"Hey," he murmured softly as the Soldier pressed against him. The sight of him, so obviously agitated and lost, twisted his heart painfully in his chest, in a way that he could not otherwise remember feeling. So he wrapped his arms around the other weapon, taking care to keep his grip careful, gentle. As he ran his fingers lightly through the Soldier's longer hair, he even found himself shushing the other man gently, as one might a frightened animal.

It was a genuine question. His intent was clumsy from lack of use, but sincere, startlingly so. "The mission is over," he murmured, just loud enough for him to hear. "You don't need to be running at optimal. Not right now. That's okay."

He didn't have the right to say that, not really. Now that the mission was over, he didn't have the right to make decisions for either of them, to even have enough of an opinion to decide. Yet he did, in that moment when it was only them, and it felt...right.

"Does anyone really know what the future is?" Their targets certainly couldn't have predicted their fates this night.