I can't believe it's been a year since I updated this (with the exception of my adult chapter 2.5 addition). I'm so sorry. I've been dealing with some difficult things and been hectic busy and this part just didn't seem to be coming out the way I wanted it to. I think it's all right now. I hope you think so. Thank you for reading and please let me know what you think.
Risks 6
When they arrived at the venue, the group was ushered into a private room where they were briefed on what would be happening and when. Pepper set up her phone to send reminders to everyone 30 minutes before they were supposed to gather for the presentation. When they were dismissed, Nick led Maria onto the dance floor.
She noticed that he seemed to be guiding her away from the main activity and towards a quieter, more shadowed area. "Don't want to be seen with me?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"Why would I not want to be seen with the most beautiful woman in the room?" he asked smiling down at her. "It's just that you promised dances to several of your team and I'm hoping that they won't be able to find you to claim them. I'd like to keep you all to myself."
"Sounding a little possessive there, Nick."
He froze suddenly, a look of consternation on his face. "I'm sorry. It did sound that way and that was not my intention. In fact, my lack of possessiveness was one of the many factors that contributed to the end of my marriage."
"Your wife wanted you to be possessive?" she asked, looking a bit confused.
"Thought it was a sign of love," he told her with a shrug.
"So if your not possessive, why don't you want me dancing with any of the other guys?" she asked. "Not that it's going to be an issue. They just asked to be polite. I doubt any of them will be cutting in on you," she added.
"One of those men was Steve Rogers. You really doubt he would fail to follow through?"
"Okay, I'll give you Steve," she acknowledged, "but can you really see Stark asking for the pleasure of my company?"
"His loss, my gain," Fury told her.
"So, back to my question. Not possessive."
He thought a moment. "Jealousy, maybe." He saw her start to say something and continued hurriedly. "Not jealousy of you and another man, exactly. I suppose it's more that I'm jealous of anything that cuts into the very limited time that we have to spend together. We're here together under orders and, dammit, we're going to be together."
She threw back her head and laughed. "Nice save there, boss."
"I thought so," he replied, gently spinning her. They slowly made their way around the dance floor, making an effort not to hold each other too close or to smile at one another too much. It wasn't long before Nick felt a slight tap on his shoulder. He stepped away from Maria and turned.
Steve Rogers nodded to them both with a smile.
"Ma'am. Sir."
His date for the evening stood close at his side. He had first encountered Beth Matthews during the battle. He had been impressed as he noted the young waitress assisting injured, even going so far as to put herself physically between an invader and a woman with a small child. When he had fallen, she had raced to his side, offering a hand to help him rise. During the clean up, he sought her out, thanking her for her help and found himself charmed by her combination of sweetness and fierce determination.
"I was wondering if this would be a good time to collect on the dance that Agent Hill promised me?" he asked the duo.
Fury looked knowingly at his partner.
She threw a dazzling smile at the other man. "I would be delighted, Captain Rogers," she told him, offering him her hand.
As he led her back onto the dance floor, Nick held his hand out to Beth.
After a few minutes of silence, Marie spoke. "You can relax a little, Rogers. I don't bite."
"That's not what they say around headquarters," he replied.
"Okay," she amended, "I won't bite tonight.
He smiled, finally relaxing a bit, though she noted that he kept darting glances to his date and her current dance partner.
"Director Fury generally doesn't bite, either. At least, not civilians. Unless he has a good reason."
His attention returned to her. "I apologize for my wandering attention, Agent Hill. I guess I'm still adjusting to modern times. It wasn't very long ago, from my point of view, that a colored man dancing with a white woman would have caused a riot. He could have been arrested and hanged for even looking at you or Beth, much less daring to dance with you. Now, no one seems to bat an eye."
"Don't know that I'd go quite that far," she said, inclining her head towards an older woman watching the couple with a moue of distaste. "She's been giving the two of us the evil eye all evening. But, yes, things have changed some, fortunately."
"Some days, it seems like everything has changed," he murmured softly.
She smiled sympathetically, patting his shoulder. "You're doing great, Steve."
