"I think that's a good idea, because I don't think I'm going to leave you alone in this. "  She said, remarking on his offer of training.  "I have some the basics down in terms of martial arts and self-defense, but I'm sure it pales in comparison to what you've been through."  He was a top DMS agent, so she had no doubt he had spent years honing his skills and improving his reflexes.  Her injury suddenly came back to her mind as she touched her there, and his words made it clear to her that he felt as if he had done something wrong.<br/><br/>"You didn't fail at all, Casey.  I'm still here, I'm still alive and in your arms."  She finished the healing and her hands moved up to go around his neck, which felt natural right now.  Eve pulled him in for an embrace, closing her eyes and just holding on to him for a moment.  It was odd that a man she had only really known for about two weeks was suddenly her anchor, but he was.  The world around them seemed to be spinning out of control since before they met, but this metaphorical place, the space between them, was the calm in the eye of the storm.<br/><br/>She leaned back and looked up at him.  "I know things are hard.  You did what you could today and there was no way we could have prepared for that.  But you need to know, even with all the crazy shit that keeps happening to us...I'm glad we're in this together.  I'm glad the Council thought this was a good punishment because I think it was...our destiny, as crazy as that might sound."  The words felt funny to her as she spoke them, but she still held strong to that belief.  "Gold flame or no gold flame, we were meant to face whatever comes next together, that much seems so clear to me."<br/><br/>In an impulsive move, she pushed up on her tiptoes and kissed him.  It was not the polite or gentle kind of kiss she had extended to him before.  This time there was a need and longing to the gesture that had not been there prior.  She wanted to find a way to comfort him, to unburden him from the weight of the world that he seemed to carry with such stalwart strength.