He is out on very, very deep water in this moment. He still isn't sure how he even ended up in the spot he's in now. What he knows is, this is a Fury order, and one doesn't go against a Fury order. The thing was, he had ended up with a gun wound, it wasn't a serious one and he had had worse. Yet, Fury thought it was for his own best to stay home and take his time healing up. And since he had been put on resting time, Fury had added in an extra task, protect one person. Which had not really been adding up in his mind.

Then there is the fact that person he's supposed to protect is a small girl, a girl who is sitting on his couch in this moment, hugging a red dragon plushie tightly. The reports had told him that she had been badly hurt, her back hurting from time to time. The agent who had overseen the mission before him, had written down a list of things to think about when around the girl. There had also been a short list of information about what the poor girl had been through before she had even ended up on S.H.I.E.L.D's radar.

The things he had read was enough to lose hope on humanity. Because he couldn't understand how this could happen to one single girl. A girl who is clearly scarred deeply, in every sense of the way. He had tried every trick in his book when it comes to deal with children, nothing had worked. Mary had only pulled further away from him and this is now the fourth day of Mary living with him.

He hasn't managed to get a single word out of her, she always made sure to keep him within eyesight, always on a safe distance. Not to mention that red dragon plushie, he hasn't seen her letting it go once. He's running out of options and he knew this couldn't keep on going on, he needed help. A part of him is tempted to call Melinda, but he also knew that wasn't going to help. There was someone else within S.H.I.E.L.D that had a better track record when it comes to handling children.

Leaving the room, Phil takes out his phone, scrolling through the contact list before finding the number he needed. Calling it and putting it to his ear, Phil waited.

"What's up Phil!"

Rolling his eyes, Phil had a second thought on calling the archer.

"I need help with something."

"Not what I expected to hear."

"Could you just get over here?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be there within half an hour."

With a sigh, Phil ends the call. This was his last line, if Clint couldn't help him warm up the girl, Phil had no idea of what else he would be able to do. Looking into the living room once more, Phil sees that Mary haven't moved from the couch, her head buried into the dragon. He wishes he knew what he could do, how he could help the girl.

Pushing the worry out of his mind for the moment, he just ended up walking back and forth in the kitchen, waiting for the time to pass by. Finally hearing someone knocking at the door, he is sure he can hear a small sound coming from the living room. Deciding that he couldn't do much to help Mary right now, Phil heads for the door. Opening it, he is meet with not just the person he had called for, but another agent too. An agent he had not even thought of and he couldn't help but to feel a bit worry.

Natasha Romanoff is a wonderful woman with a big heart, she did however have a habit of scaring people that doesn't know her and brining her into meeting a girl that's already scared of him, it wouldn't be a good thing.

"Natasha?"

He managed to get out, eyes locked on Clint. The archer shrugs his shoulder before stepping into his apartment.

"She was beside me when you called, couldn't really stop her when she curious on what you needed help with."

He explains, turning his attention towards Natasha just in time to see her smile, stepping through the door herself. Phil rolls his eyes; all he could do now is to hope this would go somewhat alright.

"So, Phil! What exactly is it you need help with?"

Clint asks, stepping into the living room before Phil has a chance to stop him to explain exactly what is going on.

"Pipsqueak!"

At the word, Natasha rushes past him and into the living room, leaving Phil looking after them in confusion. Following Natasha, Phil has a hard time understanding what is going on in his living room. Clint and Natasha are looking at Mary, eyes large out of surprise and their eyes aren't the only once that had grown large. Mary finally looks up and it almost looks like she is on the brink of crying.

"Tash."

Phil turns his head towards Mary, this was his first time hearing her voice, it was however weak. Natasha moves quickly towards the young girl, pulling her into a tight hug as the girl starts to cry. Feeling how Clint grabs hold of his arm, Phil is surprised over the serious look in his eyes as he pulls him into the kitchen.

"Why is Mary here?"

Phil blinks a few times; things had taken a completely different turn form the one he had thought it would.

"Fury placed her with me, how do you two know her?"

Clint curses and turns around, pulling his hand through his hair. He took a deep breath, before leaning towards the table, arms crossed.

"We, alongside Maria, was introduced to her a little while back, when she was under the care of the first S.H.I.E.l.D agent…"

He starts to explain, only to hold up his hand to stop the question Phil was about to ask.

"I'm not telling you who it was."

Clint tells him and Phil nods his head, he should have known the other agent wouldn't just spill out secrets like that.

"As you know, she doesn't trust easily, I guess Maria, Natasha and myself were just lucky. Once the other agent realised that Mary had taken a liking to us, we were being used as Mary's babysitters whenever the other agent needed to head into S.H.I.E.L.D."

