I missed my update goal for last week. I apologize. Bad Still Waters. I hope you'll forgive me. Unfortunately, allergy season is pretty bad right now and after a day staring at the computer screen at work, my eyes sometimes protest when I try to come home and get on the computer, watering so badly I can hardly see. Additionally, this proved to be another long one, not really having a good spot to cut it off earlier. Hopefully, that will make up for the lateness.
I still don't own anything having to do with the Avengers and Marvel.
Guest 4/12: Thank you. I'm glad you liked
All For Jesus: You're welcome. I'm so glad you liked the proposal. I know it wasn't exactly traditional, but, like you said, I felt it was more 'them'.
LoverofDogs96: Bow taken. Thank you. You flatter me.
Sandy-wmd: Thank you. I'm always a bit leary about introducing original characters, because I get irritated when they take over in the stories I read. I'm glad you like the ones I'm developing. More will be joining the circle of 'those in the know' soon.
ShadowBeats22107: While the Nick/Maria relationship is the center of this story, I'm really enjoying developing other realtionships as well, particularly the friendship between Maria and Natasha. Thank you. Hope you enjoy.
BlackAngel: Thank you.
Ella: Yes. Figured it was time to start bringing in some of these characters that have been developing in my imagination. Meeting the family is big, so there will be plenty more of Maria's introduction to them
Lee: Umm...Okay. You made me smile. Thank you. I'm glad that you love this story. i'm really loving writing it. I would love to be the godmother.
Much thanks to all who read, favorited, followed, and, most especially, reviewed. I deeply appreciated each and every one of you.
Warning: Those of you who have been reading this know that I have created a pretty dark and nasty past for Maria. This part reveals another disgusting part of that involving child sex abuse. It's very brief and I marked it if you think you should skip it.
Happy reading.
Risks 19
Maria Hill smiled as she felt her phone vibrate. Not her normal, SHIELD issue phone. The special one that only one person had the number for. They knew that it was unlikely that their phones were tapped, but thought it worth the extra precaution to keep their personal interactions on another line.
"Hi," she answered, the smile on her face transferring to her voice. "How's your day going?"
"Hi, yourself," he replied. "Started out well. I talked to Kyle this morning. He wanted to make sure that you're healing okay. No delayed effects from the head injury and that we were keeping an eye on the sutures. I told him that Dr. Carlyle had removed the ones in your forehead and that looked good, but that she thought the ones in the arm needed to stay a little longer since that was as deep as it was. Figured you'd get it checked again in the next day or so."
She had to admit that she was a little touched by the young man's concern.
Nick continued. "Things went downhill from there. Spent most of the rest of the day dealing with fallout from the Burma mission. Long meeting with the council. Long disciplinary meeting with the agents in charge. Condolence letters to write."
She knew how much he hated those.
"Posthumous promotion to push through."
One of the agents killed in the botched mission was only a few days away from completing his probationary period and being awarded full agent status. Those few days would make a major difference in the amount of benefits paid out to his widowed mother. The young man had shown great promise and Director Fury was determined to do what he could to make sure that the woman was provided for.
"Then, to the tower to do a final briefing with Romanoff before sending her off to Mozambique in the morning. I just checked in with headquarters and have been informed that everything is under control, so now I'm kicking back in the recliner listening to the hot tub calling my name."
She laughed lightly.
"And your day?" he asked.
"You know. SSDD. Reports. Meetings. Planning sessions. Now, I'm at Pho's picking up dinner. Yes, enough for two," she added before he could interrupt. "I need to look over the plans for tomorrow's operation in Central America a couple of times. Make sure we've got everything covered." The failure of an operation a couple of days back still haunted her, even though she hadn't been involved.
"Then, I might let myself be enticed to join you in the tub," she continued.
"Exactly what I had planned," he told her. "Don't forget to get"
"Extra spring rolls," she finished for him. "Already ordered." She noticed the man behind the counter waving at her and holding up a bag. "Looks like my order is ready to go. I should be back at the tower before long."
They said their goodbyes and she hung up, moving to the counter. As she paid the man and accepted her takeout bags, her regular phone buzzed. She glance at the caller ID, puzzled as to why Stark's AI was calling her.
"Hill," she answered.
"Agent Hill," JARVIS spoke. "Sorry to bother you, but Ms. Potts is currently being accosted in an alley about two blocks from your current location."
