This is more of a filler chapter, especially the end, but I wanted to post something today. So here it is!

Thank you for your support!

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Marvel and Annie or it's characters. The girls in the foster home and Ceri are based on the orphans from the musical Annie.

Chapter 9

Lessa's eyes snapped open. Her breaths were short and heavy as her eyes focused in the dark room. She was in her room. She was in her room at Avengers Tower. She was not in the room at the S.H.I.E.L.D. base.

She was safe.

But the dream felt so real. It was as if Lessa had experienced it even though never in her life she had heard of this Hydra before. The pain in her leg lingered there for a few moments until Lessa got her mind under control. She was safe. She was safe.

Peeling off the sheets, Lessa hopped of the bed and paced the room. The room was fairly large with a queen sized bed, a dresser filled with clothes brought from her foster home, and a desk. Painted light gray, the walls were calming to look at as her tears slowed and stopped.

The ignited city outside had cast flickering lights and shadows on the wall. She walked towards it and gazed down at their sources. New York City never does sleep. Despite it being in the early hours not long after midnight, cars still drove along the streets. They continued to stop and turn at lights. Lessa could watch the scenery for hours.

She left the room and wandered the halls. The level that she was on felt like it went in a circle. The hallway she walked in felt endless and it frustrated her. When will it end?

Finally, it did at an elevator. Entering it, Lessa paused. There were buttons lining the wall next to the door, but they weren't labeled.

"Uh, J.A.R.V.I.S.?" She felt awkward talking to the walls of the elevator. "Can you take me to the kitchen?" Going up two floors, the doors opened up to a vast dining room connected with a kitchen. She padded over onto the cold kitchen tiles towards the fridge.

The fridge was as large as Lessa expected it to be. It was large, but no larger than the one at Ceri's with the right half the fridge and the left the freezer. Browsing through both contents of either side of the fridge, she found nothing appealing. She shut its doors with a sigh.

The cabinets were next. Lessa loved looking through cabinets. They were fun to scrounge through. A tall cabinet sat next to the fridge at the end. Opening it, Lessa found the gold. Not only were there healthy foods Lessa never heard of, but the beloved junk food. Potato chips, macaroni and cheese, a small bag of donuts, and Oreos. She reached towards the Oreos.

"Don't you dare touch the Oreos," Came a voice from behind her. Lessa froze, her hand a few inches away from the package. "Drop your hand now." Lessa obeyed and dropped her hand. She turned.

Another man stood before her with his own hand stretched out in warning. He looked like he just rolled out of bed to stop her from eating the Oreos. His dark blond hair stuck up in every direction and his wrinkled t-shirt and pajama bottoms. But his eyes were alert and full of...fear?

If someone tried to eat her Oreos, she would fear for her life too. "Are they yours?"

The blond dropped his hand, but remained crouched, ready to attack. "Yes. And I just recently got more after my other ones were stolen. Now I would recommend for you to step away from the oreos."

Lessa tapped her chin. "That's saddening. You know what would be just as bad?"

The man's eyes narrowed. "What?"

"If I just happen to steal one." She spun around and peeled open the package, snatching an oreo and popping it into her mouth. The man let out an frustrated cry as he lunged toward to cabinet. Lessa darted out of the way and he closed the door in a flash. "Wow you really do care about your oreos," she noted, chewing on the cookie.

"They are one of the only cookies I take pride in eating," he said. His blue eyes surveyed her. "Alessandra, right? Tony said you would be staying here for a while."

Lessa swallowed the chewed up mush down and nodded. "Yeah I am and call me Lessa. Who are you?"

"The victim you just stole from," he answered, but said, "Clint."

Lessa wiped her hands on her shirt, now feeling bad for her theft. "I'm sorry for eating an oreo."

Clint straighted, and stepped away from the cabinet. "It's alright. Now that you apologized, do you want more?"

Lessa nodded eagerly as Clint pulled the package from the cabinet and walked over to the table. Lessa dashed to the package and ripped open the top.

"Take it easy, kid, and take a seat first before you start scarfing them down." Clint rounded the table and took a seat on the opposite side of where she sat. He moved the package in the middle so they both could reach it. After eating two, he stood back up. "These need milk to go with them. Want a glass?"

Lessa nodded before taking a bit of her forth oreo. Once her glass was set on the table, she dunked her fifth one in and ate it with a smile.

Clint watched her with an amused expression while he grabbed a few cookies for himself. "You love Oreos too, huh?" He dunked a cookie in his glass of milk.

"Yeah, but I only get to eat a few before they are all eaten by the other girls. I don't mind though since there is five of us," she explained with a moutful of the cookies. "I'd say we split them evenly."

Clint leaned back in his chair. "Makes sense to. Couldn't sleep?"

Lessa slowed her chewing, not wanting to revisit her nightmare. "Yeah, I guess. I mean I am staying in a tower full of superheros with my freaky mom on the run, so my nerves aren't settling. You?"

"The room that I am staying in is directly above Tony's workshop. It's hard to sleep when you can perfectly hear the music blaring and shaking the floor."

"He doesn't sleep?"

"Not a wink."

Lessa's heart dropped at the news. How does stay awake and alert all the time? She pushed the question away until later, but there was another one that came along right after it. "Do you work for S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

Clint nodded, finishing up a row in the package. "Have been for a long time. They're stressful sometimes."

"But are they good people?"

He tensed at the question and picked up his glass before setting it down again. "It's hard to tell sometimes whether the people at S.H.I.E.L.D. are good. There are a lot of secrets and secrets that have their own secrets."

Lessa pursed her lips. "Oh." She slid out from between the back of the chair and table and stood up. She hoped they were trustworthy, but what agency wasn't trustworthy? Taking the glass off of the table, she brought it over to the sink. Heading towards the elevator, she told Clint, "Thank you for the Oreos, Clint," and left.