Child Of Fire

Chapter 1//SHIELD

{{Ellie POV}}

I heard footsteps, and I started panicking again, thinking it was my mother. "Please don't hurt me." I said, feeling tears in my eyes. Of course, I didn't know that it wasn't my mother, but somebody who would help me. "What are you talking about?" I heard a man say, and I flinched back, before realizing I might be safe. "Who- who are you?" I asked, my voice small. "Who are you?" the man shoots back. "E- Ellie Jones. Now answer my question. Who are you, and why are you in my apartment?" I say, trying to stand up. "I'm with SHIELD, and that's all you need to know." the man says, as another set of footsteps approaches. My head swivels towards the sound, alert. "And what is SHIELD?" I ask, still listening for the other set of footsteps, which had stopped. "SHIELD is a government agency that helps people like you." a woman's voice says from in front of me.

    "Well, I don't need your help." I say. "Yeah right." the man says, and I turn my head towards him. "Come on. We'll help you." the woman says. "I don't want or need help." I say again. "Please listen to us, Ellie. You're not safe here." the woman says. "And why is that?" I ask. "There are people who, if they knew what you could do, would hurt you." the woman says. "And how do I know that you aren't one of them?" I ask. "You don't. Please, just trust me." the woman says, and I hesitate before nodding. "Ok, good. Come on, Ellie." the woman says as I stand up. I hear two sets of footsteps walking away, and I slowly follow, my arms out. "What are you doing?" the woman says. "Trying to not smack face first into a wall. Duh." I say, feeling a wall in front of me. "What are you talking about?" the man says. "I can't see shit." I say, trying to tell them I'm blind without actually saying those two words. "Oh Ellie." the woman says. "Nope. I don't want pity. I've survived 14 years like this. I'm fine." I say, as I feel a hand slip into one of mine. I flinch back, panicking again.

    "Ellie, calm down." the woman says, and I take a deep breath. The woman guides me somewhere, then tells me that there is a step up. I slowly take a step up, stumbling before I catch myself. I haul myself up, and hear the slam of a door shutting next to me. I hear the two people getting in, and feel the vehicle start moving. "Where are we going?" I ask after a few silent minutes. "You've heard of the Avengers, right?" I hear the woman say. "Yeah, they've been all over the news." I say. "Well, that's where we're taking you." the woman says. "Why?" I ask.

    "They might be able to help you." the man says. I nod, leaning my head back. I stay like that for a while, until the car stops about an hour later. I pretend to be asleep, shutting my eyes. "Come on, Ellie." the woman says. I groan, sitting up. "Where are we again?" I ask, slowly getting out of the vehicle. "We're outside the Avengers compound." the woman says. I knit my eyebrows, trying to imagine what it could possibly look like. The woman leads me inside, telling me about herself and SHIELD. The only reason I know that we stepped inside is because I felt the breeze of the ac hitting me. "My name is Maria, by the way." I nod, adding it to my mental notes of everybody I know.

    Maria leads me to an elevator, and I tentatively step in. I feel the elevator jolt, then start moving up. I grab onto whatever is in reach, which happens to be Maria. I think. "Ellie, please take your hand off of me." Maria says gently.

Ok, so it was Maria.

"Sorry." I say quickly, letting go. A few minutes later, the elevator stops and I almost sigh in relief. Maria leads me out, and I start listening intently, hearing several voices going back and forth about something. I start dragging my feet, regretting my decision. "Why did I agree to this?" I mutter quietly. "Probably because you trusted me." Maria says. I sigh, and bow my head.