Farm; Wednesday; Sadie and Gabe
Sadie still wasn't sure if she should be doing this, but it was too late to back down now. She was already at Gabe's door and she had already knocked on it. If she left now, he'd see her going down the stairs and walking across the farm, so she was stuck.
She reminded herself that this wasn't a bad thing. She wanted to see him, just to talk, and now she would. And at least here on the farm she wouldn't have to worry about anyone seeing them. Sadie knew plenty of people who wouldn't think she was safe alone with Gabe, but she'd never gotten the feeling that he would physically hurt her or anything. Then again, she never got the feeling that he wasn't who he said he was, so her instincts probably didn't count for much in the grand scheme of things.
As she waited for him to answer, she looked back down the stairs, once again contemplating the chances of a successful ding dong ditch escape. She probably could have gone clear around the building by then if she'd left right after she knocked. But now she'd likely waited too long. She was going to see him. To talk. She was alternately thrilled and terrified by this concept.
Gabe had actually been fixing a section of fence near the actual farm house when he'd spotted what he thought was Sadie heading for the tractor garage where his apartment was located. He thought that maybe he'd gotten hit in the head on the base harder than he'd originally thought. He'd just finished up his work and had gathered the tools he'd taken out with him. Then he made his way toward the garage. It took him a little longer than he would have hoped but he was still slow after that beating. There were a few bruises on his face that still hadn't healed, one on his right cheek bone, the left corner of his bottom lip and one around the outside of his left eye. Most of the other bruises were to his torso and back, mostly from being kicked. Some were along his arms as well from trying to protect his chest and ribs from being kicked.
He approached the garage and the stairs and stood there for a moment. First he blinked a few times but she was still there. Maybe he wasn't imagining it. He wondered if he should speak before climbing the stairs. Why was she here? Had her sister sent her hear to try and get more information? He willingly stepped onto an army base where he was nearly positive he'd never leave alive just to pass them information he'd come across when he'd been using Madge's computer. They probably thought he was involved and now they were using poor Sadie again. Gabe tried not to frown too much.
He cleared his throat and started climbing the stairs at a slow pace, worried that walking too fast up them might startle her too much. He moved the tools and gloves and such into one hand so he could fish his keys out of his pocket. He realized a little too late that he didn't have enough hands to roll his shirt sleeves down over his arms to cover some of the extra bruises.
Sadie jumped a little when she heard Gabe clear his throat. She swallowed and turned to look down at the bottom of the stairs to see him walking up. Before she came to the garage, Sadie had gone to the farmhouse to talk ask Madge exactly where Gabe was living. Madge had warned her that he was looking worse for wear after his visit to the base (something that Sadie had heard about already anyway), but hearing about it and then actually seeing it were two very different things. She opened her mouth a little to say something, but nothing came out as she looked over all the bruising on his face and arms. The people at the base were supposed to be the good guys, right?
Gabe felt that he couldn't blame people for how they felt about him. They had legitimate reasons. He had been fairly prepared never to make it off the base, so much so in fact that he'd pre-written an explanation for the print outs he'd brought with him and a translation. This way, in the event of his death, they'd at least have the paperwork. He'd been more than a little surprised that Colonel Buckner had been the person who'd come along and stopped the soldiers from killing him. He hadn't exactly been nice about it, but he'd had orders that Gabe wasn't to be killed and the knowledge that anyone who had killed him would still be punished to the full extent of the law per the General's orders. So rather than lose a squad of soldiers, the still recovering Slate had pulled rank and saved Gabe and then escorted the now injured Gabe to his office.
And now Sadie was standing at his door and Gabe felt wary and also upset that she'd gotten pulled into this again. He watched her as he climbed the steps, stepping around her a little so he could unlock the door. "...If they wanted more information, they could've shown up themselves for it," He told her calmly. "They didn't have to drag you into it again." He nodded toward the open door to let her know she could go inside. The apartment above the garage was much smaller than Gabe's old apartment. It was all one big room basically. He had no laptop as his had never been returned to him for obvious reasons. He'd had a small radio on a table near the bed which was just a pull-out sofa bed. There was a small fridge and a small kitchen area and a table with two chairs for a table to eat at. It was fairly pathetic but it was a place to live.
Sadie frowned and turned to watch Gabe go to the door as he walked past her. "They didn't send me here," she said quietly as she looked at a particularly nasty bruise on the back of his arm. She turned her eyes to the inside of the apartment when he opened the door, and after hesitating a moment, stepped inside. She took a look around briefly before she looked back over at him.
Gabe paused a moment, puzzled by her response before he followed her inside. He set the tools down next to the door and hesitated before he shut the door. He stood up straighter and set his keys into his right pocket so it wouldn't tangle with Sadie's locket which sat in its normal place in his left pocket. He started unrolling his sleeves back down to his wrists now that his hands were free even though she'd had time to see his arms. At least he was trying, or something. "Oh," He finally said, completely confused and unsure what brought her here then. He looked around the apartment. He motioned toward the little kitchen table and its rickety chairs. "Do you want to sit?" He doubted she would but who knew?
Sadie didn't want to sit, but she didn't want to seem like she was ready to shoot out the door or anything, so she nodded. "Okay." She walked over to the table and sat down on one of the uncomfortable chairs. She took another look around the room before bringing her eyes back to Gabe. "I wanted to see you," she said, since she knew he had to be wondering why she was there. "Talk to you."
Gabe made his way over to the fridge after digging out some glasses, to get the water jug and fill them up. He carried them to the table after putting the water jug back away and set them down before he sat down in the other chair. Yeah, they were pretty uncomfortable. Gabe was just glad to have something to sit on. He was still confused about what she could possibly want to talk to him about. Well, he had a few ideas, but he didn't think it would be good to hope for those. He arched his eyebrows though and nodded as he folded his dirty hands on the table. He'd tried to brush them off and clean them with the water jug over the sink but that only went so far. "Okay," He nodded, deciding he'd let her say whatever she had to.
Sadie thanked him quietly for the glass, but she didn't take a drink from it. When he gave her the clear to talk, she didn't really know what to say to him. She hadn't come to the farm with a plan, just a need to see him. "...I heard about the stuff at the base," she led off with after a few quiet moments.
Gabe turned his eyes down to his hands as soon as she said it. He cleared his throat a little and shifted in his seat. He shrugged a little. "Yeah," He nodded. "I...should've warned them I was coming." But he'd been a little caught up in the moment and the need to pass the information along as soon as possible.
