Back in the other room, Damian suddenly drops the wash cloth he had been using to clean up Nathaniel.

There is a spark of a presence in his mind, instantly identifiable. He doesn't want to feel it, doesn't want to be reached at such a distance. He had thought himself safe under Anita and Jean-Claude's protection, but with his own shields dysfunctional from the trauma of the last 24 hours, he can't push her away and shut himself down.

He goes completely rigid next to Nathaniel, his lungs gasping in a breath but not releasing it as he cradles his head and whispers, "No..."