It was only a motel room, technically he didn't need her permission to cross the threshold, but still, it was polite. Mitchell stepped through the door, with a faintly awkward half smile.

It was good to see her, he couldn't deny that. Last time he'd laid eyes on her, she'd been crumbling to dust in his arms. One of the more painful incidents in his unnaturally long life.

She was back. He both hated and loved that. Seemed it was always going to be her way, to invoke such contradictions in him.

"How've you been?"