As always, I'm so sorry for the long wait. I had this one mostly planned out, figured I'd get it written when I had some time off, and guess what? Muse comes up with another idea that will not wait and must be written NOW. So I did., And got some lovely feedback. If you're interested, it's called A Shared Philosophy and can be found on this site. It's about Maria's childhood and some people who made a difference.

Ella: Glad you liked. Close encounters of the offspring kind coming up.

Jokerang: Slowly, but surely getting Maria acquainted with Nick's family. As for Maria's family...there may well be more to that story than we know at this time.

keamlkntl: Squeeeeee is good! Thanks. One meeting, coming right up. Hope you enjoy.

Sandy-wmd: Yup. My job involves working with medical insurance fairly regularly. Sometimes, I just have to shake my head.

Sailorraven34: Glad you enjoyed. I do like to get a laugh in here and there.

aenon: Wow. Blown away by your comments. I absolutely adore knowing what a reader liked and what they didn't. It helps me to take a close look at what I'm doing and decide if I want to or need to adjust where I'm going with something or to clarify details in my mind. Thank you.

funkypen1: Thank you. I think it's fun to have her let down her guard just a little bit from time to time.

Thanks for favorites, follows, and especially, reviews. I adore them. New chapter written and ready to post,. I hope you all enjoy it. You know the details. The stuff that belongs to Marvel and co isn't mine. The stuff that is mine, is mine, for what it's worth. Happy reading!

Risks 27

Captain Steve Rogers sat opposite Maria Hill as she went over his upcoming mission with him. He nodded his understanding, asking a few questions and making a few notes.

"And you need me to leave when?" he asked.

"Tomorrow morning at the lastest," she told him.

"Oh. Okay."

She looked up at him. "Is that going to be a problem?"

"No, ma'am," he assured her. "No problem."

"You're a lousy liar, Rogers. What's the problem?"

He shrugged, looking a bit embarrassed. "Nothing important, really."

"Rogers, I asked you a question."

"Althea's birthday is tomorrow and Beth and I were planning to take them out to dinner. I just really hate to cancel out on them," he finally admitted.

"I hope they won't be too upset with you, but we really can't put this off," she told him.

"Oh, no," he assured her. "It won't be a problem. They know how my life is and the demands of the job. They understand the need for flexibility."

"I guess her grandparents were pretty thrilled about her dating a a hero like Captain America."

"Hardly," he laughed. "The last guy she dated had turned out to be a real jerk and had ended up hurting her. They would have been concerned about whoever she started dating next. But I had a couple of other strikes against me. They're old enough that they heard stories about the 'real' Captain America back when they were kids. The fact that I had the audacity to assume the name and uniform made me pretty arrogant in their eyes."

"So, they don't know about the long nap?"

He shook his head. "I haven't been cleared to release that information, yet."

"Do you want to?"

"I feel like I probably should, at least with Beth, before we go to the next step."

"And you think that might be soon?"

He shrugged.

"I'll discuss the clearance issue with Director Fury," she told him.

"Appreciate it," he replied.

"What was the other strike?" He gave her an inquiring look. "You said you had a couple of other strikes against you," she reminded him.

"Oh. Yeah. He grandmother thought I was something of a ladies man," he confessed.

"Because of your good looks and arrogance?" she teased.

"She kept seeing pictures in the gossip section or on the entertainment news. Different women talking to me. Most of them, I didn't even know. One of me escorting Ms. Potts through a crowd of reporters. One of myself and Agent Romanoff. I was about to lift her her for a better view of something, and had my hands on her waist. Then, there was the picture of you and me."

She knew the photo he meant. She had been kneeling, quickly changing out the magazine on her gun. He had knelt behind her, holding his shield in front of them as he used his body to protect her back. The angle of the shot, though, didn't show the gun and instead, looked rather intimate.

There had been some speculative looks from others on the base after that, but they had both ignored them and it had soon died down.

"But everything worked out for you."

"They did."

"Were you nervous about meeting them the first time?" she asked casually.

"A bit," he admitted.

"How did you get through it?"

"I just reminded myself that they loved her and wanted what was best for her. I just needed to show them that I wanted the same thing," he told her. He studied her a moment. "Interesting line of questioning, Hill. Time to meet the Fury family?"

She nodded. "We're sort of planning a meet up with his daughter and her husband and son."

"Will this be the first time you've met any of his family?"

"No, I met his oldest sister and her grandchildren back shortly after we got involved. Then I met his son a few months back."