Sadie shook her head as she dropped her eyes down to the bruise on his cheek. "No, no, I don't mean that. I mean the other stuff. Why you went there."
Gabe's brow furrowed a little. He shrugged a little. "I just happened across it. It's not a big deal." He assured before he lifted his eyes to look at her. So she had come here because he'd gone to the base...but she hadn't been sent by her sister. He was just confused.
Sadie nodded a bit and looked down at her lap. It kind of was a big deal, considering his history with the town and all. She cleared her throat and without looking back up, said, "It was...good --" Was that the word? Eh, it would do. "-- of you to do. I mean..." She wasn't sure what she meant. "Just, you know, after what everyone's done..." She looked up and gestured vaguely toward her face. "And, and, what you did..." She shut up then because what she was saying was disjointed enough already.
Gabe's eyebrows kept arching up. He blinked a little but he shrugged a little. "I don't know what to say," He admitted after a moment or two. He really didn't. "I wasn't really...thinking about that part of it." He told her. And he hadn't been. It hadn't been a matter of getting into anyone's good graces. He found something out, it was important to stopping people from getting hurt and he'd done it. He didn't want people, Sadie especially, thinking he was only doing it to save face after all he'd done.
If Sadie had thought that, then she wouldn't have been sitting in his kitchen/living room/bedroom area at that moment. Sadie nodded some more and looked back down at her hands. She laced her fingers together and twisted them a bit out of nervousness. "I just...I don't know. Wanted to say that, y'know, I believe you just wanted to help." As time went on, she'd been thinking less and less that Gabe was a bad person. He just did some bad things. He was kind of like Ketty in that way. Sadie believed Gabe had really cared about her, or still did, or whatever. That was something that was pretty hard to fake, and what would have been the point of faking it anyway?
Gabe's pulse picked up a little as she spoke, but he was still hesitant about her even being here. If her sister found out about it, there really was no telling what she'd do or have done to him. Only part of him was worried about it, the other part was fairly over joyed that she was even here and sitting across from him. And there really would've been no point to faking it. "I meant what I said," He told her after a few moments of awkward silence. "At the grocery store," He clarified. "And...just..." He frowned because he'd pretty much lost steam about there. "I don't want to keep apologizing," He lifted one of his hands up though. "I mean, I want to atone for what I've done, I just...don't think it means much to tell you that I'm sorry..." He rambled a little. He almost grimaced too since he had no idea how she was going to take anything he said. He was nervous too. He thought he was going to start sweating soon even, even though he'd been sweating outside while he was working too.
Sadie brought her eyes up to Gabe without lifting her head much. "I believe that you're sorry that you hurt me," she said in a slow and quiet voice. This stuff was hard to get out. It was hard even for her to think about. She had wanted to believe it for a while, but she knew she probably shouldn't, but she still really did, and it was all very confusing.
Gabe gave a small nod. Internally, he could feel his heart pounding pretty hard. "I don't expect you to forgive me or...anything, y'know," He told her even though he hoped she was aware of this. "Or anyone else to either." He frowned a little and shifted in his chair, feeling more than fidget happy. "I wasn't going to shoot her," He added because he was unsure if Sadie really thought that was he was going to. She probably had. Why else would she had tackled him?
Sadie arched her eyebrows a little. "You picked up your gun," she said. "Pointed it at her."
Gabe nodded. "I know," He frowned. "I was startled." He told her. "And I was worried...." He frowned down at his hands again. "Once I'd aimed it, if I lowered it, they were going to shoot me," He frowned a little more. "I didn't want you to have to see that." Not even, 'I didn't want that to happen' which he hadn't, he'd been resolved to the dying part long before that, but he didn't want Sadie to witness it. He didn't want to chance a glance up at her after he spoke so he settled on wringing his hands together. Why was she here? She couldn't be here just to talk. There had to be another reason. It was driving him a little mad not knowing what that reason may be.
Sadie nodded again and looked down, taking all of that in. She was quiet, not knowing much of what to say at this point, or even much of what to think, aside from some major thoughts.
Gabe stayed quiet too. All he could say anymore was 'I'm sorry' and that was already discussed. He could've told her that he loved her but that was inappropriate and he'd told her in the grocery store. He wondered if she really understood that she had been the reason her city had been spared thus far. If he hadn't met her and fallen for her, he would have presumably stayed on task and bitter, caring only about how many people he could hurt in the effort to find his brother's killer and to aid in overtaking the town. He lifted just his eyes to watch her for a moment.
Sadie hadn't really thought about it. It was a kind of insane thing to comprehend and she'd been too preoccupied dwelling on other things lately. She looked up and when she met his eyes, brought her attention back down to her lap. She swallowed before she spoke again. "I've really tried...to stop feeling the way I feel about you. But I can't. I guess that makes me kind of stupid or something, I dunno."
Gabe managed not to look down. Instead he watched her. As elated as he was to hear what she was saying, it made him feel intense amounts of guilt. He frowned, more than he had been if that was possible, and despite himself let out a quiet, "I'm sorry," in response because it was his fault that she had to deal with all of this. He was a horrible person, and he knew it and felt like it.
Sadie looked up and hesitated when she saw he was still looking at her. It took her a few moments before she continued. "...I know. I believe you. I know it could be stupid to think that after everything, but...I still love you. And I believe you, not just 'cause I want to believe you. I just do."
Gabe wasn't sure how to react to what she was saying. He knew how he wanted to react, how he'd been waiting and hoping to react to hearing her say such a thing. He wasn't thinking selfishly at the moment though. He was thinking about how just her words were going to affect her and her life in the town. He shook his head and stood up. "You shouldn't be here." He definitely didn't mean it but he forced himself to say it, voice even cracking a little right before he cleared his throat again. He turned his eyes to his shoes and tried to keep as still as possible in order to prevent himself from doing something stupid like attempting to hug and/or kiss her. She had to leave and he had to stay away from her. It was just the way things were and one of them had to force the logic in this situation right?
Sadie frowned and looked up. "You don't have to tell me that. I know. No one even knows I'm here except Madge." Well, and Midian probably figured she'd do something like this eventually.
Midian certainly figured it, but he was pretty good at the whole secret-keeping thing and fairly understanding over all if he did say so himself. Gabe shook his head though. "I can't let you do this," He shook his head again. "It's bad enough, all the things I've already done to you. I can't let you further alienate yourself because of me," He shook his head a few more times and refused to look up because if he did he knew he'd be in trouble and was pretty likely to start giving in.
