Work Text:
Maria Hill was leaving the Triskelion early again. Of course ‘early' was a relative term, but on most nights, Hill wouldn’t go home until past midnight, if she went home at all. Even as a junior agent on the Helicarrier, she had rarely gone to bed before one in the morning. As her S.O., May had felt both proud of her work ethic and concerned for her wellbeing. But for the past few months,she had noticed the deputy director sporadically sneak out of the office at 1900. May didn’t do anything about it - what Hill did in her personal time was not her business - but the question always remained in the back of her brain: where was Hill going?
Hill didn’t have any family nearby, not that she was close to any of them anyway, and S.H.I.E.L.D. life was too chaotic for a pet. The lack of regularity with which she left early ruled out a regular hobby or class. May almost laughed at the thought of uptight Maria Hill picking up a hobby that didn’t involve anything work-related. She had once suggested Hill try calligraphy, but their one session had ended with a furious Hill covered in ink.
That left one probable option, one which was even more laughable than Hill finding a hobby: she was dating someone. For as long as May had known her (and that was quite a while), Hill had never had a steady partner. Sure, she probably hooked up with someone now and then, but there had never been anyone ‘special’ in Hill’s life. If she had found someone, May was happy for her, albeit surprised.
Of course she didn’t say anything until Phil Coulson stopped by her desk one day.
“Is Hill around? I wanted to ask her a couple questions.”
May shook her head, “You just missed her. She went home already,”
“What? It’s only,” Coulson looked at his watch, “seven fifteen. That’s the second time she’s gone home early this week. What’s going on with her?”
“No idea. She’s left early at least once a week for the past four months,” May regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth. She internally groaned as Coulson arched an eyebrow.
“Do you think she’s,” Coulson leant in and whispered conspiratorially, “seeing someone?”
“I think,” May glared back at him, “it doesn’t matter what Hill does if it’s not affecting her work performance,”
“Oh come one. Aren’t you at least a little curious? I mean, you were her S.O.”
“Curious about what?” May and Coulson looked up as Natasha Romanoff walked up to them.
“Nothing important, Romanoff,” Coulson crossed his arms. Romanoff stared at her handler and shrugged,
“Fine, be that way, Coulson,” she rolled her eyes teasingly at his use of her last name, “anyways, I’m headed home,” she waved at them and continued walking, “bye May.”
May bid her farewell and turned back to Coulson,
“Really, ‘nothing important’? That definitely didn’t sound suspicious at all,”
Coulson shrugged defensively, “I didn’t see you coming up with a better excuse. Hey,” he paused for a second.
“Oh no, that’s your thinking face, should I be concerned?”
“Shut up, Melinda. I was going to say that Romanoff’s been going home early recently too. And now that I’m thinking about it, it’s usually on the days I can’t find Hill.”
It was May’s turn to raise an eyebrow,
“You think?”
“Mhm,”
“You’re not saying?”
“I am.”
“It can’t be. Hill and Romanoff--” May gave Coulson an incredulous look, but it made a certain amount of sense. The two of them had been close friends for years: it was entirely possible their friendship had blossomed into something more.
“We need to find out for sure before we jump to conclusions,”
Coulson smirked. “What happened to it not being our business?”
“Shut up, Phil,” May got out a piece of paper and placed it on her desk. It was time to come up with a gameplan. Operation: BlackHill was a go.
———
“You brought wine, right?” Maria smiled as she opened the door to her apartment. Natasha pulled a bottle of Maria’s favorite red wine from her purse. The smells wafting out of Maria’s kitchen were incredible, and Nat’s mouth watered,
“And you made lasagna?”
“Of course,” Maria pulled her in for a quick kiss, “come on in.”
Nat loved having date nights at Maria’s. Her place felt so homey compared to Natasha’s. There were personal touches everywhere. Pictures of Maria smiling with her military buddies and of her with her S.H.I.E.L.D. family were placed on various surfaces and crime stories, fantasy series, and, gasp , romance novels filled her bookshelves. A blanket, crocheted by Natasha (who would kill Clint if he ever told anyone about that particular hobby), was carefully laid out on the back of Maria’s ridiculously comfortable couch.
