Title: Please don't let me fall.

Author: Meesh

Disclaimer: Blah.

Note: I hated the way the ending for 'clocktower' went and the more I thought about it, the more it sucked, so I decided to revise it. 'Sides, I was feeling kinda melancholy.

There lies everything that hurts me, right behind that door. No, don't think, I tell myself, that'll make it worse. Don't think, don't think, just breathe. Go.

Step through the door, the first thing my eyes come in contact with is the dark canvas spotted with stars. It gleams through the glass of the clocktower. God, it's late. How long have I been in there? Omph-not enough time to think...I'm being pushed back into my room, two strong hands against my shoulders. I stumble back, she closes the door.

"We need to talk." Curt. That's the only word that can describe how she sounds.

I respond flatly, "You should know that that is the last thing I want to do." What? It is.

"Doesn't matter. We need to talk." Her eyes are darker than usual. This is going to take a long time isn't it?

Then for no apparent reason, I say, "About what?" Not even trying to feign innocence. She must think I'm intentionally being stupid, but I really can't help it.

"Dinah, I-" her face softens a little and she tries again, "I don't want you to get the wrong idea but-"

I look her straight in the eye. "Don't. Don't give me that. Don't even bother, I don't want nor need some half assed speech about how ridiculous the whole notion was. I know that it was stupid."

"I'm more than positive that you're very aware of the situation at hand. I'm not going to dismiss what think of me, what you feel for me."

"Then what the hell are we doing here?" I wrap my arms around myself.

"I'm not that sure..." Her focus trails off to somewhere past me. "I'm not even going to pretend that I know how to handle this. Dinah, you mean a lot to me. You have no idea how you impact the way I am," she pauses for a moment and I train my glare on a patch of carpet not too far from my feet. "I get scared whenever you leave. I mean, after what happened with Sandy, there's always a voice at the back of my head that begs me to go find you and make sure you're ok. And that's a lot for a person like me. If you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly 'Miss Altruestic,' but you changed that. You reminded me that this is more than just a game. That there's more than just having some fun kicking some ass. I never thought I could care so much about the people I protect," I look up and she's standing right infront of me, sky blue eyes rimmed with tears, "I love you for that. And I know it's not the kind of love you want, don't get me wrong, it's not like it's impossible. I wouldn't be surprised if I fell in love with you, it's just...I couldn't handle being the person that broke your heart."

Sincerely, I ask, "What makes you think that you would?"

We're watching each other closely and she sighes deeply, "Whether I mean to or not, I will. I don't think it, I know it. And trust me when I say, I never, ever want to do that to you." I shut my eyes as I feel her lean into me, her chin tilting upwards, and place a firm kiss on my forehead. Not opening my eyes, I hear her step back and slowly walk away to the door. I hear her turn the knob and step outside. Just before she closes the door, she wishes me a goodnight.

Still blind to my surroundings I stand in the empty room, arms gripping my body for all it's worth. I'm far too afraid that if I let go, I'll fall apart. To no one but myself and the walls, I whisper, "Goodnight."

a/n: how's that? better? I hope it was...