"Which direction?" she asked quickly.
"North," he replied.
Quickly getting her bearings, she took off at a fast clip. "Let me know when I'm close," she told the computer. Momentarily distracted by the food bag banging against her leg, she stopped and looked around. Noticing a scruffy looking man sitting against the building next to a shopping cart, she squatted next to him.
"You like Vietnamese food?" she asked.
"I like pretty much anything that includes the term 'food'," he answered with a shy smile.
"Then it's your lucky day," she told him, handing him the bag. She jumped up, weaving through the crowd at a brisk jog. She slowed as she approached an alley, only to pick up the pace again when JARVIS directed her to continue.
"Coming up on your right," he directed.
"Got it," she answered. "Any idea what I'm facing here?"
"Unknown, so caution is recommended. The authorities should be arriving shortly."
She tucked the phone away, careful to keep the line open, and checked her weapon before quietly proceeding into the alley. Rounding a corner, she spied Pepper Potts against the brick wall. A large man stood close, his chest pressed close against her. One hand was clamped tightly over her mouth while the other held a gun pointed at the side of her head. A slight noise alerted her to the presence of someone else in the alley. Making sure she was out of reach of the accomplice, she stepped forward, planting her feet and sighting down the barrel of her gun.
"Step away from the woman and drop your weapon," she called in a firm, steady voice.
He looked over at her, his leering gaze raking her body. "I might do that, darlin', if it was just me. But with my friend there, I figure the odds are still in our favor."
She saw another man step from the shadows to her left, gun pointed at her. Her eyes met Pepper's and she nodded slightly, alerting the other woman to be ready.
With a resigned sigh, she lowered her gun, seeing her assailant relax with a smirk as he stepped closer to relieve her of it. Suddenly, she reacted, grabbing his wrist as she pulled, using his momentum to propel him hard into the brick wall. When he bounced back, she grabbed him by the hair and smacked his face into the wall again.
Pepper took advantage of her attacker's distraction to push him back, lifting her arm to smash the heel of her hand into his chin. As he staggered, Maria stepped over, following the blow with one of her own and the man dropped to the pavement like the sack of garbage that he was.
"You alright?" Maria asked, shaking her aching hand as she kicked their guns out of their reach. She doubted what she had just done would fall under Bruce's definition of taking it easy. In the almost 2 weeks since her encounter with Mokito, the swelling had almost disappeared, but she had a feeling that the ice packs would be coming out again.
"I'm fine," Pepper replied, "Thanks to you."
"That one's yours," Maria told her, pointing to the first attacker.
"I just stunned him. You still took him out."
"Maybe, but you get a assist," the agent assured her.
At that moment, they heard a siren as a police car pulled to a stop at the end of the alley. Maria quickly tucked her weapon back into the holster and raised her hands as the officers came around the corner with their guns at the ready. They looked at the two women, then at the two unconscious men on the ground. One officer leaned over to check them, then picked up their weapons.
"I think these are the guys that we've been after for several assaults in the area recently," he commented, looking up at his partner. He glanced at Pepper and Maria as he stood. "You want to tell me what happened?"
Pepper introduced herself, explaining what had happened and how Maria had come to her rescue. He turned to the agent.
"And you are?"
"I work with Stark Industries security," she told him. True, to an extent. She had coordinated with them on a matter or two. Pepper nodded agreement, realizing her desire to keep SHIELD out of it if at all possible.
Everyone turned as they heard Tony Stark's voice. "Billionaire philanthropist coming through," he announced loudly. Though he did a good job of coming across casual and unconcerned, Maria could see the tension in his form until his gaze came to rest on Pepper. We walked towards her, arms opened and she gratefully stepped into his embrace, snuggling close.
They held each other tightly, finally relaxing. After several minutes, Tony finally loosened his grasp, leaning back slightly to look at her.
"Are you okay?" he asked, his eyes scrutinizing her.
She looked up at him. "I'm fine, thanks to Maria," she replied, nodding towards the agent.
"Thank you," he told her, his voice choked with emotion.
"I'm glad I could help," she told him, "though it was a team effort."
Tony hugged Pepper again, the started guiding her out of the alley. One of the officers moved to intercept them. "We're going to need a statement," he told them, looking between the two.
Stark pointed to the two men just starting to regain consciousness. "Bad. Jail." Then he pointed at Pepper. "Attacked. Home." The officer looked confused.
