She runs, and then she's in the way before he can stop her and his heart catches in his throat, and there's that anguish, the kind that makes you nearly drop to your knees, the kind that's just like the terror and pain he felt the moment he saw the explosives in Tana's necklace start to blow.

You don't get to walk away from seeing your girlfriend's face burned off while you stood feet away without being affected. He had finally opened up again and let himself love Cassie, but the fear had always been there, especially in their line of work. In their Young Justice days, it'd had him shoving her out of the way of laser beams when she was just as invulnerable, going "Look out!" when she could take care of herself perfectly fine, and he knew it. It'd been so hard even just to tell her (http://pics.livejournal.com/pikakao/pic/006z3r8h/g229).

He can't do it again. He can't deal with it again.

The cry is one of complete anguish and despair. It's the cry of a young man that watched the girl he loved die who is, as far as he can tell, watching the same thing happen all over again.

"CAAASSIEEE!"

...Except the smoke clears, and she's still standing there, defiant.

Tears are running down his face, and they stop as suddenly as they started.

"...Cass?"