Maria Hill had no idea how long a soul could persist after death. All she wanted was to figure out Fenris's identity before she disappeared.
But from the look of things, that wasn't going to happen.
"Giving up already?"
Fenris looked a little disappointed as he saw Maria Hill give up the fight.
"Would you tell me if I tried?" Maria asked, slightly hopeful.
"No."
"Then what's the point of trying?" she said angrily.
Fenris shook his head. "That's not how it works. Sometimes, unless you give it a shot, you'll never truly understand what despair feels like."
"…"
"So if you can't solve something today, don't worry, because you probably won't solve it tomorrow either."
"…"
Are you serious? Ruthless and snarky, what a combination.
Wait… tomorrow? Did he say I might still have a tomorrow?
Suddenly, Maria Hill's intellect and instincts kicked in.
She glanced at her own "body." It wasn't breathing, had no heartbeat, but there were no visible wounds or bleeding either. So…
Since Fenris knew she was the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., he had to understand how much trouble killing her would cause.
That girl she had just saved, S.H.I.E.L.D. would use her to trace Maria's death back to him.
No matter who he was or what he was planning, he certainly wouldn't want S.H.I.E.L.D. on his tail right now.
And so, Maria "One Truth Only" Hill broke into a confident smile.
"Illusion? Magic? Some other trick? I don't know how you did it, but you didn't really kill me, did you?"
The more she thought about it, the more convinced she became. She floated back toward her body and tried to re enter it.
Once, twice, three times…
No matter how hard she tried to align her soul with her body, it didn't work. Her soul and body remained separate.
Fenris looked at her like she was a fool. "No way… You really thought I wouldn't kill you?"
"Tell me this: if I offered the living Captain America in exchange for you, would Nick Fury agree?"
"What about a 100% success-rate super soldier serum? Would he agree then?"
"Or a helicarrier identical to the ones S.H.I.E.L.D. uses, but not under S.H.I.E.L.D. control? Would he agree to that?"
"One isn't enough? Then two. Still not enough? How about three? Or even the Kree mothership that Ronan once used. Fury knows exactly how valuable a spaceship like that is."
"So, dear Director Hill. Yes, you're important, but not that important."
Maria Hill froze. A living Captain America, perfect super soldier serum, helicarriers, alien spaceships…
He could really offer all that?
Impossible. Absolutely impossible.
She didn't believe he could actually make good on all of those offers. But she had to admit, any one of those things alone was worth trading for her.
Would Fury make the deal?
Maria didn't want to test human nature. Because human nature was always the easiest thing to betray.
If she were still alive, maybe Fury wouldn't agree. But if she were already dead, even she would be tempted.
"You… you actually have that kind of stuff?" she asked, unable to help herself.
Fenris calmly took out the last dose of super soldier serum from his system. It had been meant for Dottie Underwood. But now…
"You can try it for yourself. If you agree to do me a few small favors later on."
"I agree."
Maria Hill wasn't stupid.
If it fails, worst case, she dies. No worse than her current situation.
But if it succeeded? She would become a super soldier. A new Captain America.
A perfect success-rate super soldier serum. If he had one, he could have more. And maybe the other things he mentioned were real too.
With just that possibility, a few small favors were nothing. As long as he didn't go too far, she'd even be willing to clean up his messes for him, on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Fenris picked up Maria's body and tossed it toward her soul. The moment they merged, to her surprise, she revived.
Thump!
Before she could even react, Fenris had already injected the serum into her.
"Ahhh–!"
The pain was overwhelming. Maria Hill fell to her knees, her body convulsing, her mind blank with agony.
She twitched, writhed, and screamed as if her body were being torn apart.
Because behind every transformation that makes you stronger, there is pain you must endure.