It took a few minutes for Jessie to cry herself out. I imagined she had been building up quite a bit of pressure and frustration, and having a release for all that tension in the form of hope was bound to take the wind out of her sails. As mentioned she couldn't use here energizing ability on herself, and after the tears she had actually fallen asleep on my shoulder. I considered waking her, but we were as safe as were were going to be for the foreseeable future, and having our healer running on fumes seemed...ill advised.

Callie came over to smile at me as I set her down. "She finally decided to talk to someone huh?" I cocked my head in confusion and she chuckled sadly. "She's been running herself into the ground trying to get stronger. I would have brought it up but it was something she needed to open up about on her own. I honestly have no idea what you said to her, because I couldn't think of a way to help. Losing a loved one like that isn't something you can just shrug off." She gave the younger girl a soft smile as we bunched up her cloak under her head so she could sleep on the hard marble flooring.

She turned to look at the others. "We're stopping here for a while. Agria needs some rest, and I think the rest of us could use a bit of time to decompress. Solomon and I will take first watch, the rest of you have something to eat and relax a bit. Maybe catch a nap yourselves, we'll wake you up well before any undead get close." Everyone else seemed happy to take the time off and was able to relax a bit, though I saw Benny looking at Jessie with concern. He tapped Celine on the shoulder and pulled her over to stand by our teammate so they could talk and watch her at the same time as Callie and I pulled off to stand at the door to the hallway.

Despite being on watch, I could tell Callie was relaxing a bit herself, and I put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her against me as we watched the hall. She let herself snuggle into my side, and I saw a tension ease from her that I hadn't even noticed was there. I even reached up to remove my mask since my back was to the others and my hood kept me mostly protected from sight. "Wow, you were really worried about her weren't you? Am I just a giant asshole for not noticing she was hurting so much? I just picked up on it today, and I kind of wish I'd known, I might have been able to...help somehow. I don't know."

She leaned up to press a kiss to my lips. "No. You aren't an asshole. You're someone whose been dealing with problems of his own. I was worried, but I'm the leader, that's my job. The emotional health of my team is important to me, especially you. I had faith she would confide in one of us soon, and if she really did bottle it up for too much longer I'd have said something to her. I just...I know how hard it is to lose someone close to you. Not like she did, I know she and her brother were inseparable but..."

I put a finger to her lips. "Hey, you're allowed to mourn your friend. I know he was there for you in a really dark time in your life. Just because Jessie lost someone doesn't make you less deserving of your own grief. Feel how you feel. If it's your job as leader to take care of us then it's my job as your boyfriend to take care of you. Someone needs to if you're going to worry about everyone else." I gave her a lopsided smile and she chuckled wetly, giving me a grateful nod even if she didn't say anything out loud.

Callie hadn't really had time to mourn Batty now that I thought about it. Hell most of us hadn't had time to process any of this. She'd gone out of her way to talk to me about my issues and check how I was doing, and had apparently been keeping an eye out for Jessie, but I hadn't even noticed how much trouble my team was having. Basically the only one of us who seemed genuinely unaffected was Benny, and I knew how my friend liked to repress everything. I decided I'd talk to him about everything soon, to take something off Callie's plate, because she'd been stuck with way too much lately.

We sat there like that for a while. I had my Seek Hidden skill active and scanning for skeletons, and I knew Callie had her eyes peeled even if she was trying to take a beat to just let things go. I felt bad I couldn't give her that time with no distractions, but that wasn't where we were at right now. After a bit of time for her to gather herself and some silence, she finally spoke. "What did she ask you? You don't have to tell me if you think it would violate her confidence, but I'd like to know, if that's ok."

I couldn't see a problem with answering honestly. I'd promised Jessie the team would have her back, and Callie was part of that. Benny too. I was pretty sure she wouldn't mind them knowing what we had planned. "Her brother. She wants to bring him back. Either on her own or with my help. She tried wishing for it to see if it's possible, and while it is, its beyond the scope of my ability, which means it's probably absurdly expensive. Still, one way or the other it can be done, so I agreed to help her." I kept my tone even, though I was curious what her reaction would be.

