He came at her almost recklessly, like a wild beast. He would never have dared to use such a degree of strength around a woman before, but it was as if he didn't at all have to be careful with her, for she so easily matched him.
That was, until, his excitement grew to a point, and what had been outstretched fingers curled into a fist, and he struck her stomach with enough force that it lifted her off her feet. He saw her eyes widen.
"G-gods!" He gasped.
"I'm fine," she told him bravely, but there were already tears running down her cheeks from the pain of it.
Blackwell had collapsed to his knees then, broken. The one thing that he had feared above any other – truly hurting his comrades, and truly hurting any woman that had dared to get close to him.
"You're crying," she'd told him.
"…" He'd been unable to reply, and point out the fact that she was crying too.
"There, there," she said, patting his head. "You're okay."
