//Sae: Found--[EMPATHY]

Sae cried out, running to Ahn to stop the blade, but there was no way she would be able to make it in time. Ahn didn't even have his hands raised to block the blow. He wasn't using his [RIS], either. What was he thinking?

"Ava!" Ahn yelled, dodging her sword at the last second, a smoking slash mark in the wooden floor where he had been just a moment before. Ava paid him no mind, continuing to swing the blade around without direction. "I know what you're feeling! It hurts. It feels like your world came crashing down around you. You're angry. You want revenge."

Where were his words coming from? When did Ahn feel anything like that? Sae remembered now that Ahn was made nearly a decade before her. Had something happened to him before she was created? But why hadn't Ahn told her anything about it?

Confused thoughts swirled in Sae's head as she watched Ahn try to calm Ava down.

His constant stream of words seemed to have a small impact on Ava's frenzied state, but weren't enough to stop her entirely. She had him cornered now, lifting her sword again to finish him off. This time, Sae realized, panicking, Ahn didn't have anywhere to dodge.

"Is this what Marvin saved you for?" he shouted. Ava froze, the blade inches from Ahn's face. He brought his voice back to a more normal volume. "You said he brought you off of the streets, that he accepted you for who you are. Is this what he wanted to accomplish by helping you? You're destroying everything he worked for by doing this. Is that who you want to be?"

There was more emotion in Ahn's voice than Sae had ever heard before. He seemed...human.

He understood all of Ava's emotions perfectly, despite not being able to look at her eye color to do so. How was he doing that? He was never able to interpret even Sae's thoughts that well, and they were able to quite literally read each other's thoughts.

His eyes looked like someone had spilled a cool palette of watercolor paint into them. The blue, purple, and green in his irises swirled like an angry nighttime ocean, forming what would have been a beautiful picture had Sae not known what those colors meant. Her partner, who was always so strong in front of others, was openly mourning. He might as well have been crying out in despair. Those strong colors filling his normally silver eyes showed sadness, they showed regret, they showed guilt. What could have possibly instilled such remorse in him?

Sae watched the deep pools in Ahn's eyes were filled with shock, the heat blade in Ava's hand now running through his stomach, victorious screeches rising from the depths of her insanity.

She drew the blade out, ready to stab Ahn again, but wasn't given a chance to do so. Sae felt something familiar rising in her as she tore the android to shreds, then smashed the scattered pieces. This was anger. But this time, as she watched the remains of Ahn's assailant being desecrated further with every stomp, every slash, she felt no fulfillment in taking revenge. This wasn't like killing the casino workers. They were scum, nothing to feel bad about. But Ava had been so happy to receive their help just minutes ago. Despite all of this, her mind only lingered on the plaintive pain in Ahn's eyes.

He wouldn't be angry at her for killing Ava. Sae knew this. Ahn was a logical thinker. He would understand that she was only doing it to protect him. No matter how logical he was, though, it was clear that there was no amount of thought that would take away the intense sorrow he was feeling. She also understood that Ahn would have no trouble recovering from the stab wound. He had received many far worse injuries before. This was nothing to worry about. His emotional scarring was an entirely different matter.

She turned away from the pile of metal and wires on the floor to see Ahn on his knees, trembling violently as he took in shaky breaths. He looked exactly like Sae had in the alley just a day before, she realized. She shuddered at the thought of feeling that way ever again.

She brushed the thought aside. Ahn was in front of her, feeling that way right now. She had to do something to help him.

'I don't know what I can do,' she thought.

She raised her arm hesitantly. Should she pat his head? Put her hand on his shoulder? She had no idea.

"The reason you were called 5-AE," Ahn said, looking up. Sae drew her hand back quickly. She wasn't expecting him to talk, and about names again? While he was hurting so badly? How could something as small as that be important right now?

"The number 'five' represents which generation of ANGEL you are," he continued. "You have four predecessors, while I have three. Your most recent one…" he paused, the pained expression on his face intensifying before he spoke again.

"Was my first partner."

Sae was surprised by this, but didn't see how it was related to how Ahn was acting now. What had this 4-AE done to make him feel this way? It made her...yes, she decided, she was furious.

Ahn spoke again.

"She sacrificed herself to save me during an assignment five years ago. She taught me how to feel...then she..."

Ahn lost any composure that he had been holding onto, producing a whimpering sound as he continued to tremble on his hands and knees.

Sae froze. Ahn was hurting this badly for the past five years, three of which Sae had been by his side, and she was oblivious enough not to notice it. She felt negative emotions of her own bubbling up. Unfamiliar emotions, but - she had no doubt - this was guilt. She felt guilty for letting him suffer like this for so long.

"She left me alone. I was alone," Ahn whispered, no longer talking to Sae directly. "I didn't want her to go," he said before reverting back to the whimpering sounds.

Sae felt a pang of guilt each time Ahn let out another pitiful noise. She felt something else now. She felt bad for him. Was this...empathy?

This emotion was powerful, Sae realized. She found herself acting off of it, no experience or rational reason behind it.

She lifted her arm again, this time reaching forward, taking Ahn's hand in her own.

She had no clue what to say in a situation like this. She never had a need to know anything about this kind of thing before then. She decided on the words that had been said to her so many times when she was hurting. The words that let her know that there was a world to return to when her own suffering was over. Ahn had said them to her.

"I'm here."

The rest came almost naturally.

"You aren't alone. I won't let you be." Her grip tightened. "I won't leave you now, and I won't leave you later."

"I'm here."