hiding

Birdy Cuddles

"How is she?" Marco asked as he landed on the deck.

"I think the better question is how are you doing?" Namur said, noticing Marco's clothing was covered in blood. They all knew it wasn't his own.

"I'm fine, yoi. I'm not the one who got the shit beat out of me."

"She'll be fine, nothing life threatening." Doc called out next to Whitebeard, "Just look at it as if it was a brutal training. She has a concussion, some cracked ribs and a dislocated shoulder. The bruises look nasty, but they should fade away in a couple weeks. Alexia will be extremely sore for a while."

"And Cornhastings?" Marco spat.

"He has been dealt with properly." Whitebeard assured, "Tomorrow we will figure out how we will approach the Marine problem. Tonight, we rest."

"Understood." Marco nodded, retreating to his room.

He was surprised to find Alexia resting in bed. He figured Doc would have had her in the medical bay. Marco was exhausted, deciding to lay on the bed instead of the chair. Sleeping in the chair was really starting to kill his back, Alexia was just going to have to put up with sharing the bed.

He frowned, staring at the bruises that covered her body. He knew it upset him more than it should any other person. Marco knew he was struggling to maintain his emotions when it pertained to Alexia. He also knew that he went over kill when dealing with Darin. Marco closed his eyes, letting sleep take him over, leaving his thoughts for another time.

Marco was becoming aware of a wet sensation on his chest. He slowly opened his eyes, slightly annoyed to be awake when he still felt exhausted. His eyes widened in shock as he looked down to see Alexia curled into his chest, grasping his shirt. Any assumption of Alexia being asleep quickly vanished as he heard her sniffle, confirming she was crying.

"Um... Alexia? Yoi what's wrong?" Marco sounded confused.

"I'm sorry, I just... never mind it's stupid." She started to roll away to the other side of the bed.

"Yoi! Wait a minute," Marco held onto her, stopping her from rolling away, "What's wrong yoi?"

"I guess I just had a nightmare again. And I thought when I woke up, that I was still there. But... but you guys actually came for me." Alexia started crying again, burying her face into his side.

"Of course we came for you idiot." Marco remained frozen for a moment, not sure what he should do with the crying woman.

"Please don't leave me right now." Alexia mumbled, "I know this is probably really uncomfortable for you, but I really don't trust myself to be alone right now."

"What are you talking about? Don't talk that suicidal crap to me right now." Marco sighed, wrapping his arms around her as she cried, "You'll be okay, I won't leave you alone."

"Marco, they did things to me... and they beat me so bad. I thought I was getting stronger but turns out I'm just as weak as I was when I first joined you all. I'm so ashamed of myself."

"There is nothing to be ashamed of Lexi. You are strong, so much stronger than you were before. What happened tonight wasn't your fault. I shouldn't have let you go on your own."

"Thank you for coming back for me. For some reason I was afraid you guys would leave me behind." Alexia admitted.

"We will always come for you. Pops would destroy the world for one of his children if need be." Marco laughed, stroking her hair. Alexia was no longer sobbing, tears starting to slow, "You don't have to tell us what they did to you if you don't want to. But please, if you need any of us, just say so. I promise you it's no burden to us. You are so much stronger than you believe. They took you out with numbers Alexia, not strength. There's a big difference there."

"What will happen with the island? The Marines?" Alexia asked curiously.

"We'll have a meeting tomorrow to figure out the minor details, but Pops agrees with you. This island will be put under his protection. We are going to take tomorrow to regroup. No doubt the Marines are aware of our presence after the explosion at the mansion. They should have all of the islanders free from the factory by tomorrow as well."

"And... and Cornhastings and Darin?" Alexia mumbled nervously.

"I promise you; they will never be able to take another breath of air again. No one harms one of our own and gets away with it."

"Are you okay?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" Marco was confused.

"I know your responsible for killing at least one of them... you still have some blood under your fingernails. I know how upset you can get. I just want to make sure your alright after all of that. I know you don't like killing out of anger." Alexia muttered, inching closer to him as she hide her face farther into his side. Exhausting was quickly finding her again.

"I'll be okay. It had to be done. Seeing you so defeated like that, I never want to see that again." Marco tightened his grip on her unconsciously, shaking his head lightly, "They had it coming to them in the end. They were sick, twisted people."

Alexia nodded her head against his chest silently. Her heart felt as though it was about to burst out of her chest from the close contact. Sure they had touched before during training and scouting; but this was different, more intimate in a way. Every nerve in her body told her to move and hide from embarrassment but for a moment, she was truly aware of how safe she felt. She felt safe, and warm, and god damn tired. She tried reasoning with her subconscious that it was nothing more than to help ease her fears and anxiety.

"Marco... will you stay with me tonight. I'm afraid to be alone." Alexia admitted. Although it may have been mostly true, she knew a small portion of it was for selfish reasons. He was warm, and she hadn't felt this comfortable in a long time.

"Of course. Just don't forget you asked and then kill me when you wake up." Marco laughed lightly, continuing to stroke her hair. Alexia felt herself drifting off to the first dreamless sleep she had experienced in years.