She does not bother to hide the tears streaming down her face, makes no effort to wipe them away, as she thinks about what has become of the man she once called her hero.

She cannot help but think of the hundred different ways he has been there for her, for all of them, she wonders if they ever returned the favour, if they ever helped him after a rough case, a bad day. Did they ever show up at his apartment with a pizza and a promise to be there if he needed it?

She knows the answer to that and it only brings more tears to her eyes, because at the times when he might have needed a friend they were not there. They were never there.

They were a team, which means they should look out for each other, take care of one another, a role that Tony has always so readily accepted. He kept up his end of that unspoken agreement, but they did not, they failed. Tony is paying the price for that now.

How could she have been so ignorant?

How could she have let him down, when all he has done is protect her?

Maybe that was the problem. That he was so good at protecting everybody else, they all forgot he could never quite protect himself.

Is that their fault though? Could he not have come to them? Could he not have simply asked them for help? Was that really so hard?

Maybe he would have, if they ever gave him any inclination that they would care.

She cannot blame Tony, the blame lies firmly on their shoulders, because she cannot count the times they may have helped him through a lonely night, but she can count the times they laughed at him, insulted him, and made him feel excluded, as if they did not want him there.

The tears are falling faster now, because her actions have helped reduce a man, who was once so strong, to a broken shell.

She never imagined Tony could fall so far.

She thought he was resilient, invincible. That was her biggest mistake.

She honestly thought she knew him, now she knows better.

She does not know him at all, perhaps now she never will.