Sadie's face fell. This wasn't how she hoped things would go at all. "So you're okay with leaving me miserable?" she asked, her nose starting to do that burning thing. "I'm already alienated. And lonely. I tried to move on, but I still can't stop thinking about you. It's not gonna stop." At least it didn't feel like it would.
"No, I'm not..." Gabe frowned further, if that was even possible at all. His nose burned a little too as she went on and he closed his eyes a moment before he braved looking at her. He shook his head and stepped closer around the table. He started rolling his sleeves up now, this time to display the bruises, most still dark and healing. "Look at this, Sadie," He said before he just reached down and pulled up his shirt to show her most of his torso. "This is what your town does to people who make this kind of mistakes," He told her. "Your livelihood revolves around the army drinking in your bar." He paused and dropped his shirt. "I'm not going to let you make me the reason they start doing these things to you. You're forgiven, I'm the liar and the spy and the traitor. You didn't know. You know now, you can't be here and we can't...do this." He shook his head and tried to figure out something compelling enough to...do something. He wasn't sure what.
Sadie looked up at him and had to sniffle a little when he stepped forward. She frowned at his bruising. She almost reached out to put her hand on his side before he dropped his shirt again. The marks on him were awful, but he was the traitor. Sadie had lived in Sinai all her life and people liked her. Her sister was well-respected and friends with the Mayor's son. Sadie provided the people with alcohol. And she was a girl. No one was going to hurt her like that; she was sure of it. The worst that could happen would be that people would avoid the bar, but at the moment she didn't really care. She didn't want to be denied the chance to be with someone she loved for a second time, and all that dramatic stuff.
"Madge gave you a place to live. She gave you a job. No one's done anything to her," Sadie shook her head. No one had done anything more than say nasty things, anyway.
Yeah well, who wanted something to wind up being wrong with their food supply after they messed with the farmer? Damnit, why'd she have to poke holes in his logic. Gabe grimaced as he moved to crouch down since she was still sitting. He reached out to put his hands on the outsides of her legs, to steady himself as well as to actually touch her too. "...What about your sister? Your parents? Your business...?" He arched his eyebrows. He tried not to look directly into her eyes figuring she wouldn't be able to prey on his desire to give in to what she was suggesting.
Sadie looked down at his hands and then lifted her eyes to his face. "I don't care," she said, shaking her head. "Shouldn't they want me to be happy?" Or at least, happier. She lifted her hand and brushed it through his hair before dragging down to his cheek, lightly so she didn't hurt his bruises. "We don't have to tell anyone," she said, moving her thumb over his cheek. "For now." Sadie had lived in town long enough to know which ways of hiding things worked there and which didn't.
Gabe lifted his eyes to Sadie's at her comments. He tried not to frown and before he could talk she'd moved her hair through his hair and he closed his eyes, unable to do anything but take a slow breath. He held back a sigh, barely as she touched his cheek. "Just because it's what they should want doesn't mean it's how they'll react..." He tried one last attempt but it was pretty clear that he wanted what she wanted even if he was trying to resist for her benefit. Not only did she want to be with him but she wanted to hide it because she knew the town wouldn't react well either. That was more reason to convince him to try and stop this from happening but she was touching his face and he closed his eyes again because he couldn't help it. He'd thought he was going to die, and he thought he'd never see or touch her again and now she was brushing her hand through his hair and touching his face and he was just feeling increasingly powerless.
"Then they won't find out," Sadie said, running her fingers down along his jawline. "And if they do...it's not like I'm not used to them judging me." She knew he wanted to give in; he just had to do it. There were possibly consequences to all of this, but Sadie didn't care to think about them when Gabe was right there in front of her.
Gabe frowned still. His breath might've hitched too at the movement along his jaw. He hung his head down with a small sigh. There were definitely consequences to this and he couldn't give in if she wasn't going to think about them and be aware of them. "I think you have to worry about more than them judging you when they find out," Not 'if'. It was a tiny town. They were going to be found out some time. It was just the way it was gonna go down, some time or another. Would the town be angrier if they found out weeks or months after they started secretly seeing each other?
Sadie moved her hand to his chin to lift his head up. "So what?" Why should she care what the townspeople thought, especially if they were the ones who had been beating Gabe up?
Gabe kept his eyes down for awhile before he finally raised the to hers. His eyes were maybe a little glassy but he wasn't sure if he was happy about all she was saying or just extremely emotional and y'know lame. "I don't deserve you," Well, it was true...and kinda cheesy but it was a little too serious and all to really be too worried about the cheese factor.
Sadie frowned. "Don't say that. Of course you do."
Gabe shook his head. "I did horrible things." He didn't look away this time, just frowned as he spoke. His legs were starting to work from the way he was crouching since they hadn't escape injury and he'd been using them to work and all even though they'd held bruises and a welt or two. "Especially to you," With the lying and making her think he was someone else. She didn't even know him technically. How was she supposed to even trust him? How could she believe him without any kind of proof. Then again Gabe didn't know what proof would technically consist of.
Sadie's frown deepened and she dropped her hand back into her lap. "But you love me." And she loved him back, so that made him deserving enough in her mind. He'd been giving her proof, anyway. The fact that he'd been lying to the WA, the way he looked at and talked to her before and after he was caught, the reason why he went to the base, all of that added up to proof. Maybe not physical evidence, but love wasn't a physical feeling, anyway.
Gabe nodded. "Yeah, I do," He replied because he did and it wasn't something he felt ashamed saying. It was the consequences of what loving him meant for her that made him ashamed. He didn't know what else to say so he just watched her. He wanted to give in. He was pretty sure this was evidenced on his face but he could be wrong. He didn't know what to say or do next. So he watched her and wondered if she was really sure about all of this.
Sadie wasn't sure either, but she was just going to go with it. "And I love you. So I don't see why we shouldn't be together."
Gabe wanted to resist. He'd tried to resist before and had failed and look at all that had happened. His will power was nearly non-existent where she was concerned. He moved his hands to hers and lifted them before he leaned over a little more to kiss the backs of them.
Sadie let out a slow breath of air out of relief when he kissed her hands. She laced her fingers in with his and moved forward a bit on her chair. "It's going to be okay," she assured quietly, even though she wasn't exactly an authority on these kinds of things. But she'd rather be miserable with him than miserable without him.
