Work Text:
Disbelief is being chased by resentment. A ten pace distance is closed in five and suddenly the destruction around them isn’t the only one present that needs tending to.
For half a second there’s breathless wonder and relief because at least this way, the shock and pain isn’t being observed by a room of peers. This is saving face because everyone else is preoccupied with life and death while they stand off and he thought he wouldn’t break. He thought he’d be elated and a rush of positive emotion would consume him. Instead, her eyes are tearing him to pieces as she blatantly puts on display that she's off guard and the inner turmoil is what’s saving him from a physical reaction.
But it is a physical reaction, even if he’s the only one that catches it. The siren lights are illuminating her pain; reflecting off the tears in her eyes that she can’t seem to stop. The thick winter coat that’s a little too designer for her, is concealing the way her chest is stuttering with every anxious breath. Time has metaphorically stopped and now it’s not just his world crashing down unexpectedly.
It’s not lost on him that even after all this time, he found a way to drag her with him.
Complete.