Standing in the sitting room of their hotel suite, Amelia had her arms folded over her chest as Helmut stood on the other side of the room by the window, the curtains firmly closed behind him. They had turned the lamps on around the room and were stood with a large enough space between them. Helmut knew he had to keep his distance from her after he had watched her climb out of the pool earlier, his mind having gone to a place he knew it shouldn't have gone to.
She was still dressed in a robe, but she had gone to shower before they had the conversation she wanted to have with him. She had shrugged into her short pyjamas and pulled the hotel's robe around her. Her hair was damp, hanging in limp curls down her back. She had found Helmut looking out of the window, clearly lost in thought.
"So," Amelia began as she gained his full attention. "We're not going to give Selby that list."
Helmut's own arms folded over his chest as he heard her and he tilted his head to the side. "Excuse me?" he questioned from her. "What do you think is going to happen if we don't give her the list?"
"Just hear me out," Amelia urged from him, heading over to the centre of the room and closer to him. He kept his gaze on her face, trying to stop himself from acknowledging the fact that he could see her bare legs, her short pyjamas and the robe hardly concealing them. "We can't give Selby that list because we have no idea what she will do with it…who could get hurt if we give it to her?"
"That's not our concern," Helmut said to her. "We have one goal, Amelia, or have you forgotten that?"
"Of course I haven't forgotten it," she sniped back at him. "But we never said anything about innocent people getting hurt with what we're doing. Did I know that there would be the chance people would die…get hurt…of course I did…but that was HYDRA scientists…people who wouldn't think twice about killing us if they had the chance. People who wouldn't think twice about our families dying," Amelia said to him and he watched her as she perched on the arm of the sofa, tossing her hair over her shoulders and he remained where he was, stoic with his arms folded. "But we're talking about innocent people here, Helmut…people who are just going about their lives potentially getting hurt if we give Selby that information…people like Lukas…Heike…Carl."
He regarded her with caution, knowing that he had to choose his next words carefully. She had to understand that he didn't entirely care as much as she seemed to. He had one mission. Would he be sorry if people ended up harmed? Of course he would be. He had emotions. He was not heartless. But would he mourn? Would he lose sleep over getting what he needed in exchange for dangerous information? He doubted it.
"You know that people might get harmed, Amelia," Helmut said to her. "And I find it rather ironic that you are talking about killing innocents when you just shot two men."
"I shot two men who would have killed us, not two men who were going about their lives and not bothering us," she retorted and folded her arms over her chest once more, taking a defensive pose as Helmut leant back against the window, shrugging his shoulders.
"And so you think that you now have the right to decide who is innocent or not? Who lives or dies?" he questioned.
"No," Amelia snapped at him. "I am just doing what I have to do to survive and to get justice for what happened to our families."
"And that might mean doing things we don't want to do."
"But not hurting people unnecessarily," Amelia said. "Listen, we don't need to do this. We can give Selby the information…but we could also pass it on to someone in law enforcement who might be willing to help…find those arms dealers before she can."
"And then what? There will always be arms dealers, Amelia."
"But it doesn't mean I have to be complicit in helping them, does it?" she snapped back and she knew they were going to continue clashing on this. He didn't seem to want to listen to her and she wasn't going to take his side anytime soon either.
"And when Selby finds out we betrayed her?"
"We'll be long gone from Madripoor before she can find that out," Amelia said to him. "And who is to say that she would find out? She must know that these men are some of the most wanted in the world."
"Perhaps, but she could also send people after us, Amelia."
"Do you think so? She's stuck in Madripoor. She has her own kingdom there. The only way she'd kill us is if we ever stepped foot back in Lowtown and I don't think we have any intention of doing that, do you?"
Helmut remained silent, shaking his head firmly. "It's too risky."
"Then it's a risk we have to take," Amelia said.
"And why did you not bring this up before?"
"Because I wasn't thinking straight," she retorted and Helmut moved closer to her, looking down at her and eyeing her with suspicion. "Because sometimes I get so consumed by what we're doing that I don't think about anything else, but now I am thinking about other things and I'm thinking that…we're not these people…we're not bad people…people who let other people die needlessly."
Helmut stood inches from her and she remained perched on the arm of the sofa. He let his gaze bore into hers and he shook his head firmly at her.
"I'm not jeopardising this plan because you have decided to have a conscience," Helmut said.
"And you don't have a conscience?" she demanded from him and moved to her feet so that she was almost at the same height of him. There was a good foot difference, however, but she craned her neck so that she could continue to watch him. "You're not this man either. You were a soldier. You protected people. Hell, look at everything you've done to try and protect me."
