She was older than he remembered, taller than the girl she had been when he'd left, physically healed from the damage done by the fire. and he couldn't quite look away, look past her. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs, his grip on the gun tightening almost imperceptibly as he stared up at her.

And it was a moment before he found his voice, forced himself to step back into the role he'd left behind years before so that when he spoke, his voice gave nothing away.

"...You know why I'm here."