Nico managed to stop herself from recoiling at the glimpses she got of Raph's life, and the glimpses she got of how much he enjoyed the ugliest parts of it. Barely, but she managed to keep a hold of him.

What was she supposed to say to that, though? What could anyone say in the face of that much violent exhilaration?

"Dreams aren't literal," she said, because she'd killed her parents in a dream once. It hadn't been bloody; but with her magic, it wouldn't have had to be. She couldn't bring people back to life, but she could kill with a word. "Neither are nightmares. Not even here, I don't think."

She licked her lips, staring into his eyes and willing herself not to blink.

"I don't know what it says about you, but I don't think it makes you a bad person. If you were, you wouldn't worry about running out of people to fight, because there would always be people to fight if you didn't care who you fought."

Her parents hadn't cared. Alex hadn't cared who he'd kill if he'd succeeded in his plan to help them.

"If you weren't worried about it, I'd worry," she said. The corners of her mouth kicked up briefly in a weak smile. "I'm still here, right? I'm not scared of you. I know monsters."