A/N : I know, it's been almost a year since I've updated this fic but college! Again, thanks with for the feedback, it warms my heart to see people interested in this fic. Without further ado, here's the next installement of She's stronger than you know, a heart of steel starts to grow.

DISCLAIMER : I don't own anything you might recognize.

"She's stronger than she knows, a heart of steel starts to grow"

by OnceUponAPenname

- Chapter six - "All the kicks and the blows, he won't ever let it show" -

"Hey."

'Hey'? 'HEY?!' You haven't seen the woman in years and all you can say is freakin' 'hey?'

Bruce cursed inwardly, his jaw clenching as freakin' Elizabeth Ross started walking toward his table, looking as gorgeous as ever. She was wearing a simple blue blouse with dark jeans, a matching cardigan and sneakers. Her brown haired was up in a messy bun and her blue eyes were hidden between glasses. Still, she looked beautiful. The gamma expert felt the need to stand up as she got closer, so he did.

Still gaping, Betty smiled at him and immediately wrapped her arms around back, Bruce hesitated a moment before wrapping his own arms around the woman's waist. He found himself smiling as her head found its way under his chin. He had forgotten how her body fitted perfectly with his. Unfortunately, Betty pulled back too soon to his liking. She let out a small a giggle, pushing back rebel strands of hair as she said:

"Sorry. Just- I- It's been a while."

"Yeah."

Okay, seriously?! What the hell is wrong with you?!

Bruce shook his head before returning the smile and sitting back on his chair, gesturing to do the same as he did so. Taking a sip of his coffee, the scientist cleared his throat and asked:

"So how've you been? And what are you doing in DC? It's a long way from Cali."

"I've been.. great. I'm actually attending a Science seminar." The brunette answered, playing with the plastic spoon in her cup. "Isn't that why you're here?"

"Ah.. no. I've been out of the country for a while. Trying to avoid civilization, stress..." You.

Betty hummed, nodding in understanding. A silence formed itself between the former lovers. But it wasn't an awkward silence. Both of them were lost in their thoughts, one examining the other, each trying to ignore the events that had separated them. Clearing her throat – and bringing them both to the present – Betty asked:

"What are you here for, then?"

"Work."

Squinting her eyes at him, the young woman repeated, her tone doubtful:

"'Work?' "

"Yep." Don't look her in the eye, don't look her in the eye.

"Hm. Who for?" Come on Banner, we were almost married, don't bullshit me.

"I'm helping some govermental agency search for something." Bruce blurted out.

Betty's blue eyes widened. It was almost amusing to see her blinking in disbelief. Key word of this sentence : almost. The situation was everything but amusing.

"You are working with some govermental agency." Betty emphasized the words by mimicking air-quotes with her fingers.

"Yep." Bruce repeated, lost for words.

"Wha- and what's the cost? Yourfreedom?!" The woman shrieked.

The gamma-expert had to look around them, afraid that her small outburst had attracted unwanted attention. Biting the inside of his cheek, Bruce looked back at Betty, the latter expecting an answer. Not knowing what to say, he shrugged. The brown haired woman scoffed lightly, leaning back into her chair, her arms crossed against her chest. Cocking an eyebrow, she asked:

"Is my father involved in this?"

Frowning at that, Bruce leaned in so his gaze could meet hers.

"I'm not actually that stupid, Betty." He whispered harshly. "I'm not Thaddeus Ross' lapdog or toy to play with."

Ignoring his sarcastic tone and jab at her father, Betty also leaned in, squinting her eyes as she asked:

"Is my sister involved in this?"

Now frowning in confusion, Bruce was about to ask how she knew about that but his attempt was stopped as Betty raised a hand, her eyes cold and her voice harsh as she said:

"Now, this is the last time I'm going to ask you this : what are you doing, Bruce? And why did SHIELD felt the need to call you?

The young woman woke up with a gasp. Breathing heavily, Maria brought a hand to the side of her head and was surprised to find that her previously bleeding gash had been bandaged. She hissed at the contact , quickly taking off her hand. Wincing in dolor, she tried to sit up but her left leg, feeling heavy, restrained her from doing so. In fact, her entire body felt heavy.

