Their little star

Melinda

AN: First off, to those who is following my S.H.I.E.L.D Protocol story. A chapters is on its way, life has been a bit stressed and I live surround by boxes at the moment.
Second off, this little story was created to a challenged. It turned out good so I thought i would share it with you all. However! Warning for blod and heavy topic!

-X-X-X-X-X-X-

The sound of shattering glass pulled the agent from her sleep. Melinda May were out of her bed within seconds and her eyes took in the dark room in search of intruders. When she realised that she was alone in her room, she started to move for the door. She started to open it as quietly as possible and looked out into the dark hallway. Nothing there either, but light coming from the kitchen had her eyes narrowed. It was moment like this that she cursed herself for not having a gun near her person at all time.

Then again, if she needed a gun, she would just take one; it was just as simple as that really. How more agents around her couldn't see that were a mystery, Coulson however had learned by now that it was no use giving her a gun at the beginning of a mission. Creeping down the hallway, Melinda made sure to keep to the shadows as she got closer to the kitchen. Reaching the door frame however, she come to a complete halt.

The sound of someone trying to stifle a cry reached her ear and for a few minutes, Melinda tried to figure out who would be crying in her kitchen. It was then memories from two weeks ago resurfaced.

"No!"

She didn't look up from the papers she had been working on, knowing fully well that only five people would be stupid enough to interrupt when she was working on a field report.

"I haven't even said anything yet!"

Her rookie; Maria Hill, comments and from the corner of her eye, Melinda could see how she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. With a deep sigh, Melinda puts the paper down to look at the young agent.

"Fine, you have five minutes!"

The faster Maria could tell her what ever it was she had on her heart; the faster Melinda could get her paperwork done after all.

"Fury wants to speak to you."

This was a line Melinda had not expected, she looked up at Maria out of surprise and the young agent shrug her shoulder at the silent question.

Pushing that memory back, Melinda started to move once more. She only managed to take three steps before coming to a stop once more as her eyes landed on the small body in front of her. The small child had seen her enter before Melinda had realised where she was and had managed to pull her limps together to make herself as small as possible. Her fingers where hugging her knees and Melinda could see the blood dripping from the cuts. Her eyes travelled downwards to see the broken glass before lifting her eyes to see the running water.

Putting two and two together, Melinda takes a deep breath before lowering herself down to the child's level. The fair in those doe eyes where not hard to miss and Melinda couldn't help to wonder where that fair was coming from. She had simply dropped the glass, it's something that happens to everyone. Stretching out for the cabinet under the sink, Melinda pulled out the first aid kit and opened it.

"Give me your hands, let me she those wounds."

She held out her hand towards the young girl as she started to look for the patches. When she heard a scream instead, Melinda turns her head to the side only to see that the young girl had managed to move further away from her and ended up hitting her back towards the table leg. Tears where taking over her eyes and Melinda could see that she was fighting with everything she had not to start crying, her small body was shaking out of the pain.

"I need to warn you before we enter the room, the sight is not pretty."

The nurse warning was now echoing in Melinda's head and she couldn't help but to curse in Mandarin. She knew exactly what made the young girl scream, she would have done the same if it had been her. Taking in the child properly for the first time that night, she looked at the covered up upper arms and the bandage that were covering up her whole torso under the tank top. Melinda new exactly what was being hidden underneath; she was left to treat the young child after all.

Fury had only told her that she needed to pick someone up at the hospital, he didn't mention any name or why she had to do it. When Melinda had reached the hospital and was led down to one of the rooms, she started to wonder what Fury were up to and what exactly she was missing out on. The nurse hand warned her before entering the room, thinking that it was properly an agent getting hurt she wasn't worry. With the work she has, she had seen everything; or so she had thought.

The sight that had greeted her had made her feel sick. A doctor and another nurse were sewing up the last big wound that was covering the small back. There was blood everywhere and when Melinda took a closer look at the body in front of her, she could see that it belonged to a small child no more than 8 or 9 years old. Her guess on age had been wrong, the child in fact was 12 and after a very angry call to Fury she had found out that the child had been put under a ghost protocol by an S.H.I.E.L.D agent.

