The relief Rodeo feels at the sight of his spooky little girl is immense. Without her, this doesn't even get off the ground. He breathes out air he hadn't realized he was holding in, tension easing out of his shoulders and spine. He doesn't try to hide how glad he is to see her. He steps down to meet her there on the stairs, boots toeing the shadows as he leans in, touching a rough hand to her soft cheek and leaning in to kiss the corner of her full mouth. He's too glad to help himself.
"Thank you," he says, pulling back to meet her wide eyes. He remembers how they had looked like silver daggers in his dream, and he's amazed by how much they still look that way here in the waking hours. "Thank you for this."
His relief is short-lived. He looks down into the darkness she's about to lead him through, and he has to swallow past an anxious tightness forming in his chest. He looks back to Emilie, deciding that it's better he keep his focus on her for now. "I need you to lead me to the Capitol," he tells her. "As close as we can get to the 15th Street entrance. Once you dropped me off there, I'm gonna need you to double back and head down to 11th Street in front of the Courthouse. There's a manhole cover there I marked with a green cross. You'll see it. It's your favorite color." Rodeo had slid the cover off and marked it from the inside with the color he knew Emilie could find even in the dark-- green bright as a bite of lime, green as the crystals he carries in his pocket. "When you find it, you slide the cover off and wait. When my men come down, you take them to the same place you dropped me off at. You got it, baby?" Rodeo reaches into his pocket, taking out a vial full to the top with jagged green crystals. "This one's yours now. I got another for you when we're all done."