That made Kae freeze. "What? What does that mean? What happened?" She turned to look at Elaine, suddenly worried.

"They got me," Elaine replied, reaching back to rub her shoulder a bit. "I guess I make really good bait."

Kae groaned. "Oh, Elaine..." She sighed. "How do you feel?"

Elaine chuckled humorlessly.

"I don't know," she replied. "I can't tell. It's all jumbled up and I can't tell anymore where I end and the fake begins."

Kae sighed. "Maybe you should take some time off? Sort yourself out, or see if you can?" She frowned a little.

"I can still work!" Elaine protested. After a moment, she added, "I think..."

"I'm not saying you can't," Kae hurried to assure her. "I just thought that maybe you'd like to take a bit of time off. It might help. You never know."

Elaine bit her lip and looked down.

"I don't like not earning my keep," she said. "I tried to help out today and only ended up becoming a problem."

"Elaine," Kae said, moving over and putting her hands on her shoulders. "Really. Missing one day of work isn't going to make a difference. Besides, I bet you you'll get paid for your time today. Really. It's not a big deal."

"I..." Elaine twisted the hem of her shirt in her fingers. "You're right. I'm sorry. I... I don't know where that came from."

"It's okay," Kae said quietly. "It's probably from being shot. I can imagine that'll mess with anyone's emotions. Don't worry about it Elaine, okay?"

"They only shot me, you know," Elaine said softly. "They didn't shoot him. It might be easier, if they had."

Kae sighed. "Well, that sucks. You really need to take a few days off, sweetie. Get yourself sorted out."

"You might be right," Elaine murmured. She didn't want to, because it meant not seeing Steve again, but she couldn't tell if that was the arrow, or if it was genuine.

"Go get comfortable. Dinner will be ready in a few minutes." Kae smiled a little and rubbed her shoulder briefly before going back to check on their dinner.

"Actually, Kae," Elaine said, getting down from the counter, "I'm not all that hungry. Save some for me?"

"Of course." Kae looked at her worriedly. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Elaine shook her head.

"No, I don't think so," she replied softly.

"Alright. Well, let me know if you think of anything, okay?" Kae shot her another worried look before finishing up dinner and taking what she wanted. There was still plenty left over for when Elaine decided she was hungry.

Elaine nodded.

"I'm heading up to my room," she said, reaching out to touch the wall lightly.

"Alright. Yell if you need anything." Kae watched her go, clearly still concerned.

"I will, promise," Elaine said. Turning, she headed upstairs to her room. She needed to try to sort herself out.

Kae sighed and let her be, instead just eating her dinner and giving Elaine time. She figured there wasn't anything else to do.

Indeed, Elaine didn't show up for work the next morning. Kae was right, she needed a day or two to sort things out. And, if she was honest, she didn't want to see Steve yet, either. Not when she knew that she was essentially being forced to love him when he didn't love her back. So she compromised and had Kae put Fury's number into her phone so she could call later. And call she did.

"I'm busy," came the normal reply from Fury when he picked up. He knew exactly who it was, of course.