Dimidium - Marvel Studios [7]

twnety-nine.

I stood in a darkened room that was lined with a few cribs, 2 of them having occupants of sleeping babies. The room was one of the old ticket offices, so there was curtains taped up over the large windows to keep out as much light as possible, but some peaked through the cracks. There was quite a few rooms with a couple of babies in them each, as it meant that if one woke up crying it was less likely to wake up all 50 babies and toddlers that were residing in the shelter.

I had been on patrol this morning, having found a 10 year old boy living by himself in his apartment in Harlem. He didn't object to coming to the shelter once he realised who I was, saying he had seen me on the news a few times.

I swayed in the spot gently, a bundle of blankets in my arms that were wrapped around a 5 month old baby's girl. I had volunteered to be on feeding duty for this particular room this afternoon, individually feeding each of the babies before setting them back down to rest. It seemed like a calm enough job to do, as long as you didn't think about the fact that these small babies had been orphaned so young.

She was already asleep, and she had been for quite a while now, but the peaceful expression that she carried in her slumber was calming enough for me to stare at her for 15 minutes. I doubt she even knew that this wasn't her home, or that I wasn't her mother who had been holding her since the day she was born. Most of the children in the shelter were completely clueless to the wrecked state that the world was in, and sometimes I wished that I was also in oblivion.

The warmth her small body was giving me had taken over my whole body, it was addicting. My heart ached as I let out an internal sigh, not wanting to wake any of the sleeping babies up. I moved my hand up to her face as I used the back of my finger to gently touch her cheek, smiling as I walked over to the crib that she had been administered. I lowered her into her, making her squirm a little bit as she got used to the new surrounding, falling right back to sleep instantly after she let out a small whimper.

I turned around, walking over to the chair in the corner as I picked up the 3 bottles that I had fed all of the babies with, holding them in my arm as I threw the rag over my shoulder, making my way to the door. I took one final look at the three babies, whose chests rose before falling perfectly to a rhythm. I smiled gently as I pulled open the door a tiny bit, squeezing my way out of it to avoid too much light flooding into the room, leaving the calmness of the nursery behind.

!

I pushed the front door open, the smell of something cooking hitting me in the face as I let out a grateful sigh. I closed the door behind me, hearing sam chatter coming from the living room as I hung my keys up on the hook that sat on the wall. I walked down the hall, moving through the arch into the open plan living room, seeing Natasha sitting on the stool as Steve in the kitchen with a pan and a spatula in his hand. I let out a sigh as they both turned to look at me, Natasha lifting the beer bottle to her lips as I squinted my eyes at her.

"Here for the free food?" I asked her as she smirked at me. I pulled my bag off of my shoulder, throwing it into the couch before pulling my arms free from my leather jacket as I threw that after my purse. "Obviously" she said to me as I let out a sigh, walking over to her as I rubbed my eyes quickly. "I'm so tired" I moaned as I leaned against the counter, standing next to her as she made a funny face at me, inching away. "You smell funny" she said to me as I sighed, rolling my eyes quickly.

"Baby puke" I told her as her and Steve made eye contact, Steve raising his eyebrows at me. "I can't seem to get the smell off of me" I said as I walked around the counter, making my way to the fridge as Natasha scoffed. "Because you're still covered in it" Nat said as I turned around, making her point at my back as I tried to twist around, pulling on my shirt to see a stain sitting on my shoulder, making me exhale. "Jesus" I said with a sigh as I ignored it, about to reach the fridge as Steve slid on the floor, putting his arm out and blocking me from the fridge.

"Not till you shower" he told me as I stared up at him, raising my eyebrows as he stared back at me, countering me as I scoffed. "What did you do today? Hold orphaned babies until they fell asleep in your arms?" I asked him as he smirked a little bit, making me put a hand behind my ear as I mockingly waited for an answer. "No? Well I did so let me get a beer" I told him as I tried to reach the fridge door, Steve swatting my hand away as I snatched it back, staring at him. "You're insufferable" I said to him with an eye roll, making him smile as he moved his face a bit closer to mines.

"You smell" he whispered as he dropped his hand, crossing his arms over his chest as he nodded his head past me. "Shower" he said to me as I sighed turning around as I marched through the living room. "I better have food on a plate by the time I come back down here" I said back to them as I sighed, making my way up the stairs as Natasha and Steve commenced their conversation once again.

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A/N: this is kind of a lame chapter but i've been struggling trying to figure out what i want to write so I hope you don't mind
I promise there will be a part that shows Ally on patrol, i tried to write one but I just couldn't get it right so I will keep trying on that lol
my idea was to make Ally really pour her soul into the shelter, trying to distract herself from reality in a way, so look forward to lots of children scenes in this book
please do not forget to vote and comment and i will see you soon