A/N: Hello everybody! I am so sorry for the wait; my life has been a little hectic due to my cat being sick and all. Somehow, she managed to bounce back thankfully so my stress has been reduced by a lot. So this chapter has a little itty bitty trigger warning in it. The stuff that Charlie went through wasn't very nice, I did try to not go into too much detail but if anybody thinks I should put this in the M category I will do so. I also would like to thank everybody who took the time to fave and follow this fic mucho thanks for that. I think that is it and now on with the show!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

New Start

Charlie

Charlie let out a soft sigh. Currently, she was picking at her dinner. She was still getting used having daily meals. She always felt hungry but because she had been deprived of proper meals for so long; she found it hard to eat big meals so frequently. Not that the food tasted bad or anything like that. It was actually better than anything she's eaten in quite a long time. She inwardly shook her head. Here she was, enjoying hospital food. It really HAD been forever sine she had any proper meals. She shifted slightly to get more comfortable and instantly regretted it. Her sores were still bothering her quite a bit. She frowned at that. Her healing factor was still all messed it up it seemed, possibly because she was suffering from malnutrition so badly. She hoped it would get better as she got stronger again.

Sniffing the air, she determined that somebody was coming and it wasn't Clint sadly. Sniffing the air once more, she was able to determine that the person was female. For some odd reason females always smelt cleaner than males. She didn't know why that was. The door creaked open slowly and in stepped an older female doctor with graying hair and very kind looking grey eyes. She smelt a lot less funny than the previous doctor.

"Well hello there! My name is Doctor Margie, how are you feeling today?" The doctor asked kindly.

She hesitated for a moment; she decided on what she should tell Doctor Margie. She decided the truth would be the best way to go. She couldn't be any worse than the previous doctor was, she seemed a lot kinder anyway,

"I'm feeling a little sore." She signed.

The doctor frowned at her.

"Well that just won't do. I will adjust the dose of your pain medication. Are you comfortable with me looking at your sores? I want to make sure that they aren't infected." Doctor Margie explained kindly.

She bit her lip. She wasn't quite how to respond to what Doctor Margie just told her. Her instincts were screaming at her to say 'no' even though this Doctor was clearly not a threat. She was just so used to having to protect herself from everybody that it was hard to let her guard down for anything but this Doctor seemed okay. Plus, if they were infected she would need antibiotics to clear up the infection anyway. However scared she was, she knew that she should let the Doctor take a look at her sores. Oh how she wished Clint was here with her.

Looking at Doctor Margie, she nodded a little unsurely and gave her permission to have her sores examined. Doctor Margie gave her a look of approval.

"Thank you dear, I promise I'll be quick and it'll be painless." She reassured.

Doctor Margie helped her set her dinner tray aside so she could gain access to her legs. Gently, she pushed the covers aside and lifted her gown so she could look at how the sores were healing. As she examined them, Doctor Margie made a noise of disapproval.

"Well, they aren't healing as well as they should be. I will give you some antibiotics and that should clear everything up and make you feel a lot better." Doctor Margie informed kindly.

She nodded and let the Doctor cover her back up again. Giving her another warm smile, Doctor Margie adjusted the amount of painkillers that she was getting via her IV drip and added some antibiotics. She really hoped that this would kick-start her healing factor and she would begin to feel better faster. She really wanted out of this stupid hospital. After adjusting her medication, the kind doctor gave her a nice smile.

"There, that should do it. You should be up and running in no time! If you need anything just push the little call button to your right and somebody will come help you. I will be back in a bit to check your progress. Rest well, dear." Doctor Margie said kindly.

She nodded softly and the kind doctor left her room.

She had to admit that she didn't hate that doctor. Compared to the pushy male one, she was a dream. Not once did that doctor ask her anything, just checked her sores and adjusted her pain medication. She still hated hospitals but maybe being stuck in this place wouldn't be quite as terrible as she imagined it would be. She kind of wondered what was with the sudden change of Doctors. She wondered if it had something to do with Clint. Thinking of Clint caused her heart to flutter a little bit. Not in a romantic way or anything like that, just in a happy sort of way. It felt so good to be cared for by somebody.

