"Skye, are you sure that you ought to be stopping every agent you see and asking them if they've ever considered parenthood?" Jemma asked as they walked through the corridors, looking for potential hazards. But what really constituted a hazard for a ten year old with autism? She probably ought to look that up. "What if she has parents or family that were just having troubles and are hoping to get her back? You can't just try to give a child you know nothing about away."
"I hacked CPS." Skye said and then when Jemma glared at her, she added. "I was hoping that there might be family or something that could help, since the people who were supposed to be looking after the poor kid basically abandoned her on Shield's doorstep. Her parents died when she was two. The report wasn't totally sure but they thought it might have been murder-suicide. Abby was there when it happened, and they didn't find them for over a day afterwards. None of the family was willing to take her. They said they weren't able to deal with the autism." And she thought her background was bad, but seeing what had happened to poor little Abby, her past seemed great by comparison. Bad enough losing both parents at once, but then being trapped in a house with their bodies for over a day, and to be rejected by your surviving family on top of all of that? "We have got to find someone to take her. Surely there's someone here who's just been dying to become a parent! How many agents work here anyway? There's got to be someone who wants a kid. Ward, Fitz!" She called as she spotted them coming down the hall. "Did you do what I told you and asked people about poor Abby?"
"Skye, I'm not sure that we should be trying to give this little girl away like she's a puppy." Ward said.
"I don't know. Agent Hopkins said that it worked out for him, when his dog had puppies." Fitz said. If he could just find someone who was trying to give away a monkey, now, things would be perfect.
"It isn't like we're going to just hand her over. But if we let people know about her, surely someone will be interested in her, and might apply to take her. Or maybe they would know someone who would want her. It's like how the put kids on TV to try to find them families." She had always wanted to go on one of those programs, especially when she had been Abby's age sure that if she did, someone would see her and want her. "We have to do something besides letting the system handle this. They've had her for eight years and they haven't managed to find her a family. Do you know what will happen to her when she turns eighteen if she doesn't have a family?" And Skye wasn't even going to bring up the potential horrors the poor girl might face before then, the predators the fact she couldn't talk would make her vulnerable to. There had to be a way for them to find her a family. Sure, some foster homes were good, but it wasn't the same as having a family and belonging to someone. Abby needed that. "There has to be a way to find a family for her. Just talk to more people please? Shield saves the world every other day. Surely we can manage finding a family and saving one little girl."
"I could call Agent Weaver at the Academy." Jemma offered. "She might know of someone who would be interested in Abby."
"Someone Science or Technical would be a good fit." Fitz said with a nod. "They would probably know more about autism, and would be more equipped to deal with it. I'm sure Agent Weaver will have an idea."
"Thanks. I appreciate the help. I just don't want to see Abby going back into the system. It isn't fun there." Skye said.
"I don't know any people I would trust with a kid." Ward said. Well, his grandmother and his baby sister, but there wouldn't be a good way to send Abby to them. "But I'll keep talking to the agents. We've got to have over a thousand people in here. Surely one of them is interested in a kid, or has a relative or a friend who might be interested in adoption."
"Thanks." Skye said as her friends hurried away, and she continued down the hall. A family. They just needed a family, one person would be enough to make a good family. It didn't have to big a big one. It just had to be the right one. She just wished she knew of a way to get Abby the family that it looked like the little girl wanted so much. But would it even be possible to convince Agent Hand to give parenthood a chance? Surely there was some way to try. For some reason, Abby had instantly bonded to Agent Hand, and the maybe she would be good for the senior agent if she was willing to give it a chance? Now where was AC? He liked kids. Surely he could come up with a way to convince Agent Hand to at least think about taking Abby!
Her chest hurt and she was being watched. Victoria could feel eyes on her, and then she felt something stir in the bed beside her, causing her eyes to blink open. John, Jasper and Felix were in chairs circling her bed, and the little girl was still there, snuggled against her, stroking her hair. "I told Fury to have someone check her. Why didn't he have someone check her and fix what's wrong with her?" Victoria demanded, and then winced as talking made the pain in her chest worse.
John winced himself, knowing that part of Vic's pain was due to the chest compressions and the damage that had caused. Yeah, it had been necessary, and it had kept blood and oxygen going to her brain until they could bring her back, but still he knew all too well how much it hurt afterwards if the person doing the compressions got it right, and he hated that he had caused her that pain, even if it had been to save her life. Wasn't she supposed to be on some sort of medicine for the pain? But before he could move, the little girl was tapping Victoria's hand, reminding her of the button for the pain medicine she was holding.
Victoria let out a soft sigh as she felt the cold relief rushing up her arm again. She knew she would be pulled under again in a few minutes, but before the drugs took effect…. "Why hasn't someone done something to fix whatever's wrong with her?" Victoria demanded. "And John, I hope that you don't expect me to write you a note, letting the instructor know that you obviously still know CPR and don't need to take a refresher course."
"I called. I called. I'm already signed up for the class." John told her. "Vic, don't ever do that again. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Don't ever do that again!"
"It was either get shocked or get blown up. At least I thought there was an even chance the shock would be fixable. Even if the closest person keeps skipping the recertification classes, and drove the teacher to drink when he did show up." She could feel the meds pulling her down, but…. "Why is she still here?" Her vision was blurred and she hoped that someone hadn't misplaced her glasses, but the little girl did seem physically okay the more she looked at her. So why was she here, and not with her classmates or on her way back home? "She shouldn't be here. Why hasn't someone got her back to where she belongs?" And why was this kid still cuddling up to her and treating her like a big teddy bear?
"They ran into a few problems when it came to getting her back to her class." Jasper said. "The school got scared because of what happened on the train, and since they don't have a person to handle keeping an eye on Abby and no one else, they were afraid to take her back."
"The school abandoned her?" First the teacher lost her on a train, and then the school abandoned her? "I hope someone is reporting this school. When are her parents going to be here to get her?"
"That's problem two." Felix said. "It turns out Abby's a foster child and her current foster mother probably exceeded her authority in authorizing her to go on the trip without an aide. So now she doesn't feel comfortable coming to get her."
"Are you telling me that this child has been basically abandoned on Shield's doorstep?" And that blissful feeling resulting from the pain meds was gone, and Victoria was suddenly wide awake and looking over at Abby in horror. She had been abandoned? How could…. "Get Fury in here! I want to know what he's doing to fix this now!"