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Moving in with Natasha had been a mistake. Maria really should have thought about the consequences instead of blindly agreeing to move in with her girlfriend. But she hadn’t, and now she was stuck.
It had seemed like a good idea at the time: she could save money on rent, not that money was really an issue, and live with the woman she loved. But Maria has forgotten about something - someone - else in Nat’s life: Liho.
Maria didn’t dislike cats, per se, but she was definitely a dog person. Dogs were man’s best friend for a reason: they were loyal, protective, playful, and they wouldn’t immediately eat their owners if they died. Not to mention that it was easy to tell how dogs felt about her.
Cats, on the other hand, were enigmas. One moment it seemed like Liho was warming up to her, the next she was hissing at Maria. She had new scars on her arms from the times Liho had scratched her. Liho only confirmed what Maria knew in her heart (though Nat wholeheartedly disagreed): dogs were the superior animal.
Although, maybe it was more of a Liho problem than a cat problem. Growing up, Sharon’s family had both cats and dogs and Maria had always gotten along with all of them. Victoria and Izzy’s cat liked to gently headbutt her and nuzzle into her side. Yeah, it was almost definitely a Liho problem. But Maria loved Nat - and Nat loved Liho - so she put up with Liho, albeit grudgingly.
Right now, however, Maria was ready to get rid of Liho. She’d caught the cat shredding a pair of SHIELD socks, the ones Phil had given her as a gag gift that had quickly become her favorites. Cursing under her breath, Maria reluctantly threw the socks in the trash. When she glared at Liho, she didn’t seem the least bit guilty. Damn cat.
“I’m home,” the door swung open and Nat stepped inside. She placed her bag on the ground and noticed Maria’s frown, “what’s wrong, Masha?”
“Liho destroyed my socks from Phil,”
“Liho!” Nat yelled and Maria scoffed. Now Liho had a guilty look on her face, “did you destroy Masha’s socks? Bad kitty.”
Liho mewed in protest and stalked out of the room. Nat rubbed Maria’s shoulders apologetically,
“I’m sorry, Mia. I know how much those meant to you,”
“It’s not your fault, Tasha,” Maria placed a kiss on her forehead, “Liho just doesn’t like me.”
Nat chuckled, but when she saw that Maria was serious, she emphatically shook her head,
“That’s not true, Masha. She likes you,”
“Really?”
Natasha held up a pinky, which Maria begrudgingly met with her own,
“Pinky promise.”
Maria didn’t see Liho for the rest of the night. She figured the cat was probably sulking somewhere. She slipped into bed and Nat immediately cuddled into her, resting her head in the crook of Maria’s neck.
“G’night, Mia,”
“Good night, Tasha,” Maria smiled lovingly, all thoughts of Liho disappearing as she drifted to sleep.
------
Natasha had named Liho ironically, but Maria was starting to think that the black cat may actually be bad luck. She had been stuck on the Helicarrier for a couple weeks, directing several STRIKE ops. Natasha, on the other hand, had been at the Triskelion with Clint and Phil, doing whatever it is the three of them got up to (not that Maria could complain too much - STRIKE Team Delta was the best around). But the three of them had boarded the Helicarrier in D.C. and while this usually would have made Maria giddy, dread bubbled up inside of her.
“What is she doing here?” Maria pointed to the crate Clint was carrying. Inside, Liho was sleeping, curled into a little ball.
“I got permission from Fury to bring her aboard,” Nat smirked,
“He’s got a soft spot for cats,” Phil pointed out unnecessarily. He put his hands up in surrender when Maria shot him a glare.
“And he couldn’t really argue once Nat pointed out Goose got to stay here,” Clint shrugged.
“I’ll keep her in my quarters, Maria. She won’t be a problem, I promise.”
Maria highly doubted that. But seeing Nat happy pushed down the annoyance threatening to show on her face.
“As long as everyone can still get their work done,” she shot a pointed look at Clint, “it’s fine with me.”
------
Everyone did not continue to get their work done. Well, mainly a few junior agents (who she assigned to latrine duty) and Clint (who escaped into the vents), but it was enough to annoy Maria. Mostly because every time she asked what was causing the distraction, she got the same answer,
“I was playing with Agent Romanoff’s cat, Commander.”
Liho was enjoying the space (and company, it seemed) that the Helicarrier offered, but she seemed to especially like sitting by (or on top of) Maria’s station on the bridge, her desk, and even her bed. How Liho got into her quarters was a mystery, but she suspected Clint and the vents had something to do with it. Whenever Maria was nearby, Liho would curl up at her feet, and she had lost count of the number of times she had almost tripped or stepped on the cat’s tail. People would talk if she tripped on Nat’s stupid cat.
