In the hours after the attack, chaos ruled New York City.

People frantically tried to leave the area around the amusement park but it had been almost impossible. There had been traffic jams everywhere, the metro had been evacuated as a safety precaution. Thousands of people were walking through the streets with no shelter when others started to use apps and hashtags so they could offer a place to stay.

Cress and Thorne reached their home, dusty and full of sweat, long after nightfall. Even with Cress's superhero stamina, she was exhausted. Her feet burned, her face itched. Even though Thorne didn't try to show his own fatigue, he jaw was flexed with the effort it took him to continue walking block after block.

They could have made it home sooner if not for the child whose parents they needed to find first. There had been no help from the first responders who focused on treating the victims, so they made their way to the nearest police station. They had both been uncomfortable to leave the child, Sunto, alone until his parents arrived. Three hours they had spent at the station, trying to keep the scared child company until his mother arrived, dishevelled and in tears. She had kissed her boy and thanked Cress and Thorne in turns.

The keys clanked as Thorne tossed them onto the stand in the hallway. His shoulders slumped when he saw himself in the mirror. "I look like a freaking ghost," he said commenting on the white-grey dust that covered him except for the lines where sweat had run down from his forehead.

Cress walked up behind him, her arms wounding around his body from behind. "You look like a hero."

Thorne snorted. "If that's how heroes look, I think I'll pass." But there was little humour in his tone. "I need a shower."

He was distanced, Cress could tell. At first, she had thought he was just tired but since they were waiting in the halls of the police station, there had been something off. He had been silent and when he spoke, it was short and clipped, so unlike Thorne.

Cress didn't voice any of her thoughts though. "Just leave your clothes on the floor. I'll wash them tomorrow." Today was no time to be particular about rules.

Thorne nodded and made his way to the bathroom. She heard the door shut behind him but no lock.

Cress gave herself a few seconds to check on the news in her mind and startled. Android had been able to defeat the new villain, a woman who had named herself Bombshell—which, in Cress's opinion, was the most ridiculous alias she could imagine. It only made her hate her more.

Bombshell, really?

But Cress had known about—urgh—Bombshell's defeat since back at the police station. What startled her was something else and she let her mind flutter over the article once more:

In lieu of another Lunar attack, Levana Blackburn made one of her rare official statements. A deal has been struck between Blackburn Inc. and the US government concerning the confinement of super-powered humans in the future.

Mrs. Blackburn is being quoted as "deeply concerned about the security of people all over the world". Superhumans are an "unpredictable threat to the very foundation of humanity" and therefore, swift precautions have to be taken. She and her team have developed a high-security facility to hold these criminals, "for our safety and for theirs". The Blackburn prisons will be designed to resist the specific powers of their inmates—

Cress shook her head and the article vanished from her mind.

Levana Blackburn got involved with the new super-powered humans now? And Blackburn Inc. was working with the US government? That could only spell disaster ... right?

No one had much insight into what Blackburn Inc. did.

Except, well, Cress. Or rather, Satellite.

She had hacked to the best of her abilities into Blackburn Inc.'s security system, scoured documents, records and transcripts - many of them forged as Cress learned. She had been able to trace back the influx of human wolf mutants back to Blackburn Inc.'s research facilities. Behind the scenes, Blackburn Inc. was trading in oil, wars and weapons, privatised water supplies and employed teams of top-notch lawyers around the globe to make sure that, on record, their business was squeaky clean.

But now they built a prison of sorts that would confine super-powered humans? To what end? Cress couldn't fathom why Levana Blackburn would invest in that.

And Levana Blackburn ... even with her cyberpathy, Cress hadn't been able to gather much information about the elusive figurehead of the Blackburn clan. No birth records, no images - nothing. So what was the big plan?

Cress sighed. There was no way she would be able to figure it out, not with the day she had behind her. She needed to relax, get her mind off what happened. Her first time holding back on her superpowers had turned out well enough. Android had been victorious on her own and who knew, maybe someone else would jump in next time? But no more thinking about supervillains, metallic girls and evil corporations.