Having pity on him, Tony sighed and handed him a business card. "Call me tomorrow."
A higher ranking officer who had just arrived on the scene reached out and snatched the card, handing Stark one of his own. "Will do, Mr. Stark. Please let us know if there's anything we can do to assist either of the ladies or yourself."
Tony started walking again, then stopped and turned back. "Ms. Hill?"
"Mr. Stark?"
"Are you coming?"
She nodded, relieved not to be left behind to deal with the questions. When she crossed to the couple, he grabbed her hand, tucking it into the crook of his elbow before wrapping his other arm around Pepper's waist again.
"Got to have a lovely lady for each arm," he told the other men with a smirk. "Reputation to maintain and all that, you know." He quickly guided them through the curious crowd to the limousine where Happy waited.
"You okay, Miss P?" he asked, clearly concerned.
She smiled, patting his arm. "I'm just fine, Happy. Thanks for coming for us." When he opened the door, she slid in, Tony close behind her. When Maria didn't follow, he peered up at her in puzzlement.
"You coming, Hill?"
She shook her head. "My car's still back at the restaurant and I need to replace my dinner order at Pho's," she told them.
"I'll send someone to pick up your car when we get back to the tower and we'll find something to feed you," he told her. "We should get out of here before the press gets wind of the situation." He nodded his head to indicate the news van making its way slowly down the street. His gaze shifted to his chauffeur/body guard. "Happy, put her in the car."
The man straightened, a determined look on his face as he stepped towards the SHIELD agent.
Only to be stopped short by the icy look on her face.
The confidence slipped from his face and he gulped as he stepped back. "Please, Agent Hill?"
Pepper leaned across Tony to look up at her. "Please, Maria?"
With a sigh, she finally relented, settling in next to Stark as Happy smoothly closed the door and rounded the car to slip into the driver's seat.
Tony reached into the limo bar, filling three glasses with ice. He filled one with water and handed it to Pepper, then raised a questioning eyebrow in Maria's direction.
"I'll have the same," she told him. With a nod, he poured water in another glass and handed it to her, then filled his own with scotch. Before settling back with his own, he grabbed the ice bucket and set it in the agents lap, carefully guiding her hand into the cooling relief.
"Thanks," she told him.
With a nod, he turned to Pepper. "What happened?" he asked, wrapping her hand in his.
"I just wasn't paying close enough attention," she said with a sigh. "I was walking along, talking to JARVIS, going over some arrangements for the party, not really watching what was going on around me. I walked past the alley and suddenly felt someone grab me around the waist. He had his hand over my mouth and dragged me into the alley before I knew what was happening."
Tony lifted his hand, his face a hard mask as he touched the finger marks on her jaw.
"He pushed me up against the wall and was holding me there while the other guy was going through my purse."
"Did he hurt you?"
"No," she assured him. "Not really. He was a little rough. I may have a few bruises and a bit of a lump on the back of my head where he pushed me up against the wall," she told him, wincing slightly when he reached up to feel the back of her head. He grabbed a towel from the bar area and spread it out while Maria dumped a handful of ice in it. Then, he folded it and held it to the goose egg.
"Fortunately, Maria showed up before they could really do anything."
"How did you end up there?" he asked, turning to face the agent.
"Your AI called me," she told him.
"JARVIS?"
"Yes, sir," the system answered. "As Ms Potts stated, we were in contact at the time, so I heard what was going on. I alerted the authorities, but I knew that it would take several minutes for them to arrive, so I checked to see who was nearby who might be willing to assist. Agent Hill's GPS indicated that she would be able to get there before the police, so I took the liberty of requesting her help."
"You track people?" she asked, furiously turning on Tony.
"Not constantly," JARVIS reassured her, "but I do have GPS information available on a number of people so that I can track them should the need arise. With Ms. Potts' life in danger, I simply scanned for proximity of any of the signals in my database, matched it to you, and initiated contact. I thought the circumstances warranted the action."
"I suppose," Maria acknowledged. "I had just picked up dinner when he called."
"What happened to your food?" Pepper interrupted.
"Gave it to a guy on the street."
"We owe her dinner," she told Tony.
"Hill, tell JARVIS what you want for dinner," he directed.
'Should I duplicate your order at Pho's?' he asked.
