Doc helped me to my feet slowly, one hand hovering near my elbow but not grabbing. Wrecker stayed close enough that I could feel him without being crowded.
“I should go upstairs,” I said quietly. “I don’t want to be in the way.”
“You’re not in the way,” Wrecker said.
“I don’t want people watching me,” I added.
He nodded once. “Then we go.”
Notyou.
We.
He walked me toward the stairs, his hand warm at my lower back, steadying but not guiding. Every step felt deliberate, like my body was relearning how to move.
At the top landing, I stopped.
“I didn’t help her,” I whispered before I could stop myself.
Wrecker turned fully toward me.
“In the elevator,” I continued, voice shaking. “I just stood there. And when Brutus walked behind me just now, it was like I was there again. Like I was watching and doing nothing.”
His expression softened. Not with pity. But with something heavier.
“You survived,” he said.
“That’s not the same.”
“No,” he agreed. “But it matters.”
I shook my head. “What if I freeze again? What if next time someone actually needs me?”
His hands came up, framing my face gently, thumbs brushing my cheeks. I leaned into the touch without thinking.
“Then I’ll be there,” he said. “And we’ll deal with it together.”
Something in my chest cracked open at that. Relief. Gratitude. Fear tangled so tight I couldn’t separate them.
“I don’t want to be a liability,” I said.
He let out a slow breath. “Red, you were targeted by monsters doing monster shit. You didn’t break. That’s not liability.”
I dragged in a breath.
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s get you settled.”
He stayed with me upstairs longer than necessary. Sat in the chair by the window while I lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, counting my breaths.
I hated that I needed this.
I hated that my body could betray me like that.
But when Wrecker stood to leave, pulling on his vest, my breath caught hard in my chest.
“Be careful,” I said.
He looked back at me, eyes unreadable for a moment.