Gabe curled his fingers around hers and looked up at her when she spoke. He was skeptical that it would be okay but he nodded a little. Now what?
She squeezed his hands, but gently in case they were bruised too. She needed to figure out a way to stop those assholes in town and on the base from hurting him, but that was a matter for another time. She swallowed as she looked over his still-recovering face. "I missed you," she said, moving her thumbs over the back of his hands.
Gabe took a shaky breath and let it out slowly. He didn't let go of her hands but he did stand up, trying to keep his grimacing to a minimum. Then he used her hands to pull her to her feet, which did get a little more grimacing but that was the besides the point. Once she was on her feet, he finally let go of her hands but only so he could hug her even though that was bound to hurt because of the injuries.
Sadie let him pull her up, curious about what he was doing. When he let go so he could hug her, she moved her arms around him as well. She hugged him a lot looser than she would have liked, though. She'd seen him grimace and she remembered the bruising around his torso. That kind of image was hard to forget, even though every single time she'd seen Gabe since he was captured, he was hurt in some way.
Gabe kind of really didn't care how much it was going to hurt. He hugged her tighter to him, in fact, just to prove it. He managed to suppress the grunt that wanted to come out when he did it and instead turned his head down to kiss the top of hers. It was pretty hard to believe this was actually happening. Gabe was going to be pretty pissed if he woke up and had dreamed this.
Sadie took that as the okay to tighten her arms as well. She closed her eyes and had to take a few slow breaths once he kissed her head, just letting all of this sink in. It was going to be hard, but it would be all right. They'd be together, and that was the important part.
Gabe wasn't thinking as optimistically as Sadie, but then again he'd endured a fair amount of literal torture before being released and he'd spent weeks wondering just when someone was finally going to crack and kill him and stuff like that didn't exactly help your psyche. Regardless, he just held on and swayed a little, unconscious of whether or not he'd been the one who had started the swaying or not. It didn't really matter who had. He lifted a hand and moved his fingers through her hair.
Sadie didn't know who had started the swaying either, but it was nice. After a minute or so, she pulled back to look up at him. "Can we sit down?" She wanted to be able to look at him easily and their height difference wasn't exactly conducive to that.
Gabe nodded, reluctant to let go when she puled back. He turned and led the way toward the bed, which was only still a bed because he never saw much sense in folding it back into the sofa. It was more comfortable than the chairs though. He sat down, with a little extra effort than he would've liked, needing to put a hand across his side as he did to.
It was more comfortable than the chair, but no where near as comfortable as Gabe's old bed. Sadie folded her legs up under herself as she sat down. When she saw his hand go to his side, she frowned and moved closer so she was sitting right up next to him.
"Do you have stuff to help? Like to clean cuts and help your bruises and aspirin and stuff?" she asked as she put her hand lightly over the one he had across himself.
Gabe shrugged a little as he turned his head to look down at her hand. "Sometimes," He answered vaguely. He didn't like taking all that stuff from Madge, so it wasn't always an option. It didn't help that he thought he deserved it so he should, in fact have to endure the resulting pain.
Sadie's frown deepened and she brought her eyes down to the mark on his cheek. Madge gave him a job where he had to do hard labor, but apparently she didn't even give him stuff so he could patch up. "That's awful," Sadie said. "I'm going to bring you some the next time I come over."
Gabe shook his head. "It's all right," He told her. "I can get it from the farmhouse." He frowned a little and moved his hand from his side to rest on his leg. "I'm okay," He insisted. "Really." Considering his other option was starving to death without a home, he was more than happy to do hard labor and have somewhere to live, even if he had to do so while injured.
Sadie shook her head. "When it hurts to sit, you're not okay. I'm going to bring you stuff." She wanted to help, and she wasn't going to just rely on some other random person to do it for him.
"It doesn't normally. Hurt to sit," Not anymore anyway. "I just...had a lot to do today," He shrugged a little. "It's just a few bruises." He told her. There were cuts and stuff but he'd cleaned those. "I don't like to burden Madge with it. Bad enough I'm living her in garage."
Sadie reached down to pick up his hand. "Then it's a good thing you have me around," she said as she laced her fingers in his.
"Yeah," Gabe gave in and nodded as he curled his fingers in with hers. He wanted to kiss her. She was right there, all he had to do was just lean over, and he didn't think she'd protest, but he didn't. He did lift her hand to kiss the back of it though.
Sadie definitely wasn't going to protest. She'd wanted to kiss him since she first saw him, anyway. But he was all beat up and she didn't want to yank him over or anything. She sat up higher and leaned a little closer instead, wanting to say something, but not really knowing what.
Gabe couldn't think of anything either but having her sit up and lean over closer was enough of a cue for him. He didn't want to wait any longer anyway. Injuries or not, he leaned over and kissed her, initially resting his forehead against hers to do so as he squeezed her hand a little tighter.
Sadie could really feel her heartbeat going all crazy when he moved in for the kiss. It was hard to believe it was actually happening. She kissed him back, but again trying to be gentle with the cut on his mouth and all. Even so, she was squeezing his hand pretty tight.
Gabe wasn't even aware of the pain in his lip, or his torso (much) at the moment. He kissed her a few more times and lifted his free hand to put it on the side of her face. This was really unbelievable.
Sadie lifted herself up higher and moved her free arm over his shoulders to pull him closer. She returned all his kisses and added some of her own, as well as sporadic declarations of love in between. She couldn't help it.
Gabe was having trouble keeping from smiling a little at the declarations. He returned each over them between some other kisses and let go of her hand just so he could wrap his arm around her and pull her closer.
This was kind of too good to be true. And Sadie didn't want to hurt him, but it was hard to remember things like that when he was kissing her and pulling her closer. So she might have been holding him too tight when she leaned over against him and put her arm around his neck, but it was out of love!
Gabe wasn't paying attention to the pain. He was paying attention to the kissing just in case this was indeed a dream. So he didn't make any grunts or grimaces that he, at least, noticed. Actually he wasn't much thinking about the consequences of his injuries either when he wrapped his arms further around her and lifted her right up and into his lap so they didn't have to keep turning all awkward. At least not until he had to pull back to inhale sharply. Whoops.
Sadie's eyes widened a bit and she loosened her arms and looked him over as she tried to catch her breath. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry, what did I do?" she asked, her brow furrowed in worry and maybe some sadness.
