Mera didn't wait for him.
She disappeared inside, boots crunching over broken, splintered wood as she pushed past the wreckage of the doorway.
"Inside," she repeated. "Now."
Gabriel stepped in after her and pulled the ruined doorframe partly closed out of habit, more to block sight than sound.
Mera stepped towards him the moment he crossed the threshold.
"Start talking," she said. "And don't insult me by pretending this was nothing."
Gabriel didn't answer straight away.
He swallowed hard. "Something's coming for me." his face tightened "Or protecting me. I'm not sure."
She watched him closely, the sharpness in her posture shifting into something more cautious.
"Protecting you?" She looked past him at the shattered door. "Protecting you from what?"
Silence stretched between them, broken only by the faint pounding of soldiers boots hitting the ground, moving away from the apothecary.
