Yeah, well, even you can't save everyone, Supergirl. [ it isn't said lightly, he believes her. he knows someone just like her even, someone he tries hard not to admire but can't help it anyway. frank will never be like them, but the impulse to try is there all the same, no matter how hard he tries to hide it away. ]

Jess is okay. You're okay. [ physically. that's all he can handle right now, anchoring his elbows on his knees and leaning his chin on his hands. he'd rather hold her hand again, but this is just another thing he isn't good at. being self-aware doesn't change anything, it turns out. ] I know how you feel. I was in charge of a lot of people's lives, once. And I always got my men out. Almost always. [ he unconsciously echoes her here, taking a sharp breath in. ]

But there's always that one time, that one... time you fuck up. And that erases all the good you ever did. [ on the inside, to themselves. he knows, at least peripherally, that other people don't see it that way. ]