So Long

Kirk sighed deeply and shifted around as Adison joined him again, putting an arm around her in his sleep and cuddling in close. It was the first good sleep he'd gotten in over a week, and now that he was finally relaxed, he wound up sleeping for almost two hours...

Rolling onto his back and stretching, Kirk's elbow caught Adison in the head, and his eyes flew open. What the...? Looking to his side and trying to blink away the fog, he suddenly realized he was still on the couch, and Adison was still there. "Oh geez..." He patted her head where he'd just accidentally hit her. "Sorry," he mumbled sleepily. "Did I seriously fall asleep on you?" 

He yawned and pulled Adison over on top of him, brushing her hair aside before giving her a light kiss. "How come you didn't go back to work?" 


Alec honestly hadn't expected such an emotional response from Misty, and was taken by surprise. He was awfully sore, so the hug was a bit much, but he didn't pull away. It took him several shocked seconds, but he slowly returned the embrace. It felt... so good to be back. So good to have someone actually care about him and not want to torture him. There had been days when he had truly thought he would never come back to this.

As Misty withdrew and he saw her tears, concern flooded his gaze. Why was she crying? Had... his "death" really had that big of an impact? All along, he'd just figured they all knew he had just been captured, so it was hard to imagine what might have gone on once they assumed he was dead. Were things different than when he'd left? Reese hadn't given him much information about his family. 

He gave Misty a new crooked grin. "Yeah... they're treating me okay... for a hospital." He reached up and brushed a tear from her face with his thumb. "I dunno what you're crying for though... unless I look that bad." He knew he didn't look good - every time he looked in the mirror, he hardly recognized himself. But he was trying hard to get her to smile again. 

"Food sucks..." He grew a little more solemn as he remembered what it was like in the Agency. "Better than no food at all though," he concluded. "Thought for a while I really had had it." He swallowed hard and tried to smile, too. "I... I didn't realize I was gone so long, it... how are you?" Last time he'd seen her, she'd been the one in the hospital and was not well at all, physically or emotionally. In spite of her current tears, she looked a whole lot better than he remembered, and he hoped that was a good sign that things had improved. 


Jeff was sitting up in bed and gave his sister a smile as she came into the bunkhouse. "Mm... my two weaknesses. Popcorn and cards." He paused. "I'm glad to see you too," he teased. He shifted over on the bed and patted the empty space. "Don't tell Angel you brought the cards though... she might worry I'll get too worked up." 

Thought tired, and still stressed, he tried to have a little fun with his sister, truly grateful that she'd stopped by. He knew that everyone was busy and just because he hadn't seen anyone since supper didn't mean they didn't care... but Rosetta's presence did make him feel better. 

He threw another card down, waiting for Rosetta to take her turn, and took a few kernels of popcorn to munch on. He'd fallen quiet for a little while, but finally had to ask what was on his mind. "Do you... do you really think Katie is okay?"


Dylan looked at the apartment door and double-checked the number to what he'd written on his hand. It must be the right one. He'd googled the address anyway, so he was fairly confident. It had taken him about forty-five minutes to walk from Hunter's. He knew he could have asked someone for a ride, but he was just as glad to have something physical to do, not to mention it passed the time. And on top of that, whether or not anyone was willing, he wasn't used to asking for help when he didn't really need it. 

Finally he rang the doorbell and waited. He was kind of looking forward to spending the evening with Dalton. He hadn't seen Hunter all day, which was fine, but he was ready for a little interaction and after skipping lunch, pizza sounded pretty good.


"So they're letting you leave earlier?" Tim tossed Zan a package of donuts they were stocking at the front counter. 

"Yeah." Zan caught it and found a spot for it. "Said I didn't need to wait the two weeks if I didn't want to - they actually have somebody to take my place, and J&J's is ready for me any time, so..."

Tim frowned and sighed. "This is it, huh?"

"Guess so."

"Well... stop by for gas sometime, will ya?"

Zan chuckled. "You know it." The rest of the afternoon went quickly, for which he was grateful. He needed to get his car ready for tonight...


..."There he is, the –" Hunter bit his tongue to keep from finishing his statement. He stood next to Ryan at the races that night, having brought his motorcycle instead of his car. He was sticking to his word - this was Zan's race and he wouldn't interfere. 

Zan followed his gaze and sighed as he saw Thunder pulling up to the starting line. Rumor had it he was furious with what had happened at the novice race, and now he was out for blood with the experienced group. Actually, the rest of the rumor was that he was after Zan in particular for heading up the little episode which had cost him his reputation. "Great."

"Hey, this way you can show him up and get it over with," Hunter mused. "You got this."

"Wish I had your confidence." Zan leaned back on the hood of his car, waiting. They'd parked a little ways away from the main hubbub, but the crowd was growing. It looked like the audience was going to be a little larger tonight - most likely because of the whole Thunder thing. And Zan couldn't help it... he was nervous. It usually wasn't this bad but... there was a lot more pressure this time around. He glanced to his side at Destiny, whom he'd picked up on his way here tonight. "Well... wish me luck."