How Bad

Sinking into a chair, Carson felt like he was in a dream. This was all so unreal. Hearing all Misty knew, he shook his head slowly. "We were all so sure he was dead... it was so obvious... if I would have known..." A brief look of horror crossed his face. If only he'd known, he never would have stopped trying to get his brother out of there. Who knew what Alec had actually been through these last months? What he'd endured? 

He swallowed hard, battling a wide range of emotions. If Reese wanted it kept quiet, it was probably because he wanted to ensure there was no hidden Agency agenda here. Carson understood, but he would bet his own life that Alec hadn't gotten involved with them again. He'd been too happy on the outside to have wanted back in. Not to mention, Alec had wanted revenge for what happened to Misty almost as badly as Carson had.

"I need to go see him," he stated flatly. He stood and took off his apron, tossing it on the wall hook. He believed Misty, he just needed to see Alec for himself... to really see him alive before he could accept all this. "Come on. We'll take my car." He grabbed his keys and headed out of the kitchen, making sure Misty was behind him.

"Aerith?" He called over to her as he aimed for the exit. "Take over for me. If I'm not back before closing, just lock up and I'll come in later." At this point, he really didn't care about anything else. 

Once they were in the car and heading for the hospital, Carson spoke again. "You said he's in rough shape..." He needed to prepare himself. "How bad is it?"


Zan scrunched his nose as Destiny kissed it, then chuckled. "You. Are. Amazing." In truth, he had a hard time feeling grouchy at all when she was around. Standing up, he offered his hand. "Let's go figure out what we want. On me tonight."

Getting up to the counter, he turned when he heard the door, then waved to Hunter and Ryan. "Hey guys. We got a table right over there."

Hunter slung his arm around Ryan's shoulders as they wandered up to the counter. "Sounds good. Jett didn't eat all the food yet, did he?"

Jett turned around after having just ordered, and smirked. "Why do I always get blamed for food being gone?"

"Because you eat all the time," Zan retorted.

"I do not!"

"You do too!"

"Do I look like I eat all the time?"

"That's not the point."

Jett just grinned and went to sit back down to make sure no one else claimed their spot.

Before long, all five were sitting and eating, chatting and bantering. No one brought up the race, for which Zan was grateful. He'd just as soon not think about it any more tonight...

...Jett glanced at his watch and shifted in his seat as if ready to leave, but no one else was yet.

Catching that it was the third or fourth time he'd checked the time, Zan quirked an eyebrow. "Got a hot date?"

"What?" Jett looked up quickly.

"Hot date?" Zan repeated.

Jett smirked. "No."

"Oh. Well you act like you're wanting to get out of here."

"I just got... an errand to run."

Zan quirked an eyebrow. "At this hour?"

"Just meeting up with somebody, that's all." Jett finished off the rest of his drink and finally stood. "I'll catch y'all later." He gave a little wave to Destiny too. "See ya."

As he walked away, Zan shrugged. He wouldn't peg Jett for being a liar, but if he had to guess, he'd say this "somebody" was a woman. Some things just didn't change overnight, thought. He gave Destiny a sidelong glance before he grinned and reached over with a napkin to wipe her cheek.

Across from them, Hunter was nudging Ryan's leg with his own under the table as he worked on finishing the chili fries he'd ordered. "So when's your next day off so I can steal you away to the lake for a few hours?"


Dylan flopped down on the mattress and sighed as his eyes fell shut. He'd gotten home and showered, and his body was telling him it was past his normal bedtime. Of course, his internal clock was all messed up since coming to Nevada, but maybe it would straighten out after a while. 

He'd really enjoyed spending the evening with Dalton. It was fun to just hang out with someone else for once. Other than Hunter and... well, come to think of it, he didn't really hang out with anybody - not at the ranch anyway. There really wasn't anybody, unless he counted Travis, but they didn't exactly get along. Tonight had been... nice. Dalton was a fun guy and he didn't seem to mind when Dylan was quiet - most people tried to get him to talk more, but Dalton didn't, and he appreciated that. Maybe when he was around the Elite, he'd have to see if there was anything he could help Dalton with so he could interact with him a little more. 


Dani sighed as she got home and kicked off her shoes before trudging to the couch and flopping down. It had been a long day, especially after covering for Linda this evening. She was talked-out, and glad she'd have the next day off to relax. Pulling out her phone, she sent Dalton a text message.

Hey Babe. I'm home.
Exhausted but was an ok day.
How was your evening?