Maria flies the ‘borrowed’ SHIELD plane over the dark North Atlantic. It’s a type she hasn’t flown before and there’s no handy-dandy user’s manual in the glove compartment, but she’s learning. She might even figure out how to land the thing before they get to their destination.
Pepper sits in the co-pilot seat with a laptop balanced precariously on a shelf and paper maps strewn over her lap.
“According to the GPS in his suit, Tony stopped HERE,” she says pointing to a spot on the map, “and there are no islands anywhere near.”
“So it’s a ship or something?” Maria suggests.
“Man-made at least,” Pepper says firmly. “Even if it can move, we should still be able to find it.”
“Unless it’s a submarine.”
“Aren’t you an optimist,” Pepper scowls.
“Sorry.”
Pepper folds the maps up and heads to the back of the plane. Maria watches the instrument panel with a wary eye.
Steve pokes his head in. “Mind if I … ah?”
She nods and he settles into the right-hand co-pilot seat. They’ve hardly seen each other since … well, not for a while. Maria wants to be professional about the whole thing – they have a job to do, but she’s uncertain how he feels.
“I’m glad to see you’ve found Barnes,” she says awkwardly, trying to be friendly.
“You make it sound like he’s a teddy bear I lost,” he complains mildly.
“You were rather single-minded in your search,” she reminds him.
“It was important,” he says firmly.
“Obsessive even,” she mutters.
“Green is not a good look on you,” he chides her.
“I am NOT jealous.”
“Hmm.”
Maria scowls.
He drums his fingers nervously on his knees and seems about to say something, but one of the instruments starts to beep.
“That’s the locator,” Maria says. “Go tell Natasha that I need her up here as co-pilot. And tell the others to buckle up.”
“Worried about the landing?” he asks, rising from his seat.
“Might be pretty bumpy,” she nods, flipping switches above her head.
With Natasha’s help, she finds the tiny black dot floating amongst the huge dark waves of the North Atlantic and manages to circle around.
“What is it?” Natasha complains, peering at the dot through night vision binoculars. “Looks like a giant floating barrel. Not like any ship I’ve ever seen.”
“Could it be just PART of a structure? Sort of like an iceberg?”
“There’s a landing pad,” Natasha notes.
“Big enough for this bird?”
“Plenty big enough,” Natasha says soothingly.
The radio crackles to life and a controller asks for their identification.
The women ignore the voice.
Natasha is looking for anti-aircraft weapons but she can’t find anything too scary. This stealth plane comes equipped with shields.
Maria swoops in swiftly and ignores the brief flare of red as the voice on the radio yells at them in alarm. Her landing gear is down, the wing flaps curl down. The plane is almost like a helicopter, hovering for a brief moment before settling on the deck. It’s not entirely smooth – the deck is rocking and the plane thuds and lists, but quickly rights itself.
Maria is up and out of her seat before the engines have quieted. Barnes tosses her her pack and gas mask; Pepper and Steve are already ready.
They jump out on the tarmac and Steve throws his shield …
…
After Pepper does her thing, burning through metal with glowing red fingers and Maria blasts guards with an icer liberated from a Shield armory, Steve dashes down the corridor to find his friends.
Maria takes over the control room and shuts off power in the cells holding the Avengers. She’s careful not to cut power EVERYWHERE since she doesn't really know who (or what) is being held here.
"Got them," Steve says over the comms.
"Are they mobile?" Maria asks. "Able to get out under their own steam, or ...?"
"Mostly," he answers. "Tell pilots to rev up."
Maria nods to Pepper who does that amazing thing with her hands and just welds the doors to the control room shut, thus sealing in the guards.
Then they run to the tarmac.
Steve is carrying Wanda over his shoulder in a fireman’s lift; the others are all mobile enough to run although both Lang and Wilson are limping which makes Maria worried about their treatment. They sprint across the tarmac with Pepper leading the way and Maria in the rear. She spots a helmet just visible over a barrier on her right and blasts it with her icer. She LOVES this device – it’s non-lethal so she has no guilt using it even when she’s not sure who she’s blasting.
The engines are revving and the plane is shuddering, almost hovering, just on the brink of lifting off as the group reaches the gangway.
Someone is yelling Go! Go!
Maria is the last person to jump into the plane and as soon as she clears the door, she can hear Steve yelling to the pilots – “All in! Depart NOW!”
Someone hauls the door closed even as the plane lifts like a helicopter, its engines screaming in protest and shoots forward. Everyone in the cargo hold is clinging for dear life to whatever they can find. The plane drops like a stone and Maria winces, expecting to hit water, but it stabilizes and lifts.
The plane tilts up and climbs up and up, past the usual cruising altitude of commercial craft. Once it stabilizes and starts to fly level, Maria goes up to the cockpit to relieve Barnes. They swap places and Maria takes over the controls.
“No evidence of pursuit,” Natasha reports.
“They didn’t put a tracker on us?”
“Nope," she says tersely. "Tried. Failed."
They fly north, then plot a circular route, refueling in Russia before flying south to Wakanda.
In the back, Pepper is trying to gently remove the collar around Wanda's neck without burning her skin. It's a delicate operation and Pepper is still getting used to her powers.
