Healed By Love

Hamburger Wrapper/Alfred-Part 1

"Go ahead und choose, Kylie." She reached in, feeling around. Out came a piece of trash—a crumpled up piece of yellow wax paper, with an orange 'M' on it. "Hey yo! That's mine little dudette!" Alfred stood, already next to her. "Awesome, you can call me Daddy!" "Oh God…" She heard Arthur mutter behind her....A trip to the store to buy some supplies for her later, the three of them were on a road trip back to Alfred's house. It was her, him, and his brother Matthew (as they were together anyway for a "Bro Week," and she only made things better; also, Kumajiro was with a pet sitter). She was sitting in Matthew's chest pocket, changed into a loose red dress they bought in place of the wet rags and covered by a thick blanket made for Tinies. Matthew opted to carry her in his pocket so she wasn't alone on a giant seat. He sometimes rubbed her through the pocket fabric, or reached in and adjusted the blanket. He seemed pretty nice. However, her new caretaker was doing all the talking. He was currently describing superheroes. "And Batman is pretty awesome too, his parents died when he was little and so he vowed to get revenge—" Matthew's eyes widened. "Um. Alfred?" "—And he lived with his butler and became a superhero when he was an adult—" "Alfred." "—And he fights all of these super villains that keep escaping from an asylum…" "Alfred!" "What?" "I don't think he's the right superhero to tell her about, eh?" "My Mo-Momma awnd Poppa gwot swick," Kylie piped up. "Swhop mwan took thwem into a bwack rwoom awnd I nwever swaw thwem agwain." They were silent for the few hours it took to get home, except to order tons of fast food and go to the bathroom..."Welcome home, Kylie," Alfred said, locking the door behind him. "You can maybe borrow one of the shirts from my action figures until tomorrow, okay? Let's get you a bath…" "I can go get her room ready while you two do that, eh?" Matthew smiled, handing Alfred the shopping bag with bathroom supplies (shampoo and conditioner, toothbrush, etc.) and a pink long-sleeved nightgown Matthew had picked out in a hurry when Alfred wasn't looking. He smiled, "Thanks, bro. Hers is the one next to mine, alright?"... She stood in front of Alfred, scared by the look on his face. Her clothes had been taken off after she asked him for help since she couldn't get her ruined clothes off, so he realized he had to help her with this until he could have a bathroom made for her size set up. Or, at least, use this bathroom first with a bathtub and shower in one for her size, with the low handles. It wasn't the one that was built into her room, but he wanted to help her in here tonight. But when he helped her peel off the dirty clothes, he had stopped speaking of fun hobbies the two were totally going to start together and stared. It scared her. "Al-Alfwred?" "I-Is that—oh my God, so many…why you ran—but—the shopkeeper," He worked his jaw, and she realized it was her bruises he was staring at. "Kylie, did your…Caretaker…" Did one of MY citizens . . ."Shwop mwan hwit me, cuz' I'm a-a b-bwad gwirl." She felt her eyes tear up, and her lip trembled as she looked to the ground. "D-dwon't . . . Plwease—I-I…" Tears streamed down her cheeks now, "I'm rweally twired, I dwo-dwon't thwink I ca—I cwan . . . I cwan't twake bweing awll hwurt wanymwore!" She began wailing. "No, no! Sweetie," He kneeled down to be eye level with her on the counter, a rare serious look on his face. As he spoke, two strong hands put her in the sink and wet her hair with a cup. "You aren't a bad girl! Kylie, I'm the hero. Your hero. You remember what I said about heroes?" She sniffed, nodding. "They help people," he continued, squirting some shampoo and conditioner (in one) onto his fingers and started washing her hair. "Save damsels in distress, right?" "Yweah…" "So," He began washing her hair out, "you're a damsel in distress. And what did I say I was?" "A hewro," His hands were incredibly gentle, washing her amber colored hair until there wasn't any grime left. She had stopped crying, his soothing words calming her enough to relax and sit in the sink. "Not just any hero, Kylie. Your hero. Right? I promise I won't let anyone else hurt you. Now let's wash the rest of this dirt off of you, alright?"... She had the dress on now, hair still damp with a clean body, but it wasn't warming her little legs or feet. "Okay, time for beddy-bye!" Alfred said, picking her up and taking her to her room. Which was surprisingly not a mess. He had cleaned (and often hired maids to clean his houses in the states anyway, but this was all by himself), at first from a dare from Matthew. Now he was pretty happy, as the lingering smell of old socks throughout the house was replaced by pumpkin-spice scented oil sticks (he preferred this during the fall, but it was the only thing that replaced the other gross smells - he also took the role of "white girls" by liking this pumpkin scent...). "Want some water? A late-night cheeseburger?" She shook her head, exhausted and leaning into his neck. "Dwon' lweave me…" He chuckled, patting her back with his thumb and laying her down