"It certainly... was a surprise..." Albert's head lulls back, the cyborg having an even harder time breathing now but he tries to keep talking. This is all he has now until he wakes up again in the Capitol. He only regrets that he couldn't communicate to Jet what he set in place, that his husband, when the Arena's done and he's killed too, will wake up not in the Capitol with Albert but in the relative safety of District 13. He'd asked that other Barnes and he'd said he would do what he could but to Albert's tired mind, so weary from the Arena and addled from bloodloss, it's a certain thing.

And that's his life, isn't it? Always being left behind. Only this time it won't be as the survivor of the pair, it will be a necessary separation to keep Jet safe. That makes all the difference.

"I love him, you know." His voice is a damp whisper, interspersed with coughs as Albert's eyes drop closed and his fingers loosen then tighten again in Sam's grasp. "I'd do anything. I'm an ass, but that's true... at least..."