Niles settled back into his chair, taking far too much time to smooth out his suit coat. To check the straps around his hands. To get everything just so. He was uncomfortable. Nervous. Generally uneasy from something he couldn't quite place.

Then came that tone. It reminded him of the night after. When Gabe tried to talk to him in the dark. Everyone was so scared, and he couldn't even see his friend. He was too afraid to respond. Why didn't they hear it? Why hadn't anyone else stirred?

"I try to not think on it," he said, cutting off his own questions as much as Gabe's question. "Most of them were killed by the soliders who came. The rest likely died soon after." It was a tone that usually allowed no argument.