[ in the back of her mind, she takes in these small details about elektra, about her home. things she learned to survive, things she honed further with coaching from natasha.

but the most pressing thought is what sliver of trust she has in this necrotic counterfeit of a life here, and that she's decided to offer some of it to elektra. the question is, she wonders, as she steps inside elektra's room — should she extend that trust beyond the borders of where they pretend to live, and to their skills, after everything that's happened?

or perhaps that's not the question. perhaps it's the impulse to move her trust anywhere but within the invisible borders of this small community, lying in wait to be destroyed. ]

I do think about how many towns, [ she replies after a moment, then turns to face her host. ] and where they might have been.

I think about how difficult it has been for those of us who have left this town to explore to come back safely — but they report findings other than spirits. Elektra— [ she pauses, her pulse quickening, she takes a breath, ] the village across the bridge was in ruins when we first found it. Before you came. And before that... well, we didn't know it was there.

[ her eyes pierce elektra's. it wasn't there before they found it. she thinks elektra will get her meaning. ]