She leaned forward to give the metal tab to him, before returning to her position on the cot. One of her hands touched the side of her face, fingers curling so the knuckles pressed against her cheekbone.

“Are you hurt?” he asked.

“No. Yes, but not… it’s only my feelings that are hurt,” she said, before smiling.

He tapped his cheekbone.

“Self-conscious,” she said. Her fingers moved, showing a small scar, one he could have covered up with a small adhesive bandage. She returned her hand to that spot.

“Can you be left alone, or do I need to worry you’ll escape?”

“The world is ending. My team needs me. I’m not going to say anything else to Decadent, Syndicate, or Chicken Little, but I have to get back to work.”

“I don’t think that’s possible. Can we leave you alone? Will you be good? It would count for a lot with your teammates.”

“I don’t want to be alone,” she replied, eyes wide, her fingers curling up against her cheekbone.

That’s not the main subject of what I was asking you, he thought.

But he let it be. The lights flickered and shifted in the room, darkness rolling against the ceiling. Just him, her, and darkness, if he made himself recognize that the darkness was there. Without his own focus, it was a slight dimming effect, and a change to the texture of things.

On the other side of the dark room, the little girl smiled. The lights flickered.

There were memories in his head of a prepubescent girl doing much the same thing, the lights also flickering, because she’d been drawing power from the building for her tech. Dark, unpleasant memories that kept him up some nights.

Valkyrie had confessed that she didn’t want to make him a member of her flock. Only his performance, ability to follow orders, and his no-nonsense attitude had changed her mind. He had ceased being a shadow and became a man again.

The little girl’s voice echoed in the room, bouncing off of the darkness. “There are important things I’m doing that I can’t tell you about, I can’t leave them be.”

“I don’t think this is negotiable. I don’t think there are words you can say that would convince me. I think the thing to do would be to lie down. Rest. Trust Breakthrough. It sounds like they have a plan. Trust your team.”

“Is Chicken Little back yet? Is he safe?”

“He’s safe. He was in the break room.”

“Is Candy okay? I scared her. I said stuff I shouldn’t have.”

“She’s resting in Tattletale’s office.”

“I want to see them. I want to see Breakthrough. I want to help and be useful.”

He shook his head.

“I need to.”

He folded his arms. “Why is it so important?”