Accidentally

Charlotte had been sick for three days. The flu it seemed. It boggled John to be honest. Tomorrow People rarely got sick and if they did it barely lasted a day. John wanted to blame the testing that this poor girl endured for years. John had been considered the dad of the group for years, so of course the role of taking care of anyone when they got sick fell to him.

He had been keeping an eye on her throughout the day. He wanted to go the pharmacy and get something for her, but there was the whole lack of money thing to deal with. And besides that all the pharmacies he's checked out have been heavily covered with cameras, which ruled out teleportation in and out after hours.

He wished there was something he could do to help her get better faster. Doctors and medicine were out of the question, no matter how much he wished they weren't. His only options were to keep her from getting dehydrated and keep her well rested.

Keeping her well rested, seemed nearly impossible. She had been fighting off the dreams from the citadel for now, but now they were back and almost worse then they had been before. She was usually strong enough to fight them off, but the flu had drained her. She couldn't fight them off. His only choice was to wake her up, and hope that when she would fall asleep again quickly. Hopefully this time without nightmares.

It's three in the morning when she wakes him. Her screams shattering the quiet night. He untangles himself from Cara's arms and is at Charlotte's bed side in moments. His hand goes to her shoulder.

"It's okay Charlie, it's just a dream. Time to wake up," he whispered shaking her slightly. He hated to see her like this. Her past had been eating her alive. She'd never be completely free of it. It destroyed him to know she hadn't been able to fight the nightmares as strongly as she usually could.

She turned slightly in her sleep, she was still screaming. He shook her shoulder a little bit harder. Her eyes shot open and she sat up quickly. Her heart was pounding and she couldn't stop shaking. It always felt to real for her. She was making in the citadel, she was their guinea pig once more.

"It's okay. It's okay," he whispered, he was rubbing circles on her back. She couldn't bring herself to say anything. She was still shaken up, all she could manage was to shake her head.

"I'll stay with you till you fall back asleep, but it's time to go back to bed," he murmured, well still rubbing circles.

"It's real John."

"I know Charlie, but you're not there anymore. You're safe now. I promise. I'll be here till you fall asleep, and I'll try to be here when you wake up in the morning. But for now you need to lay back down and close your eyes."

John wasn't sure what else to do. What Charlotte really needed was her family. But trying to find them was out of the question. She had been gone for years, and Ultra could easily go after her again. She was never going to have a normal life. She was never going to have a normal childhood, no matter how hard he wished she could.

He removed his hand from her back and went to lean against the wall of the room she resided in. He would keep to his word. He would stay with her until she fell asleep, and he would try to be there when she woke up in the morning. He watched as she allowed herself to settle back into bed. She let out a brief yawn as she let herself bury her head in her pillow.

"Goodnight Charlie."

"Goodnight dad."

He'd blame it on flu related delusion. It had just slipped out after all. But that didn't prevent him from cracking a smile, as he watched the girl he had taken under his wing peacefully fall to sleep.

So I ventured out of my comfort zone to write this. Hopefully it's okay.