Romanoff's father sold her to the Russian mob at the age of five so that she grew up with violence and was raised an assassin. Clint Barton's father was abusive. He ran away from home in his early teens and ended up a master assassin and thief. Nick Fury never met his father, was abandoned by his mother, and raised himself on the brutal streets of early-Chicago.
Maria Hill had her own tale of tragedy. There was only one other person in the world who knew her past and that person kept secrets like no other. After all, spies were trained to kill and keep quiet.
When Maria and Natasha first met, they were wary and slightly hostile. Both were intelligent women with beauty that rivaled their hidden lethality. Maria wasn't trained by assassins or spies but the process had still been rough. Eventually, the two women recognized themselves in the other, seeing a darkness that was veiled behind sparkling blue eyes and glossy hair. They'd been best friends ever since.
It was inevitable that a group of people with such deep scars in their pasts would find comfort in each other. It was also inevitable that nerves would be touched and tempers tested.
Once, Coulson punched Director Fury clear in the face for making an off-hand comment about his deceased wife. When Natasha and Clint first met, they aimed twin pistols at the other, both convinced the other was out to kill them. Clint lowered his weapon first. Natasha learned to trust him, to depend on him, and gradually to love him.
Natasha was a closed-off woman by nature, used to counting on only herself and loving a man was a novel experience for her. So she turned to her closest friend.
"What do you consider love?" she asked, seemingly out of the blue.
"A big risk." Maria answered, not looking up from the paperback in her hands.
The two women sat in an upscale café on the Upper East Side, sharing a gigantic blueberry muffin, each sipping imported peony tea from China.
"Maria."
At the quiet urgency in her friend's tone, she glanced up.
"I love Clint. I'm deeply, frighteningly, desperately in love with him and I don't know what to do."
"Neither do I. I've never been in love."
"You've been with men before."
"Briefly. One night stands. Flings."
"Casual sex?"
"Very casual."
"Me too. But, it's different."
"You've never slept with Barton."
Natasha glared and Maria laughed before taking a sip of tea.
"It's not about sex, Maria."
"I know, I was kidding. Relax and take a deep breath. If you love him, tell him."
"It's not that simple. He might not feel the same."
Maria highly doubted that. Natasha may be her best friend, but she'd met Clint first and worked alongside him for years. She knew enough about the man to spot the infatuation he held for Natasha. She saw love in his eyes.
"He will."
"How can you be sure?"
"We can't be sure of anything but death, Tasha."
Her friend smiled at the nickname.
"Depressing, but I see your point. I'll tell him after Russia."
"How do you feel about that, by the way? Isn't it… too soon to go back?"
Natasha's ruby red lips quirked into a smile.
"It's been nine years. I think it's time I returned home. For a little while."
"Who are you after?"
"Some dirty general. I need information about an underground market costing various European nations millions."
"How long will you need?"
"Two days at the most. It's an easy one."
"Are you sure you don't want to tell Clint today? Before you leave?"
"No. I want to be on the same continent as him after delivering the news. It can wait. What's going to change in 48 hours?"
The answer was everything.
Natasha Romanoff didn't cry. And yet there she was, red curls distraught, crystal eyes puffy, skin blotchy.
"If I had only told him before I left, he would have come with me. He wouldn't have been where Loki could take him. I lost him, Maria, I lost him."
Maria held her friend as she cried but didn't speak yet. Natasha needed some time to vent, to curse the world and herself before any advice would be considered. Plus, it had been a stressful day. Natasha flew directly from Russia to Calcutta to bring Dr. Bruce Banner a.k.a the Hulk into Nick Fury's plan of action, finding out via Coulson's phone call that the only man she'd ever loved had gone to the dark side.
"Tasha, listen to me. You haven't lost him. He's not dead, is he? No, he may be under Loki's control, but there's still a chance to get him back. And as soon as you get him back, you're going to tell him that you love him, that you can't imagine life without him, and that every moment with him screws with your heart so that your vision goes blurry and your pulse jumps because that's how strong you feel. I know you, Natasha Romanoff. You don't do anything halfway. You love as fiercely as you fight. You're the best friend I've ever had and I want your happiness. I want you to be with Clint."
