Page 108 of Dagger

Twister next. She looked up into those copper-flecked eyes that had assessed her injuries and kept her moving.

“You treated me like I mattered even when I was at my worst. You never let me fall.”

“You got back up on your own,” he said quietly.

She kissed his cheek and moved on.

Then Flash. She paused. “You…” she said slowly, “are a very fast, strong menace.”

Flash grinned wide. “Facts.”

“But you made me laugh when I didn’t think I could anymore. You made things lighter when everything felt like lead. I blamed you for surviving. For being loud. For not grieving the way I thought grief should look. I’m sorry.”

Flash’s cocky smile faltered. He leaned in and whispered, “I never told him… but the way he looked at you? Back then? Scared the shit out of me.”

Quinn choked out a laugh. “Yeah. Me too.”

She hugged him tight.

Bondo was next. The quiet giant. The protector. The one who had said the least but seen the most. She looked up into his gray eyes and said, “Thank you for being his anchor. For making me feel safe, even when I didn’t deserve it.” He pulled her into a hug so fierce it stole her breath.

“You always deserved it,” he said gruffly.

She turned next to Tex, who stood just behind the others, watching her the same way he always did. Sharply, quietly, witheyes that missed nothing and judged everything. He was a man built of granite and expectation, and for the longest time, she’d thought he barely tolerated her.

But now, she saw it clearly.

She’d hurthim, too.

“You stood by Dagger when I wouldn’t,” she said softly. “You gave him a mission when he needed something to live for. I know I was a liability to this team. But you protected me anyway. Thank you. For trusting him. For never giving up on him… or on me.”

Tex’s jaw flexed, but he nodded once. “You gave him something to come back for. That matters.”

She stepped in and hugged him, not too long, just enough. Surprisingly, he hugged her back. She gave him a cheeky salute and he grinned, shaking his head.

Then she turned to the last man in the row. Brawler. He towered over her, arms folded, eyes narrowed, but glinting with something warm beneath the rough exterior.

“You scared the hell out of me,” she admitted. “All of you did, but you? You were the loudest. The biggest. The most protective. I thought you were judging me, maybe even hated me for the way I treated Dagger. But you didn’t. You just loved him.”

Brawler cleared his throat. “Yeah, well. He’s my brother. You mess with one of us…”

“I know,” she said, stepping forward. “But you also didn’t shut me out. You never threw it in my face. You protected me anyway. You made Dagger laugh on the days he forgot how.”

Brawler looked down, his voice gruff. “He didn’t laugh much.”

“I know,” she whispered. “But he will now.”

She hugged him. He didn’t move for a second… then folded his arms around her like a human shield. “Thank you for beinggentle with my boys and for T-Rex pancakes with syrup claws,” she whispered. Brawler cleared his throat.

Flash piped up from the side. “Okay, if she hugs Twister again, Iwill cry, and I am too pretty to cry.”

Quinn laughed through her tears as the team broke into chuckles, a ripple of energy cutting through the weight.

Then, and only then, did she turn to Dagger.

The man who stood by her through it all.

The man who gave her silence when she needed it, fire when she was cold, and strength when she had none.

---