There were a lot of things Gabriel could have said, things which crowded his tongue. Things which were, ultimately, meaningless right now. Murphy's pain was too new, too sharp. It was very rare that the right words could be found to change a mindset in a situation like this.

Yet, Murphy's words demanded an answer. "How do you know?" Gabe asked simply instead, his thumb absently and gently stroking the back of the man's neck. "Landel draws in people from all many universes. How do you know those memories aren't real, for another version of you? Does the fact they could be make them worth keeping?"

It was a genuine question. A genuine question, because only Murphy could decide that--only Murphy could decide how much he could accept them over his hurts.