Don't You Worry Child

Problem

Chapter Summary: An old friend visits Samantha in hospital but something is wrong and the yound S.H.I.E.L.D. agent can't quite put her finger on it.

Soundtrack: Problem by Ariana Grande Featuring Iggy Azalea

 Samantha hated hospitals, had ever since the day she crashed her mother's car, so being stuck in one for what she was starting to think would be forever was not ideal at all. She'd tried to talk to the doctors about leaving but they'd practically laughed her out of the room – as though it were a completely idiotic question – her 'risk of infection was still too high' and 'the risk of her tearing her stitches was too high' as well apparently. She was growing restless, Steve didn't help either, acting as though she were some porcelain doll that would break on impact. Her father seemed to understand though, namely because he was in the same position as her, at least he was able to walk around the hospital without anyone stopping him. "Samantha," he said in a rare sing-song voice, snapping her out of her daydream.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" she asked, her head snapping up to look at him. He seemed better than the last time she'd seen him, less pale, more colour in his face. She wondered how she looked to her father, she hadn't seen a mirror since she'd woken, she assumed it was because everyone was trying to save her self-esteem. She'd run her hands through her hair a few times to avoid it becoming completely matted. If she was being totally honest with herself, she was more concerned by the fact that she was going to have to say goodbye to bikinis, cut out dresses and crop tops.

"I was just saying that Fury is going to kill you when you get back to S.H.I.E.L.D," her father told her and she rolled her eyes. She was leaving work out of her mind for the moment, she would confront that issue head on, only when it became a necessity.

"From what I hear Fury is the least of your troubles China Girl," she heard and looked towards the door. She hadn't heard that voice in years, not since before her mother had died. Jean had been her only friend when they were in college – the only one who had bothered to even deign to talk to the fourteen-year-old freshman. They'd gone out clubbing together, talked about guys, gone to the cinemas, listened to music and obsessed over the same TV shows. Then graduation came around and they left each other to pursuit new lives, with a promise that they'd stay in touch, a promise that Samantha had failed to keep. Still, in the nearly five years since Samantha had last seen her friend, Jean hadn't changed too much. Her hair was still blonde, although shinier – probably down to the ability to get it dyed at the hairdressers rather than in her bathroom the way they used to – and it looked as though she may have lost a few pounds. The benefits of not having to live as a student anymore, she mused to herself, were a gym membership and the ability to pay good hairdressers.

"Jean Genie? What are you doing here?" Samantha explained, surprised by how excited and girlish she sounded, one look to both her father and boyfriend confirmed that, yes, her reaction was odd.

"Well, it's not a personal visit if that's what you mean," Jean replied and Samantha's face fell slightly, it did seem too good to be true that her old friend would pop up out of the blue without a reason. "I'm working with the FBI now and they wanted me to act as a liaison between them and S.H.I.E.L.D. with regards to any case related to the Red Room, starting with Ms Dvoracek," Jean added and Samantha noted Steve eyeing the blonde suspiciously. It was odd that the FBI would send anyone in on a S.H.I.E.L.D. case, they'd never had cause for concern about any cases before – let alone this one – and, in fact, when it had been made known that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been infiltrated by HYDRA, the head of the FBI had laughed in their faces – literally.

It was Tony who spoke up "I'm sorry, I'm a little confused," he started.

'There's a first' Samantha thought to herself, catching Steve's eye as he held back a laugh.