Work Text:
Maria Hill prided herself in being a very professional person.
She had taken her job at SHIELD very seriously, and she certainly regarded her new position at Stark Industries with all the gravitas it was due. That wasn’t to say she was a killjoy—only that her occupation was important to her, and she recognized a clear boundary between appropriate behavior at work and at home. Her lack of tolerance for unprofessionalism stemmed from the fact that in her career, screwing around could kill you—or worse, kill your teammate. One might say Maria Hill was a strong believer in the sanctity of the work environment.
In her days at SHIELD, she had gotten the impression that Captain Steve Rogers shared her respect for professionalism. He was never late, he was always attentive and constructive during meetings, and she hadn’t once seen him make the kind of inappropriate comments Stark was known for. Perhaps that was why it took her so long to realize that Rogers and Barnes were flirting like school girls.
They were on a mission for Fury, one of the first ones they’d done in a while. Even though SHIELD had gone down the drain, the world didn’t stop needing the Avengers every now and then. This time, it was something about a Mexican travel agency that was a front for a drug cartel which was actually a front for an underground railroad to smuggle former Hydra agents out of the country. Fury had managed to locate one of the major pit stops, and he’d called in his favorite task team to sort it out.
“Y’all need the practice—you’re gettin’ slow,” he’d said in the mission debrief. What he’d really meant was that they needed to get used to working with Barnes. He and Stark were going to be on periphery. In a rare display of confidence, Fury had admitted that Maria was far better suited than him to direct the operation. She’d thanked him in her own rare display of sentiment.
“Cap, Widow—are you in position?” Maria asked over the group comm, pressing the Bluetooth closer to her ear.
“Positions confirmed,” Natasha said smoothly.
“Barnes verifying Cap’s position,” said Barnes, though his comment was somewhat unnecessary. “I can also confirm that I have a visual on Rogers.”
Maria checked the flashing locator on her screen, pinpointing each member of her task force onto a blueprint of the building. “Thank you, Barnes. Can you confirm your own position?”
“That I can. You picked a good spot, Hill. It’s a gorgeous view.”
Maria looked up at the miles of industrial-style city blocks that surrounded them and frowned incredulously. ‘Gorgeous’ was definitely not the word she’d use….
“Stark checking in to confirm position,” said Tony. “And whatever your view is, Barnes, I can guarantee that mine’s better from up here. Oh look—there’s Texas.”
“Sorry to disappoint you, Stark, but I can definitely confirm with absolute certainty that I have the better view.”
Maria was about to intervene in what was undoubtedly going to become some kind of pointless my-dick’s-bigger argument when Barton and Wilson called in to confirm their positions. Then she was making sure Banner was set up with the rest of the tech scene, and then she was giving the order to begin the operation.
“The holding facility for Hydra personnel is on the third floor, like we discussed. Barton—start scaling the fence. Rogers, Romanoff—take the stairs on the right. Stark—update on the north end?”
“It’s all clear from up here.”
“Barnes—what’s your status?”
“Perky. A little warm up here, though. Gun is locked and loaded.”
“Still got my back, Buck?” Rogers asked.
“Don’t I always?”
“You sure do.”
“Don’t worry, Cap—your back’s safe with me.”
That was the moment when Maria Hill began to wonder.
Another flight of steps, two remotely disabled alarms, and four unconscious security guards later, they were ready to invade the main hideout room.
“Barton and Wilson are on standby. Is everyone else in position?”
“Affirmative,” Natasha said.
“I’m prepared,” said Barnes.
There was a stifled coughing noise coming from Roger’s mic before he added, “Rogers is ready as well.”
“Good,” Barnes hummed.
That was when Maria Hill decided that her suspicions had been confirmed. Unfortunately, it was too late to pull them out. Instead, she gave the order to begin Attack Plan 3.
“I’m going in,” Rogers said.
“Not the first time I’ve heard—”
“Shut up, Barnes,” said Natasha. “Cap and Widow entering Hydra hideout.”
After that, it was more or less out of Maria’s hands. There were three more operatives in the room than they’d originally anticipated, so while Steve and Natasha seemed to have it under control, the fight was a little closer than she would have liked. Maria was about to call in Wilson and Barton when she received a warning from above.
“We’ve got trouble,” said Stark. “Three black Mercedes are coming up the road, and I don’t think they’re here to sell Thin Mints.”
“Barton and I are on it,” Wilson told them. “We’ll be there in two minutes.”
“Fine,” Maria said, rearranging the blueprints on the screen in front of her to show the map of the surrounding roads and the driveway leading up to the building. “Shoot for the tires, okay Barton? Let’s make this quick. Barnes, I need you to cover Rogers and Romanoff. They might need it.”
She looked away for maybe a minute, just to come up with an action plan for the others, but by the time she glanced back, it was too late for her to warn them. They must have missed one of the guards, because by the time she pulled up the video stream from the security camera in the hall outside the room where Steve and Natasha were fighting, the man already had his gun drawn, and he was aiming it at Rogers.
“Steve, behind you—” she said, but someone else acted first. A shot rang out over the comm, and the guard dropped to the floor.
“Thanks, Bucky,” said Steve as Natasha cuffed the last hostage.
“Anytime, Rogers,” Barnes replied. “I wasn’t going to let him take you from behind. That’s my job.”
If there had been any lingering doubts in Maria Hill’s mind, they were gone by then.
In her post-mission report that she submitted to Fury, she told him that although not everything had gone according to plan, the operation was on the whole a success. “There was one thing, though,” she added at the end. “I would recommend that future directors refrain from putting Barnes and Rogers on the same group comm. They flirt like they’re in sixth grade.”
Unsurprisingly, Fury filed her suggestion without any objections. He did not ask for details.