You Tell Me

Hunter caught the look on Ryan's face change, and he could kick himself. He should have known better than to bring her here... he just hasn't been thinking.

Carson gave Ryan a slight nod that accompanied his crooked grin. "Eh... I'd say things are starting to look up, so I'm doing alright." He cocked his head. He'd heard the rumor that she had gone off the deep end when Alec had died, but she seemed to be coping. "You're looking good." His eyes shifted to Hunter - they were here for lunch, not to talk to him, and he could feel an awkwardness in the air. "Anything to drink?"

"Um, yeah. Just a coke too, thanks." Hunter nodded. "We still gotta figure out what we want to eat."

"Sure thing." Carson offered another smile. "I'll be back."

Once Carson had left, Hunter got out of his seat and came around to Ryan's side of the booth, sliding in next to her until their shoulders touched, and he tapped her foot with his. "So I think we should share a pizza." He opened the menu. "But then, come to think of it, I have no idea what kind of pizza you like." He gave her a teasing nudge. He wasn't going to let this thick atmosphere linger if he had anything to say about it. "So you tell me."


Aaron was propped up in bed...as usual, fiddling with a few legos but not really building anything. His latest creation had been days ago, which was out of the ordinary. Hearing the knock at the door before it opened he quirked an eyebrow. Nobody ever knocked. They just barged right in. It wasn't really his room after all. 

He could put weight on his leg? Really? No smile came to his lips, but his eyes did light up a little bit. He took the magazines without saying anything and immediately started thumbing through one. He might have been depressed, but he was still hungry for something other than the now-tattered magazines he'd read a zillion times. 

At the offer to walk, he glanced over at Sam, actually looking at her for several long moments. "I suppose after almost getting our heads blown off, actually going outside isn't an option, huh?" He just wanted to feel the breeze and sunshine again. His eyes fell. Part of him just wanted to stay here. He might as well accept it that he wasn't getting out. And now, even if he did, where would he go? Everything he'd been fighting for was... worthless. He finally shrugged. "I guess some windows would be better than nothing." In here there weren't any windows at all, so it might be nice to just see some natural light. 

Sitting up, he bent to tie his boots, then stood and reached his crutches and gestured to the door. "Ladies first."


"Something funny." Scott's answer was a quick one. He didn't need anything intense tonight. And at least if they watched a movie, they wouldn't be talking any more about work. 

He was able to watch and laugh and by the time the movie was coming to an end, he had been able to relax more than he had in quite a while. Still curled up in the chair, his eyes were growing heavy and he yawned. "I guess... I should go home so Domino doesn't think I abandoned her..." 

He yawned again. As he sat up, a new, sudden wave of data appeared in his sights, overwhelming his senses. He scrunched his eyes shut and winced as his head hurt. He had to figure out how to control this. Maybe he really should talk to Garret. Putting his head in his hands, he tried to let it pass, but it was hard. It was like it was trying to force his brain to process what he was seeing instead of letting him bypass it. 

Opening his eyes and blinking, he realized he didn't know how much time had passed. It felt like a few seconds, but in reality, it had been a full three minutes. He brought Dalton's face into focus and sighed wearily. These little episodes were exhausting, physically and emotionally. Before he could stop it, tears had sprung into his eyes and he looked down. He didn't want to ruin the evening after they'd had such a good time. "I keep trying to convince myself I'm okay but... maybe everybody else is right." He forced a weak smile. "Thanks for the fun evening though... and tell Dani hi."