She could hear her moving towards her, even if she tried to sneak around. She was glad she had her back turned, it would be bad if the kid saw her smile. How the kid had managed to warm her way into her heart was something Melinda couldn't understand, that or she didn't want to know. Pushing those thoughts away for the time being, she returned her focus on the movements instead.

"What are you doing?"

At the question, Melinda takes in a deep breath. There was no chance she would be able to finish. Lowering her arms, she turns her head to look at the sleepy looking child standing behind her. She couldn't blame the kid for being tired, it was after all 4 am and she really should be asleep.

"It's called Tai-chi and you should really be asleep."

"I had a nightmare and my back hurts."

There was no childish tone as she spoke the words which at the start had struck Melinda as odd, there should be for someone in that age. Or at least some left, but the more she had found out about Mary's past, the more she realised just how fast she had to grow mentally. Holding out her hand, Mary takes it without thinking and Melinda leads her to the bathroom.

She has been Mary's guardian for a month now, the first two weeks had been hard but after the broken glass incident; Mary had started to open up to her. She didn't scare away as often and even if she tried to hide something others had taught her was bad, she at least tries to tell her about it. Even if she apologises over and over the moment, she had said it.

She no longer needed the bandages on all day and the pain killers had been reduced, she did however need the cream and since she couldn't apply it by herself, she had learned that it was better to just ask for help. Melinda made sure to be careful every time she puts the cream on, not wanting to create more pain for the young girl. Once it was on, she washes her hand as Mary carefully pulls down the shirt once more.

"Are you hungry?"

Melinda asks, knowing that there wouldn't be any chance to get Mary to sleep once more. Seeing Mary nod her head as an answer, Melinda leads her out of the bathroom and to the kitchen. Mary took the seat she usually uses as Melinda starts to prepare something they could eat. She wasn't the most skilled person in the kitchen, at least she could do some simple recipes without putting the building on fire.

The silence that is hanging over the room is something they both had gotten use to. Melinda had learned early on that there was no use in trying to talk to Mary about her nightmares, the girl would usually break apart if she tried to remember them. And it had not been a sight Melinda wanted to see in the first place and never want to see again, so she kept silent. She knew Mary would tell her when she felt she was ready to share.

"Here we go."

Melinda speaks up after a while, putting a plate of scrambled eggs in front of Mary. The small girl smiles big, thanks her before she starts to eat. Smiling herself, Melinda sits down with a plate of her own and starts to eat.

"Could you, maybe teach me what you did earlier?"

Hearing the silent question, Melinda looks at Mary out of surprise. They usually ate during silence too, having Mary suddenly speak, let alone ask Melinda something was a surprise. She did however smile, for some reason, it warmed her heart that the young girl wanted to learn something from her and the fact that it was Tai-chi was something good.

"Finish your breakfast and I can show you the most basic moves and how-to breath properly. Once your back isn't hurting as much as it is now and you have the basic down, we can start on the more advantage things you saw me doing earlier."

Melinda tells her, earning a big smile from Mary who nods her head happily. Turning her attention back to the food on her plate once more, she almost inhales the food in the speed she's eating.

"Calm down Mary."

Melinda warns her in a calm voice, seeing how Mary plush from embranchment she slows down.

-X-X-X-X-

Hearing her phone ringing, Melinda turns her head from the book she had been reading. It had turned out that letting Mary try out Tai-chi had made her tired enough to go back to sleep, having her phone ring suddenly would just wake her up once more. With a heavy sigh, Melinda reaches for it so she could answer, hoping she's fast enough so it wouldn't wake up the young girl.

"May."

"You sound angry."

Hearing the voice of Maria, Melinda rolls her eyes and leans her head back. Having her former rookie call her now wasn't a good sign. As of lately, whenever she had to deliver information to her, it was something she wouldn't like to hear. At least she had warmed up to the last crazy idea of a mission Fury had put her on.

"What does he want this time?"

"You saw through that huh? Well, what I could find out it's nothing big really. He just wants you to come in for a meeting, seems like he wants your thoughts about something important, something tells me he's planning on sending out Phil for a mission and since you know him the best…"

Maria starts to explain, and Melinda let's out a heavy sigh, it wouldn't be the first time Fury had called her to help plan for one of Coulson's missions. Hearing footsteps, Melinda turns her attention towards the hallway and her eyes lands once more on a tired looking Mary.

