Salix

Chapter 4

"Are you sure you're alright to walk Kamille? I can always carry you." Xander asked me while supporting my weight by slinging my uninjured arm over his shoulders. I nodded vigorously.

"If the other heroes see you carrying me away from a fight like a damsel in distress, I'll never live it down." I joked, making sure my eyes didn't stray to the red smears that were Yukio's remains. Xander ducked his head bashfully, a sheepish smile gracing his face.

"Aw, Kamille. You were doing pretty well on your own, ya know. Although I'm not sure why they sent you out to fight Frost alone..." said Xander, tone sharp and edged as we continued our slow return to HUL headquarters where the med-bay was located. I quickly rushed to defend the league.

"It's cause everyone was out trying to contain the prison break, and I was the only hero available." Xander looked at me skeptically, assessing the truth in my answer. He seemed to find it legitimate enough because he soon looked away in order to wrap his arm tighter around my waist. At this point, he was basically carrying me, but I didn't mind. Anything was better than a fire-man's hold, or God forbid, a bridal carry. I shuddered at the thought. The only time I would allow that is if Xander was carrying me across the threshold on our wedding night. My cheeks heated, and I quickly banished the thought. That particular fantasy could be revisited later when I wasn't plastered up against Xander.

"Why didn't Jade go fight Yukio? She was available." Xander said after a few moments of silence.

"She told me she needed to provide technical and audio-visual support to the other heroes."

"So she sent you on a suicide mission?" Xander's voice was scathing, but I had no patience for his overprotective tendencies right now. I was hurt, cold, and more than anything, guilty. I had a permanent lump in my throat that I knew wouldn't go away until I could cry in peace when Xander wasn't hovering over me. I just didn't know when that would be.

"No, she didn't send me on a suicide mission. She just thought I was capable enough to handle him." The look Xander shot me proved he thought otherwise.

"Capable? You thought you were capable of handling him? What part of this proves that you were capable?" Xander gestured at my shoulder with his free hand. The lump in my throat rose, and I felt on the verge of tears. Xander basically thought I was useless. It would probably be in my best interest if I shut up and agreed with him. But I refused. I was not useless.

"I had everything under control..." I whispered, trying to pull away from Xander and stand on my own. He refused to release me, and just pulled me tighter. We had come to a stop in the middle of the street.

"You had nothing under control. He was going to kill you." Xander's calmness only served to irritate me more. It was just like him to act like he'd already won an argument that hadn't even happened yet.

"I was trying to help him! I'm sorry if I had other things on my mind than crime and punishment!" Xander's crystal eyes bored into my chocolate brown ones, but I refused to flinch and look away. Some things were not worth fighting over, but my capabilities as a hero were not one.

"You were trying to help that lowlife? He didn't even deserve you breathing in his direction." Seeming to think the conversation was over, Xander picked me back up again in our previous side hug and continued on his way. But I wasn't finished yet.

"Is that why you killed him? Because I breathed near him?" I knew I was treading a thin line, but I was so far past the line that I couldn't even see it anymore. It was back in that frozen Iceland with Yukio's body.

Xander came to a full stop. His muscles strained, bulging through his spandex. He was probably trying to stem the urge to throw me the rest of the way.