"You're different."
"Why? Just because I was the fiancée of your best friend?" she questioned from him. "There are other people out there like us…people with fathers…daughters…husbands and wives…and if we can do something to try and protect them then why would we not?"
Helmut chuckled darkly, arms folding over his chest. "You're almost beginning to sound like one of them."
"One of who?"
"The Avengers," he drawled and he saw her recoil at his words as he continued speaking. "You would have been better off joining them when they destroyed our home the way you're talking."
He had been expecting her to lash out. He knew that he had pushed her too far. That much was proved when she placed both hands against his chest and pushed him backwards and away from her. He took a few steps back as she stood up straight and continued advancing forwards towards him, her fists pushing on his chest.
"How dare you?" she demanded from him, eyes wide and growing wet as her cheeks puffed out. "How could you even say that?"
"Because it's true. If you want to be pretend to be a hero then leave," Helmut snarled and looked to the door as he caught her wrists before she could push at him again. She tried to pull away from him, but he was stronger than she was. He stopped her from flailing around as he pushed her against the wall by the window, her back making contact with his as he kept her arms pinned against her head.
"You think I want to be a hero?" she snapped at him. "I just don't want to do the wrong thing…because I feel it…I feel how wrong it is."
"You'll jeopardise everything."
"No, I won't."
"I won't let you risk that."
"So what? You're going to lock me in here?"
Helmut tilted his head and then nodded, lips turning upwards smarmily. "Good idea," he said and Amelia moved then, lifting her knee up and kneeing him in the groin. His grip on her relented and she pushed him from her.
Heading to the door, she hardly got anywhere as Helmut composed himself. He stood up straight and grabbed hold of her by the wrist, stopping her from going anywhere. She tried to hit at him again, but she failed miserably as he used his other arm to grab her around the waist.
"What the hell are you doing?" she snapped at him as he picked her up with ease, tossing her over his shoulder.
Amelia felt her head spin as everything turned upside down and she thumped against his back as he stormed towards her room. She kicked her legs in the air, but nothing happened as he kept her firmly in place over his shoulder.
"Let me go!" she yelled at him.
"Not until you calm down," he replied.
"Helmut, you have no right to do this!" she snapped back at him, hitting his back as he pushed the door open to her room and carried her in. He dropped her on the bed unceremoniously, watching her bounce on the soft mattress, her robe now open around her body and her pyjama bottoms having ridden further up her thighs. She instantly began to move to stand up, but Helmut grabbed her by the wrists once more, sitting on the edge of the bed and keeping her pinned down.
"What…do you seriously think you can keep me locked in here?" she demanded to know from him. "We've got two days before Selby expects us."
"I have two days to stop you from ruining our plan," Helmut told her and she threw her head to the side, tossing her hair from her face. "Now, stay here. Calm down. I will check on you later."
"You are not locking me in here," Amelia said to him.
"I'll tie you to this bed if I have to," he warned her and she wondered if he was joking with her, but his face was completely serious as she continued to try and fight against his weight that was keeping her held down. "So, stay here and don't do anything stupid."
He stood up quickly then, rushing to the door. Amelia was close on his tail, but he managed to take the key out of her door and shut it, locking it just as she reached for the handle and turned on it to no avail. She pulled at the wood, but it didn't budge. Banging on the door, she knew that Helmut hadn't gone far.
"Helmut!" she shouted his name. "Helmut, let me out of here!"
He said nothing back to her as he went to his own bedroom and sat on the end of the bed. She continued yelling for the next few minutes before going silent. He had no doubt that she would be looking for a way out of the room. He knew that he would have to be careful with her and keep his eye on her. Amelia was nothing if not persistent, but she had no idea just how persistent Helmut could also be.
…
Amelia had finally given up looking for something to pick the lock with and gone to bed. She might as well get some sleep while she was locked away. But then morning broke and she desperately needed to use the bathroom. She knocked on the door once more having changed into a green jumpsuit and tied her hair back from her face.
"Helmut!" she shouted. "Helmut, come on, I need to use the bathroom!"
She waited patiently for him to come, leaning against the wall next to the door. She soon heard the key turning and the door opened. He stood there in a purple jumper with dark jeans on his body. He smelled of that expensive cologne he would spray in her apartment and she could see his hair was still damp, no doubt from him having just showered.
"Have you calmed down?" he questioned from her.
"Have you decided not to be an ass?"
"Very mature," he retorted sarcastically.
