"You had calls forwarded to my personal number." Coulson said wryly as he approached the cafeteria table where Jane was seated.
"You said you'd visit." She retorted just as indignantly. Coulson smirked and nodded, then took a seat across from her at the table. "Fry?" she inquired, holding the basket of salty fries out to him, a half-eaten one in her hand.
"No thanks, I already ate." He replied. "Staff says you're settling in here pretty well." He continued as he glanced around the cafeteria. "They say you've been a great tenant."
"It's great here, honestly. The staff are all nice, well mostly, and the food isn't entirely terrible. I'm really grateful for this, honestly, but Coulson it's been over three months. I haven't seen the sun, let alone the outside world, and I can't even walk to the bathroom without being monitored." Jane paused and looked at Coulson's eyes. "Coulson you've got to get me out of here I can't live like this forever." She pleaded.
Coulson sighed, knowing there was truth in what she was saying. "I understand you want to get on with your life, but it could be very dangerous for us to integrate you into everyday life when we don't know how stable you will be. You still don't know any of your life before we picked you up, and with the complexity of the mechanism you have, it's not an unlikely possibility that whoever put it there is looking to get it back."
"So what am I supposed to do, live my whole life underground?" Jane replied disappointedly.
"I'm not saying it's a permanent solution, but I don't think it's wise for you to leave S.H.I. . just yet." Coulson said.
"What if," Jane said, "I didn't leave S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
Coulson looked at Jane, not following her meaning. "I thought that was what I just said."
"No, I mean, not staying here but not leaving S.H.I.E.L.D." Jane clarified. When Coulson just looked at her blankly she continued. "What if I worked for S.H.I.E.L.D., if I became an agent, like you for example? I mean that way you can still keep tabs on me but I don't have to stay cooped up in here 24/7." She tried to act calm, and not show her eagerness. She'd been pondering the idea for a while, but now that it was so close to becoming a possibility it was hard for her to contain her excitement.
"And how do you presume to be qualified for that?" Coulson asked.
Jane grimaced, seeing her only opportunity slowly slip away. "I don't know, I know the idea seems crazy but honestly I will do any job, it doesn't have to be anything fantastic. And I'm more than willing to learn if somebody will train me. I just need to do something that doesn't require staying here!"
"You know I'd like to do that, but it's not just a matter of me convincing a few people to find you a desk job and keep an eye on you. The fact still remains that there hasn't been a breakthrough with the device on your back and I will never be able to get approval from your release from L7 until it's proven entirely safe or is removed." Coulson said.
"Actually," Jane replied, lowering her voice a bit. "That's one of the other reasons I wanted to talk to you." She grabbed the half empty basket of fries and moved them to an adjacent table. "The scientists I've got are never going to find a solution, they would have found something by now, but they also had an idea of someone who could, Stark."
Coulson let out a deep breath and leaned back in his chair, his arms folded. "They shouldn't have told you about him, I don't even know how they knew, actually."
"It's not their fault." Jane quickly added. "I was eavesdropping and made them tell me. But they do think he's the best option. Please, I know you have the authority to ask him, or at least know the person who can." Coulson looked like he was weighing the options in his head, but gave no response so Jane continued. "You promised me help and you promised me answers. This is how I'm going to get them."
Finally Coulson replied, "I'm not going to make you any promises, Stark can be a bit…temperamental at times, but I'll do my best."
"And about me getting a position at S.H.E.I.L.D.?" Jane added as they both rose from their chairs.
"I'll look into it." Coulson answered.
Jane nodded and let him leave. Looking to her right she saw one of her friends, Martin, walk in the door. She sent him a smile and a wave, then walked across the cafeteria to meet him. "Hey Martin! How are you doing today?" She said happily as she approached him. The man was very old and managed a half toothless grin upon seeing Jane. "Have you heard? They have butterscotch pudding today, I know it's your favorite!" She continued with enthusiasm, ignoring his lack of verbal response.
Coulson watched from the doorway on the opposite side of the room as Jane slowly led the old man to the food counter, helping him with his tray. "Who is he?" Coulson asked Carla, who was with him at the cafeteria entrance.
"That's Martin, brought him in two months ago. We found him at an abandoned flour mill in Moneta half dead and hooked up to a bunch of different chemical IV's. We had suspicions that the Kingpin's were using the place as a testing site for their bio-weapons, so we brought him in with hopes that he could remember anything about them. The only problem was that he had severe dementia and anything he happened to remember was distorted from the drugs they had him on." Carla readjusted the files in her hands and continued. "It was only because Jane took such an interest in him and gave him the attention and patience he needed that we were able to track them down and shut down the whole operation, saving 19 civilians who were also being tested on. He was so distant when he came in, but now he is completely changed and it's all because of her.
"She seems to have a habit of doing that with the majority of people who come through here actually." Carla commented. "One woman had witnessed her family being killed by a CRE operative and Jane had her actually laughing and playing games with the others in just a week and a half. Jane had only even been here a few days." Coulson and Carla stepped to opposite side of the doorway to let two people exit, then Carla continued.
"Another time a little boy was here who had a horrible mutation as a result of a botched science experiment. He wouldn't stop screaming for days at a time, but somehow she managed to get through to him and convinced him to let us do the surgery to heal him." Coulson said nothing in return but watched as Jane helped the old man put a bowl of fruit onto his tray, talking and laughing with him as he had a huge grin on his face.
"She really does have a gift." Carla added after a moment of silence. "And I don't think she even realizes it."