Valor knocked once before stepping in.
The apartment was dim, warm and quiet.
Titania wasn't in armor.
No glowing eyes.
No booming voice.
Just her.
Off-shoulder blouse. Sheer. With a black bra underneath that didn't even try to hide.
She looked like every memory he wished he hadn't buried.
"...Hey," she said, standing up from the couch. "Wasn't expecting you."
He closed the door behind him. "Yeah. I figured."
They stood there for a beat too long.
Then she offered a weak smile. "Want tea? Coffee?"
He shook his head. "I'm not here for caffeine."
---
She sat back down, legs crossed, trying not to fidget. He sat across from her. Too far. Too close.
"You've been quiet," he said.
"So has the Spire."
"Yeah, well…" Valor rubbed the back of his neck. "Everyone's scared."
She didn't say anything.
He looked at her like he was trying to remember her face. Not as a hero. Not as a teammate. Just… her.
"You've changed," he said.
Titania laughed bitterly. "You too. Less cape-waving lately."
He leaned forward. "You're defending him."
> "I'm not."
"You're not stopping him either."
Titania's mouth opened, but no sound came out.
---
"I've known you since day one," Valor said quietly. "Since you were a stubborn, loud-mouthed cadet who couldn't lift her own shield without falling over."
She smiled, despite herself.
"I also knew you were the strongest out of all of us. And not because of your powers."
"Don't," she whispered. "Please don't."
"Why not?"
"Because if you say it now…" Her voice cracked. "It'll be too late."
Valor's fists clenched in his lap. He looked away.
She saw the way he swallowed. The tension in his shoulders. The way his eyes dropped for half a second to the curve of her collarbone.
He was human and he was trying not to look.
Trying not to want.
She knew that look.
She'd seen it before—on Sentinel's face. Only… Sentinel never looked away.
---
"I used to think," Valor said, voice low, "that good guys waited. That if you were patient, if you were kind, if you were better, you'd get the girl. The team. The respect. All of it."
He looked up at her.
"And now I watch him. Sentinel. Take whatever he wants. No apologies. No hesitation."
He laughed softly, bitterly.
"That used to disgust me."
He paused.
"It still does."
A breath.
"But sometimes… just sometimes… I wonder if he's right."
Titania stared at him.
He wasn't the boy scout anymore, not fully. He had fire in his eyes, anger, regret...
Desire.
---
"You want to know the difference between him and me?" Valor said.
She didn't answer.
"I wait. I ask. I listen."
He leaned in closer. "He takes. He assumes. He owns."
Then, softer:
"And you… keep going back to him."
Titania stood up abruptly. Walked to the window. Stared out at the city.
> "You think I don't hate myself for it?"
Valor followed, not too close.
"I think you don't even know why you do it," he said. "I think… deep down… you want someone to stop you."
She turned to him.
There was a flicker of something in her eyes—anger, guilt, fear… and want.
---
He stepped closer.
She didn't move away.
"Titania—"
"Stop," she whispered.
But she didn't stop him and he was inches away now.
"I'm not him," Valor said. "I'd never hurt you. Never use you. Never make you feel like you were just another conquest."
> "I know."
"I'd wait forever if I had to."
"I know," she said again, barely audible.
He reached out, fingertips grazing her arm.
Her breath hitched.
"You're so damn beautiful," he muttered.
She bit her lip—soft, almost involuntary.
He leaned in, she didn't stop him but just before their lips touched—
She pulled away. "I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because if I kiss you…" she whispered, "I might not stop."
He looked into her eyes, seeing everything she was trying to bury.
"And if I kiss you," he said, "I'll never forgive myself… for being too late."
---
The silence that followed was thick with everything unsaid.
He stepped back, she didn't stop him.
He reached the door, hand on the knob, then turned to her one last time.
"You deserve more than being second in someone else's story."
Then he left.
Titania stood there long after he was gone, still biting her lip.
Still thinking about the man she didn't want to be thinking about.
Sentinel.
Yeah, that's right.
Me.
---
To be continued...