The Baseball Game
They were going to be late, Maria Hill was never late. But as Ellie dragged her feet through the lobby of the apartment building, there was no chance they would make it to both the bus stop and work on time.
“Ellie, please,” Maria scrubbed at her face in frustration, “can we please pick up the pace.”
“Cannot,” the girl slowly held up the jar in her hands as if that was enough explanation.
In a way it was, they were having show and tell that day at school. Ellie was bringing in a caterpillar in a newly formed cocoon that she had found in the park the week before. Maria hated the thought of a bug freely living in her apartment, but the little girl had a soft spot for all living things and had convinced her somehow to bring it home and out of the Spring showers that seemed to be never-ending in the month of April in DC.
“What if you give me that jar and I carry it carefully until you’re on the bus?” Maria tried to convince the 6-year-old.
Ellie looked at her like she was out of her mind, “No Mommy, you are not careful.”
“I’m plenty careful!” she argued back.
The girl just shook her head and continued on at a glacial pace until they were in the garage. Ellie carefully placed the glass jar in her cup holder and got into the seat, more focused on the chrysalis that hung from a stick in the container than Maria buckling her in. The Commander would take her wins where she could, today it was in the form of not arguing with the girl on the safety restraint.
She turned the music up for the little girl in the back to hum to as they made their way to the bus stop as they did every morning. It had been a challenging few months since Ellie had come back from the Room, there were still nights where she would wake up in a panic, days where she didn’t interact with her peers, and therapy sessions where she sat with a blank face the entire time. But progress was being made even if it was as slow as the little girl who carried her jar with caution.
“Uh oh,” the little voice brought Maira out of her thoughts and looking in the rearview mirror.
“Uh oh, what?” she glanced between the road and the reflective surface.
Ellie made eye contact and squinted nervously.
“Elizaveta, tell me there is not a bug crawling around in the car right now.”
“Cannot crawl…” the child whispered as she shrugged.
“Ellie,” Maria pinched the bridge of her nose.
The rest of the ride was quieter as the Commander tried to stay as calm as possible while she pulled up to the bus stop at the front gate. She could see the headlights of the bus behind her as she put the car in park.
“Let me see the jar,” she reached out her hand and tried not to squirm as she picked up the stick that sat on the floor, cocoon still attached, “You have to keep the lid on the whole time okay? Or the butterfly is going to get hurt.”
Ellie’s eyes went wide as her bottom lip wobbled, “Hurt it?”
Other children lined up to get on the bus, they didn’t have time to talk about the implications of dropping a bug right now.
“Probably not but don’t do it again, okay?” Maria placed the piece of cling wrap back over the top of the jar, securing it with a rubber band.
“Mommy, it is hurt forever?” the girl asked again, eyebrows pushed together in concern.
“I don’t think so, come on you gotta get on the bus,” her phone lit up with a notification that a meeting she needed to attend was starting in 10 minutes.
The child got out of the car and once more moved slowly as she walked towards the bus, all other kids had already boarded.
“Come on,” Maria picked her up around the armpits and carried her to the front of the vehicle.
She placed her back down, ran her hand over a braid, and kissed the top of the girl's head, “I love you, be good, learn a lot.”
“Love you,” Ellie kept her eyes locked on the jar as she climbed the steps of the bus.
“Sorry!” Maria called to the driver as she jogged back over to the car.
She pulled up to the gate guard and flashed her ID before driving faster than normal to the parking garage. It was warm and humid outside, leaving her almost sweating as she raced into the building, trying her best to make it look like she wasn’t in a hurry at all.
By the time she got to the conference room, she was 2 minutes behind which, for anyone else would have been acceptable. But not for Maria, not for the Deputy Director who was known for calling people out who were 30 seconds late to meetings. The brunette took her seat and pulled out her tablet, noticeably the last one to arrive.
“Wonderful, not that we’re all here,” Sitwell looked at her pointedly, “we can get started.”
The Commander clenched her jaw, kept her head level, and gaze directed right back to the man who folded under it quickly. Good, she thought.
“Now as many know,” Sitwell looked around the small team that was gathered, “we will be sending three newly designed helicarriers up soon, all for the purpose of surveillance and quick deployment if needed.”
