[For all that the joke is expected, part of the routine and not at all indicative of actual humor in this moment, it makes her smile. It's a start, that he can joke. If they were so far gone from their defense mechanisms that Nate couldn't bring himself to do that, Elena thinks she'd be even more lost than she feels right now.]

Yeah. Real inconsiderate that it hasn't come out yet.

[She closes her eyes for a moment, focusing on his close presence.]

Doing something will help. I don't know what, yet, but when we bring this information back to the town—the fact that we know more puts us in a better position to act on that knowledge.

It's not the same, but years ago when Jeff and I were chasing after Lazarevic in Nepal—the things we saw, the people who were suffering...it was rough. But knowing we were acting to expose him to the world, doing something to make some kind of difference, it helped, even before we ran into you.