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[torchbearer]

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[avatarfortruth]

[ She makes a soft sound of understanding. ]

I won't ask you to give Ion up, Kyle. Only, please –

I couldn't bear to lose you to it.

[torchbearer]

[ he sighs. ]

It's too late for that. There's nothing keeping me here.

[avatarfortruth]

If I didn't know better, I'd take some offense to that, Kyle. Nothing?

[ Her arm is warm around his shoulders; she gives him a little shake. ]

That's a bit short-sighted for someone who claims to be a god.

[torchbearer]

[ maybe it is. but he knows looking back is just painful. it's too painful. it's easier to call it nothing and to look back and see everything in its broken glory. ]

I'm not tethered here, Diana. I never really was.

[avatarfortruth]

That's your choice, Kyle.

[ She hasn't moved away from him, hasn't let him go. He needs all the support she can lend right now. ]

It may hurt, when roots are ripped out, but without them, no tree can grow.

[torchbearer]

If I were a tree, perhaps.

[ he's quiet for a moment. ]

But I'm starlight.

[avatarfortruth]

Ion is starlight. Kyle is a man. A good man. My friend.

Do we not share a tether?

[torchbearer]

[ he feels bad. it pierces the numbness. ]

It's . . . not enough.

[avatarfortruth]

No one person could ever be enough, Kyle. You have to give yourself to the world.

Remember? We decided to try and make it a better place here. Both of us, together.

[torchbearer]

And I agree, I just — [ god, this is hard. ion is there, but kyle is here too and it's a balancing act from keeping himself intact and not losing it. ]

— It's not enough.

[avatarfortruth]

It's up to you, Kyle. It has been since the first time you touched these powers.

[ Leaning close, she hugs him again, wishing her embrace alone could keep him tethered, as he'd said, knowing no one person could ever be enough. ]

Whatever happens, I'll be here with you. You're my friend, and I love you.

[torchbearer]

. . . I know.

[ he does reach for her hand and squeezes it. diana is his friend. he trusts her. she wouldn't let him down, but it feels like a part of his heart has been wrenched out all over again. he's not even hurt that jason left, that jason broke his promise.

he's just tired of kyle. ]

[avatarfortruth]

[ She squeezes his hand back, her heart aching. For him, for Jason, for Jenny and Alex and Donna, too. ]

It's nice to have you here in the townhouse. A few more gadgets and it will almost feel like the Watchtower.

[ Not quite, but they both know she's just trying to lighten the mood. ]

[torchbearer]

[ he manages a threadbare smile. ]

All we need is J'onn lurking around.

[avatarfortruth]

Wouldn't that be wonderful? I miss him dreadfully.

[ She misses all of them, but there are times when J'onn's calm presence would be extremely comforting. ]

[torchbearer]

Me too.

[ he did enjoy his time in the league, even if he felt like a fuckup most of the time. it taught him a lot and gave him the confidence he needed when he struggled. and they were a team. ]

Wouldn't mind seeing Clark either, even if he'd give me a dirty look for becoming Ion again.

[ it's not true, of course. clark was concerned, mostly. rightfully so. clark helped him figure out how to navigate the power without becoming someone who took people's free will away. ]

[avatarfortruth]

[ She can't help but laugh at the very idea. ]

I've never seen Clark give a dirty look to anyone or anything. I don't think he knows how.

[torchbearer]

Yeah, it's more like disapproving schoolmaster vibes.

[avatarfortruth]

I think we always got that a little more from Bruce than anyone else.

[ Their Bruce, she means; the Bruce from the League, the one that isn't here. ]

[torchbearer]

By little, you mean "all the time" right?

[avatarfortruth]

[ She laughs a little more freely at that. ]

Yes, I suppose I do.

[torchbearer]

It's weird when he's not being that way.

[avatarfortruth]

Always alarming.

[ She's smiling, still, but there's something wistful about it now. ]

I miss him, too. And Clark.

[torchbearer]

. . . Yeah. Me too.

It feels weird without them.

[avatarfortruth]

Back home, we've...

[ She hasn't discussed this with Bruce; how can she? He doesn't want to hear about the other Bruce, doesn't trust Clark, and she can only imagine what his reaction might be to what happened with Maxwell Lord. ]

We've only just started really speaking again, after... after. I... it hurts to be without them again.