"Then I guess the answer is no," she snapped and moved past him and towards the bathroom.
He watched her slam the door closed and he moved out to the sitting room and settled down on the armchair, picking up the newspaper that he had grabbed from the reception that morning when he had gone for an early morning walk along the river. He had gone to Amelia's room and checked on her, seeing that she was still fast asleep before he had left.
He didn't pay attention to the day's news. He found himself focused on listening to the noises from the bathroom. He heard her come back out and she moved to the sitting room, looking to the dining table by the window and seeing that there were freshly baked pastries alongside a pot of coffee and tea.
"I ordered breakfast," Helmut said, seeing that she was looking at the food.
She moved over to it and settled down on one of the chairs. She poured herself a cup of coffee and Helmut folded the newspaper up and watched her sip on the drink, her eyes glancing out of the window and onto the river before them.
"Are you ignoring me?"
"You locked me in my room," Amelia retorted.
"To stop you from doing something brash," Helmut said to her. "You were going to act out last night and jeopardise this entire mission."
"I was going to-"
"-Yes, you were going to follow your conscience and do the right thing," he interrupted her, placing the paper down onto the coffee table and standing up. He moved over towards her and took the chair across from her. He poured himself a cup of tea and leant back in the chair.
"Apologies for having a conscience," Amelia said to him. "But you need to realise that this wasn't part of the deal-"
"-I know," he interrupted her. "But I spent last night thinking…and then this morning too."
"About what?" Amelia queried and she placed the white mug down onto a coaster.
"A way to stop Selby getting the information and not getting us killed in the process," Helmut said and he saw her eyes widen in surprise. He let his own lips turn upwards at the sight of her as he arched a brow. "Surprised?"
"After everything you said last night, yeah, I'm surprised," she confessed to him.
Helmut didn't know how to tell her what he had spent the night doing. He didn't want to tell her that he had spent the night imagining the worst case scenario if Selby did get her hands on the information. He imagined how Amelia would react. He imagined the guilt she would feel. But, more than that, he imagined how she would look at him. He imagined how she would despise him. And, for some reason he didn't quite understand, he couldn't bear the thought of that. He was doing this for her.
"I had time to think," he said to her. "And I knew that doing something last night would have been dangerous because you weren't thinking coherently."
"What changed your mind?"
"If I tell you that I just changed my mind, would you leave it?"
"Have you ever known me to leave anything?"
"No," Helmut said to her. "But I just changed my mind and my reasons behind it are personal, but I had tried to think of a way to stop Selby from getting this information and it only works if we do it secretively."
"How do we do it?" Amelia asked him.
"My contacts in Russian intelligence," he said to her. "I will mention how a woman named Selby might attempt to make contact with the arms dealers…ask him to alert the relevant authorities and stop the contact being made. We will be kept at arm's length from this, but I can't promise that this might not come back to haunt us at some stage."
"How? Selby has no power outside of Madripoor," Amelia said.
"People like Selby are powerful, no matter where they're from," he said to her. "But we can do it."
"I really want to know what changed your mind," Amelia said.
Looking to her, he saw her smiling over to him and he shook his head. He continued to smile as he stood up and picked up a croissant. "That's for me to know and you never to find out," he said to her. "Now, eat breakfast and then get ready to go out. We're going on a walk considering we have a free day."
"I think you changed your mind because you're not a bad man," Amelia called out to him as he moved back towards his room. He paused in the doorway and looked back to her as she sat to the side on her chair and folded one leg over the other. She picked up her cup of coffee and cradled it in her hands.
He continued watching her as she smiled at him, her grin almost knowing. But she didn't know. She had no clue.
"Eat," was all he said to her and he shut the bedroom door, not knowing how to tell her that she was wrong. He didn't know if that scared him more than he cared to admit.
…
Helmut and Amelia had gone for a long walk that morning, picking up a takeaway coffee for the walk back. They had returned to the hotel room and Helmut told her that he would make reservations for dinner in the restaurant in the hotel that evening. She had agreed and gone off for a nap, still tired after the previous night's activities and feeling jet-lagged.
He had sat in the sitting room and flicked through a book he had brought with him before he had gone to change for dinner, hearing Amelia occupy the bathroom as he changed into a slim fitting black suit. Slipping into his black jacket, he waited for her in the sitting room and she soon appeared, dressed in a simple fitted green dress with long sleeves that came down to her knees. She carried a pair black heels on the tips of her fingers.
"Is this fancy enough for dinner?" she asked from him. "I had no idea what to wear in a place like this."
