Just seeing her jump a tad had that guilt of his kicking in again. This time for unintentionally startling her. They had never talked about her penchant for talking with electronics, nor did TJ ever feel concerned or worried over it either. After the End people just possessed abilities, and the man never judged anyone for seeming a tad strange when their gifts were responsible for the quarks. Hell that big brother side of him would've given a good thrashing to anyone who did tease her about it.
A day ago she had been a stranger; and while the too had been separated by time and distance, well somehow he could read her face and body language so easily now. Zero could sense her fear, her worry that he'd go and not return. Yet there was no real desire to do just that. Not today. Not after finally finding her at last. When she mentioned how far away Washington was, and brought up the folks in town though, TJ just shook his head a little. "The world's full of people with abilities JJ. I'm sure the townspeople here can handle themselves well, but we both know you'd go blaming yourself if anyone got hurt because some of my tribe came here to find me."
The bit about needing protection didn't sit well with TJ either. For...well for most of his life he had been the one doing the protecting. Her. Those they camped with for a bit. Even his boss and the tribe in Spokane. The man had always had that instinct, that desire, to keep people safe...at least the people under his care. Now though; now Zero knew he'd have to betray one group, to keep JJ and her little town safe as well. The thought of killing his boss wasn't a pleasant one at all, but he knew that when he did chaos would ensue. The tribe was held together by the strength of their leader, and taking him out was the only way to make sure that none of the raiders would dare come here.
The offer to stay with her actually had a hint of a warm smile tugging at the corner of TJ's mouth, though it grew broader as she continued on. At last, real joy finally won out. And with a chuckle TJ drew closer to her and wrapped his little sister up in a big hug. "I'm happy you're alive too, JJ. Spent three years looking for you...even though I didn't know that you were the missing piece of me. Just felt...I just knew I was missing something, and here you are."