It's amazing, how quickly instinct comes back; he's been using physical force against threats for months now, aside from one horrific bubble where he felt this very same thing, but the moment he sees the threat in Sophie's posture his lighter is open and he's ready to roast her to ashes. He doesn't even hear her words, connect her with the person who's taken him in and shown him every bit as much unexpected kindness as Connor - and without the deep, inexplicable bond he shares with the boy beside him. Simply because that bond exists and that's enough for her to honour it.

No, his instinct floods back, and only a reverberation of what Sophie's said in his mind - John's here - brings him back to reality. She's never called him John before. Even though she welcomed him into the fold so easily, she respected whatever distance he placed between them, and the name represented that more than anything. Now that they're in crisis, they really have merged into a single unit, and John's reaction was almost to kill her.

"No." Because he hears Connor loud and clear, and that switch to Pyro is the most astute observation Connor's ever made, whether he knows it or not. He is Pyro, through and through. "Shit, no. I need to get outta here."

It's for their safety, of course. Not a horribly selfish, regressive move, but for their safety. Instead of crouching beside Connor, he makes for the door immediately.