“We’ll need to get organized,” Chevalier said. He was feeling more like himself, with the coffee in him. “There are refugees to manage, there’s other bases to cover. We’ll need a perimeter, we’ll need to reform and consolidate teams…”

There were a lot of people looking, nodding.

He was so proud of them. Like he had before, they recognized the fight they were in, the need to push forward, no matter what.

There was a deep, heavy sadness that came with it.

That this fight went on.

“Any help is appreciated,” he said, to Tattletale and Victoria. To the heroes who had woken up and found their ways here.

“I’m out,” Victoria said.

“Out?” Keith asked.

“I’m thankful you trusted me when it counted. That we got here. But last night, the dream, the people I talked to… I owe them. I have people I need to look after, and one of those people is me.”

He looked at her, and he looked at the group. At Keith, at Narwhal. At Golem, who sat a few tables down. Other capes who had stayed here or decided to come here, because they didn’t have much else.

Others were still making their way in. He smiled at Hannah, Miss Milita. His heart rested easier, seeing her awake, though she looked fatigued.

He thought back to his own dream, and the sadness, the latent frustration.

“Unfortunately,” Narwhal said. “If everyone made that decision, we’d be lost.”

“There’s a middle ground.”

The voice that had stated that was Chevalier’s. He fixed his eyes on the ground.

“Civilians have the key stuff under control,” Victoria said, as if to help him complete the thought. “I think they know they have a power they didn’t.”

“And we know we need to make changes,” he said. “Break the cycles. I have to admit, I’ve been driving us all forward for so long I don’t know how.”

“Not retirement,” Narwhal said.

“No,” Chevalier said. “But they have the key stuff handled. There are no outstanding emergencies. There will be, we’ll need to prepare for that. But for now…”

He was aware of the eyes on him. That, a handful of exceptions like Legend and Narwhal aside, he was the person they were looking to for guidance.

“…I’m going to borrow the kitchen, and I’m going to cook some breakfast. Then, after a lot of thinking and as much relaxation as we can all manage, given circumstances, I want to talk, to stop and think about our next moves, what to bring up when we talk to the citizens of Gimel.”

There was, collectively, an easing of tension. People relaxed, and he realized that they had been holding onto their own lessons, their own fears and realizations from the past evening. They were loyal enough to follow him if he asked, but they hadn’t wanted it.

“Do you want help?” Hannah asked.