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“Teddy!” A shrill squeal oh so cruelly ripped Edward away from his dreams of sugar plums and spleens and back to reality. He grunted, rolling away from the light pouring in from his now open doorway. He often preferred to ignore his problems rather than address them. This time, however, the problem persisted.
“Onkel Eddie,” Samantha cried again, closer to the bedside now. Edward squeezed his eyes shut, lip curling- by her whiny, blubbering tone alone, he could practically see her standing there all pathetic and sad. Yes, she must be beside the bed now, clutching that filthy bear, snot and tears running down her face. Yuck.
“Onkel Eddie, please, I- I had the most terrible dream!” The sentence ended with a wail that, thankfully, quickly became muffled. She must be stuffing her face into that bear again, something she always seemed to do when she was upset- ack, zat thing must be FILTHY. Grumbling, Richtofen conceded. He had to accept that this wasn’t a problem he could ignore, not if he wanted to go back to sleep sooner rather than later, that is. Time was a precious resource, therefore sleep was scarce, and Edward was NOT willing to let this little brat take it from him. This was a tactical decision, a retreat, if you will, but not a surrender.
Edward’s feet found the cold, concrete floor as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He took a deep breath, collecting himself. He must address the child calmly, lest he worsen his situation.
“Now, Mäuschen,” He began tersely, squinting at the silhouette of the girl in front of him. “You know that was not real. Go back to bed.”
“But-” Samantha protested, sniffling.
“You have Herr Bär- he’ll protect you.”
“But I don’t want Herr Bär to protect me, I want Daddy!” Samantha let out that ear-grating wail Edward hated so badly again, prompting him to grimace. If there was one person Richtofen hated more than this child, one thing he hated more than her incessant crying, it was Ludwig Maxis. The girl’s father, Edward’s lying, cheating, overbearing, dishonest, hypocritical, deceitful superior.
Ludwig was the last person in Richtofen’s way, and he despised him for it. How many experiments had he ruined, what breakthroughs could have been if Maxis hadn’t made that infernal deal? We could have teleported to the moon YEARS sooner! Ja, thank you, Ludvig, now I’ve got to leave all ze low-gravity frolicking to Schuester und Groph while I babysit your little brat. And who did he think he was, stealing credit for Richtofen’s wunderbar invention?
Much to his shock, though, something shifted in Edward- he felt the slightest hint of something, perhaps pity, for the child. It was peculiar, something Richtofen made a mental note to study later. He didn’t even know he could feel that.
“Mäuschen,” Edward sighed, voice unusually soft as he pushed himself off the bed. He reached up to smooth his short but nevertheless bedraggled, graying brown hair- he couldn’t stand the way it felt when it wasn’t lying just right. Richtofen looked down at Samantha, who’s tears had plastered strands of her brown hair to her face. How awful that would feel. He wiped it away, tucking it behind the girl's ear before quickly wiping his hand clean. “I know- I wish you were with your Vater, too.”
That was the truth. She’s quite ze annoying child to care for.
Edward stepped out of his quarters and into the brightly-lit corridor, motioning for Samantha to follow. Hugging her bear tightly, she did, stepping into the light. “But you are not, Samantha. No amount of tears change that.”
“I know.” The girl looked away, pressing her face against the top of that damned bear’s head once more. Edward said nothing, leading Samantha down the hall toward her bedroom. It didn’t look like much of a child's room, save for a few drawings pinned to the wall and the toy chest at the foot of Samantha’s cot. It was the best Edward could and cared to do- being in Siberia, resources were scarce, and trivial things like toys and furniture and wall paint for annoying little children were not at the top of the Doctor’s priority list. Ricthofen entered the room, making his way to Samantha’s bedside table.
“Onkel Teddy?” Samantha lingered in the doorway, still clutching her bear tightly.
“What is it, Samanatha?” Richtofen called with more than just a twinge of annoyance in his voice as he stood hunched over the nightstand, fiddling with a kerosene lamp.
“Why can’t I be back in Germany, with Daddy?”
The wick caught fire with a gentle hiss, bathing the barren bedroom in warm, flickering light. Richtofen’s pale blue gaze fixed on the flame as he thought, Samantha’s question heavy in the air. Hadn’t he wondered something similar in the past, why he couldn’t be with his parents? Why he was all alone, somewhere strange? Nein, I mustn't dwell on that.
The doctor exhaled forcefully from his nostrils, taking a step back from the nightstand and finding a seat at the foot of the cot. He patted the mattress beside him, a silent command which Samantha quickly obeyed. She lifted her scratchy, thin woolen blanket and climbed into bed, curling into the fetal position with her teddy bear held tightly in her arms and her eyes on Richtofen. The young girl sniffled, eyes growing glossier with each second Edward failed to answer her query. He needed to act, and quickly at that, if he were to have any chance at keeping Samantha’s tears at bay.
“Because,” Edward pressed his tongue to the roof of his mouth, choosing his next words with care (something he didn’t do often). “Your vater has a project he needs to oversee, ja? One that eine kleine Maus like you shouldn’t be around.”
“Something worse than when you poke me with Nadeln in mein arm?” Samantha glowered, frowning and pushing out her bottom lip. “Or when you take mein toys and cut them to pieces, like you did to mein poor Herr Affe?”
“Worse.” Edward gave her half of a nod. He must have sounded serious (which he was, even someone as heartless as he could recognize a young girl like Samantha should have nothing to do with the undead Ludwig was experimenting on) as Samantha didn’t protest. Her gaze softened, the spark of anger that had been present within it now gone and replaced with a sort of dull sadness. She hugged Herr Bär tighter, staring at her caregiver for a long moment.
“Vill you tell me a story, Onkel Eddie?”
Edward stared back, only breaking eye contact to wipe his tired eyes once more. She was calm now, he could go back to sleep. He’d wake up in the morning feeling halfway decent, and he’d dedicate the day to progressing his plan to put an end to Maxis. There was no need to waste his time with foolish fairy tales. And yet, the infamous Dr. Edward Richtofen found himself nodding. All he could see when he looked at Samantha was himself, several decades younger, clad in plaid pajamas. He wished that someone would have told him a story back then.
“Ja, Samantha, close your eyes; let me tell you ze story of Schneeweißchen und Rosenrot. That was mein favorite.”