Not to mention it had been five weeks since Liho had boarded the Helicarrier and Maria had spent maybe half an hour alone with Natasha. It wasn’t like they would have spent a lot of time together anyway, secret relationships and being in the workplace and all that (although, unbeknownst to them, most of S.H.I.E.L.D’s senior agents had a running bet as to how long it would be before they revealed they were dating), but it would have been more than this.
It wasn’t as if Maria hadn’t tried to spend quality time with her girlfriend, but every time she had tried to sneak away to Nat’s room, Liho had been there. Nat would get distracted, playing with her cat while they talked or watched a movie. And, it was dumb, but the look Liho gave Maria when she got Nat’s attention was almost definitely a smirk. Could cats smirk? Maria didn’t want to sound needy, but it was a little irritating.
And with reduced alone time, came a significant reduction in alone time. Not that they would have been going wild if Liho hadn’t been there, but this long? That was a long time, even by their standards. They’d hooked up in broom closets, bathrooms, even her office once in a moment of weakness, but Maria had at least some dignity left: she wasn’t going to have sex with Natasha’s cat still in the room.
------
“I can’t believe you’re jealous of a cat, Maria,”
“I came to ask you for advice, not so you could be a dick about it,” Maria grumbled. She had (unwisely) gone to ask Coulson for advice. He and Clint were the only ones who (officially) knew about her relationship with Nat, and seeing as Clint was Nat’s best friend, it seemed wiser to go to Phil. Instead of helping her, however, he nearly fell out of his chair laughing.
“I’m sorry,” Phil wiped a tear from his eye and clutched his stomach, still snickering, “I just can’t believe the great Maria Hill is jealous of a cat,”
“If you aren’t going to be helpful, I’m going,” Maria stood and stalked out of Phil’s office, ignoring the “Maria wait,” he wheezed out between chuckles. She wasn’t jealous of a cat, goddammit.
------
“Hill?” Natasha poked her head into Maria’s office, “Coulson said you wanted to talk.”
Maria was going to murder Phil. Or maybe torture him, make him wish she had killed him. Yeah, definitely the latter.
“Oh, um, nope,” Maria licked her lips nervously and Nat narrowed her eyes,
“Don’t lie to me, Mia,”
“I just. God, it’s so stupid,” Maria buried her head in her hands and Nat rested a hand on her shoulder,
“You can tell me, you know. Whatever it is,”
“It’s just,” she couldn’t believe she was about to say this, “whenever we hang out alone, Liho is always there and you’re always playing with her and I don’t know,”
Maria looked up at Natasha, frowning when she saw her trying to stifle a laugh,
“Maria, are you jealous of Liho?”
“No! See, I told you it was stupid,” Maria dropped her voice to a whisper, “I just wish you were paying more attention to me, sometimes,”
“You’re cute when you’re jealous,” Nat kissed Maria’s cheek. When Maria didn’t even crack a smile, Nat sat down and grabbed one of Maria’s hands, “I’m sorry I didn’t notice you were feeling neglected, Masha. I should have been more observant,”
“It’s not your fault, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. It’s so dumb--”
“Hey,” Nat grasped Maria’s hand a little tighter, “it’s not dumb, I promise. How about I send Liho to Clint’s room tonight and you and I can spend some time together. Just us. No interruptions,”
Maria finally met her eyes, visibly relaxing,
“Okay,”
“Okay?”
“Yeah. How about 20:00? I should be done with work by then,”
“Perfect,” Nat stood and kissed the top of Maria’s head, “I’ll see you tonight, Mia.”
------
It had been three weeks since her conversation with Nat, and Maria found herself subconsciously petting Liho every time they passed each other. She wouldn’t admit it, but Liho was starting to grow on her. Liho was also growing on everyone else. By now, everyone was used to Liho’s presence on the Helicarrier and they could get work done and find time to play with her. Goose, who spent most of her time in Fury’s office, had learned to tolerate Liho and the two would sometimes roam the halls together.
The Helicarrier had stopped to refuel in Okinawa and Maria got off to walk around. STRIKE Team Delta was on a mission in Ukraine, so she was by herself. Strolling through the streets, Maria noticed a pet supply store. A bell rang as she stepped inside. There were rows of pet foods, treats and toys throughout the small store. Maria had walked past here before, but she had never had a reason to go inside. She stopped in front of a selection of cat treats and picked up a bag. It read Inaba Churu if she was remembering her hiragana correctly. She flagged down an employee,
“このトリートはどう？”1 Japanese had never been Maria’s strong suit, and she was definitely rusty, but she knew enough to get by.
