Clair de Lune

37. Exposed

"Agnes, Agnes baby, wake up."

"Come on, sweetheart. We don't have all day."

"Sissy?"

"Huh...?"

I blinked a few times, chasing the darkness away from my eyes as I climbed back into the waking world. There were a few faces around me, hovering over me and painted with worry in varying degrees. My head was splitting from a headache, but I was relieved to see that people cared enough to be worried.

"Oh thank God, you're awake." Necro let out a great big sigh, practically collapsing onto the bed beside me. I laughed gently, reaching out to pat his head.

"What happened...?" I whispered.

"You made yourself black out." Marshall chuckled, taking a seat in the chair beside the bed. A sudden pressure appeared on my chest and I found Lily burying herself into me.

"You're okay! You're okay!" She shouted, her voice squeaking as she held back tears. "There was so much blood, we were so scared!"

"Hey, I'm okay Lily." I laughed, holding the girl tightly as I sat upright. She still curled against me and pouted, small noises of protest coming from her chest. I stroked her hair and looked around the room, noticing that it was probably late outside. "What time is it?"

"Around nine-ish." Marshall replied, checking his watch. "Kelvin and his crew left about an hour ago, they said they'd be back in the morning to discuss some plans with us."

"I really, really don't like that guy." I pulled Lily closer, a small motherly instinct kicking in to protect her. "I can see now why you don't either."

"Honestly, he grinds on your nerves. When he's not bein' a condescending, sarcastic jackass, he's tolerable," he rolled his eyes grumpily before focusing back on me, "what made you have an outburst, anyhow?"

"He got a little too close for comfort," I reached up and cupped the area he'd prodded, "and he made a comment that sent me into a full blown PTSD moment."

"What'd he say?"

I stayed silent, flicking my eyes back and forth from Necro, to Lily, to Marshall, and back to Lily again. She blinked in a curious manner, like she was interested, but only barely. I let out a deep breath and found that I was completely unable to speak about it, so Necro stepped up to the plate and handled it smoothly.

"He made a real half-minded statement about her having sexual contact, and I don't think he realized until it was all over how unnecessary it was." He sighed quietly, and I winced, pulling at the collar of my shirt and looking over at Marshall.

"How bad are they?" I asked self-consciously, feeling a blush climb across my mangled cheeks.

"What? The bruises?" He raised an eyebrow, "What do those have to do with-?" Marshall paused again, glancing between Necro and I as he pieced the puzzle together, "oh, well I'll be damned. I didn't think you two had it in you."

"Yeah." I said quietly, feeling ashamed for my foolish actions. Marshall's attitude on the subject though seemed a little more light-hearted.

"I'm glad you two could find some solace in this situation," he sighed, "you're both still kids, and you were thrown into this so fast and so sudden. Once this is all over, things will get better."

"Thank you for not, I don't know, getting mad?" I laughed, "I forget sometimes you're not my dad."

"Is that what you think of me as?" He asked, a little incredulously.

"You've always acted like a father, to everyone here. I just...look up to you." I smiled at him, and he gave me a smile back, the gentlest one I'd ever seen him give.