"Take it easy, buddy."

Jumping again, Maria groaned at the sudden headache that assaulted her brain. The young brunette closed her eyes for a moment, swallowing the bile that had risen up her throat. When she reopened them, she met Bobbi's blue and worried gaze. The blonde frowned in concern. Maria ignored it, propping herself up on her elbows, and opened her mouth to ask what the hell was going on. A couphing fit stopped her from saying a word. Bobbi quickly stood up and went to fill a cup.

Again ignoring her bandaged leg, Maria sat up. The ruffling of the sheets made the blonde scienticist turn and glare at her. The brunette replied with an angry scowl, smirking slightly when Bobbi sighed and shook her head.

The blonde woman went back to stand next to her friend, handing her the plastic cup of water. Maria took it with a grateful smile and quickly drowned it, oblivious to Bobbi's dissaproving the paper cup back, the young woman cleared her throat before asking:

"What the hell happened?"

Bobbi seemed hesitant to answer, avoiding the young deputy's gaze, examining the screen of a mini electrocardiogramme and pressing it every now and then. Much too Maria's annoyance.

"Bobbi!"

"Um- you hit your head pretty hard when you fell down the stairs, so you've got a concussion and a few stitches on your forehead. You also dislocated your knee, so we had to put a brace on it. You don't feel it now but-"

"Bobs" Maria interrupted, using the blonde's affectionate nickname as she became more and more worried about the situation.

She became even more concerned as she watched the young biochemist blinking several times, benting her head as she wringed her hands, nervous. Clearing her throat, Bobbi looked up, her blue eyes shining with unleashed tears.

"Um- the helicarrier was attacked. By Barton's men, and-"

"What about Barton? Is he okay?" Maria interrupted again as she sat up abruptly, ignoring the pain in her leg.

"No, no he's fine. He's back." Bobbi was quick to reassure her friend, her voice slightly shaking. "It's just that we- we lost a lot. And Loki escaped. And Bruce and Thor are now missing and-"

"What do you mean we 'lost a lot'?"

Taking a shuddering breath, Bobbi's blue eyes met Maria's gaze as she announced:

"Ria, Coulson is dead."

Maria blinked. Several times. Her jaw was clenched and her hands had tightened into fists around the bed sheets. Every five seconds, the young woman reminded herself to keep breathing. Her vision became blurry and Maria tried to convince herself that the tears were caused by the pain in her leg, her headache and the adrealine wearing off. Closing her eyes for a second, Maria took a deep breath. When she re-opened them, her eyes were dry, cold and emotionless.

"What happened?"

"L-Loki got out." The blonde replied, slightly taken back by Maria's hard tone. Clearing her throat, Bobbi added "Coulson tried to talk to him, but crazy son of a bitch used one of his magic tricks and speared him through the heart."

He's dealing with our guest.

Maria clenched her jaw and nodded her head, not meeting Bobbi's blue gaze when the latter took her hands in hers.

"Ria, I am so, so sorry."

Again, the young deputy nodded and slowly took her hands out of Bobbi's grasp, wrapping her arms around herself and ignoring her friend's hurt expression when she did so. Maria looked up, smiled a smile-that-was-more-of-a-grimace and asked:

"Can I be alone? I'm just really tired and my head is killing me."

"Of course." Bobbi immedialy answered, nodding her head and smiling back. "I got you the good drugs but if you need anything else, my comm will stay open all night."

Maria's smile became more genuine at Bobbi's small attempt of humor.

"Thanks, Bobs."

Bobbi gave her a tired smile, squeezed her shoulder then got out of the room. Maria made sure to hear the door slam before – painfully – putting both of her feet on the floor and gritting her teeth in pain. Taking a deep breath, Maria pushed herself up and made sure not to lean on her injured leg. She, then, reached for her crutches and hobbled to the door, praying that Bobbi wouldn't be standing behind it and ready to stop her.