When the dance ended, he returned her to Nick, reclaiming his own date and melting away into the crowd. The dark skinned man snagged a couple of drinks from a passing waiter and led her to the side where they watched the crowd swirling around in front of them.
"So," Maria asked, sipping at her champagne, "What do normal people talk about on dates?"
"Considering I haven't dated in years and I'm not entirely sure I'm normal," he answered, "I have no idea. Work, maybe?"
She turned to look at him. "So, what do you do for a living, Nick."
"Unfortunately, if I told you, I'd have to kill you. You?"
"Same," she acknowledged.
After a few more minutes, he turned to ask if she wanted to step outside for a moment when they spotted Tony and Pepper making their way through the crowd, heading their direction. When they arrived, Pepper smiled broadly.
"Having a good time?" she asked.
The other two smiled noncommittally. Pepper cleared the throat and nudged Tony gently in the side. When he ignored her, she poked a little harder. He jumped slightly.
"Oh, yeah." He cleared his own throat, then turned to Maria. "Agent Hill, may I have the pleasure of this next dance," he asked, his tone wooden and robotic. When Pepper elbowed him sharply, he pasted on a rigid smile, held out his hand, and added an insincere, "Please."
"Wow. How could I possibly decline such a warm invitation?" Maria queried.
Pepper rolled her eyes and turned to the other woman. "Would you mind terribly babysitting him for a few minutes so that I can have a grown up conversation with your handsome date?"
With a sigh, Maria took Tony's hand and followed him onto the dance floor with Pepper and Nick close behind. They moved in silence for a while, then Tony cleared his throat.
"You dance quite well, Agent Hill."
"You sound surprised," she quirked an eyebrow at him.
"Guess I shouldn't be. You spies have to be trained to fit in anywhere."
"Pretty much."
The silence returned. This time, she was the one who broke it.
"By the way, Stark. You did well."
"Yeah, my parents insisted on dance lessons when I was a child," he told her.
"I don't mean dancing," she corrected.
"You don't think I dance well?"
"Yes, you do, but that's not what I meant."
He raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue.
"During the battle."
He nodded.
"The whole thing with the nuke, in particular."
"You mean the nuke that your people launched," he asked, irritation in his voice.
"Neither the Director or I were involved in that decision. That order came from over his head. Once we realized what was happening, we tried to stop it," she told him.
"But you couldn't."
"No," she admitted, "We couldn't. But you could. And did. And I wanted to thank you."
He was at a loss for words for a moment, then finally muttered softly. "You're welcome."
Attitude returning, he grinned at her. "So does this mean you're admitting you were wrong about the superhero team thing?"
"No," she replied quickly. "I'm still not a big fan of the idea of depending on people with super powers or fancy machines to protect humanity."
"Says the woman who works on a flying aircraft carrier" he commented sotto voce.
"But, in this case," she continued, "it worked. I just hope we don't have to find out if it will again."
"Agreed," he said, dipping her slightly as the dance concluded.
When the two couples were properly realigned, Nick and Maria strolled out into the garden.
"What did Ms. Potts want to talk to you about?" she asked as they followed the path.
"She wanted to discuss funding for the Avenger Initiative. If SHIELD will be contributing to expenses, maintenance and upkeep at Avenger tower, research projects, that kind of stuff. I told her we'd get some figures together and you'd get with her in the next week or so," he told her.
"Me!" she squealed. "Why are you dumping this in my lap? You know my feelings about the whole Avenger thing?"
"Yes," he responded, "but I know I can trust you to get things right. Phil can probably help some and I'll work with you on it, too."
He could see she was still irritated with him. Looking around, he grabbed her hand and pulled her off the groomed path to a shadowed spot. He ran a hand down her arm, catching her hand and drawing it up to his lips. "Have I told you how beautiful you look this evening?"
She grunted at him, not yet ready to let him off the hook.
He looped a finger under one of the straps of he gown. "As stunning as this dress is, I'm really looking forward to helping you out of it later," he whispered, leaning down to gently kiss her neck.
"That's good, because the zipper got stuck when I was putting it on. That's why I asked JARVIS to send Ms Potts and Agent Romanoff to my room earlier. Should have just asked Romanoff."
