Eleanor just wanted to get into some comfy clothes, cry, and watch 'Friends', however, she had told Fury that she would watch the interrogation, and she was going to follow through with it. Stood side by side with Fury in the adjoining room, she was going to see how this played out, praying that Natalia would take her advice.

Barton asked the standard questions, trying to get a grasp on her personality and what makes her tick. He was finding this incredibly hard. Natalia wanted to follow the advice she was given, but that would involve undoing years worth of training, and that was not going to happen within the space of half an hour. So, she kept up her cold demeanour. Eleanor couldn't help but wince at some of the blunt answers being given, or how she sometimes just ignored some questions. Occasionally sparing a glance at the Director stood beside her to try and gauge his reactions, but he was unreadable.

When Barton had gotten onto the topic of SHIELD defection, this perked the interest of the younger Agent tenfold.

"I would like to have the opportunity to show that I can be better, but I understand if that is not possible", Barton was told. Eleanor slowly nodded her head, this was the best statement that she had given so far.

"I told you I'd help and pull some strings, I intend to go through with that, Hughes has also shown great interest in making sure this goes successfully". This made the Russian give a quick glance towards the mirror, which did not go unnoticed.

"Yeah, she's through there, you can probably talk to her sometime soon," Barton said nonchalantly. Natalia slowly nodded, the prospect of that made her feel warm, as the younger Agent clearly had good intentions and cared, which was something she was not used to, but she was still incredibly nervous to be face to face with her again after all of these years.

"I'll be back in a few minutes," he said giving the woman in front of him a small smile before swiftly exiting the room.

---

"Hughes, Fury" Barton nodded towards the two as he walked into the room.

"She seems to be telling the truth", Eleanor said with a glint of hope in her eyes. However, Fury was still far from impressed with this situation. Although he did acknowledge that she had skill, and so was more eager than he had been to see this play out.

"How do you want us to go about this sir?".

"Well Barton, I would like you to go back in, tell her that there's still a lot of work to do but that we will try to come to a conclusion as soon as possible".

Eleanor scrunched her face up slightly behind Fury, thinking that that explanation would leave Natalia thinking the worse when in actuality the situation was looking more promising as time goes on. Barton saw this and internally chuckled, thinking the same. He gave a small nod and went back to the interrogation room to escort her back to the cells.

Walking in he saw Natalia whip her head around to look at him, he uncuffed her and both she and Fury were extremely confused as to why she was not being restrained.

Barton had repeated what Fury had told him and told her to follow. As Eleanor had predicted this had indeed made her fear the worst, with it being quite cryptic. Barton wanted to be out of Fury's earshot before reassuring her. They swiftly walked in the direction of the holding cells before turning to look at her.

"You did a good job, me and Hughes were pleased".

Externally, Natalia looked neutral, but inside the hope burned stronger than it had since she was a child. She would have to wait in her cell, possibly have some more time in the interrogation room, and hopefully, she would give a good impression.

---

Watching Barton walk out of the room, Eleanor turned to Fury. "Soooo...?".

He just looked at her, quirking his eyebrow. She signed in annoyance at the director. "You warming up to her yet?".

He paused for a second, "She did better than expected, I'll see you tomorrow for the case review Hughes", and he swiftly walked out, leaving the Agent smiling. She composed herself and finally made her way over to her residential floor.

Walking into her room, she squealed out of minor fear when she saw Maria already sitting criss-cross on her bed. "What the hell Maria, what if I had a heart attack?!". Maria often did surprise visits, abusing the fact that her ID card got her into any room in HQ, it still made Eleanor jump every time these surprise visits happened though.

This earned a chuckle from the other woman, "Aww, did I scare you?" she asked with a fake pout.

Eleanor stood for a second, confused at the presence of another person in her room before it clicked. Maria knew everything that went on in SHIELD, of course, she knew what had gone on mere minutes ago.