"It's fine," Helmut told her and she nodded, placing her shoes on the floor and holding the wall to steady herself as she stepped into them. Standing up tall, Helmut adjusted the cuffs of his shirt underneath his jacket. "It's quite nice, actually."
"You sound so shocked," Amelia said to him, pushing her hair behind her shoulders. She had left it loose to hang down her back and she moved back into her room. Helmut wondered what she was going to do, but she came back out dabbing at her wrists, a sweet floral smell coming from her as he realised it was her perfume.
"I don't remember seeing it before."
"It's an old dress, but I figured it was smart enough," she said. "Anyway, should we go?"
"After you," Helmut extended his arm and she walked in front of him.
He locked the door to their suite and they took the elevator up the eighteenth floor where the restaurant was. He spoke with the woman on the podium who checked reservations as Amelia looked around. The restaurant was already looking quite full and she wondered if she had ever eaten anywhere so fancy. The one thing Amelia despised was pretentious food. She was happier in a country pub than in a Michelin star restaurant.
She followed Helmut to their table and the waiter held her chair out for her and she sat down. They had a table by the window, looking over the sights of Hightown in the evening sky. The city's landscape stretched before them as the soft noise of music hummed in the background. Amelia looked around the white marbled floor and the black tables decorated minimally with just a vase containing one flower. There were a number of knives and forks in front of her as she laid the napkin over her lap. There were tables of people chatting and laughing, waiters and waitresses scurrying along and chatting animatedly between themselves as they passed each other.
The waiter went to hand Helmut the wine list, but he insisted on handing the menu to Amelia. She took hold of it and almost dropped it because of its heft. The waiter left them alone and Amelia looked around as Helmut watched her. Her eyes then went to the menu she was holding and she opened it up.
"Why is the wine menu longer than the Lord of the Rings?" she asked from Helmut and his lips turned upwards at hearing her as she flicked through it. "I don't know why you told him to let me pick. I have no idea what to order from this. I buy five pound bottles of wine from the corner shop…I'm not a connoisseur of wine."
"Would you like me to pick?" Helmut asked from her.
"Please," she said to him and handed him the menu.
"I opted for the set five course meal," Helmut said as he took hold of the menu from her. "I hoped that you wouldn't mind, but I can always change it if you prefer."
"No, that sounds fine," Amelia assured him.
He flicked through the wine menu and finally settled on a white wine that he suspected would go well with the first course before picking a second bottle for when their main meals arrived. Amelia remained silent, staring out of the window as Helmut watched her tuck her hair behind her ear and chew down on her bottom lip. He gave the waiter his order when he returned and then laced his hands together on the table.
"What are you thinking about?" he asked from her, gaining her attention once more.
Turning to look back to him, she let her eyes widen. "Hmm?" she asked.
"You were clearly lost in your own world," he informed her.
"Sorry," Amelia said to him. "I was just thinking about the first time I went to a nice restaurant like this. It had been with Lukas when he had visited me in London. He took me to a restaurant in the Shard."
"And what did you think?"
"I enjoyed it," Amelia said. "But I think that I just enjoyed it because he was there with me. It was one of the first dates we went on."
"Lukas always did know how to spoil his dates," Helmut said to her.
"And you?" Amelia wondered. "Don't tell me you didn't take Heike to some private dining experience for your first date?"
Helmut's lips turned upwards and he sat back in his chair, looking at Amelia as she laced her hands into her lap and folded one leg over the other.
"She never told you?" Helmut asked her.
"No," she replied.
"I took her to a theme park."
She looked surprised then, unable to hide the shocked expression from her face and causing Helmut to chuckle at the sight of her. He shook his head as the waiter returned and filled their wine glasses. He thanked him as Amelia did the same before he gave her his undivided attention.
"You are surprised?" he questioned.
"I guess I never had you down as a theme park kind of man," she said. "What with you coming from royalty and enjoying the finer things in life."
"I can enjoy the simple things too," he said. "Besides, everyone loves a theme park, don't they? Heike adored it. She insisted on going on every ride there was."
"And that really was your first date?" she checked with him.
"It was," he said to her. "I know you might not believe me, but I promise you it's true."
"Oh, I trust you," she said with no hesitation. "I just can't believe that the man sat in front of me tried to impress someone on a first date by going on rollercoasters."
He chuckled. "It was a long time ago now," he said to her. "It was back when I knew how to act on a date…Lukas…he used to tease me when Heike and I got married and settled down. He claimed that I never knew how to be romantic because I didn't spoil her with grand gestures like romantic weekends in Rome or delivering her dozens of red roses."