“ああ。猫はとっても大好きですよ。”2
Well, that sounded like a glowing review. Maria turned over the bag and saw the price was reasonable. Wait. Was she really thinking about buying cat treats for Liho? Maria smiled sardonically to herself and gave the employee a grateful nod.
“ありがとう。多分、私はこれが買うだろう。”3
She ended up buying a cute fish toy in addition to the treats. If Phil ever found out, he would never let it go. Unless Maria threatened him, which was likely. When had she developed a soft spot for Liho? After her talk with Natasha, definitely, but it was hard to pinpoint the exact moment when her feelings had begun to change about the cat.
Oh well. Maria placed the things she had bought for Liho on her desk for when Nat returned.
------
Phil did tease her when he found out about Maria’s shopping trip. Apparently Natasha had told Clint, who had told Phil, who had made it a point to tease Maria about it.
“You get laid and suddenly ya like the cat, huh?”
“Shut up, Phil” Maria fixed Phil with a glare, but the cheeky grin remained on his face.
“Next time you get angry I’ll just throw Natasha at you,”
“I hate you,”
“You love me,”
“Hmph,” Maria crossed her arms. A knock at her office door caused them both to look up, “alright, get out of my office, Coulson,”
“Yes ma’am,” Phil saluted her and threw her a wink as he walked to the door.
Maria sighed as he left and a nervous rookie entered. It was time, unfortunately, to get back to work.
------
Lunch with Clint was a weekly tradition Nat had started when she first joined S.H.I.E.L.D. No matter how hectic their schedules got, they always made sure to have lunch together at least once a week. Maria thought it was cute how close the two of them were, and while Nat thought ‘cute’ was the wrong adjective to describe her friendship with Clint, she was glad Maria didn’t mind. Nat weaved through the throng of people in the halls, hoping to make it to the mess hall before the main lunch crowd. She almost walked past the training rooms until she saw Maria, who seemed to be talking to someone. That was odd. As Deputy Director, Maria’s presence always drew a certain amount of attention, so she tried to keep her workouts to odd times (like at three in the morning).
Nat slipped inside, hiding behind a punching bag.
“Take that back, Rumlow,” Maria growled. Natasha was surprised by how upset, not to mention unprofessional, she sounded,
“I meant it. I will throw Romanoff’s cat off this ship if it comes near me again”
Maria dropped her voice to a whisper, and Nat couldn’t tell what she said next. It clearly scared Rumlow though, as he quickly backed up, marching out of the training room so quickly he didn’t even notice Nat standing there.
“Hill? Everything alright?”
Maria whipped around, ready to yell at whoever was behind her. She relaxed when she saw it was just Natasha,
“How long were you standing there, Romanoff?”
“Long enough,” Nat smirked, “what did you say to Rumlow? He looked like he saw a ghost,”
“That if he threw Liho off I would throw him off without a chute,”
“And?” Nat raised an eyebrow. She could always tell when Maria was holding something back,
“I might have,” Maria suddenly found her shoes very interesting, “I might have said that Liho was...my cat?”
“Oh my god, you did what?” Natasha’s face lit up brighter than a Christmas tree,
“I said that Liho was my cat,” Maria muttered reluctantly.
Natasha dragged Maria into a corner of the training room she knew was a blindspot for cameras (and any onlookers) and pulled her into a fierce kiss. She only pulled away when she felt Maria beginning to get lightheaded. Maria wore a dazed, love-drunk expression.
“I love you so fucking much, Maria Hill,” Nat kissed Maria again, lighter, but with the same passion.
“I love you too, Natasha Romanoff,” Maria smiled like an idiot, “now go have your lunch with Barton,”
Nat placed one more kiss on Maria’s cheek before sauntering out. Maria looked into the mirror lining one of the walls of the training room, straightening her uniform. She walked out as well, planning to return to her paperwork.
Unbeknownst to the two, Sharon Carter had walked in just as they had begun kissing. She immediately walked out, grinning wider than anyone who had just seen their almost-sister making out with the world’s deadliest assassin had any right to be. Pulling out her phone, Sharon opened her messages and quickly texted,
13 is my lucky number: Pay up. u owe me 50 bucks
Triple Pirouette: dammit
13 is my lucky number: …
Triple Pirouette: fine >:(
13 is my lucky number: :)
Maria had finally found someone worthy of her, and Sharon couldn’t be happier.