"I See Why"

"Just because I'm in Human Resources doesn't mean I have to meet every single friend of the Avengers," Maria argued.

"Maria—"

"Pepper, I have other… commitments aside from my work at Stark Industries. You told me I wasn't a glorified paper-pusher—"

"And you've scared everyone… fine, intimidated everyone into behaving, which is why you don't have to deal with as many problems as most HR bosses," Pepper said. Maria could hear her tapping the desk with a polished nail on the other end of the line. "Just meet with them. Please?"

"I've met the Avengers," Maria said. "Yes, I used to work for SHIELD, but I refuse to be roped into baby-sitting the Avengers and their associates, even by accident."

"It should've been Phil, but he…" Pepper trailed off. Maria swallowed back the impulse to blurt out the truth, and sighed through her nose as she rested her head on her hand.

"I know," she said. "I'm sorry, Pepper, but I have work to get through."

"Promise you'll say hello to them sometime. Okay?"

"I'll… see what I can do. But it may not be anytime soon."

"That's alright. Just don't leave it too long."

"Why not?"

But Pepper had hung up, leaving Maria without an answer about her strange request.

It took three dinner refusals for Tony Stark to show himself down to Human Resources personally, which sent everyone into a spin. Maria didn't know anything about it until he stalked into her office and glared at her.

"Aren't we good enough for you or something?" he said.

"I can't give you any more information than I already have."

"We don't want information! We want your company."

Maria arched an eyebrow. It was enough to make the billionaire take a step back, but he maintained eye contact.

"Why?" she asked.

"Clint and Natasha want to see you."

"No, they don't. They never did before. We were colleagues, not friends."

"Do you have any friends?"

Maria pointed to her door. "Out."

"You can't kick me out of your office."

"I was deputy director of SHIELD once upon a time, Mr. Stark. I can – and will – kick you out of my office physically if I need to."

"Rude," he said, flicking one of the pens in her pencil cup. "Come up for dinner sometime."

"Is that an order?"

"I could make it one."

"And I could just call Pepper."

"…That was mean."

"You're wasting my time, Mr. Stark. I have no interest in socialising with you or the rest of the Avengers."

"None of us? At all?"

"No."

"You… you haven't even met everyone yet."

"Do you have a better reason – a legitimate one, Mr. Stark – for me to spend the evening with my employers and their friends?"

"…To be sociable?"

"I have hobbies and I go to the gym. I meet people I like. I don't need to sit through an awkward meal with—"

"Or just come up and say 'hi'."

"Why, Mr. Stark?"

"…Uh…"

"If you can come up with a suitable answer," she said, "you know where to find me, and I'm sure you know how to make an appointment. You're lucky I didn't have someone with me, or I would've tased you."

"Always with the tasers," he muttered, walking out of the room.

One day, Maria caved, now more curious than she was annoyed about all the requests to see the Avengers and their friends. If they were trying to see her as a substitute Coulson… well, that'd be a hard one to handle. She couldn't tell them that he was alive until she had his say-so, but the longer she actively hid the lie from them the worse the falling out would be when the secret was revealed. It was part of the reason she didn't want to see the Avengers. She'd take loneliness over too much interaction with them, especially with Barton and Romanov. They were far more perceptive than Pepper Potts, and hell, maybe even the Hulk would smell the lies on her.

But they'd been bugging her for weeks now, so she showed up unannounced – JARVIS was a girl's best friend – hoping to catch them off-guard and find out why they were behaving so strangely.

"…off on some stupid mission—"

"It isn't a stupid mission, they're searching for Barnes—"

"And what if she shows—"

Romanov shushed them as Maria walked into the common area. They all glanced at each other, and her eyes narrowed.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Oh, hi, Hill," Barton said. With no enthusiasm. Where were the eager-to-see-her superheroes she'd been hearing so much about?

"I am pleased to see you again, Lady Maria," Thor said, half-bowing to her. She'd forgotten how loudly he spoke, although the way he said it made her think it was for the others' benefit, because Barton and Stark stood up straighter, and the rest of them became more animated.

"Nice to see you, too, Thor," she said.

"You have not met my Lady Jane, nor her friend, Lady Darcy."

"No, I haven't," she said, shaking the women's hands. "Pleased to meet you."

"Nice to meet you," Dr. Foster said.

"You're the badass Maria Hill they've told us about," Miss Lewis said, and she grinned. "I heard you threatened to tase Stark."

"It's a rite of passage," Maria said, and Miss Lewis laughed.

"I'll pass on that," she said. "He's lettin' me stay here, and JARVIS is the best."

"Is there anyone else I'm supposed to meet? I have groceries to pick up on the way home, and the traffic's going to turn nightmarish in about half an hour's time."

