Hawkeye's Sister

Chapter 5

***Claire***

I am hiding in the corner of the room, shivering and wet.

"Come here girl, we won't hurt you. We just want to have some fun." The two men walk forwards. I press myself father into the wall, hoping they won't see me.

"There you are." One of the men exclaims, and I know I am done for.

"Please, leave me alone." They come closer and closer...

"Milady!" I wake up to Sarah shaking me. Sweat is pouring down my forehead, and my breath comes out in pants.

"Oh thank goodness, Milady. You about scared me half to death. Was it a nightmare?" I nod, not wanting to tell her the truth. That it was really a memory, from when I was 12.

"Come on, let's wash you off. You look like someone drenched you with a bucket of water." She takes out my drip, and I pull of the breathing mask. We head over to the bath, where he helps me in and washes the sweat away.

She puts me in a simple nightgown, dark green and gold. I look over to my right, and see a tray of fruit.

"I will leave you now. Would you like for me to put this on the balcony?" I look to where Sarah is pointing, and I start. I had not noticed the balcony last night. I slowly walk over to the doors, and I open them, stepping out onto the balcony. Sarah places the tray next to a chair, and brings out my breather and drip. She helps me put then both on, and then she leaves.

I sit down, and let the soft breeze play with my hair. The fruits are delicious, and I finish half the tray. It feels weird to finally have enough to eat. The sun warms me, and the sound of laughter reaches my ears. Looking down, I see several small children playing. I smile, and watch them. They are having some sort of a battle, with some of the boys protecting the girls, who are gathered in a group, giggling.

***Loki***

I enter Claire's room to check on her, and see that she is not in her bed. I turn to leave, when the open balcony doors catch my eyes. I walk towards them, and see Claire sitting there.

She is wearing a dark green nightgown, which makes me smirk, because we match. I walk behind her, and she is so enraptured by the children that she takes no notice of me.

"They are sweet are they not?" She starts and, panicked, whirls around to face me. Realizing it is me, she calms down. I smile at her, and walk over next to her.

"Yes they are." I look over at her, and she is staring at them with a small smile on her face. It is not happy, more like wistful. I can see the thoughts whirring in her head, and see her eyes start to water.

"Are you alright?" She sniffles, and wipes her eyes.

"Oh yes, yes I'm fine. I just, had a bug in my eye." She turns away from me.

"Claire." I say softly, taking her face and turning it towards me, careful of her mask. "Tell me what is wrong." She looks at me, and the tears fall.

"They are so lucky. They have had a normal life. They are so happy, and I want that. I want to be happy again. I want to have no pain again. To be innocent, without a care in the world. To leave all the nightmares and dream happy dreams again. My childhood was ruined, Loki. I never got to experience the love of parents. Then Clint abandoned me, and I felt betrayed." She turns and buries her face into my shoulder.

I put my arms around her, and sitting down, put her on my lap. I can feel her sobbing, and I rub her back. We sit there for several minutes, then I can feel her calm down.

"Better?" She looks up at me. Her eyes are red, and the sight of them causes a strange feeling to appear in my stomach. It makes me want to cheer her up, to make her happy. She nods.

"Thanks." She looks around and realizes where she is sitting. Her face turns beet red, and she looks down at her hands. I laugh, and pick her up.

"We match today." She looks at her dress and then at my robes. She blushes, and then her eyes widen in surprise.

"Well, since your day so far has consisted of you crying, I now make it my official job to cheer you up." She smiles, and I never want it to leave her face. I grab her breather and drip, and walk with her to her door.

"Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise." She pouts, and my gaze is drawn to her lips. They are a light pink, and they look soft. I wonder what it would be like...shaking my head, I try to think of something else.

She smiles at something, and then cowers into my side. I look around to see what has scared her, and I see Volgstagg heading towards us along with Fandril and Hogan.

"Loki, is this the mortal that we have heard of?" Volgstagg booms, and Claire flinches.

"Yes Volgstagg, it is. Her name is Claire. She is very sensitive, so I would ask that you do your best to lower your voice." I say calmly. He nods in understanding.

"Forgive me, Lady Claire. I did not mean to hurt you." He apologizes, taking her hand and kissing it.

"It's ok." She says, though I can see from the look on her face that she is uncomfortable from the physical contact. Fandril is staring at her with a well known gleam in his eyes, and it makes me mad. I see he is about to introduce himself, so I interrupt him.

"Well while we would love to stay and chat, we have somewhere to be. We will see you later." I turn and leave the room. I can feel Claire relax, and I am glad of it.

"Can you tell me where we are going now?" She asks and I laugh.

"No way. I want this to be a surprise."

I walk with her to the library, where I help her onto a couch. Her eyes are wide at all the books, and she smiles through her breather.

"This is wonderful!" She says, looking around her in awe. We spend several hours there, her reading random books and me looking for a cure. Suddenly, she starts coughing, and I rush to her side to help her. She gestures to her breather, and I adjust the knobs.

The sound of her coughs are like knives in my body. They fade though, and she lies back on the couch, exausted.

"Are you alright?" I ask gently, pushing back some hair from her face.

"I am tired." I arrange some pillows and grab a blanket for her, and she falls asleep in only a matter of minutes.