Malia opened her eyes as she heard footsteps approaching her, her exhausted eyes finding Carson striding towards her. She felt relief flood throughout her body, and she let out a breath, resting her head against the wall. Blood still trickled from the deep wound in her leg, but she didn’t have much strength to do anything about it. Not at this moment. She turned her head as Carson took a seat next to her, and her gut clenched at the sight of the blood running down his face. He was okay, though. He was alive, and that’s what mattered. She still cradled Max’s body, though when Carson took her hand, her attention was brought back to the man next to her. They had won this battle, but would they win the war?<br/><br/>She leaned her head against Carson’s shoulder, her fingers tangling with his, his body bringing her comfort at this hour. She nodded as he mentioned how they had some help from a new set of Striders, though that was all she really could do. Nod. She felt her eyes well with tears, though it was from the sudden drain in Adrenalin, and the realization of it all, not from pure despair. She wiped them away though, taking a breath and opening her eyes once more. She looked down to the body of the boy in her arms, and she raised her hand to move away his bloodied hair. “He was just a kid.” She swore under her breath, gently lowering his body back to the floor. “We need to clean him up. Give him some sort of goodbye. He betrayed us, but we aren’t monsters.”<br/><br/>She lifted her hand to Carson’s face, then, gently wiping away some of the blood she found there. She leaned in, resting her forehead against his, her lips brushing his. “I love you. I didn’t get to say that before the fight.” She pulled back, sighing. “Alright, let’s get to it. Let’s get you cleaned up, use TRIM if we need to.” She let him stand, taking his hand when he offered it to her. She pushed herself up easily enough. However, as she took her first step, she nearly collapsed. She sucked in a breath, the pain blossoming throughout her leg. She swore, hiking that leg up and holding Carson’s arm as she hopped along. “Maybe I need TRIM, she really just jammed that knife all the way in.”<br/><br/>She looked around her, seeing the blood across the floor, the bodies slumped where they were. Her gun had been emptied, five of the bodies in the room having taken a bullet from her. “What now?”