What he didn’t say was that these carriers could do a hell of a lot more than survey. Maria was barely privy to the information, but after being in enough meetings, and hearing small details in each one, she had put the pieces together to figure out what the carriers were really capable of.
She looked across the table at Steve who was taking careful notes on the pad of paper in front of him, he would be in a similar position as the helicarriers, a person to deploy when needed rather than sending him on near-constant missions as was the case for Barton and Romanoff. The details of his work (and other agents in the room) were outlined as the meeting continued until they got to the end where Sitwell finally stopped talking.
“Questions?” the man asked before taking a sip of water, his hands shaking slightly.
“Yeah, why are you telling us about this if it’s so important?” one of the agents asked, it was a harsh but accurate question.
“Because I work with Secretary Pierce,” Sitwell adjusted his glasses.
For, Maria corrected in her head, he works for him.
“And as SHIELD agents that matters to us… why exactly?” another agent spoke up.
“Because SHIELD is part of the system that encompasses-” Sitwell was cut off with groans and sighs around him.
“The system,” an agent rolled their eyes, “the same system that hosed Rodriguez? The same one who just tried to kill a ton of people with AIM?”
“The Vice President is actually part of a different branch but yes we are still in a similar system,” the man was starting to sweat, Maria kept quiet and enjoyed the show.
“He’s the secretary of the world council,” Steve finally said, “whether we like it or not, we have orders.”
Leave it to the star-spangled man to take the side of the system, or so Maira thought. When she looked across the table he had gone back to looking at the pad of paper in front of him, not defending anymore.
“Deputy Director, your thoughts?” The same agent now addressed Maria.
“I agree with Captain Rodgers, that you have your orders and may have forgotten that this is not a volunteer basis. This is your job and the one you signed up for when you joined SHIELD” she tried to keep her actual feelings under wraps, “However, I will also say I know that most of you are Ex-Military and have been in missions that you may not fully understand the magnitude of until you are on the other side.”
The reality was, this team of people was hand selected because of their loyalty to Fury and would follow him before anyone else. Something that was apparent with the questions that were being raised. The Director had created the team should they need to change tactics, as a team on the inside who could do what was needed on the carriers to ensure Fury’s true goals would always be followed.
One of the agents eyed her suspiciously before nodding once, “We do we leave?”
Maria walked into her office after her fourth meeting of the day, her head feeling like a ton of bricks as she braced it against the cool wood of her desk. She had 47 minutes before her next meeting which was too long for her to head over to that side of the building now, but too short for her to do anything truly productive.
Her hands opened up her desk drawer, took out a pack of gum, ripped a piece in half, and solved it into her mouth to try and keep herself from clenching her jaw too tightly. Her shoulders relaxed as she gained composure once more to start working on small items when she heard the telltale creak above her head.
“I have a door, a door that works better than you’d ever believe,” she groaned and sat back up as she talked to the vent in her office.
“And miss vent time? I don’t think so.” The archer opened the grate and dropped himself into the center of her office.
“What can I do for you Barton?” the brunette rolled her eyes and tossed the second half of gum to the man.
“Thanks,” he caught it and shoved it into his mouth, “wanted to see if I could get tomorrow off too.”
The Deputy Director raised an eyebrow, “You going to be ready for Sunday?”
He had been called in on a mission and would be flying out late Sunday afternoon. A woman had been creating advanced biotech in Nevada, or at least that’s what their intel at the security site there had gotten wind of. It would be a surveillance mission more than anything else, but there was always room for danger during missions.
“Yeah, as long as you are,” he rubbed the back of his neck.
“Barton, I’m your handler, I’m always ready,” she looked at the clock, “as long as you don’t tell anyone in this briefing, then I’m fine with you taking your days.”
“You’re the best,” he smiled, “Ellie still excited about Saturday? Coop- I mean my duckling hasn’t been able to stop talking about it.”
Maria shook her head, the man was terrible about keeping his secret children a secret. The whole Barton family was in town for the week, Cooper’s birthday fell on one of the days Clint would be on a mission so they all came to DC to celebrate beforehand, they would be going to a baseball game on Saturday.
“I don’t think she really understands baseball, but she’s excited to see you guys,” Maria thought about her daughter, hoping that her caterpillar had made it through the day.