The bloods on the card had dried and Steve couldn't tear his eyes away from it. The feeling of helplessness had been replaced by guilt and his thoughts wouldn't leave him alone. Again, Steve felt that he had failed as a leader and was, now, backed into a corner, not knowing how to fight back.

With a sigh, the Captain downed the rest of his coffee and pushed himself off of the kitchen counter he was leaning on. After a moment of hesitation, he picked up the cards and, much to his dismay, realized that they were irrecoverable. Examining the drawings, His eyebrows frowned in thought, Steve sat down, dropped the cards back on the table and grabbed some clean napkins, patting his pockets for a pencil. When he had found one, he started sketching, his gaze darting from his doodles to the cards.

Steve had been so engrossed in his drawing that he didn't noticed the glass doors of the kitchen whoosing open when Maria entered the room. The brunette's brown eyes widened when she took notice of the blonde man's presence in the room. Biting her lower lip, Maria held both of her crutches with a hand, brushing back rogue strands of hair before she cleared her throat. She had to restrain a chuckle when Steve jump in his seat, obviously startled. Maria leaned against the wall, taking pressure of her injured leg as she watched Steve's wide blue eyes scan the room before finally seeing her.

He blinked at her a few times, as if assuring himself that she was really there and not a hallucination of his tired mind. Shaking his head, he then said, his voice hesitant.

"Hey."

"Hey." Maria returned the small greeting, crossing her legs so her right leg supported her entire body.

The movement didn't go unnoticed by Steve, the latter straightening in his chair as his eyes oveviewed her injuries, a worried and confused frown on his face.

"Are you alright?" The soldier almost seemed ready to stand up and come to her rescue if she were to fall.

"Yeah, just a few bumps and bruises." And broken bones, she added inwardly, slightly bitter.

Steve gave her small nod, not knowing what else to add. And Maria didn't know what was there to add, honestly. Steve tucked his pencil between his ear, scratching the back of his head and trying to avoid the younger woman's inquistive, piercing gaze. Which was ridiculous, he realized a few seconds later.

"God, Rogers. Get a grip." Steve muttered lowly to himself.

"Sorry?" Maria inquired, raising an eyebrow in question.

"Nothing, just talking to myself." The blonde soldier blurted out, forcing a smile. Maria shot him a skeptical glance and let out a small scoff. "What are you still doing up?"

"Making sure that the helicarrier stays up in the air. Not that I don't have faith in Stark's abilities but it's been a weird day." Maria admitted, a small smirk playing on her lips. "And looking for coffee."

Steve shot out of his seat and walked to the cupboards, taking out a mug under Maria's bemused gaze. As if he knew he was being observed, Steve turned to her and flashed her a smile

"You look like you're going to fall down any second. Just sit down, a'right?" At Maria's raised eyebrows, Steve rolled his eyes "I promise I won't drop it on you."

The corner of her lip twitched up in half a smile and she let out a sigh before dropping onto a chair. Steve gave a small nod before turning to the coffee maker. Maria sighed and put an elbow on the table, resting her head in her. She, then, let rubbed the back of herneck. The cards laying on the hard surface caught her attention.

Frowning, Maria tilted her head to the side and leaned over the table so she could reach for them. Sure enough, she recognized the drawings of Captain America on it. The only unusual thing about them was the blood covering them.

"Where did you get these?" Maria asked, her voice a little more breathless than she wanted it to be.

Steve turned back, coffee in hand, and followed the woman's gaze, his jaw clenching as he did so. Clearing his throat, he handed her the cup, sliding sweetners and cream in front of her.

"Director Fury gave them to me, actually. They found it in his frontpocket or something like that, and Fury thought that I should be the one they go to." Steve explained, taking back his seat.

"That's weird." Maria whispered, her fingers still caressing the coat of blood. At Steve's confused frown and tilt of head, she explained. "Not that Fury gave them to you, but that Phil carried them on his person. He's usually so careful with them." Her frown deepened. She was missing something.

Steve gave a understanding hum and nodded.

"Did you know him well?