Gabe shook his head and leaned forward to lean his forehead against hers while he caught his breath. "It's okay," He assured and, maybe, y'know used this opportunity for a sappy little nose bump.
The nose bump was nice and Sadie couldn't help but give Gabe another kiss right after, but then she pulled back again to look down at his torso. "Are you sure? I don't want to hurt you."
Gabe returned the kiss and smiled a little sadly at her comment. All the crap he did to her and she was so overly worried bout leaning on any of his bruises. "Positive," He told her before he kissed her a few more times.
Sadie nodded before leaning back in to kiss him again. She doubted he was as positive as he was, but she wasn't exactly going to complain that he was okay the pain anyway. She made sure not to hold onto or lean against him too much at first, but it wasn't long before she started holding him tighter again without even realizing it. She also brought one of her hands down to start going up his torso under his shirt.
Yeah, that was awesome but it caused Gabe to inhale sharply a few times among the kissing, which he didn't stop this time. He did, however, lay them back so they weren't sitting up anymore, figuring that would provide at least a little bit of injury relief, maybe. He moved his hand along the side of her face lightly and then his fingers through her hair. He wondered when she was going to have to leave and he was dreading it already even though she was still here at the moment.
Sadie kissed him a few more times once they were lying down, and tried to touch him only lightly under his shirt. She didn't really move her hand much anymore either. When he moved his fingers through her hair, she pulled back a bit to catch her breath and just look at him.
Gabe was glad for some time to catch his breath as well. He moved his hand through her hair and lightly against the side of her face a few more times as he watched her. He let out a small quiet sigh and closed his eyes for a second, opening them again to make sure she was still there. "Are you really here?" He hadn't meant to ask it but he couldn't help it. It was pretty hard to believe after all.
That made Sadie smile. She leaned in to give him a quick kiss before she nodded. "I hope so, 'cause I'm going to be really disappointed if this isn't really happening."
Gabe nodded after he returned the kiss. "Me too." He nodded again. He had too much he wanted to say to her to figure out just where to start. He was also worried that saying the wrong thing would ruin the moment or the whole set up and send her away and now that he'd given in, he didn't want her to leave.
Then he was going to be disappointed when he found out that she had to leave in a few short hours to go to work. It was in the back of Sadie's mind already and it wasn't bringing her any joy either. Between their two jobs and the secrecy thing, finding time to be with Gabe was going to be harder than she thought. She kissed him and told him she loved him again as she moved the arm that was under his shirt over his back. She was torn between what she wanted to do at the moment. Lie down with him in quiet, talk to him, get naked with him, just look at him, after so much torturous time apart, she wanted to do all of it at once.
Gabe was pretty torn as well. He wanted to answer any questions she had about him-or even answer the ones she'd asked months ago with the correct answers she'd never properly received. He also wanted to just lay there with her until they both got some form of relaxed proper sleep...and there were all the other things he wanted to do that were bound to exacerbate his injuries. He settled on telling her that he loved her for the moment.
Sadie moved her arm further around him for hug, which was a lot easier to do lying down. And more comfortable. For her, anyway. It probably hurt for him, which sucked. What also sucked was that he didn't smell the same way he used to, most likely because of all the farmwork. But they were together, and that was the important part.
Yeah, Gabe kinda knew he smelled but taking a shower meant leaving from their spots and Gabe wasn't prepared for that just yet. "Sorry I stink," he told her. "You caught me on an overly exerted sweaty work day..." He moved his arm both around her to hold on despite his ripeness.
He just didn't smell like Gabe. Or Eli, if you wanted to be kind of technical. But his life was pretty different now. "You're okay," she assured and kissed the side of his neck a couple of times for good measure. "I'm used to you being sweaty."
He smelled like sweat. And dirt. And some other farm-related things. It had to be a little rank. He smirked, just a tiny bit while he closed his eyes at the neck kisses. "How's that farm dirt taste?" He asked her in just a slightly thick southern drawl.
Sadie smiled and kissed him again before pulling back to look at him. "See for yourself," she half-smiled a bit before she leaned in to kiss him properly.
Gabe smiled. He hadn't genuinely smiled in a long time before today. He returned the kiss and then made a face as he pretended to scrutinize the taste. "Not too gross but that good be thanks to the addition of Sadie mouth taste with he farm dirt." He nodded very seriously.
Sadie wrinkled her nose a little bit but continued smiling at him. It was kind of hard to stop now that he was smiling back. "My mouth goes well with dirt, good to know," she said as she leaned her forehead against his. It was only a moment later that she kissed him again.
Gabe was still grinning a little as he returned her kiss. He stayed quiet for a moment afterward, sobering up just a bit. "...I think we have an imbalance in equality of personal knowledge of each other," he wanted to let her know she could ask whatever she wanted.
Sadie's smile faded and she nodded. She brought her eyes down to look at the surface of the bed and was quiet for a few moments. The lack of personal knowledge stuff was one of the big things that had been keeping her from going back to him. (Among a bunch of other big things.) Was he really the same person, just with a different history? Or even aside from who his parents were and where he grew up, did the fact that he was angry and bitter enough to try and destroy an entire town mean he was a different person to her anyway? Sadie frowned a little more before she looked up.
"If you had gone through with all that you were going to do, and the WA came here...what were they going to do with people like me? The civilians?" She wanted to know other things about him, but this was the big question on her mind at the moment. She added after a brief moment, "I'm not wiretapped or anything. I just want to know."
Gabe wasn't sure if he was expecting that specific question or just dreading a lot of what she could have asked. He frowned since he made her stop smiling and moved his thumb across her cheek as she spoke. He frowned at that last comment too. "I'd answer you even if you were," He told her as he prepared to give her an honest answer against his better judgement. "It depends." He shifted a little and move his hand down her shoulder and along her arm, letting his eyes follow it. "Anyone who resisted would have been killed," He admitted guiltily. "Anyone willing to assimilate would have been imprisoned and only let out during the day and such to work, under guard, until they thought it'd be safe enough to let you go." He frowned at the idea of that happening to Sadie even though some version of it had wound up being his fate.
Sadie turned her eyes down and was quiet for a bit, thinking about all the people she knew that definitely would have resisted. Her sister, her dad and by extension, her mom, Slate, probably Midian too. She didn't know what she would have done. It was better that she never have to find out.
She swallowed and looked back up at Gabe, waiting until he met her eyes. "And you were okay with that happening to a whole town full of innocent people." Yes, she knew he was bitter and angry and didn't care about anything but avenging his brother's death, but it was still a difficult concept for her to grasp. Especially coming from him.