Clint continues and Phil nods his head, at least it was a good thing that Mary was already in a good term with Clint and Natasha, which meant they could put in a good word about him.

"At least this will make it easier for me, she hasn't said a single word to me. I have tried everything in my book to try and get her to open. You were my last chance."

Clint nods his head at this, finally moving from the table and leaves for the living room. Taking a deep breath, Phil tries to collect himself before following the archer, only to find an empty living room.

"Nat?"

Clint calls out, stepping towards the couch to grab hold of the red dragon plushie. Now that it wasn't being hugged by Mary, Phil was able to get a closer look at it and he had a feeling that he had seen this dragon before.

"We're in the bathroom!"

Natasha calls back, Phil couldn't help but to wounder what had been going down when Clint had told him about the things he knew.

"I can't believe you left him behind, oh well…"

Clint starts to say, keeping his voice in a level volume.

"I guess Mushu belongs to me now!"

He then added, speaking a bit louder now.

"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT BIRD BRAIN!"

Phil turns his attention towards the hallway where the call had come from. Hearing how Clint laugh beside him, he tried to figure out what is going on, hearing running feet coming towards them, he turns his head just in time to see Mary run into the room to snatch the dragon plushie away from Clint.

"You gave him to me so there are no tack backs!"

She tells him, a serious look on her face as she spoke the words. It was like looking at a whole different person in that moment. The scared girl that had been hiding from him for the past few days are completely gone now, replaced with what a girl her age should act. From the corner of his eye, Phil could see Natasha enter the room. Her arms crossed but she is smiling, a sight one didn't see often.

"She's right Clint, you can't take it back."

Seeing how Clint rolls his eyes, he hands the plushie over to Mary, who happily takes it. Seeing how Mary suddenly realises that he was in the room, the girl returns to the guarded state, the dragon being hold close to her body and she steps over to Natasha. Her sudden change didn't go unnoticed by the agent's in the room. Looking at both Natasha and Clint, Phil can see the conversation going down.

"Why is it, I'm always outnumbered in this type of moments."

Clint starts to complain, arms crossed, and he looks towards Phil.

"At least tell me you are on my side here Phil."

He then adds, his eyes however told him to stand on Natasha and Mary's side, which was something he didn't have to tell him.

"I'm sorry, Mary and Natasha are right. You can't give her something and then just take it back again."

He speaks up, he kept his eyes on Clint, but from the corner of his eye, he can see how Mary looks towards him. There was a hint of surprise in her eyes.

"Oh, come on. Not you two! Can't I have anyone on my side?"

Clint complains with a heavy sigh, which made Mary laugh lightly, before she quickly covers up her mouth. Hearing her laugher, the agents all smile, this was a start at least.

"Well, when Mulan left me and Maria in charge the three of us decided that no one would ever be on your team."

Natasha tells her partner, her smile turning into a grin. Crossing his arms, Clint flops down on his couch, acting like he was in fact betrayed. Phil wanted to comment on Mulan, but figure it was the nickname that would be use for the agent that had taken care of Mary before him, which made the Mushu plushie obvious.

Seeing how Clint acted, Mary moves from Natasha's side and heads over to the archer, climbing onto the couch to give him a hug.

"I could lend him to you if you are ever feeling down."

Clint smiles at this, throwing one arm around her shoulder to pull the girl into a hug.

"Nah, you need him more than I do."

Looking at the time, Phil realises that it was starting to grow a bit late, Natasha and Clint would have to leave sooner or later. An idea makes the older agent smile, and he turns his attention towards Mary.

"Mary, what do you say about forcing your friends to stay from some pizza and movies"

Mary turns her head towards him, there was a spark in her eyes now, a spark of happiness and it had been directed towards him. Seeing how she nods her happily; Phil looks at Natasha and Clint. He could see that his friends knew what he was doing, but they also knew they couldn't say no to Mary now.

"Phil."

Hearing Mary speak his name, Phil quickly looks at her and he could see that she's nervous once more. But this was another type of nervous from the once she had displayed earlier.

"Yes, Mary?"

"Now that Tash knows where I am, could I continue learning how to dance ballet?"

Blinking a few times, Phil turns to look at Natasha who only lift one eyebrow, in a challenge to tell the young girl she wasn't allowed to. He had not expected this question, he could however not say no to this. She needed to have some kind of activity, and right now he needed some extra points to make her accept her. Smiling at Mary he nods his head.

"You can absolutely continue to dance; I'm looking forwards to see you perform one day."

He tells her, making Mary smile big towards him, before turning her smile towards Natasha who smiles back. Maybe this could work well for them all.