The first thing Jemma did after she and Sven had stopped to convene at a rooftop was to check the boy for any injuries. She nodded and smiled up at him once her inspection was through, relieved that he seemed unscathed. Her own wounds were gradually smarting less, and she assured herself that it shouldn't be long before she'd be able to ignore the pain. It made her wonder about the others, though. The Titan she fought had gotten to one of their own, and it could be anyone. She had been separated from her group as soon as they were dispatched, but one of them could have easily been around when the Titan was rampaging through the street. Or it could be one of her friends. What if it had been Erika? Sven would be heartbroken.

"Listen," she said, just as Sven started to point out her injuries. 

Both of them stopped midsentence when Xavier landed just a few yards away from where they were. She welcomed the bigger cadet with another relieved smile, even though she winced a little at the blood trickling down his temple. It's nothing Big Red couldn't handle, she thought, sure of his vitality. She thought of Xavier as her antithesis: tall when she was small, strong and sturdy when she was light and flimsy, precise when she was reckless. He could definitely brush this off. 

After getting praised, Jemma became flustered, like she always gets in the face of a compliment. But then she laughed at the how ludicrous she was being. They were in the middle of an attack, injured and still quite in danger, and here she was being shy about a casual mention of her kill. She shook her head, as if that would throw all the absurd away, and gently knocked her knuckles against Xavier's shoulder. "Thanks," she said and grinned yet again. 

Xavier proceeded to get them up to speed with what was happening in all the chaos. Titans. Outer wall. Bait. That was all Jemma needed to hear. She thought she would mind it more, being relegated to live bait, but she felt oddly motivated. If they expected her to die today, then they would be sorely disappointed. 

Not long after Big Red had arrived, Aurora arrived with even bleaker news. She didn't know how to respond well in delicate situations like these, so instead she wordlessly walked toward Aurora and squeezed her shoulder in condolence. That was all the time they could spend mourning them, just a passing moment. The death toll only seems to hike up each day, but what Jemma found most terrifying was how insignificant death has become. 

Dash came next, with a tear-stained face and a somber call to action that Sven answered. Right. Now that they've all gathered and settled, it was time to do their duty. Jemma desperately wanted to crack wise, to lighten the mood some and up their fighting spirit, but was struggling to find the right words. It was then that Erika came, and she felt another surge of relief wash over her. She always thought losing family was the worst thing that could happen, and she definitely didn't want to see Sven break into pieces if anything happened to Erika or vice versa. 

"If you all want to be bait, then we should head out [i]now[/i]," Erika had said, sounding as irritable as ever. 

Jemma mustered another grin, one that seemed determined and confident all at once despite the slight hint of worry dancing in her eyes. "You heard cranky Ms. Number One. Let's go," she said, firing the hooks on the nearby buildings as she readied to fling across to follow Erika. The pain in her back and her leg didn't go away like she hoped, but couldn't bring herself to care. Instead, she drowned herself in the whirring noises of the 3DMG and steeled herself for the upcoming encounter. "We can do this!" she told the group, even though she was probably trying to convince herself.