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It was late. Steve arrived at the Avengers compound after a mission went south. It was a long and exhausting mission where all their time and effort were wasted. In the morning, he has to start over with the planning. But for now, he just wants to sit and wolf down anything edible.
He scoured the mess hall to look for something to eat. A super soldier may be super but it required fuel. Lots of it. Steve never did crave for a particular food. He still thinks it is a luxury to crave for something. Growing up during the Great Depression when all he had to eat were mostly bland boiled potatoes, he appreciated what was given to him now. But at this particular moment, he wanted something filling and comforting at the same time. Something like…like…
His heightened senses picked up a smell of charred and savory meat wafting from a room. He caught a smell of something sour and sweet and fresh. The aroma is calling to him, chiding him to follow in which he did, without hesitation. He tracked the smell down to a conference room where stacks and stacks of papers occupy most of the wide table and one sole figure in the midst of the chaos.
Steve is polite. Everyone knew that, that is why he felt ashamed on how he barged in the conference room without preamble especially the person occupying the room is strict with privacy. There was a long and torturous awkwardness in the air as Steve stood in the opposite side of the table in front of a shocked Maria Hill with an impossibly juicy burger on her hands with her mouth slightly opened to take a bite out of it. For people whose jobs required quick reflexes, it took them more than a few seconds for them to move. Maria put down the burger on the cardboard container but didn’t remove her eyes from him. She cleared her throat and sat uprightly, the way the Maria Hill he knows carries herself.
“Captain.”
Steve, realizing his intrusion, apologized profusely. Maria tried to wave it off. Usually, the commander would be like a well-oiled machine, churning out outputs like there is no tomorrow. It was one of the things Steve liked about her. She was very efficient and competent. Someone you want on your ear in every mission. Someone you can trust would bring you home alive and well. But tonight, the commander was absent, the woman in front of him was just Maria, who seems to have an awesome taste for burgers. He liked this about her more now, he noted. He felt a smile creeping on his lips and so before this thing goes FUBAR as well, he apologized one more time and turned to leave, but not before his disgruntled stomach outs him. That turned him into a tomato. Curse his hyperactive metabolism!
Maria tried to fight back a chuckle. Steve, trying to salvage what’s left of his dignity, waved and was about to hurriedly leave the room when Maria called again.
“Captain,” Steve turned around to face her slowly. “I was thinking, since you’re already here, maybe we can start your debrief…unless you needed to be somewhere else.”
“Right,” he said. “Nah, I’m good. Let’s get this over with.”
Steve dragged a chair so he could sit. As he did, the former SHIELD Deputy Director slid half of the burger to him. The half of this is one juicy burger. Steve smiled at the food and then at Maria. "Thank you."
She just shrugged. “Can’t have a debrief on an empty stomach because...with the way things were reported to me…we might be at this for a while.”
Steve gave in and laughed. He stood up and went to the coffee pot in the conference room and brewed a fresh batch.
“If that’s the case, we’ll need more than just a cup.”
Maria smiled that knowing smile, pleased with his initiative. When he placed their cups on the table and settled on a seat across her, she started.
“So, the mission?” Maria asked as she passed him the ketchup and scattered the french fries on the paper tray as she plucked one and dipped it in ketchup.
Steve smiled as he watched her and not once did he take a bite of his half burger until she did. Maria caught this and apologized that the burger won’t be enough and she won’t give up her share as she’s not feeling that generous tonight.
Steve laughed. "It's okay," he replied. It’s true that this burger won’t be enough for him no matter how big a burger this is but it doesn’t matter. He smiled as she continued talking about the mission that he now vaguely remembers.
Something filling and comforting indeed.