"And how did that go?"

"Okay, I suppose. They were quick and were basically emergency situations."

"No time to think about it and get nervous," he commented.

"Exactly."

"But the meetings themselves went well? You got along alright?"

"His sister didn't know about the personal relationthip. As far as she knew, I was just is scecond in commend. At least, I don't think she knew."

"But his son knew?"

"Not at first. Kyle was in town and having dinner with Nick. I had got hurt and he helped Banner patch me up," she told him, fingering the scar on her forehead. "We were at the tower and kind of let our guard down."

"Doesn't sound like he was bothered by the relationthip."

"I don't think so. Nick even says he asks about me when they talk."

"Sounds like he's okay with you," Steve told her. "Why wouldn't his daughter be, too?"

"I don't know. I heard them talking on the phone. It just seems like the father/daughter relationship is different somehow."

He scooted forward in his seat. "Suppose she's not okay with it. Doesn't like you. Then what?"

"What?"

"Think about it, Commander. It's what you do. You plan. Logistics and all that. Look at a situation from every angle, consider every possible outcome. It's your job and you do it very well."

She nodded.

"Say you meet and she doesn't like you. What's the worst that could happen?"

"She hates me. She tells Nick that she doesn't like me and that she won't let him have contact with his grandson if he's seeing me. Or she'll tell him all the things that she doesn't like about me and he'll start to reconsider. Maybe start thinking that maybe she's right."

"And what is the likelihood of that? Realistically?"

Before she could answer, he continued.

"Director Fury and I don't always see eye to eye. We disagree on things. Acceptable levels of risk or collateral damage. But I do respect him and there are things I admire about him. One of those things is the way he reads people. You've worked together a long time, right?"

She nodded.

"And even before you reached this level, I have no doubt he had an eye on someone coming up through the ranks as quickly as you did. The man sees more with one eye than most people do with two. The point is: he knows you. He may not know every single detail of your life, but he knows you. I can't imagine him suddenly finding out something that's going to change how he feels about you."

He held her gaze.

"He loves you, Maria. I like to think that I'm a good observer of people, too. Maybe it's the artist's eye. I see the two of you together at the tower when you're not always on guard. I can see the feelings you have for each other. Nothing anyone else says or does is going to change that."

He watched her processing what he had just said. Finally, she nodded.

"Thank you, Captain Rogers. I would say you're wise beyond your years, but I don't know many people your age, so..."

"Thanks, Commander. I think." He stood to go, picking up the notes she had given him for the mission. "I guess I have everything I need."

"We'll keep an eye on the Matthews' for you," she told him.

"Appreciate it," he answered. "And have faith in what you've got."

"I'll try."

XXXXXXXXX

She reminded herself of that a couple of weeks later.

Circumstances had led them to believe there was a leak in their Vancouver office. She had flown out to inversitgate the matter. After a lot of reading, invesitgating, and some very internsive interviews, she had narrowed the possibilities and had finally extracted a confession.

It had been somme verly long days and nights and she was tired. She felt an immediate boost, though, when her second phone vibrated.

Nick.

She hurried back to her room, quickly sweeping it for bugs before calling him back.

"Everything going well?" he asked.

"I guess you could say that. We got out leak shut down."

"But you're still pissed that it took us as long as it did to detect him."

He knew her well. "We should have screened him out before he ever got as far in as he did. But since we didn't, yearh, we should have recognized the problem a whole lot earlier. We've gone over some protocols to decrease the chances of it happening again."

"That sounds good," he told her.

"You'll get a full report," she assured him. "What have you been up to?"

"Working. Had to hop a flight out to LA to take care of some things. Turned out not to be as serious as it was portrayed, but I had to check it out," he explained.

"And now, you're heading back?" she asked. "Because we're both basically on the west coast at the moment and I was thinking about resting up a day before heading back. I wouldn't complain if you wanted to join me."

"That would be nice," he said, but she heard a hesitation in his voice.

"But you have work to do," she said.

"No," he corrected. "I was actually planning a personal day. I figured that since I'm in the area, I'd stop in and check up on Jake. Spend a little time with Ron and her family."

"That's a good idea. I'll just head back, then. Keep an eye on things so you can enjoy that."

"You could," he agreed. "Or you could join us. Ron said she'd love to have you if you're free. But only if you want to."

She swallowed hard. "Sure."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Sounds like fun."

"You're sure?"