Scoffing, Maria leaned back into her chair and craddled the cup into her chest.

"You'll find that most of SHIELD knew Coulson pretty well. He was part of Fury's trusted circle. He recruited both Barton and Romanoff. And he defended me when most of SHIELD were against the idea of a young, 'inexperienced', girl becoming the Director Deputy."

"I'm going take that as a 'yes'." Steve said with a humorless smile. Maria let out a dry chuckle escape her lips. "I'm sorry."

Tilting her head to the side, she put down her cup, crossed her arms and squinted her eyes at him.

"Do you apologize for everything, even when you're not at fault?"

Steve snorted, shaking his head.

"Not usually. I still feel like there's something we could've done." He muttered, biting his lip.

"You did something." Steve looked up at her, his eyebrows up. After a minute of hesitation, Maria leaned over and grabbed his hand. "You stopped an entire helicarrier from crashing to the ground. The need of the many outweigh the new of the few.' At his confused expression, Maria laughed and shook her head. "You really need to catch up on modern culture."

Though he was still confused, Steve couldn't help but let out a few chuckles. Maria leaned back, an amused smile on her face. Her facial expression become serious once more when her gaze fell back onto the cards. Noticing her change of behaviour – and the cause of it – Steve offered:

"You can keep them if you want."

"No, it's fine." Maria said, shaking her head "Fury was right when he said they should go back to you. I'll even give you the Cap and Bucky Bears if I found them." She added in a teasing tone.

"They were bears?" Steve asked, scrunching his nose.

"Oh, they were huge back then." Maria affirmed, standing up, careful craddling her cup of coffee so she wouldn't drop any of it. "Every kid had one." She added, trying not to wince as she stretched her bad leg.

Steve stood with her, watching her with concern as she winced. Taking a step toward her, he held out a hand.

"Do you need help?"

Blowing away the strands of hair that fell on her forehead, Maria shot him a small smirk:

"You'll find out, Captain, that I hate being asked this question. And that I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself." Steve gave her a nod and stuffed his hands in his pockets, taking a few steps back. Maria's smirk turned into a genuine smile. "Thanks for the coffee, by the way."

"My pleasure, Deputy."

Steve watched with confusion and a bit of curiosity as the younger woman lingered in front of the door, biting her lip in hesitation. Minutes were passed in silence before she spoke up again.

"It's Maria."

With an amused grin spreading on his face, Steve pointed a thumb toward him.

"Steve."

The gesture felt ridiculous but Steve ignored any embarrasement he might have felt when Maria laughed. Pursing her lips to contain it, she gave him a nod before taking her leave. He kept a careful eye on her as she hobbled out of the kitchen, making sure she wasn't going to fall. When Steve went back to the table and returned to his sketching, he didn't notice the missing card.

Maria found Clint leaning over the railing, his observant blue eyes surveying everything around and under him. He was still wearing his tactical suit and combat boots, all ready to leave if needed be. The only thing missing were his arrows and bow. Maria inwardly winced when she noticed the purple bruise on the left side of his head. As she got closer, the younger woman saw that he was holding a icepack agains his cheek and noticed the butterfly stitches on his forehead.

"Not as bad as it looks." Clint stated, his cold gaze fixed on the lower level. With a crooked smile, he turned his head toward her. An eyebrow cocked, he looked her up and down and frowned "Should you even be up right now?"

Rolling her eyes, Maria went to lean against the railing. Bringing the mug of coffee closer to her chest, she lifted an eyebrow and retorted:

"I'm stronger than I look."

"Don't I know it." Clint snorted, returning to his observing. He tilted his head to the side. "So this is what war looks like."

With a frown, Maria followed his gaze to the lower level where agents were moving non-stop – some were slowed down by their injuries - in an organized mess. In the middle of all of it stood Nick Fury, tall and terrifying and joining no sign of fatigue. Maria hummed and tilted her head to the side :

"It doesn't look that unfamiliar. I mean, if you forgot about the aliens and demigods, that is." Maria said with a smile, earning a small chuckle from the archer. Pursing her lips, she lightly knocked his shoulder with hers "How are you holding up?"

