Among the Asgardians (deleted scenes)

Maria and Jacob (extra part)

Heimdall's POV (aka 3rd person ;D)

"Maria, wait!" Jacob said, following after her with a pained expression on his face. He knew Maria was sensitive to other beautiful women (a trait that made no sense in his opinion because she was almost as beautiful as Kathryn) but that was no reason to run off and leave the group. "Maria, please come back," he pleaded, using a pained tone in his voice to get her to stop.

"I can't deal with two of them, Jacob," she said, her voice cracking. "I just can't do it. One supernaturally beautiful girl was enough, but now two? I'll never get their respect again." She kept going at her mad pace until she threw open the door to the observation deck and went inside.

Jacob had never been inside the glass room before, but he didn't dwell long on its crystalline beauty. Maria had stopped with her face to the glass and had put her palm on it, her fingers curling into the cool sky. Jacob shook his head and went to her, placing his palm on her shoulder. "Maria," he whispered. "Maria, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I fell in love with Kathryn. I'm sorry that our relationship ended. I truly am sorry. You were my first love, Maria. I... I still love you, but like a sister. You have to know that."

"It doesn't mean a thing coming from you. I know she's pregnant, and I know that you hope it's your baby. You always wanted kids, Jacob. That's something I could never give you. You loved me, Jacob, and you still do. You're just too thick to see it."

"Maria," Jacob repeated in an annoyed tone, taking her into his arms. "It isn't that I stopped loving you. It's that I just loved you in a different way than I do now. If you truly loved me, you wouldn't want to tie me down in a relationship I have no desire to be in. That's a selfish thing."

The agent with an iron attitude melted into the arms of the man she loved. Jacob stroked her back gently. Maria rarely came undone like this. She chose instead to bottle her feelings up inside release them on her own. It wasn't healthy for her, but she couldn't afford to look weak in front of anyone. Even when she thought her uncle Phil was dead, she didn't shed a tear until she was alone. For the longest time, she had been alone in the world. A cold, cruel woman with little regard for other's feelings as long as it didn't intrfere with work. All that changed when she met Jacob.

It had been her job to teach him about the outside world, and she thought she had done a decent job. But somewhere amongst the vacations to places around the globe and the cultural lessons, she had realized that he completed her. He understood what it was like to be alone without a friend in the world. He knew her in a way no human ever had, and she understood him in a way he had never known.

So, they had begun a romance. It was the first real relationship Maria had been in since high school. She hadn't slept with a man in probably fifteen years. Again, not since high school. Jacob, however, had taught her how to let go of it all and trust someone with something as intimate as that, and Maria truly believed he'd taught her how to feel again.

Jacob continued stroking her as she cried softly into his shirt. She was rarely one for tears, and even when she cried, she never cried hard. Now was no exception. "I hate that new girl," she murmured. "She's so beautiful. She's more beautiful than Kathryn and Natasha combined. And they both know it, too," Maria revealed. "Did you see Kathryn's face? She saw you looking at that girl. They all did."

Jacob sighed. His gaze had lingered. But it wasn't Tessa he had been looking at. It was her body. He was remembering what Kathryn looked like when she was as the girl had been. Naked and pleasured and calling his name. He made a mental note to tell her that at some point so she didn't think his eye was wandering. That very night, if he could.

 "Maria, we need to get back to the lab," he said, cupping her face in his palm and wiping a stray tear from her eye. She was very calm when she cried, and someone who didn't know her better would think she only had a slightly pink complection.

"I don't want to go back," she whispered. "But.. I know that I have to. So before we go, will you kiss me one last time?"

He looked at her with contempt. "No," he said flatly.

"Just once on the forehead," Maria begged. "Then I think I may be able to let you go."

Jacob nodded, understanding perfectly. He leaned in and planted a small, soft kiss right between her eyes. "Now let go of the past," he urged.

"I will," she replied. "But I will never stop loving you."

Jacob draped his arm over her shoulder and escorted her back to the lab.