Nate looked over towards her, and nodded.

"All right." he replied.

"I won't ask for details NOW, but I expect them later." he told her.

"We're not swamped, so it'll be fine." he reasoned.

"..." he was then silent for a moment, and looked at her concernedly.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

As soon as she mentioned that, she saw his eyes light up a little. Slightly.

It was a glow that she remembered. Fondly.

He nodded as she said that, before sighing.

"All right." he said.

"How?" he asked.

"How do you wish to get home?" he asked her further.

"The old way? You have a new way? Let me know." he told her, before pausing again.

"...actually, you may need to be in charge. I don't know where your home is now." he admitted quietly.

"All right." Gabe responded.

The two of them then made their way through the Unit, reaching the security area, and Jake looked at them when they showed up.

"...hm?" he mumbled.

"Holy crap." he said.

"You've got some really strong friends." he told Ebony.

"You don't know the half of it." Gabriel responded.

"...cherish the demon in your life, by the way." he added. "She's something special."

Jake was shocked at the sudden statement.

"I.... I do. And will continue to do so." he told him. "Is... that some sort of ominous statement?" he asked.

"No." Gabe replied. "Just general advice." he finished, before the two of them stepped outside.

"We've run into each other in the past." he then answered Ebony's question.

"Seems nice. For a demon, anyway." he shrugged.

"Just wants to live a more quiet life here on the surface. I can respect that."

Gabe nodded when she gave the address.

"All right." he responded.

".......grab hold." he said, extending a hand.

When she accepted it, they both disappeared in a pillar of light, appearing in her home, in her den.

Behind her couch.

"...ah-heh." Gabe chuckled nervously. "Misjudged things a bit." he said. "At least I didn't knock anything over." he added sheepishly.

He then sighed quietly, and helped her over her couch, as they were a bit stuck between it, and the wall, before he climbed over himself, and looked around at the room they were in.

"...this is nice." he said.

"Looks like you're doing well for yourself... shelter-wise."

Gabe nodded in silence when she said that.

"...yeah." he said. "We can." he agreed.

He then bit his lip slightly, and looked away from her for a moment... and then looked back at her.

"I've missed you." he said. "And that's understating it massively." he continued.

"When you disappeared... when I couldn't find you... and not even the Harmony had information... I gave up on... a lot." he admitted.

"I... it just wasn't worth it to try any longer." he went on.

"...Ebony, you were everything to me." he told her further.

"And losing you was... losing everything."

Gabe just stepped up closer towards her. He was now standing right in front of her, and gently placed his hands on her arms.

"...just knowing you're here.. is enough." he said.

"All I want... all I ever wanted... was for you to be happy." he told her. "I can see you're not in an ideal situation, to put it very lightly, but it seems you've built up another life for yourself." he went on.

"You're free of Encrae... you're free of your curse... and it seems you've found someone." he continued.

"Ebony, it's... that's all I want. I just... want you to have a life where you don't regret any of the choices you've made." he then said further.

"And I wouldn't have liked it if you had been miserable and pined for me your entire existence, the more I think of it." he added at the end.

"..." Gabe was silent for a moment, before looking away, his expression ashamed.

"...bad." he said.

"VERY bad." he told her.

"I turned into someone different. I... started to despise the mortal realm, thinking nothing good would come of it. Or if any good DID come of it, it would only be cruelly taken away." he went on.

"My brother Uriel... found a woman he loved. Still loves. They have a child together." he continued. "Odds are you know him. Ezekiel LeBlanc." he continued.

"...for the longest time, I hated that woman for the pain I was sure she was going to cause Uriel. And Ezekiel's existence stoked my ire even more." he admitted further.

"Only very recently have I begun to realise... I was wrong all this time about that."

"...in hindsight, yes, that's probably it." Gabriel admitted.

"And I figured you knew Ezekiel." he said.

"...I used to hate him. Despised him. Loathed his very existence." he told her. "...guess it reminded me of what I could have had, but was torn away from me." he sighed.

"Looking back on it, seems the most likely." he then admitted further.

"...Ebony, I was miserable without you. But the biggest part was not knowing what had happened to you." he then told her.

"Just knowing where you are... what you're doing... knowing you've moved on and have found someone else... it's like a massive weight off my shoulders."

Gabriel seemed shocked when the question was asked.

"Huh?" he asked.

"N-" he started to say, before sighing heavily.

"I don't know." he admitted.

"I admit, I... already I find myself thinking about her. These... lingering thoughts..." he told her.

"And the thought of dinner with her is... I won't lie... something I am looking forward to." he admitted further.

"It's... it's far too early to say anything for certain. I think... it will mostly be what SHE wants and how SHE feels."