#them......a concept

Or how much Hill has to come out and save someone’s ass. 

Agent Thirteen looks on with curiosity and more than a little bit interest. Her type always has been people who look more than capable of taking charge, taller than her, and have pretty eyes. When Sharon sees Maria’s flashing blue eyes, she’s hooked. 

At least, for interest. She won’t say that she’s gotten any sort of feelings, because that would frankly be ridiculous. 

(Even if she stays up at night and wonders what restaurants they would go to if it was...well. If it was a thing.) 

But they keep a professional distance apart, mainly due to both being very skilled and very stubborn. Maria’s currently pissing off all the older agents by being Fury’s hand-picked choice for a right-hand agent. Deputy Director Hill, in charge of making sure things go right the way they’re supposed to and when they don’t? Making sure the wide world doesn’t find out too much about it. 

Agent Thirteen is one of SHIELD’s best, arguably the best. Black Widow earns a certain notoriety. When she’s after you, you know. You make plans. And sometimes--a little bit of the time--SHIELD has to adjust to that. 

No one knows Agent Thirteen. She smiles at you across the bar. You think she looks nice. Seems like she might have a joke or two to tell you. Her eyes are pretty. You walk over. 

Afterwards, you’re either passed out in an alley and you think you drank too much the night before, or you’re facing a man with an eye-patch that your boss told you never to meet. 

Natasha Romanoff is a factor here. Getting to SHIELD, making friends with people. 

“I’m not the type to make friends,” Natasha murmurs. 

“Well you told me I should show up to a bar, and I’m assuming that you want friendship,” Thirteen announces. “So, I’m here to show you the best drinks here. Which are approximately three of them.” 

“If you give me anything fruity I’m going to kill you.” 

“Then approximately none!” Sharon cheers. “I’m making myself a fruit punch concoction.” 

Maria also shows up. She’s not one for social outings, mainly just because she never really knows what to do with her hands and she hasn’t made a lot of friends while she’s in town. The occasional coffee with an old college friend, but that’s about it. It’s how she prefers it. 

But she’s sitting next to Natasha, watching Sharon very nicely turn down a man and then threaten to step on his foot with her heels if he won’t leave her alone. She turns back to the table, sitting at one of the stools. 

“Men are stupid.” 

“Yes,” Natasha says. “I think you should’ve lifted his credit card.” 

“Nah,” Sharon says. “Rent isn’t due until three weeks from now. No point.” Maria laughs, taking another sip of her drink. 

They’re talking amicably. Maria’s surprised when she has things to add to the conversation, which flows about coworkers and politics and whether or not they think some of the outfits they see are cute or not. 

It’s interrupted when Natasha frowns at a  text on her phone. 

“I’m on call. Shit.” She gathers her purse, eyes flashing to Sharon and Maria. “We should...do this again. But I have to go right now.” 

“Which probably means all three of us have to go,” Maria sighs wearily. “I was really hoping to get more than three hours of sleep.” 

“I can hide you under my desk,” Sharon says. “I think there might be a bag of crackers.” 

“Why?” 

“This exact event.” 

Maria does end up hiding out in a conference room with Sharon. They are on call, but don’t need to do anything. 

“I would recommend starting on your paperwork in advance,” Coulson says. “Makes things easier later.” 

Maria brings her, while Sharon scoffs and doesn’t. 

“It gets done on time, and I was having fun drinking my Manhattan.” 

They talk more. 

Sharon finds out a lot more about Maria, and is even getting to like her more than before. She likes her blue eyes and the way her mouth twitches up one corner when she laughs. Her laugh is nice. Her whole body moves. 

“I don’t do office romances,” Maria says, after they talk about how gross some of the people are. “Too much, and they all end anyway.” 

“Mhm,” Sharon says, stuffing crackers in her mouth to avoid detection of her actual reaction. 

Besides. At least Maria does friendship. 

Thirteen gets called away for an emergency recall from Turkey.

“Agent Dolphus got stuck,” Fury says darkly. “Nearly cost us our cover house there too.” 

“I’ll be sure to reprimand him and send him away with no dinner,” Sharon states cheekily. 

“No funny business,” Fury says, anger apparent on his face. “I need my best agents on this one, and you’re next besides Black Widow.” 

Everyone is. But usually, they try not to mention it. But Thirteen knows that Fury’s trying to make her angry, and it won’t work. Not when she’s doing her job damn well. 

"I am one of your best, thanks for that,” Sharon says. “I’ll bring him back. Try not to piss anyone else off, Fury.” 

“Will do.” 

Fury turns to Maria, who has crossed arms and is leveling him with a stare. 

“You really know how to talk to people, don’t you Nick?” 

“Comes and goes.” 

Maria surveys the missions, checking video feed. She finds her eyes drifting more to Sharon’s screens and tells herself it’s just because Natasha doesn’t need as much surveillance. 

(It’s not that.) 

Thirteen comes back tired, dirt on her suit, and ready for a nap. She brings Dolphus directly to Fury, who has been waiting for a bit now but at least he got his eight hours or whatever the hell someone like him needs. 

Maria lets Sharon sleep on the couch in her office.

“How were you even allowed a couch? How?” 

“Because Coulson also takes naps on it and he’s the rule-follower,” Maria says with a smirk. “Now sleep.” 

She’s cute, Maria notices. Not just at that moment. As time goes on. 

Sharon asks her if she wants to get coffee since they both have a day off on Thursday. 

They stay at the shop from nine until eleven-thirty, and they both nearly asked the other to just say “to hell with it” and get lunch as well. 

But they don’t. 

Because it seems like you want too much, really. They do want too much, they think. Sharon wants to find out what Maria’s hair looks like really messy. Maria wants to know if Sharon is really good at cooking breakfast as she says she is. 

But there’s no “work romance.” It’s messy. People end it. And at SHIELD, your ex usually doesn’t go to a different job. 

So they’re friends. Friends who look at each other a bit too much to just feel like friends, friends who agree enthusiastically that your last date was “definitely not it, gross.” 

(And they feel bad, but they smile after the other agrees to not date the person. It is for their own good, but...they’re selfish.) 

Maria ends up falling. For Sharon’s smile, the way she almost never wears her hair up unless she’s cooking or it’s a very important mission. When Sharon orders a fancy drink and she dances like she couldn’t care less about the other people in the room. The way she sings to herself when she’s tired. 

Sharon loves the way that Maria talks when she’s sleepy, the way her voice lowers almost. Maria’s personal sense of style is actually very nice, and fits her very well. 

Maria can’t take it anymore. 

She tells her over dinner. 

“I...I like you,” Maria says. “And I know we always make fun of romances in the office and shit, but I can’t imagine just. Not telling you. So here it is.” 

Sharon smiles, positively radiant. 

“I’m taking you to breakfast on Sunday morning. Brunch, really. A date. You up for that?” 

“Always,” Maria says, grinning. “I just can’t believe you like me back.” 

“I’d have to be insane not to,” Sharon says. 

Their first date doesn’t end up being a very nice brunch, mainly because Steve calls about some mess he and some of the other Avengers have cleaned up, so their day is spent trying to chase others’ down and make sure that things remain as they’re supposed to be.