In the other fanfics of Maria Hill, she is portrayed quite serious and cold and ruthless and while I want to keep that aspect of her, my Maria Hill has some heart, grit, and humor. It's what makes her loveable
Chapter Two
As promised, Natasha knocked on Maria's door at precisely 11:00 AM, bearing a salted caramel latte and two pumpkin spice donuts. It was the middle of October and Natasha knew her friend's favorite season was autumn with the falling leaves, motley of fresh odors, and wind soft enough not to cause a chill but fast enough to make her hair dance.
Maria was a very particular person, misunderstood by many and hated by many more. Maria Hill had appeared on S.H.I.E.L.D's radar because she was moving up the military ranks at alarming speeds. They investigated the woman in her early 20's and found that she'd been raised adoptive parents with strong military inclinations. The adoptive father, Joshua Hill, got his adoptive daughter interested in the military' mission and importance. The rest was history… or so everyone thought. Maria was an expert with technology of any kind and hacking into the national security system to arrange some details about her past was as simple as breathing for her. Natasha was the only one who knew the real story.
Maria's biological parents hadn't run out on her or chose to give her away. They were both archaeologists, renowned for their studies on Egyptian artifacts pre-Tutankhamen's reign. When Maria was eight years old, her parents took her with them on a dig on the outskirts of Cairo. Three days later, Maria's life changed irrevocably.
Armed insurgents swarmed the dig site, killing Egyptians and Americans alike. Dr. Kirk Hamilton hid his family in the cafeteria tent of the site but in vain. Insurgents pulled the family out from under the table, put a bullet through Dr. Kirk's head, raped Dr. Jaclyn Hamilton before shooting her, and finally stopped to consider the screaming little girl trembling in the corner of the room. She would have received the same end as her mother if the insurgent leader, a powerful man responsible for various large scale terrorism attacks on Egyptian and Libyan cities, hadn't raised a hand. The insurgent holding Maria dropped her before the leader's feet.
He removed his scarf and cap and kneeled to her height. Onyx eyes searched her watery ones for something. Whatever it was (Maria was plagued by this fact years later) he must have found it because he smiled a cruel, heartless promise of pain and ordered one of his followers to bring her with him.
For five months she was brutally beaten to the point of near-death to learn to ignore pain and become used to nothingness and numbness even if she had cracked ribs and black eyes. They taught her to use rifles, pistols, grenades, and jackknives. She was trained to kill and forced to kill.
Natasha had never asked what her death count had been. She didn't need to. Death marks a person and Maria had a heaviness about her that came from guilt and the cries of others. Maria's eyes spoke of a ledger almost as red as Natasha's.
Before the end of the fifth month, a Navy Seals team in conjunction with a covert ops team from the CIA ambushed the rebel's camp. The leader of the insurgents managed to escape with his most trusted lackey, but all the others were either shot or imprisoned. When the Americans saw her, they were stunned.
The attack on the dig site and the murder of Drs. Kirk and Jaclyn Hamilton had been public news with many mourning the loss of the generous and genius couple. Their daughter was presumed dead. Yet, there she was, eyes wild, hair and clothes unkempt, pointing an assault rifle at them and cursing in baffled Egyptian.
The soldiers coaxed her into their car, promising safety and home. Eventually, Maria dropped the weapon and allowed the soldiers to return her to the States. Home was lost, though.
Her adoptive parents, Joshua and Lucia Hill, despised her. The adoption agency gave them a daughter they didn't want. Instead of a sweet, docile little princess they received a paranoid, mentally shaken warrior orphan who not only watched her parents' grisly deaths but was taken by the very people who killed them and broken. They broke her until she was too broken to care what came next. Joshua and Lucia got rid of Maria the only way they knew how. Dropping her at the doorstep, bags in hand, of the Preparatory School/Military Bootcamp in Norfolk, Virginia. The Hills enrolled her, happy to have the U.S. government deal with the girl they'd brought back. Thankfully, the idea saved her life.
The structure and rigor of the school stabilized her. No one asked personal questions or seemed to know who she was. She kept her adoptive parents' surname and chose to leave the memories of two people who'd brought her into the world hidden. She repressed the horrors of those five months and moved on. She became the ideal soldier, asking little and completing any task forcefully and precisely.
Natasha had known Maria six years and she heard the story only once when the two were wasted on strong sake after a mission in Japan. Despite the alcohol, Maria's tone was steady as she recounted the story. She didn't blink at the part about her parents' murders and didn't cry describing some of the atrocities she'd seen and done in those five months with the insurgents. Afterwards, Natasha had pulled her into a tight hug.
"You're safe now."
"We're never really safe." Maria breathed.
And that was true because there they were years later, the once assassin and once insurgent, wading into a battle for the world, both wildly out of their depths next to the likes of Thor, the Hulk, Captain America, and Iron Man.
There was a reason Maria was so serious, so carefully collected and stern. She followed orders and went by the handbooks because any deviations made her feel out of control and drowning, like her time in Egypt had made her feel. Natasha understood that and anyone who made the mistake of speaking ill of her friend when she was in earshot barely lived to tell the tale.