As she continued to think about Clint, something else popped into her mind. Before he found her, she never really made any effort to communicate with anybody in her mind with the exception of Victor a couple of times because she found it to be too personal. She didn't like sharing her emotions with people and she sure as heck wouldn't share them with her handlers, she knew that they would have figured out a way to use the ability against her anyway. Deep down, she knew that Clint would never do anything like that. She didn't know how she knew that, she just did.

Letting out a long yawn, she tried to get comfortable in her bed. She could feel the drugs really kicking in and knew that she needed to sleep for a bit. She let her violet eyes drift shut and she drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

Clint

Clint let out a painful grunt as he walked down the hallway to the medical ward. During their training session Natasha really did a number on him. His head and his heart weren't really into it and this was something Natasha could tell right away. She let him know painfully what she thought of that. She also 'interrogated' him until he spilled everything about Charlie too. Immediately, she wanted him to give the responsibility of caring for her to somebody else. That was something that he just couldn't do, she needed him and he knew that she wouldn't trust anybody else to come anywhere near her. He just couldn't understand why she felt so threatened by a 19 year old girl when there was no need for her to be. He only hoped he could show her that before their relationship deteriorated even more. He shook his head and let out a long sigh. He would think of a solution to that problem at a later date. Right now, he wanted to go and see Charlie. He had a bag of goodies for her. She didn't really have anything that was her own and he wanted to change that. He bought her a bunch of necessities like a tooth brush and hair brush. He also bought her some fun things too like a stuffed bear and some chocolate. Later on when she was ready to leave the hospital, he would get some clothes for her.

He reached her room and entered slowly not knowing if she was sleeping or awake. He realized that she was sleeping. Carefully and quietly, he approached the side of her bed. He really didn't want to accidently wake her up and set off her powers causing the collar to shock her. He looked at the offending piece of metal and frowned. He really needed to figure out how to get that piece of shit off of her. Letting out a low sigh, he pulled up a chair and sat down next to her. He placed the bag of goodies onto the floor for now to give to her when she woke up. He gently pushed her long hair form her face. She seemed to enjoy the touch and moved toward his hand in her sleep. He continued to caress her head until he could see that she was beginning to wake up. He pulled his hand back gently so he wouldn't startle her. Her violet eyes fluttered opened and focused on him.

Instantly he could tell that she was happy to see him. She reached out for his hand and he complied immediately. He curled his large hand around her smaller one. He was immediately hit with her emotions. He could feel her happiness and he liked it.

"How are you feeling?" He asked her in his mind.

She gave him a small smile.

"Much better, a new Doctor came to see me today she changed my pain medication and gave me some antibiotics. She was much nicer than the other doctor was." She replied, her voice soft inside of his head.

Hearing that caused him to smile, that meant that the dipshits in charge of her care actually did what he told them to do.

"Good, here I have something for you." He told her inside of his head.

She looked at him curiously. He gently severed the connection and picked up the bag of goodies off of the floor. He placed the bag of goodies onto the bed in front of her and gestured for her to look inside of it. She looked at him a little unsurely, it was clear that she hadn't received anything in so long that she couldn't believe that somebody actually got HER something. This was something he vowed to change too. She deserved to be spoiled. He watched her hesitantly look in the bag. As she started to go through the contents of the bag, her happiness seemed to increase. She pulled out the chocolate and the stuffed bear. She looked at him with a cross between shock and excitement. It was very clear that it had been quite sometime since she had chocolate or a stuffed animal. The look on her face morphed from a cross between shock and excitement to genuine gratefulness. Looking at him with unshed tears in her violet eyes, she held out her hand for him to take. He wasted no time in taking her small hand in his larger one.

"Thank you so very much! Chocolate is my favorite, I can't remember the last time I had some." She murmured inside of his head.

He gave her a gentle look and stroked her small hand with his thumb. She looked a little surprised at the touch but didn't pull away.

"You're welcome, sweetness." He thought back to her.

Suddenly, he could feel that she had become a little shy. He thought it was adorable. Whether it was from the pet name or the small touch he didn't know. He was very happy that she was becoming a lot comfortable around him. She looked at him with a small smile on her face. She momentarily severed their connection so she could open the chocolate. After she did so, she touched his hand again.