He leaned back to study her. "Was there a problem with Ms. Potts?"
"She was a bit shocked by my scars," she admitted.
"Did she say anything? Ask questions?"
Maria shook her head. "Just apologized for her reaction. I guess it just reminded me of things I'd just as soon not think about."
Nick pulled her close, his big hand rubbing gentle, comforting circles on her back. Finally, she looked up, reaching a hand up to draw his mouth down to hers. The kiss quickly turned passionate as she moaned softly, parting her lips in invitation. He accepted, his tongue gliding into her mouth. Breathless, he finally broke away, resting his forehead against hers.
"The idea of stepping outside was to cool off a bit. This certainly isn't cooling me off."
"Hey," she protested, "You're the one who dragged me off into the dark."
"I didn't drag you. You came quite willingly," he countered.
"Indeed. But we should probably head back in now before someone notices we're gone," she said, reluctantly stepping away from his warm embrace.
A few minutes and a few deep breaths later, they returned to the reception. She noticed his looking around.
"Checking up on you little hero club members?"
"Just want to be sure everyone's behaving. I'm not in any hurry to explain another mess to the council."
She joined him in searching out the team. "Looks like Captain Rogers is over there," she pointed, "Talking to the elderly man in the wheelchair while Miss Matthews glares at anyone trying to interrupt them. Dr Banner is there, doing his best imitation of a wallflower while Darcy Lewis chats his ear off."
She continued looking. "Thor is gazing adoringly at Dr. Foster while she's conversing with someone looking like a stereotypical scientist."
Fury followed her gaze. "That's because he is a stereotypical scientist. Forget his name, but he's an Austrian physicist."
She nodded, then pointed to another group. "There's Stark"
"Being Stark," Fury finished. "So we're just missing Silent and Deadly."
Maria spotted Natasha Romanoff headed their way, Clint Barton trailing close behind.
"Speak of the devils," she told him, inclining her head.
"You wouldn't mean us, would you?" the red head asked with a smile.
Maria smiled back at her without answering, holding a hand out to Clint.
"Time for our dance, Agent Barton?"
He took her hand and smiled at Natasha. "Be nice to Fury, Nat."
"But of course," she responded coolly, throwing a saucy grin at the older man. "I'll even let him lead."
As Clint spun her expertly around the dance floor, she grinned as she watched his eyes darting around the room. When they finally landed on her, he grinned back.
"What do you find so amusing, Hill?"
"Some women would be a little insulted, Barton. You're so busy watching everyone else, you've hardly glanced at me," she told him, pushing her lip out in a pout.
He reached a finger up and pushed her lip back in. "Lucky for me, you're not like those women."
"True. I'm much more comfortable knowing that you're aware of who and what's going on around us than having you gaze into my eyes," she told him.
"You and Fury play 'Spot the Security', too?" he asked.
"Not much of a challenge tonight, with so much of it here, though there were a few we disagreed on."
"Same here," he told her. He looked around, locating someone in the crowd, then spun her around. "What did you decide about the blonde lady over there? The one in the black and red gown?"
She grinned at him. "First of all, Barton, that's not a woman, that's a man."
"Yeah, I noticed that. Wasn't sure if you would or not."
"But definitely security," she finished.
"What did Fury think?"
"He disagreed."
"So boys against girls on that one."
"You don't think so?" she asked in disbelief.
He shrugged. "Just don't get that feeling."
Just as the two couples met up again, they received a text reminder from Pepper that the presentation was due to start in another 20 minutes.
"I think there's a ladies room right down this hallway," Natasha told Maria, grasping her arm and pulling her along. The two men shrugged and followed.
"Why do they always have to go in groups?" Nick asked no one in particular.
Natasha turned and threw him a wicked grin. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
In the restroom, the two women took care of their business, then approached the mirrors, straightening gowns and checking hair and makeup.
"So," Tasha asked casually, turning to watch Maria, "How long have you and Fury been sleeping together?"
"What?" Maria turned to look at her. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Agent Romanoff."
"You and Fury. Doing the horizontal mambo. The wild thing. Boinking. Having sex."
