The Devil's Keeper - Blackhill

Chapter 11 - And Waited...

[April 18th, 2007 – Helicarrier, location classified]

Tony Stark went to the Helicarrier every once in a blue moon to see if his inventions and money were all put to good use, have a chat with Coulson, ask Hill out on a date and get rejected by her every single time before heading out.

It was almost routine.

Except, this time, Fury's orders were to keep him away from the Web Thread. The news that The Devil's Keeper was amongst them had been kept a secret and Nick wanted very much for it to stay that way. Tony Stark was not a man you trusted with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s level of secrets.

"No big deal. Maria will meet him before he starts going around. When he asks her out, she'll say yes and they'll go have lunch. He'll forget about everything else." Sharon shrugged it off. "It's the only reason he keeps coming anyway."

Maria rolled her eyes and sighed.

"You have a better plan?" Coulson asked her.

Her lips were pressed so tightly together that they almost entirely disappeared.

"Then Sharon's plan it is. Take one for the team and have lunch with him, would you?" Phil begged her.

"Yes, take one for the team and have lunch with a billionaire philanthropist. A genius and inventor, by the way." Clint mocked her. "Poor you, great food and amicable company. What a rough short stick you drew."

"Wanna go instead?" Maria offered immediately, not bothering to hide her half-disgusted face.

"He's not attracted to me." Clint mocked again. "Or I would go without complaining this much."

Maria rolled her eyes and pressed her lips together again, but didn't refuse. Natasha stayed silent but felt like punching a wall. Fury came in and told her he had another mission for her, another data retrieval they had missed that Natasha could recover. She bolted from the room, glad she wouldn't have to be there and watch Hill seduce a dude into a lunch date.

- - -

[September 1st, 2001 – New York City]

She recovered the flash drive in record time, then jumped back to the day before their date to make a few reservations and arrangements and then jumped right to the time they had to meet.

Maria was already waiting for her. She was wearing jeans, a white shirt, and a bright smile.

"You look..." Drop-dead gorgeous, jaw-droppingly beautiful, super toned, and are those abs I can see through your white shirt because damn. "...Rested. Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, this hotel has the nicest mattress, at least if you're used to sleeping in a bumpy old bed. You should try this one sometime." Maria told her with a smile. Then her eyes widened slightly and her smiled vanished. "Oh, I didn't mean-"

"Sure you didn't, Hill. Come on, I made us a reservation."

Natasha smirked teasingly at her while taking her hand and walking down the street. They walked in silence for a while, exchanging glances and smiles.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask you. You never told me where you're from." Maria asked her randomly.

"I'm from Saint Petersburg. From around there, actually."

"Wait, you're from Russia? But your accent-" Maria frowned, "-and by that I mean your lack of an accent. I'm surprised, that's all."

"The people who raised me were very keen on making me speak English perfectly."

Maria just frowned at her and Natasha shrugged. Her heart was practically hammering in her throat, but it was just as good of a time as any for something as heavy as that.