DC Genesis

Clint sat there in complete silence, listening to every detail that came out of Rose's mouth. God, the horrors that she had already lived through as a child. Even with a loving mother, there was nothing there that could be done. Her mother was helpless because of her boss and the job that she had. It made Rose work at such a young age, doing terrible things to ugly and horrible men. Clint just shook his head slowly. "I'm sorry Rose," was all that he was able to utter as she continued on.

"So one day I couldn't take it anymore," Rose said. "That same guy came back, the first one I already mentioned. He wanted to use me again, of course... but earlier, I'd kept my knife from dinner. It was a poor excuse for a knife, really, could barely even cut anything. But it could still pierce skin well enough if you shoved it hard enough. So when he came at me, I... I took it and I..." She forced her eyes shut, burying her head into her hands. "I killed him. It all happened so fast, he was pinning me down again and I pulled it from my pocket, and he tried to grab it and I just jabbed it and it got his neck and... and..."

She shook her head, trying to keep down her emotions. As normally a composed and steely woman as she was, going back through the horrors of her childhood were painful even for her. "Our boss was pissed. He beat me for it, but that was nothing compared to... to what he did to my mom. He got a bunch of guys together and he dragged her out of our hut by her hair, brought her back and threw her down and they... they all.. they... right in front of me... and he made me... made me watch."

Clint once again stayed silent, surprised that Rose even went on. This wasn't even the worst part of the story, she continued in detail about how the same fat man had come again to take her only to have Rose kill him with a knife to the neck. Rose's alcohol issues were starting to gain a lot more light. To think that she survived all of this, just to run away...that had to keep her up at night sometimes. The nightmares had to be unbearable he figured.

Slowly Clint moved closer to Rose and reached over to take her hand in his own before giving it a tight squeeze with his hands. "Rose you don't need to say anything more if you don't want to. I'm sorry...I knew that something was wrong but I never figured that this was what happened. I'm sorry for making you talk about it."

Rose shook her head quickly, taking in a deep breath through her nose. The gentle squeeze to her hand felt surprisingly comforting. "No, no, I... I want to finish. I need to finish..." Something about getting this all off her chest, actually being able to tell somebody who would listen... it felt good. Unbearably painful, yes, but oddly cathartic. "My dad is the one who got me out. Was maybe a month after that incident... by that time, my mom had barely recovered from what those men did to her, but she was still forced to work. I don't know how my dad learned about me, but somehow he figured out he knocked up my mom, even though they had only ever seen each other like, maybe three times. So he came for me, rescued me, pulled me out of that village and brought me back to the States, where he lived. Sounds like a miracle, right?"

A soft scoff left her lips. "Yeah, right. My dad isn't... a nice person. Oh he likes me, sure. I'm his daughter, so he has to. The only reason he saved me was probably some kind of stupid sense of responsibility he suddenly decided he had. But the thing is, he's a real bastard to everyone else... even to me most of the time. He left my mom in that village, for one. Left her alone, took me from her... she's still over there. Probably dead."

Exhaling sharply, Rose bowed her head again. "My dad is... not a nice person, like I said. He gave me a new home, yeah, but... but he made me do things to other people... bad things. The kind of things you put people in jail for. It's like he was trying to turn me into... into some kind of soldier that I didn't want to be. So I ran away... that was about a year and a half ago. Been running ever since."

Clint once again stayed silent until Rose finished. If she wanted to get all of this out and in to the open than he wasn't going to stop her. If he could help in some way than maybe he just had to be here for her right now. There was no telling how much good he could do just by listening. He had done it before with other kids, maybe it would help Rose as well. He could only hope, she seemed like a good kid underneath her tough exterior.

When she finished, Clint just placed a hand on her shoulder and wrapped an arm around Rose in a half hug, giving her the option to lean in to him if she wanted. It seemed to help her last night, but since she was in a drunk state he didn't know if she was going to respond the same way this time around. "Is there anything at all I can do for you Rose?" was all he could manage to ask. "I don't know anything about what you're going through right now...not really I mean," he said as he tried to find the right words.

"But if there's anything I can do that will help you, don't hesitate to ask. I'll do what I can."

And lean she did. Rose didn't shed the tears she had the night before, remaining in a rather stolid if somewhat sullen state and merely falling against his shoulder. As her breathing steadied into a slow, heavy rhythm, she flickered her eyes up at him and said, "Could you just... not tell Neal? Please? I don't want him thinking I want his pity or something... He probably already thinks I'm messed up enough as it is."