Natasha wiped her eyes with the back of a perfectly manicured hand.
"Thank you. Thank you." And the two women hugged, a firm embrace of fear and anxiety for what was to come.
The next day, Maria was aboard the super ship that flew and rode the waves at precisely 4:00 AM transferring her few belongings and clothes into the drawers of her bed chamber. She'd gotten a fairly large chamber just below the main deck, in the hallway before Nick Fury's and next to Natasha's. After unpacking, she joined the director at the control deck. Nick Fury never looked tired or worried, a quality Maria had always admired, despite her many criticisms of the man. He was reckless, more reckless than the director of a company as important and dangerous as S.H.I.E.L.D should be. Yet, his leadership never wavered and that had to be respected.
Maria was a soldier in heart and spirit and even if she questioned his decisions, she had always followed them.
"Agent Hill. Are your injuries healed?"
She nodded.
"They were minimal, sir. A slight bruising in my ribcage. A scrape on my forehead. Nothing more."
She'd been lucky. She hadn't been hypnotized like Barton and the doctor. She hadn't been crushed under the tons of rocks Loki had dropped like Agents Charleston and Gomez. She hadn't been shot in the back of the head like Agent Riviera. She hadn't lost a loved one like Natasha.
"Dr. Banner and Mr. Rogers should be here soon." He declared and she nodded again.
Natasha had told her she'd been assigned the duty of leading the two men to the ship. Banner already knew her and Steve Rogers a.k.a Captain America would love to meet her. All men who met the Black Widow did a double take, sweeping over her body without subtlety. She didn't doubt that two of Director's Fury so-called Avengers team would be any different. Super powered or not.
"I sense your skepticism, Agent. From the beginning, you were against the Avengers initiative." Nick Fury noted and Maria stared at the control panel.
"I'm not against it. I admit the skepticism, sir, but I can trust that this had to be done."
He let the topic drop and shortly after Maria felt the distinct movement of the ship rising to the skies. Natasha entered the room, Bruce Banner and Steve Rogers in tow. As greetings were exchanged, Maria felt paralyzed.
She'd seen pictures of each of the Avengers, studied their profiles intensively, learned what made them tick and what abilities set them apart. Yet, nothing had prepared her for this feeling.
As Steve Rogers approached her with a
"Morning, ma'am."
Maria's heart beat faster, her vision blurred, her pulse raced and she struggled to mutter a
"Morning."
before descending the steps to the computers of the newer agents manning the controls.
What was that? She thought but could not formulate any rational answer.
"Where have you been?" Natasha caught up with her later that night.
"What do you mean?" she feigned ignorance but Natasha was obviously not fooled.
"I saw you for a second when I arrived then you were some sort of supersonic blur, moving from the control room to the training rooms to who the hell knows where. Did something happen?"
Maria debated telling her best friend about the uncomfortable spark in her system after meeting Steve Rogers.
It was nothing. The onslaught of a cold or fever maybe? Whatever it was, Tasha has her own issues right now. Clint is still off the grid and Fury isn't making any efforts to find him, the priority being the damn Tesseract.
"Nothing happened. I'm honestly just exhausted and running on fumes. I was here at four, can you believe that?"
"Four? Oh God, and I kept you up until midnight with my crap last night. I'm sorry, Maria."
"Don't be. I'll sleep tonight and reclaim all my hours, I promise. Fury told me I'm not needed until mid afternoon tomorrow. I'm free. For now." She joked and Natasha's brow unfurrowed.
"You're sure you're okay?"
"Yes, Tasha. Exhaustion changed me, I guess. Tomorrow, good as new. How did the capture go? Did anybody get hurt?"
"Stark has some bruises. That Thor packs a punch. And a hammer. Steve got away unharmed, though. And Loki's in the cell we built in case of any Hulk emergencies."
"Right." Maria nodded and pretended she didn't care that Captain America hadn't been hurt.
"Have a nice sleep. I'll stop by tomorrow around eleven with coffee and pastries." She winked and moved to her bed chamber for a quick rest before the training Fury had mandated for the next day.