on the bed. He tucked the covers over her, smiling with a really nice smile she had only seen on Arthur when he took her out of the alley and into his warm embrace. "Here, baby. Just lay down and relax, kay? I'm gonna take a shower myself so I'm all clean and stuff for you. Be right back!" She stayed there while he showered, and Matthew walked in from a fresh shower himself in pajamas. "Hey, K-Kylie…" "H-hi," she whispered shyly. "How are you feeling?" "G-g-gwood." He chuckled, putting his hands in his pockets. "Really?" "Uh-huh." "You're shivering, little Maple." He chuckled, going to the closet and pulling out a blanket, laying it across her shivering body. "Th-thwanks, s-swir…" Matthew blushed as he spoke, "You…You can call me Uncle if you want to…O-or just Mattie…" "Okay . . . U-Uwncle Mwattie." She liked that. He seemed like a very nice man, unlike her previous caretaker. He blushed harder, sitting down on the edge of the bed. The two talked a little more before Alfred came out in a pair of blue pajama bottoms and a red T-shirt. "Hey, my little bro and heroine!" He un-tucked the covers, lying beside her and covering both of their bodies with the blankets again. "Getting to know Mattie?" "I'm older than you..."
"Uwncle M-Mwattie's re-eally nice," she said, smiling at both if the massive males in exhaustion. The Canadian's face immediately lit up at that, happy she could see him and acknowledge his help. "Th-thank you, Kylie. You're very nice, too…Goodnight, Maple. Night Alfred—she's going out," He giggled at her obvious struggle to keep her eyes open. "And she was cold, so I put an extra blanket on…" "Aw!" Alfred laughed; kissing her head and making her wake up fully from the contact. "Don't worry, the Hero'll keep you warm! Night, Matts." He frowned at the nick-name, but nodded and left. She was obviously tired, and "Matts" didn't want to keep her awake. The American turned off the light, cupping her shivering body to his chest, and feeling her nuzzle up to his heart. "Warm, sweetie?" Still cold, she rolled over and pressed herself into his body with a soft moan, nuzzling her own face into his chest as his hands rested behind her back comfortingly. Small fists raised to clutch his shirt, as a compromise for nothing else to snuggle. America felt a squeal bubbling up in his chest at this action, and settled for laughing softly. "Guess so now, huh? You're adorable. Your Hero will take good care of you now, okay? I promise. Night-night, Kylie…" She was already sound asleep. America felt the responsibility catch up to him. He had to take care of a Tiny little girl and himself now. "Heh . . . You know what, Kylie? Britain was my big brother, and he kinda screwed up on that one . . . He didn't respect me as a country, and his people treated my people like crap. At least, that's all that you'd understand. When you're older I'll have to tell you more, I guess. I had an entire Revolution for that mistake he made, did you know? I stopped calling him Big Brother 'cause of it, even though you're going to call him uncle . . . So I won't screw up on you. At least, I'll try…Really! No one will ever hurt you again, especially . . . Especially Marcus Verano. I'll have to pull a few strings with my boss, but we can keep an eye on him for any other trouble he might cause…But you're the Hero's daughter now. I'll protect you from the bad guys like him." He drifted off into a light sleep, careful not to squeeze her too tightly with his superhuman strength. But they were both pretty comfortable cuddling each other, especially as he was warm for her sick little body...Canada's pancakes were cooking. That's what woke up America. Food. He grunted, rolling over with something he was cuddling like a teddy bear. 'Oh jeez, did I grab Kumajiro or that Superman plush this time?' He slowly opened his eyes, realizing that it wasn't Kumajiro because it wasn't fluffy and far too small to be the small bear, but it was breathing. Alfred looked down to see Kylie's sleeping form, and remembered everything that happened yesterday. He was startled at first, but soon grinned at how precious and vulnerable she looked. Her head was burrowed into his chest, knees brought up to her own chest in coldness. One of her thumbs was in her mouth, while the other hand had part of his shirt clutched tightly. She moaned, slowly opening her eyes and blinking. Her face was red, and when he put a finger on her forehead it was burning. She was definitely sick. He held her securely against him as he moved, sitting up with the blankets so she was still covered on his upper stomach and chest. "Hey there, you little baby," Alfred couldn't help cooing this in baby-talk. "Sleep well? You're quite the little snuggler, so I hope you were warm enough. Want breakfast?" She was still half asleep, and looked at him in confusion before laying her head back down on his stomach and sighing softly. He laughed, patting her almost microscopic form comfortingly. "Alright, sweetie. A couple more minutes, okay?" 