"Pumpkin spice?" Maria asked, taking the offered brown bag."
"Of course."
"Want one?"
Natasha shook her head.
"I ate."
"Going to train?"
"It's some new hand to hand simulation."
"How long?"
"An hour. Fury said I should stretch before hand. He said I would cry."
Maria raised an eyebrow.
"That grueling? Where's he been hiding this new simulation? I've tried them all but this sounds interesting."
"You're interested."
Maria grinned.
"Give me fifteen minutes to change."
"What about your breakfast?"
"I'll take an energy drink and eat later."
"That's not healthy."
"Oh, really? What was your breakfast, Tasha?" she put her hands on her hips, making Natasha laugh.
"An energy drink. How did you know?"
"Your pupils are slightly more dilated than yesterday morning around this time and you have a slight jump in your step. You're energized. I want to be too. Especially if we're going to cry in a training session."
When Maria emerged from her private bathroom in fitted tank top and skintight yoga pants, she found Natasha sitting on her unmade bed smirking.
"What?" Maria asked, tying her auburn locks into a ponytail.
"You tell me." She lifted the jacket that lay under her covers next to her pillow. "This jacket looks familiar. Hmm, who did I see this on yesterday? Whose could it be?" she tapped a finger to her chin.
Maria fought the blush but a red hue took over her skin anyway at the fact that she'd been caught sleeping with Captain America's jacket. She hadn't meant to but she got into her room shortly after he left and was genuinely fatigued so she fell into her bed haphazardly, still wrapped in the leather jacket.
"Did he leave just before I got here? How was it?" Natasha prodded but Maria crossed her arms.
"We didn't have sex. I was cold last night. He offered his jacket. End of story."
"You were cold? When? Oh, you liar. After we talked you went on deck."
"Yes, so?"
"Fine. Just tell me what you think of him. Honestly."
"Why honestly?"
"I know you don't care for the Avengers or superheroes in general. But these guys are… different. They're good. Even Stark, obnoxious and nosy as he is. They bring something we need to the table. Courage, leadership, strength, generosity, care. They're good guys." She reaffirmed and though Maria wanted to protest, she really couldn't.
Tony Stark had instantly gone to the bottom of her list but Dr. Banner reminded her of herself. A hidden darkness that in his case wasn't so hidden. He tried to do his duty as a scientist as best he could but the anger overwhelmed him and out came a beast. Maria's beast was buried deeper but there it was. Thor was really a softie. He had loved Loki as only a brother could and felt stabbed in the back when his brother came to earth to destroy all he loved. And she could admit that Tony Stark, selfish to his core, was attractive and a genius and Iron Man may have been the single greatest invention in history. Then, there was Steve Rogers. Captain America. He'd fought hard for his country and for his love for SSR agent Margaret "Peggy" Carter. He "died" protecting America and woke up decades letter in an unknown world with no chance at finding the woman he'd loved and sharing a future with her. He was kind of lost. And she could relate. Big-time.
"I know they're good guys. I see it."
"Well, that's a change. Was it the ole Captain's moves in the sack that brought this about?"
Maria threw her pillow at the redhead.
"There were no moves because we didn't have sex!"
"Okay, okay! Just tell me what you think about him."
"I think I need to be careful." Maria whispered.
"Duck!" Maria shouted and Natasha threw herself forward, allowing Maria to flip over her and plant a small explosive in the robot's head.
A second later the simulation ended. The two women, one kneeling on the floor the other standing, kept breathing heavily; sweat pouring freely down their skin.
"Did you cry?" Maria finally asked.
"Are you kidding? I didn't have time to cry."
They laughed and Maria offered her friend a hand up. Natasha groaned at the soreness in her limbs.
"Fury was right. That was intense. An hour of continuous battles with robots at least twice our height and four times our strength. Ebat."
Maria nodded, agreeing with the Russian curse. They stretched in place, feeling the muscles loosen and heard a low whistle from behind. She turned along with Natasha to see Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, the first sporting a mile wide grin, the latter sheepishly avoiding eye contact, at the door of the simulation training room.
"Great work, ladies. There is some exceptional talent and ability here. Maria, is it? Or do you have a cool nickname too? Praying Mantis? Snow Leopard? Kitten?"
Maria's face was blank and Natasha rolled her eyes at Tony's segue way to flirting.
"Agent Hill or Lieutenant Hill is fine. Ma'am? Also fine. Anything less and I'd be worrying about my potential safety. I have security access to every room on this ship, including yours, Mr. Stark."
"Really? I'll keep that in mind, ma'am." He drew the word out with a wink and stepped into the room. "Simulations? Did S.H.I.E.L.D take that technology from me too?"
"We had access to it first, Stark. Back off." Natasha said.
"What was that you were fighting?" Steve spoke for the first time.
"Robots from a galaxy relatively close in location to Asgard. Practice for whatever Loki's packing." Maria responded and Tony's eyes twinkled in amusement at the double entendre.
