The second the words left her mouth, Becker felt a slap of guilt. He wasn’t the only one who had suffered these past twelve months. Sure, waiting around for something, anything to happen, for some anomaly to open and spit his friends back out, had been hell. He couldn’t do anything to actively help them, and it hurt, but he needed to remember to see the other side. He might have been stuck at the ARC running security patrols and making sure no one took a jaunt into the anomalies for kicks, but they had been trapped, literally marooned in the past. For a year, without any other humans, and in Danny’s case, entirely alone.
He wasn’t sure if the tone in her voice was meant as bitterness, but he couldn’t help feeling guilty anyway.
“Abby, I...” he started, wanting to apologise for misstepping. To tell her and the others that he hadn’t meant that, not the way she seemed to take it, but Connor ran off and cut his apology short.
Abby called after him as he did, but she stopped him before he could go after Connor with a gentle touch on his arm. He could only nod at her words, stepping back and watching her take off down the corridor. This was another one of those lines he had almost stomped all over; it wasn’t his place to interfere. As he seemed to be proving, he didn’t know what had happened to his friends in the past year; they hadn’t had time for the whole show and tell yet since their return and Becker figured as soon as they all got some rest, he would remedy that. He wouldn’t step on any more sensitive toes because he didn’t have the full story. He needed answers, but not right now.
Abby’s whispered words floated back to him, and he blinked, gaze shifting from the now empty corridor Abby and Connor had gone down to Danny, who was standing there with his hands in his pockets and a smirk on his lips.
Had he just been imagining the glint in Abby’s eyes?
”You couldn’t forget about us, could you, soldier boy?”
Becker turned to face him and crossed his arms over his chest. He kept his face carefully neutral, his only gesture a raised eyebrow. “What makes you say that?" he asked, straight-faced. “It’s not like I was worried or anything. Besides,” he added. “I knew you’d make it back.”
He’d been worried sick, and the relief he’d felt earlier only twisted in his gut now, because it meant simply that he hadn’t been entirely sure they would have made it back alive.
He remembered Abby’s parting words, and glanced around, wondering where the others had got to. Lester had said they could use the company flat, take a few days to recooperate on their own. He knew without a doubt that Danny would let Connor and Abby take that luxury; it was just the kind of man he was. Becker almost rolled his eyes.
He glanced back at Danny, taking a moment to simply observe him in silence. Observe the changes in him and the similarities.
“Nice haircut, by the way,” he couldn’t resist the jibe, but it was said with a smile.
“Look, Danny,” he started, voice serious again. “If you need a place to stay...” He glanced at him from the corner of his eyes, the words trailing off. His mouth felt dry and he swallowed, starting again. “I’ve got a guestroom. It’s yours if you want it."
Leaning back against the wall, he turned his gaze out at the atrium, waiting for his answer.