The Case of Pink Eye
Blue eyes flickered to the corner of her screen, then to the watch on her wrist, then to her work phone to confirm what she feared. She was late. It had been a whirlwind of an afternoon and now she was almost half an hour late to pick up her kid from The Center.
She tucked all of the files she needed into her backpack and unplugged her tablet, throwing it in the bag as she pulled her office door closed behind her. The elevator seemed to take longer than normal and there was a line of parents waiting to sign their children out. By the time she got to the front of the line, she was closer to 45 minutes late.
Ellie walked out with her end-of-day report and a wave over her shoulder to Grace who was working on getting other children out the door. Her small hands barely fiddled with the straps on her backpack, and she said nothing as they got into the elevator.
“I’m sorry,” Maria was the first to break the silence as they approached their car, “I’m sorry that I was late, I’m going to set an alarm on my phone so it doesn’t happen again.”
She watched as the curly-haired child got into her car seat without protest and leaned her head on the side of the rest before nodding once to Maria. The Commander opened her mouth to continue apologizing before realizing the girl was utterly exhausted, not upset. The buckles on the car seat fastened and she got into the driver seat, opting to turn the music down and allow the girl to rest on the ride home.
Where their drives home were normally full of music and questions about how Ellie’s day went, this time it was different. Maria found herself glancing back in the rearview mirror not to see if the girl was dancing to the music, but to see if she had fallen asleep yet. With her head lolled slightly to the side, the child slept for the majority of the drive. The exhaustion from teleporting that day left the girl dead asleep even after Maria cut the engine.
“Sweet girl,” she ran her thumb across the girl's cheek, “we’re home.”
Ellie blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes before leaning her head back on the car seat. The Commander's hands unbuckled the safety retrains before wrapping around the child and picking her up for the second time that day. She put her own backpack on before carrying the space-themed one in one hand, and the sleeping child in the other.
“Hello,” the doorman’s features softened as he saw the girl who normally waved to him fast asleep, “well isn’t that precious. Long day?”
“Very,” Maria nodded, “have a good night, Sergius.”
“You as well,” he helped them into the elevator and gave a small wave.
She unlocked the door and laid Ellie down on the couch, the child barely stirred, only waking when Maria went to take her shoes off. She had a flashback of the first time she had done that on the Helicarrier, only this time the shoes fit her properly and Phil wasn’t here anymore. It was that thought that brought her to pull out her phone as she made dinner.
The line continued to trill, she had expected as much, but still, she waited until the very last ring.
“Hey, Ria,” May’s voice caught her off guard, not only had she answered but she sounded much more sober than she had in any other conversation.
“May,” she smiled and put the rice in the rice cooker, “hey how are you?”
“I’m doing a little better,” the agent sighed, “it’s still a lot but I’ve been going to therapy.”
“Therapy is good, I’m glad you’re feeling a little better,” she pulled vegetables out of the fridge and paused, “I was just-”
“Thinking about my dead husband?” the woman cut straight to the point, “yeah, me too.”
“Not just him, you too ya know. You’re still one of my best friends whether you like it or not,” she held the phone between her shoulder and ear, envisioning the look of annoyance on the face of the woman on the phone.
“Yeah well, I've been pretty shitty in that department, and I’m sorry for that,” the words were quiet as they came over the speaker.
“I forgive you, you’ve been mourning and I’ve been busy so we can just call it even okay?”
“Thank you,” May let out a breath, “how is she? Elizaveta I mean, is she- is she still around or…”
Maria snorted, “yeah, she’s still around. She’s passed out on the couch right now but man May you gotta see how far this kid has come already. I took her to the Barton’s and she had a blast on the farm. She made a friend at The Center and wowed the pants off Fitzsimmons today, I mean both of them just jaws on the floor! She’s gaining weight and she’s really starting to come around,” she went to say more before she realized the woman on the phone hadn’t said a word, “Mel?”
“I’m still here,” the agent was clearly trying to fight back tears.
“Whenever you’re around, I know she’d love to see you,” Maria lowered her voice, “I saw your request for that new team and I know you’re going to be gone as soon as you get here but, ya know, if you ever feel like dropping by.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, Hill,” the conversation was clearly over, “thanks.”
