I have no idea what this is. It just…happened because I needed a Maria/Steve fix. Forgive my lack of comic canon knowledge.

She tries to stay as far away from the Avengers as she can. Maria Hill has always made her displeasure with the Initiative well-known, and she's thankful that Fury respects her enough to not push the issue. She's willing to work with these people, if only because the thought of Earth being invaded by the Skrull makes her objections seem insignificant in comparison.

'Agent Hill,' Steve Rogers greets her politely. Maria inclines her head in acknowledgment before flicking her eyes towards Fury, whose eyepatch seems to be twitching the longer Tony gesticulates around the Helicarrier.

'Nice weather we're having.'

This makes her pause as she stares out the window at the rolling grey sky, the sheets of rain pounding softly against the glass. Maria simply arches a brow and Steve just gives her a bashful smile, rubs the back of his neck.

'Did you require something?'

'Erm…no. Just making conversation,' Steve replies and Maria hesitates, wonders why he would even bother. Tony's made several comments already, all derisive and condescending, about her infallible ability to carry out Fury's orders without question. He'd likened her to the Ultrons Dr Pym built and Maria never let it show how much it bothered her.

Showing weakness was never an option.

When Fury pulls her into an abandoned warehouse, shows her the corkboard littered with red string and pictures of various superheroes that would make The Question proud, Maria finally realizes that her worst fears are coming true.

Their salvation could very well be their greatest Achilles' heel.

Maria notices something off with Steve.

He's still polite, slightly lost and awkward, and always ready to take up his shield for the greater good. She's spent a lot of time observing the Avengers, mostly out of caution but also out of curiosity. Phil (when he was still alive) never wasted an opportunity to bend her ear about how incredible these people were.

Tony, the billionaire playboy who reeked of arrogance and disdain for authority, yet was competent and incredibly devoted to Pepper.

Bruce who suppressed his anger and lived in constant fear of his own skin.

Clint who still sought redemption for Loki by taking every mission that came his way, no matter how dangerous, and hid behind his sarcasm.

Thor who shouldn't even be real, yet dedicated himself to protecting a planet he had adopted as his own.

Natasha who always spoke of wiping red from her ledger, yet kept adding to her numbers because it was the only way she knew how to live.

And then there was Steve. Steve who sought her out at Phil's funeral and offered a fumbling, heartfelt condolence that had caught her off-guard. Steve who always made an effort to say something to her and cut Tony off when he thought the older man was going too far. Steve who had lost so much and yet still believed in good and hope and peace.

But this Steve wasn't the one who had asked her about the weather a few months ago. There is something lurking behind his eyes, something that raises her skin and sets off that internal alarm that had gotten her out of more scrapes than she can count. Maria brushes it off as paranoia but when she catches Steve all but toss his shield aside after a mission, she knows that this man isn't Captain America.

Steve treats that shield like a lost lover (and maybe it is, a reminder of Peggy) and Maria thinks he holds on to it because it's the only thing that is his, that was with him before he was frozen, a piece to remind him of who he was and still is.

Maria knows she should go to Fury but she thinks of the darkened warehouse and corkboard and instead finds herself going to Tony.

'I'm sorry, did you just say you think Cap is a Skrull?' Is the expected response she gets and Maria grinds her teeth, darts her eyes around to make sure that they're still alone.

'He's not acting like himself,' she hisses out. 'How have you not noticed?'

Tony stares at her, leans a hip against his desk. 'Why haven't you told Fury this? Isn't shutting down the Initiative what you want?'

His first question makes her hesitate before she settles her face into an impassive mask. 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend.'

Tony chuckles and shakes his head.

'Look I think I would have noticed if Cap got himself probed,' Tony dismisses her concerns and Maria wants to smack him.

'The Skrulls are shapeshifters who are able to take on the memories of their victims Stark. My problem with the Avengers isn't a personal vendetta and we don't have time to discuss the numerous reasons why my objections to your team are entirely rational. Now, Sir, would you please treat me with the respect I deserve.'

Tony appears taken aback at her clipped words before his features settle into a serious mask.

'Fury needs me because when it comes to heroes and power, he's only concerned with making sure that he gets the right means to satisfy his ends. The Avengers came into being because of Phil Coulson, and I'm not going to let Fury, you, or some Skrull sully that man's name because the thought of Captain America being fallible is too much to stomach.'

'Are you sure?' Tony's question is deserved but he's also scrutinizing her thoroughly and Maria shifts a little.

'Steve Rogers isn't on Earth.'

'You've looked already?'

'Yes I am actually capable of my own thoughts,' Maria snaps out bitterly but hurries on before Tony can respond. 'I have a contact in SWORD who can help. I'm not asking again.'

They don't find Steve. Steve finds them.

'There's something approaching,' Agent Abigail Brand mumbles to Maria before klaxons wail across the Peak, bathing her green hair in red. Maria has known Abigail for years, since their days at Quantico when they were just two young women trying to find their place in life. Maria had escaped her father, his fists and contempt and the ghost of her dead mother. Abby was running from herself, from the energy that would coat her arms to the half-alien heritage that she had revealed to Maria on a night that seemed entirely too long ago.

'What's happening?' Tony demands and Abigail tells him to shut up as her crew scramble to decipher the approaching craft.

'It's Skrull,' someone yells out and the ship swells into a cacophony of noise.

Abigail tells them to shoot at the same time Tony tells them not to.

