Chapter Text
Maria Hill and Natasha Romanoff have been together for… not nearly as long as they should have, really. It had taken them an almost embarrassingly long time to wade through all that sexual tension and finally admit that their feelings for each other were less ‘I respect and admire you as a colleague and friend’ and more ‘I want to kiss you every time I see you and I’m also kinda in love with you’.
If they were to be completely honest, it had all started pretty much the first time they met; Natasha was still relatively fresh out of deprogramming and Maria was a young SHIELD agent quickly making her way up the ranks. Everyone on the helicarrier seemed to avoid Natasha like the plague and professional jealousy (or downright misogyny) meant Hill was often given a wide berth too. Neither woman had that many allies in this place so when Maria had asked Natasha if she’d like a quick sparring match, it felt strangely right that they’d immediately strike up a not-quite-friendship but more-than-just-acquaintanceship.
The more Natasha settled into her role at SHIELD and Maria into being a commander, the less platonic their relationship became. Maria would scold her for her recklessness and Natasha would pretend she couldn’t hear the worry behind it. Natasha would fire a witty retort and Maria would pretend she wasn’t biting back a positively fond smile despite her outward look of exasperation. The other agents would watch on silently and pretend they weren’t secretly betting on when they’d finally get their act together and just… get together.
This continued for a few years, though their flirty banter and poorly hidden fondness for each other never quite crossed that line. They both knew they were teetering on the edge of something not-so professional and yet there was some unspoken thing keeping them from taking that final step.
Eventually, all it took was Maria having a slightly too close brush with death for them to finally do something about it. Natasha had been there when the taller woman awoke from surgery and the look of pure and unfiltered relief on the redhead’s face had only solidified what they both knew shone through every fleeting gaze and lingering touch; happiness, adoration, love.
That had been a month ago. A month of sneaking around the helicarrier and into each other’s rooms at night. A month of gentle touches and even gentler words whispered during any private moment they could snatch. A month of finallys and god, we should’ve done this sooner.
They’d both agreed that for now, they’d keep this to themselves. This thing between them felt too pure, too real, to taint it by making it the new hot piece of gossip at work. They didn’t need the prying eyes or unsubtle murmurs of their colleagues. No, for now, they would just finally be.
Maria was still recovering from her whole bullet to the abdomen incident and, to her annoyance, was benched from all field work for another few weeks at least. (She herself thought it was a rather dramatic amount of time to have to spend off the ground considering she was almost entirely healed by now, but the Director himself had ordered it and Hill was nothing if not a good soldier.)
The situation had its perks however; Natasha being a wonderfully protective and caring girlfriend being the biggest one in Maria’s completely biased opinion. Maria had always hated people trying to take care of her but there was something so natural about allowing Natasha to do it; she was the perfect balance of kind but not patronising, helpful but not overbearing and Maria loved her all the more for it. Speaking of which…
*knock, knock, knock*
Maria looks up from the file she’s reading to see her office door being opened, the smiling face of her favourite person poking into the room.
“Hey soldier,” the redhead greets as she locks the door behind herself, making her way to where Maria still sits behind her desk.
“Hey, yourself. You ready to go for lunch?” Maria’s eyes track Natasha’s movements curiously as she practically saunters over to the dark haired woman. Perching herself on the edge of the desk, Natasha sticks her foot out to gently roll Maria’s chair closer to her, the taller woman’s legs coming to rest between hers.
“Hmm, I don’t know, Commander. I’m thinking there might be something more appetising right here,” the Russian husks, her fingers coming to trace lightly over Maria’s jaw. The muscle twitches slightly under touch and Natasha doesn’t try to hide her smirk when the brunette shivers faintly.
Taking a steadying breath, Maria keeps her gaze locked on the green one in front of her as her own fingers raise from the arm of her chair to rub lightly at Natasha’s thighs.
“Agent Romanoff, you are aware that having sexual relations in the office of a superior is a suspendable offence, are you not?” Maria teases, her voice just as low. Her smile widens when Natasha scoffs before leaning in so their noses are just barely brushing.
