She awakens. She hadn't been sleeping of course, she was rarely allowed such luxury here in all places, but even such as she lost the battle with consciousness upon occassion. So, Rachel awoke, aching a chilled. The familiar white marble room was no where in evidence, no, she was in her secondary home, the small menagerie cage outside Gaunt's gates.

It was a blessing to just lay still for a moment, cold metal floor pressed against her cheek. She was here, caged, yes, but out here was when she was suppose to recover. She could feel the sick pull of muscles and skin, sluggish healing energies from Tool swimming through her system. And much like the source itself, such healing had no life to it, no warmth. It had a purpose, nothing more.

And it hurt.

But that was easy to ignore, she'd had experience doing such. Once the edge was off her injuries, the cramped confines of the cage began to slowly irritate. The top of her head was pressed harshly into the corner of two bars, her feet tucked in the opposite corner...which left her knees almost to her chin, the cage being small and meant for far less human birds.

And she'd forgotten how cold it was out here, watching the edges of time writhe and pulse. And the noise, yes, she forgotten the noise out here. The crawling rush of gibbering voices and sobbing, the hollow booms of billions ending, beginning, and simply existing. Every few moments there would be a clear moment, atime when a single ringing word would filter through, or a crystaline note in an aria...but the random nature of these singularities was almost as maddening as the ceaseless noise.

But it was no where near as bad as inside. She could feel the flame she'd kept ruthlessly hidden uncurling within her to flicker along her abused flesh, for here there was nothing to pull and drain her ability. She need not fear it's release.

And so she lay curled, flickering in the small cage and letting her mind go gradually numb, in a state almost close to sleep. Almost relaxed. How long had she been back now? A year? Three? Time did strange things here, shifting and turning about itself without rule or concern. Long, she knew that, even as other parts of her existance here were fragmented and hard to grasp, she knew it had been long. But, all this was piontless musing, marking the days and years wouldn't do a thing.

With a pained sigh she shifted slightly, curling an rm under her head to protect it from the searing cold, and then she saw it, a streak among the tie stream. A shooting star, or a falling angel, a mind she knew spinning in the fringes. That caused her to lift her head more, craning it painfully against the bruises and swimming healing aura "Billy" she called softly, crawling flame streaking out towards the maelstrom, fighting against the probabilities and twistings to just touch him gently, cushion his dive and wrap him mind protectively.

It was all she could do, reach out and help from her small cage, hiding where she herself was. Had not Gaunt threatened everyone she had grown to hold dear, showing her, mockingly, each target, and how he'd take them, break them if she didn't cooperate? Almost resignedly she sighed into his mind and caressed his consciousness with life and warmth. ::Hold on Billy...not far now::

A final gift to him perhaps as she withdrew and curled her mind tightly about about herself, letting the healing take place without complaint or even outward sign of discomfort.