"Well, this is going to be a hard one."

Melinda hears herself mumble, and it was going to be a hard one. There was no way she would leave Mary alone in the apartment, Fury had made it clear that the child had to be under proper watch at all time. She couldn't call just any random person to babysit the young girl either and there is no way she would ask her mother or father to help her, mostly because neither of them knew she's looking after a small girl. It would also mean she would have to try and explain everything for them, since she didn't know everything herself, it would be extremely hard to explain anything.

"What's that?"

She hears Maria ask and Melinda takes a deep breath. Well, Fury is the one who is calling her in, then he has to be the one to deal with the fact that she's bringing her work with her. If lucky, she could just put Maria on keeping an eye on Mary when she talked to Fury, she could also use this time to try and find out more about the small girl.

"I'll be at the base in 2 hours."

Melinda tells the young agent before hanging up. Taking a deep breath, Melinda looks back at Mary again and she could see worry in the small girls' eyes. Giving her a reassuring smile, she holds out her hand towards her. Seeing how Mary looks at her hand for a few seconds before taking it, Melinda is starting to wonder if this was such a good idea at all.

"I'm sorry for waking you up, but I'm needed at my work."

Melinda tells her, making sure to keep her voice calm and even so she wouldn't scare the girl even more.

"Since it's still quite early in the morning and I don't know about any good babysitters, I will take you with me alright. I will however leave you with one of the people I work with, she's nice and won't hurt you. I will make sure to finish up the meeting as fast as possible so we can get out of there just as fast, alright?"

She made sure to form it all into a question, it would be a lot easier to get Mary to agree if the girl thought she had a saying in all of it. It took her a few seconds before nodding her head, it was clear form the worry and fear in her eyes that she didn't like it, but she had at least grown so somewhat trust Melinda enough that if she said a person wouldn't hurt her, she trusted her.

"Good girl, now, let's get dressed. After all, the faster we get there, the quicker the meeting can finish and the sooner we can go back home again."

Melinda says and Mary nods her head, moving away from Melinda and walking down to her bedroom. Taking a deep breath, Melinda rises from the couch and walks to her own room. Opening the wardrobe, it felt weird taking out her mission suite again, she hasn't used it since she took home Mary after all, since she had been stuck at home, there was use to use it.

Once both were dressed and ready, Melinda carried Mary down to the car, it being the fastest way. The ride to base was a silent one, neither of them could come up with something to talk about. But Melinda could see how Mary started to grow worried and scared once more, her eyes large as she looks at the tall building they were reaching. Parking the car, Melinda is happy they she had been called in early in the morning, it meant less agent around.

Parking the car and helping Mary out of it, Melinda ends up carrying her once more. Seeing how many people that was still around them, Melinda fells how Mary hides her face in her shoulder, making Melinda hug the girl closer to her out of reflex. When that had become a reflex for her, Melinda wasn't sure and now wasn't the time to try and figure that one out either.

Walking down the familiar corridors, Melinda let her eyes scan the different rooms, looking for her first target. Seeing that Maria is sitting at her desk, Melinda walks over. Seeing how her former rookie hears her walk over, Maria turns around, only to have a surprised look on her face when she sees Melinda carrying someone, this someone clearly being a child.

"I need you to watch Mary for me when I'm meeting with Fury."

Melinda orders as she reaches Maria's desk. She lowers herself down in front of the chair that had been placed beside Maria's desk and she carefully tried to move Mary from her grip over to the chair.

"Wait, what? What's going on here? Who's she?"

Maria asks, only for Melinda to ignore her at the moment, her focus on the scared young girl.

"Mary, this is Maria Hill. She's a very good friend of mine and she will watch you when I talk to my boss. I promise you she won't hurt you alright, so could you stay with her for a little while?"

Using the same tone and tactic that she had used earlier; Melinda sees how Mary nods her head carefully. Giving Mary a smile, Melinda stands up once more, eyes turning towards Maria and the smile is gone.

"Keep a close eye on Mary for me, don't let anything happen to her."

She orders, seeing how Maria nods her head carefully, Melinda turns back to Mary once more. Putting her hand on the small girls' head, makes the young girl look up at her and Melinda smiles once more.

"I'll be back before you know it Xiǎo xīngxīng."

She tells her, seeing Mary smile slightly at the nickname, Melinda turns to leave. It was time to have a proper talk to her boss about the little girl that had somehow being forced into her life.