The others dig out the first aid kits and tend to their (thankfully relatively minor) injuries.
Wakanda is amazing.
Maria has never been before and she’s blown away by its beauty. Not just the natural beauty although it has that too, but gorgeous, creative, innovative architecture. Everything looks clean, but not sanitized. They can see lively street scenes from the windows of their bus as they are driven from the airport to the palace. People are out selling ‘street food’ and playing music. They zip by an outdoor market and several sporting fields populated with kids in bright uniforms and cheering adults.
There are people walking and biking and playing soccer in the streets.
The staff that greets them at the palace is courteous and efficient. Barnes and those who were detained at the Raft are taken to a clinic for examination. Wanda is the worst of them. Although Pepper managed to get the collar off, she still seems drugged and barely coherent.
Clint is frantic to contact his wife and the palace staff direct him to a state-of-the-art communications facility for a private chat.
“Absolutely untraceable,” the technician swears.
Pepper, Natasha, Steve and Maria are directed to guest rooms on the top floor.
Maria is grimy and exhausted. Her eyes feel gritty from staying up so long, plus she’s feeling that post- adrenaline crash. She showers, enjoying the luxury of piping hot water.
When she re-enters her bedroom, she finds Steve, standing with his back to her, looking out the window.
“Beautiful isn’t it?” she says.
“Gorgeous,” he says. “Still pinching myself that T’Challa has had such an abrupt turn of heart.”
“Smart man,” Maria points out.
“Not many are so willing to step back from vengeance and really consider the consequences,” he says idly. “Not many so young anyways. It’s usually older men who try to rein in the younger hot heads.”
“So there’s hope for you yet?” she teases.
He turns with a smile. “I’m ALWAYS trying to consider the consequences,” he argues.
Maria snorts inelegantly.
“You were great at the Raft,” he says. “I couldn’t have done it without you. Thanks.”
She shrugs modestly. “It’s what I do.”
He’s wearing faded blue jeans and a clingy well-washed white t-shirt. His hair is damp at the ends and his cheeks are smooth shaven.
He looks good.
“So are you back in the field now or was this a one-off thing?” he asks.
“I like working for Pepper,” Maria says carefully. “But this was fun. And no-one got hurt.”
He looks at her intently and her heart thuds. Whether it’s that post mission buzz that always makes Maria want sex or whether it’s just been an awfully long time since she's been this close to Steve, but he seems to be watching HER with an expression that might be described as 'predatory'.
That t-shirt leaves nothing to the imagination and she wants to run her fingers along the waistband of his jeans ...
"Maria?" he asks softly and his voice is gruff and gravelly.
He steps a little closer.
She feels breathless.
"Where are you staying ... with Barnes?" she asks.
"Bucky and Natasha are probably ripping each other’s clothes off about now," he says ruefully. "When I left, they were insulting each other in VERY colourful Russian."
"Oh," she murmurs.
"I'm a little afraid they're going to set fire to the place."
"They knew each other before," Maria says.
"Apparently so."
Steve leans over, bracing himself against the wall behind her and presses his lips very gently against hers.
She opens her mouth, deepening the kiss and tugs on this jeans to pull him closer.
He slides his other hand into her robe and murmurs in pleasure as he strokes her bare skin.
"What about Barnes?" she asks.
"You really want him joining us?" he teases. "Frankly I think those two would prefer to have some one-on-one time, but if you insist ..."
She swats his arm. "That's not what I meant."
"I didn't even have to tell him about you," Steve says. "He took one look at you when you found us in Iceland and said: you have a TYPE.'"
Maria snorts. On one hand, she should be offended at the implication; on the other hand, if Barnes is comparing her to Peggy Carter, well that's a compliment and a half.
Steve's lips are are on her neck; his fingers are tracing patterns on her breast. Maria decides that further interogation can wait. She tugs the t-shirt up and pushes him backwards to the bed, which like everything else in Wakanda is big and comfortable and luxurious.
They rip each other’s clothes off with abandon.
Steve slides his hand between her legs and she gasps and bites his shoulder.
They know each other well. Maria arches her back and digs her fingers into his scalp as he kisses her breasts and works his way down her body.
He uses his tongue and fingers to make her scream, then she flips them over and straddles him. He flings his head back and bucks his hips as she slides onto him.
Afterwards they lie breathless and sweaty in a tangle of sheets.
"I've missed you," she says. "I've missed this."
"Oh thank you," he laughs.
"How is this going to work?" she asks carefully. "You and Barnes? You and me?"
"You don’t need to be jealous of Barnes," he grumbles.
"He's important to you," Maria protests.
"Course he is," Steve agrees "He was important to me BEFORE when he took care of me, when he was my best buddy, the only one who cared about me ... I followed him to war."
"Uh huh."
"And now, in this new world, this new time, he's the only person who knows me. He’s the only one who can possibly understand what I've been through."
"I get it."
"So this is perfect," Steve smiles. "A bit of fun once in a while, but no commitment."
"I think that's my line," Maria says.
She wonders whether she should feel guilty, but instead she is pleased that Steve seems to have found some balance.
Previously he had fretted that she was settling for something less than she deserved. If it took finding Barnes to get him to stop wishing they could marry or something, well ...