“Yeah, yeah you do that. I’ll let ya go but don't be a stranger okay?” Maria looked at the girl on the couch, wishing that Phil could see her now.
“Will do, bye Ria.” May hung up before she could even respond.
Vegetables sat partially chopped in front of her as she put her phone down, feeling no better than she had before she called her friend.
The rest of the night was spent trying to wrangle a child who acted less like a human and more like a limp noodle. Ellie had eaten half of her dinner, had almost fallen asleep in the bath, and Maria was pretty sure that they had forgotten to brush her teeth before she curled into bed that night. She couldn’t remember her episodes being this draining before, but with the travel from the Barton’s and playing at The Center, she tried not to worry too much and chalk it up to over exhaustion.
The Deputy Director pulled out her tablet and continued to work for hours after she put the girl to bed. She had created a team to have on standby in case anything suspicious came up regarding the missing astrophysicist. The hours ticked by and she continued to work until she felt as tired as Ellie looked.
If she had been any heavier of a sleeper she would have missed it, in fact, she thought she had imagined the knock at the door at first. Still, she got up and opened it to reveal a teary-eyed Ellie on the other side, flashlight clutched to her chest.
“What’s wrong little bear?” Maria knelt down and took in the sight of the child, her hair was matted to the side of her head, and her pajamas were twisted across her torso.
The girl rubbed her eyes and opened her mouth to explain, but all that came out were hiccups of a cry as the child inhaled repeatedly.
“Okay okay, you don’t have to talk,” the woman put her hand up and suddenly found it full of the girl's cheek as Ellie did something for the first time, actively seeking out comfort. She then reached a small hand up and squeezed the woman twice.
Maria didn’t need any more of an invitation and picked the child up, cradling her against her chest. She had carried kids before, the Barton children most often, she had even carried Ellie before, but for some reason this time it was different. Maybe she had hooked her arm more comfortably, maybe Ellie had dropped her guard because she was tired and was more relaxed, maybe it was because Maria had come to the conclusion that the girl was hers, whatever it was, it was as if Maria Hill’s arms were made to hold the child.
She rocked from one foot to the other as she paced around her room, any time she stopped she would get a small sniffle from the child. It was late, she knew she had a mountain of work to do the next day, and yet she wanted to do nothing more than comfort the little one in her arms.
“You can tell me what’s wrong if you want” she felt the girl's forehead, she was warm but not feverish, and figured the child was more scared than sick.
Ellie shook her head again before pressing her cheek to Maria’s chest. The woman understood and walked out of the room, opting to pace the entirety of the apartment. She passed the girl's room and saw the blankets had been thrown to the ground, most likely kicked off during a nightmare. The two had made it 6 lengths of the space before Maria felt warm tears soak into her old West Point shirt. Still, she continued to pace, rubbing the girl's back as she did.
“The man,” the child was clearly trying to compose herself, “that man.”
“The cold one?” Maria had a feeling she was referencing the God that she had talked about earlier that day.
“Yes,” Ellie rubbed her eyes and balled her fists into Maria’s shirt.
“His name is Loki, he isn’t from here,” she recalled the information she had read up on that day after finding out the same scientist that worked with Thor was missing, “he is from another world far far away, in fact, that’s where he is right now. Far far away in a place called Asgard.”
The little girl made no noise, but tears continued to fall onto Maria’s shirt. She wondered if she had been trained to stay quiet even when she cried.
“He has a brother, his name is Thor and he took him back to Asgard to make sure he doesn’t hurt people ever again,” she started to pace once more.
“Did not keep safe.”
“He told you that he would keep you safe and he didn't?” It was the first time the girl had offered up the information. Maria wracked her brain to try and remember everything she had read in the book titled: Trauma Through a Child's Eyes: Awakening the Ordinary Miracle of Healing.
“He tell Kyra but Kyra tell me, and we try help but-” the girl took a shaky breath, “but but- could not and did not do good and take her away. Then was cold and shake and- did not like it, Ria!” Ellie sobbed into the woman's chest as she recalled her time with the God.
Maria kissed the girl on the top of her head and rubbed her back, wishing more than ever that she could take her pain away, it was too much for a 5-year-old to have.