“Oh please, Hill, like that’s ever stopped us before.”
Maria’s breathy laugh is cut off when Natasha’s lips finally land on hers, though she can’t help the smile that remains as she kisses back. The kiss is passionate and familiar and despite the way Natasha’s hands are fisted in her collar, her touch is gentle. Maria’s hands move up from her thighs to rest at Natasha’s hips, the shorter woman’s legs widening automatically to allow Maria to stand between them as she pushes her to fully sit on the desk. The kiss deepens but Natasha’s touch remains light; one hand tugging gently on the hairs at the base of her neck and the other rubbing soothing circles just above the nearly-healed bullet wound on her side.
The almost delicate way the Russian’s holding her tugs slightly on Maria’s heart and she’s once again reminded just how much she loves the other woman. It’s kind of funny to have the usually deadly Black Widow touching her so carefully.
Not the Black Widow, she reminds herself, Natasha.
Just her Natasha that wouldn't ever be able to hurt her. Who likes to run her finger along the fresh scar on her stomach to remind herself that Maria is fine, she’s alive and she’s fine. The Natasha that loves her with everything she could possibly have to give.
The thought brings another smile to her face and Natasha can’t help but mirror it when they break apart for air. “What’s with the grinning, weirdo?”
“Nothing, I just really love you,” Maria shrugs, her smile turning even softer somehow.
“Always so sappy, Commander,” Natasha chuckles with a shake of her head, though the widening of her smile betrays her. She drapes her arms over the taller woman’s shoulders as Maria’s come to circle around her waist. “I love you too, though.”
Their moment is interrupted by a loud clang above them and they both look up with a start when a slightly muffled exclamation follows it.
“OH MY GOD!”
Narrowing her eyes at the familiar voice, Maria looks back at Natasha with her brow furrowed.
“Is that-”
“Unfortunately.”
The redhead doesn’t make a move to separate them though, just drops her forehead onto Maria’s shoulder with a groan. Maria smiles despite herself at her girlfriend’s dramatics and presses a quick kiss to the top of her head before turning her gaze upwards again.
“Barton, stop screaming like a teenage girl and get your ass down from my vent!”
No more than a few seconds later, two feet land excitedly on the floor a couple of feet away from them. Natasha raises her head with a sigh and they both disentangle themselves from one another to face the archer.
“Clint-”
“OH MY GOD!”
“Barton-”
“YOU TWO ARE ACTUALLY TOGETHER?!”
“Clint!-”
“Everyone knows you’re in love with each other but I didn’t think you were ever gonna make a move, Tasha! This is HUGE! I can't believe you didn’t tell me?! I mean, I’m your best frie-” His rambling is ended abruptly (not abruptly enough if you were to ask the Russian), when Natasha slaps him upside the head.
“Birdbrain! Would you for once in your life shut your damn trap please?!” Maria stifles a snort at her girlfriend’s words and Clint finally stops squealing long enough for his grin to show.
“I’m sorry, I’m just really happy for you! I mean come on, Nat, you’ve had the hots for the Commander since like forev-” He stops short once again when Natasha glares at him. “Right, shutting my trap,” he amends with a mimed zip to his mouth.
“Thank you,” the shorter woman sighs. “Now, as much as I appreciate your support and enthusiasm for our relationship, this thing between us is still pretty new.” Maria nods in agreement and smiles softly when Natasha looks up at her.
“We’d just like to keep it to ourselves for a while longer.”
“Say no more, ladies. I promise, your secret is safe with me,” Clint reassures and the couple find themselves heaving a small sigh of relief.
“We know it is, Barton.” And if it’s possible, Clint’s grin widens even more at the blue eyed woman’s words.
“Now get the hell out, we were having a moment here, asshole.” Natasha’s voice is sharp but her eyes only glisten with the happiness that’s coursing through her.
