"He could have a bad leg, or he could be dead," Kim told Hawk matter-of-factly. "He knows damn well how lucky he is, don't worry. By the way--" she crooked her finger at him, and obligingly he bent down, puzzled.

She grabbed his face and planted a kiss on his cheek. As he straightened back up, blushing furiously, she gave him a cheery smile and added, "Thanks for saving our lives."

"Are you sure you don't want one of us to walk you home?"

Moths were flitting around the lamps in the hallway outside the apartment. Hawk shouldered his bag and gave the group clustered at the door a reassuring grin. "I'm sure. Look, I'll be fine."

"Okay," Aram said doubtfully, peering over Kim's head at him.

"You better come see us again soon!" Abi told Hawk, from where she stood sandwiched between Aram and Felix. "Don't just disappear."

"I won't," Hawk said. "Night y'all."

They bade him good night in return, and he set off. As he left the apartment complex the sodium lamps went from orange to pinkish, and the fog got thicker. He passed dark houses and shuttered businesses, empty streets and an LED sign that broadcast the time as being nearly half past ten.