By the time Jamie manages to walk himself back to Eddie's room it's just after six. Danny left for the 5-4 hours ago, leaving Jamie standing, cold and alone, outside the chapel. In the hours following, Jamie sat silently in the hospital cafeteria, eating around the olives in his pre-made salad. His thoughts were spinning around his head at a thousand miles per hour, but he kept coming back to one thing: Armin Janko.

If it hadn't been for Armin Janko and everything he did to his family and the people of New York, Eddie might be safe and sound at home right now. Instead, she was lying in the ICU in a medically induced coma. If it wasn't for Armin Janko, Eddie might've never been a cop. But at least then she would have been safe.

What Danny had said stuck with him. In another universe this all could have still happened. In another universe he might've never met Eddie. In another universe she's living the life she always thought she would have, not this nightmare. In another universe...

Reyan and Jamie sit across from each other in silence. Since Jamie came back, the two haven't said a single word, not even looked each other in the eye. Their eyes are locked on Eddie, their breathing in time with the ventilator. Jamie's fingertips run absentmindedly along her arm.

Reyan breaks first. She looks up at him; his features soft, but his eyes dark with worry.

"Jamie?" she says, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Hmm?"

"I, uh... The doctors came up here a couple hours ago. After Danny left. And they, they said that they want to take Eddie off the ventilator tomorrow morning. See how she does without it. If she's good without it, they'll ease her off the sedation. Best case, they said, she'll be awake by tomorrow night..."

You can see the spark of hope light in Jamie's eyes. His hand closes over Eddie's gently. "She'll be fine. It's cliche, I know, but Eddie's-" he pauses for a moment, takes a deep breath, and closes his eyes. "She's a fighter."

"Can I tell you a story?"

"Can I stop you?"

"You could leave again," Rey raises one eyebrow. Jamie replies with only a sharp glare.

"Okay..." Reyan begins. "Eddie's the strongest person I know. When we were younger, maybe fourteen or fifteen, Eddie and I would go out and just wander around the city. This was back when I'd just moved out here, and Ed showed me the best places to sit and think, and the shortcuts to school, and of course, the best places to eat. I loved this city more than anything. I mean, I'm a city kid too - Los Angeles, remember? In all the time we ran around the city, I always believed that Eddie was stronger than me. She was fearless, I thought, with the way she walked the streets whenever she wanted. She kept her keys in her hand and always had a sharp comeback for anyone who gave her shit.

It was only when we were in college that I realized I was wrong. A lot of stuff happened in college. Eddie got through it. She was dedicated to what she was doing: an MBA in finance. Until her junior year, when it all fell down. When the whole investigation into her dad started, I expected Eddie to be the strong one, to not be afraid of what would happen. I thought her mom would be the one to freak over it all. That's not what happened, if you hadn't guessed.

I was in Massachusetts for college, a year ahead of Eddie. Even down in Massachusetts, you couldn't quite escape the headlines. They weren't front page news, but it was there in bold black type: NY Financial Advisor Armin Janko Investigated for Fraud. I tried to ignore them just like everyone else. It worked until I got the first text from Eddie about it. She was freaking out. Her mother refused to speak to her father, and even in the beginning Ed knew how it was all gonna turn out. She knew her father was going to jail. And that's when I realized that Eddie's not fearless. She knows how to hide her fear. Which, I think, makes her stronger than any of us."

Jamie runs his hands through his hair, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. He says nothing.

"I started calling her Supergirl in college, y'know?" Rey laughs.

"Janko... She never tells me this stuff. It just comes up outta nowhere one day and she won't say a word about it. 'Jamie, it happened a long time ago. It's nothing.' Always the same. I don't know how to help her when she blows it off like that... And now Danny's saying that all of this could've happened because Armin. Someone going after her because they can't get to him. So we're stuck here, waiting for her to wake up, in the hopes that we might get her to talk about what her father did."

The six o clock news runs for an hour. It must be a slow news day in NYC, Reyan thinks, because at 6:53, this is the third time they've come back to the shooting since she turned the channel on.

"...daughter of convicted felon Armin Janko," the dark-haired reporter says without emotion. "According to police, it is not yet clear what motivated this attack on one of New York's finest. Officer Janko is in serious condition at Saint Victor's Hospital. We at Channel 2 wish her and those close to her good fortune in these hard times." With that, Jamie reaches over and shuts of the TV.

"I can't just sit here and watch them talk about her anymore. It's wrong. I think I'm gonna try to head home, at least change out of these clothes. Sleep if I can. You can tag along, if you want," Jamie says, standing and stretching. He grabs his coat off the back of the chair and pulls it on. Outside, in the glare of the parking lot lights, snow falls in heavy flakes.

Reyan looks at him for a moment, trying to figure out when exactly he changed. He stares back at her, waiting. She wraps a jacket around herself as she stands to follow him. It was the warmest thing she could find for a New York winter in her Los Angeles apartment.

"Night, Eddie," Jamie whispers. Eddie, of course, does not respond.

AN: Well, there's that. This chapter is kind of a mess, but I needed it as a bit of a filler and there's a lot I needed to address. Anyways, I'm really enjoying writing Reyan into this little story. It's a thing I do a lot -mentally writing my ocs into my own fic like this. It's nice to have an almost completely unbiased narrator like this.

Reviews are, as alway, appreciated. -whenthedark