Chapter 6: A Few Things They Learned About Ellie


While Clint was out on a mission, Laura Barton was trapped with her children, who were excited to show her a video they found on Youtube. In the video, a woman who called herself Charly was painting her own face.

"What exactly is the point of this?" Laura asked.

"That's the makeup I want for Halloween!" Lila said excitedly, bouncing up and down.

"Check out her costume!" Cooper said. "It's wicked!"

It was, in fact, a "wicked" costume. Charly had dressed herself up in a Victorian-era dark turquoise dress with black lace all over it. She had a masquerade mask in her right hand and a dainty black purse in her left. Her face was painted to look like a skeleton's.

"That's incredible," Laura admitted.

"She said her friend made it!" Lila said. "She said her friend Cam makes costumes. Can we find Cam and ask for a costume like Auntie Nat's?"

"Maybe your dad will know something," Laura said with a shrug.

So when Clint returned two days later, Laura asked him what he knew about Charly the Youtube star.

"Not sure," he admitted. "I know Pepper likes watching her videos. I can ask her next time I see her."

So he asked Pepper about Charly the next week, when they crossed paths at the tower.

"You know who she is?" Pepper asked, a smile on her face.

"Apparently she has a friend that makes Halloween costumes," Clint said with a shrug. "Laura asked about her, and I figured you'd know."

"Oh, trust me, I know," Pepper said. "She's actually pretty famous. She worked as a model until she was eighteen, and then she switched over to Youtube for some reason. She's always been smart and reasonable from what I can see."

Coming from Pepper, who was dating Tony and often met famous people, this was an enormous stamp of approval.

"Have you ever actually met her?" Clint asked.

"No, but I'd like to someday," Pepper said. "She may be young, but she's quite mature for her age."

Little did they know that JARVIS recorded the conversation.


Sorry for the short chapter and long absence, but it's been pretty hectic lately and I'm going through quite an emotional roller coaster ride right now. Expect nothing else from me for a while.

Extra love to:

geronimo: 1st review: way ahead of you. ;) 2nd review: also way ahead of you. Almost all of my sources agreed that Mariko roughly meant "child of ten thousand villages", which will make much more sense later on, when we learn more about Mariko.

Love you all,

carrie