"Yeah, I have to admit that I have a hard time seeing you be very-- obedient to a system that didn't let you do what you needed, to save people," Dan answers, working more slowly on his own food. He realizes how long Marcus had done what he did without a loss, and he wants to reach for him again, rest a hand on his.

He tries to resist it, for now.

"She's thirteen and one of the most stubborn, caring, brilliant people I've known. She really is special. The reason I was so trashed when I showed up here was that I'd just gotten back from Colorado, where--" He exhales with sheepish amusement. "There was this group called the True Knot. Like vampires, only they fed on something called steam, and the way they got steam was through torturing kids like Abra. They're gone now, but they wanted her."