It takes a painstakingly long time for the message to eke its way out, and when it finally does Tim can't suppress his bark of shaky, incredulous laughter.

"No shit," he says, the words made breathy from the first flicker of mirth he's felt since - longer than he cares to remember, really. "Well, hell. I guess - I mean, not really a solution, but - it works, right?"

At least it opens up the avenue of communication. Relatively easy communication. He can't help but feel - relieved, weirdly. It wasn't all just for nothing. It wasn't.