Don't leave

Scott furrows his brow, trying to understand what Hope was saying. "I... I don't remember a visitor," he responds quietly. "I was just... I don't know... it was like I was stuck in a really weird dream. Not quite a nightmare, but almost worse."

He swallows hard and shifts a little bit, feeling Hope near him. It was strange, being upset with her for putting him in this place, yet still depending on her for comfort.

"Kinda like Alice in Wonderland. Nothing made much sense. Like I was stuck in a whirlwind or something and I just couldn't get out."

Curling up a little tighter, he shivers. "Then I saw Alec and I thought it was that night they broke into my house and... and I just panicked. And.... and that's all I remember."


Alec slips his hands around Ryan's waist as she nears him again. He had strange feelings running through him... ones that reminded him of what guilt might feel like and it wasn't very comfortable. He wasn't sure why he felt that way... he didn't usually. Lying was a second nature, especially when it came to women. But for some reason... lying to Ryan... it had done something different to him.

"I would have had a car," he agrees. "And I know you would have gone with me, but..."

He pauses, just a little bit of color coming to his face. "After the race that night you... well you were so happy."

Letting her go, he turns around to walk in a little circle, picking up the wooden spoon to play with again so his eyes had somewhere to go other than hers. He wasn't very good at expressing himself, especially when it was this kind of thing.

"I guess I didn't want to take that away from you," he finally manages. Stopping his pacing, he looks up at her with a wry grin. "Yeah, so I care, I admit it. But don't spread it around. I got a reputation to uphold."

Leaning onto the counter, he fiddles with the spoon, keeping his eyes busy again. "I walked across town to a club. Long story short, I hit it off with a woman who said she'd get me out of town. Then her boyfriend showed up. They though I was from a rival sent to snoop, so they dragged me somewhere else and beat the crap out of me, trying to get information I didn't have. I finally had an opening to get out, so I did. But then..."

He shrugs lamely, his thumbnail picking at the spoon handle. "I don't know. I guess I realized that the freedom I was looking for wasn't all that. I was on my own... really alone. Maybe I realized it was stupid to live on the run. I coulda made it out of town but what would the point have been? It'd either be prison by the Elite or a bullet to the head, compliments of the Agency. And then I remembered..."

Alec pauses, shifting his weight uncomfortably. He didn't like feeling nervous. It was worse than telling a lie. Would be easier for him to just tell another one. But for one of the first times, his gut just wouldn't allow it.

"I remembered this girl," he continues. "Only one who believed in me. Only one who seemed to care whether I lived or died. And I... I realized that she was my only friend. And if I left that behind then... maybe I really wasn't so smart after all."

It sounded stupid to Alec and he cringes a little, afraid to look up at Ryan, lest she be laughing at him. It was true though. She was the reason he came back. He'd come back for the only friend he had in the world.


Seeing Scarlet head for the door, Tal's eyes widen. She was leaving already? She hadn't even had supper! Great. There went his fifteen bucks down the tubes if she got away.

Getting up from the table in too much of a hurry, he knocks his beer over, sending it everywhere. Growling to himself, he leaves it be and aims for the door to head her off. Getting there just before her, he blocks the door and just stares at her, his mouth hanging open. "Uh... you can't leave. You just... uh... you gotta stay here another few minutes or so."

He inwardly kicks himself. He probably sounded like some thug who wanted her and that's not what he meant at all. "Not with me," he backtracks. "Just... back at the bar... or wherever. Just don't leave yet."