"Fine, considering." Clint sighed, wincing a little when he straightened. He turned his head to her "What about you?"

"Could be worst." Maria retorted with a shrug. Pushing her self up, she stretched her arms over her head and took a look around. With a frown, she asked "Where's the Russian?"

"Sleeping." At his friend's dubious expression, he smirked "I might have convinced Bobbi to slip a little something in Nat's coffee."

"Oh my god." Maria guffawed, taking a sip of her own drink. "She's going to kill you when she wakes up."

"Well, I'll deflect all of her anger onto you when I'll tell her you call The Russian." Clint countered, cocking an eyebrow.

Maria rolled her eyes and scoffed, earning a laugh from the archer. His laugh quickly turned into a jaw-disloquing yawn. Snapping his mouth shut, Clint sighed and rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hands. Nibbling onto her bottom lip, Maria handed him her mug of coffee, nudging his arm with it. Clint turned and eyed the cup with a frown before looking up at her. Rolling her eyes once more, she pratically pushed the cup into his hands.

"You look like you need it more than I do." was Maria's gentle way of saying you-look-like-shit-Barton. The hidden meaning wasn't lost to Clint.

With a grin, he grabbed the cup with both hands, letting the heat emaning from it warm his hands. Maria returned the smile, grabbed the crutches she had left leaning on the railing and went to move away.

"You should rest a little bit, the calm won't last for long. Maybe get some shut-eye, call Laura."

Clint's jaw clenched and his hold tightned around the cup. Lowering his head, he let a humorless chuckle.

"I don't think she wants to talk to me." He muttered. "Hell, I didn't even think you'd want to talk to me, considering..."

"Considering you were brainwashed and mind-controlled by a crazy alien who thinks of himself as a God?" Maria interrupted, both of her eyebrows up. She grabbed his arm, making him look up at her again. "No one's blaming you – well, some might be but they don't matter. I don't blame you. Laura won't blame you." She gave him a small squeeze and let go of his arm "So dont't be stupider than usual and call your wife. That's an order, Barton."

The muttered 'ma'am, yes ma'am' she heard as she made her way to the elevators made her roll her eyes.

Her arrival on the bridge was greeted by silence nods, a few smiles and a few 'ma'am'. Some tried to offer her help, her glare made them turn back to their work. When Maria finally made her way to the platform where Fury was standing, she could have collapsed – the good drugs Bobbi had given her were starting to wear off and Maria was really starting to feel her discolated knee. Like Steve and Clint, Fury gave her an once-over, a frown on his face.

Maria restrained herself from rolling her eyes for the umptenth time and grabbed the cup of coffee out of Fury's hands, relishing in its warmth. She ignored as he squinted his eye at her and looked up, asking.

"Mind telling me how did Rogers obtain something that was in Coulson's locker?"

"Were they in his locker?" Fury wondered, faking confusion.

Maria hummed and maintened eye-contact above the cup as she drank.

"Phil isn't stupid enough to keep valuable cards in his suitpocket when there's a war going on and a high possibily to be killed."

"As you said, Hill, there's a war going on." Fury said, turning back to the screens surrounding him. "Do you really think now is the time to be discussing the location of collectable cards?"

Clenching her jaw, Maria kept staring at him. When he turned back to her and raised his eyebrows, she realized that the question he was aking wasn't rhetorical. She cleared her throat.

"Of course not, sir. Is there anything I can do?"

"Well, since you seem so eager to help, you can go down the Rats floor and do an inventory of what's missing."

"Of course, sir." Maria said in a clipped tone, "I'll make sure to deliver a report as soon as possible."

Handing him the cup back, she hissed herself up from where she was leaning with her crutches and turned around, her ponytail whishing behind her as she did. She didn't turn back to know that Fury was watching her, almost as if he was making sure she wouldn't come back and ask more questions. Maria almost felt insulted. They both knew she'd be back with more questions.

A/N 2 : Please hit the button below and leave a review to share your thoughts !

Till next time.

K.