"Stay for drinks!" Stark said, making for his bar. "Pity you showed up tonight, because Rhodey's not here. He's with Wilson and Cap, off chasing down some story about… anyway—"

"The Winter Soldier," Maria said. Stark hesitated.

"Yeah."

"I've met them," she said. "Please tell me you haven't forgotten about the part I played in bringing down the Helicarriers?"

"Heh," Barton said, smirking. "I was bringing down Helicarriers before it was popular."

"Nothing to sound proud of, Barton."

"It is, in hindsight."

She rolled her eyes, but allowed herself to be dragged over to the table. Twelve minutes of awkward small-talk later, she stood up again.

"Well, this was a waste of my time," she said. "Though you've still got excellent taste in vodka, Romanov."

"Thank you."

"Aside from meeting you," she continued, nodding to Foster and Lewis, "I really haven't achieved anything here, so I'm going now. Good night."

"But you haven't met Rhodey yet, have you?" Stark said.

"I'm sure I'll meet the colonel one day," she said.

"Well, yeah, but still—"

"So just let Fate take its course."

"Fate?"

Something in his voice arrested her attention. But he stared at her with wide eyes, and she mentally strangled him.

"Anyone who's put up with you for so many years is well worth meeting," she said. "But not tonight. Have a nice evening, everyone."

She waved as she made for the elevator, now more confused than ever.

"Colonel Rhodes is here!" Maria's secretary hissed around the door.

"Why is War Machine here?" Maria asked.

"I thought he was using Iron Patriot?"

"I think he prefers War Machine. I hear that his password… never mind. Do you know what's brought him?"

"Tony Stark has brought him."

"Hell." Maria closed her eyes for a few seconds, gathering herself together. "Turn on the coffee machine for the addicts, grab the headache tablets from the medicine cabinet for everyone else, and keep it all on stand-by. If he comes to this section, I'll get him out of here as soon as possible."

"Actually…"

"What is it?"

Her secretary sighed. "Look, there are people in HR who have kids who are fans of Iron Patriot, so…?"

Maria nodded. "If the colonel is fine with autographs, it's fine with me."

"Thank you, Ms. Hill."

Maria returned to her work, hoping that Stark would have enough sense to stay away from her. She had an envelope opener with his name on it. No, really. It was a Stark Industries envelope opener. More personal than a taser. And it was easy to get blood out of carpet; just hard to explain to Pepper Potts.

"And here she is!" Stark said, barging his way into her office. Maria grabbed the letter opener and threw it right into the wall behind his head, nearly clipping his ear. His eyes widened, and his jaw dropped when he turned his head and saw how close the letter opener had come. His friend burst out laughing, and moved towards Maria with his hand out. She shook it.

"I'm Maria Hill," she said. He grinned widely.

"I've been waiting a long time for this moment, Maria," he said, and he kissed her hand. She nearly collapsed into her chair.

"Oh," she said. 'Surprised' would be an understatement. War Machine was her soulmate? Colonel James 'Rhodey' Rhodes was her soulmate?

"I hear the other guys have been bugging you to come up and meet the gang?" he said. "By the way, I'm James Rhodes, but everyone calls me Rhodey."

"I know, Colonel Rhodey. I mean, Rhodes. Uh…"

"Rhodey."

"Rhodey," she said, trying not to swallow her tongue. They were still holding hands, his large and warm around hers, which was cold from the air-conditioning. "Yes, they… Okay, I see why they were doing that now."

"Considering I've got your name in my soulmark, Tony and Pepper have been trying to find an excuse for us to meet," he said. "I guess you've been easing back into normal civilian life, being outta the spy game now."

"…Yes."

He frowned slightly, but continued. "Can I take you out to dinner? Without the others around?" He glanced at Stark, who held up his hands in a surrender motion.

"That sounds nice," Maria said, squeezing his hand. "I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting… it's been so long."

"It's been a long time for me, too," he said. "Knowing your name didn't help. I joined the air force when it looked like the best way to find every Maria Hill that I could. But I guess your records as a SHIELD agent would've been hidden well."

"I'm sorry about that."

"Nah, letting Fate handle things was the only way to go. I've seen my share of Maria Hills, but you're the most gorgeous one I've seen."

It had been about a decade or so since Maria last blushed, but she recognised the sensation immediately.

"Thank you, colonel," she said. "You're very attractive, too."

"You don't compliment guys all that often, do you?"

"Most of my compliments are work-related," she admitted. "I'm out of practise with flirting, so…"

"That's okay," he said, looking her over slowly. She cleared her throat, the flush on her cheeks definitely not helping. "Practise on me all you want."

I would. I'd be happy to practise on Rhodey. ;)

Please review! A shorter chapter, but I didn't feel like descending into a farce where they just kept missing each other. I'm better at punny comedy than physical comedy. Maria's busy, Tony's determined, and Rhodey is just the cutest.