"Well, I don't know abaout the 'fun' part, but I'd love to spend time with you. And I think it's past time to face my fears about meeting your family."

"That's my girl," he said with a laugh.

They finalized plans to meed up at the Sacramento airport and said their goodbyes. Maria forced herself to catch a few hours of sleep before packing her bags and heading to the airport.

When the plane pulled up to the gate, she collected her carryon from the overhead bin and texted Nick to make sure he was waiting.

Here. All clear.

Walking off the plane, she looked around, easily spotting the big man. His face broke into a big smile when he caught sight of her. She smiled back, and started towards him. As he moved to meet her, she decided 'what the hell' and ran the final few steps, throwing herself into his arms.;

He caught her easily, his grunt of surprise changing to a delighted laugh as he swung her around. She buried her face in his neck as his arms tightened around her waist. Finally, he lowered her, his head dipping to claim her lips.

They broke the kiss, both sighing with satisfation.

"You ready to go?" he finally asked.

"We're this close, might at well, right?"

He took her bag in one hand and placed the other at the small of her back, guiding her out to the lot where he had left the rental. The ride was uneventful, filled with easy conversation about what had been going on since they were last together.

He pulled to a stop in front of a nice two story house on a quiet cul de sac. They sat quietly for several minutes, studying the place. It was clearly well maintained, the landscaping bright and colorful.

"You sure about this?" Nick asked. "Because if you want me to, I'll keep driving. Call Ron and tell her something came up and I'll reschedule."

"Don't tempt me," she answered, reaching over to take his hand. "No, I want you to spend time with your family. I want to spend time with your family."

He leaned over and kissed her. "Thank you."

Getting out of the car, he rounded the vehicle, opening the door to help her out.

"Do I look okay?" she asked nervously, "I wasn't sure how to dress."

She was wearing a deep, plum colored sweater with cream colored slacks. She ran her hands down her front, smoothing non-existant wrinkles from the sweater.

He reached over and stroked her cheek. "You look amazing," he told her, his voice a gentle caress. "As always. Just right. We even coordinat."

He was dressed in black slacks and a charcoal gray turtleneck.

"Not hard, since you're usually in shades of black," she told him.

"Easier that way," he answered. "Don't have to worry about matching stuff."

She took a deep breath and allowed him to guide her up the sidewalk to the front door. His knock was answered almost immediately by a dark skinned man. His eyes widened slightly at he glanced at Maria, then he turned to his father in law with a smile. He stuck out his hand.

"Nick. Good to see you. Come in." He opened the door fully and motioned for them to enter. They followed the short hallway into the open living area. "Hey, Jake. Look who's here."

The boy was sitting at the coffee table, working on homework. He jumped up, grinning as he ran to throw his arms around his grandfather.

"Ron! Your dad's here!"

A woman emerged from the kitchen, drying her hands. The greeting on her lips froze when she caught sight of Maria. It took her only a moment to recover, and she continued to him, wrapping her arms around him.

"It's so good to see you again, daddy."

"You, too, baby girl," he answered, returning the hug.

Finally, he released her and stepped back, his hand moving to the small of Maria's back.

"Maria, this is my daughter Veronica Hollander, her husband Grant, and their son, Jake," he told her. "Everyone, this is Maria Hill."

She forced a smile, greeting the others.

"Dinner should be ready soon," Veronica told them. "I'm baking some talapia. I hope you like fish, I didn't think to ask dad and he didn't mention any dietary issures." The look she directed at her father indicated that there were things other than dietary preferences that he had neglected to mention

"That sounds delicious," Maria assured her. "I'm a pretty adventurous when it comes to eating."

Grant fixed drinks and everyone settle on the sofa.

"How are you doing, Jake?" Nick asked..

"I'm fine," he told him, throwing an irritated look at his mother, then his father. "Absolutely fine. Even if no one believes me." He sighed heavily. "No football. No basketball. No riding my bike. Basically, no fun."

"Jake," his mother said warningly.

"You know why you have to avoid contact sports for a while, right?" Nick asked.

"Yeah," he said, rolling his eyes. "I got hurt pretty bad and now everyone's scared of something else happening to me."

"Bacause they care about you," Maria told him. "You had your parents and your grandfather worried sick that they could lose you."

"I guess," he admitted.

"You may be ready for baseball season, but until your doctor says you're okay for contact activities again, you're benched," his father reminded him.

"I know."

"I understand your frustration," his grandfather told him.

"How can you? You're adults. You can do what you want without people telling you you can't."

