Black Hill
Maria is used to Natasha going undercover. She’s even built some of the covers for the Black Widow to go out into the field. But Natasha wasn’t used to Maria going undercover.
The worst part was that Maria’s covers were freaking weird.
Natasha hasn’t been able to look at Maria without wondering what cover has been the weirdest one yet. Even then, Natasha cannot fathom why Maria keeps entering her dreams. As far as she knows, there are no unconscious desires or worries for the other woman.
Or maybe there was. Whatever.
“What’re you staring at?” Maria asks sharply after their debrief.
Natasha shrugs nonchalantly. What else is she supposed to do? The image of Maria as an adventurous librarian is still fresh in her mind.
“You’ve been acting all weird these past few days,” the deputy director adds as they walk out of the room together. It wasn’t uncommon for them to chat.
Or how about Maria being a total valley girl cheerleader? That threw Natasha for a trip the next morning.
“How eloquently put,” Natasha points out instead.
Or the weirdest one was Maria being a crocodile hunter garnering Natasha to be her partner.
Maria rolls her eyes. “Well, stop skirting around me like I’ve done something wrong.”
Natasha laughs at that. “Nothing wrong. Just particular,” she explains ominously.
At this, Maria just sighs and goes into her office. Natasha thinks of the dream where Maria slept like a bat, hanging from one of the pipes in her office. Yep, don’t know where these weird dreams are coming from.