Forte took his time answering. Enough time for Depth Charge to think about what he'd asked and enough time for its closeness to his original question to hit him hard in gear-shaft. They hadn't been close. Not even a little. But for that night they'd been on the same team, and that meant... it meant a lot of things, all of them the kind of scrap he'd spent most of his life avoiding like rust in case something ever happened. Some good that did.

He cleared his throat. Bracing himself or something. "... look... kid..." The words dried uncomfortably in his throat. "About what happened."