Nat’s favorite decoration, however, was the picture of the two of them Clint had taken on their mission (read “vacation”) in Budapest. Nat was kissing her cheek and Maria was smiling like an idiot. Clint had squealed so loudly that they’d gotten odd looks from the locals, and the memory made her laugh. It filled her with joy to know that she was an important person in Maria’s life. No one at SHIELD (with the possible exceptions of Clint, Phil, and Melinda) would ever guess that Maria ‘Hardass’ Hill was secretly a big softie. It thrilled Nat to think that she was part of this secret club Maria trusted.
“What’re you thinking about?” Maria took the wine from Natasha and got out a corkscrew and two glasses.
“Just how much I love you, Mia,” she stated matter-of-factly.
Maria blushed. Their relationship may have been relatively new, but considering that they’d been in love with each other for years, the words ‘I love you’ had come relatively easily for the both of them. Still, hearing them made Maria blush.
“You only love me because I feed you,” she rolled her eyes affectionately,
“Damn it,” Nat pouted, “you’ve figured out my evil plan,”
“I can’t believe, after all this time…” Maria gasped dramatically and Natasha giggled. She poured them wine and opened the oven. The smell of lasagna made Natasha moan, and suddenly Maria was thinking about eating something else. That would have to wait until after dinner.
After plating the lasagna, they sat down. Nat inhaled her dinner at an almost dangerous pace. She loved Maria’s cooking. Her secret blend of spices (which not even Nat was privy to) was heavenly, and she always knew the perfect amount of salt and pepper to add to a dish. Maybe it was just because Nat couldn’t cook to save her life (she had set off the smoke alarm boiling water once), but the fact that Maria could cook made her that much more beautiful in her eyes.
Nat got seconds as soon as she finished her first plate. Maria smiled. She always made two pans for this exact reason. Natasha’s ridiculously fast metabolism enabled her to eat most of a pan in one sitting and the way her face lit up when Maria gave her some to take home was Maria’s heroine.
“I had an odd interaction with Phil today,” Natasha said once she had finished her fourth serving. They had moved to Maria’s couch and turned on a movie, but neither of them was really paying attention.
“Hmm,” Maria hummed distractedly as she ran her fingers through Nat’s hair, “what happened?”
“I walked in on him and Melinda having a conversation, and he got all defensive when I asked what they were talking about,”
“It’s probably nothing, Tasha,” Maria dragged Nat’s legs into her lap, “you know how Phil gets,”
“I do. I—” Nat got distracted as Maria presses light kisses along her jaw, “should probably stop talking about work now,”
“Mmm. Sounds like a good idea,” Maria rasped against her neck. It was a very good idea indeed.
———
The next time May saw Hill leave early was a week later. She picked up her phone and shot off a quick message to Phil.
May: If you wanted to talk to Hill, she just left.
If anyone read her messages, they wouldn’t think anything of it. But the two senior agents had ulterior motives. May’s phone buzzed.
Coulson: thx for letting me know. Ur going to have to talk to Nat tmr bc she’s headed home.
It was equal parts annoying and endearing that Coulson texted in shorthand. He was trying to be ‘hip’, but failing miserably.
May: Want to grab drinks after work?
Coulson: sure
May: I’ll text you the address.
Signal received, May put her phone down and packed up her things. She rushed to her car as quickly as she could, hoping to be able to catch up with Hill. If not, she’d planted a temporary tracking device on her car earlier.
Luckily, it didn’t take her too long to locate her target. Hill had entered a Japanese restaurant not far from Romanoff’s apartment. May perched on the roof of the building across the street.
May: Here is the address . See you soon.
Coulson: omw. Can’t wait.
It was time to see what Hill was really up to.
———
Maria loved eating here. To be perfectly honest, she’d probably love it even if the food sucked, because she could still listen to Nat speak in Japanese, but the food was amazing. She dug into her oyako donburi and watched, amused, as Nat started devouring her curry. Noticing Maria’s stare, Nat looked up,
“What?”
“Nothing,” Maria put her hands up defensively, “it’s just amazing, watching you eat.”
