"Not if I made every effort otherwise to defuse the situation," Devero says, returning the look just as steadily. "Not if I was without recourse."

But in this situation, was he?

He shakes his head and looks away again. "I don't know what I would have done if-- I had been stuck, without you," he says. "Tried to avoid her entirely. To run." Like he'd promised Koumyou.

A sigh. "We could have gotten out to Beepers without taking Babysitter. That-- that's where we went wrong-- where I went wrong."