Clint wrapped his arm around Rose tighter, just letting her know that someone was here for her no matter what happened. He didn't know how long she planned to stay, but as long as she was here Clint would do everything he could to let her know that she wasn't alone. When she looked up at him he glanced down and met her eyes, hearing her request about Neal.

"I won't tell him a single thing," Clint promised as he looked down at Rose. "You have my word on that one."

Rose nodded slowly and straightened herself, taking in a deep breath. "Okay... okay, good." She sat there a couple moments longer before finally sliding her way out of bed and standing up. "I'm just.... gonna go take a shower and... yeah. Take a shower." Giving him one last look, she headed towards the door, only to stop halfway there and glance back at him. "Uh... you wouldn't happen to have something I could wear while I wash my clothes... would you?"

Clint raised an eyebrow as Rose asked for some clothes. She was able to pay him a thousand dollars in rent but hadn't bothered to go buy some more clothes yet? How strange. Still, it wasn't something that he was going to bother her with, she had enough on her mind as it was. He went over to his closet and, like Neal, pulled out some jeans and a shirt for Rose. Clint was actually in pretty good shape, so while the shirt would be a little big on Rose at least the pants were far more likely to fit on her than they would Neal. "I hope that these will do, you should have Neal drive you to the store sometime though. You might wanna get some clothes for yourself," he said with a light teasing tone.

"Um... yeah, I guess so," Rose said with a small shrug. She would have to remember to go to the store sometime and get some clothes... even if she could think of about a dozen more interesting things to spend her money on. "Anyway, um... thanks." She stood there awkwardly for a few more moments, then finally hurried down the hallway to take a shower.

When she was done cleaning up, she went went straight to the laundry room to was her clothes, while dressed in the jeans and shirt that Clint had given her to wear. They did seem to fit a lot better than Neal's wardrobe, at least. Returning back into the living room, she plopped herself down on the couch and just sat there with her arms folded, looking around. "So, uh... where is everyone?"

"Gone," Clint said as he stuck his head out from the kitchen. He came out with two plates of french toast that had been prepared. He handed Rose a plate, implying that she was supposed to eat it. If Clint was making some for herself he figured that it would be polite to make some for Rose as well.

"They're both at school, and will be for the next couple of hours. I actually have to go soon as well," Clint said as he glanced at the clock. "So it seems like you're going to have the place to yourself for the next little while. You okay with that?"

"School?" Rose questioned, watching Clint carefully as he came into the room and set a plate of french toast in front of her. She couldn't say she had ever had french toast before... "Sounds lame. And boring." She stared at the food a moment longer before finally taking a bite, and holy crap was it delicious. It was so... so sugary, and buttery. The syrup was... amazing. She tried not to show how much she was enjoying it, but she wasn't really doing a great job at it.

When Clint mentioned she would be alone for a while, she glanced up at him briefly and shrugged. "Um... well, yeah, I guess so. I'm sure I'll find... something to do."

"Well I can't say that anyone ever claimed that it would be fun," Clint said with a laugh as he listened to Rose. He supposed that she had never been to a school, not with where she had to work and what she had to do. It was terrible really, but he wasn't going to bring that up. Rose looked too happy as she enjoyed the French Toast that had been made for her.

Clint soon finished his meal and stood up before grabbing his keys and jacket. "Alright Rose, catch you later tonight. If you need anything I wrote my number on the paper over there," he said with a motion. "I can't promise I'll answer, but if I can I'll make sure to. Have fun," he said before turning and leaving.

"Alright then... see ya later," she muttered, waving to him as he left. And now... now she was alone. Well, that was great. As used to being alone as she was, she never claimed it to be fun, either. She supposed she could go take a walk around the city again, scope out some of the local sights, but she wasn't in the mood. Instead... well, instead she might as well go stopping. She was pretty sure she had spotted a Target on the way here, from what she could remember. Might as well check it out. She could at least use the clothes.

"Well I don't know about you but I had a boring day at school," Neal said as he drove home with his sister in the car next to him. "All we did was talk about God and how it relates to Moby Dick. I mean don't get me wrong I love the book, but we're tearing it apart too much ya know?" Neal asked.

Jordan was just laying back in her chair with her eyes closed. She always loved to take naps, and even when she could lean back in her seat in the car she was always doing it. It was amazing how quickly she could get to it as well. "That's nice Neal," was all she said as she held that smile.

"You're useless sometimes sis," was all Neal responded with.

---

Eventually the two of them walked in to the house, throwing off their shoes and backpacks as if it was a ritual the two had done ever since they came home from school today. Neal glanced around, already wondering where Rose was or what she was up to.

