After his death Maria was handed Coulson's job with one of Fury's typical, do-this-or-else glare. It need not be said that none of the Avengers were happy that Maria was taking over their beloved 'Son of Coul's responsibilities and frankly, Maria wasn't too please either. But, Maria decided, she could deal with it so long as she didn't have to deal with all the Avengers' personal shit. In hindsight, this was foolhardy on her part; at least three-quarters of Coulson's job was putting out the fires the Avengers (i.e. Tony Stark) lit Just Because They Could.

So here Maria was, on her birthday, standing behind a podium after the Army suddenly and inconveniently decided to kick up a massive hissy fit on how 'The entity known as the Hulk was the property of the United States Armed Forces that the agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D. is illegally withholding '. If Maria wasn't so goddamn cranky about the whole thing she might reflect that it was rather sinister and alarming, the idea that in the so-called 'Land of the Free' a major government agency believed they owned someone. But then, those in glass houses and all that.

Now, Maria's fully willing to admit that at the time she was not in the best of moods, so when some shithead reporter asked if S.H.I.E.L.D. intended to hand over the Hulk to the Army she may have said something along the lines of 'No way in Hell or Earth' and 'Over my dead body'. And of course, some fucking moron decided that she must be serious about the whole thing and not indulging in the age-old tradition of hyperbole.

Which led to Maria cooped up in Avenger's Tower being guarded by Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff, who was apparently expressing her gratitude for Maria's little act of stupidity with knives, armour-piercing bullets, and a truly shocking amount of body armour. Steve's motivations were a little cloudier but Maria was far more concerned about the fact that the Black Widow was camping out on her borrowed couch armed with enough weapons to set up a rather large army for life and seems to have no intention of leaving in the near future.

In an effort to escape, Maria had holed up in what seemed to be a living room with a massive couch and a television that might actually be a projector (Maria wasn't totally sure and was feeling way to lazy to bother finding out).

'JARVIS?' Maria asked tentatively.

'Yes Miss?' The AI's cool voice materialized around her.

'You wouldn't happen to have Band of Brothers, would you?'

'We do. Which episode would you like to start at?'

'The beginning is always the best place to start.' Maria gets through the first episode and is starting up the second one when Tony Stark ambles in, baby - which one Maria's not totally sure - in one hand - well, really the baby is cradled in his arm and he holds a tablet in the hand - and uses the other hand to prod away at whatever's on the screen. He looks up when something explodes on-screen.

'Band of Brothers? I love this series, it's brilliant.' He plops down on the other end of the couch, tossing the tablet to one side and absentmindedly poking his finger at the baby, who reaches out to grab it with both hands. The episode progresses and at some point Pepper and the second baby curl up next to Tony and Dr Banner sits down in the big armchair. Agent Romanoff slinks in and slides into Dr Banner's lap by the fourth, curling and coiling around the man in a way Maria was sure most would deem indecent but that seems strangely innocent.

By the fifth episode Maria can see Steve standing in the doorway, wincing at the violence on-screen.

'Is this what they show nowadays? It seems awfully realistic.' A building crumbles on-screen and Steve turns and what Maria would almost describe as runs if she thought Captain America would run from a TV show. Nevertheless, no matter how he does it, Steve retreats, and, for some incomprehensible reason, Maria follows. She finds him hunched over with his head between his knees three hallways away, breathing in sharp gasps.

'Captain? Are you okay?' She asks, tentatively putting her hand on his shoulder.

'France was like nothing you've ever seen. There was mud and filth like you can't even begin to comprehend. It was Hell on Earth.'

Maria doesn't understand. She can't ever understand. She can imagine and she can extrapolate, but her experiences can never compare with that kind of bloodshed.

'I saw pictures. I mean, I asked Natasha why the war ended and she showed me all these pictures, and it was horrible, and I can't help but wonder if that single explosion corrupted and invalidated the entire point of what we fought for. It was destruction in its purest form and it was terrible. Howard worked on that. Tony told me that Howard said they were only supposed to drop one, that it was only supposed to be a one-time thing. How can anyone justify the murder of thousands on innocent people?'

They sink to the ground and Maria wraps her arms around Steve as his body shakes with sobs.