“Cool cool cool…” he eyed her couch.
“What do you want, Barton,” the Commander sighed, knowing what he would ask.
“It’s just I work better when I’m refreshed, ya know?” he scooted closer to the couch, “and a power nap will probably keep me from falling asleep during this briefing.”
“It won't,” she couldn't help herself, “but fine. If you snore I’m throwing something at you.”
“Deal,” the archer threw his body on the couch and had fallen asleep before Maria could open her first document.
The blonde snored lightly as Maria checked emails, replying back to the most urgent and scanning through the less urgent. She stopped all other work when she realized May had emailed her a few hours earlier.
Subject: Re: Update
Message:
Hill, still alive. Sure you’ve seen I’ve been reporting to Fury, got everyone needed for this strike team. Take off on our 4th mission later today. Things are going ok. How’s the kid?
-MM
She stared at the message for a little longer, she missed her friend. She missed the way May had finally opened up during the last few years and how Phil had been the one to pull her out of her shell. The email wasn’t as cold as they had been for the last few months, but the tone of friendship wasn’t there. Not how it used to be. Maria let out a breath, flexed her fingers, and replied.
Subject: Re: No pressure
Message:
Hey May, glad to hear that you’re still alive and getting ready for yet another mission. I did hear about you reporting to Fury, good for you, hope he isn’t too much of a pain. The kid is good, brought a caterpillar in to show and tell today at school. You’d like her I think, she’s quiet and smart and
Maria shook her head, deleting the last line and trying again.
Hope you’re taking care of yourself.
-Ria
She shook her head once more.
Hope you’re taking care of yourself.
-Maria
Hope you’re taking care of yourself.
-Hill
She sent the message and looked at the clock, “Let’s go, Barton.”
“You got it, Commander,” the archer sat up in a frenzy, responding more in instinct than actual response.
The two walked out of the Deputy Director's office, the latter hoping that the meeting would go smoothly for once that day.
Of course, that wasn’t the case. Clint had unknowingly walked into a meeting full of top brass who felt the need to argue over every suggestion the archer made. By the end, Clint and Maria were both in sour moods and feeling over, and under-prepared for the upcoming mission.
“That guys an idiot,” the blonde shook his head, “how am I supposed to gain any intel if I’m not allowed to make contact.”
“That ‘idiot’ is a general who's been out of the game for longer than he was ever in it,” Maria agreed, pinching the bridge of her nose as she willed a tension headache away.
The two continued down the corridor and towards the cafeteria, both letting out sighs and grunts of frustration periodically.
“You still think you’ll be ready by Sunday?” she looked at the man next to her as they walked in line.
“Yeah, I mean whether I can make contact or not, I’m still confident in getting my hands on those documents,” he scrubbed his face, “it’s just going to take longer.”
“Sorry,” Maria gave a half-hearted frown, she knew how much the blonde hated to be away from his family for prolonged periods of time.
“Eh, what am I going to do about- HEY BOBS!” The archer cut himself off and stuck his arm in the air.
The Commander turned to see the agent waltz over and join them in line, smirking as she punched the archer in the arm.
“I thought you weren’t in until Saturday,” she smiled, “Hey, Hill.”
“Morse,” Maria inclined her head.
“Ducklings wanted to see a baseball game before I left,” Clint started to chatter away, something Maria had learned to tune out after years of listening to him in her headpiece.
“Real food today or just coffee?” The man behind the counter asked Maria who looked down at her watch.
“Just a coffee,” she had too much to do and not enough time to do it while eating.
“You got it, boss,” the man nodded and turned around.
“Hey I’ll see you two later,” she waved to her friends and made her way to the checkout counter.
“Bye Ria- I mean Commander,” Clint’s cheeks tinted red.
“Bye Hill,” Morse shook her head.
She walked to the end of the counter and reached for her wallet, already able to feel the warmth of the first sip of coffee in front of her.
“Just this, dear?” the elderly woman glanced at the coffee.
“Actually, what’s the standing balance of overdraft charges from the level 1 agent?” Maria pulled out her card.
“Let me see,” the woman punched in a few buttons on the screen in front of her, “looks like $175.43”
“Clear it out for me with the coffee, please,” the Deputy Director knew what it was like to not have enough money as a level one agent.
