When Booker arrived at the safe house he expected Andy and Nile to be there but they weren't. The place was empty and he felt almost like an invader even though he could see his stuff tucked in corners.

He turned the heat on, checked to make sure the water still worked and the other almost routine process of getting it ready for them all to live in. It's weirdly comforting even though he knows in the back of his mind he wasn't welcome here.

Once Joe and Nicky arrived and Booker could tell them what he learned in his time with Quynh he'd go, he decided. The exile was still in place. Now that Quynh couldn't dream of him anymore he could disappear pretty easily. It would be safe, relatively, for him to be on his own now that he's aware of the danger.

Booker told himself these things so he wouldn't get attached. He wouldn't get his hopes up that his family would welcome him home early.