The house had settled into one of those rare, peaceful silences that only came after a long day. Outside, the city still buzzed with distant traffic and flashing hero patrol lights, but within these walls, everything felt calm. The soft glow of a nearby lamp painted warm shadows across the living room, and the steady ticking of a clock was one of the only sounds filling the space.

You had been waiting for him.

Not because he had asked you to, and not because you expected him home at any particular time. Hero work never allowed for certainty. Patrols ran late. Emergencies appeared out of nowhere. Villains never cared what hour it was.

Still, every passing minute made you wonder how his day had gone.

Whether he was injured.

Whether he had remembered to eat.

Whether he was pushing himself too hard again.

The answers arrived sooner than expected.