Aw, thanks for the rec! Man, I did not plan for that thing to be >165k. I had the entirety plotted when I started posting, but clearly I had no idea how subject matter was going to translate to length. *headdesk* Anyway, I'm glad you're enjoying it, and I always find it interesting how people react to that scene—some people like it and some people really, really don't. I think it wouldn't work without the aftermath, but I like to think that, with the aftermath, it does.