Ozymandias scowled. He didn't know if he could answer her there. Someone had held her, and it still worried him even now that she had returned. Absent the experience of it, he might have believed her. She was strong (and headstrong); she could make trouble for someone. That notion did not change the facts, however; she had been gone for nineteen days, and nothing about her return indicated that she'd been instrumental in orchestrating it. She was back by chance, and she might just as easily have been lost forever by that same chance applied in the opposite direction. He could not articulate that, though. Thinking about it made him queasy, because he preferred to think of people like them as insulated from dangers like this — free from the shadow of lasting trauma. The past weeks had shown him that they could be as fragile as anyone else, and he dare not voice the realization.

He followed her down the hallway as she started to walk away. He was aware as he did that he was purposefully following her to watch her, to see if there were any injuries or lasting damage, any sign of what she'd been through. He hated that he was doing that — hated the persistent reminder of their fragility — but could no more stop than he could stop himself from breathing.

"It took some time to convince everyone else something had actually happened to you," he muttered, still watching her walk. "My siblings thought you'd fled the country, up until the newspaper started reporting all the other disappearances. Which — obviously there was no logic in that. You didn't even pack a bag."

---

The following 1 user Likes Ozymandias Dempsey's post:1 user Likes Ozymandias Dempsey's post
   Thomasina Dempsey