<div class="floatright">(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y156/jillvader/mw-nmfkmpkarimonero_zps55a1bf27.jpg)</div>Kari could hear the pain in Allia’s words, and could tell just how much her fellow officer was hurting.<em>As bad as me,</em>Kari told herself, almost grimacing at the assessment.<em>Which is not what either of us, or the unit needs right now.</em>There was a part of Kari that wanted to do the same thing that Allia was, to curl up in a tiny ball and cry herself to sleep. But right now, that wouldn’t help. What the unit needed was a leader, and she was it.<br/><br/>And she couldn’t desert her friend either, no matter what.<br/><br/>Kari crouched down in front of Allia, a smile on her face. It didn’t come easy, and it was hard to stop it from being overwhelmed by what she was really feeling, but right now, that wasn’t a luxury she could afford. “Hey there,” Kari began, her voice a lot softer then it had been moments before, and very different from her usual, far more boisterous tone. “Allia, I understand fully, and I’m going to say that you have nothing to apologise for. You have just been through hell, and seen a lot of good people die. That’s going to hurt, no matter who you are”<br/><br/>She reached a hand out, gently caressing one of Allia’s as her eyes remained fixed on her face. She was soaking wet, both body and clothes, but right now that didn’t matter at all. “Don’t blame yourself for what happened. None of us could do anything, not you, not me...” she trailed off a moment as the image of her father came to mind. “What you did instead was try to save as many people as you could. You kept it together and lead us back to the ship through all that, saving my life and giving us a chance.”<br/><br/>Kari gave Allia’s hand a gentle squeeze. “You’re an incredibly brave woman, Allia. If not for you, none of us would be here now. And that’s the sort of person I need”<br/>