“I’m so sorry little one, I’m so sorry that happened to you,” she paced, remembering the first time she saw the child who was pushed through the portal, “I know that he told you he cared and that he would keep you safe but didn’t. But you know who will keep you safe and care about you?”
Ellie craned her neck to look at Maria, green eyes still filled with unshed tears.
“Me. I’m going to keep you safe, I’m going to care about you forever. It’s you and me kid,” the words came out of her mouth before she could think, “You know how I know that?”
The girl stroked the damp spot on Maria’s shirt.
“Because I have been looking for you since before I knew you,” she kissed the girl's head and continued to pace.
“Since before?” the small voice came as a surprise.
“Since before little bear, I would go and work, and work, and work, to try and find you. You remember the muffin video?” it had been the better part of 2 months since the child had seen it, yet she still signed *yes*.
“I was working to try and find you when Tasha sent that over, I would look at pictures of signs all over Russia just so I could make sure you were safe,” the brunette felt the girl curl back into her spot in her arms.
She told the child the story of how she found her (leaving out the part where she had been intoxicated when she finally found the location) and how excited she was to make sure the little girl was okay. The clock on the stove read 2am by the time Maria’s arms finally gave out and she was forced to put the child back to bed. She checked the girl's temperature with the back of her hand once more to rule out a fever before tucking the child in.
Ellie’s face was void of all fear as she slept, a rare glimpse of true peace found its way across her features. Maria couldn’t help but stroke her fingers over the girl’s cheeks, whispering hopes of wonderful dreams as she did so. She gave her a kiss on the forehead before heading back into her own room, leaving both of their doors open to make sure she could hear if the child had another nightmare.
It was bright and early the next morning when her phone started to alert her to the requests for meetings and plans of action as other agents got word of a new development in London. Maria worked quickly to get herself and Ellie ready for the day before ushering them out the door and to work. She dropped the child off at The Center and ran to her first meeting of a very long day, hoping the curly-haired girl would have a better day.
After two planning and execution meetings, one incident report, half an hour filling in for a sick handler, and two more strategy meetings, the Deputy Director put her head down on the wooden surface of her desk and let out a deep breath. The day had been mostly focused on what was happening in London, deploying the team Hill had created, and a very brief but informative conversation with a person she had met once before named Darcy. She sat up and reached for her phone for the first time that day, the top notification being a video message from Natasha.
“Hey Hill,” the Russian’s face filled most of the screen, there was a trail of blood leading from her nose (that looked completely broken) to her lip and she wore a freshly busted lip, “I thought I’d check in because… I don't know… I think I have a real shot this time. Of doing it right and I felt like someone at SHIELD should have this on the radar if the sky starts raining building pieces.”
Maria shook her head, unsure of if the Russian was truly expecting building pieces falling from the sky, or trying and failing to recall an English idiom. Wherever she was, it was already sunny and warm enough for the redhead to be in a black t-shirt as she ran her tongue over the drop of blood on her lip.
“Don't worry about this by the way,” she rolled her eyes, “it was a calculated risk ya know? And it paid off. Or at least I think it will, we’ll see I guess.”
Maria’s eyes were locked on the screen, not missing a single thing that happened for the next minute and a half.
“I was thinking last night about the first time Clint and I were on a mission together,” and then, for the first time in a long time, the redhead smiled, “god, what a shit show that was. I was so scared that I would mess up and that SHIELD would kick me out. I just remember thinking that Clint was going to cut ties halfway through and leave me to finish the mission alone and I would fuck it all up and be on my own again. Can you say abandonment issues?”
The brunette smiled, she remembered reading the report after. Clint had tripped an alarm and their simple recon mission turned into a full firefight in the first 10 minutes, neither left the other's side and they were inseparable from that moment on.
“Anyway, you’ll be proud of me, I took a page out of your book and planned this down to the minute with four different backup plans. It’s going to work out, it has to, I have to get her out of there. I’m just scared that she’ll hate me or I’ll have been too late and she’s-” the spy shook her head, “anyway, I just wanted to give you an update. And also let you know that I literally took a page from your book, dark blue binder labeled “Plan Execution” on your bottom right shelf. Okaybye.”
The screen was frozen on the sly smile the Russian gave, her eyes a little greener than the last video she had sent.
<Msg>
Ria: Don't get in too much trouble, check in every 12.
