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Nevada visited again, and she looked even worse. He wanted to smile when she came over, but seeing her look so frail and broken took that away quickly. She was clearly dying. For a while he'd sort of hoped it was all in her head. Terrible, but it was easier for a time.

"Hey.." His voice was soft, and all he could do was wrap his arms around her in a hug. What else could he do? What could he really say?

Gone?

Otto let her go as soon as she pushed him away, taking a step back to give her space. Her words and actions were contradicting. He'd seen her get a little spun before, but he had a bad feeling he was seeing something worse now. The cracks in her mind were crumbling.

"Nevada?" He asked carefully, his hands raised slightly at his sides. "I'm here. I won't leave. I'll help you."

His heart felt small little stabs as she spoke. All he'd ever felt with her was warmth, and she was saying it was lost. She was just falling apart. It wasn't her fault. He had to be there for her. Who else would?

"I am not leaving you, Nevada." Otto assured her as firmly as he could, his hands coming to rest on her shoulders as he leaned in close. "Nothing. You didn't do anything wrong." He just needed to comfort her. That's all. Just walk her through whatever this was. Then, she'd come out okay.

The rage terrified him, because it was so opposite of the girl he knew. But he kept his courage. She was suffering, in pain. The worst thing he could do would be to make her feel alone.

"You don't have to try so hard. It's ok.." Of course he wanted her to eat, sleep. But this was beyond her control now, as fa as he could tell. Making her keep promises would only make it worse.

"How could I stop loving you?" It was rhetorical, but he said it anyway. His hand tentatively cupped her face. "It's okay if you don't feel right now. You're just tired from fighting so hard. I'm right here. With you. I'm yours, remember?" He was scared, insecure, and so desperate to run and hide. But he cared too much. He wanted so badly to be there for her, anything he wanted was set aside. He couldn't run, nor hide. It wouldn't go away by ignoring it. He had to be strong if he wanted to keep what was precious to him.

Tears could be saved for another day alone. For now, he needed to be the shoulder, not her.

Her arms made him flinch. How did that even happen? She hadn't been out on a mission had she? Or sparring? It didn't even occur to him that it would be self inflicted. She kept rambling, and Otto was even more at a loss than before. Everything had been fairly normal until now, the decline slow and easy to pass off. They had talked, laughed and loved.

But the Nevada he knew.. was she already gone?

"How?" Of course he couldn't help her. He had no idea how. If the Life techs wouldn't do anything, then maybe it really was a lost cause. He'd never have imagined losing a weapon would literally kill someone like this. That the bond was what kept them alive.

He couldn't tell her that he didn't know. He couldn't tell her he was scared for her.

What was he supposed to do? This was just like when he was still in Death; problems everywhere and no power to fix them. He couldn't even tell her his good news like this. She had problems, and his achievements were not going to save her.

She jumped as Stormy came in, because it was quiet...uninvited, unsuspecting. She might've turned in anger, in rage...if it hadn't been for the question.

It threw her off. She looked from Stormy to Otto to her arms.

"He doesn't heal them anymore..." She rubbed at the bandages, peeling some of it back to see the red angry and scabbing marks. All too small for anything else but her hand, her nails scraping at them. "I want him to heal them, so when he doesn't, I add another one." She wasn't talking about Otto, or Jake or Ian.

"If...If I hurt myself, he'll heal them. He has no choice, it's his job to keep me healed, and good..." She stuttered. "Are you going to leave me Stormy?" She struggled, face contorting. "Are you going to betray me....?" Doubt, sickness, diseased. What was wrong with her, why couldn't she think of anything but her death. Why couldn't she think of anything else but what people were doing to her.

"Otto said he wouldn't, Are you?" She whispered, "Ian said he wouldn...t....Would you? Have you given up on me?" Forsake her to the fate she caused?

Stormy gazed at her wounds some more, her expression tightening. She should have never let Nevada move out. She should've stuck up for herself and insisted on staying. Was this what Otto meant when he said she'd been getting worse, day after day? This was what he'd been dealing with? Her heart went out to him even more, then. Maybe this too was her fault. Maybe everything was . . . If she hadn't told Aria she'd help her, then Nevada would have never gotten so suspicious, there never would have been the need to lie, no need to doubt, no need to draw lines and say there were sides, maybe no vendetta either--

But hour after hour of guilt-tripping herself was exhausting, even though it was one of her favorite hobbies. And the sight of Nevada's scabbed arms agitated her more than could be explained, stirred something dark up that moved faster than an impulse, betrayed only by a minor twitch near Stormy's mouth. Today, she didn't want to be gentle and soft: words of encouragement did nothing, not nearly as much as action did. Anyone could talk and say it was alright; she had to show conviction behind it to make it worth anything.

So she slapped Nevada without warning.

"Nobody's abandoned you, Nevada. Nobody's given up on you. Nobody."

For a moment she hated that they were both tall enough that she had to tilt her head even the slightest to look them in the eye. For one brief, dark moment, Stormy wanted Nevada cowering and crouched. Where hope and encouragement wouldn't sink in, maybe fear would.

"Don't," she hissed, almost a whisper. "Don't you dare insult any've us like that, wearing those scars like they belong there. You think losing him's an excuse to act out? You think sitting around acting like it's the end of the world'll help?"

Her hand shot out again, this time grabbing the collar of Nevada's shirt as Otto had hold of her shoulders. Stormy leaned in with frosty, quiet anger. "What gave you the right to give up like that? Look me in the eye and tell me how the hell you thought this was a good idea."