Since "Lines" became a favourite among my stories, I decided to write some more with this ship.
These oneshots will be mainly unconnected or only vaguely connected.
While the topic is "flowers" in the broader sense, I am happy to get creative with this. So I am happy to receive prompts, also for AUs.

Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel.


Prickly like a Cactus

One thing not a lot of people knew about Maria Hill is that she liked flowers, or rather plants in general, and that she knew a great deal about them. She had a green thumb, so to say. But, truth be told, she liked it that way, people not knowing about her passion. Being sort of a herbalist was not exactly good publicity if you wanted a name for yourself either in the military or in the agency. Unfortunately, people tended to equate daintiness or silliness with what was a perfectly reasonable hobby. This was not what she was after, now that she had become the youngest deputy director in history and round about half of her agents were convinced she only got the job by looking pretty or sleeping with Fury - or both. Well, she did look fairly attractive but she would not sleep with a man for a promotion, even if it was a really good one that came with a beautiful spacious office overlooking New York City. People tended to think S.H.I.E.L.D. was located in a dark dungeon somewhere and they probably had dark dungeons if need be, but most of it was hidden in plain sight, behind the shiny facades of skyscrapers in the middle of the City.

Now, she would have loved to put some big plants into this office, maybe a small palm tree or even go all out and choose a bonsai selection for her mostly empty sideboard, but she had resisted. Instead, she had only brought a little cactus that was now situtated on her desk, daring agents to touch it. And touch it they did, when they thought she wasn't looking. Apparently they had a thing for testing their pain tolerance, finding out the hard way that the little needles would fall off and get stuck in the offending fingers. Since this couldn't be good for a plant in the long run, she had put it out of reach on a shelf behind her office chair after a week.

It was a couple of days later that she ehard a knock on hr door, but before she could tell the person to enter, they were already sauntering in. It was her boss, probably the only one who would dare to do so, looking around the office quizically.

"So, Hill, I have neglected to ask you yet, what do you think of your office?" he asked, though she wasn't quite sure whether he actually wanted an answer.

She shrugged.

"It's got a lovely view, that's for sure. Though I seem to spend most of my time in briefing rooms or your office anyway."

He made a sound that might have been a snort.

"You really are as prickly as that cactus people have been complaining about. What's the deal with it?"
"I wanted something green in here. Something that doesn't die easily. If people can't keep their fingers to themselves it's not my fault."
"Do you have any philosophical considerations about this like eternal life, resiliance and shit, or do you simply have to little to do?" he asked further.
"Purely aesthetic objectives, Sir," she answered stoically, refusing to be intimidated, "though you seem to have given my cactus quite some thought. If you want one, Sir, I will get you one, too."

It made him snort again. However, she could see the approval of her on his face, so she just gave him a half-smile.

"Keep it," she growled, "that stuff is wasted on me. Though if S.H.I.E.L.D. ever needs to send flowers, I will be sure to tell you and let you arrange it."

Maria made a face.

"Sir, I never said anything about flowers. I just got myself a cactus."

When he raised his eyebrow, she had the feeling he was seeing right through her. Likely he had found out about her interest in plants during a background check when they certainly had looked up all books she had ever borrowed from the library and searched her apartment. It was surprising, really, that the gossip mill had not run rampage yet. These news usually travelled fast, especially in an agency where most things were not to be talked about.

"Something tells me your expertise is far more expansive than that, Agent Hill," he commented, with something that might have been amusement, "I will make sure to use it to its full potential."

The full potential for S.H.I.E.L.D., or the full potential to basically blackmail her into doing what he wanted, that was the question. Though, to be fair, in comparison to other secrets, this one was fairly harmless, she had to admit. And she really wanted to get him that cactus, just in spite. Not yet, in any case, patience was a vitue after all. But once her place was a bit more secure, she would do it. That was something she promised herself right then.