Deleted Scene: 10-C
Who: Maria Hill/Steve Rogers
Where: Secure Storage Locker 10-C (Helicarrier)
When: Between Steve storming out of the lab and returning with intel on Phase 2
Rating: G/PG
Word Count: 922
Summary: Hill finds Rogers looking for answers at 0130.
"Security breach in storage room 10-C, ma'am."
Of course, just as she'd fallen asleep in her quarters. Maria Hill exhaled an irritated sigh, and touched a button on the comm next to her bed. "On my way."
Hill hurriedly pulled on her SHIELD-issued uniform, and pulled her hair back into it's customary bun. She stuck her earpiece in one ear and her sidearm in the holster at her hip. It was purely a judgement call on her part not to alert Director Fury or any of the other agents. She and Fury were the only two people who knew about Phase Two, and that the equipment was supposed to be locked away in 10-C. Hearing that someone had broken in did not make for a very happy Hill.
When she reached the storage room, she noted that the door looked like someone had wrenched it open with their bare hands. That ruled out Barton, Stark and Romanoff. The Hawk was MIA, and as for Stark and Romanoff, both of them would've tried more subtle means. Plus Romanoff had no idea about Phase Two. Stark would've hacked the lock simply out of curiosity. If it had been Banner, the entire ship would've been alerted to the Hulk's presence. So, that just left Thor and Rogers. Hill pulled the side arm from her hip holster and cautiously crept into the room.
A sound echoed from above, and she quickly scaled a metal ladder. She paused for a second or two, listening for that noise again. A 'thunk' of plastic on metal caught her attention and she moved silently between racks. A figure dressed mostly in blue crouched by a container. Hill was about to draw on him when she noticed the gleam of silver on his shoulder.
"Rogers." Her tone was half-irritated, half-relieved. "What the hell do you think you're doing down here at oh-one-thirty?"
"Looking for answers, ma'am," he answered, standing up to face her.
It didn't take a behavioral scientist to see that Captain Rogers was just a shade shy of pissed. A muscle twitched in his cheek as he clenched his strong jaw. Hill had seen him earlier when he first boarded the Helicarrier. She had ultimately been unimpressed with the blue-eyed blonde in vintage clothes. Since then, she'd been briefed on Stuttgart and the ultimate capture of Loki. Throw in that suit, and what Coulson had been saying about Rogers, and her opinion of him was starting to improve. Somewhat.
"Answers about what, Rogers?" Hill crossed her arms in a defiant pose.
"Stark seems to think that Director Fury is hiding something about the Tesseract, and I'm inclined to agree with him."
"So, you think breaking into secure storage in the middle of the night is what? A good cure for insomnia?"
Rogers knew a dodged question when he heard it, and he took a step closer to Agent Hill who stood her ground. Coulson had mentioned she'd been with the Marines which explained a lot of her prickly demeanor. He wondered vaguely what she would've said about Stark's quip about how following orders wasn't his style.
"What's Fury hiding? What does he want with these old HYDRA weapons? What isn't he telling us?"
By "us", she knew Rogers meant the other Avengers. Hill didn't agree with Director Fury half the time. She'd tried to tell him that the so-called Avengers Initiative, his little "response team", was a complete joke. They weren't the right people for the job. Stark was no team player. He was too narcissistic. She didn't trust Dr. Banner or the Hulk. Barton had already been compromised. Thor was almost a complete unknown, and Hill saw Rogers as the ultimate propaganda poster boy. But she felt that if they were going to have a fighting chance, they needed to know why SHIELD had been studying the Tesseract in the first place.
"Phase Two," Hill answered reluctantly, and moved past him towards the crates. "Director Fury was trying to find a way to utilize and improve on some of the designs."
"Is he nuts?!" Rogers' angry voice echoed through the room. "Doesn't he realize what that stuff can do? Johann Schmidt was going to use The Cube to wipe out New York and take the rest of the Eastern Seaboard with it."
"How?"
"Schmidt was able to syphon off energy from the Tesseract to power these weapons," he continued, nodding to the sci-fi looking rifles. "That energy was enough to disintegrate any target. I saw soldiers get hit with a blast and just … vanish."
The news was not music to Hill's ears. "No one should have access to that kind of power."
Now, it was Rogers' turn to reassess his opinion of her. He was no stranger to strong women, but he'd assumed that Agent Hill was loyal to Fury. Apparently not. He gave her a close look.
"Agreed, but whose side are you on?"
"Whoever can figure out what the hell Loki is up to and send him packing with minimal collateral damage." That actually earned her a small smirk. "And, Rogers, next time you want to know something, ask either me or Coulson before you go breaking and entering again."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Agent Hill, please report to the bridge. We have a systems malfunction. We've detected a computer virus in the servers."
"Acknowledged. On my way," she groaned, and turned to leave. "I swear to God. The next person who tries to break my ship will get escorted off... at altitude."