It was supposed to help her hand to hand combat with a magical being. She thought that was bullshit but hadn't said so out loud.
Maria sat on the edge of the grand ship, staring at the picturesque landscape below. They were somewhere over Germany and the Alps were visible in the distance. They were heading back to the U.S. base but the journey would take another twenty four hours. She hadn't exactly lied to Natasha when she said she'd barely slept. Three hours had been all she'd had but exhaustion wasn't what had her wired.
She sighed and rubbed the tattoo on her left wrist. Memories continued to haunt her awake and unconscious, chasing away good dreams and leaving only doubts and insecurity. Maybe that's why she was so skeptic of the Avengers succeeding. She wasn't used to big, strong men stepping in to protect her and save the world. Usually, big strong men tried to kill, rape, or plunder and she used bullets and cold hard steel to save the world herself.
"Can't sleep?" a gentle voice asked and Maria jumped up, hand reaching for her gun. "Whoa, whoa. It's me. Steve Rogers. Captain America?"
She moved her hand from her weapon and crossed her arms. She knew exactly who he was and blamed him for her current situation. It was almost one in the morning and she should be snuggled into her fine comforter, using the rocking motion of the ship to lull her into her R.E.M. cycle. Instead, she'd run into the very man she'd been avoiding.
"Agent Hill, right?" he asked tentatively, expecting her to grab a weapon at any second.
"Maria." She murmured, settling back into her spot at the edge of the ship.
"Maria. That's beautiful." He sat next to her, close enough for the warmth of his body to reach hers.
She shivered and he, thinking it was from the cold and the sleeveless shirt and thin cotton pants she wore for sleep, took off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. She tried to argue but he shook his head.
"I can take the cold. I was hibernating in a block of ice for several decades, remember?"
She stayed quiet, not knowing what to say to that or in general. He made her nervous and uneasy. He was too handsome. Classically attractive with wavy golden hair and ocean blue eyes, all topped by his impressive physique. He was truly the All-American boy. He was also a piece of history. She'd seen his war reels. An impressive soldier and commander, completely selfless and dedicated to helping those in need. A soldier who'd fallen and woken up, confused and alone, in a time period of oddities.
"Is it hard to be here?" she ventured and he turned from his observation of the sky to raise an eyebrow in question. "Is it hard to wake up without knowing where you are?" she clarified.
"Very hard." His voice revealed the knowledge of someone far older than what his features revealed.
"I'm sorry." She offered.
"Not your fault, ma'am."
"Maria."
"I always give my superiors the respect they deserve."
That was a first. Men were always put off by the position she held. She'd advanced in the military ranks faster than most men ever did and was second in command after Director Fury. Agent Coulson was always giving her hell about being her subordinate but when it came down to it he was.
"With you, chivalry has made a comeback."
He chuckled, a deep and heartfelt sound that brought the uncomfortable spark back into her body.
"So I've heard. Have men really become so awful?"
"Oh yes. I've met some men that you couldn't believe existed. Married men who hide their rings and lure women to the bed they share with their wives. Men who lie about who they are. Men who take women against their will." Her eyes hardened and Steve noticed the tenseness of her body.
"The times have changed, but some things never will."
Maria turned her head to face him.
"Like what?"
"Well, the sky's still blue." He gestured around them and she smiled. "The sun still warms the earth. Men still seek wars. And women are still devastatingly beautiful."
His eyes were on her face, studying her like she was an awe-inspiring painting on display at the Louvre or the Met. Maria's face flushed under his gaze but she couldn't look away and even in the darkness she could make out the softness of his lips.
"Good night, ma'am. Maria." His voice ghosted over her name and as he stood, she stayed rooted to her spot, unsure of what had just occurred. "You can give me that back tomorrow. I wouldn't want you to get sick out here." He smiled and walked away.
Maria remained wrapped in the smooth leather of his jacket, inhaling a signature scent of exotic pine and freshly fallen rain. It was intoxicating. And in that instant Maria knew what had been happening all day. She was falling for freaking Captain America.
"Fuck." She sighed and inhaled his scent again.
I'm trying to follow the events of the movie and just adding in scenes and dynamics. Hope you all like it.