“You got it, brings your total to $178.15” the woman smiled.
Maria swiped her card, hoping one less debt would at least lessen some of the stress of the level ones. SHIELD provided free meals for those in need, they were barely edible, but the rest cost money which a lot of the agents had already sent to family members more in need. It left them with debt at the cafeteria which they would need to pay by the end of the month before it came out of their paycheck.
She wrapped her fingers around the coffee, put her card back into the pocket in her uniform, and walked out of the cafeteria. The triskelion was bustling with agents even as the late afternoon approached, meaning she had to dodge more people if she was ever going to make it back to her office.
The door locked securely behind her as she took a seat at her desk, there was something that had been pulling at her mind for the majority of the last week which only had one remedy. She signed into her computer and then went through multiple levels of encryption until the file she was looking for was open on her screen. Deep Shadow Conditions Version B-08.
The Director had mentioned that he wanted her up to speed on it more than a month prior, something that she found odd until her most recent meeting regarding the Helicarriers. It seemed Fury was just as suspicious of the billion-dollar aircraft deployment as she was. Maria scanned through the most recent update, finding new safe house locations that the Director had added along with an injectable medication that FitzSimmons had been working on. The longer she familiarized herself with the document, the more concerned she grew that it would be deployed and not just sit on the server as an emergency plan.
Her eyes burned by the time her alarm went off to pick Ellie up, she had been staring at documents and mission reports for hours. Her optometrist had told her that glasses would be in her near future; she told him that he wasn’t a future teller and didn’t go back. She blinked a few more times and tried to scoff at the idea that she, Deputy Director Maria Hill, would ever need glasses.
The idea still felt preposterous as she rounded the last corner to The Center where Ellie and Liam were huddled in a corner, both with their heads down as Liam talked to the girl next to him.
“The bug,” Maria guessed as she approached the counter, “it’s the bug, isn’t it?”
“It is,” Grace pulled a face that looked close to a grimace, “it’s been raining too hard for them to go out today so they’ve been fixed on the cocoon.”
The brunette had figured as much as she signed the girl out for the day and waited for the end-of-the-day report.
“How’ve you been?” Maria asked while one of the workers went to inform Ellie that she was headed out for the day.
“Oh ya know, living every day to the fullest” the blonde laughed and handed Maria the report, “makes it easier when I get to see cuties every day.”
The Commander was about to say something when she realized Ellie had waltzed up, and that the worker had most likely been talking about the adorable brunette who still had her jar firm in her grasp.
“Glad to hear it,” she smiled, “Ellie say bye to Miss Grace.”
“Bye to Miss Grace,” the child snickered, taking one hand off the jar to wave before holding it tightly once more.
The Deputy Director rolled her eyes, “Bye Grace.”
“Bye Maria,” the blonde smiled and went back to checking out other parents.
“DO. NOT. NEED.” Ellie threw her head back as the buckles of her car seat clicked into place.
“You’re 6, not 16. You need it.” Maria gritted her teeth and tried to keep her embarrassment at bay as the other occupants of the car watched the Deputy Director get schooled by a child.
“Agh,” the little girl once again threw her shoulders forward but not before Maria secured the last buckle.
“There,” she let out a breath and looked at Steve and Natasha who both blinked a few times before settling back into their normal facial expressions, “good to go.”
“Okay,” Steve nodded and put his car into drive.
Ellie side-eyed Maria, Steve watched in shock in the rearview mirror, Natasha looked like she was about to bust out laughing at any second, using all of her Red Room training to keep a straight face. They had all decided to go as a group to the baseball game for Cooper’s birthday at the request of the boy who would be turning 9.
It wasn’t a long drive and with Steve driving, they had gotten preferred parking. Not only was he technically an ancient veteran, but arguably the most famous of the Avengers. He himself had worried that going along on the outing would bring unwanted press, but Cooper had insisted on Captain America being there.
“Lellie!” the birthday boy called from where he stood with his family at the ticketing gates.
The curly-haired child glanced back at Maria just long enough for the woman to nod before she took off and collided with the boy.
“They are very cute,” Steve looked on with fond eyes.
