I don't want to

Reese rolls his eyes a little at Trey as he starts after him out the door. "Hey, if you want to destroy your lungs and die a gruesome death as you slowly suffocate, be my guest. Just do it away from me."

Getting outside, he leads the way to the car, not slowing. "But whatever you do, do it quick because you're not smoking in the car."

Glancing to Angelica again, he wants to put his arm around her in support for this whole thing, but he deems it not the best time. There was no point in giving Trey any ammunition.


Having Destiny cuddle up to him, Chance abandons the rest of his lunch for now - he hadn't been that hungry anyway. Slipping his arm around her, he gets more comfortable, letting her use him as a pillow.

"Well, the mall isn't as safe as this house," he reasons, still flipping television channels. "And...my superiors probably wouldn't recommend it, but..." He shrugs a little, before giving her a squeeze. "I think it would be okay. The Agency waits a while between strikes and besides, we can blend into the crowd."

Finally settling on a western movie, he sets the remote aside, though he knows he will probably doze off. "I think it will be safe for you - that's what I'll be there for. I don't want you to have to worry. I'll be doubly on my guard now after what happened."

His voice trails off, then comes back, softer, almost as an after thought that wasn't supposed to be spoken aloud, though it's uttered as almost a whisper. "I don't want to see that happen again."


Alec snickers. "I don't need an ice cream menu to get hungry." Reaching up from behind to gather Ryan's hair, he moves it out of the way to give the back of her neck a kiss. "Except chocolate chip does sound really good right now."

It doesn't take long to get their ice cream and this time it's a shady spot under a tree not far from the sandy beach that they choose. Alec sits in the grass, leaning back against the tree, thankful that it wasn't his back that was sunburned.

Slowly sucking his ice cream from a spoon, he squints out over the water and sighs deeply. He might not say it, but his eyes told the story of one who was enjoying this day... enjoying it too much... enough that he wanted more... more of this freedom. His drive to be free had been renewed and he wanted nothing more than to be out from under TJY again. He'd learned his lesson about running, yet even so, there was still a desire in him that drove his dreams.

"I want to go camping," he mentions, completely out of the blue.