Can't

"I see." Reese nods thoughtfully, analyzing Ryan's responses. "Well, I'd hardly say 'just friends' about two people like this."

Swiveling in his chair, he hits the remote for a small monitor that Ryan could see as well. Playing was footage from the security monitor in Alec's room without sound. From the camera angle, it just caught Ryan and Alec kissing quite passionately, up against the wall.

Reese stops the tape and looks back to Ryan, tossing the remote on his desk. "I've seen previous footage as well, Miss McKade. Some of the sound is missing because Alec tampered with the camera's microphone, however, from day one, it appeared you knew him better than you say." He cocks his head. "Food... games... even a little spat."

Pausing again, he searches Ryan's eyes. "I can find out about you - we have connections and it wouldn't be too hard to find out where you've been or what you've been up to the last few years. However, I thought it would be easier just to ask you if there was anything else I needed to know about."


"I don't see how giving information is a change of heart," Alec responds dryly. "Just a change of mind. I lost my heart a long time ago. As far as the information goes though, I figure Reese hasn't tried to blow my head off or assimilate me - that's a plus on the Elite side so now they're ahead of the Agency as far as tally marks go."

He shrugs again, his eyes showing a lack of interest, though not quite as cold as they had been the last time he'd seen Hope. "Maybe I am crazy. But maybe being away from the Agency..."

He was going to admit aloud that maybe being away from them was starting to open up his eyes. But he wasn't quite ready to say that yet. "Well why wouldn't someone want out of here? And by the looks of things, I won't get out until the Elite gets something from me so... I gave it. Now I gotta wait and see if I get the electric chair, the prison, or the free ride like Gage."


Ty shakes his head, feeling the strain of trying to learn something he just couldn't grasp. "I just don't understand how this is easy for everybody else." He looks to Libby, then back down at the paper. "I can't ever remember what letters are what, let alone try to put sounds with them. First it's an "a" then I think it's maybe an "o" then I'm told really it's an "e." But it doesn't look like it did the last time I tried to read it and it all just gets..."

He stops and takes a deep breath, rubbing his eyes again. "I know the sounds.... I know what the letters sound like... but then when I can't make any sense out of the words, I give up... then its' so long before I try again that I have to relearn the sounds too. But the letters all look different again."

Groaning in frustration, he doesn't look back at the page again. "I can't do another hour... my head hurts too much."


Trent turns his coffee cup in a small circle on the table, his eyes down until he glances up at Thirteen and Ryder who sat across from him. The three had taken a pickup and gone into town for breakfast this morning... away from roaming eyes and listening ears. Once there though, Trent had felt the awkwardness and lapsed into more quiet than planned.

Glancing at Thirteen, he gives a little shrug. They hadn't interacted much since the day before. "I... I don't know what to tell you... unless you have specific questions." He was giving her permission to bombard him, and he didn't know if she would or not. But the silence was a killer.