Emily fought tears as she made her way home. She had the hood of her hoodie pulled over her head and her hands stuffed deeply into her pockets.
She tried not to think about Talon's body, lying broken and twisted on the hard concrete. She tried not to think about the red stain near his skull or the screams of the civilians that witnessed his death. She tried not to think about it, but the memory of his fall, of his end, played over and over again behind her eyes.
She wanted to break down sobbing on the street. She wanted to scream until she collapses and never stood again. She wanted the ground to open up and swallow her so she would never have to face the world again.
How had she let this happen?
Shaking her head, she decided that it didn't matter. It had happened and there was no changing that.
Hurrying the rest of the way home, Emily walked up to her front door, procured a key from her pocket, and slipped inside.
"Hello?" she called into the quiet house. "Anyone home?"
She recieved no answer. Her father must have taken an extra shift at the dealership. She was alone.
Running up the stairs to her bedroom, Emily dropped her bag next to her door and face planted onto her bed.
She just wanted to fall asleep and never wake up again. She didn't want to face the world. She didn't want to face her problems.
A noise from outside made her jolt into a sitting position. She held her breath as she listened, and after a few silent moments, a quiet shuffling sounded from near her window.
Had Nefarious come for her already? Wasn't he busy celebrating his victory?
A small knock on the window echoed through her room, and with cautious footsteps, she stood up and made her way towards the closed curtains.
Pulling them to the side, she felt her throat tighten when she saw Mr. Dependable kneeling on the shingles outside her window.
Letting out a shaky breath, she tugged the curtains all the way to the sides and pulled up her window.
"What are you doing here?" She asked the sidekick as she popped out the screen so he could come through.
"I'm sorry," he said as he crawled in and stood a few feet in front of her. "I- I didn't know where else to go."
Mr. Dependable was obviously in rough shape. Talon's death had hit him hard. Emily could see it in the way he held himself. She could see it in the dampness of his mask and the redness of his eyes. She could hear it in the shakiness of his voice... and it made her feel all the worse.
"Sorry," he mumbled, turning back to the window. "This was stupid. I shouldn't have come here."
Before she could realize what she was doing, Emily stepped forward and grabbed his arm.
"What's wrong?" She played dumb, since there was no way she could've known about the incident unless she had been there. It wouldn't air on the news until tomorrow at the earliest.
Mr. Dependable remained silent and unmoving, probably willing up the courage to tell her what had happened.
After a good few moments, Emily realized just how badly this had hurt him and wordlessly pulled him into a hug. She wrapped her arms around his torso and buried her face in the emblem on his chest. She was relieved to find he had mostly dried off from the sprinklers in the Deming-Porter building, and was surprised to find he actually smelled kind of nice.
Mr. Dependable's arms slowly wrapped around her as well, and she unknowingly unlocked the dam as he buried his face in the crook of her neck and started to sob. She felt his body shake beneath her arms, and she did her best to whisper soothing words in his ear and rub light, comforting circles on his back.
"He's dead," Mr. Dependable whispered so quietly that if he hadn't been so close to her ear, she might not have heard it.
"Who?"
"Talon," he choked out before hugging her tighter to his chest. She didn't mind, and only responded by wrapping her own arms tighter around him. "It's my fault."
"No it's not," she told him firmly, grabbing his head with both of her hands so she could pull him back to look at his face. "This is in no way your fault, do you understand?"
"But I should've been there," he said in a pitiful voice that made her heart ache. "I was supposed to be there. It's my job to be in the right place at the right time. But I wasn't there."
"Look at me," Emily said with a bit of force, making his eyes latch onto hers. She kept her hands on both of his cheeks, making it impossible for him to look at anything but her. "You're Mr. Dependable. You're a superhero, but not even you can be in every right place at every right time."
"I'm not a superhero. I'm a sidekick," he corrected her solemnly.
"No," Emily gave him a small smile, sliding her hands down from his face to wrap around his neck. "You're my superhero."
With those words, Mr. Dependable's eyes scanned her face before he slowly leaned forward. Emily didn't stop him, nor did she move away.
As warm lips connected with hers, her eyes fluttered closed and her stomach erupted into a fit of butterflies. She knew he needed this, and somewhere inside of her, she knew she needed it too.
Mr. Dependable was her rock. Always there. Always ready to save the day.
And here he was: depending on her instead of himself.