Walking towards the bathroom, Cress already heard the shower running. She quietly opened the door and stepped into the steam-filled room. It already smelled of Thorne's expensive soap.

Thorne was behind the glass screen but the steam that clung to it made it hard to see more than his foggy silhouette. He wouldn't be able to see her either.

Cress shook off her jacket and let it fall to the floor where it joined the heap of Thorne's clothes. She unbuttoned her dress, sending dust everywhere. It crunched between her toes as she stepped out of her shoes before pulling her underwear off.

Thorne didn't notice her when she stepped into the shower even though he wasn't humming or whistling like usual. With his back to her, Cress allowed herself a few moments to admire his body. Water was running down his broad shoulders, slim hips and shapely bottom, taking the rest of dust with it where it pooled around his feet.

Tracing her fingers over the taut muscles in his back, she could feel Thorne tense for a second. "Hey."

"Hey," he answered simply but his voice was coarse.

Cress walked under the jet of water, relishing in the feel of the hot water easing her aching muscles. Eyes still closed, she reached for the soap. Thorne's soap, not her own showering gel with the blackberry scent. The soap's scent was fresh and with a hint of something sharp that would always remind her of Thorne. She ran the soap across her body, and she could feel Thorne's gaze.

She turned around, her skin tingling with anticipation. "Would you help me get the dust out of my hair?" She coaxed, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

Thorne's fingers were familiar as they combed through her hair, his movements soft. Careful. A sigh escaped her as she leaned into his embrace, her back touching his chest. Her body relaxed under his ministrations and the tension of the last few hours gave way to new emotions.

Cress wasn't used to Thorne being so quiet and almost passive though. Maybe he was more tired than she thought. But when she glanced over one shoulder, his eyes were dark, taking her in as she stood before him. Cress quickly rinsed out the foam and turned around. She let her hands travel over his shoulders before raising herself up on her toes, her mouth brushing over his ever so slightly.

She wanted to tease him, to coax his usual self out. Her lips brushed against jawline, his neck, the curve of his shoulder, her fingers following suit to explore his body. Every touch just as soft as the droplets running down his skin.

Leaning up again, Cress captured Thorne's mouth with hers. He tightened his embrace, pulling Cress flush against him. She could feel his hands sprawled over her back and his breath on her lips. There was something urgent in Thorne's kisses, as if he couldn't get close enough to her—

—and then he broke away from her.

Mouth open, Cress stared at him as he grabbed at the slick shower walls for support. His head was cast downwards and for several long moments, the only thing she heard were his ragged breaths and the stream of water.

"Damnit!" He ran his hands through his wet hair but it was plastered on his forehead. His fists clenched. "Damnit!"

"Thorne?" Cress stepped closer, trying to reach out to him. "What's wrong?"

Sliding the glass open, Thorne stepped out of the shower without a word and reached for his towel. The cool air hit Cress, raising goosebumps on her skin despite the heat from the water.

Wrapping herself in her bathrobe, Cress followed Thorne into the bedroom. His towel was slung around his hips, a look that usually made her knees weak. Right now, she was more concerned with whatever it was that set Thorne on edge. She wasn't sure if she should approach him again but if her naked stunt in the shower hadn't gotten him out of his funk ...

She decided to sit on the corner of their bed. "Talk to me, Thorne."

He grabbed his sweatpants and shirt from the floor. Usually, Cress made him at least fold his sleepwear neatly on a chair or the corner of his (still unmade) bed but she had been so excited about their romantic fair date that this morning she had let it slide. "I'm fine."

"Yeah, that never works on you when I tell you that." Cress tried to keep her tone light despite the tenseness.
"Did I do something wrong? Are you angry at me?"

"Angry at you?" A harsh laugh was muffled by Thorne running his hands over his face. "Nah, it's all good. Peachy."

"Wait." Cress stood up. "You are angry at me? What, why? What did I do?"

"What did you do? I tell you what you didn't do. You certainly didn't go save yourself, oh no. Instead, you went and put yourself in any danger in a reckless and foolish attempt to be heroic!"