Gabe shook his head. "No, I wasn't," He answered fairly quickly. "You don't turn down mission offers without serious physical consequences in the WA." He told her. "And it was the only opportunity I ever had on figuring out who, exactly killed Eli." He was probably the only person who could just blurt out the name without flinching. "I'm sorry," He told her. "You were probably hoping for better answers," He frowned a little and moved his arm away so she wasn't trapped under him. "It's okay if my answers change your mind, y'know." Except for that part where it would be severely devastating.
Sadie did frown a little further when he said his brother's name. She looked down again but brought her eyes back up as he continued. "I'm not going to change my mind," she insisted, even though she didn't know if that was always going to be true. But at the moment it felt like it was. "It's hard to work out. You came here to do horrible things, but if you hadn't then I wouldn't have met you and..."
Gabe hoped it was always going to be true. Keyword being 'hoped.' His muscles might have relaxed a little at her declaration even. He nodded as she went on. "I know..." He lifted his hand back to the side of her face and leaned forward to kiss her forehead again. "There are things I'll always have to live with...and I'm sorry that you have to share that..." Even if they weren't together, he'd still involved her heavily with the relationship and all. "If I never accepted the mission, I'd still be there, angry and bitter and..." Alone? He got sidetracked by letting his eyes look her face over for a moment. He couldn't help himself despite the serious turn the conversation had taken.
Sadie leaned in quickly to kiss him. She pulled back enough to keep her forehead leaning against him and tightened her arm around his back. "But you did and here we are. And don't think that I think I'd be better off never having met you, because I don't feel that way at all, okay? It's the exact opposite." Which made her feel kind of guilty. People did die, after all, and here she was focusing on the her-and-Gabe part.
Gabe returned the kiss and closed his eyes just a moment, opening them again when she spoke. He smiled just a tiny bit at what she said. He was never going to stop feeling guilty, about a lot of things. Part of him was probably going to continually think she would have been better off never meeting him as well. But if it would ease her mind, he'd agree and never tell her. So he nodded. "Okay..." He agreed. He tried not to frown again. He wondered how she turned out the way she had in a town like this. Really. And then he thought about what was going to happen to her when people eventually - inevitably - found out about them.
Sadie nodded in response and kissed him again to seal the deal. When she pulled back, she moved her hand off his back so she could brush it through his hair a couple of times. "So," she began quietly, "you were in foster homes for eight years?" She lifted her eyebrows a bit as she looked at him.
The corners of Gabe's eyes scrunched up when she asked that after he'd returned the kiss. He been enjoying her hand through his hair. Part of him felt guilty for enjoying anything. He squashed that part down as much as he could. He nodded. "Mostly military." He told her. "I never wanted to join the military." he admitted. "It was the best paying job in town and they wouldn't let me take E...my brother, with me if I couldn't pay to support him. He had six more years to bounce around from foster house to foster house if I didn't do it." He explained. It just happened that he managed to excel at it once he was in the job. And now he was here, and some crazy shit had happened and he couldn't believe she was here, that they were here, after everything. He took a moment to kiss her forehead again before he moved to lean his against hers again.
Sadie moved her hand down his shoulder and arm so she could eventually lace her fingers in his. "What was that like, growing up?" It sounded pretty awful to her. Having no parents and living from house to house with a bunch of military people who didn't like you enough to adopt you? Not to mention the fact that it was in the WA, but Sadie realized she couldn't believe everything she'd heard about the place, propaganda and all.
Gabe shrugged. "It was okay when I was little." He started explaining. "My mom died giving birth to my brother, dad was a colonel. He was killed in a battle. That's why we were shuffled around military foster homes. We lived their existence mostly. Wake up early, make breakfast, watch Eli, go to school, come home, do your homework, eat dinner, go to bed." He shrugged. "My brother was a pretty big trouble maker but he was little when it all happened. So the families would get fed up, or they had their own kids. We'd get moved. After a few years I was forced into the ROTC program. There wasn't much social time other than school really. It was always work really, chores or ROTC on the weekends and whenever there was free time, it was spent keeping my brother out of trouble." It was kind of pathetic sounding now that he was saying it out loud but he'd never much thought about it at the time. "Once I joined the army after high school and we moved into an apartment, he calmed down. I think he was afraid I'd send him back to one of the military families." He frowned as he looked down at their hands. "I was fairly shocked when he didn't put up a fight about joining the ROTC, but I thought he realized it was required." He let out a slow quiet sigh as he continued to frown at their hands. "He joined the army because he wanted to impress me and he thought it was what I wanted...'bout half a year after, he was sent with the WA army to Pukwana." That was probably more of a story than she'd been asking for.
It was more than she had been expecting, but that didn't mean she didn't want to hear it. She moved her thumb back and forth over the back of his hand as she listened. Gabe's life sounded pretty miserable overall, never being somewhere he wanted or where was wanted, and losing all the people who cared about him. Well, Sadie was going to help him break that streak. When Gabe got quiet again, Sadie lifted her head so she could give him a kiss on the forehead, right above his eyebrow. She lingered there a minute and then laid her head back down again and looked at him. "What did you want to do instead of joining the military?" she asked.
Yeah, Gabe kind of hated that question mostly because he had no answer for it. He closed his eyes when she'd kissed his forehead and squeezed her hand a little. She shook his head. "I never really thought about it. The goal was to get a job in the army and get us out of the foster homes. I never thought past that. It wasn't about what I wanted," He turned his eyes to hers instead of their hands. "I wanted him to get to live his life they way he wanted. I never banked on him following my stupid ass into the army," He rolled his eyes a little and looked down at her collarbones because his eyes might've gotten a little on the glassy side. He wondered if she wanted her necklace back, or if she even knew he still had it.
Sadie frowned. That was singularly depressing. No wonder he'd thought he'd had nothing to live for, because he'd only been living for his brother. She let go of his hand and moved her arm around him again, putting her hand in the hair at the back of his head as she hugged him. His chances of living a normal life at this point had decreased significantly. At least here in Sinai. That was awful.
Gabe frowned a little. He should've held off on asking if she wanted to ask him questions. It was just depressing her. Him too. He didn't want to keep depressing them both. His eyes closed almost automatically when he felt her hand in his hair and he moved his arm around her a little tighter. "I'm sorry," He said as he opened his eyes. "For sending the conversation in a depressing direction." He explained.