"Would you like some?" She asked softly.

His blue-green eyes softened at the question. This poor sweet girl had been through hell and back. She had absolutely nothing to her name and when she finally gets something that belongs to her she wants to share it with him. He wondered what kind of sick pile of shit could find so much enjoyment in causing her so much pain. God, he wanted to find these people and end them so badly. Knowing that his thoughts were going down a bad road, he dispelled them as quickly as he could. He did NOT want her to feel all of his negative emotions. Instead, he smiled back at her softly.

"Sure, I would love some." He told her softly.

Without severing the connection this time, they shared the chocolate in silence. They simply relayed different emotions back and forth to each other. It felt interesting to say the least but he found that he enjoyed it immensely. He gaze drifted back to the collar around her neck, he just couldn't help it. There had to be some way to get the stupid thing off of her. He decided that the next time he visited her that he would bring his tools and see if he could get it off of her himself. It couldn't hurt to try. Suddenly, their bubble of solitude was popped when an orderly entered her room with a new tray of food and took her old one away. She looked at the food and wrinkled her little nose at it.

"This is too much food for me to eat in a day." She complained.

He gave her a look. She needed all the nutrition she could get. She was still skin and bones.

"Sweetness, you're still just skin and bones. You need to eat it." He coaxed gently.

Reluctantly, he severed their connection and got up to go retrieve the tray of food. He brought the tray of food back and carefully set it in front of her. He was still very careful with every movement he made so he wouldn't startle her. She looked at the tray of food in front of her and then stuck her tongue out at him playfully. It caused him to chuckle a little bit. He was happy to see that she was coming out of her shell even if it was just a little bit. Suddenly her entire demeanor shifted. She back away from him suddenly very frightened and wondered just what in the hell was going on until the light bulb went on inside of this head. Did she think he would punish her for sticking her tongue out at him? Getting her to realize that he would never ever hurt her was going to be harder than he first thought. He placed hands in the surrender position and approached her carefully. His heart clenched painfully, she looked so terrified.

"Charlie, it's okay I promise you that I will never hurt you ever." He intoned softly, praying that she would believe him.

He could see she wanted to believe him so badly but it was just so hard for her to let go of something she was conditioned to think. Using slow and precise movements, he caressed the top of her head gently and soothingly. Slowly, he moved to the side of her face and caressed there too. Finally, she calmed down some and placed her small hand on top of his.

"I'm so sorry." She murmured softly inside of his head.

He could feel her shame and embarrassment. He looked at her softly.

"Oh sweetness, it's okay." He murmured softly back to her.

He felt her emotions shift from shame and embarrassment to relief. It was clear that she was scared that she would do something that would make him leave her permanently. This was something he would never ever do no matter what she did. He would help her to learn to trust him no matter how long it took. He tried to relay trusting emotions through their connection and she calmed down a lot more. Satisfied that she was calm, he nudged the tray of food closer to her and looked at her expectantly.

"Now, you better eat your food before it gets too cold." He coaxed again.

She gave him a look but complied with his wishes.

This time she reluctantly severed their connection and started picking at the food on the tray. As she picked away at her food, they sat in a companionable silence. Pretty soon he could tell that she was getting tired again. When she finished eating, he got up and moved the food tray out her way. Then he helped her get comfortable in the bed being careful not to mess with her IV too much and aggravate her sores in any way. Placing the stuffed bear next to her in the bed, he pulled up covers all around her and made sure that she was comfortable. Her small hand latched onto his shirt and she looked up at with a look in her big violet eyes that he was beginning to know well. She was asking him to stay with her until she fell asleep. He knew that he would never be able to deny her that. He sat back down in the chair next to her bed. Gently and slowly, he brought his hand to the top of her and caressed it. She unconsciously flinched a little at his touch and he suppressed a frown. He hoped as she got more used to his touch, those reflexes would diminish in time. He stayed with her until her eyes grew heavy and she fell asleep.

