By the time she got to Jackson, Joel and Ellie had already settled in nicely, and Tess had felt at loss of how to interact with the new 'duo' after having missed their entire relationship. Her bond with Ellie had picked up from where they had left it, on a decent note, because she liked the kid on top of having hoped that she might save humanity, and Tess had gotten from her the first explanation regarding why there was no cure being made. Her reunion with Joel had been marked with relief - for all they knew, she had been killed, and for all Tess knew they had been killed on their way to the Fireflies - and so she hadn't insisted, but she had seen the look on his face as Ellie explained that there were others like her and that the cure was a no-go. She had seen it, recognized something was off, and had waited until they were out hunting to pry.
Walking up the hill, she looked back to glance at their settlement. "Place looks good enough, it makes me feel like taking another vacation. And that's saying something, I spent so much time recovering from the broken leg I was itching to shoot something. Could've used some of those raiders from Salt Lake. Or was it Fedra that shot down the hospital?" She didn't try to hide her suspicion one bit, not now that they were alone, away from bullshit.
@writingsinashes // @jxelxmxllerx - Tess x Joel