Turning to leave, he ambled back to where his own car was. His presence in this park wasn't unusual. But normally it was during early morning hours on his jogging route, so it was no surprise he hadn't run into Lucy before. She seemed nice enough, and he did wish her well. He appreciated anyone who was working hard to learn - especially in such a complex field.
Sliding into his car, he just sat for a few more minutes, contemplating his future, asking God about it, and mulling over his sister's words. Nothing was ever easy, was it?
Hal had to admit, he was impressed with Sam's honesty. He'd expected more cockiness out of all the FBI agents...maybe his perspective had just been skewed by personal feelings.
Chuckling, he nodded and aimed for the door. "Come on then. I'll keep you busy so Kirk doesn't get a hold on you." Getting back in the control room, he gestured for Sam to take the extra chair again, and reached across in front of her to turn on the secondary computer. "We'll have to make sure you've got the access you need," he mused. Grabbing the phone, he dialed Dalton's intercom. "Hey, would you or Scott set up an account for Sam on the network? Please and thank you."
Hanging up without waiting for a reply, he logged her in. "You can just use my account for now. Okay, here we go." He directed her through a maze of files in the system before finally getting to their destination. "So basically we've sucked at keeping our surveillance footage organized, and now with current circumstances, we need to shape up. All those files aren't named anything in particular, so you'll have to open each one and view the timestamp, then rename it according to the date and time...like this." He pointed to a few he'd already completed. "And if you happen across something interesting, there's no harm in watching more," he hinted. Most footage wouldn't contain much more than people passing in the halls. But every once in a while there was a meeting, an interesting overview or a brawl in the hallway. If Sam wanted to get to know people here, this was a tedious way to do it, but it could prove beneficial.
Garret's walls had been lowered just enough that Nate's words sunk in a little deeper than normal. When he'd come to Nevada in search of safety with the Elite, he'd had no idea he would need to leave the past behind, let people in, be this vulnerable or change the way he viewed almost everything. Had it really been worth it?
Realizing he'd fallen quiet, he glanced to Nate again before shaking his head. "If you were me...and they were your family..." He pointed to the smiling little girls in the picture. His very own nieces. "Would you risk getting involved? And have the Agency find out?" And that was besides the entire emotional aspect.
He shook his head and slowly turned to leave the office. Quietly, he returned to the bedroom. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he bent forward to lean his elbows on his knees, and put his head in his hands. He'd had no intention of sharing any of this with anyone...today, let alone ever. But somehow it had just...come out. It felt like he was becoming weak. Losing his willpower. Losing the edge that had always protected him and kept his senses sharp. At the same time though, it was almost as if the world was suddenly taking shape...as if he were seeing things he'd never even noticed before. And the whole thing was wearing him out.
Peeking into the office, Laura cautiously joined Nate to slip an arm around his waist and glance at the computer. "So...what was that all about?" Learning all Garret had discovered, her heart hurt even more. From the pictures and information on Facebook, it looked like a lovely family. She couldn't imagine Garret not knowing his siblings or not being able to love on any nieces or nephews. It was just heartbreaking.
"At least he opened up about it," she mused softly. "I think that's a good step forward." She leaned up to give his lips a kiss. "He only had a couple bites to eat, but he seemed to like the idea of ice cream. Wanna see if Maggie's done with her homework? Maybe she can get him to join us in the living room. He needs a distraction before he has time to sulk."
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