The tension that has been building up in the stall they have chosen would have been enough to drive the sanest person to bounce off the walls, Sarge is sure of it. But instead of pacing around like he wants to he has been standing still pretty much since they arrived, close to Rodeo but not too close, his eyes trained on a patch of sunlight on the grimy wall. Trying to keep his head clear, trying not to get his hopes up. Too often has he seen his best friend deflate at yet another blank look instead of recognition they have both been hoping for when that blasted picture came into play. He's not sure how much longer they can tell themselves that finding her is anything but impossible.
Then they hear a car. Of course it's a car, but at least it's not cars, plural. How many government goons can you fit into one vehicle? He wants to be amused at the thought of clown cars and he's sure it could be pretty funny, but there is a black hole in his stomach consuming anything that is not tension. Maybe even fear. Because if there aren't people out there trying to kill them, another disappointment might.
The door opens and if he has ever felt like someone kicked him in the stomach and punched him in the head at once, this might be it. Because he has finally crossed the threshold, he is hallucinating. Gone off the deep end, just like his mother. But the apparition speaks, and a quick look at Rodeo reveals that it is at least a shared experience. Because this can't be real. Long lost people don't just appear like that, unless it's a horrible movie that prompts him to throw popcorn at the screen. Life is never that good to them.
An entire tsunami of emotions is drowning him and all he does is blink.
He would be a liar if he insisted he hadn't hoped they would find her some day. Sarge has been obsessively hoarding Skittles as if that reminder of the past alone could bring her back, when he used to always bring her candy. Which is utterly ridiculous, but it was his way of holding on to whatever shrapnels of hope he had left. And now she is actually here and all he can do is mutter to himself.