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Unlike Ida, who seemed to be taking solace in her power and freedom, Gehenna was much more reserved. Kam seldom powered up if he could help it and only did so when he was needed, when he knew without a doubt that there was nothing he could do as a mortal. It usually meant lending his strength to save a civilian or a senshi or a knight. If he had not been so riddled with the guilt of his sins, he thought he would simply take his wonder up on the offer to relieve himself of his duties - even if the false Tanais had truly meant it as a threat.

It was only chance that had him walking near to the park and only luck that he recognize the sound of a distress beacon at all. Ida had just silenced it as Gehenna, suited up and ready to make a fast getaway, rounded the corner and found her using the jungle gym as a support to limp to the bench.

Why did it have to be her?

Aware that she would see him fleeing the scene if he turned around and doubly aware that he owed her more than he could ever sacrifice, Gehenna stood rooted to the spot for a long, awkward moment. Then, with a sigh to relieve some of the gnawing guilt rising like bile in his throat, he took his first steps forward in her direction as the Page he had been demoted to. It was too hard to meet her gaze, so he stared at his feet as he went.

What was he supposed to say? Could he just pick her up and carry her without her doing more harm to herself? Where would he even know to take her if she refused to tell him?

With grit teeth, his eyes raised and he met her with a closed face, trying to hide every ounce of shame and guilt he held within him - not because he wasn't sorry but because she didn't deserve to be burdened with anything weighing on his soul.

"Tell me where to go and I'll take you there, no questions. You don't even have to ******** talk to me."

Of course she wouldn't make it easy, he couldn't even blame her despite how annoyed he felt over her stubbornness. With a sigh, he pushed down the ghosted image of her that Tanais had so kindly planted in his thought and stepped forward, forcing himself to disregard every ounce of reservation he felt about entering her personal space unwelcomed.

"You're bleeding and you need help." That was the cold, hard truth and he watched that bloodstain blossoming across the white of her fuku with growing unease as he continued to approach, until he could squat down slightly-off center in front of the bench. The voice he was using sounded more calm than he felt and though a part of him felt like he was just coaxing an injured bird to trust him, he knew she was watching him like the feral cat that had injured her in the first place. He would call someone but who would respond? No, this was how he had to face this task.

"Just let me take you somewhere safe, please. I'm not asking for forgiveness, Ida, I don't want it. I just want you to go somewhere safe." The dark eyes were fastened on the creeping bloodstain, unable to rise up to look at her in the eyes. Even bleeding, she looked healthier than she had the night he'd ambushed that broken doll. He let out a deep, uneasy sigh and curled one hand into a fist to steady himself. "And if you don't give me permission I'm just going to do it anyway, do you understand?"

His eyes finally rose to hers as he said it, trying his damnedest to sound stern in the face of someone that had every reason to think of him as the scum of the cosmos. It was even okay if that was true - Ida was the object that mattered here the most.

"It doesn't entitle me to anything, you're right. I'm not trying to earn favor or forgiveness and I understand, Ida. That's what I'm saying. I understand what I've done and what you've lost."

The Mars Page grit his teeth in echo of hers as he pushed himself up onto his feet, pacing feet away from her, back, and then out again. How did he even find the words to have this ******** argument with her? It made him angry but she didn't deserve his anger. It annoyed him, too, and she didn't deserve that, either.

With a long, deep sigh, he turned to look at her again.

"It's not that I didn't care, Ida, but you don't have to believe that because I know that I ******** wouldn't. I just cared about a lot of other people a lot more than I cared about you - that's ******** up and I know it. I'm not good at this ******** -" he broke off, waving a hand at the empty night around them, "this ******** s**t of a war."

He could feel his pulse quickening, his heart beating a faster pace in his chest, and by the way he had to curl and uncurl his fists to ease the tenseness in his shoulders he was certain that his adrenaline was buzzing in his veins. Ida didn't deserve his uncontrollable temper, even if he knew it was directed at himself and his own shortcomings. True to his nature, he looked away from her and out at the night, stealing some resolve for himself by not having to see here there, defiant and bleeding.

"I let you go and I cut my losses. Alkaid knows my real name, where I live, who my friends are, where my brother is -" he shook his head and furrowed his brows as he did. "Or at least she did. You were a price in the game."

"Gratification?" Gehenna felt his anger swelling and he could do nothing to stop the word as it left his lips on a hiss. He regretted, so much so that it had ruined every aspect of his life, but he refused to let her imply that he had ever done anything for his own pleasure. Fear, maybe, but not pleasure. While he let his rage swell quietly, he put his back to her and stared out at the darkness of the city around them.

It was hard to control his temper even when he wasn't feeling miserable and facing someone that made him want to stop existing all together, coupled with his recent attempt at going dry and he was a recipe for disaster. He sighed aloud, running through his thoughts. It seemed to easy his upset enough that he could finally speak and so, he turned slowly back to her.

"When she gave me an ultimatum, I made a choice, Ida." By the time he spoke again he was more contained, though his voice sounded strained for the effort. He did manage to finally bring his eyes to meet hers where she stood, tall and proud, giving her the respect of his full attention instead of fighting against it.

