Scarily enough, I felt a shiver when I heard her utter (or, rather, read) that line, because it reminded me of what DJ had last said before he vanished. I am very glad to see that you didn't pursue that creative route, and as another reader noted, this was a very emotionally moving piece of writing, especially:

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"DJ was no stranger to pain. He'd felt it himself, and seen it in others, in great quantities over the course of his dangerous life. What he saw written on Asuka's face in the next two hours made everything else pale. He felt none himself as her fingernails dug into the flesh of his palm and carved bloody furrows like stigmata across it, none as her thumb pressed a black bruise on the back of his hand, none as her grip tightened and tightened and tightened until the bones in his hand ground together. All the agony he was feeling was inside, as his mind - geared for action, for grabbing his kit, heading out the door, and getting things done - screamed and spun its wheels and tried to fathom the concept that there was nothing he could do but wait." (bold mine).

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In this paragraph, you very efficiently and successfully illustrate the kind of terror that seizes our being when helplessness overwhelms us in such a complete way.

And I like the happy ending. ^_^
-T.Zukumori

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"What happened to this one here?"
"I did."
"Uh-huh... and how did you subdue him?"
"I know kung fu."
--cropped from Titans: Convergence by Benjamin D. Hutchins