“I know,” Maria took in the sight in front of her.
At no point had she ever thought about a life like this, her best friends' kids becoming best friends with her kid. The idea of her having her own kid was something she would have found out of the realm of possibilities a year ago. But now, she savored it, even if it meant getting into arguments over the necessities of car seats.
“Hi, hun,” Laura gave her a quick squeeze as she approached Natasha and Steve, “we just picked up the tickets so we should be good to go.”
The group of 8 made their way into the stadium, Ellie had originally run ahead with her friends but then hung back as she saw just how large the event actually was. Her eyes darted around quickly as she tried to take in all of the sights and sounds. They had made it a few more minutes before the girl’s breath started to quicken as she stopped moving completely.
“It’s a lot of people, huh?” Maria crouched down next to the girl who squinted, “Want me to hold your hand?”
The girl stuck her hand out quickly and held on tightly. It was a while longer before they finally made it to their seats, but as soon as they did, a young usher came up to the group and started talking to Steve with a huge grin on his face.
“He’s going to upgrade him to the VIP section,” Natasha spoke quietly to Maria who just about jumped out of her skin, not knowing that the spy had been walking directly behind her.
They hadn't talked much since Christmas, Natasha had been embarrassed and left the next day under the guise of going back to see Yelena. Maria was sad watching the redhead leave but felt better after the woman had sent video updates consistently after she arrived back in Europe. It was probably the most they had stayed in contact in well over a year, not that the Deputy Director paid attention to things like that.
"Fingers crossed, those seats are so much more comfortable," she smiled as she glanced down towards the Russian.
Sure enough, Steve walked over and told them that there was a group of seats closer to home plate that they could move to. Cooper’s eyes got bigger the closer they got to the field.
“This is probably the coolest birthday I’m ever gonna have,” he informed Ellie who nodded alongside her friend.
The little girl didn’t know why these seats were better, or why they were now sitting in them, but she did know that the boy next to her was happy and from the smile on her slightly anxious face, that was good enough for her.
“You alright?” Maria leaned over and asked above the loud environment.
“Yes,” Ellie signed and scooted back into her seat while listening to Cooper explain what position he played.
Natasha took the spot next to her, moving the armrest out of her way so that she was even closer to Maria who did not mind that. Not one bit.
“I don’t really get it,” the Russian tilted her head to the side and watched as players warmed up on the field.
“Well there are two teams, one who’s batting and one who's fielding,” Maria pointed to a group in white and red, “those ones are the ones we want to win, that player, in particular, is a crowd favorite.”
She pointed to the player who wore #11 and went to explain further when she realized Natasha was still looking at Maria. Green eyes met blue and she couldn’t help but return the smile.
“You’re not even paying attention,” she snorted.
“I am,” the redhead nodded, “I always pay attention to the stuff that’s important.”
“Snacks?” Clint yelled out from where he was sitting on the other side of the group.
Natasha rolled her eyes and muttered something about siblings and stood up, “Let’s go.”
The two adults, and Lila, walked back toward the concessions. In an instant, Laura and Steve were on either side of Maria.
“Okay, so when are you making it official?” Steve leaned closer.
“It’s literally killing me,” Laura huffed as Cooper and Ellie made their way to the edge of the field a few rows up.
“I don’t know what you’re-” Maria started the phrase that she always gave.
“No Bullshit, Ria!” Laura stuck her hand up, Steve nodded on the other side. So much for his no-swearing policy.
“Fine,” she felt her face blush, “I like her.”
“Finally! Now, when are you going to ask her out?” Steve pressed in closer.
“I don’t know, I was thinking we could do dinner sometime soon but Ellie’s therapist said she might not be ready for a night away just yet,” Maria thought back to the conversation they had about the night she was taken and how the girl had stopped breathing as soon as the therapist brought up any of it.
“Take her with you then,” Laura held up her hands like it was the simplest answer in the world.
“She doesn’t know about us. Not that there is an us,” the Commander tacked on the last part.
“Yet,” Steve raised an eyebrow.
“You’re going to have to sit down with her at some point and tell her,” the mom of two interjected.
“I know,” logically she did know that. It was one of the main reasons she hadn’t asked Natasha out again.
