His eyes widened, eyebrows pulled up in surprise. "What do you mean?" Charlie asks.
Amelia sighs, "I think we should go inside and sit down to talk about it."
He doesn't protest her question, nodding to his daughter. Gently her hands press on his back, guiding him into his own home. Even if he could walk by himself, Charlie was visibly out of breath. Getting older was for sure taking a toll on his body, she wanted to give him all the help she could muster.
Entering his home, maids scatter around the living room. Greeting her with head nods and small words as they pass. Amelia was used to the young women running around her father's home, he needed the help after all. Her father was never entirely clean, maids were the easiest solution for him.
They make it to the couch, helping her father sit down. Charlie groans, leaning back as his body hits the couch. She follows suit, sitting next to him. Hands place themselves on her lap, while her father runs his fingers through his hair.
"Now Amelia, tell me what is going on please." His voice is calm, breathy with his current state. The words hit her ears, Amelia remains silent.
She wanted to tell her father everything she was feeling. From the constant paranoia, the aching of her heart in the past repeating itself. The young woman wanted to sob into her father's arms, be told everything was going to be alright. Having the chance to lose her father because of the escalating scene, the days nearing closer to her meeting. How would she tell her own father what she had gotten herself into without even making a conscious decisions?
Amelia shakes her head, hands beginning to shake on her lap. "Dad.. I-I'm frightened." She can't help the tears begin to swell in her eyes, wiping them quickly.
Charlie gasps, quickly sitting up placing his hands on his daughter's shoulders. "Amelia?" He says her name softly, quietly. It doesn't do any good, the tears pool down her skin.
Crying became a common action in the passing weeks, she felt vulnerable. Amelia tried her best not to cry nor show emotion in her daily routine. Now, she was unraveling bit by bit. She hated it, and wanted to have the tears cease from her eyes. Feel no emotion at all, go head first without any fear.
That wasn't possible, the scared little girl was crying within her. Amelia was scared, her father knew it.
Turning to him, her lip quivers. "I'm frightened daddy! I'm so scared! What if-- what if he takes me away? He kidnaps me and hides me forever?!"
"Amelia–"
Amelia rambles on, hands balled into fists. She shakes her head. "I should've killed him! I should've–"
"Amelia!" She snaps out of it, feeling the tight grip of her father's hands on her shoulders. Amelia yelps, looking towards her father with wide eyes.
The tears were uncontrollable, still falling from her eyes as they stared at one another. A father concerned for his only child, a daughter who only wanted to be comforted by her father. His tight grip loosens, holding her in a light grasp. She shakes her head, unable to keep eye contact with her father.
She was supposed to grow, learn from the past. Retracing steps that she would never make again, yet here she was. Crying like a little girl, emotions running wild. Ashamed of how much of her shell she had let chip away,
He leans forward, placing his hand on her cheek. A look of sadness in his eyes, his whole face displayed worry for his child. "Look at what he's done to my poor baby.." Charlie says breathlessly.
"The worst part is.. I don't think I even know my own past." She places her hand on top of her father's. "Nor my future."
Only weeks ago she had her life figured out, she knew what would come each morning when she opened her eyes. Now everyday was tormenting, formality becoming foriegn. She missed the dull routine of conferences, captures, and then back to files. Here she sat with tears down her cheeks, being comforted by the only person she couldn't bear to lose.
Amelia was losing herself, losing the woman she had built up from scratch.
Her father's thumb rubs on her cheek, before pulling her close into a tight embrace. Amelia indulges him, wrapping her arms around his chest as tightly as she could. She never wanted to let go of him, not knowing what dangers lay ahead of the next few days. The warmth of her father's protection, his need to keep her safe in his arms. The vulnerability was the lighter option for her heart to take.
His hands rub on her back, trying to soothe her. "I am here baby, I'm here to protect you as much as I can. I'm your father."
"I know dad, I don't want you getting hurt." Amelia shakes her head. "That would be more painful than anything else."
She can feel her heart clenching in her chest.
"Worse than..Mother."
Charlie's grip tightens, pulling her even closer into his chest. " I promise I will stay safe, just to help you."
Amelia sniffles, pressing her cheek against his chest. "Thank you dad.."
He was all she had in the dark abyss of the world, no matter what mistakes he had made. He was truly her father, growing and evolving to help her navigate through life. No matter how old she became, she would always run into his arms. Seeking the love and care she had gotten her entire life, before spreading her wings and flying away.
She cared for him, more than herself. It was common for a daughter to risk everything for her father, but he was different. After finding out years ago they weren't blood related, he didn't have to take care of her still. Charlie did, and loved her just as much when he found out. She didn't even know, time healed all damage it had done on her end. At the end of the day, she loved her father no matter what ties they had.
Crying to him was no secret, clinging onto him tightly was no boundaries crossed. Amelia needed her father more than anything now, as the hurricane was nearing. She didn't know if it would be the last time she ever felt her father's embrace, the warmth of genuine love for her.
So Amelia began to cry, sobbing into her father's arms like she was a child once again. Being held as tightly as the older man could muster, shushing her with his long fingers running through her hair. Tears streamed down her cheeks, dropping onto the fabric pressed against her father's chest. She didn't care about the stains of mascara that would be left, or the redness of her eyes: she wanted to feel something other than dread.
A life like that, even a moment wasn't possible for an agent of her caliber. There would always be a target on her back no matter where she dared to go. Running from the monsters that lurked in the darkness would hold no ground when they knew her face. Although her legs kept up with running from the growing darkness, tripping was bound to happen.
This situation was a trip, the person knew she had slipped even if faint cracks were all that could be seen. If Amelia wasn't careful enough, she would stumble and fall. Becoming vulnerable to the naked eye, someone who had no right to see past the cracks.
In public, a minor infraction had occurred. In private, her whole world was unraveling at the seams. Grasping at straws that in truth, were never there to begin with. A life she had built for herself, now disappearing in front of her very eyes. The powerful, the confidence, all strung up to her mask: her persona.
A father knew when his daughter was falling apart, she hoped he would not let her go. Not until the gripping of her heart ceased, the tensing of her muscles relaxed. When her mind was out of the clouds looming overhead, only then would she pull away from his arms. The scene reminds her of so many times before, where a hug was all she needed to heal the wounds placed by others.
Each held onto the other with tightness, a force that neither dared break. Silence looming around the large halls of her father's home, something she needed. No words, no ways of soothing her. Just the silence of their breathing, shifting of the couch under them, even the clicking of heels from the fluttering maids. Amelia didn't want to be babied to that extent, his extended hand to provide her a moment of love was all she wanted. Yet the knots in her stomach only grew larger, tying fiercely around one another.
This time, she needed more than just a hug. Amelia needed a miracle, she needed God to send his grace to her. Help her in this time of need, she would pray the moment she got home. She had always been religious in her life and she needed the higher power now more than ever.
A hug wasn't going to get her out of this alive.