Postpone

Zan chuckled. "I don't know how it works either, but I guess we'll find out, huh?" He took another sip of coffee and let his eyes roam Destiny's face, not caring if she noticed. "And if the movie is too bad, we'll leave and find something else. But not scary this time. Promise."

He grinned and leaned his head back against the wall. This... was nice. Just sitting here and...being. He liked hanging out with his other friends, and Jett, but sometimes it was nice to be away from the rowdies. He liked lurking in the corner of The Griller, but sometimes it was nice to have some quiet company. 

"I could pick you up... if you want?"


 Aaron didn't say much as Sam helped him further. He didn't know if he'd ever understand why she cared. But it was getting harder and harder to deny that she really did. He wished she didn't. It would be easier to deal with all this if he could have a reason to hate her. But... he couldn't. As the day went on, he remained in his room... and eventually started working on a lego set.


Hal fiddled with the lures in his tackle box, trying to decide what he might want to use today. The last couple days at the Elite had been rather uneventful, and he was glad - that meant that his plans with Sam shouldn't be interrupted with work. He could just go with worms again. But maybe they'd try something different this time. Or maybe they'd do both. Sam could decide, too. If she wanted to sit and just watch a bobber, she could. Or if she wanted to have fun casting and reeling, then she could do that, too.

Grinning a little to himself, he closed the box and wiped his hands on his pant legs. He got up from his chair and took his fishing poles to untangle the line and get them ready, too. He really was looking forward to going fishing today. Although this time... maybe it was more about spending time with Sam than it was the fishing itself. Was there... really something there? He knew good and well she'd been flirting with him but... did she really like him... like that? Or was he reading her wrong? He did find her very attractive in more ways than one. But was he even ready to try the dating game again? He sighed. He just wanted to enjoy the day. Hope was right... he just needed to relax and be himself and... he knew he'd have fun with Sam. Finally going to take a shower and get dressed for the day, he didn't hear a message come in on his computer...

...Sitting at his desk and putting on his sneakers a while later, Hal hit the play button to watch the video message Alison had sent him. It wasn't unusual - it was her habit to send him a message if she was going to miss their skype date.

"Hi, Dad... I hope you're having a good day. I, um... I'm kind of glad I had to leave a message since this is a little hard for me to say."

Hal sat up straighter and turned quickly to look at the screen that showed Alison sitting on the edge of her bed, leaning forward towards her computer. Something wasn't right.

Alison forced a smile. "Mom wanted me to wait until we'd left but... I wanted to tell you first. We, um... we're moving." A nervous laugh surfaced. "To England, actually. Mom's job offered her a position in London and... Trevor has found work too. The school over there is super cool and it's gonna be really good for me and I can attend a university there after I graduate." She paused and bit her lip. "Mom... said you'd probably be upset but... please don't be. I wish we weren't so far apart but... I really am excited about this. And we can still stay in touch just like always." She smiled again. "We're moving next week. I love you... and I'll talk to you again soon."

As the video stopped, Hal's hands started to tremble. His blood had run cold, and he stared at the screen as a mix of anguish and anger surfaced. No... no, Michelle couldn't do this to him. She'd already taken his daughter across the country, he couldn't let her take Alison across the ocean too...

...It was an hour later. Hal was pacing his apartment, worked up, still hurting and angry. All desires for fishing had fled completely. He'd already had one shouting match over the phone with Michelle, and now he'd be busy making more phone calls to lawyers. But the first call was to Sam...

After dialing, he waited for her to answer, trying to get himself under control. It was her voicemail he reached though. "Hey, Sam? It's... It's Hal." He continued to pace his living room, his mind going a hundred miles per hour as he tried to control his voice. "Look, um... I'm sorry. Something's come up and... I'm gonna have to postpone our fishing. I can't..." He swallowed hard and ran a hand over his face. "I can't make it today." He just left it at that and ended the call. Pacing several more minutes, he ended up on the living room floor, phone in hand, simply trying to figure out what to do next.


"I'm tired of hiding, too." Jason stroked Katie's arm absentmindedly as he kept her in his lap. "What if... once we figure out some better control... we also figure out how to convince Reese to let the new team members in on what's been going on? But... before we do that... we need to have a plan in case they betray us to the FBI." 

He lifted his hand and brushed her cheek lightly.
We'd have to run. Disappear. 
"We might not even be able to tell our families where we were. Not until we knew the FBI weren't looking for us any more." 

He searched her eyes. "Is that worth it to you?"