If there is one thing about his sister that can honestly scare Alec—it's how one of her occasional tantrums could turn into something more than what meets the eye—it's a moment just like this that happens to catch him off guard.
It's the dead of night and they are now alone together in her private chambers, because as usual, the Masters send in Alec to calm her nerves after they hear her first scream of fury being let loose.
He watches, without a word from his place near the doorway, as his twin paces the floor. Searing and lovely, like a little archangel, her black peignoir and her golden curls fly everywhere before her hand swats at a vase, knocking it down to shatter.
Shards of glass, plaster, and crumbling roses soon spread around her feet, but that's beyond Alec's concern. What alarms him most is the next screech that follows, because it is not filled with anger anymore. It's more like a suppressed dry sob, just waiting to be freed from her throat.
"Janie," he says, briefly and carefully as if he doesn't want to the one to startle her.
She grows still when his voice reaches her. Not looking at him directly, she stands there, on the verge of shedding tears. Genuine tears. The back of her wrist is now pressed against her mouth, as if she's hoping that simple gesture has the power to keep everything bottled up inside her yet.
Although, Alec can see the outline of her expression forming. He's seen her like this only a couple of times throughout their years, but it is come flooding back to him again.
He notices that she is becoming torn between crying over her broken pride—this instant of open weakness—or crying over what is really bothering her.
Yes, if there is one thing about his sister that can honestly scare Alec, it's the intensity of her of the struggle within herself...the strong hold bitter despair has on her, which obviously goes overlooked by most—if not everyone else. They don't realize the fragility lingering beneath her mask of steel.
Eventually, he moves, his arms expanding and folding around her. His sister trembles with a raw emotion that still amazes him as her head comes to rest on his chest and her fingers grip at his shoulders, allowing him to draw her close to him.
Sometimes, their past can gain speed in the race to leave it behind and it taunts her. The memories are unforgettable and sometimes, like tonight, they torture her all over again. Wear her down until she's drowning in them.
She, all of people, knows what real suffering is; it's a part of who she is and not even she can escape it. Like thunder and lightning, it strikes hard inside her mind.
And as another series of choked sobs wrack through her body and she clutches him tighter for comfort, Alec slowly begins to feel useless in the matter...because his own power, the thing he is officially known for, doesn't seem to be enough to help her through this if he tried that.
Because even without her sight, her hearing, and her touch, his sister would still be in pain.