She flinched away, looking...almost confused. "That's...sweet revenant. I didn't even know that was possible, though now that I say that out loud it seems silly. It's just...death. That's so final, I can't even imagine it not being a constant. I wonder if that's a common option for people who are high enough ranked. It just kind of highlights how different the world gets as you grow stronger. How much the rules change. If you can help her like that though....bring him back. Can you do that for me? Can I wish for my friend back?"

I just shrugged. "I don't see why not. I mean keep in mind it might be a while. Judging by the feedback this might be pretty damn late game, but if you want to wait...yeah, I don't see a reason I couldn't. You don't think it's stupid then? Or crazy? You'll help? Because honestly even thinking about it feels crazy in a way. Living for a thousand plus years because of Impact is one thing but death just being something you can...fix, it's such an absurd thing to even consider. I half expected you to bust out some obscure cultivation factiod to tell me it wasn't possible."

That got a snicker. "Nope. That kind of thing is well above my paygrade. This isn't exactly a top tier planet, not that I've been to one. There's plenty about cultivation I don't know." She smiled wetly and poked me in the ribs. "I just seem knowledgeable to you because you have no idea what the hell is going on." That was probably fair. I had no clue what was happening to me most of the time, as much as I had fun with the process. Callie glanced over her shoulder. "You might want to put your mask back on by the way, looks like our watch is over."

It was a surprise to me that it had ended so quickly, but I guessed we had been here longer than I thought. It had been nice spending time with her. Callie had this knack for helping keep me in the moment. I didn't overthink or analyze everything when I was with her. Whether it was helping with her burdens or just sitting with her and talking I was always present when we were together. I shot her a grateful smile and gave her another quick kiss before I slipped my mask on, and we stood up to turn and meet the next pair of watchers.

Benny and Celine were waiting for us, Cark having taken over sitting with Jessie, and it was all I could do not to laugh at the image of them switching places with us. I gave my best friend a sarcastic nod. "You guys have a reservation? Apparently this is the hot new place for couples to spend time together, so I'm gonna have to check the guest book." After the shit he gave me about Callie before we got together I wasn't going to miss a chance to rib my best friend about his new romance.

Celine didn't respond, though her incredibly pale cheeks reddened so imperceptibly I'd have missed it without my enhanced Perception stat. Benny just gave me the finger. "Yeah, table for two under go fuck yourself." I cracked up at that and we stepped aside to let them through. Benny kicked my ankle as I walked by and I yelped as it landed right on the bone, getting a snicker from my friend. I didn't begrudge him that back and forth. I could tell he was as worried about Jessie as I was. The familiarity of us messing with each other was a comfort with so much changing.

I expected Callie to mention it, but she just shook her head in exasperation at the two of us. We found Cark sitting back against the wall napping and the two of us sat down on the other side of him near Jessie to close our eyes too. I spread my cloak out on the floor at the base of the wall as we settled in for a nap. I didn't know when the next chance to sleep would come, so since we were here it made sense to at least try to rest. Callie agreed with me it seemed, because she snuggled up next to me and we both did our best to drift off to sleep.

As I drifted off though I thought back to what I'd learned from Jessie, to what I'd seen in Callie's eyes. I spent a lot of time focusing on the good and trying not to get lost in the various terrible things that had happened interspersed throughout my time as an Ascendant. My dad disowning me, finding Batty's body, those eight sleepers who Aiden had killed in G district. There was real darkness there as much as I tried to avoid thinking about it. But I'd been ignoring the most important thing. My own team.

Benny had left home for the first time and basically abandoned his family to follow me. His parents and he weren't always that close but they loved him and he loved them. He and Maria were thick as thieves, and he had left all that behind to come with me. Some of that was a desire for adventure, but I knew him well enough to know some of it was looking out for me, even if he'd never say it. Callie was dealing with Batty's death and everyone elses problems, and Jessie had been suffering without me even noticing.

I made a promise to myself. To help my friends with their demons even as I tried to work on mine. To take care of my team for real, not just ignore them outside of fights. I planned for us all to be together for a long time, and I wanted us to thrive, emotionally and in terms of power. I fell asleep like that, my girlfriend warm against my side as I drifted off, and despite the dire revelations I was smiling. Knowing there was a problem was a good first step. Tomorrow would be a better day.