Shutdown

If I can manage to get out from under Reese, it's a date.

Jason's lips turn up at the corners just a little as he writes his notes.

Alec sighs and shakes his head. "You gonna let me in on the joke or what?"

"Nope." Jason grins at him. "But you're free to go now."

Alec rolls his eyes and stands up. "Thanks. Now I get to go... sit somewhere."

"Better than getting locked up somewhere."

"Sure." Alec waves him off. "See ya around." Limping, he gets back out into the hall and wanders towards the stairs, figuring he'd go sit in his room. His ankle hurt anyway.


Hearing about Scott, Reese just shakes his head and finally wanders around to his car door to get in. "Yeah... yeah, I'll keep you in the loop, don't worry. This thing gets more confusing all the time. I'm not about ready to give up now."

After the call has ended, Reese makes it back to TJY with one goal in mind. Getting inside, he aims straight for Jason's office.

"Hotshot?"

Jason looks up, startled after having just dismissed Alec. "Yeah?"

"A moment?"

"Um... sure?"

Reese steps into his office and closes the door before taking several steps closer to Jason's desk. "I have something to ask you."

The seriousness of Reese's tone puts Jason's emotions on edge. "Okay...?"

"Do you know where Austin is?"

Jason bristles. He'd been on so-so terms with his grandfather the last time he'd seen him, but there were still an awful lot of negative emotions tied up in that history. What did Reese want now? Jason didn't necessarily want this conversation to be broadcast, but he had yet to discover where the switch was so Katie couldn't just hear everything. The only two options were to let Katie in on it now, or cut her off. He didn't like the latter, but... with this topic, he'd rather share it with Katie on his own terms.

Sorry, Hero. Hang in there a minute, okay? I'll be right back.

Closing his eyes for just a moment, he shuts down his emotional flow. Not a hundred percent to cause too much distress, but enough to block communication and cause discomfort on both their ends. He tries not to cringe. "I have no idea where Austin is. I haven't seen him in ages. Why?"

"Apparently he's the one that saw Scott recently, and on top of that, it looks as though he's now skipped town. I don't like it and I just wondered if you knew anything."

A bit of anger tries to bubble out and Jason keeps a lid on it. Once again, Austin had proved what a miserable backstabber he was. And now he'd even left without word. How nice of him. "No... sorry, I don't. But if I hear anything, you'll be the first to know."

"Good enough." Reese nods. "Thank you. That's all."

Once Jason is left alone again, he leans back in his chair, now dealing with a headache from his brief shutdown. Opening up again slowly, he gently prods.

You okay?