Sadie shushed him and shook her head. After all that happened, she wasn't dumb enough to expect their time together to be all sunshine and laughs. Things were entirely different now. No more drinking contests and after-date skinny-dipping. Just, well, this room, basically.
Gabe pressed his lips together and nodded. He gave her another little nose bump nuzzle and let out a quiet sigh as he moved his hand along her back. "That doesn't mean you have to stop asking questions," He added. "I just wanted to apologize for bringing the moment down." It was totally sad that they'd be confined to this room together, but Gabe would start thinking of ways to make it worth her while somehow.
She was spending time with him; she thought that was totally worth her while. "Okay," she nodded. She studied his face while she tried to pick out what, out of the many questions she had, she wanted to know next. "How much do you remember about your parents?"
Gabe thought about that for a few moments. He closed his eyes before he started talking. "My mom smelled like flowers. She liked to hum and sing, I don't remember the songs. I think she found them online mostly or maybe the radio but they didn't have many music shows in Fort Thompson." He frowned a little and opened his eyes. "I think she made my dad tolerable. Once she died he worked and drank and that was about it until he died."
Sadie twirled her fingers through the hair at the back of his head as she listened. She frowned some as well when he got to the part about his dad. This was all so different from what he'd told her on their first date and little mentions afterward. After leaning in and giving him another kiss on his forehead, she said, "Okay, now tell me something good you remember about growing up."
Gabe rolled his eyes up to watch her kiss his forehead. He turned his eyes back to hers and had to think about that one for a few moments. "There was an art room for my mom in our basement. The walls were a clean super white color. She hated how clean it was all the time so we started finger painting it." He smiled little bit. "Towards the end when she was pregnant with my brother, her belly button went from an innie to an outie and we painted her whole stomach and she pressed it up against the wall. I guess Eli didn't like the sudden shape change of his home so he kicked a few times and left a few marks." He smirked. "At the time since I six it was endlessly hilarious. And fun, to paint all over walls." His mom had loved that room afterward. His dad loved to see her smile. After she died he painted the walls white in four layers until the color no longer seeped through. His mother would have hated it.
Sadie smiled a little bit at that story. It was a nice breath of fresh air after the other horrible stuff. "Your mom sounds cool," she said as she scratched the back of his head a little. "I'm going to go out on a limb and say I think we would have liked each other."
That caused a sad little smile. "Yeah...I think you would have. She was fun, she liked to be impulsive. She was my father's polar opposite." He reluctantly pulled free so he could roll over and open the cabinet of the nightstand next to the couch. He dug around a moment a rolled back over with a small ratty shoebox. "They gave some of my stuff back like my photos," The few he had. "Most of them haven't held up so great over the years, but," he fished out his favorite one, it was after a finger painting session and they were huddled together for a self portrait taken by his mother's extended arm as they grinned like idiots all paint covered.
Sadie propped herself up on her elbow and leaned over so she could see better. "Oh, wow," she said, taking the picture carefully from his hand so she could get a better look. "You guys are adorable." She looked at little Gabe and his mom in the picture for a little longer until she turned her head up with a smile. It was too bad he couldn't have shared this stuff with her earlier.
Gabe shrugged a little sheepishly. "Once upon a time I had some form of innocence I guess." And if his parents and brother hadn't died he would never have wound up here with her so it was a double edged sword really. He passed her the box to let her look through the photos.
Sadie frowned at him a little. As she took the box from his hands, she leaned over and kissed him a few times. She passed her hand through his hair as she leaned back, and then looked down to start picking up the pictures.
Gabe returned the kisses and gave her a (very) small smile at the hand through his hair. He turned some more, without much flinching and leaned his head down on her shoulder so he could look at the pictures she was picking up. There were more from after his parents had both died than there were of any with them. There were a good number of pictures of his mom holding baby Gabe at various stages of infancy/toddler-ness and then of six-year-old Gabe with overly pregnant Ruth, probably taken by Levi at her insistence. There were some stuffy official looking 'family' photos of Older Gabe, Toddler Eli and Levi. Those ones didn't cause much reaction from Gabe other than his lips becoming a little straight line. The other ones with his mom or just with Eli, caused sad little smiles.
Sadie took her sweet time looking through them, mostly focusing on little Gabe changing through the years. She commented here and there and glanced up at three-dimensional Gabe every once in a while. Eventually she put her arm around his back as she picked up some more. "Do you have any pictures from after your dad died?" she asked as she put one of the formal portraits back down in the box.
Gabe settled in against Sadie, closing his eyes after awhile because he didn't want to get too sad looking at all the pictures, of which he was the only living person. He opened them and looked at the picture she was putting back. He reached into the box and shuffled around until he'd located a picture stuck to another one. It was of 12 year old Gabe sitting on the front step of one of the foster homes in the summer with his arm slung lazily around 6 year old Eli's shoulders in went shorts and matted short (military short) hair, obviously having just gone swimming, and grinning as they squinted in the sunlight at whoever was holding the camera. He leaned a little and reached into his back pocket to pull out another, more rumpled picture - the one he'd shown her in her bathroom.
It was from the small party they'd had after they'd moved into their own apartment. Gabe explained the picture to Sadie. Gabe was 18, Eli 12, he couldn't remember who had taken the picture, but Gabe and Eli each had an arm around the other and were grinning, actually happy that they weren't stuck apart or shuffling from place to place. The latter picture was pretty creased and faded from Gabe carrying it around with him all the time. He wondered again if he should give Sadie her locket back, thinking about how it was just in his pocket. Did she know he even still had it?
She figured the soldiers (maybe even her sister) had taken it away from him when he was still in captivity, so as far as Sadie knew, the locket was long gone. She took the two pictures -- the second one making her frown again as she remembered seeing it that night in her bathroom -- and held them up as she looked at a much more recognizable Gabe and an Eli who was heading toward his teenage years. She was quiet for a bit before she turned to Gabe. "Are these all you have?" If so, that was incredibly sad.
Gabe reached into the box and sifted around. There was one more but he kind of hated it. He finally found it and handed it over after turning his eyes away from it. It was Eli's official army picture, taken after he'd completed his initial training, in his uniform. "Just these." He told her of the three pictures.
Sadie watched Gabe as he averted his eyes. She reached out and put her hand over his before she looked at the picture herself. She never liked Army pictures. They always seemed to suck any life out of their subject. It sucked that this was the last picture Gabe had of his brother. She took the three pictures and put them gently back down in the box before she pulled Gabe over for a hug.
