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The woman fished around to get her shoe back on and then she took Encke's hand and got to her feet, although it was clear to Cybele that he was doing most of the work as she was swaying. Her free hand went to her temple and she squeezed her eyes shut again, and then winced harder when the flashlight came on.

"A little dizzy," she said, the cracked an eye open and seemed to notice the strange outfits of her rescuers. "I think I just want to go home."

Cybele didn't think she would ever forget the unpleasant effects of having someone's hand around her starseed, the pain of it and the moment, and worse, the fear that had stayed with her afterwards, but as far as she knew, there weren't any long term physical effects that she had to worry about. Looking over the woman now, Cybele thought she looked shaken but not hurt, although she didn't know how to look for head wounds or smoke inhalation. "Would you like us to walk with you?"

"Sure," she said. "It's only a few blocks, I though I'd be fine. I don't remember what happened." She shook her head, but started walking towards the street.

If Encke was looking for either discomfort or happiness on Cybele's face, he wouldn't see it. The out of control mess from the rooftop was gone. Now her expression was carefully staged. She knitted her brows just enough to look sympathetically concerned but tried to keep it from looking like there was something real to be worried about. She offered a small smile as the woman picked up a large bag and picked through it, then nodded.

"It looks like everything's here," she said. "Thanks for your concern."

Internally, she was still feeling quite jumpy, with worry washing over her every time the woman's eye flicked to her tiara or Encke's glowing flingertips, followed by relief that she at least wasn't saying anything about it.

"I'm glad you're not hurt," she said, in the same pleasant, neutral tone. "We'll get you home safe." Then she rose herself and stepped up to the woman's other elbow as they made their way out of the alleyway and up to the next street corner.

"My apartment's right here," said the woman, stopping at a door. "Thanks for all your help." She was a little unsteady as she stepped away from Encke's arm, but after a short moment fumbling with keys, she was behind a locked door.

Cybele stopped fighting the tremors in her hands the moment the door closed, and her shoulders slumped, too, but she kept up a bit of a smile for Encke. It wasn't so hard. There was part of her underneath the rest of it who was deeply happy to see someone making it safely home. "We did it," she said. "Thank you."

He was winking at her.

Cybele raised an eyebrow, thinking that he was laying it on a bit thick for someone who had just had to carry her off a roof. It did get a more genuine smile out of her, though, and a hint of color coming back into her cheeks. If he was trying to cheer her up, it was working.

It also helped that things had worked out all right in the end. "We did, didn't we?" The woman would be getting up to her apartment by now. Maybe she would even be greeted by her family. Today, there would be no quickly cooling corpse, nobody who had to mourn. It wasn't as concrete as winning a battle, but it was still a good thing.

The guilt about how aggressive she'd been was still creeping in, especially with Encke's question. It was tempting to wave it off with an I'm fine, but that didn't seem quite genuine or convincing after everything.

"It hasn't been this bad in a while," she said, her voice slipping back to something quieter and less steady, "But if I go home and wash the smoke out of my hair, maybe I'll be able to sleep." At least this time she had something to hold on to when the nightmares came. "And next time, I'll meet that monster on solid ground and I'll make sure he's off the streets for good."

Her hands curled back into fists at her sides. She didn't have the best track record with promises, but she would try.

Cybele nodded at his suggestion, which was something she probably wouln't have thought of otherwise. She had a habit of just cleaning up quickly and then falling into bed after battles. Winding down wasn't a terrible idea, especially with how tense things had gotten.

"I think I have a bath bomb in my closet," she said. "That sounds nice right about now."

She could feel the adrenaline draining out of her system and she knew the crash was coming soon. It was already starting in small ways. Her eyelids fluttered a bit, and her feet felt strangely heavy. She knew it wouldn't be long before even keeping up a conversation was too much

"Any more hunting can wait until after that," she said. If there were more auras around, more emergencies, she would have kept going until her feet gave out, but for now it seemed thankfully quiet. "I'm going to head home. It was nice to meet you, Encke."

She managed one more deep, proper nod, and a wave, after which she turned and started looking for a place to power down and call a cab.