"Yes, I understand that. I just don't know where you came up with that idea. He's my boss. This 'date' tonight is because we were both pretty much ordered to be here by our bosses."
The redhead continued to study her.
"Hmm. No obvious signs of deception. No increase in respiration or perspiration. No fidgeting. Gaze remains direct. I haven't really seen any evidence, no secretive, lingering glances or unnecessary touching. You could be telling the truth or you could just be very good at not telling the truth. All I really have is a gut instinct that tells me something's going on."
Her eyes grew moist and she put a trembling hand to her mouth. "But what if my instincts are wrong? What if I can't trust them anymore? If I can't trust myself anymore?"
Maria rolled her eyes. "Cut the crap, Romanoff. Does that act really work?"
Her eyes suddenly dry, Natasha shrugged. "Sometimes."
"Really?"
"Usually on men," the redhead acknowledged. "They can't bear to see me frightened and insecure."
The brunette laughed. "Trust me, those are not words I generally associate with you, Natasha."
Both women turned their attention back to the mirror, checking that makeup and hair were ready for the upcoming presentation.
"So, why did you ask about me and Fury?" Maria questioned, her voice casual.
Tasha considered the question for a moment. "I'm not sure, really. Like I said, I haven't really seen any signs, it's just a feeling I get. I was trained from a very early age to pick up on things around me and to trust my instincts." She grinned at the other woman. "You haven't actually denied it, though."
"No, I haven't," Hill agreed. She turned again to look at the assassin. "You and Barton have been together for a long time."
"Off and on, I suppose. More on than off."
"How do you make it work?" Maria asked her.
After a little thought, the other woman shrugged. "I don't really know. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't and we have to give each other some time and space. Maybe that's why it works. We understand each other and can be ourselves when we're together. I spent so much time playing roles sometimes I'm not entirely sure who I am, but he's okay with whoever that is and we're both okay with whatever the other can give, if that makes any sense."
She paused, then laughed and shrugged again. "Or it could be the great sex or the fact that we both like pistachio ice cream."
Maria laughed with her. "I like mint chocolate chip."
"And what does our fearless leader thing of mint chocolate chip?"
"He really likes it, too."
The two women shared a smile.
"Seriously, though," Tasha added, "If you find someone and something that feels right, enjoy it and let yourself be happy. We have way too much ugliness in our lives not to take the beauty when it's there for us. Don't over analyze."
"Thanks."
When they returned to the hallway where the men waited, Maria looked one way, then the other, checking to make sure they were the only ones there. When she saw all was clear, she stretched up and kissed Nick lightly on the lips. He drew back, his eyebrow raised in question.
"We're busted," she told him. They looked over at the other two agents. With a sigh, Clint pulled a money clip out of his pocket, peeled off several bills, and handed them to Natasha. She smiled at him.
"I'll collect the rest of your payoff later in private."
"That would probably be best," Clint responded. "But now, we need to get to the meeting room before they start without us."
They all stood a moment, thinking.
Finally, Nick sighed. "Guess I have to be the adult here and say 'no, we can't skip out'."
Reluctantly, the foursome joined the rest of their colleagues. The ceremony was about what they expected. Lots of speaking, clapping, more speaking. Captain Rogers made a few remarks as the team leader, Tony a few more, just because he was Tony Stark. Medals were presented, photos were snapped. Finally, it was over and the group was told they were free to return to the party.
With the exception of Tony, who seldom left before a party was over and Pepper, the rest of the group decided to head back to the tower. In the limo, Jane snuggled up against Thor while excitedly rehashing her conversation with the physicist with Bruce Banner. Next to him, Darcy laced her finger through his, following the discussion. Steve and Beth held hands, their heads together as they whispered softly. Tasha sat on Clint's lap, her head resting on his shoulder as she smirked slightly at Nick and Maria who were sitting stiffly, carefully not touching.
When they arrived at the tower, the other exited the vehicle with Fury and Hill being the last. As Clint offered a hand to help her out, Nick leaned forward to whisper in her ear.
"Can't wait to help you with that zipper."
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Feedback, please. Also, would anyone be interested in an M rated chapter 6.5 (some help with that darn zipper) or just go on to 'after'. Or is anyone still reading this?