Satisfied that she was out like a light, he got up from the chair and picked up the bag of toiletries. He left the chocolate where it was in case she wanted it when she woke up again. He went into her small bathroom and deposited all of the toiletries on the counter to they were there for her to used when she needed them. Exiting the bathroom, he took one last look at her before he left the room. She was now sleeping soundly and clinging to the teddy bear he bought her. His blue-green eyes softened at the sight. 19 years old or not, she was still just a little girl who still needed looking after in many ways. He decided he would bring her more goodies the next time he came to see her.

Quietly, he left the room and headed back to his own room. He entered the small space and flipped on the lights. Immediately, he eyes zeroed in on his laptop, Charlie's files and the small black USB stick that sat on top of them. He hadn't quite had the guts to see what was on the memory stick yet. But he supposed now was as good a time as any. This time instead of putting on some coffee, he grabbed a beer from his fridge and searched his junk drawer for a bottle opener. Coming up victorious, he sat down at his table and opened his bottle of beer. He knew that whatever was on that USB stick, he was going to need something a lot stronger than coffee to deal with it. Taking a large swig of his beer and placing it on the table next to himself, he plugged the USB stick into his laptop and turned it on. Opening it up, he saw that there were several folders full of files being stored on it and they were all nameless. Seeing as none of them had names, he just picked a folder at random and saw that it was filled with video files. He clicked one on one of the video files and sorely wished he hadn't.

The video was of Charlie in the cage her handlers must have kept her in when she wasn't out on a 'mission'. She was signing softly to herself. This must have been filmed not long after she was first abducted. Of course she had the piece of shit collar around her neck but she looked a hell of a lot healthier. He could tell that this video must have been just after they abducted her and before they did any of the 'procedures' on her. He watched completely horrified as two large men approached the side of her cage. He could see that she realized very quickly that something very bad was about to happen to her. The two men entered her cage and held her in place. She put up a hell of a fight but they were much stronger than her. A third man came into to view. He was much shorter than the other two. It was clear that he was the 'brains' behind the operation. He saw that the short little man held a knife in one hand and something else in the other hand behind his back.

He approached the cage with purpose and spoke in a low, chilling voice.

"It seems our subject still has some fight left in her. It's time to change that." The short man said.

Charlie watched the man with absolute fear in her violet eyes. He opened the cage and approached her. In a last ditch afforded to protect herself, her powers exploded to life but all that did was cause the collar to come to life and shock her repeatedly. The short man laughed darkly and pulled something from behind his back. He realized it was a key. He jammed it into the side of the collar and it fell uselessly to the ground. She looked at him in shock momentarily until he pulled the other hand from behind his back to reveal the knife. Her shock morphed into horror as soon as she saw the knife. The short man brought the knife to her throat and he couldn't force himself to watch what was about to take place. After it was over, the short man spoke once more.

"My little lightfire, I hope that will teach you not to disobey me now won't it? I told you to cut that infernal racket out and you refused to listen to me. Now I hope you won't disobey me again now will you? That's my good girl." He short man stated darkly.

"You two, clean her up and get that collar back onto her. We have a lot of work to do; she will be our perfect weapon yet!" He added, addressing his goon friends.

After that, the video ended. He couldn't believe what he just witnessed and that was just the first video. He could only imagine what he would find in the other ones. He was so mad that he wanted to destroy his entire apartment but he forced himself not to because all it would do was make a huge mess that he would have to clean up later. They didn't just take away her voice to stop her from singing; they did it to destroy her will to fight. Then they inserted the control chip into her brain so they could control her like a damn robot those sick fucks. He slammed his laptop lid shut and started pacing his apartment. He wanted nothing more than to end those assholes and when he did find them he would take great pleasure in doing it. It was no wonder that Charlie didn't want to tell him why she couldn't speak. He ran his hands through his messy, short blond locks, he was going to have to show her these videos some day and he was not looking forward to it. Not only did he have that to worry about but he knew how she lost her voice before she had the chance to tell him. How in the hell would he deal with that?

He plopped back down into his chair and let out a soft sigh. He supposed he would deal with that when the time came.

As for right now, he had one mission and one mission only, to look after Charlie. She was his to protect now and he would be damned if he let anything bad happen to her ever again.