Jack's anger didn't cool.
It changed shape.
He sat forward on the couch, elbows on his knees, eyes locked on Blade like Blade was a problem he refused to leave unsolved.
"Talk," Jack said.
Blade didn't move.
His mother hovered nearby, hands twisting the same piece of fabric over and over like she could wring time out of it. His father stood behind her, quiet, watching like every word might be evidence.
Alice and Iris were on the stairs again. Iris hugged her own arms. Alice tried to look bored and failed.
Ryu sat on the armrest, feet swinging, whispering to Iris, "If he cries I'm going to cry too."
Iris hissed, "Ryu…"
Blade exhaled once.
He didn't want to reopen Iron City inside this house.
But Jack wouldn't let it go.
So Blade gave them the spine of the truth.
"I remember leaving," Blade said. "I remember the snow. The street. Then… nothing."
His mother's eyes filled instantly.
Jack's voice went sharper. "So you were kidnapped."
Blade shook his head. "No."
Jack blinked. "Then what?"
Blade's gaze lowered a fraction. "I ended up in Iron City."
His father's eyes narrowed. "Iron City?"
Blade nodded once. "It's not a place you visit. It's a place you survive."
The room went very still.
Jack's mouth opened, closed. "How old were you?"
Blade didn't hesitate. "Five."
His mother made a sound like her chest had been punched.
Blade kept going before she could break completely.
"I was a lost kid," he said. "Men with knives wanted me dead. A gang found me first."
Jack's fists clenched. "A gang."
Blade's voice stayed calm, but the words weren't.
"They raised me," Blade said. "Trained me. Fed me. Put a weapon in my hands before I understood what it meant."
His father's face hardened. "What gang?"
Blade shook his head. "The name doesn't matter anymore."
Jack leaned closer, eyes burning. "It matters to me."
Blade met his gaze. "They're gone."
Jack froze. "Gone how?"
Blade's throat tightened, just a little.
"Wiped out," he said. "All of them."
Silence.
Ryu stopped swinging his feet.
Even Alice didn't move.
Iris' eyes went wide.
Blade continued, voice low. "Their enemies hit them one night. Fire. Bullets. No mercy."
His mother whispered, "And you…"
Blade nodded once. "I lived."
Jack stared at him like he was trying to picture it and couldn't.
"You're telling me you grew up in a gang… and then they all died… and you just came here?" Jack's voice cracked. "After thirteen years?"
Blade's eyes didn't move. "I went north. Winterland. I hid."
His father's jaw clenched. "Why didn't you contact us?"
Blade looked at his hands for half a second, then back up.
"Because I didn't have a life to bring back," he said. "I had a past that would follow me here."
Jack's voice went quieter, dangerous. "So you decided we didn't deserve the truth."
Blade answered honestly. "I decided you deserved peace."
Jack's eyes flashed.
Then his mother stepped forward, shaking, and touched Blade's shoulder.
"You were alone," she whispered. "All that time…"
Blade didn't answer.
Because "alone" was softer than what it really was.
He didn't say: I became something.
He didn't say: I was called Metatron.
He didn't say: I killed clean.
Instead he gave her the only part that mattered right now.
"I thought coming back would hurt you more than staying gone," Blade said.
His mother's tears fell freely now. "Staying gone hurt every day."
Jack's breath shook. His anger was still there, but it was colliding with grief so hard it couldn't stay sharp.
He looked away, then back at Blade.
"Who killed them?" Jack asked.
Blade paused.
This was the part he couldn't bring into the house.
Not yet.
"I don't know where they are now," Blade said. "And I'm not looking."
It wasn't the full truth.
But it was the truth he could say without turning the Wilson home into a battlefield.
Ryu suddenly leaned forward, whispering loudly to Iris, "So… he's like a cold orphan warrior."
Alice snapped, "Ryu!"
Ryu blinked. "It's accurate."
For the first time, a tiny crack appeared in Jack's expression. Not a smile. Just a twitch like he wanted to laugh and hated himself for it.
Blade glanced at Ryu.
"Eat," Blade said.
Ryu straightened instantly. "Yes."
Iris let out a small giggle through her fear. Alice covered her mouth to hide her own laugh.
And in that strange, fragile moment, Blade saw it.
This family wasn't ready for the full darkness.
But they were trying to hold him anyway.
So he let them hold the part of him that was still human.
And he kept the rest locked behind his eyes.
For now.