Luke stood silent as Gwin and Gabe sifted through the information he'd fed them. Neither of them were particularly skilled at concealing their emotions; Gabe especially was an open book. He could tell they were both distressed by the idea of being separated, and a notion occurred to him. As Gwin raised the subject of refusing to accompany him, he shook his head slowly. At least the girl had some iron in her heart; he had to give her that.<br/><br/>"You're not getting it, princess. Your compliance is not an issue here. I was hired to do a job, and that job is going to get done. One way or another, you<em>are </em>leaving here with me."<br/><br/>Gabriel rose to his feet and moved to an offensive stance between Gwin and Luke. "She's not going anywhere with you-" he began, but Luke raised a hand to cut him off.<br/><br/>"Cool your jets, Loverboy. I'm not finished. Like I said, she's leaving with me. After she meets with the old man, she can do whatever she wants. If that means coming back to live happily ever after with you, that's not my problem." At this, Gabe relaxed--barely. "And as for you... the contract I agreed to with Marcos didn't mention anything about fourth parties. So likewise, you can do whatever the hell you want. So you can try to keep her from me, and I'll have to kill you and then listen to her whining about how much she misses you, not to mention I might actually feel bad for a few minutes. Or we can do this like civilized people, and you can go with us. Sit down, have a chat with the old man, find out what he has to say, ask for her hand in marriage, I don't give a damn. Your call."<br/><br/>Luke returned his hands to his pockets and readied the burst-caster again, and just for good measure he asked 'Ana to target his current coordinates with a few of the Seraphim. His jaw tightened as he prepared for Ureha's assault.<br/><br/>But it never came.<br/><br/>He could tell they were both surprised--hell, they were stunned--by his offer. Gabriel especially seemed wary, and almost disappointed that Luke wasn't threatening them overtly. Well, technically he<strong>was</strong>, but he was also offering a way to avoid any more violence.<br/><br/>"Ball's in your court, Ureha..."