"You are not what I was expecting, Lieutenant."
"And you're exactly what I expecting, Mr. Stark. Glad you enjoyed the show. I'm sure you have other tasks to attend to. Locating the Tesseract, maybe?"
"Aye aye." He made a military salute, arrogant smile in place, and left the training room.
"I have some tasks of my own." Natasha whispered and Maria nodded.
Natasha had confided that she was going to rile Loki up and manipulate his emotions with her own to see what his play onboard was. Maria didn't doubt that Natasha would succeed. The woman was brilliant and conniving. Only the best women, like Hill and Romanoff, made it into the upper ranks of S.H.I.E.L.D. For obvious reasons.
"We didn't mean to interrupt or intrude." Steve said and Maria was startled from her thoughts, after momentarily forgetting he had remained.
"Nothing better to do, Captain?"
"We were looking for Agent Romanoff but when we saw your training we didn't want to disrupt the program."
"Exactly how long were you two spying on us?"
The Captain colored charmingly.
"A while." He admitted and Maria bit her lip to contain any laughter.
"And?"
"Pardon?"
"What did you think?" she stepped closer to his position at the door. "Am I qualified to fight this upcoming battle?"
"Qualified? Of course." He hesitated and she paused directly in front of him.
"But?"
"But I hope you have no part in any battles. I wouldn't want you to get hurt."
"That's sweet, Captain. Out-dated but sweet."
Steve gave a short laugh.
"That's all I hear lately. 'How sweet, how adorable, how chivalrous.' But people seem to be saying it piteously."
"It's just strange to have a man like you around. I find it refreshing, if it helps."
"It does." He smiled. "You're strange to me too."
"Thank you?" her blue eyes narrowed.
"It was a compliment, Mar-Agent Hill."
"It's Maria to you. Stark needs titles to keep him in place. If I let him use my name, he'd move on to 'babe' or 'honey' or something worse."
"It was a compliment, Maria. Women in my time were more dependant and less ambitious. Men were meant to feel needed and that may be a nice sentiment but the more independent a woman is, the better she'll be."
"Yes. Depending on other people is dangerous. Any moment they can screw you over." Her eyes glazed over for a second and Steve didn't interrupt her wandering.
They weren't close enough to share deep, dark secrets and he sensed Maria Hill was a pit of secrets that he had to cautiously unearth. If he moved too close too fast, he'd spook her. And he didn't want to lose this woman. Not after losing Peggy. Maria reminded him of Peggy. Same spirit. Same command over body and those around her. Same confidence. However, the similarities stopped there. Maria was stronger, a more potent force with less care over the feelings and opinions of those around her. She was earth-shaking and he was mesmerized.
"Not all people turn their backs on you." He said gently and she returned to the present.
"I would hope not." She murmured and the silence changed to a sizzling, expectant spark.
Steve's gaze wandered down to her lips, slightly parted, and Maria moved forward, her eyes closing just as-
"Hill." The intercom in the room crackled with Nick Fury's low voice.
Maria moved back, her eyes never leaving Steve's.
"Sir?"
"I need you here. Now."
"Yes, sir. Fifteen minutes."
"Ten." The voice faded out.
"I have to go." She said without needing to.
"We're all busy." He nodded.
"I-
She paused before saying anything. What should she do now? They were going to kiss. Things would have changed more definitely between them. Now, they were stuck in the awkward in-between of a thwarted first kiss.
"I'll look for you later." He spoke instead, gracing her with an open-mouthed smile that showed off a perfect dental structure.
"I still have your jacket."
"I know." His smile was a private one and she missed the joke. "Later." He said again, backing out of the room slowly.
After he left and Maria had entered the shower in the locker room, her body still buzzed.
There's no uncertainty now, Maria. You like the guy. He seems to like you. He may be the most gorgeous mortal (Thor is the most gorgeous immortal) you've laid eyes on and he's the perfect gentleman old Hollywood movies portray. Don't screw this up… On second thought, you're going to screw this up because you're a bitch so make back-up plans to apologize for your screw-up.
Twenty minutes later, Maria was walking through the rows of newer agents manning the ship's controls, checking all the systems per Fury's orders when she saw the gathered Avengers, plus Natasha and fury in the glass lab where Dr. Banner and Stark were working. They seemed to be arguing quite furiously, Steve advancing on Stark and Natasha yelling at the general environment. Suddenly, an explosion resounded through the ship.
"Hill!" Fury shouted in her ear and she didn't wince, already used to his disrespect of her hearing.
"We've lost an engine. Something's hit us, sir."
She looked up at the lab, gasping when she saw the glass had exploded and three men lay sprawled among it. Director Fury was standing and shouting at some agents from above and she saw Steve and Stark move from the room. She breathed a sigh of relief that Steve wasn't hurt but then her gaze shifted to the open space under the lab. Where was Natasha?
A spine-tingling roar came from below.
"Oh my God." Maria said.
The Hulk had been unleashed. And Natasha was his only target.