Where: Secure Storage Locker 10-C (Helicarrier)
When: Between Steve storming out of the lab and returning with intel on Phase 2
Rating: G/PG
Word Count: 922
Summary: Hill finds Rogers looking for answers at 0130.
"Security breach in storage room 10-C, ma'am."
Of course, just as she'd fallen asleep in her quarters. Maria Hill exhaled an irritated sigh, and touched a button on the comm next to her bed. "On my way."
Hill hurriedly pulled on her SHIELD-issued uniform, and pulled her hair back into it's customary bun. She stuck her earpiece in one ear and her sidearm in the holster at her hip. It was purely a judgement call on her part not to alert Director Fury or any of the other agents. She and Fury were the only two people who knew about Phase Two, and that the equipment was supposed to be locked away in 10-C. Hearing that someone had broken in did not make for a very happy Hill.
When she reached the storage room, she noted that the door looked like someone had wrenched it open with their bare hands. That ruled out Barton, Stark and Romanoff. The Hawk was MIA, and as for Stark and Romanoff, both of them would've tried more subtle means. Plus Romanoff had no idea about Phase Two. Stark would've hacked the lock simply out of curiosity. If it had been Banner, the entire ship would've been alerted to the Hulk's presence. So, that just left Thor and Rogers. Hill pulled the side arm from her hip holster and cautiously crept into the room.
A sound echoed from above, and she quickly scaled a metal ladder. She paused for a second or two, listening for that noise again. A 'thunk' of plastic on metal caught her attention and she moved silently between racks. A figure dressed mostly in blue crouched by a container. Hill was about to draw on him when she noticed the gleam of silver on his shoulder.
"Rogers." Her tone was half-irritated, half-relieved. "What the hell do you think you're doing down here at oh-one-thirty?"
"Looking for answers, ma'am," he answered, standing up to face her.
It didn't take a behavioral scientist to see that Captain Rogers was just a shade shy of pissed. A muscle twitched in his cheek as he clenched his strong jaw. Hill had seen him earlier when he first boarded the Helicarrier. She had ultimately been unimpressed with the blue-eyed blonde in vintage clothes. Since then, she'd been briefed on Stuttgart and the ultimate capture of Loki. Throw in that suit, and what Coulson had been saying about Rogers, and her opinion of him was starting to improve. Somewhat.
"Answers about what, Rogers?" Hill crossed her arms in a defiant pose.
"Stark seems to think that Director Fury is hiding something about the Tesseract, and I'm inclined to agree with him."
"So, you think breaking into secure storage in the middle of the night is what? A good cure for insomnia?"
Rogers knew a dodged question when he heard it, and he took a step closer to Agent Hill who stood her ground. Coulson had mentioned she'd been with the Marines which explained a lot of her prickly demeanor. He wondered vaguely what she would've said about Stark's quip about how following orders wasn't his style.
"What's Fury hiding? What does he want with these old HYDRA weapons? What isn't he telling us?"
By "us", she knew Rogers meant the other Avengers. Hill didn't agree with Director Fury half the time. She'd tried to tell him that the so-called Avengers Initiative, his little "response team", was a complete joke. They weren't the right people for the job. Stark was no team player. He was too narcissistic. She didn't trust Dr. Banner or the Hulk. Barton had already been compromised. Thor was almost a complete unknown, and Hill saw Rogers as the ultimate propaganda poster boy. But she felt that if they were going to have a fighting chance, they needed to know why SHIELD had been studying the Tesseract in the first place.
"Phase Two," Hill answered reluctantly, and moved past him towards the crates. "Director Fury was trying to find a way to utilize and improve on some of the designs."
"Is he nuts?!" Rogers' angry voice echoed through the room. "Doesn't he realize what that stuff can do? Johann Schmidt was going to use The Cube to wipe out New York and take the rest of the Eastern Seaboard with it."
"How?"
"Schmidt was able to syphon off energy from the Tesseract to power these weapons," he continued, nodding to the sci-fi looking rifles. "That energy was enough to disintegrate any target. I saw soldiers get hit with a blast and just … vanish."
The news was not music to Hill's ears. "No one should have access to that kind of power."
Now, it was Rogers' turn to reassess his opinion of her. He was no stranger to strong women, but he'd assumed that Agent Hill was loyal to Fury. Apparently not. He gave her a close look.
"Agreed, but whose side are you on?"
"Whoever can figure out what the hell Loki is up to and send him packing with minimal collateral damage." That actually earned her a small smirk. "And, Rogers, next time you want to know something, ask either me or Coulson before you go breaking and entering again."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Agent Hill, please report to the bridge. We have a systems malfunction. We've detected a computer virus in the servers."
"Acknowledged. On my way," she groaned, and turned to leave. "I swear to God. The next person who tries to break my ship will get escorted off... at altitude."