| The Amelie Chronicles | (MCU)

Part One: Chapter Five

Going in and out of a dazed, barely conscious state, Amelie only remembered a few distinct details on the way to SHIELD's new base of operations:

Maria Hill holding her jacket to a scrape on Amelie's head, talking to Fury and someone named Coulson over comms.

Being strapped into a seat in the back of a plane, and being asked if she wanted more ice for her face.

Remembering she is really afraid of heights as the plane landed on another plane.

Now Amelie was sitting on a bed, being injected with something a doctor said would relieve the pain (it did). Her head was numb and tingly, and slowly she was becoming more and more lucid.

"Only a minor concussion. Should go away in a few days- try not to strain yourself." the doctor said. Amelie nodded, brows furrowed as she studied the room around her. Maria Hill stood in the corner, arms folded across her chest as she watched the girl closely.

"Do feel well enough to walk?" She asked, "I'll take you to the cafe. We can get food."

Sliding off the examine bed in the hospital wing, Amelie stood on her feet for a few seconds. She lifted up her feet one at a time- still clad in socks stained with dirt- to see if she was too dizzy.

"I am okay." She nodded, tucking a strand of dark hair behind her ear.

"Follow me." Maria lead Amelie down a long hallway, and then down a flight of stairs to a quaint cafeteria. The smell of food made Amelie's mouth water. She couldn't remember the last time she had a decent meal that wasn't oatmeal or something injected into her at Hydra.

"What would you like?" Maria asked, walking up to the counter where a person clad in a chef's clothing stood, waiting to hear what they wanted. Amelie furrowed her brows, unsure of anything at the moment. She never really had anything that would qualify as good. It was all to make sure she got at least some nutrients and calories.

"Never mind, I'll order for you. Why don't you sit down at a table."

Amelie did as she was told, retreating to a small table in the corner, furthest away from the window. When she sat down, she studied anyone who would come by- nervous that anything could go wrong at any moment.

Then a woman joined her.

"Glad to know you made it." It was Natasha, clad in another SHIELD uniform, her hair curled this time. Amelie glanced up and offered a small smile.

"Why are we up here?" She asked, gesturing to the helicarrier itself.

"Our main base of operations has been compromised due to the Tesseract explosion. This is the next safest place." Natasha explained, "And we have the better advantage point in the air."

The young girl nodded, "Why am I up here?"

"Fury wants to figure out how you're connected to the Tesseract. He believes we can use you to find Loki-"

"She isn't supposed to know that yet." Maria said as she sat down, giving Natasha a grave look. Amelie was frozen in her seat, goosebumps riddling her skin.

More tests.

They wanted to basically take her brain apart? Use her for their own good? Amelie didn't see a difference between Hydra and SHIELD at this point- they wanted her to think she was on the good side, but didn't give her a good enough reason to.

"Sorry." Natasha swore in Russian under her breath, "Well... I'll go welcome the new team. Catch me up on the logistics later, Hill."

"Will do, Romanoff." Maria said through a mouthful of fries.