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

[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.

[heromaniac]

Oh, did that hurt. That hurt so much, hearing him sound like that. She had to keep her arms tight around him to stop herself from pulling back and just trying to kiss the sound away.

"I'm sorry." I'm here.

[weldedtomyspine]

Jaime shook his head awkwardly, feeling his chin slid against the crown of Momoko's head. "No apologies," he said, taking a deep breath and trying to get himself back under control.

"You did what you had to do."

[heromaniac]

Finally someone who understood. She hadn't wanted to do it, she'd had to. "I did. Even if it didn't work, I had to."

[weldedtomyspine]

"I know," Jaime murmured.

And he couldn't fault her for it.

Even if it had broken his heart.

[heromaniac]

Then now they had a matched set, Jaime having broken hers a few months back.

"Thanks for that, too. For knowing. For understanding." She sighed and pulled away finally. "It's totally been a lesson for me, finding out who doesn't."

[weldedtomyspine]

Jaime shrugged a bit awkwardly. "I guess that at least I'm in good company?"

Momoko agreed with his position, after all.

[heromaniac]

"You'd be surprised at how good the company is in the other camp." Momoko cast a glance back to the room where they had left the others. "I totally was."

[weldedtomyspine]

"Oh?"

He hadn't expected Momoko to say that.

[heromaniac]

"Mmm." Momoko tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Dinah didn't understand the difference between wanting to stay and fight till the last minute and needing to."

[weldedtomyspine]

Huh. He would have expected Dinah to get it.

"Well... it's a pretty fine line, right?"

[heromaniac]

"I guess?" Momoko shrugged. "It doesn't help that things are so different in my world. We don't usually have to make that choice." So no one had ever really known Momoko to make it.

[weldedtomyspine]

Jaime nodded.

"Yeah. That's the impression I'd gotten." That her world was... lighter, somehow. That those sorts of choices didn't get forced on people very often.

It was part of why Jaime had broken up with her. To let her keep as much of that world as she could.

[heromaniac]

Momoko frowned at that. "But we've done it! And we know... I know how to make the decision. I don't keep fighting just because I'm a hero."

She sighed, not knowing how to explain it. "I totally take my job seriously, Jaime. It may not always seem like it, but I do."