Complicated

Hunter returned Ryan’s kiss and gave her a smile. Reaching up, he brushed a stray tear from her cheek, looking at her with worry. He knew this had been good, but he still hated seeing her in pain. “I’d take you anywhere,” he admitted softly. Grabbing her collar, he pulled her back down for another kiss before letting her get on the bike behind him again. 

He reached around and put his hand on her knee, giving it a squeeze. “Where to now, boss?” 


Inside the restaurant, Carson slowly returned to the kitchen, putting the broom away and donning his apron to start prepping food for later. He stopped halfway though, and reached into his pocket to pull out the pictures again. Leaning back against the counter, he looked through them, finally letting several of his tears spill over. His thumb ran over the photo of Alec’s face. He looked at peace. Was he now? Carson had his doubts. He knew Alec had been making his life better, but had he made peace with God? Would Carson ever see him again? 

Hearing the back door, he knew Aerith had arrived, and he put the pictures back into his pocket and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. He turned back to the counter to finish mixing the bowl of sauce. 


Jason managed a crooked grin and nodded. Inside though, a whole new set of worries was creeping to the surface. They wouldn’t just be slacking a little in their work… things were about to get very complicated all over again… 

Getting back to the Elite, Jason walked slowly inside with Katie, keeping his hand in hers. By the time they got to the infirmary, his head was spinning again, and he welcomed sitting on the bed. Rick wandered over, his eyes showing how tired he was from being here all night, but he wasn’t about to let this thing go yet. “Hey… take it easy, Jase. You alright?”

Jason nodded. “Yeah, yeah… I’m okay. Just got kinda dizzy.” 

Rick patted his shoulder. “We’ll figure this out.” He looked at Katie, then back to Jason again, question in his gaze. 

Jason nodded again. “She knows.” He bit his lip. “And…” 

Rick sighed and put a hand on Katie’s shoulder. He knew. “Why don’t you stay here a while with him… it was always better when you two stuck together.”

Jason put his feet up on the bed and slid over to make room for Katie. His smile was a tired one. “Join me?”


Kirk returned to the cubicle and eased down in his chair, swiveling a little as his mind worked. His brow furrowed as he looked at Adison. “Remember when we went through personnel files?” he asked quietly. “And there was something weird about Jason’s? Like, he was sick all the time, but it never said why? And then Katie’s was off, too?”

He swiveled a little more. “Jason hasn’t looked well lately. Just now, he and Katie left, came back, and now they’re both in the infirmary. Why… do I get the funny feeling something’s going on they don’t want the FBI to know about?”