"Sure," she told him, not even bothering to wonder how he would know what she had ordered. "Don't forget the extra spring rolls."
"Add our usual to her order and have them deliver," Pepper told the AI
'Yes, ma'am.'
Happy maneuvered the vehicle into the Tower underground parking garage and quickly came round to open the door. He hesitantly offered a hand to Maria. With a nod of thanks, allowed him to assist her to alight. Tony quickly joined her, offering his own hand to Pepper, then guided both women into the elevator.
"JARVIS, can you ask Banner to meet us in the medical center?" Tony asked. "Get the girls checked over?" When he received dirty looks from each side, he quickly amended. "Ladies?"
"Not necessary," Maria told him at the same time Pepper assured him that she was fine.
He glanced at Pepper with a knowing look. "Humor me." Reaching over, he lightly grasped Maria's arm, then showed them the smear of blood on his hand.
Pepper gasped, grabbing the other woman's arm and pushing her sleeve up. "What happened? Did he cut you? I didn't see a knife?"
"No, that actually happened a couple of weeks ago. I probably just tore one of the stitches or knocked a scab off or something."
When they arrived at the medical center, Tony hustled Pepper over to the scanner. When Bruce walked in, he looked at Maria with a sigh.
"You again?"
She stuck out her tongue at him, then pointed at Pepper. "She's your patient today. I was just going to borrow some scissors and take the stitches out of my arm."
His teasing smile disappeared. "Just be patient for a few minutes and I'll take care of that," he told her before he turned to the other woman, a look of concern on his face.
He listened to her tale of the days events as he studied the scan result, gently probing that she indicated were tender. Examining the scan closely, he turned to her with a raised eyebrow.
"Anything else you think you should tell me?"
She glanced at Tony, then looked back at the doctor with a shy smile. "Yeah. I'm pregnant."
"Good news?" he asked, voicing the question on Maria's mind.
"Of course," she answered.
"Then, congratulations. Everything looks to be fine for mom and baby. You may be a little stiff and sore for a day or two and will probably have a headache for a while, but no serious damage. You can take some acetaminophen for the pain, use an ice pack on the head, and take it easy for a few days."
"Agent Hill can tell you how not to do that."
All eyes turned to the doorway where Nick Fury leaned against the wall, having silently entered the room in time to hear Pepper's story. He glanced to Tony and Pepper.
"JARVIS told me about what happened. By the way, congratulations on the news," he told them.
"Thank you, Director Fury," she smiled, turning to wrap herself in Tony's embrace.
Nick took advantage of their momentary distraction to study Maria. The flash of concern on his face mirrored Tony's look back in the alley. Again, he clenched his hands together behind his back to fight back his need to touch her to reassure himself. He had to content himself with a small smile and a nod.
"I couldn't very well just stand back and do nothing," she told them with a shrug. As Bruce crossed over to her, she took off her jacket and removed the bandage, holding her arm out to the doctor.
As he carefully clipped the sutures and pulled them out, he glanced over to Pepper. "Avengers Initiative, Inc. might want to consider hiring some medical staff. I don't mind doing this stuff, but I may not always be here," he told her.
"I've thought about that," the woman told him. "It would be great to always have someone around to handle the medical issues, but we don't really have enough to keep someone busy full time, fortunately."
"Maybe have someone on call. Stark Industries could open a clinic for employees at your building. Or maybe something in a nearby neighborhood," Maria suggested.
Pepper nodded, considering.
When Bruce finished, he put a butterfly bandage on the area of the cut that had reopened, then examined his handiwork. "I'm afraid it may leave a little bit of a scar," he told her.
"Not the first, probably won't be the last," she told him. "You did a great job. Thanks, doc."
She looked up to find Pepper staring oddly at her. "Are you okay, Pepper?"
The redhead continued staring in the general vicinity of her chest for several more moments before her gaze flicked upwards. Suddenly, her eyes widened slightly and her lips curled in a brief smile before she nodded.
"I'm fine, Maria." She turned back to Tony. "I think I'm going to go get a shower before the food gets here. I'm feeling a little grungy," she told him, brushing her hands up and down her arms.
"I'll be up in a little bit," Stark told her.
After she left the room, he turned to Maria. "Whatever SHIELD is paying you, I'll double it," he told her. "You've already got a place here, but we can move you into something bigger and better. You can add in whatever you want."
"I'm sorry?" she asked, somewhat confused.
