For a long time, neither of them moved.
Tyrone was clinging to Tandy weakly, trembling from a combination of exhaustion and leftover rage. The cloak around him twitched occasionally, like a wounded animal unsure whether to keep fighting or curl into itself and sleep.
The erratic movements of his Dark Power had slowly been snuffed out thanks to Tandy, who was holding Tyrone against her chest, kneeling on the soft rug beside her bed.
The only light in the room now was her own, gentle and soft, bathing the duo in a warm glow, illuminating the tears glistening in her lashes, and the dried streaks of blood on Tyrone's arms.
Eventually, as the last of the DarkForce in him settled, Tyrone's breath evened out. His body, once wracked with tension, sagged fully into her arms.
He passed out in her arms, and Tandy finally exhaled shakily, brushing a hand through his curls and admiring the texture of his hair.
"Good," she whispered, voice soft. "Sleep. You need it. Now it's my turn to help you," Tandy said, thinking back to how much he supported her right after the initial incident, and how he gave her the bravery to go back to her home.
Still, Tandy didn't put him on the bed, as she didn't dare let go of him, for fear something bad would happen if she did that.
Instead, she shifted so he rested with his head in her lap, leaning back against the side of her bed while she continued to pour faint waves of light into him. Not enough to drain herself, not enough to overload him, just enough to maintain stability.
Her fingertips glowed with a soft pearly sheen as she ran them gently along his scalp, through his hair, over his cheek, down the edges of his cloak where shadows still trembled.
Healing and calming Tyrone. In the quiet of her room, Tandy finally allowed herself to really look at him.
Tyrone's face, when it held form, looked so peaceful. He was right around her age, looking vulnerable to her. His lashes brushed his cheeks, damp from sweat and leftover tears of rage. The muscles in his jaw, always tight, now hung loose.
She could feel the emotional exhaustion rolling off him like heat.
He had gone too far. Because of what they did to his family. Because of what this world had forced him to become.
Tandy swallowed hard as she thought about all of this. She had no idea what to do next. She'd never comforted someone like this. Never had to hold someone together, body and soul, while they teetered on the edge of becoming a monster.
But she didn't hesitate. Maybe it was because they had a very instinctual connection due to the contrasting Dark & Light Forces, but she knew she could help him, especially to pay him back for saving her life.
Hours passed by, and Tandy didn't move the entire time, even as her legs threatened to fall asleep. She stayed still, fingers carding through Tyrone's hair, occasionally adjusting his position so he was more comfortable.
When her LightForce built too high, she let a little more seep into him. It wasn't enough to wake him, just enough to keep the DarkForce in check, to feed and stabilize him.
At this point, his powers were no longer going out of control. His hunger had been sufficiently satiated, at least from Tandy's perspective.
She hummed softly at one point. She didn't know why. It just felt right, and eventually, fatigue claimed her too.
Tandy drifted into a half-sleep, her head resting on the side of her mattress, Tyrone's body still curled in her lap like some broken, shadow-born creature she was nursing back to life.
The sun began to rise, soft rays seeping past her curtains, mixing with her lingering light.
But inside the quiet glow of her room, something darker finally stirred awake, and Tyrone's eyes opened, slowly and uncertain, and the first thing the young man felt was warmth.
Not the fake warmth he'd felt so many times from useless teachers or adults who acted like they cared about his struggle, but real, instinctual warmth, that seemed to hit him at his core.
It wrapped around him, gentle and steady, seeping into his chest like sunlight breaking through the cold.
The second thing he felt was a hand in his hair.
And then, her...
Tyrone quickly noticed that his head was resting in Tandy's lap. She was asleep, barely, but her fingers still rested loosely on his scalp, glowing faintly.
Tyrone blinked up at her, his throat tight with thought. He closed his eyes, and memories flooded back,
Blood, Screams, the way his cloak swallowed those men, the way he ripped that last leader in half, his stomach twisted violently.
He lifted a trembling hand and looked at it. His skin was mostly clean now, thanks to Tandy's light purifying what clung to him, but he could still feel it. The blood, the weight of what he did.
He killed so many people, brutally too, and the most shocking part?
He enjoyed it!
The rush of killing those who had harmed him and killed his family. He had reveled in it, and loved the rush of adrenaline and power it gave him, and he wanted more of it.
And that feeling, the desire for more, it terrified him. Coming from his past life where he'd never come close to killing anyone, not to having immense blood on his hands, it was a massive shift.
His breath stuttered and his chest tightened. The DarkForce inside him shifted restlessly like it sensed his spiral.
"No… no, no, no…" Tyrone whispered shakily, pressing a hand to his forehead as if he could claw the memories out. "What did I do? What the hell did I do…"
The room darkened faintly as the shadows twitched.
Tandy stirred.
Her hand slid from his hair to his cheek, thumb brushing gently across his skin.
"Tyrone…?"
Her voice was soft, thick with sleep, but the moment she saw his expression, saw the way he was staring at his hands like they were weapons, she woke fully.
"Oh," she breathed. "Oh, Ty…"
He flinched at the nickname.
"Tandy, I, I didn't mean to," His voice cracked.
Tandy shifted, gently guiding him to sit up while she remained kneeling beside him.
"Tyrone, "
"I murdered them," he whispered, voice breaking at the edges. "All of them. Every last one. I didn't leave a single one alive. I didn't even try. I just, "
"Tyrone. Look at me."
He didn't want to, the feeling of wanting to kill more of those men contrasting with his morals from his past life, and the emotional weight of killing all of those people.
But Tandy sensed this and leaned closer, lifting Tyrone's chin until his eyes met hers. Those beautiful blue eyes, bright, steady, unwavering.
"Tyrone," she said softly, "you're not a monster."
He laughed weakly, bitterly. "Tandy, I tore a man in half."
"And those same men," she countered gently, "killed your father and your brother."
His breath caught, wondering how she figured out, but not pressing it as Tandy immediately placed her palms on both sides of his face, her thumbs brushing away tears he didn't realize had fallen.
"Whatever your reasons were, whatever drove you to it, I trust you," she said simply.
Tyrone stared at her, stunned. "You… trust me? After seeing me like that?"
"Because I know you," she whispered. "I know who you are. I know your heart. And I know that Darkness didn't come from nowhere. It came from pain. From trauma. From a world that treated you unfairly."
Her fingers slid down to his chest, directly over where the DarkForce pulsed inside him.
"And I know this, your power, it's tied to our emotions. If you go through that alone… it will consume you."
Tyrone exhaled shakily, his shoulders trembling.
"So don't go through it alone," she said, "Anyone who's your enemy is my enemy now,"
Her words reminded him of Cloak and Dagger once again from the Marvel Universe in his past life, and he chuckled. He truly was bound to her for all eternity now.
She took his hand and placed it over her heart.
"We balance each other."
"Tandy…"
"And I promise you this," she whispered, voice trembling with sincerity, "you and I are going to learn everything about our powers. Together. We're going to get stronger. We're going to control them. And no matter what comes after this, revenge, danger, heroes, villains, the whole messed up world, "
She squeezed his hand gently.
"We face it together."