Stop Looking

Hunter couldn't help his surprise. First this, now Ryan wanted to go to Alec's grave? He'd assumed this was all a good thing, and now still hoped so. Was she letting go, or hanging on? He nodded though. "Okay. I don't know where it is though, so you'll have to direct me." 

Following Ryan's directions, he kept his speed slower this time so he wouldn't miss any turns, and it didn't take long to get to the cemetery. Still having her guide him, they eventually came around near Alec's burial site. Hunter cut the engine and put the kickstand down before taking off his helmet. He wouldn't interfere though, unless Ryan asked him to. Glancing over his shoulder, he studied her for a moment. "You alright?" 


Rick winked at Katie before turning and leaving them be for now. Part of him missed this. And part of him wanted nothing to do with it. Tucking his hands partway in his jeans pockets, he wandered over to Misty. "I think I'll leave them in your hands for now. I need to go get some sleep." He tried not to yawn. "Draw some blood from Katie and start the analysis. Pretty sure I already know the outcome though, but we should do it just for record sake." 

He glanced back at them for a moment. "We stopped it once. We can do it again." A sigh surfaced. "Call me if anything happens. Otherwise, I'll probably be back this evening to check on things." 


Left alone for now, Jason reached across and held Katie's hand, leaning his head against hers. He didn't like how exhausted he felt. It seemed worse now than it had earlier, just from the effort to rid himself of some of these emotions. Would Katie get back to the point where he could rely on her again? He hated putting her though that, but at least it would help him survive a little easier. 

"I've... been thinking..." He kept his voice low so as not to invite anyone else's opinions for now. "Actually, I've been worried about this since I started not feeling well." In all truth, that had been a couple months now. "I'm tired of fighting, Katie... Tired of running." He sighed. "I... I want to tell Rick to stop looking for a cure. I want to let whatever it is run its course."

His fingers ran along her hand. "What if all our efforts to stop it actually just made it worse?" He paused. "On the other hand, doing nothing could eventually kill me... or us." His fingers stopped. "So I won't tell Rick, without your consent, since this affects you too."


"Yeah..." Kirk continued to think. "I have my doubts he'll tell us anything, but I suppose it's worth asking." He thought another moment, then got to his feet. "Not time like the present. I'll be back..." 

 ...It was less than ten minutes when he returned to the cubicle and flopped back down in his chair. His eyes showed irritation as he shook his head. "He wouldn't give me anything. I asked him flat out if Jason had been sick at all in the last couple years, and he told me that it's all in the Elite files if I wanted to check. I told him the files didn't fill in the holes and he just said, 'Sorry. Then I can't help you.'" 

He folded his arms and looked at Adison. "He was hiding something. I could tell. But why? I mean, if Jason's got something wrong with him, or Katie, or whatever, don't you think people should know? What if they've got like cancer or something? This is supposed to be family around here, but nothing is on file? They're just mysteriously in and out of the infirmary. And Rick and Misty... what are they really spending all their time on back there? And why is Rick back anyway? He quit! There's an awful lot of research going on just to patch up bullet holes and provide cold medicine." 

Taking a deep breath, he tried to bring his rant back down. I don't need to know everything, but... it' all comes back to just what you said. How can we help protect these people if they don't tell us things like this?"