525,600 Minutes

Blind Faith

Natasha is catching up on her files, dismissing the third interview of the hour. Jelena is mingling with her potential new parents in the refurbished lobby of the center. With the second floor under construction, the kids have been living it up over at the tower; Late night sleepovers, an unhealthy amount of ice cream and candy provided by Stark and plenty of intricate hide and seek.

Jennifer and John have stayed the past week, enjoying a 'vacation' in New York in between trying to tie up the loose ends with the Hydra infiltrators. Lucy's DNA is still missing, Ursula isn't speaking and Natasha is struggling to find more intel.

Lucy has even convinced the other meta children to indulge her by attending a Broadway matinee of Hamilton. And Jen's late birthday gift of Wicked for her daughter will live on to be one of Lucy's favorite moments in time itself. Seeing the stage afterward left the girl in aww and complete silence. The highlight of John's week as well...being away from his girls for a day.

Galina has moved on with a family in Kansas, Michael to Kentucky, and Kat to Connecticut.

Amelia is back from her venture with a family and her wide smiles upon returning to the center tells Bruce she's happy enough to move forward with them.

He smiles back and holds the door to his office for Amelia to give Natasha the full report.

Iris went with Timothy. Brock to Jersey...

Their list was dwindling but Natasha is far too focused on her prodigee to shed more than a few tears on the others. Day in and day out Riley sits with the Banners at the desk and voluntarily contributes her powers to expose the potential parents and judge their honesty.

The redhead is ready to wrap up for the day at this point, with Bruce and Riley mid conversation on who would win in a battle between Thor and the Hulk...these are the sorts of stories she can tolerate from the physicist.

Natasha triple checks her sheet mumbling with a quick check on her clock;

"We have one more meeting...it's for you Riley."

The girl's eyebrows lift in complete surprise, "Woah. For me?" She nearly trips trying to run to Natasha's voice, caught and steadied by Bruce. She flushes with a squeak full of disgust and touches the space behind her to locate a chair, "Who is it?!"

"Miss Hayes? Her bio is suspicious. I'm not sure how I feel about this application, Vrach."

Natasha reaches to pass the tablet to Bruce who already has a hand extended, "Mary Hayes...detective for the NYPD. It's fake- Sorry Riley."

Romanoff frowns with a heavy sigh full of disappointment. Riley's heart drops and Natasha can see the moment it happens. The girl shrugs and crosses her arms, wanting to move onto another topic and fast, "So. What's for dinner?"

Natasha makes eye contact with her husband, trying to decide what to do. Her foot props up onto the desk, "I say we wait and see if Miss Hayes shows up. She has about twenty minutes."

Bruce shrugs, unimpressed. He glares over Natasha's foot on top of their work area. "She better be on time and with a valid New York ID."

Natasha seems to agree with a strange flicking hand gesture and a silent exhale. She can feel Riley trying to prod her mind so she gently swats her hand, "Oh my gosh, will you please stop it. For the billionth time; That's NOT how you make friends."

Riley snickers and bites her lip. Of course the woman finally interested in adopting her would be a fraud. That's just her luck in life.

The three of them wait in the silence until Tony walks in with Antonia, running his mouth about how he was bored and in the area. Anna runs to her 'Uncle' and requests a pick up, reaching for his glasses the instant Banner complies with an obligatory scoop. He cautiously hands over his lenses, chuckling when she tries to put them on, "Don't do that, kid. You'll hurt your eyes. You don't need them."