"Okay. Triple whatever the Pirate pays. And whatever other benefits you want. You name it, I'll make it happen."
"For what?" she asked.
He ran a hand through his already messy hair. "I want to hire you to be her bodyguard. I need for her to be protected at all times, especially now that she's pregnant and all," he answered. "I'll rearrange some stuff at Stark Industries, set aside more office space here so that she'll be able to do almost all of her work her. I'll just need for you to be with her at all times when she absolutely has to go out."
"I'm really not looking for a new job right now," Maria told him, "Thanks for the offer. I'm really flattered that you feel you can trust me with something so important, but I'm going to have to decline."
"What can he give you that I can't?" Stark asked, almost whining.
'Love. Security. Amazing orgasms.' She lightly bit her lip, wondering how he would react if she actually said that out loud. "First of all, I really love what I do. Most days. And secondly, I really don't think Pepper would go for the idea."
"Sure she will," Tony argued. "She understands how important she is to me and that I'll do anything to keep her safe."
"Safe, or a prisoner?" she asked.
"I'll ask Romanoff," he muttered. "She'd be better anyway."
Nick spoke up before she could respond. "Agent Hill. Don't you have an operation plan to to over? After that mess we had the other day, we really need to make sure this one goes off perfectly. I want to be sure that every possible situation has a plan and a back up plan."
"Yes, sir," she agreed. Nodding to them both, she turned on her heel and left the room.
Tony looked at Nick. "Going to lecture me about trying to steal your people?" he asked.
The director pondered a moment. "No. I want my people to be committed to SHIELD and what we stand for. If they can be tempted away by money, we don't need them. Besides, you have a reputation for only hiring the very best, Stark. If you want my people, it reinforces just how good they are."
Tony nodded reluctant agreement. "You do have some I wouldn't mind having on my payroll."
"I know that you want to wrap her in bubble wrap and lock her up in your ivory tower, but I don't think rushing in and hiring a full time body guard for your girlfriend is something you should be doing right now. You need to let yourself calm down a little. Talk to her before you take such a drastic step. Make sure it's something she's okay with."
Tony snorted. "Relationship advice from a guy who's married to his job? No, thanks. I know my fiancee and what she needs."
Nick nodded. "Yes, you know her. You know that she's strong and independent. She doesn't take well to being told what to do. She needs to have a say in her own life. Aren't those some of the reasons you fell in love with her?"
Tony ran his hands through his hair again. "True, Fury, but you just don't understand. You don't know what it's like to love someone so much you'd do anything in your power to protect them."
"Yeah, Stark. I do," he answered before turning to leave.
When he arrived in SHIELD's tower office several minutes later, he found Maria deep in concentration over the plans for the upcoming mission. He made sure to make some noise, watching her to be certain that she was aware that he had entered the room. He had learned early on in their relationship that it was not a good idea to try to sneak up on her.
She finally looked up and nodded. "I'm thinking it might be a good idea to add Cordero to the second team on this," she told him, explaining her reasoning. "The job he was on wrapped up early, so he's available and he's close enough that we should be able to get him there in time. I already discussed him with the team leader and he feels it would be a good addition."
Nick looked at her notes and nodded agreement. She had the new orders routed to the appropriate people, then stood and smiled at him.
"You're really okay?" he asked, finally away from the others and free to touch her. He looked at her hand, frowning slightly at the swelling, then pulled her close.
"Just fine," she answered, relaxing into his embrace. She allowed him to lead her over to the sofa and they sat down together.
He lifted her hand, examining it again. She wiggled her fingers to assure him that everything was fine.
"Probably should have hit him with he other hand," he told her.
"Yeah," she agreed. "Didn't give it much thought at the time." She paused for a moment, chewing her lip and he waited, recognizing that she had something on her mind. Finally she spoke.
"You told Kyle the other night that you didn't want any more kids." She looked up at him and he tried to read what was in her eyes. "Are you sure about that?"
He considered. He knew she was looking for something, but he wasn't sure what. "I know it's not something we ever really talked about. I suppose I just kind of assumed that you didn't want any, since you've never mentioned it. I guess if you do, I'm willing to discuss it. It's not a deal breaker or anything."
Suddenly, his eye went wide. "Are you trying to tell me that you're pregnant?"
