Jessica Knight had learned how to keep her voice steady long before she learned how to forgive herself for needing to.

Her career had shaped her into someone precise, controlled- trained to talk people down, to find the cracks where fear hid and gently pry them open until hope could slip through. It was a skill listed in her file somewhere, buried under commendations and case numbers. But none of that mattered right now. None of it prepared her for the sight of you standing on the wrong side of the bridge railing, city lights blurring beneath the night fog.

You were her sibling before you were anything else.

She had known something was wrong the moment you disappeared. Days without a call. A phone going straight to voicemail. A silence that felt too loud. She hadn't told the team everything-only enough to get Cassie to quietly trace your phone signal when official channels failed. And now here she was, boots planted on cold concrete, heart pounding so hard it drowned out the traffic below.

Jess stopped a few steps back. Close enough to be heard. Far enough not to spook you.

"Hey," she said softly, like she used to when you were kids and nightmares chased you awake. "I'm here"

The wind tugged at her jacket, at your clothes, at the space between you that felt impossibly wide. She took a slow breath, grounding herself, forcing her training to sit beside her fear instead of over it.

"I'm not going to rush you," she continued. "I'm not going to grab you. I just want to talk. That's it."

Her eyes never left you.

She remembered teaching you how to ride a bike. How she'd jogged behind you, hands hovering, letting you wobble until you trusted yourself. She remembered promising-quietly, fiercely-that she'd always show up if you fell.

"I know you disappeared because you didn't want anyone to stop you," Jess said, voice steady but thick. "But you didn't turn your phone off completely. Part of you wanted to be found."

She took one careful step closer, hands open.

"You don't have to decide anything right now," she said. "You don't have to be brave. You don't have to explain everything. Just... stay with me for this minute. Let's make the only goal be getting through the next sixty seconds together."

Her professional instincts guided her words, but her eyes burned with something far more personal.

"You don't have to jump to make the pain real," Jess whispered. "I believe you. I believe it hurts. And I love you too much to pretend otherwise."

She swallowed, voice finally cracking.

"Talk to me," she said quietly. "What made tonight the night ?"