Nat grumbled under her breath, then continued spooning food into her mouth. They made light conversation, chatting about their weeks. Maria guffawed when she heard about Clint getting stuck in the vents.
“After all that, he left his hearing aids behind?”
“Yep,” Nat replied, popping the ‘p’, “Phil tried to yell at him in English and ASL, but Clint covered his ears and closed his eyes.”
Maria rolled her eyes,
“I wish I could say I was surprised, but,”
“Typical Barton?”
“Typical Barton.”
After they had finished eating and paying the check they decided to walk around. Maria shyly took Nat’s hand in her own. It was a beautiful night, the sky was clear and the city lights lit up the sky. Maria thought that if she died right now, she’d die happy. There was nowhere she would rather be than by her girlfriend’s side.
“Mia,” Natasha tugged Maria’s hand, “we should get ice cream.”
Maria smiled and pushed open the door to their favorite ice cream store. It was a family-owned business, the kind of place that had been around for generations, and it had the best ice cream in town.
“Good evening, ladies. What can I get for you?” The old man who always staffed on Friday nights smiled kindly.
It wasn’t hard to guess what Natasha was going to order. For a spy, she was pretty predictable. Nat ordered butter pecan in a sugar cone every time without fail. It was the first ice cream flavor she’d ever eaten, and it remained her favorite.
Maria paid for their ice creams and led Nat back into the streets. Ice cream was Nat’s favorite sweet, and she acted like a little kid whenever she got some. It was adorable.
“You’ve got something right,” Maria kissed Nat’s nose, “there.”
Natasha tensed up and Maria worried she had done something wrong. Standing on her tiptoes, Nat whispered in Maria’s ear,
“We’re being followed. Take this.”
Maria took Nat’s cone without question. She knew better than to second-guess her super assassin girlfriend. Nat disappeared into the night and a few seconds later, Maria heard a yelp, followed by a loud “Romanoff, let go of me!” She watched as Nat dragged Phil towards her, Melinda following close behind.
When the trio reached her, Maria raised her eyebrows appraisingly and Nat crossed her arms. Well, the cat was out of the bag. She’d never really come out to her S.O., but it was an open secret. Maria preferred keeping her private life, well, private, but if people were going to know, Phil and Melinda were her first choices. That didn’t stop her from continuing to stare at them, though. Phil gulped, visibly nervous under the stares of his best agent and deputy director.
“Nice weather we’re having, huh?”
Neither woman was amused.
“Phil, explain,” Nat grabbed the collar of Phil’s shirt and stared him down.
“We just wanted to know what you two were doing when you left early,” Phil said at the same time Melinda smirked,
“Phil thought you two were dating,”
“Well, um,” Maria hated this feeling, as if she was fifteen again and under the scrutiny of her parents, “he’s...not wrong?”
“How long, Hill?” Melinda’s voice held no judgement, only mild curiosity, and Maria relaxed,
“A few months,”
“You better not hurt her, Romanoff,” May turned her signature glare on Nat, and the Black Widow cowered under her gaze, “I don’t care how much Fury likes you, I like Maria more.”
Maria blushed slightly at Melinda’s use of her first name. Phil suddenly wrinkled his nose and her gaze hardened,
“Got a problem, Phil?”
“Well yes,” he immediately tried to backtrack when Nat pulled her fist back, “no, not with you being gay. I support you two, hundred percent,”
Nat finally released him,
“Then what?”
Phil gulped, “Being gay I can accept, but pistachio ice cream? Really, Maria? It’s like I don’t even know you anymore.”
Maria couldn’t help but gape at her friend, no sound coming out of her mouth. Gaining confidence, Phil turned to Natasha,
“And Romanoff,”
“You got a problem, Coulson?” Nat put her hands on her hips,
“Yeah! Butter pecan, really? What are you, eighty? Honestly,” Phil shook his head, “you two disgust me.”
“You say that as if ‘birthday cake’ is a normal favorite flavor,” Melinda smirked. Maria and Nat burst into laughter as Phil’s face turned red.
“Just shut up. All of you,”
“Nuh-uh, you know I’m never letting this go,” Nat had tears streaming down her face and she clutched her stomach. Phil pouted,
“Whatever, grandma.”