"Oh, but we do have people telling what we can and can't do," Maria assured him. "We have doctors and bosses and people who care about us, too. I got hurt a few months back. Cut my arm up pretty good." She pushed her sleeve back to show him the scar. "Doctor told me I had to take it easy for a while. No heavy lifting or sparring or anything that might pull at the stitches. I knew that if tore it open again, it would take longer to heal and I'd be on the sidelines even longer."

He nodded.

"And there's your team to think about. If I say that I'm ready to do something and my teammates are depending on me to do it, but I can't, I let them down."

"You said something about the people who care about you. Does that mean that if grandpa tellls you not to do something, you don't?" Jake asked her.

Nick snorted,, choking on his drink. Maria reached over, slapping him on the back.

"As if," he commented.

"Not necessarily. It does mean I'll think about it a little more. He knows me well. He knows my abilities, my strengths and weaknesses. If he's concerned about me doing something, is there a legitimate reason for him to be or is it just the normal worries you have for the people you'd like to take care of and protect? I'll examine the situation a little more closely."

"Then go right ahead and do it," Nick added.

"Usually," she agreed. She turned back to Jake. "Okay. So you can't play with your team right now. What can you do?"

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Instead of focusing on what you can't do, think about what you can do. Things that can help you do better when you can play again."

"Like what?"

"Conditioning. You can run, right?

He looked at his mom, who nodded.

"Work on your speed, your endurance. Footwork. Strength training. Basketball shots." She nodded towards his homework, laying on the table. "Schoolwork."

"Schoolwork? How's that going to help?"

She shrugged. "Most sports involve some math, right? And any learning helps better your mind. Helps you memorize better. Analyze better. See what's going on and adjust as needed. Plus, don't you have to keep your grades up to play?"

He nodded.

"So you focus on your grades, your personal improvement."

"That makes sense."

A timer went off in the kitchen and Veronica stood. "Sounds like dinner should be ready," she told them. "Grab your drinks and head into the dining room and I'll have the food in shortly."

While Jake showed them to their seats in the dining room, Grant helped his wife bring the food in. Finally, everything was on the table and they dug in. There were a few comments about the food, everyone complimenting Veronica on the meal. Otherwise, there was an uncomfortable silence.

"How's school going, Ron?" Nick asked. "She teaches high school math and Grant is the principal at one of the middle schools, " he told Maria.

"Really well," she assured him. They both had a few interesting stories about life in the public schools. Ron also told her dad that she had recently started work on her master's degree, taking classes a couple of evenings a week. He told her how proud of her he was.

"What about you, Maria?" Ron asked.

Maria froze a moment. "What do you mean?"

"What about your family? Wherre did you grow up?"

"No family," she told them. "Just me. Born in Chicago. Grew up mostly there and several boarding schools. College. Military. Then into government service."

Grant glanced at his wife, both noting the lack of detail. "And that's where you and dad met?"

"Eventually. I knew who he was, of course, but I spent several years working my way up in the organization before we actually worked together," she told them.

When everyone had finished, Grant stood and started to clear the table. Veronica waved him off. "You go back in the other room and talk. I'll get this cleaned up," she told them.

"I'll give you a hand," Maria told her.

She started to protest, then nodded. "Thanks."

"Hey, Jake. Let's show your grandpa the newest addition to the train set," Grant told his son, leading the way into the other room. Nick leaned over and kissed her ligthly before following.

"Thanks for talking to Jake like you did," Veronica commented as she pulled storage containers out of the cabinet. "We've told him all that before, but maybe if he keeps hearing it from enough different people, he'll believe it,"

"You're welcome. I realized after that I might have been poking my nose where I had no business doing so."

"It's okay. You have good instincts."

The two women made quick work of getting the leftovers stored away, then started rinsing the dishes and loading up the dishwasher,

Maria finally spoke. "Which bothers you more? The race thing or the age thing?"

The other woman started to protest, then shook her head. "Yesterday, I would have lectured about how open minded I am and about how none of that matters."

"And today?"

"I guess when we're talking about someone I love, I'm a little more concerned," she admitted. "Either situation presents some challenges." She studied Maria thoughtfully. "Probably the age thing," she finally told her.

"Why's that?"

"I think the race difference is less of a personal concern. I bothers me more because of all the small minded people I know are out there and how they react. We know a few mixed race couples and I've seen the looks and heard some of the comments people think they have a right to make. Then there's the stuff mixed race kids have to put up with."