'Look! It's morse code,' Tony's smiling like he's seen a miracle and Abigail is ready to deliver a cutting remark, when Maria finally makes out the message.

'It's…'

An armoured hand claps her on the back forcefully. 'Looks like the old man still has a trick or two up his sleeve!'

A few minutes later and Steve appears, thinner and with his cheekbones more prominent, a beard threatening to cover half his face. Maria looks at his blue eyes and finds her chest finally easing, a weight getting off her shoulders.

'Huh,' is all Abigail says at her said as Tony takes off his helmet to pull Steve into a hug.

'God you smell terrible.'

'Yeah. It's amazing what being a captive entails,' Steve answers Tony.

'What?' Maria asks, making sure to remain out of sight.

'Fury is going to have your ass for this. You circumvented his authority and let Tony Stark be your accomplice,' Abigail points out too casually. 'All for the good Captain.'

'I didn't do this for him,' Maria answers and it's true.

'Oh I love how you think you can lie to me,' Abigail smirks. 'There's nothing wrong with letting down a few walls. From what I've heard, the Captain seems to have made quite a good impression on you.'

Maria feels the heat on her cheeks.

'Agent Hill?' Steve calls out and the blood rushes to her face when she turns to see him looking at her with those eyes. 'Tony said you're the one who spotted I wasn't…well, myself.'

Stark looks insufferable along with Abigail.

'Just doing my job Sir,' Maria replies, making sure to keep her stance and tone rigid.

'In any case, thank you,' his smile is warm and full, despite his haggard appearance and the fatigue buried in the lines of his face, and Maria feels her lips quirking in response.

All that gets pushed aside when the Skrull armada appears.

People are screaming and children and crying, but Maria has never felt so alive. Blood drips into her eye from a blow to the head and she's sure one or two of her ribs are broken. Abigail is at her back, guns in hand as she attempts to pin back a few of the reptilian creatures.

'Abigail now would be a good time to let loose,' Maria barks out as Iron Man and Hulk go toe to toe with a Skrull who seems to be able to alter his mass and weight. She feels Abigail's spine stiffen before the guns in her hand blaze with energy. The Skrull jolts back and Maria doesn't need to turn around to know that there's a fanatical smile working its away across Abby's face.

'I can handle this,' Abigail calls out and Maria nods, pumps her legs towards the next available target she can see. Smoke and the metallic tang of blood and debris hover around her, familiar smells that shouldn't be. It isn't hard to pick out the red, white and blue figure of Steve and the Skrull he's up against seems to have the same abilities as the Human Torch. Flames shoot out and blast over Steve's shield, forcing Captain America to his knees. Which is why he doesn't see the Skrull with spikes protruding out his body. Maria does though and reacts without thinking.

She hears her name being called, something sharp piercing her stomach and pain, all consuming, following after. Her vision wavers and shifts as her body goes limp, her face pressed into the ground as she sucks in dust and agony with each labored breath.

'Oh god,' a man says and she feels something press against her stomach, and the dots of black all connect until she falls away willingly into the darkness.

Maria hates hospitals. She's come to them enough growing up with her father, having to make up excuses at each new ER she finds. Can't let the doctors get too suspicious of the bruises and scars littering her body and take her away from the only family she has left.

(She finally leaves her father at sixteen, so in the end she doesn't know why she bothered)

The sterile atmosphere isn't welcome when she wakes up, neither is the tube stuck down her throat. Someone yells for a doctor as her vitals spike and she claws uselessly at the plastic contraption.

'Hey its going to be alright Agent Hill. The doctor will be here soon,' Steve's voice is the last thing she expects to hear.

The physical therapy is going to be a bitch, she can already tell. Her ability to react, to respond to a threat without delay is crucial and the gaping wound the SHIELD doctor says he patched back up was near fatal. Steve lingers in the background and Fury is at her bedside, arms crossed and leather coat hanging ominously as the doctor stutters through the sheer hell she can expect the next couple of months.

'Agent Hill?' Fury says after the doctor has left and Maria straightens instinctively at the buried displeasure in his tone.

'Yes Sir.'

'Next time you want to abuse your authority, make sure you do it with someone other than the world's biggest narcissist.'

'Of course Sir.'

'Good job Maria.'

Phil would be proud.

Fury gives her a look before nodding, sweeping out of the room and leaving her with Steve. A tense silence fills the air and Maria wants to ask why he's even here.

'Sir?' She finally breaks the heavy quiet and Steve laughs.

'It's Steve.'

Calling him Steve out loud would indicate familiarity, something she wasn't sure how to deal with.

Steve is looking at her stomach, brow drawn together and this is something she's acquainted with – guilt.

'I was doing my job Sir.'

Steve seems to recoil slightly before sighing, rubbing a hand down his face.

'I could have taken the hit.'

His words feel like an insult.

'No offence Sir but in the grand scheme of things, your ability to take the hit is what makes me expendable.'

'You're not expendable,' Steve bites out instantly and Maria isn't sure why he's so angry. 'You shouldn't talk about yourself that way.'

'I'm a soldier Captain,' Maria tells him patiently, 'just like you. I know what my duty is.'

'Duty…' Steve mumbles the word before shaking his head. Maria feels the weariness seeping into her bones, struggles to keep her eyes open.

'Go to sleep Maria. I have my duty too.'

Against her will, against what she knew she should resist, she trusts him enough to do so.