"Claire, sweetie, you need to wake up." Sheryl Gray called softly as she woke up her sweet little daughter from her sleep.
Blue eyes blinked up at her groggily as the little five year old yawned loudly, stretching as she rubbed her eyes with her tiny fist. "Why?" she asked with another yawn, feeling her mommy gather her in her arms and carry her out of her room.
"Where are we going, mommy? What's happening?" she asked as her mother let out a shuddered breath, tears in her green eyes as she shook her head. This confused Claire, why was her mommy crying? Did something happen to daddy? Is someone bullying them like that boy in her school?
Sheryl opened the closet, it was big enough to fit Claire, and let Claire crawl into the cramped space. "Nothing's happening, sweetie. Just-just stay in here and be quiet, okay? Like when we play hide and seek. Don't mind anything you hear, or anything the man says, okay, sweetie?" Sheryl kissed her daughter's forehead, her hands slightly shaky as she drew in another breath. "You're a big girl now, right?" she asked and smiled slightly as Claire nodded enthusiastically, "Good. While you're hiding in here, cover yourself with coats like in those movies we watched. Everything will be okay."
As she said those words, someone began slamming their fist against their apartment door, shouting words that little Claire didn't even understand much. Sheryl pulled back, "Oh no, not now. We're not ready yet." She mumbled worriedly before standing up and closing the closet as quietly as she could.
"But-mommy!" the five year old said, stopping the doors from closing as she attempted to fling herself onto her mother so she could protect her from the bad things she felt that would happen, but her mother calmed her down with a look.
"Be good, alright?" her mother ordered with a quivering voice, kissing her daughter's forehead again, her lips shaking as she drew in a breath, "You be good for daddy and I, okay? We love you, Claire bear. Never, ever doubt that." Sheryl looked at her daughter with a serious yet heartbreakingly sad expression, looking like she was about to risk her life, which was probably the case. Not that Claire knew that.
All the five year old could do as she stared at her mother with helpless eyes was nod. Then she started silently crying as her mother closed the doors with finality in it. She clutched the coats around her to cover her tiny form, hiccupping quietly as she felt like she was being suffocated and smothered in the cramped place.
"Stop, it's us you want!" She heard her father shout and she almost screamed as she heard a gun fire, her heart beating fast as she sobbed, her hand covering her mouth as tears streamed down her red cheeks. She heard a barely audible thump, indicating something fell to the ground, and a chill passed through her as she felt how gigantic the possibility was that it was a body.
"Robert!" she heard her mother screech into the night air, the scream full of horror and shock and heartbreak, it was almost a howl, it made Claire just sob harder into her tiny right hand, her left hand clutching onto a coat.
Another gunshot blasted into the air.
Claire stifled another hiccup, feeling her eyes widen as she saw a shadow seep through the little space between the two doors in the closet. She tried not breath harder, her sobs becoming more difficult to stop as she squeezed her eyes shut, praying that the awful man wouldn't open the closet. From that little gap, she saw his face, which was handsome, yet scarily scarred along the left side, and he was wearing a lab coat, like a scientist.
She felt herself freeze, the man stopped right in the middle, looking from side to side slowly, making her heart stop for a second. He walked past the closet, his boots thumping against the wooden floor, and she breathed out in relief.
She strained her ears as she heard something happen, something that sounded like a struggle. A fight broke out, and it seemed like they were talking to one another after an interval of fighting, but Claire couldn't make out what they were saying, the words came out as grunts and growls in her perspective, and she quietly wondered if these mean people were half puppy.
She heard something really hard hit something, like a metal hitting someone's skull, and flinched. Claire froze again, tears cleared from her eyes and her tiny fists clutching onto the coats around her.
The closet doors were flung open and Claire almost screamed at the top of her lungs, but stopped herself, a small squeak escaping her. The man in front of her didn't look like the man who from earlier. His face was less scarred, looking handsome and very charming even though he looked like one of those serious guys on TV. He looked at her with concern; his blue eyes were open, unguarded, making him automatically trustworthy to her.
"Don't be scared." He ordered quietly, trying not to alarm the already cowering five year old. "I'm here to help save you." He stated before gathering her up in his arms, letting her rest her head on his shoulders. Claire tiredly leaned against him, tears welling up in her eyes again. Her lighter blue eyes scanned around for her parents, but she was only greeted with red hot flames that scared her.
She started to sob into his shoulder, clutching onto his familiar blue uniform as she sputtered out incoherent words that included 'mommy and daddy' and 'dead'. Tears trickled down her round, angelic face, her nose, mouth and cheeks red as she tried to breathe in without letting out a violent hiccup. The man held her closer to him, feeling responsible for the little girl.
"Sir, we're going to have to ask you to let go of her." Someone said from beside him, making Claire clutch onto him harder, her head shaking wildly as she sobbed into his shoulder.
"I don't think this little one is going to let go any time soon, ma'am." He replied quietly, holding her tighter in his arms.
The woman scowled at him, "Kindly let go of the little girl, sir. We need to see if she has anymore relatives."
Claire sobbed louder, shaking her little blond head as the woman tried to pry her away from the man who held her, comforted her silently with his warmth and reassuring arms. She started to sputter, "P-please don't let them take me. Please." Her red tinted eyes pleaded along with her words, and the man just couldn't say no.
Looking up from the little girl, he locked eyes with the woman, his face stern and serious. "No can do, ma'am. This little girl right here is too scared to be held by anyone else, I'd rather no one else touches her."
She shot him a glare, "Who are you? What makes you think you have the authority?"
The man tapped the shield that was strapped behind him, a charming smile on his face. "I'm Captain America."