“Not so fast, Romanoff. As your bestest, most awesomest friend in the whole wide world, it is my duty to give the official shovel talk to your girlfriend here,” Clint states with faux seriousness. He turns towards the taller woman and tries to keep up his act when the Deputy Director raises her eyebrows in her signature fashion. “Agent Hill,”
“Yes, Agent Barton?”
“You are my superior and dare I say friend so I hope you know it is with the utmost of respect that I warn you: if you hurt Natasha in any way, I will personally shoot an arrow through your eyeball. It will hurt and I won’t feel any remorse about it because Natasha deserves the world and you know it.”
“Did you just threaten me, Barton?” Maria’s lips twitch in amusement as she sees Natasha’s eyes flicking between them anxiously like she’s watching a terribly intense tennis match.
“Yes, Commander.” The brunette narrows her eyes at the man, her shoulders straightening more, slightly. The sight is enough to make Clint gulp subtly and if he didn’t know better, he’d say Maria looked pleased by his display of loyalty to the Russian. “With that being said, I also happen to think you and Nat are perfect for each other and also you’re very scary and while I stand by my previous statement, please don’t kill me?”
Maria chuckles outright at that but reaches a hand out to squeeze his shoulder, the most genuine smile the archer has seen from her overtaking her features.
“Clint, I would never be mad at you for standing up for Natasha. Now, with our line of work, I can’t promise that I’ll never cause her pain- even if it’s the last thing I’d intentionally do- but I can promise that I’ll love her enough for the risk to be worth it.”
Clint seems to ponder her response for a minute before allowing his grin to return with full force.
“Aww, Nat! I can’t believe you managed to turn the Hardass Hill into this mushy pile of sap!” Maria just rolls her eyes at his comment but they both know she’s grateful for his approval. Natasha doesn’t even try to hide the smug smile on her face and Clint doesn’t hesitate to bring her into a huge bear hug. “Aaaaa my little sister’s in looove!” he sing-songs, lifting her up off the ground to spin her around dramatically.
“Get off me you big oaf!” Natasha complains but they all know she could easily get herself out of his hold if she really wanted to. Clint squeezes her tightly once more before he’s dropping her back onto her feet in front of a laughing Maria.
“Right, I’ll leave you two love birds to it then! Natasha, you better come find me when you’re done, I need all the details.” Natasha simply rolls her eyes as she shoves him towards the door. He stops short when he realises that it’s locked and turns back to the couple, his eyebrows wiggling suggestively. His playful laugh follows him out and Natasha glares at the smirk on his retreating face, the door closing softly behind him.
“Well, that went well,” Maria comments, wrapping her arms around Natasha’s waist. They hadn’t expected anything else from Clint- he’d been not so subtly routing for them from the start. Natasha hums her agreement, her hands interlocking around Maria’s neck as she stands on her tip-toes to kiss her soundly. “His teasing is gonna be unbearable these next few weeks, though.”
“Sorry I won’t be here to suffer it with you,” Natasha whispers as she trails her lips down the other woman’s jaw. Her smirk is anything but apologetic though.
“No you’re not.”
Maria feels more than hears the giggle Natasha lets out against her throat and she tightens her arms around the redhead in response.
“No, I’m really not.” Looking up at Maria deviously, she distractedly toys with the zipper of the brunette’s tac-suit. “I am gonna miss you, though.”
Maria groans as Natasha pulls the zipper down agonisingly slowly, her hands dropping to the curve of the shorter woman’s ass.
“Remind me again why Tony Stark needs to be so… closely monitored,” she breathes out. “What is it with billionaire boneheads and their need to do idiotic things, anyway?”
“Well this particular boneheaded billionaire happens to own an especially deadly tin-man costume that we need to keep an eye on,” Natasha murmurs against her mouth, her fingers stroking teasingly at the skin she’s just uncovered. “Though I’m pretty sure you know that, seeing as you suggested me for this mission, Commander.”
And suddenly Maria doesn’t give a rat’s ass about Tony Stark because Natasha’s looking at her like she’s about to devour her and really, who is Maria to disrupt that?