Miles moved his hands to Phoenix's shoulders, holding them so tightly his knuckles turned white, and shook him hard. "You're here right now. You're here and you're alive. That's what's important, Phoenix. Don't blame yourself for what that bastard did. Don't think you didn't fight enough, because if I know you, you did something."
He took a long breath, looking away for a moment. "I...I yelled at the bastard doctor. And you know what? It still got me this. It got me a lot more pain in the process, too..." He pulled his right hand away, motioning to his head. "And you know what else?"
He met Phoenix's eyes again, cold steel tempered by the kind of understanding you only got after you'd been strapped to one of those chairs. "The way you're talking about how he went in...if you'd turned your head, you might be blind in one eye. You might be unable to talk, or...God, any of a thousand things." Miles' voice was shaking with a mix of relief and anger. "There's fighting, and there's being an idiot. Not letting the madman do more damage to you than he had to...that counts as fighting to me."
Re: Inside M92
He took a long breath, looking away for a moment. "I...I yelled at the bastard doctor. And you know what? It still got me this. It got me a lot more pain in the process, too..." He pulled his right hand away, motioning to his head. "And you know what else?"
He met Phoenix's eyes again, cold steel tempered by the kind of understanding you only got after you'd been strapped to one of those chairs. "The way you're talking about how he went in...if you'd turned your head, you might be blind in one eye. You might be unable to talk, or...God, any of a thousand things." Miles' voice was shaking with a mix of relief and anger. "There's fighting, and there's being an idiot. Not letting the madman do more damage to you than he had to...that counts as fighting to me."