She shook her head almost violently. "No, no, no. Hell, no. And you're right. I have no desire to bring a child into this world and try to raise it. I can't imagine how badly I would screw that up."
He breathed a sigh of relief. "So, why did you ask?"
"You had an odd look on your face when you were congratulating Stark and Pepper and I just wondered..."
"I was happy for them because they seem happy about it," he told her.
Nodding, she seemed willing to accept that, but he could tell that she had more to say.
"It's just that I probably couldn't have kids even if I wanted to," she told him. "The last guy I dated kind of seriously told me that he was okay with that. That he didn't want kids either. Then, one of his old girlfriends contacted him that he was the father of her child and suddenly his whole world was being a parent and there was something seriously wrong with anyone who didn't want that."
He pulled her close. "There is nothing wrong with not wanting to have children. It's a serious, lifelong commitment and not everyone is cut out for it."
"You don't think it makes me less of a woman?" she asked.
"You are all the woman I can handle, Maria," he assure her with a laugh.
After a long kiss, he looked at her. "Does the not being able to thing have anything to do with the really bad cramping?" he asked.
THIS IS THE PART I WARNED ABOUT.
She nodded, letting her gaze drift to the wall behind him. "When I was about 12, Walsh and van Drake took me with them on a business trip somewhere in Asia, I think. Somehow, vsn Drake figured out that I was pregnant. He told Walsh, who told him to 'take care of things'."
Nick took a deep breath, feeling the rising anger he experienced every time she revealed more about her childhood.
"He dragged me off to the cousin of a friend of a client who would do the abortion quick and cheap. The place was filthy and reeked of rot and decay."
He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his lap. She rested her head on his chest and continued.
"Not surprisingly, I contracted a pretty severe infection. When we were passing through customs coming back to the states, the officer called an ambulance because I was so sick. I don't think I would have gotten medical attention otherwise. Anyway, I later heard van Drake telling my father that the guy had done them a favor. That my fallopian tubes were so badly scarred that they'd probably never have to worry about me getting pregnant again."
She looked up at him. "Not that I rely on that. I still use birth control, just in case the doctors were wrong about that."
END OF INTENESE MATERIAL
He nodded at her, unable to trust his voice, then pulled her close again. His mind was working. He and Coulson had promised her that they wouldn't kill over this, but he had rarely found himself so tempted to break a promise. He knew people, though, who wouldn't even need to be ordered.
"Bruce did say that Pepper and the baby are okay?" she questioned.
"Yes, he seemed to think so. Why do you ask?"
"She was looking at me oddly," she told him. "Kind of staring with this little smile on her face."
"When was that?"
"I was sitting on the table. Bruce looking at my arm," she told him.
He studied her, finally reaching out to lift the pendant that he had given her for her birthday a few months before. "Was she maybe looking at this?"
She considered. "Maybe. She did seem to be looking in that general area. Maybe she was surprised to see me wearing jewelry?"
"This particular piece of jewelry, anyway." At her questioning look, he continued. "She knows that I bought it. I had an idea of what I wanted to get, but hadn't been able to find it, so I asked her to recommend a good jeweler and she took me to the place that Stark uses. He had something similar and reworked it to exactly what I wanted. It got mixed in with some pieces that she had taken in to have cleaned and checked when they brought them back to her. When she saw it, she knew it wasn't hers, then saw my name on the box and gave it to me."
"Do you think she'd believe that it was a simple thank you gift to an employee?"
Looking at it, he raised an eyebrow. "Would you?"
"Do you think she'll tell Stark?"
"I think Stark may be about to royally piss her off," he answered.
"You didn't convince him not to make her his prisoner?"
"Don't know," he told her. "He's scared. I told him not to make any decisions with now, especially without discussing them with her, but he's still focusing on all the things that could happen to the people he cares about and what he can do to prevent them."
"Caveman Stark, huh."
"Yup. I have no idea whether he'll listen to my advice or not. He told me that I couldn't possibly understand. That I'd never loved someone and wanted to protect them like that," he told her.
"And what did you say to that?" she asked.
"Just that I did," he answered, running a gentle finger along the faint line on her forehead left from her recent job. "I didn't tell him that I happen to be head over heels crazy in love with one of the most stubborn, hard headed, beautiful, bad ass, secret agent women ever to walk the planet and that I had almost lost her because I wanted to protect her."
She studied him a moment. "Maybe it's time you did."
"What?"