'Because…Pancakes…So close…And I can't get up and wake her! Look at that face…But the smell of the pancakes…Aw jeez, now she's nuzzling my belly…!' Alfred giggled as she rubbed his stomach with her nose, probably scratching it in her sleep-ridden mind and not wanting to lift her hands. Still, he was ticklish there! So he lifted her higher, a little further up his chest now, and cradled her under the blankets. The American reached up to get his glasses off of the nightstand, and reached over to get his phone to text Canada. {Dude, Kylie's too cute to put down. Bring food in here and we'll have breakfast in bed!}The Canadian responded after a minute: {Is she awake?} {No, but she's sick and I don’t wanna get up! Plz bro?!} {…Ok.} Satisfied, Alfred sat back against the pillows and kissed her head gently. She woke up quickly in a bad coughing fit, sitting up on his chest and nearly hacking up her lungs (in the American's eyes, anyway). He patted her back, reassuring her and texting Canada: {DUDE GET ICE WATER IN HERE NOW!!!!!!!} In less than a minute the Canadian ran into the room with a sippy cup made for Tiny toddlers, slipping in the doorframe in his haste to get inside, nearly dropping the almost microscopic liquid container. He quickly adjusted his glasses and ran to the bedside, where her coughing fit had just passed. "Are you guys alright?!" He exclaimed, handing the cup to her. She sipped greedily, the cool liquid soothing her throat. She looked back up at him gratefully, then shut her eyes and leaned back into America. He was very warm, and she was so cold…Although the water felt great against her sore throat. "We are now, thanks bro. She was coughing really hard is all." She stopped gulping down the water, sighing into his shirt. Her voice came out as a croak, "I h-hwurt, M-Mr. Al-Alfwred…" Both pairs of eyes and smiles softened down to looks of sympathy, and Alfred took the water into his hand. "Just call me Alfie, Kylie. Where does it hurt, sweetie? Throat?" She nodded, wiping wet eyes. These tears were from this soreness that was seemingly everywhere in her tiny body. As Matthew sat down, the American wiped her cheeks with the tip of his thumb. His tone darkened, "Are the bruises sore too?" She nodded. Especially those. Matthew gave both of them a look. "Bruises?" "S-Shwop mwan hwurt me." She whimpered, sniffling. She really didn't want to complain, as the shopkeeper hated when she and the other Tinies did that and got angry, but mostly her. These men seemed nice, but she didn't want to make them angry. Now, that man got mad quickly. And right now, Alfred's voice sounded pretty angry. "At the meeting Arthur said he abused her." And so did the normally soft-spoken Matthew. "Bruises?! What kind of heartless monster hurts a toddler like—er," He stopped himself, remembering she was right there, and spoke softly this time. "We'll talk about this later, eh? I'm sorry for raising my voice . . . Oh Maple, the pancakes!" Matthew got up and ran to the kitchen. She was tensed now, scared by the heavy air that suddenly took place. America could feel her tense up, and rubbed her back. "Hey, sorry little dudette. I'm just . . . it wasn't right, what he did. No one should be hurt. My country…America…it's full of bad people, and I know that. But I can't change it, either. We're working out the kinks, okay? Starting with you. I'll protect you, you hear? Remember what I said about heroes!" "Y-youw're my hewro?" His chest filled with pride at that, and a grin snuck back up on his face. "That's right too! But I meant that heroes protect and save everyone. So yeah, I'm your hero!" She sniffled and hugged him as much as her size would let her as Matthew brought in the best pancakes of all time on a big platter. "Alright guys," He said, sitting carefully on the bed and giving the two a plate, "Breakfast time!" She decided there was no chance she was going back to the alley after trying these..."Alfwie?" Kylie timidly stood halfway in his slightly opened bedroom door, clutching her new teddy tightly. Matthew had gotten it for her as a gift to welcome her into the family. As one of the last days of their bro week, the caretaker and uncle were playing whatever video games they hadn't introduced  to her already. Because these games were horror based, they waited until late at night or her naptime to play them—keeping the volume low and track of what times she was waking up from having nightmares. Today, during naptime, was one of those times, and as she entered the living room they paused the game and turned around quickly. "Hey Kylie," America put down his controller. "What's wrong, baby? Did we wake you?" He didn't remember screaming this time around, although that happened yesterday and he offered her as many cheeseburgers and ice-creams as she wanted in apology. She shook her head. "Nightmare?" She nodded shyly, hiding part of her face behind the doorframe. He and Matthew gave each other a knowing glance before turning off the TV entirely. He said, "You shouldn't be up right now, 'kay? Let's get you back to bed…" "Nwot twired…" she whispered, coughing a little. "Are you sure?" America was confused, as for the past several days she usually went back to sleep after a nightmare. He was sad to say they were all about the shopkeeper: