Avengers fic: "Known By Its Flight" - PG-13 [Natasha&Maria]

FANDOM: Avengers
TITLE: Known By Its Flight
SUMMARY: SHIELD does not make weapons of its women – or, as Barton has observed with greater accuracy, SHIELD does not make weapons like Natasha out of their women. That doesn't mean a woman can't choose to make a weapon of herself.
RATING: PG-13
CATEGORY: Action/Adventure, Drama, Trust, Spies, SHIELD, Agents, Women Being Awesome.
CHARACTERS: Natasha, Maria Hill, Clint Barton, Phil Coulson, OMC.
WORD COUNT: 2,400
DISCLAIMER: Characters are the property of Marvel Comics and no infringement is intended. These stories are for entertainment only and no money is being made from them.
NOTES: For emmypenny in the avengersfest 2012. Basically Natasha as spy and Maria as handler, with a cameo from Clint and a flashback from Phil. And Agent Alan Thorpe turns up again. The original plotbunny was "Pepper gets kidnapped and kicks metaphorical arse with three inch heels and the assistance of Natasha, Maria, and Sif", but the logistics of the story proved more than my scrambled brain could handle at the time. Maybe in time for halfamoon?

AO3 | LJ

fic recs - more Steve/Maria

One of the bonuses of the avengersfest challenge was that not one, but two Steve/Maria fics turned up!

Days Of Darkness Which We Have Known was written for me by lizardbeth_j and is the lovely, slightly awkward journey of two people who are in serious denial. Cute denial, but very serious, all the same!

Here, have an excerpt between Maria and Tony that manages to insert wry humour into what should be a poignant moment. Much as I love Maria/Steve as a pairing, there's a lot of fun in reading (and writing) Maria and Tony squaring off against each other - at least where Maria isn't portrayed as the bitch.

"Welcome, Commander Hill," the pleasant voice of JARVIS greeted her as she came inside and the glass slid shut, cutting off most of the noise of the helicopter and thankfully all the wind.

She straightened and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. The large room was empty, except for Tony who was pouring himself a drink from the long bar along the back wall. "Evening, Maria." He smirked at her and he tilted his head toward the elevator. "Rogers is downstairs."

Straightening she frowned at him, "What makes you think I'm here to see Captain Rogers? I'm here on official SHIELD business--"

"With a bottle of--" he peered at what was in her hand. "Is that schnapps? So 'official business' has gotten a lot more alcoholic I see."

She abandoned that line of excuses. "Fine. He lost his friend. I was coming to see how he was doing."

"Terribly," Tony answered, "as I'm sure you can guess. But you two are just so determined to pretend, aren't you? Pepper thinks it's cute, I think it's frustrating. And a little annoying."

There's something adorable in 'not completely broken but really awkward Maria' trying to be "professional" with 'not completely comfortable but at least trying Steve'...and pretty much FAILING.

--

There was also Old Dogs And New Tricks which was written by igrockspock.

This one is more about them as agents and soldiers and the dynamic between commander and commanded. With cute moments of Steve getting his foot in his mouth:

"I could use you too," he says, then winces. "That was weird. Um, sorry. Did you say there was a robot? Because I'm really interested in those. I thought there would be a lot of them in the twenty-first century, and really it's kind of disappointing that there aren't."

Bonus line:

He's thinking uncharitable thoughts, namely that saving the world apparently does not make Tony more likable.

Because, uh, duh!

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And one more for the recs!

ailelie asked for prompts over on tumblr and I suggested Maria Hill. She wrote me not only Maria, but a cat, and Steve as well!

Maria And The Stray

She could hear her father's voice echoing in her head as she shut out the sound of the cat scratching her door: Never feed a stray; you'll only make it stay.

--

Maybe next year (if we the slowly-building momentum doesn't get completely derailed by newer, prettier canon, because, let's face it, we're all about the shiny stuff around here) we might hold a teensy weensy fic exchange for this pairing. If we get a dozen sign-ups, I'll be surprised.