"JARVIS? Where's Stark?"
'The food was just delivered and the team is all gathering in the common living area,' the AI told her.
She jumped up, grabbing his hand to pull him along with her.
Everyone was just settling around the low table when they arrived in the common area. Pepper smiled a greeting. "I was just about to have JARVIS check to see if you wanted to join us or if you wanted your food in your place," she told them.
"Here's fine, I suppose," Maria replied, looking at the people gathered around the table. Phil waved from his position next to Natasha as everyone started shifting to make a place for them.
Maria turned to Tony. "You said that you owed me, right?"
"Yes," he nodded cautiously, wondering what the agent would request.
"All I want is your silence," she told him. "The Tower is a haven, right? A safe place for the team? What happens here, stays among the people here?"
He nodded again. "I suppose."
"No innuendo or threats to reveal things to people who don't need to know?"
"About what?" he asked.
She turned to Nick, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him down until their lips met. After a moment of surprise, he responded, his lips moving against hers. One arm wrapped around her waist while the other hand moved behind her head, supporting it as he bent forward, leaning her back in a romance movie dip.
The sound of a loud whistle finally caught his attention and he opened his eye, smiling against her mouth as he broke the kiss. When she opened her eyes, she smiled back as they both became aware of the applause. He finally straightened, pulling her upright once more.
Natasha put her fingers in her mouth, once again whistling sharply. On either side of her, Clint and Phil both clapped madly, grinning like fools. Bruce joined the applause, while Steve raised his beer in a toast. Next to him, Beth watched wide-eyed. Thor rose gracefully from his position on the floor and clapped Fury firmly on the back.
"Well done, Lord Fury. Fortunate is the man who holds the heart of a warrior maiden."
"Indeed," Nick agreed, wincing slightly from the power of the friendly pat.
Pepper stepped over to them, slightly squeezing Maria's uninjured hand. "We're so happy for you both." She then turned back to Tony. "Aren't we?" He stood, staring, and she finally reached over and touched his chin, pushing his jaw closed.
With a start, he looked at her, then at Nick and Maria. "Yeah. Definitely can't match that on the job offer," he mumbled.
"That's just it," Maria told him sternly. "This," she pointed her finger to Nick, then herself, "has nothing to do with my job. This is not the business of anyone at SHIELD."
Beth nodded. "You don't want people thinking that you got your position because of your relationship."
"Why would anyone think that?" Thor asked. "Lady Maria is highly skilled at her job. Why would her personal relationship affect that?"
Pepper sighed. "Unfortunately, it does happen. Some people get positions because of who they know or are related to or sleeping with, not because of their abilities. So, many people suspect that to be the case even when it's not."
"Ah," Thor acknowledged.
"Your secret remains among us," Natasha assured her, making eye contact with each person in the room, lingering just a bit longer with Tony.
Everyone mumbled agreement, Thor perking up when they told him that Jane could be included in their secret pact.
"Absolutely," Pepper agreed. "No more need to hide it when you're here. And you can actually come to our engagement party next week as a couple, since we're having a private, team only dinner."
As everyone started offering congratulations on the engagement, the two couples joined the group on the floor and started filling their plates.
When the question of a date inevitably came up, Tony smiled broadly. "We're thinking a small ceremony on the beach by the Malibu place. Probably in the next month or so if no one else tries to take over the planet. We really want to be married before the baby gets here."
That sparked off another round of congratulations, then conversation drifted off to other subjects.
Maria smiled as Nick reached over, snitching a bite of something off her plate before turning to respond to something Tony said. She looked around the table. It felt good to be among friends, able to act like a couple.
Nick placed his hand on her leg, drawing her attention. "Are you okay? You're not eating. With this group, you eat quick or you go hungry, you know."
She leaned over and kissed him.
"Right now, I'm perfect," she told him.
"Yes, you are," he agreed.
Thank you so much for your time. Love my readers. You're the meatballs in my spaghetti. I sincerely hope you enjoyed and eagerly anticipate any and all feedback. I hope no one was offended by the part about the abortion. I had almost included it in an earlier chapter but decided not to. However, it kept coming to mind, so I figured it should be included.
More 'Complications' soon. It's basically written in my head, it's just a matter of getting it onto the screen. Mostly the same with 'Stroll'. Not sure what's next for this one. I've got ideas, I'm just not sure which one to use next.