not monsters or shadows like normal children. Most of what she described her nightmares being was violence in it's worst form. So, America had her "Caretaker" being watched by the government. So far, he hadn't even filed a theft report with the police for her. Then again, he was just updated two days ago that Marcus Verano had gotten tangled with law enforcement for a bar fight. Weapons were drawn, and he had nearly lost his life. Verano said it was because he thought this man was who took her away from him. Upon further notice, the police had started digging around for information on her. America and Canada had already used their resources (being the human representations of countries had it's pros in the way of legalities) to make sure she had a new, clean slate. She was officially Kylie Jones, but they still had to be careful. Even though what the police found was absolutely nothing but old shop records that went back to when it first opened less than 10 years ago. No pictures, no records, nothing—because of countless years of the man keeping Tinies inside, she was basically a ghost. There was no real proof she alive other than the recorded date of her birth, as no one could find anything. That's why they dropped the interest of her and focused on Verano and the man that he attacked. America, on the other hand, found two files on her parents. Her mother's name was Sarah, and her father's was Jason. In fact they'd even managed to track down a Tiny that had been adopted from there by a couple in London, which Arthur had notified them of when they looped him in on their research, and he told them that about a month after Emily was born, her parents caught a illness from a customer, and were hit badly because none of the Tinies there were vaccinated, and that when Tinies got sick there, he took them into the back room and...ate them... Other Tinies from there confirmed that he was already abusive towards not only her, but them as well, but she was apparently more of a good excuse to vent his feelings on in a more physical and verbal sense after her parents passed. When Matthew heard that bit of information of what he did with the sick Tinies, he actually threw up in the bathroom. Even Arthur and Francis were sickened by the information, the Frenchman only knew that because he happened to have been pestering Arthur when Alfred called. After hearing this new information, both men ultimately decided to give Kylie the best life they could offer. She was still a baby, not even three, and maybe she would forget about him one day. "Well, why don't we just go back there anyways and just chillax?" He picked her up, and Matthew followed them both to her bedroom. "Wanna talk about the nightmare?" "Nuh-uh." "Want some lunch, Maple?" Your uncle asked, sitting beside the two. She shyly nodded. He smiled, "I'll go make some—" "Dude, just get take-out from McDonalds." "Um…Grilled cheese?" She nodded into Alfred's chest as they all entered the bedroom. "S' fwine." Frankly, any food that her "uncle" cooked was amazing. "I got her ok for it, I'm making it now!" Matthew rushed off to make her lunch before Alfred could argue. The man holding her pouted, but soon got an idea. He grinned, falling back on the bed and raising her high above him. She stared back, a quizzical and slightly scared look on her face as his smile only seemed to grow. "Have you ever flown before? Like a superhero?" She blinked, wondering just what he was going to do. He looked a lot like an excited child, ready to show his friend a new game. "No…" He brought her down close to his face and kissed her head, looking into her eyes with a glimmer of excitement. "You're about to fly, sweetie! Don't worry, the Hero's right here to catch you, okay?! Do you trust me?" Reluctantly, she nodded. Alfred tossed her into the air with a gentle flick of the wrist. She let out a small shriek, not sure what to think about this experience. As she was air-born for two seconds before coming back down to America's open palm, she looked in awe at his wide grin below and felt time slow. He looked at her expectantly, waiting for a reaction. Her ribs actually did hurt a little, but that was only from the awkwardness of the position she was in upon landing. The bruises were mostly healed, and her cold was almost gone. Other than a few coughs every now and then, and prone to getting cold more so than the other two adults. "Agwain!" Her little voice squealed after a second. He laughed, complying and tossing her once more lightly. She landed, laughing too this time. Alfred did this twice more before she reached up for him, grunting as she did so. He pulled her back to his chest, and she put her hand to her mouth in a grin that was too large for her little face, gasping with laughter. She took this fist out and kissed a small section his cheek when he brought her up to his face, off the corner of his mouth, then giggled audibly at his bright blush. "Love ya, kiddo," He kissed her in a full body kiss in return, and she touched his cheek with a soft hand as the two of them laid there, nose and entire body touching. "Lwove ywou twoo, Dwaddy." His heart exploded.