"You didn't drag me here, my own sorry butt and morals did."

...Unhug. "And I'm down a lot of the parts I negotiated for earlier. Maybe I can get something from the Protectorate. Hah, not likely."

Sigh. "How badly hurt are you?"

"...Not that bad, all things considered. Worst part is my leg. Electrical burn. They thought I might have a concussion but decided I don't."

"You think it'll scar? The burn."

"No idea. If it does, guess I'm sticking to long pants. They didn't seem too worried about it, but there were, y'know, more important things to do."

Nod. "Can you walk yet or will you have to be carried?"

"I walked over here, didn't I? Whether I can get my rig home okay, that might be a different question. It took a really good beating."

"Need help to carry it?"

"Hah, no- Wait, with your powers whatever weird thing they actually are maybe you could manage it. I don't think I'll need it unless rust has set in too far in the last three hours. I walked out here after getting smacked around, I bet I can walk a mile or so through the Trainyard. And nobody's going to dare bother someone who was just near Leviathan, right? Truce thing."

"I don't think the Truce technically extends to after the fight's over but maybe."

"...Seems against the spirit of things, ambushing a tinker with busted gear right after an Endbringer fight. But there's probably someone who'd do it." Sigh. "Maybe I could use a guard. You're a hero, more or less, like I'm trying to be... Would you mind?"

"I wouldn't mind. I managed to stay out of most of it, I'm mostly fine."

"And this time I won't be ticked if you copy part of my gear. I can use it to get home. I don't suppose you know where I could get half a dozen microwaves to butcher on the cheap? Or, like, a weather RADAR?"

"Sorry," they say, shrugging a bit. "My tinker tech is all conjured."

"Hmm. Here's an idea for a line. 'If I'm going to build another Endbringer-scanner I'll need the following parts...'." Sigh. "Anyway, we should probably get on the plane."

"Yeah, do let's."

Off they go. A lot of people are kind of tired and beat up. One more depressed-looking tinker isn't unique.

The mood is mostly glum and silent in the plane.

Tinker tinkering with small items and muttering. That's a thing.

Plane takes less than a commercial one would to get to Boston, and from there they can go to Brockton Bay.

"...Glam, you know... I don't regret going. I might not be able to afford to go to the next one, given how much of a beating my gear took, though." 

They nod. "You did good. I'm glad you came. It was very brave."

"If I didn't care..." I'd be like my father, she doesn't say. Instead she just shrugs.

"Caring is not the same as having the courage to do it, or the ideas on how to best apply the hand you've been dealt to the problem at hand. And it's good that you have both."

This gets a sad sort of laugh out of her. "Yeah, right. All the best ideas. And nothing ever goes wrong." Sigh. "I'd better get all this to my place, and then go... See my parents."