Re: [Hamartia]
From the way this woman was watching the scene, as if scrutinizing every bit of action that was occurring, he'd guess that she was a paramedic herself; or maybe a doctor. It narrowed down the list of possible forum names that could be linked to her, but Ryder didn't care enough to put the effort into doing it. Right now he was fine with not knowing her name, as she didn't know his, and if they eventually reached the point of introductions - well, then he would know it. There were only certain people whose names he really wanted to know, and in those cases he had his ways of finding them.
"There are deaths far worse than that," he told her, his face hardening as he thought of people and things that could never be forgotten, despite what was best. "Deaths that aren't chosen, but decided and forced by outside parties." His own death would be on his terms, and no one else's. He exhaled heavily, clenching and unclenching his hands unconsciously.
He didn't understand why the child kept looking at him, despite his attempts to dissuade her. "Yes," he said absently, tearing his gaze from the little girl to look at her mother. "For every person who does things like this to innocents, there will always be people who care. But it can be a dangerous thing, caring." He knew all too well about that as well.