Seeing this train of thought happen in front of her, Maria's eyes softened before standing and opening her arms, inviting the young woman in for a hug. Eleanor immediately jumped into her arms needing the comfort that the older woman always brought to her, and let out a few sobs that had been dying to be released for the last couple of hours.

Maria squeezed even tighter hearing this, one hand on her lower back, the other on the back of her head. She ran her hand through the strawberry blonde's hair and gently said things like "It's okay" and "I'm here".

After 5 minutes the crying subsided, Eleanor pulled away and smiled at Maria gratefully. "Sorry about that, it's been a bit overwhelming".

"Don't you dare apologise, kid, crying in this situation is pretty valid" she responded with a small chuckle at the end.

Once again the younger Agent scrunched her face, "Really? Kid?".

Maria just smirked at her before turning around and throwing her a hoodie and some joggers she had grabbed from Eleanor's drawers. "Get dressed, it's time for a Friends marathon".

Catching the items of clothing, she beamed at Maria before practically flying into the en suite bathroom. Shutting the door, she changed out of her SHIELD uniform and into her comfy clothes. Looking in the mirror she grimaced at how puffy her eyes were, her gaze eventually landing on the necklace that her nervous hands were playing with. The very same gift that her father had planned on giving her, it had been found when people were analysing the scene. She had not taken it off since. A small silver chain, with a tiny 4-leaf clover charm. A bit on the nose for a "lucky necklace", but her father never was very subtle which only made it more special.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a giant bang on her bathroom door, making her jump out of her skin. Opening the door, she saw a shoe lying on the ground. Unbelievable, she thought.

"Did you just-"

"Yep, now hurry your ass up I'm bored".

Eleanor just scoffed and rolled her eyes before sitting next to Maria on her bed, getting comfortable for a much-needed distraction.

Maria wanted to talk to her about the situation, but after dealing with her multiple times in the past, she knew she would have to wait until later, she'd ambush her after a few episodes, and that she did.

4 episodes later, Maria moved so that she was sitting in front of Eleanor, and grabbed the remote to pause the TV.

Eleanor looked far from impressed. "Do you mind?"

"Nope".

"Wh-".

"Talk".

Maria didn't beat around the bush when it came to these conversations. Initially, Eleanor hated it, but it was effective so she restrained herself from socking Maria in the jaw - which was an incredibly hard task - and instead tried to find words to say.

"As you know, I didn't hold a grudge against her, haven't for a while". Maria just nodded. "But it was overwhelming seeing her again, and I really want her to have a second chance, but I'm just worried that if it goes through... I'm going to feel like that scared kid every time I see her". Rubbing the back of her neck, she looked down feeling pathetic.

Maria looked away briefly, before turning back, full attention on the woman in front of her. "That won't happen", she said simply, causing a look of pure confusion to show on Eleanor's face. Maria continued, "You're strong, but that scared little kid is still in there, everyone has one, it might take a while for the kid to stop feeling scared, but it will happen, nurture her instead of shutting her out, show her there's no need to be afraid anymore".

Eleanor looked back up, tears threatening to spill again, but she held them back, contemplating the words she had just been told. "So... you think I should deliberately see her?".

"Facing your gear in a controlled environment, it might work. Might need to convince Fury though", Maria said, amusement showing in her eyes, he was quite overprotective.

Eleanor chuckled, knowing it would take more grovelling to achieve this, "Yeah, I could see her tomorrow after work I guess".

"If you truly want her to join SHIELD it's something you'll have to do, sooner will be better than later".

"You're right, as always", the women smirked at each other, "Now, can you move your big head out of the way?".

Maria once again punched the other in the shoulder, "HEY!", Eleanor yelled whilst massaging her fresh injury.

"Well, I was being nice and you said I had a big head, that was a well-deserved hit", Maria said with a serious tone before settling back down next to her.

"Aw, I'm sorry, your head is very proportional".

"Don't make me hit you again, Hughes".

The two women turned to face each other, both trying to keep a serious face. Eleanor cracked first, laughing before turning back to the TV, wanting to watch the episode where Joey wears all of Chandler's clothes.