Cress took a startled step back. She had never seen Thorne burst like that, not even when they were fighting. Which was something he usually tried to get out of with a joke and some attempt to just agree with everything she said. It drove her crazy but that was the Thorne she knew. He had been annoyed by her, sullen and prone to disappear to "clear his head".

But angry? Never.

She tried to be understanding. "I didn't try to be heroic, Thorne. You mean the Ferris wheel? There were people in there. Someone had to help them."

"Why you though? It was dangerous. Every normal person tried to run away and you? Ran right into the next blast!" His eyes were red-rimmed from rubbing them and his voice was coarse. If he weren't so angry, Cress would think him exhausted more than anything else.

However, Cress wouldn't back down on this. She had tried to save people, so? That's what good people did, superheroes or not. Of course, Thorne didn't know about her superpowers but still, he had no right to attack her. "You went back to get the little boy, too," she reminded him, her tone clipped.

Thorne groaned. "Because I knew you would have gone and get him yourself. I was just trying to save us time."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You can't be serious. Thorne, people were going to die!"

"We could have died!" His voice, raspy and raw, was on the verge of yelling.

"But we didn't!" she yelled back.

"No thanks to you!" Thorne had been pacing the room until now but now he stopped and came closer, pointing his finger at her. "If not for Android ... Cress, it was sheer luck that tower didn't hit you. How could you be so careless with your life?"

She held up her hand. "Stop it. Stop making me feel guilty for trying to do the right thing. You think I wasn't scared? You think I wanted us to get hurt?"

"You didn't seem to care," he said through clenched teeth.

"I did! How can you be so"—She looked for the right word in English, the anger making it harder for her—"callous? Didn't you hear the people calling for help? The death toll on the news was at one-hundred-thirty and it's still rising. Others weren't as lucky as we were—"

"I don't care about anyone else!"

Cress felt like the air was sucked out of her and she gasped in disbelief at him. Silence filled the room for a many, tense seconds. "You don't mean that." Even to her own ears, her voice sounded feeble.

He tiredly rubbed over his face, pressing down on his eyelids. "I just ..." Thorne faltered and started again. His hand finally dropped and he looked straight at her. The franticness from before was gone. He still looked tired but his eyes were soft. "Cress, I just ... I can't be without you anymore. I don't want to lose you."

Cress's lips lifted into a smile and she tentatively made her way towards him. Her hand reached out to his bare chest, her palm pressing against the warm, damp skin. "I don't want to lose you too. I love you," she added.

Thorne's hand curled around hers, keeping it where it was. He took one step, two steps until she was pressed firmly against him once again, his fingers digging into her bathrobe. "I didn't imagine it would be like this," he whispered into her hair, something wet making her way down her temple. "I never thought ... When I met you and we decided to travel together, when I proposed to you ..."

"Yes?"

"You know, I thought it was comforting to know that it didn't have to be forever. We could just give it a go and see how it turned out. It was good to know that if one of us wanted out of this marriage we could."

Enveloped in Thorne's arms, Cress suddenly felt very cold. Her toes curled into the carpet for support.

Thorne didn't seem to notice. He sounded relaxed, relieved, even happy as the words tumbled out of him. "I mean obviously, I didn't want to part from you then either. But if it didn't turn like we thought, hey, divorce was always on the table, right?"

"Right," Cress could hear herself echo.

"But I want us to be forever now. When you ran back to the ferris wheel and when I was almost too late when the tower dropped ... Cress, please, don't ever do that again. Don't play the hero. Promise me, my love. Please."

Cress stepped out of his embrace with a heavy heart.

"Cress?"

Numbly, Cress bumped with her knees against the bed and slowly sat down. Her heart was thumping loudly in her chest. She was hoping she could crawl into bed, curl up and press her hands to her ears as if that could make his words go away.

It had been all a lie.

"Cress?"

His bare toes stepped in her line of view. Her eyes travelled up his body but whereas a few moments before the sight had caused her to swoon, she felt now tears sting at her eyes until Thorne was nothing but blurry spots.

"Our marriage ... you never thought it would last."

