Stone Circle Because you are the only one for me and to you I am one of many

Exhaustion followed him like a hound on a trail, dragging him down. His eyes fluttered shut and he was drifting off to sleep when a voice startled him back into consciousness, the tone vaguely familiar. Before even glancing her way, he worked to push himself up into a sitting position, wincing as he did so. “I don’t,” he said, looking towards his niece. “But… I have a reason to be here.” Whilst his wounds gained him access, they were not the reason he stayed; Alexander hardly cared if he died at this point, his life has no way of getting better, as far as he could see. But Laurel asked him to stay, asked him to protect her—he stayed for her.

“I have been cleaning them,” he shot back, frustrated. He knew how to take care of himself—he made it this far in life living how he wanted, why should he change now? His methods worked, usually. But the sting and pull of his wounds were not so easily ignored—when he really thought about it, they were probably the worst he has ever had. Perhaps his methods would not work this time around.

Alexander let out a long sigh. “I’m… I’m sorry,” he said, eyes flicking from her to the ground, then back again. “For before, for now.” Perhaps the infection was warping his mind—or perhaps, at the bottom of his heart, he truly sought to better himself and make things right; not only with Laurel but for everyone he’s ever wronged.