Maria sent the text off and went to look at her binder before noticing she had a missed call from The Center and another memo on her desk from them. Her heart raced as she booked it out of her office and down to the space in record time.
“Hey,” Grace gave a tight-lipped smile.
“Hey, where is she-” Maria scanned Ellie’s normal table, “Is she okay? Did she teleport or-”
“She's fine, we called her emergency contact,” the blonde chuckled.
“You called-” the brunette winced.
Grace hummed and nodded, “and he came and picked her up.”
That would explain the lack of Fury during her last two meetings.
“Is she okay?” Her stomach twisted in knots.
“She is,” now it was the blonde's turn to wince, “but she does have pinkeye. Liam gave it to her yesterday, his parents thought that it was just allergies but called this morning and told us what it was. They were really sorry and by the time I got to Ellie, her eyes were pretty gunked up. She was totally fine other than the itchy eyes.”
“But Grace… Fury only has-”
“Oh I’m well aware of how many eyes the Director has,” she laughed, “and when I told him what was going on, he then rolled that eye and signed her out.”
“Did he say where they were going?” Maria ran a hand over her face.
“Nope.”
“Alright, well I gotta go find my kid and my boss. Thanks,” she sighed.
“No problem, bye Maria,” Grace waved as she exited the space.
She figured they had to still be in the building and first checked the cafeteria which let her know that they had come by, but weren’t there any longer. She then checked the large conference rooms, figuring that Fury would want as much space away from the child as possible. They were still nowhere to be found. She finally went to the top level of the building and to the corner office.
“Fury?” she called out as she knocked on the door that unlocked quickly.
The scene that met her would not, in 100 years, have been what she expected. Ellie gave her a lopsided grin from where she was seated on top of Fury’s desk, space stickers covering most of the wood, the Director’s phone, and a file that sat next to a bowl that looked like it had once held ice cream.
“Sir, I am so sorry,” she walked into the office and closed the door behind her, “I was working on the situation in London and-”
He held up a hand, effectively silencing her as he pulled a bottle of eye drops out from his drawer and tossed them to her, “These are supposed to go in her eyes every 4 hours. Also, she prefers chocolate sprinkles over rainbow ones.”
Ellie rubbed her eyes and nodded, then held up a sticker for Maria. She took it and placed it on the backside of her badge, “thank you.”
“We also learned the sign for sticker,” he motioned to the child who tapped her thumb and middle finger together.
“Thank you, sir, I really appreciate it,” she walked over to collect the child and her space backpack.
“No problem, kept me from going to those dumbas-” he censored himself, “those silly meetings.”
Maria had to stifle a laugh as she looked at her boss, whose eye looked just a little red, “You might want to get some drops for your own eye. Wouldn’t want to be down to-”
“Out of my office Hill,” he pointed at the door before she could get the whole joke out, “bye little miss.”
Ellie smiled and turned around to face the man, “bye Fuzzy.”
She waited until they were in the elevator to look at the girl who held her hand, “what the heck?” she laughed which got a shrug and giggle from the child, “did you have an okay day?”
“Yes,” Ellie held out her shirt that had stickers on it, “Fuzzy take me to get drops then ice cream, and let me pick up phone when it blink then slam down.”
The brunette wondered where the stickers had come from (she had a sneaking suspicion the Director had bought them specifically for the child he seemed to have a soft spot for) and wondered who she hung up on during the few hours she had been with Fury. She looked at the child whose eyes were red and irritated, but other than that seemed as normal as ever.
“You mind if we stop by my office for a little before we go home?” there was no way she was allowed to send a child with pinkeye back to daycare and figured she would need to bring her work home with her.
Ellie shook her head and rubbed her eyes. And so the two of them went back to the Deputy Director's office and collected all of the items she needed including the sheet of glow-in-the-dark stars Fitzsimmons had given them the day before. Maria looked at the stickers and then over to the girl who kicked her legs as she sat on the couch in the corner of the room.
“You got a lot of people who really care about you, do you know that?” She smiled as she watched the girl's cheeks flush.
“Really?” Ellie wouldn’t make eye contact.
“Really really, you have me, and Fury and Fitzsimmons, we can’t forget all of the Bartons and Liam,” she sat next to the child who was smiling, “plus May and you’ll always have Phil who loves you and will watch over you even if you can’t see him. I want you to remember that, okay?”