Gabe's eyes were still on the pictures she'd put in the box so the hug startled him just a little bit before he moved his arms around her to return it. "I wasn't trying to make you pity me," He told her even though he didn't really let go of the hug.
Sadie did, though. She looked up at him, confused and maybe a little hurt. "I just wanted to give you a hug."
Gabe leaned his head back to look at her. "I don't mind the hug at all," He told her. "I just...y'know want you to know. I wasn't trying to make you feel bad for me." This was important because he didn't want her to be here because she felt bad for him.
"I was under the impression that you were trying to tell me about who you really are," Sadie said, still frowning a little, at this whole situation, really. "So that wasn't what I thought. At all."
"I was," He answered before she went on. "Okay," He nodded before he leaned over to kiss her shoulder. He was quiet for a few long moments before he spoke again. "Is there anything else you want to know?"
Sadie shrugged and leaned forward against him, setting her head down on his shoulder. "I think I'm learned-out right now."
"Okay," Gabe replied quietly. He stayed quiet for awhile longer. He wanted to ask how long she had before she had to go but he was a bit of a chicken. He also didn't want her to think that he wanted her to leave. He moved his hand along her back and then lifted it to move it through her hair. "How can you forgive me?" It really did boggle his mind.
Sadie lifted her head up, a little surprised at the suddenness of the question. She turned her head to place a kiss to his cheek. "Because I love you," she said quietly before she kissed him again. It wasn't much more complicated than that, when you got right down to it.
Maybe not more complicated, but still astounding, to Gabe anyway. He moved to lean his forehead against hers. He didn't deserve it, the forgiveness, or her. He didn't say it though. He'd said so before. So instead of speaking, he just kissed her a few times.
Sadie tightened her arms around him and sat up higher as she kissed him back. He didn't have to say much of anything at the moment, which was a good thing because Sadie didn't feel so comfortable hearing that 'I don't deserve you' stuff.
Gabe held on fairly tight, despite the bruises and welts and all that. He leaned back against the back of the couch and kissed Sadie's forehead. "You have to go soon, don't you?" He didn't want her to, in true selfish fashion. He thought maybe he could be forgiven for that selfishness this once.
Sadie nodded and loosened one of her arms so she could look at her watch. She let out a sad sigh. "Less than two hours," she said as she dropped her arm down.
Gabe nodded. The leaving part was inevitable. He scooted down a little more after she dropped her arm down. He leaned over and kissed her shoulder a couple more times. And then he mentioned the fact that he loved her.
That was a good fact. Sadie lifted her hand to brush through his hair and swayed a little bit with him. "But I'll come back," she said. "Tomorrow. Or something." She pulled back to look at him. "When should I come back?" It was his place, after all, and his job seemed very time consuming.
Gabe closed his eyes with the swaying and the hair brushing. It was far too comforting. He probably could've fallen asleep in a short amount of time with all that. He arched an eyebrow and then opened his eyes to look at her. "Whenever you want to." He answered.
Sadie nodded, still moving her hand. "Then tomorrow, definitely. As soon as possible. And I'll bring you some stuff to help with your injuries, and...how are you doing on food? I'll make you something and bring it. I bake now. I'll bring you something good." She was babbling, but she didn't realize it.
Gabe's eyebrows arched. After all of that his only question after the babbling. He'd missed the babbling a lot. "...You bake now?" He asked even though she'd mentioned other stuff and asked another question. He was trying to picture her baking.
She nodded. "Midian's been teaching me." If there was one good thing that came out of all this horrible spy stuff, it was that Sadie got a good friend. "To help with distraction, I guess." She glanced downward briefly before mustering some enthusiasm as she looked up. "But I'm getting pretty good, most of the time, anyway."
Gabe felt bad about that but he was probably going to feel bad for a long time, forever probably. He was gonna have to deal with it and that was that. He was glad she'd had someone doing some distracting for Sadie though. He smiled a little. He didn't want her to have to force enthusiasm. "I'd love to taste your pie," He couldn't help the comment. "Or whatever it is you've been learning to bake." He added a moment later.
Sadie tried to suppress a smirk at this comment, but it didn't really work. She ended up grinning and snickering a little. "You know you can taste my pie anytime," she said. "And anything I bake." Dirty jokes were pretty comfortable, and for a moment there it felt like they were hanging out like any old time. Except everything, especially Gabe, was different now.
Gabe grinned regardless since she'd grinned and snickered even. He was glad she had. It made him want to kiss her, so he did. He made a show of licking her lips. "Sounds so tasty I can hardly wait til tomorrow..." And wasn't that the truth. He actually had something to look forward to tomorrow now.
Sadie smiled and leaned in to give him another kiss. "Me neither," she said as she raked her hand back through his hair again. She looked at him with a little sigh. "I guess I'm going to have to try and be inconspicuous about this." That was going to be hard, considering he lived clear across town from her. "I'll figure something out."
Gabe frowned a little. "If you think someone's going to catch you, or bother you, don't come," He said. "It's not like I'll be going anywhere, anyway," He added. He'd rather she skip a day or two or whatever so avoid looking suspicious then risk it.
Sadie nodded even though she would have preferred not to do that. "You better not," she said, bringing her hand forward to drag her fingers across his cheek. "I'll just have to go jogging more often. With a backpack."
Gabe had to chuckle a little at that. "That won't look suspicious," He replied with a tiny little as he leaned his face against her her fingers. He closed his eyes for a second too before he opened them again.
Sadie smiled and bent her fingers to run the backs of them over the uninjured part of his cheek. "Well, like I said, I'll figure something out. How often are you able to take breaks from what you do? I don't think farms and bars operate on the same kind of schedule." Which made her frown a bit.
Gabe closed his eyes again, a little distracted at the face touching. What'd she ask? Oh, work, right. "Lunchtime." He told her. Then once the sun starts setting." He shrugged. Madge didn't really set times for his work, just told him what she needed done and he set about doing it. "Don't think she'll mind if I take a daytime break long as I get everything done in the end."
Sadie's smile returned. "That's great." Relatively speaking, anyway. She dragged her hand back to push some hair behind his ear. "And what time do you get up in the morning?"
Gabe was distracted again. He opened his eyes after a moment and looked at her. "Pretty early," He told her. "Not long after the sun comes up." He added to give her a rough estimate.