Mafia

5 Damon

"Did you really need to drug her?" I asked my sister. She shrugged.

"You saw how terrified she was when she first woke up," she said, "There's no way she would've stayed." I sighed. She was probably right, but that doesn't mean that I had to approve of her methods.

"How long will she be out?" I asked.

"The whole night at least. Probably a little longer."

"You're sure?"

"Of course," Emma said with a smile, "Or did you forget I do this for a living?" I shook my head.

"How could I," I said matching her smile, "when I'm the one that paid for med school?"

"Whatever," Emma replied, "I'm gonna go hang with Roxy."

"Okay," I said, "Let her know about the job, but don't tell her about Lupin being Hestia."

"Why not?" Emma asked, "She's Steve's wife. She's one of us and deserves to know what's going on."

"I agree," I said, "but Lupin only agreed to let us tell Tony and Steve. We never asked her about Roxy.

"You saw how terrified she was when she first woke up. If we're going to get her to help us, then we can't risk doing anything to lose her trust."

"I'll just give her the basics," Emma said, "but Roxy deserves to know."

"I know," I said, "We'll ask about telling Roxy as soon as Lupin wakes up."

"Alright," Emma said, "You look like crap, bro."

"Thanks."

"Get some sleep," Emma said. She wrapped her arms around my waist and gave me a hug.

"I will," I said, returning Emma's hug.

"Night, bro," Emma said, as she made her way down the hall.

"Night, sis."

I turned and saw Tony and Steve making their way towards me.

"What was that about?" Steve asked gesturing towards Lupin's room. I shook my head.

"Don't ask," I said, "I'm too tired to explain."

"You look like crap, man," Tony said, "You haven't slept since she got here."

"Thanks," I said, rubbing his eyes.

"What's with you, Damon?" Steve asked, "We've never seen you like this."

"I don't know," I said, "There's just something about her."

I looked through the crack left in the doorway of Lupin's room. The thin ray of light from the hall reached across the floor and over the bed, finally landing on her face. It was the only time I'd seen her actually look calm. When she first slept in that room, she'd been plagued by nightmares. She never woke up, but I'd seen nightmares enough times to know what they looked like. After the first time she woke up, I couldn't leave her side. Whenever she'd had a nightmare, I'd take her hand and just hold it until she calmed down.

I'd seen a lot of people in his life that were hurt. Hell, I'd even hurt a couple, but I've never seen someone as simultaneously strong and broken as Lupin. Just like I could see how broken she was, I could tell that she'd managed to pull herself back together, at least a little.

I had absolutely no idea why she was broken, but I saw it in everything about her. I saw it in the way she looked around a room, as if trying to protect herself from danger. In the way she moved, like she were terrified to take a misstep. In the way she talked, or didn't, like she was afraid to speak. Most importantly, I saw it in the way she flinched at everyone's touch.