El Paso, Texas [Monday evening]

[weldedtomyspine]

The mission had been a success. It had been long, and busy, and incredibly demanding. He'd barely had time to sleep, worked himself into exhaustion every day, and managed not to think about anything but fighting alien invaders for a whole week.

Oh, and they'd actually beat off said alien invaders. That had been good too.

But mostly the distraction had been what Jaime had been going for. And while he felt a little bit guilty for his priorities, he was still grateful. And as his feet touched the ground in his back yard, he knew that tomorrow that distraction was gone, but that all that exhaustion from fighting would thankfully keep that from happening for at least another night.

And he'd be glad to see his family again.

Even Milagro.

So Jaime de-armored, sighed in relief at the breeze blowing across his skin, and headed for the back door.

Comments

[weldedtomyspine]

"I know," Jaime said with a soft smile.

And then, more somberly, "No one in your world remembered it, did they?"

[heromaniac]

"They say that I've been acting stranger and stranger and working on some project they can't remember anything about." Momoko released a long breath. "They're worried about me, but not really? My mom thinks it's stress from work and school."

[weldedtomyspine]

Even if it wasn't welcome, there was no way that Jaime could stop himself from wrapping Momoko in a quick hug. That quickly transformed into a longer hug as he felt the tension in her body.

"Then I'm glad you came," he said softly.

[heromaniac]

A hug from Jaime had been what she'd wanted most for some time now, so it was totally welcome. Even if she couldn't fully relax into him, she did lean heavily.

"I wish you'd been here," she admitted. Although the time spent talking it all over with his parents had helped more than she'd ever thought possible.

[weldedtomyspine]

Jaime squeezed Momoko more tightly.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "I just couldn't..." Stay. "You were..." Gone.

"Well."

He didn't know how to say it, really.

[heromaniac]

"You don't have to apologize. You had to work, I didn't call."

Momoko wasn't going to complain at all about how he was holding her: she'd told him goodbye. She just wished she could ask for more. Instead, she gave him a small grin. "And you came back before your curfew. I totally didn't want to be here if you were late."

[weldedtomyspine]

"I didn't have to go, really," Jaime admitted, not letting go of her, or planning to any time soon. "I just... needed to get away."

[heromaniac]

"Why would you need to get away?" His family was actually very relaxing!

[weldedtomyspine]

Jaime blinked. The question reminded him of the reason, and his arms tightened just a bit without him realizing it.

"I was kind of upset," he answered, hoping that keeping it vague would keep her from figuring out just how upset.

[heromaniac]

Momoko wanted to ask more, to read into that, but she stuck to higher ground. "You shouldn't fight upset. You can make bad decisions or get hurt; I'm surprised your parents didn't stop you."

[weldedtomyspine]

"I think maybe they were tired of watching me pace restlessly all the time," Jaime joked.

Though, probably, they'd mostly hoped that it would get him to stop moping. And looking like someone had killed his best friend. Or at least that it would help him get some distance.

[heromaniac]

"I can totally believe that." Momoko chuckled and finally leaned her head on him. "Your mom probably feared for her appliances, too. You were totally eyeing the vacuum cleaner, weren't you?"

[weldedtomyspine]

Jaime chuckled softly. And he found that it felt good to laugh, even at a lame joke like that one.

"I was not," he huffed playfully, trying to sound offended.

[heromaniac]

"Well you didn't actually get to it, because I used it yesterday and it worked. Should I warn people about the blender?"

[weldedtomyspine]

"How do you know that I didn't just... put it back together, huh?"

Despite his protestations of never even looking at it?

[heromaniac]

"I just said it worked, remember?" She frowned lightly. "Oh, and uhm. You might want to see if your dad wants some help with the lawnmower. I've never seen him make that face before."

She'd been trying to help, okay!

Then, a bit quieter, she went back to the other reason she'd pulled him aside. "I'm sorry for dying, I didn't want to, but thank you for being there when I did."

[weldedtomyspine]

And Jaime had been just about to make some quip about lawns and mowers.

Now he just felt like he'd gotten punched in the gut.

He didn't realize that his arms tightened around Momoko, probably painfully. He was too busy reliving that moment in his head.

[heromaniac]

She still didn't care how tight he was holding her, sorry. Never did, never will.

[weldedtomyspine]

Jaime didn't know what to say. At all.

But some words tumbled out of his mouth anyway.

"I didn't handle it very well."

[heromaniac]

"I thought you did perfect. You encouraged me. Made me believe it would work. Listened to me." The only thing he could have done more for her would have been impossible.

[weldedtomyspine]

"I didn't do anything," Jaime said, the words coming out a bit distorted due to how tightly his teeth were clenched.

"Nothing useful, anyway."

[heromaniac]

Haaaa. Now it was her turn to squeeze a bit tighter. "You were there, Jaime. Every time I needed you, you were there."

Momoko was skating very close to saying things she knew he didn't want to hear, but she didn't want Jaime to ever think he was useless. "When my whole world was gone and I still had to fight, you let me be afraid and made me believe I could win. Totally useful."

[weldedtomyspine]

"And then you died."

It was pretty obvious which part had stuck with Jaime.

[heromaniac]

It had kind of stuck with her too.

"I didn't want to," she repeated softly. "It was all I had left. I couldn't let it leave." She had, but if he would please not remind her of that failure?

[weldedtomyspine]

"I lost you," he responded in that same tone of voice. Tight, hurt, wounded.