Rose was currently in the middle of the living room, dressed in nothing but tight athletic shorts and a matching sports bra. That wouldn't be strange on its own if she wasn't also sitting atop a brand new electric exercise bike, her legs cycling away like mad on its maximum resistance setting. Sweat poured down her body, highlighting every single one of her curves and muscles with a soft glow from the sunlight coming in from the window behind her. Not only that, but she also had a brand new iPod in the specialized compartment on the front of the bike, with the earbuds plugged firmly into her ears.

When the other two finally appeared, Rose slowed her pedaling down and pulled the buds out of her ears. "Oh, hey there," she said, between labored breaths. A few moments later, she hopped off the bike and stretched her arms out, then bent forward to stretch her back. "I noticed you had some extra space around the living room so I figured you wouldn't mind if I got a little something for my daily workouts. Bought a whole new wardrobe today, too." In all, she had spent about twelve hundred dollars, leaving her with only a couple hundred left over. But hey, as far as she was concerned, it was worth it.

Neal and Jordan just seemed to stare as Rose came in to view, seeing her clothes, ipod, and the new exercise bike. God, had she bought all of this herself? Neal hoped so, otherwise the alternative would be that she had stolen it. He really hoped it wasn't that one, but at least she seemed to be in a much better mood than last night. That was a relief.

"So Rose, I take it that you took my advice and went shopping," Neal said as he looked at all the stuff before his eyes turned back to Rose. "How did you transport the bike back here anyway? What'd you do, carry it all the way here?"

"Uh... yeah, actually," she replied, with a small shrug. To her, she might as well have been carrying a mildly heavy bookbag back from the store... then again, it wasn't like people were used to seeing that, so the stares she had received when walking down the street with this thing hoisted over head, along with multiple shopping bags around her arms, had probably been pretty warranted. "But yeah, did a bunch of shopping. Got myself some actual clothes, too, so I don't have to borrow any of yours anymore."

"Well at least that's good," Neal said as Rose would now be able to actually get her own clothes and not have to borrow his anymore. Course it was a shame, considering that Neal got a lot of good material when she needed to change with him. Ah well, at least he got several good ones while he could.

"If this is the money you make at your job, maybe you should teach me how to do it," Neal said jokingly as he looked again at everything that Rose had bought. A thousand dollars a day would be nice after all.

"Uh, yeah... I'll probably have to make some more before we go out again." Rose paused a moment, glancing back at Jordan. She barely even noticed that girl half the time. Oh well, if Jordan wasn't saying anything, no reason for Rose to. Instead, she turned her focus to Neal again. With a sly smirk, she added, "And you're free to use the bike whenever you want, of course... judging from what I saw yesterday, you could use a little time on it."

Jordan moved to excuse herself, heading towards her room so that she could start her homework. It seemed like Neal and Rose were enjoying talking together, so she saw no reason to get in the way of that and interrupt.

"Hey now," Neal said simply. "Just because I'm skinny doesn't mean that I am out of shape," he commented seriously. "It's not my fault I'm not built like a juggernaut like you are," he said before looking at the bike. "Although...it does look like it would be a good workout," he admitted.

"Might help you fill out the seat of your pants a little better, too," she commented, walking past him on her way to the kitchen. On her way by, though, she wound up her hand and gave his rear end a sharp slap. "Can't get by on what's between your legs forever." Still smirking, she pulled open the refrigerator in search of something to drink. Oh how she did love teasing this guy.

Neal visibly jumped as Rose slapped his backside as she walked away. He had not been expecting that from her. He knew that she was playful and flat out blunt about things, but how she kept dancing around and complimenting him did bring Neal some enjoyment. At the very least he was glad she enjoyed part of his body.

"You telling me that you want me to get a more toned ass?" Neal asked as he leaned against the kitchen wall to see what she was doing.

At Neal's question, Rose rolled her eyes a little and groaned. Pulling out a pitcher of lemonade, she walked over to the counter to get a glass and said, "Well gee, if you want to take out any of the subtly, then yeah, I was saying you could use a more toned ass. Sheesh, way to ruin the moment." As she poured herself a drink, she looked back over her shoulder at him. "You want some?"

Neal just gave a shrug, smiling as he did so. It was so funny to see what kind of things annoyed Rose. They weren't the common things that annoyed girls, rather it was something else entirely. She enjoyed the teasing game that she had, she liked to make guys want her. That much was clear. "Sorry," was all Neal said though he was starting to form a plan.

"No thanks I'm good," Neal said as Rose offered him a drink of what she was pouring. He wasn't thirsty. "So have you just been shopping and working out all day?"