"There won't be any kids involved," Maria assured her. "We've had that discussion. As for what people say or think..."

"Yeah, I know that's never been a big deal for dad."

"Me, either."

"That's good."

"So. The age difference."

Ron studied her. "How old are you, anyway?"

"According to your dad, you and I are about the same age," Maria told her.

"And that doesn't bother you? That he's old enough to be your father?"

"No, it doesn't bother me. I never really got to be a kid, so age has never been a big deal for me. And it doesn't bother him. Why does it bother you?"

"I guess it worries me," she clarified. "You're young and very attractive. You could probably have your choice of men. Don't get me wrong. I love my dad, but he's no matinee idol. He's hard headed and abrupt. Some people say cold, even. I just don't want to see him get hurt if you get a better offer."

Maria shook her head. "That's not going to happen. Those other men you think I could have? They always seem to find me intimidating. Nick doesn't. Nor does he intimidate me. He's to the point. No flattery or fluff. If he says something, I know he means it. We have that in common. Your father is the most amazing man I've ever know, Veronica. I've told him things about myself that I've never told anyone. Horrible things."

She took a deep breath and looked the other woman in the eye. "I wasn't entirely truthful when I said I didn't have any family. I should have said I have no family I have anything to do with. My father is a sick, twisted asshole who I cut myself off from as soon as I knew I could. A few months agao, we ran into him during the course of a business transaction,. Even though neither of us acknowledged our relationthip, it brought back some old nightmares."

Shaking her head, she continued. "Nick just held me. Listened to me. And he didn't walk away. Even knowing the darkest parts of me, he didn't walk away, Veronica."

"And he won't. He loves you, Maria. I'll admit, I was surprised when I saw you. You were not at all what I expected dad's new girlfriend to be. But what really surprised me is the difference I see in him. He's happy, Maria. Happier than I've ever seen him."

Maria started to say something, but she continued. "I know that he loves us. Kyle and I never doubted that. And we know that he loves his grandkids. He's a really good dad and grandfather, even though he probably doesn't think so. But there was still a restlessness about him. It's not there anymore. He's found what he was missing and it's you."

"You really think so?"

"I know so. He loves you. Just don't hurt him."

"And I love him. Admitting that was the scariest think I've ever done, and I've faced some pretty terrifying tihngs in my life. And I will never deliberately let him get hurt."

The continued working in silence for several minutes, then Veronica cleared her throat. "You were talking about getting hurt a few months back. Was that work related?"

Maria nodded.

"I guess it's pretty dangerous, what you and dad do?"

"It can be," the other woman confirmed. "But so can most things in life. Driving can be dangerous. Crossing the street can be dangerous. Teaching school can be dangerous."

Veronica shrugged. "In spite of the news stories, violence in the schools is actually pretty rare. I doubt you can say that about wherever it is you work."

"At this point, we're both more likely to be sending others in to deal with the dangerous stuff, but he's not going to back away from what needs to be done just because of the risk."

"Figures."

"Look. He takes risks, but he's not careless about it. He's a survivor. If there's a way to get through something that seems impossible, he's going to find it. I know that there's always the possibility of something happening to him, but it won't be because he didn't try," Maria told her.

Veronica nodded. "I know. I just worry about him."

"Me, too."

They finished cleaning the kitchen, then went and found the men. They had moved out to the driveway where they were taking turns shooting baskets. Nick glanced at his daughter, then to Maria. She smiled and stretched up to kiss him.

"You play ball?" Jake asked her.

"A little," she told him, holding out her hands for the ball. He passed it to her. She bounced it a couple of times, then turned and sunk a perfect three pointer.

The boy grabbed the ball and tossed it back to her.

Another bounce another three-pointer.

Veronica walked over and wrapped her arms around her father.

"I think you should keep her, dad."

He laughed and hugged her back.

"That's the plan, kiddo. That's my plan."

And that concludes another chapter. Thank you so much for your time. I sincerely hope you enjoyed the meeting and would love to know what you thought. I had to redo the first scene, because I had it worked out in my head, only to realize I was using storyline from one of my other stories. (Phil, meeting and getting to know Jen's kids) At least, I realized it before I actually got it down on paper,. Hopefully, this worked.

I think the next part of Stroll is next in line in my brain. I hope to have it ready in the next week or so. (Right. You know how that goes, don't you, dear readers.)

I'm grateful for my readers. You were one of the blessings I thought of at Thanksgiving.