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Malcolm hadn’t intended to ask Eddie about the accident; it just sort of slipped out. He’d been trying to figure out how Eddie even got there for weeks. The alert system had done it’s job, and the area was clear. Clear until it suddenly wasn’t.

“I’d never seen a good guy fight a bad guy before,” he said simply, settling under the covers. “But then when I got there, the lady’s eyes confused me.”

“The lady’s eyes?” Malcolm put the book they’d been reading on the bedside table.

“Like, I could see you were looking around and stuff, trying not to involve other people in your fight. But that lady... she only saw you. And she wanted you gone. That’s why I was standing there. I wanted to figure out the lady. I should have run away, so it's my fault.”

Malcolm stroked Eddie’s cheek. “No, it’s mine. I should have seen you sooner.”

Eddie shook his head. “I was hiding. I’m very good at hide-and-seek.”

“So you are.”

“But at least you saw me. The lady never would have. She just wanted to hurt you. She would have let me die.”

Malcolm’s free hand clenched. A child shouldn’t have to think such things... true as they were.

“Mr. Davis?”

“Call me Malcolm, Eddie.”

“Mr. Malcolm?”

Close enough. “Yes?”

“....I hate her. Is that okay?”

Malcolm pulled him in for a hug. “That's very okay.”