*ok* the child nodded.
“Alright now let's go home so I can feed you something that isn’t just ice cream,” Maria stood up and shook her head.
“Like ice cream,” Ellie spoke quietly, “and sprinkles.”
“Oh, I know you do,” she had noticed the remnants of the treat on the corner of the child’s mouth, “but we have to eat real food too. Even when we have pink eye.”
The Commander guided them out of the office and back to the parking garage where she took a picture of her old car that she had come to the conclusion would need to be sold. Feeding a child who burned through calories at an astonishing rate was expensive, the car could buy them a few more months of grocery bills. Ellie was clearly feeling better as she protested getting into the car seat.
“Elizaveta,” Maria used her work voice, hoping it would work. The 5-year-old continued to stare at her, unfazed, “come on you know the drill, the faster you get in the seat the faster we get home and you can help me put the star stickers in your room.”
As per usual, the bribe worked and the child reluctantly let Maria buckle her in. From there, it was a typical drive home with the windows down and music playing in the summer sun. Maria pulled her hair out of her bun and smiled as she looked into the rearview mirror. The child kicked her legs out and danced along in her car seat.
The two continued with their normal routine through the rest of the evening until it came to adding medicated drops to the girl's eyes.
“Honey, you have to try and keep your eyes open the best you can,” Maria sighed after another failed attempt.
Once again, Ellie kept her eyes wide open until the very last moment when she would blink.
“Alright, how about this,” the woman pulled her phone out of her back pocket and opened up google, “you look at what constellations you want to try and make on your ceiling and I do it when you’re not expecting.”
The child looked skeptical at first but after Maria started showing her pictures of constellations, she caved and began to scroll with her eyes glued to the screen. From there, it went much quicker and they were adding stickers to the girl’s room within 10 minutes.
“Liam?” Ellie asked as Maria placed the last few glow-in-the-dark stars.
“What about Liam?” she shook her arm out and admired the near-perfect constellation on the ceiling.
“Has pink… eye?” the girl questioned.
“Yeah, Liam has pink eye too,” she left out the fact that the boy was the one who gave it to her, “so he’s out of daycare until next week too.”
This was apparently what the child wanted to know as she nodded and then looked up at the constellation from where she sat on her bed. They had chosen Ursa Major, it seemed fitting.
“We can charge them by holding Aлена, up to them and then turning off the light,” Maria outstretched her arm and held continuous light to the stickers before turning everything off and watching as they glowed.
“Thank you,” Ellie didn’t pull her eyes away from the constellation as she ran her fingers over the hem of her pajamas.
“You’re welcome, little bear,” Maria tucked the child in, “now it’s time for bed.”
She wished the girl sweet dreams and closed the door. She then stood by the door and listened as the flashlight turned on and off as the girl continued to charge the newest addition to her room. The brunette shrugged to herself and fished cleaning up the dishes from dinner while she glanced at her phone to see if Natasha had checked in yet. She had not.
It was approaching 12 hours since she had sent off the message, closer to 15 since she received the video. The Commander wondered if Natasha actually had a good reason for the broken nose or if it was obtained after she followed a lead. She then wondered if the agent had found the location of the Red Room if she was going to bring it down herself if she was going to let local authorities know if she had help. But the one question that lingered longer than all others, was the question of the Russian's safety. She tried to push it out of her mind and focus on the events in London, it worked for long enough for her to fall asleep.
As soon as sunlight hit her room, she looked at her phone, no check-in. She officially allowed herself to start to worry. That worry turned to anger and frustration as the next few days passed, each without a check-in. She continued to work and keep Ellie entertained to try and keep her mind off of the negative feelings.
When her phone finally vibrated on the third day, she had half a mind not to answer it out of anger. But of course, after the second ring, she clicked accept “I’m currently dealing with the space God and Darcy who are opening portals in London to kill elves, an agent who hasn’t checked in for the last 74 hours, oh and my kid has pinkeye. Make it quick.”
Maria rolled her eyes as she cradled her phone between her shoulder and ear as she reached for a band-aid for Ellie who had just run into the coffee table and cut her leg.
“She’ll be there,” Natasha panted, “tonight. She’ll be there tonight with your address.”