“But she loves her?” Steve looked past Maria and over to Laura.
“I know and she loves her back,” Laura explained.
“Then what's the problem?” The blonde asked as the two had a conversation about Maria right in front of her.
“She’s scared she’ll fuck it up.”
“Ria or Tasha?”
“Both.”
“Okay, I’m right here!” Maria threw her hands up.
“Right,” Steve leaned back, “so what are you going to do then?”
“Do about what?” Natasha’s voice cut through.
“Do about the fact that I do not have nearly enough alcohol in my system,” The Commander scrubbed her face.
“That’s a problem I can fix,” Natasha handed a cold beer over to the woman.
“You can fix more than that problem,” Steve laughed as he got up and gave the Russian her seat once more.
Natasha had the decency of pretending like she didn’t hear it as she sat down next to Maria and tapped her own drink against the woman’s, “Cheers.”
“Cheers,” Maria smiled, “kids come have some food!”
The two older children came running over at the promise of salty snacks, the younger dodging Lila’s hand that already looked to be covered in melted cotton candy.
“She can’t have popcorn, it’s just gonna fall right out,” Cooper doubled over in laughter.
Ellie followed alongside him, more laughing at the boy than the joke that none of the adults seemed to get.
“Fall out yours too!” The girl laughed and pointed to the boy who showed off the gaps in his teeth.
“Maybe!” he still threw a handful of popcorn into his mouth, “No, it still works, your turn gap-o-lot.”
Ellie mimicked the motion, “still works.”
Maria looked at the girl again and squinted, “Bear, come here.”
Ellie walked over and stood in front of the woman with her head tilted to the side, unsure of what to expect. The Commander picked her up and placed the girl (who only flinched slightly) on her knee.
“Smile,” Maria instructed.
The curly-haired girl did as she was told, showing off her-
“Did you lose a tooth?” the woman looked closer, sure enough, there was a gap between two of her bottom teeth.
Ellie shrugged, “Did not swallow it.”
“When did it come out?”
“At school, showed for show and tell.”
“You didn’t show your bug at school?” The Deputy Director felt her eye twitch.
“No, and it is caterpillar Mommy,” the child shoved more popcorn into her mouth before wiggling down and going to play with Cooper once more.
“Right, caterpillar,” Maria nodded and let the girl return to playing with her friends.
She shifted her attention to Natasha who shrugged in nearly the exact same way as the girl.
“I was in Ohio when I lost mine, I have no clue how they dealt with it,” the redhead filled in the question that hadn’t been asked, “want me to ask Yelena?”
Maria shook her head, the girl didn’t seem to be phased by it as she continued to run through the stands with her friends. It was another part of her life that was simultaneously normal and completely abnormal, something she had come to accept through the months.
The national anthem and subsequent first pitch of the game brought everyone's attention back to the game at hand and Maria found herself trying to play it cool as Natasha leaned into her and asked more questions about what was happening.
It took more innings than the Commander guessed for the kids to go back to playing a game of make-shift tag through the mostly empty VIP section of the stand that Clint somehow got roped into. At some point, Lila had “tagged” Ellie a little too aggressively, causing her braid to come out. The curly-haired girl huffed and slowly tried to fix it before Natasha called out her name.
Ellie approached slowly, fiddling with the hair tie in her hand.
“Want me to fix it for you?” the redhead asked quickly in her mother tongue.
“Yes, please,” Ellie replied and before Natasha could offer, she found herself with a little girl crawling into her lap.
The movement clearly threw Natasha off, her body going rigid next to Maria's for a moment before she relaxed and found herself starting to re-braid the girl's hair with practiced ease. Maria smiled at the sight and watched as Ellie giggled at something Natasha whispered in her ear.
“Ya know, Romanoff if the whole international super spy thing doesn't pan out for you,” Steve watched as she continued to braid, “you might think about opening a hair salon.”
Natasha laughed and playfully pushed the shoulder of her roommate, “Yeah I’m so sure that would be my next move.”
“You could call it something like ‘Super Spy Salon’” Clint called out from his seat.
Maria looked at the man and went to laugh until she saw it. A few rows away, a photographer who had been taking pictures of the game now had his camera pointed at the group. More specifically, Natasha, Steve, and her daughter.