"He tried the grand gestures with me," Amelia said. "I remember when he sent this massive bouquet of flowers to my workplace. I told him they were nice, but he didn't need to do that. I'd have been just as happy with him turning up on the doorstep with a cheap bunch of daffodils and intending on spending the night just sitting in and talking…not sending a private car to pick me up to meet him at some exclusive restaurant he'd booked a private room in."
Helmut's lips quirked even more as he imagined Amelia telling his friend that she would rather stay in than go out. That had never been Lukas's style.
"You're a woman of simple wants," Helmut said to her.
"I mean, don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it when we did go out and I never wanted to appear ungrateful…like I didn't appreciate what he did…but it was just that he didn't need to do it to try and charm me or make me think he was good enough," Amelia commented. "I don't think relationships are like that. I think that if you can be content to just sit in someone's company for hours and not run out of things to talk about…be happy…then that's enough. It doesn't matter where you are."
"So you're a hopeless romantic," Helmut concluded.
She snorted and sipped on the wine. "Hardly," she said to him. "I just…I think that a successful relationship is built on more than grand gestures."
"And Lukas came to realise that when he met you. He saw what I had with Heike and he always wanted that…he said he only thought that he could have it when he met you."
"And Heike told me all about how much she loved you," Amelia told him. "She told me how you and Carl were her absolute world. It used to upset her whenever you went away for work. She…she always worried. I remember asking her why you didn't stop. You didn't need to be part of EKO, did you? You were a Baron."
"I enjoyed my job, that's why," Helmut admitted to her. "I know what she went through and I know that she tried to hide it from me, but I wasn't blind. All I could do was assure her that I would come back home. I would always come back to her and Carl."
"She knew that," Amelia said to him.
"I know," he said and took a sip of his own wine.
Amelia looked down to her lap before looking back up to him. "Do you ever think that we'll have that feeling again?" Amelia asked from him. "I know we're consumed with what we have planned right now…but one day…when we've achieved what we set out to do…will we ever have happiness again?"
"I don't know," he confessed to her.
"Because I think about it," Amelia said. "And I know that might make me sound heartless, but I think about the future and moving on from Lukas, but I can't even imagine doing that without feeling guilty. I know people do move on, I'm aware of that, but I just don't know if I can contemplate it."
"I don't know either," Helmut said to her.
That was true. He thought that he would be with Heike forever. He never imagined his life without her and in truth he didn't want a life without her. She was his wife. She was everything to him. He didn't think he could have anything like that again.
Looking out the window, Amelia spoke, her tone one of sorrow as she avoided his gaze.
"It's lonely, isn't it?" she asked and he watched the side of her face as she spoke. "Living this life…waking up and realising that they're not there beside you…it's just lonely."
He agreed with that. He was lonely. There was no denying that. He nodded his head as she turned back to him, a sad smile on her face as their food was served and that put an end to that conversation.
They spent their evening talking to each other about the past and things that were of no importance. She tried to keep the conversation light, well aware that things could get heavy again if she didn't try. She enjoyed the meal and Helmut watched with a smile on his face as she ate her food and hummed appreciatively over the taste whenever she took a bite. She was enjoying it more than she cared to admit and Helmut clearly had a good eye for good food.
Finishing the meal, Helmut asked the waiter to put it on their room and he would pay when they checked out. Standing up, he held Amelia's chair out for her and she walked with him out of the restaurant and back to the elevator.
"That was really lovely," she said to him as he pressed the button for the elevator.
"I am glad you enjoyed it," he said. "I was thinking that it might be worth going to the bar for a drink? It is still early and I have heard that they have quite the whiskey collection."
"We drank two bottles of wine between us and you want more alcohol?" she checked as they stepped into the elevator.
"A foolish idea, perhaps," Helmut said. "We should go back to the room-"
"-No," Amelia interrupted, not wanting to go back to the room for some reason. "I guess one more drink won't hurt, will it?"
The problem with that attitude was that one drink turned into more than that and before Amelia knew it, Helmut was trying to persuade her that whiskey was the superior spirit and she was disagreeing with him. They stayed sat at the bar until it closed at one a.m. and Helmut had to confess that he didn't know how time could have passed by that quickly.
Standing up from the barstool, Amelia knew she had drunk too much. She had the urge to go to the bathroom and her head was also feeling woozy. Swaying on her feet, she slipped her heels off and picked them up as Helmut watched her stand with just her feet covered in tights. They headed off from the bar and across the lobby of the hotel. He was grateful that it was quiet because Amelia continued giggling at something he had earlier said. She seemed unable to stop herself.
