Trinity awoke with ice in her veins.

She’d been dreaming about being chased by paparazzi in a room where the walls were closing in.

And she’d been woken by a loud noise that seemed more like a crash from somewhere downstairs than a rumble of thunder from the storm outside.

She slipped out of bed, her bare feet hitting the wood floor soundlessly. The building was still now, haunting in the moonlight that filtered through the curtains and the occasional flash of lightning.

She grabbed her phone and crept down the stairs to the center hall, skipping the squeaky step at the last minute.

Though there were no more auditory clues, she instinctively headed for the admin room.

A glow appearing suddenly just past the kitchen told her she was right. She lifted her phone to call 9-1-1.

A light moan in a familiar deep pitch issued from the admin room.

Hawkeye.

She jogged back to the room to find Hawkeye, his hand on the switch, the other pressed to his head.

Blood was matted in his hair and he was breathing quickly.

“Wh-what happened? Are you okay?” she asked.

“I was out for a walk,” he explained. “I thought I saw a light in here, flashing around.”

“Why were you going for a walk in the middle of the night?” she asked. “In the rain?”

“I couldn’t sleep,” he said, with a funny look on his face. “And I like the rain. Anyway, when I saw the light, I thought someone might have broken in again, so I came to check it out. And someone was in here.”

“Who was it?” she asked, pulling his hand away to look at the wound.

He allowed it, even bending slightly to give her better access.

It was really bloody, but she knew from so many rambunctious little brothers that scalp wounds bled a lot and tended to look worse than they were.

“I don’t know who it was,” he told her sadly. “It was dark in here and he had a big flashlight, that was what I saw from outside. He hit me with it as soon as I came in the door and then he took off. I should have been more quiet. I guess he was waiting for me.”

“If you thought someone was breaking in, why would you go charging in?” Trinity asked, feeling suddenly furious. “Why wouldn’t you call for help?”

“I was worried that you might be in here,” he said.

“Why would I be working in the middle of the night?” she demanded. But even as she said it, she knew he had a point. She was pretty likely to be up at all hours.

There were footsteps on the stairs. The others must have woken up, just like the last time.

“This is getting ridiculous,” Trinity muttered. “Come on. Let’s go get the first aid kit from the kitchen.”

“I’m fine,” he said.

“Just come with me,” she said.

“What’s going on?” Lobo asked as he bounded in from the corridor.

“Another break in,” Trinity said. “Your brother tried to be a hero.”

“Hawkeye, what happened?” Conan asked from the doorway, behind Lobo.

“I’m fine, brothers,” Hawkeye said. “Trinity will care for me. Can you please figure out how the intruder accessed this room? I didn’t find any broken glass this time.”

“Sure, of course,” Lobo said.

Conan nodded and the two of them came into the room and began searching.

“Where are Veronica and Brooke?” Trinity asked.

“Brooke is sleeping,” Conan explained.

“I asked Veronica to stay upstairs,” Lobo said. “In case there had been another break in.”

“I’ll go talk to her as soon as Hawkeye’s patched up,” she replied.

Lobo nodded.

Trinity led Hawkeye down the hall.

“Thank you for helping me,” he said. “Will this require stitches?”

“No,” Trinity said. “Head wounds bleed a lot, but this one’s not bad.”

“You know much about medicine,” Hawkeye observed.

“No, but I had six little brothers, so I know much about injuries,” Trinity said.

“Six little brothers is a lot,” Hawkeye said. “But I’m sure you took good care of them, so they will always protect you.”

Trinity chuckled. That was probably true of at least four of them. The other two… not so much.

“Here’s hoping,” she joked weakly.

They had reached the kitchen.

“Go ahead and sit down,” she told him, indicating one of the stools.

She went on tiptoe to retrieve the first aid kit from one of the top shelves. Thankfully, they didn’t need it often.

Hawkeye observed her solemnly as she got a clean towel from the drawer and wet it.

“This is going to hurt,” she warned him.

But he didn’t flinch when she pressed the towel to his head.

She held it firmly in place for a full minute and when she removed it again, the bleeding had stopped.

“Great, you’re not bleeding anymore,” she said, hoping to distract him with mindless chatter as she cleaned the cut.

He waited, calm as a sleepy kitten, while she cleaned it thoroughly and dabbed it with peroxide.

She smeared a bit of antibiotic ointment over the area and leaned back slightly to admire her handiwork.

“That’s better,” she said. “You’re going to have a nasty lump on the back of your head though. I’ll grab you some ice.”

“Wait,” he said.

Suddenly his big hands were spanning her hips as he leaned his forehead against her chest.

It felt so good when he touched her. The frank lust was there as always, but there was more than that now, maybe there had been from the beginning.

A wave of emotion swept through her heart, frightening her.

This man is telling me I’m his everything.

She wasn’t ready. She wasn’t ready for this.

Trinity broke free of his hold.

“Grab yourself some ice from the freezer,” she practically yelped as she skidded out the door. “I-I have to go tell Veronica what’s going on.”