"What? No, that's not what I meant." He feel to his knees in front of her, grasping her hands but she pulled them away.

Her eyes snagged on the rings on both their hands.

Their wedding bands.

Thorne's proposal had been a spur of the moment thing. They had said their farewells in Kiev and he had already been on the bus to Boryspil International Airport to catch his flight back to New York. Cress had turned around with a heavy heart, believing she would never see him again, when she felt his arms envelop her. He had mumbled a confession of love that had turned into a spontaneous proposal.

It had been so romantic. An epic romance, like the ones she always dreamed of.

There had been no ring, no wedding dress or tuxedo. Cress had hacked into the registry's office database to sneak in an appointment for the two of them, so they would be officially wed. And a bit more hacking to procure and forge the necessary documents - thanks to that, Thorne believed Ukrainian bureaucracy the most efficient of them all now.

No, the ring came later, presented to her upon arriving in New York, accompanied with the keys to his apartment.

The memories felt hollow now.

"Sweetheart." A long pause. Then, quieter: "Kokhana."

Tears stung in her eyes and she lowered her head so he couldn't see them. As usual, he stumbled over the pronounciation, the sound at back of his throat not being part of English phonology. Thorne had learned a few phrases in Ukranian to compliment and flirt with her but Cress had quickly learned, Thorne liked to do things well and if he didn't, he wasn't really inclined to apply himself.

And now he used the sweetest word of endearment in her language.

"Don't."

"Come on, Cress. You know I didn't mean it that way." He ran his hands through his half-dry hair, so the short locks stood up, making him look unkempt, a look she usually liked about him. The tousled hair before he groomed it into perfection. "Of course I loved you then. That's why I didn't want to part from you. I never felt that way about anyone."

It was as close as Thorne would admit that he had been not quite the guy for serious relationships before her. It was no surprise, he had the easy charm of a guy who knew his way around women.

But he had proposed to her. Proposed in a way that had alleviated every fear and doubt Cress might have had.

So she had followed the man who had told her that he loved her.

"It's been a long day, Cress. I've said things I shouldn't have said. I apologise." Cress felt his fingertips, soft and careful, as they brushed a wet strand of hair behind her ear, the cold droplets running down her neck making her shiver. "I didn't mean anything by it."

Escaping his touch, Cress snapped. "Of course you meant it. Apparently you had that thought for the last year. You just told me that divorce was your Plan B from the start."

Thorne stood up with a groan. "Would you stop it? I apologised for what I said. What more do you want from me? But honestly, Cress, you can't be mad at me?!" His tone was heavy with annoyance. "Every person in their right mind would have had the same thoughts."

"Oh, so now I'm not in my right mind?"

"Honestly? I'm starting to wonder about that." He closed his eyes, his jaw flexing and Cress could see he was trying to regain his usual composure. "Cress, you're smart. Didn't you think it might not be the best idea to chain yourself to a person you met a few weeks ago without—"

"Chain yourself? So, this is what you think this marriage is?" She winced at the high-pitch of her voice, so close to breaking.

He continued as if she hadn't interrupted him. "—without knowing you could get out if necessary. I could have turned to be the nightmare of a husband—"

Cress snapped. "And you're so sure you aren't?"

Thorne raised his hands in exasperation. "You want to be mad at me for just being rational? Fine. Whatever. There's no way to argue with you tonight. You're tired. Go to sleep. We'll talk about it tomorrow." Thorne didn't pay any attention to her as he let go of the towel and dressed himself while she felt her own cheeks burn with anger.

And shame.

"You led me on." On the last word, her voice finally broke and tears sprung into her eyes. "I left everything behind and you—" She couldn't continue, as sobs threatened to shake her body. Pressing her hands to her lips, Cress tried to silence the pitiful cries. She already felt stupid enough.

She could hear his steps on the carpet, coming closer. "Cress, I'm—"

"Get out," she hissed.

"Cress—"

"I said, get out! Get out!"

Only when she heard the door close behind Thorne, she let herself cry.

A/N: Many thanks to kiminicricket for betareading. Reviews are always appreciated.