"We need sleep," Helmut said as soon as he unlocked the door to their room.
He held the door open and Amelia walked in, dropping her shoes to the floor. "No, I need to pee," she said to him and he chuckled as he watched her walk towards the bathroom.
Locking the door to the suite, he didn't entirely know what to do as he found himself pacing the length of the room. He wasn't entirely drunk, but he was slightly tipsy. He had drunk more than he should have, but there had been something about the night that he didn't want it to end. He had enjoyed spending time with Amelia, finding himself content in her company.
He was about to grab a bottle of water from the mini fridge for her, but he had no chance. He suddenly heard a loud smashing noise from the bathroom and he instantly tried to clear his mind. Rushing to the bathroom, he didn't wait for Amelia to say anything as he peeled the door open. He found her on the floor, a smashed bottle of the hotel's perfume next to her. She was holding her head in her hands.
"What happened?" Helmut asked her.
"I slipped on the floor," Amelia said to him. "It's pretty slippy."
"Are you hurt?" he asked from her and she shook her head.
Her eyes were glazed over from too much alcohol. He could see that much. He knelt down in front of her, ensuring that there were no shards of glass near him as he settled there.
"You've banged your head, haven't you?" he checked with her.
She nodded and he sighed, quickly sobering up considering Amelia most certainly wasn't sober. He held his hand in front of him and lifted three fingers up. "How many fingers am I holding up?"
"Three," she mumbled.
"Correct, but I'm going to need to check that. Come on, let's get away from this broken glass."
He stood up and held his hand out to her. He helped her stand up, seeing her swaying on her feet as she moved a hand to her mouth. "I feel sick," she complained. "I told you that whiskey wouldn't go down well."
"Don't blame your sickness on that whiskey," he told her and he led her back to the sitting room, his hand on her back as she stumbled forwards and he moved his arm around her waist instead. He got her to the sofa and deposited her down onto it before grabbing the bottle of water and forcing her to sip on it. She did as he had asked, sipping on it slowly and leaning back against the couch.
Helmut sat next to her, hovering around her and moving his hands to her hair, parting it and ensuring she hadn't cut herself. He couldn't find any blood there and Amelia was closing her eyes already. She was clearly tired and Helmut didn't know if she should go to sleep after banging her head.
"I'm off to bed," Amelia mumbled.
"Alright, but you need to be sure you're not concussed," Helmut said. "So I'm going to be staying with you for a bit."
"Fine," Amelia muttered and stood up once more. Helmut stood with her and she held a hand up before placing a hand to her stomach. "No, I'm going to be sick."
She ran back to the bathroom and Helmut sighed, wondering if he should have actually just taken her back to the hotel room instead of going for a drink. He stood in the door of the bathroom and watched her hunch over the toilet, emptying the contents of her stomach. He noted her hair falling into her face and he tentatively stepped forwards, avoiding the broken glass once more. He reached for her hair and pulled it back from her face as she continued being sick. Wrinkling his nose, he waited for her to finish before she slouched over the toilet.
He helped her up when she was finished and she stumbled over to the sink. She reached for her toothbrush and toothpaste, brushing her teeth as Helmut swept up the glass with the side of his shoe covered foot, ensuring it was in the corner so she didn't step in it.
Guiding her back to her bedroom, he pulled back her duvet. She didn't even bother getting changed as she curled into a ball on her side. Helmut pulled the duvet up and over her.
"Get some rest. I'll stay here until I'm certain you're going to be fine."
"Alright," she said and he smirked at the fact she hadn't argued with him.
He moved to the chair in the corner, picking up the book she had been reading on the way. He sat down and read the blurb of it as he heard Amelia speak from the bed.
"Why did you change your mind…about the list?" she wondered.
Helmut rested her book in his lap. "I told you, I just had a change of heart," Helmut replied and Amelia grunted, rolling onto her other side.
"I'm glad you did," she whispered. "I don't like fighting with you."
Helmut said nothing back to her as she went to sleep and he watched her, whispering softly into the room, confident she couldn't hear him. "It was for you," he said. "Just for you, Amelia."
...
A/N: Thank you so much to my guest reviewer and to micrographia - I loved reading your reviews and they helped inspire me to keep going with this story. I have a few ideas going on in my mind about the direction of the story, but I am always open to suggestions. Would love to know if you're still reading and if there are any other fellow Zemo fans out there!
