"We'll get you somewhere with a window," Matt said, in that understated way of his. "Somewhere more permanent."

She hadn't known how to react to that. The most she could come up was a sort of answer, in what she hoped was a graceful manner. "A window would be nice. Permanent will take some getting used to."

How long again had she spent in the wild, learning different rules and a different life? How long had she spent trying to keep herself and other alive... and then worrying about Ethan, even into this new world... it felt like an eternity. An eternity without time to breathe, relax. So long since she'd been that young curious bride, looking at the shimmering door to other worlds. She felt old.

The new shape, pace, and people of the new world were a lot to keep up with. Dressing herself in odd clothes, trying to follow the rhythms of the newer English they spoke. Her... captors? Adversaries? ... Friends? She wasn't sure how she seemed to them either. A nuisance? Excess baggage? Displaced person? It helped to at least be allowed out of their buildings and to smell the air and see the sun, without fear of predators. At least, less fear of predators. Matt tried to protect her, and while she resented the need to be protected, she was grateful that he tried. Grudgingly at first, but more so as she saw that underneath the duty, he did seem to care. And that he wished her well, not simply kept out of the way.

His offer of a window meant a lot. Not everyone would think of small gestures like that. Matt was hardly a sentimental man, and she knew he would have first weighed the safety and wisdom of such a move. As well as what he and his team would be communicating, in offering permanence.

A careful welcome. For which she was carefully grateful.