For reasons unknown she was to be moved around for her and others safety, so instead of trusting another S.H.I.E.L.D agent she had been put into the foster system. Melinda had not liked the sound of that, she wasn't all to happy to be told that she had to take care of that child now. This wasn't the work she had signed up on, it was however the directors order and she couldn't do anything about it. Melinda had been given antibiotics, painkillers and a special cream that had to be applied onto the now cleaned up wounds; in her eyes however she could still see the blood.

The cream had been the first thing Melinda had thrown out once she got back home and managed to locate a S.H.I.E.L.D version she was sure would be of much better use. This had all happened two weeks ago, during this time the child had kept to herself. She had made sure to stay away from Melinda as much as she could, never said anything when she had to apply the cream and never complained over taking the medication. Melinda had not thought much about it, after all it was a bit change for her too.

Seeing the child now and seeing the fair, she started to realise that she might not have done this the right way after all. Taking in a deep breath, she tried to collect herself before trying to get the young girls' attention.

"Mary, look at me."

Her voice was soft, a lot softer than she had expected it to be. The reaction she got from the child was not one she had wanted, a reaction that made her blood boil.

"I'm sorry, please don't hurt me."

These six words were repeated in a low and broken voice, Mary's eyes were closed, and Melinda could see how she was trying to make herself even smaller.

"I'm not going to hurt you; I need you to look at me however."

Melinda told her once more, making sure she kept her voice as soft as possible. If she let the child see her anger now it wouldn't be good. When Mary didn't seem to hear her, Melinda took in a deep breath before she moved closer to the girl. This time she didn't move away, then again, she had not seen Melinda move. Sitting beside Mary now, Melinda stretched out and took hold of the first aid bag once more and put it beside her. What she did next where a gamble, either it would work or create even more problems.

Putting one arm around the girl's shoulders, Melinda pulled her into a hug, and she could feel how the small body tensed up in the action.

"I'm not going to hurt you Mary, I need to make sure the cuts on your fingers are properly taken care off."

She whispered into the girl's hair before letting go of the hug. Taking one hand in her own, Melinda started to look over the cuts. Luckily, they were not deep and not as many as she had first expected, they had been easy to take care of. It was Mary's back she was now worried about and she looked, there were no blood on the bandage and Melinda let out a deep sigh out of relief.

"Does your back still hurts? Do you want some painkillers for it?"

The child shakes her head, the fair was still in her eyes and it hurt Melinda to see it. After what she had seen, after how Mary had reacted; Melinda was sure about her thing. This poor child had been mistreated and from what she had said, been abused and hurt by the people that was supposed to take care of her. Once morning came, Melinda was going to make sure those people got what they deserved.

"Do you still want some water to drink?"

Mary shakes her head once more and Melinda carefully pulled her into a hug once more.

"I'm not angry with you Mary, I have dropped so many glasses myself that I have lost count. It's normal and nothing you need to worry about."

Melinda started to explain and without fully realizing what she was doing, she let one of her hand combs through the brown hair in a soothing manner.

"I would never hurt you, not for something like this and not for anything else. You deserve much more than what you have been given."

She continues and she could finally feel how the small child started to relax in her arms, if it was for the things Melinda told her or if sleep was taking over, she wasn't completely sure.

"Would you tell me what you are doing up this late?"

She was gambling again; she knew it was a risk to ask but she did it anyway. Maybe now that Mary's guard was down, she would let something slip.

"Nightmares."

The answer was short and simple, Melinda didn't have to hear more than that. She had expected something like that, after all, no one would walk away with wounds like the once on Mary's back and upper arms and not have any type of nightmares.

Melinda released Mary for just a few seconds at that, quickly moving herself so she could easier lift the young girl up. This action made Mart tense up once more, an action Melinda completely ignored. She took a large step over the broken glass, turned of the light in the kitchen and walked back to her bedroom once more. She carefully put Mary down on the bed before laying down beside her.

"I know that nightmares can be really scary, but you still need to sleep. Now I want you to close your eyes and try. I will be right beside you and I will wake you up the moment I realise you have a nightmare."

Melinda explains as she pulls up the blanket over Mary. The young child looked at her with large eyes, the emotion in them were hard to read in the dark.

"I won't let anything happen to you, not even in your dreams."

Melinda whispered to her before taking one of her hands in her own. It took a few minutes before Mary closed her eyes and Melinda couldn't help but to smile a little as she saw the young girl fall asleep beside her.

"Sleep well, Xiǎo xīngxīng."