“I guess what I’m saying about the bridges is uh… it sucks. I really liked that guy. Reconciliation. Felt lucky whenever I was with him. The way he put up with my situation and me. The way he probably feels—”

Ah.

I gave him a hug, squeezing him in his armor.

“—He probably feels like shit every time he remembers what I did, how I lied by omission over and over for months. I hate that.”

“As you said, it’s been two years. Give it a bit of time. Let the team help where they can. Because we care about you too. There are bridges there.”

He heaved out a sigh, looking up at the sky above us. Overcast and dark as shit. Even this far away from the city, the dust cover was reaching us.

“Want company for the next bit?” I asked. “I can’t promise I won’t talk shop or ask to catch up, but we can talk about other stuff too.”

“Talking about the team and the plan sounds good, actually,” Tristan said. “But before that… was thinking it’d be nice to find a church or something. Never really took it all that serious, before, don’t ever tell my parents that. But it’d be nice.”

“I can’t imagine you’ll find any shortage in an old Fallen camp,” I told him.

He smiled. “I’m going to take a few minutes. Or an hour. Just sit.”

“You sure?”

He shrugged, smiling. “I’ll be back. Look after our team, yeah?”

“So long as you’ll be back.”

“Lookout’s got an eye on me, I’m sure, new rules be damned. Trust me, not going anywhere. No way I want the world to end while I… like this.”

As low as I’d seen him. Heartbroken, I supposed. I just nodded.

“Thanks for asking how I’m doing,” he said.

I nodded, then gave him another abrupt hug, my breastplate clacking against his armor.

With that, he walked off.

I shot a concerned look at his back, watching him go. He didn’t carry the emotion in his posture—he was too strong for that, armor too heavy. Lifted up with enough force, set down with enough force. It made it hard to trudge, I had to imagine, and his current emotional state seemed like one for trudging.

Watching until he was out of sight, I finally resumed moving toward the group. I found them near the center of town. They’d pulled together some wooden debris that looked like it was from a fence, and Rain was lighting a fire.

Outdoor meeting, I supposed. Sitting on logs that had been dusted free of snow.

Deathchester had one corner, with Trophy Wife sitting next to Damsel, who sat next to Sidepiece. Disjoint sat on the ground between Sidepiece’s legs, a bottle in hand. Backwoods, Gibbet, Torso, Mockument and Hookline were there too.