Go Crazy

Hal shook his head and leaned a little closer to Sam. "He won't be taken away from you, Reese won't hold this against you in the least, and you are most certainly not back at square one." His eyes had grown a little stern. He knew this was hard for her, and if he were in her shoes, he'd probably be just as upset. But he didn't want her to dwell on it and think her work thus far had been in vain. 

"You have worked wonders with Aaron and that doesn't just vanish because he's having a bad day." He gave her a small smile. "I would hardly even call this an incident, so hold off on your report. Wait and see if he's better tomorrow then go from there. If something just ticked him off, by tomorrow it might wear off." 

"Hey, Hal... you coming?" 

Hal straightened up and turned so his voice would carry to the phone intercom. "Yeah, be right there." Hearing Reese hang up, he sighed and stood up, glancing to Sam again. "Apparently I'm in on a meeting about the new place." He stepped closer and leaned down to give her lips a tender kiss. "If you want, we can go grab lunch when I'm done. Get out of here for a few minutes."


Aaron sat up again and stared at the mess he'd made with the lamp. He was still angry. Angry with the Elite. Angry with Garret and Victoria. Angry with Sam. Angry with everything. And yet there was so little he could do about any of it. And that's probably what made him the most angry. 

Sighing, he got up and limped over to the fallen lamp to pick it up, then eased down on the floor to collect all the tiny pieces of light bulb that had shattered. His mind began to work overtime. He couldn't keep living like this. It had to end. He was going to go crazy if it didn't. 


The new building. Scott could feel his insides tighten. More change. He liked the office he'd been in for so long. It was small and warm and had been his shelter. Thinking about a new, bigger room and sharing it with both Dalton and Jamison now was... unnerving. He forced himself to smile anyway though. "I'm doing okay. Just, um... trying to get back to work." 

They were interrupted as their waiter came to take their orders. Once he was gone, Jamison cocked his head at Scott. "Can I... ask a question about the data you see?"

Scott swallowed hard, but nodded. 

"Well, I just keep hearing about the Agency data you see and... I wondered what it's like."

"Oh." Scott shrugged. "It's like... well, you know, like 3-D computer images... like... projected information?"

Jamison tried to grasp the concept. "Iron Man."

Scott's eyes lit up. "Yeah, like that. So that's what I see. Except..." He reached out with his hand in front of his face. "It's not actually there. It's in my mind's eye. And it's all just... Agency intel. Like mission reports or profiles and stuff." 

"Fascinating." Jamison really was intrigued. "That really is amazing."

Scott sighed. "It would be more amazing if it didn't come and go as it pleases. It's hard to ignore."

"I bet."

All of a sudden, Scott had a new feeling about Jamison. He really did seem genuine and not condescending at all. He cleared his throat then changed the subject. "So... Dylan... what are you doing here?" 

"Hanging out and learning what the Elite's all about." Dylan fiddled with his straw. "I guess technically it's an internship. I get to be a go-fer while I learn."

"So you're interested in joining the Elite?" Scott found that hard to believe since Dylan's close family was all in Texas. 

"Might be." Dylan nodded. "At the very least, it gives me something to focus on other than ranch work for once." 

Conversation shifted back and forth, although Jamison and Dalton did most of the talking. Scott was quiet and Dylan was even quieter. Their food came quickly though, so all could enjoy their meal. Dylan was even more thankful now that he'd taken Dalton's advice about passing up the sandwich. Scott did his best to eat, although anybody could notice it wasn't easy for him as he ate some of his rice but just nibbled on the chicken, little by little, trying to eat at least half. 


Zan couldn't help his smile at Destiny's text. 

Yeah, super slow today. 
Maybe I should stop by the
auto shop where Ryan works
today and see about their job 
opening. Rather work on 
cars than take money for fuel.

He set his phone aside as a couple teenagers wandered in to buy some snacks. After taking care of them, he went back to his texting. 

How about meeting at the
Sandwich Basket for supper?
Then we can head to the 
desert when we're done. 


Hunter let his conversation with Ryan end, knowing she did need to get her work done. He, on the other hand, had very little to do at the moment. Actually, for several hours. Maybe he'd go to the motorcycle shop like he'd been wanting to do and see what his options were for trading in his bike.


"You look like you've been run over by a herd of bison." Tal eyed Eli warily as his friend came in to work for the afternoon. 

"That bad?" Eli tied his hair back at the nape of his neck. 

"Um. Yeah. What on earth have you been doing all morning?"

Eli grinned and put his jumpsuit on to prep for painting the cars they had lined up. "Just working out." Actually, he'd been kicked, punched, thrown to the ground, sat on, choked, and basically been shown he knew very little at all about technical fighting. He'd thoroughly enjoyed the session with Garret though, and also had high respect for Dylan - the kid didn't know much about self defense but he had tough determination for sure. 

Tal rolled his eyes. "Well you're not supposed to kill yourself when you work out, you know."

"Right, right." Eli nodded. "I forgot. So how's the move going?"

"All settled in. Well, almost." Tal smiled. "Got a few more boxes of stuff to put away. I'd still be living out of boxes completely if Brooke hadn't been helping me."

"Ah, yes." Eli grinned. "You two getting along?" 

Tal smirked at him. "Yes. As friends."

"Mmhmm... whatcha doing tonight? Gonna come to the races?" 

"Uh-uh." Tal shook his head and moved into the bay where the first car was waiting. 

Eli trailed after him. "Well what are you doing that's so important?" 

"I'm staying home, giving the dogs a bath, eating supper and maybe popping in a movie." 

"Alone?"

"Eli!" 

"Aha!" Eli grinned. "Tell her I said hi."