Tell me every terrible thing you ever did and let me love you anyway// Blackhill

Chapter 6

Maria was pissed.

It seemed like she was always pissed, which isn't entirely untrue, but she was pissed more than she usually is. It seemed like, for some reason, the Avengers have been getting on her nerves, and for one of the stupidest reasons. The guys have suddenly taken an interest in her love life, for God knows what. The worst part? They think she's in love with Natasha. She at least thought they were going to be subtle about it, but leave it to her to deal with the most unsubtle people on earth.

This all started last week when she was checking in on the Avengers. She had stopped by Banner's lab for a while, expecting him to just ignore her whole she observes him. That wasn't the case, however.

Banner had been working on some new experiment, something with quantum mechanics, Maria wasn't too sure. He had, as predicted, ignored her for a good chunk of the time, which was a good thing. Maria didn't feel like talking with all of them 24/7, she just wanted to make sure that they were okay and would move into the next one. 20 minutes in, though, Banner turned to acknowledge her. She was slightly surprised, but put on a small smile.

"What are you doing?" Maria inquiried, knowing that Banner would be a lot less nervous if she had let him rant about science.

"Well, basically..." Maria tried to listen, she really did, but she was only human after all and one can only take so much talk about science and biochemistry before they got bored to death. "You're not listening, are you?"

Maria was startled from her thoughts, giving him an embarrassed shrug. "I'm glad you're passionate about this, Banner, I just don't see the appeal in science like you do."

"Well, it seems as if you see the appeal in something lately, or rather someone."

Maria makes a face at this, looking Banner in the eye. He looks at her as if what he just said was the most obvious thing in the world, but she was as confused as ever.

"What do you mean by that?" She asked,  eyes narrowing.

He shrugged, turning back to his work, which made Maria pissed because she hated when people talked to her with their back to her.

"You know. You and Nat. You're together, or you like her at the very least, right?"

"We're- what?!" Maria looked at him, not believing if she had heard him right. She didn't mean to raise her voice, but she was so caught off-gaurd that she couldn't help it. "Where'd you hear about that?" She demanded.

"Barton," he said casually, still not turning around. "But we all can see it. Though, Nat won't admit it, and I doubt you will too."

Maria closes her eyes and takes three deep breaths, remembering that blowing up at a guy who literally turns into a giant green rage machine when he gets angry isn't the best idea. She opens her eyes again and focusses them on Banner.

"Banner, what exactly do you mean by that?"

"Well..." Banner trailed off. He might be the Hulk, but he was no stranger to how down right terrifying Maria Hill was when she was angry. He wanted to try and word it as best as he could. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't really good at words. He was good at science. "It's, uh, like this. You know when two particles react and you can tell that they can react physically, but not chemically. So, while you see the change, the chemicals don't feel any change."

Maria sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "English, Banner!"

"Alright, alright! I guess what I'm trying to say is that there's something between you two that everyone else sees, but you don't. Or won't, either one seems pretty plausible to me."