During her time working her way up the ranks of SHIELD Maria Hill had the unenviable task of comforting the 'worried girlfriend'. Not that it was always a girl, but most of them were and most didn't have the decency/self-respect to hide the fact that they were so overcome with fear for their lover's life that they were falling apart, often opening weeping like an embarrassing stereotype. Maria had promised herself over and over again she would never become that stereotype in any way shape or form, and yet here she was once again waiting to see if her lover got back alive, powerless to do anything to change the outcome either way.
It could be worse. At least she was maintaining her normal cool, calm and collected demeanour. Mostly. And the one thing worse than comforting the worried girlfriend was telling her what she feared the worst, and as long as no one came to tell her the worst had happened everything was fine. Natasha Romanoff was alive and well and coming back to her, the two of them picking up right where they left off. Until then she watched the monitor, listened in and prayed to any God who would hear her prayers.
One advantage Maria had over all the other worried girlfriends was at least she could watch and provide Intel, even though she rarely got to do anything Jarvis couldn't do, Maria longing for the days when there were thousands of men at her command. Then again maybe it was for the best SHIELD was gone, because she was now so compromised she would have sent all those men to their deaths if it gave Natasha a better chance of getting out alive. It was also a blessing and a curse, because every time Natasha nearly died her heart nearly stopped. Ultimately though she preferred at least been able to physically see Natasha was ok, even though she was in constant danger.
Still, in the end Maria was just like every other worried girlfriend, waiting on the edge of her seat for her lover to return to her, unable to fully relax until she saw Natasha again. A couple of times that involved being carried back on a stretcher, or in the arms of another Avenger, but for the most part Natasha returned to her with her usual swagger. This sadly wasn't one of those times, Maria finding herself slipping into 'worried housewife' mode as she scurried towards the infamous spy who was staggering towards her, Natasha practically falling into her arms and then slipping into unconsciousness.
"Natasha?" Maria cried out, cradling her girlfriend and checking for any wounds.
She couldn't see anything fatal, or even obvious, but Maria was so lost in checking Natasha over she noticed the other Avengers approaching until she heard their leader reassuring her, "It's ok, the mission just ran a little long and she refused to sleep on the plane. But, you know, Australia's pretty far away so it takes a while to get back."
"Yeah, The Black Widow just couldn't get to sleep without someone spooning her." Tony grinned, "I mean, I offered... but she wanted her personal cuddly teddy bear."
"Shut it Stark." Maria grumbled as she picked Natasha up in the classic carrying position and turned to head to their quarters.
"That's shut it, sir." Tony said with a smirk, "At least put a little effort into pretending to respect me."
"You're right, I'm sorry." Maria said, briefly turning back to them as she added, "Shut it, sir."
Maria didn't wait around to see if her boss made an allegedly witty remark in response and instead headed to the quarters she shared with Natasha, grumbling the whole way about how Tony Stark was now her boss. It was without a doubt the best course of action, his lawyers keeping her safe from those idiots in Washington after the fall of SHIELD and more importantly she got to stay in the loop and at least help protect the world, if for no other reason than to keep herself busy. Stark didn't make it easy though, and Maria had come close to punching him several times. If it wasn't for Natasha she would have probably already taken a swing, or something that was guaranteed to get her fired.