"Of course I'm sorry that I did it, I was sorry every day. I'm still sorry every ******** day. Do you want to know all the things that I've done since then, all the punishment and acts of self-loathing?" The dark man had stepped closer to her now, with his arms spread wide at his sides. He was careful not to get close enough to seem threatening - being big and angry often had a way of making people uneasy when they didn't doubt your good intentions. "Because I'll tell you, if that's what you want, but I think it would be better for you if you didn't have to care about it."

The dark eyes dropped from hers back down to the scarlet patch across her hip and the way he could tell she was favoring her other leg. The guilt he had been carrying for her thrummed so deeply that he had to struggle not to wince openly. Guilty and worried. He wanted her to get off that leg.

"I have been angrier at myself than you can possibly imagine. I'm not trying to excuse myself or make myself feel better," his eyes rose again, less angry than defeated now, "I'm trying to tell you that I owe you for a life I signed away without a right. I don't matter anymore, there's just no point in being useless, too."

Gehenna quieted himself as she spoke, letting her reprimand him like a disappointed teacher. It was a hard thing to do, making the brute feel small, but she was managing it eloquently. The smile that ghosted his lips wasn't so much humor as it was disbelief but it marked the end of his anger, the soft recede of adrenaline in his veins, and showed his wounded soul through deep, sad eyes.

"We're just bitching about the same thing, Ida. I'm sorry, I really am - for lying to you and selling you to a monster. I'll apologize until I'm blue in the face if that's what you want, but I'm not going to ask you to forgive me."

His shoulders shrugged beneath his defeat as his arms dropped back to his sides. The dark eyes searched her own, looking back at a confidence, he realized, she must have fought tooth and nail for. Kamboja had never felt confident in Alkaid's presence but then she had always had other things to hold over his head, ways of making him weak apart from physical violence or the threat of death. Was that what had made the difference for her, or was it just that she was someone capable of becoming stronger when faced with pain? He envied that.

"I do understand what you're saying," he admitted, but let his eyes rise above her, in the direction he knew Mars was gleaming somewhere beyond the lights of the city. "Except that it's not just about you now. The code piece of Gehenna asked me for your presence, too. I'm not sure you're allowed to personally forgive me anymore."

The Mars Knight only nodded as she told him exactly what was and wasn’t her right because, he realized, that he simply didn’t have it in him to argue with her. She was right and his pride was inconsequential.

“Keep it, then.” He tried not to sound prickly as he forced himself to bite back his natural urge to be right, to fight what she wanted with what he felt compelled to say. Gehenna could bend. Rayyan had, every single time his command had gone against his own wishes. The code wanted obedience. “Sins aren’t meant to be forgotten anyway.”

When she finally gave in and let herself relax, a wave of relief swept over the page - not just because she was letting him do something to help her but, too, because he didn’t want her to make whatever injury she was hiding beneath her blood-dappled fuku any worse than it already was. Stubbornness had a good way of aggravating things. He approached slowly, quieter than he had been as a Squire now that the c***k of his armor had dulled, and dipped down at the side of the bench. It was a kneel, subservient and non-threatening in the best way he could manage, though his eyes were skimming the dull red stain that had blossomed over her hip. It seemed dried at the edges, at least, which meant some of the bleeding had stemmed even if it hadn’t stopped. That was good to know if he meant to move her.

The dark gaze swept up to her eyes and away from the injury, searching her face for how much pain she was in. It was hard to tell when someone felt so guarded against him but he couldn’t blame her.

“I think it’s best if I carry you, I just don’t know if the posture will exacerbate whatever the hell you managed to do.” It was a poor joke, delivered with a weak smile. He was trying to make the tension between them a little easier, at least for the moment. It would all be a lot easier if she could relax. “So let me know when you’re ready to try.”

Gehenna's weak, half-lipped smile remained as she began to give him gentle advice on how best to handle her. He'd forgotten, after all this time, how knowledgeable she was. It stung a little, right in that tender spot that ached every time he looked at her, but it was worth it. That sting reminded him that his sin could have felt much heavier. At least she was here.

"Got it," he whispered into the space between, letting his eyes drift across her face to measure the way she schooled it to a calm. There was a strength in her that he hadn't noticed before, burning gently behind all that knowledge like a beacon that had been ignited. She had the air of every heroine he'd ever seen in films and to the child buried down in Kam's bruised and heavy heart, he felt that awe of her that he had lost when he realized being a super hero wasn't really all it was cut out to be.

Both of his strong arms reached out for her at once, bracing just below her shoulder blades and inching slowly beneath her knees where they hung over the lip of the bench. He took a moment to adjust his hold and move closer, so he could ultimately position her to lean some of her weight into his chest as he stood. Luckily, as Gehenna, it wasn't terribly hard to support her and he was up to his feet in no time, cradling her against him. His biceps tensed as he pulled her knees up, keeping his arms parallel.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?"

His eyes didn't look down to find hers but swept out around them instead. As his boots headed for the first right turn he could find, his attention was focused on making sure they didn't accidentally run into anyone. That, and it was a damn good excuse not to look her in the eye any longer. He knew where she wanted him to go and knew, too, that it definitely wasn't an apartment. The sting in his chest burned for an entirely different reason - and still he couldn't find the fault in what he knew her reasoning to be.

"I'm sorry I didn't ask for help, Ida," he managed, quiet now that she was so close against him, "I promise I won't cause you any more trouble. You don't have to believe me right now - but I promise, still."