I have a rule

"Mmm." Quinn stops behind Anastasia on the short pier, gazing out across the dark water. It really was a beautiful lake. With the sun already set, he could just make out a dark shoreline on the other side, but it was quite a ways away. Scanning left and right, he saw it was a big enough body of water for some small boats, and for a moment, he recalled a fishing trip he and his family had taken when he'd been just a boy.

"I can see why you like it here," he breathes. "There's nothing like the outdoors to clear one's mind and one's soul." He pauses, still scanning the area until his eyes stop on Anastasia's face, lit by the moon. Watching her eyes, they seem to reflect the light that bounces off the rippling water.

"Getting lost here wouldn't be so bad," he agrees quietly.

Clearing his throat, a hint of a grin appears on his lips and he looks away, back out at the water again. As he gazes across the scene, a sound drifts across the air. Shifting his sights, he sees a flickering light a ways away - a campfire. The sound was the mellow notes of music and Quinn cocks his head, just able to pick up the tune and singing.

"Elvis was better." He gives Anastasia a sidelong glance. It was Willy Nelson singing Always on My Mind, the soft melody seeming to blend with the quiet lapping of the water against the rocks.

"Doesn't matter though. I have a rule about that song." Turning towards he, his hands touch hers gently, pulling them from her pockets so their palms would meet. His fingertips were calloused from playing guitar, his skin rough, proving that he had more work in his past than only a life on the stage. Moving his hands up and to the sides, their palms turn together and his fingers slide between hers as he starts to sway. "I always have to dance."

He turns slowly, his feet leading them in a gentle dance as he begins to hum along with the music, his tone so soft and mellow.


Rick sighs and folds his arms, knowing that he couldn't hide anything from Katie. She knew him too well, and besides, she was right - if he didn't tell all, she'd just worry about it.

"I'm not sure what it is, Katie," he admits. "Jason's going to be fine. For all practical purposes, this doesn't appear to be much different than many of the other times he has fallen into a flashback, or bad spell, whichever you prefer to call it. But... it's been a very long time since this happened." Come to think of it, it really had been a good long while. Jason had had some episodes dealing with his emotions, but it had been longer than Rick had realized since one had been attached to an actual flashback. "Jason's gotten good at letting off steam every now and again to keep the explosions to a minimum. And the last bad bout was chemically induced." That had been a nightmare in itself - the night Katie and Jason had receive the scars on their palms.

"However..." Rick pauses and he shakes his head. "I don't know. Jason's body just isn't recovering like it should. After a few hours sleep, he should be weary and maybe a bit sore, but he's downright incapable of anything right now - it's like a bad case of the flu. And I don't know why."

Frustration and worry shone in his eyes. "There's just something that doesn't feel right. It's like his body is just... I don't know... I'm just..." He sighs, trying to gather his thoughts. "I'm just worried that with Jason's body continually taking a beating like this, eventually he's not going to recover. He gets angry and blows things up. He gets distraught and he blows things up. Not to mention, you get hurt too. The Agency comes after you guys and who knows what happens. Then on top of it all, eventually when those extra emotions finally build up, they find their way out through the perfect route - those memories of his and a flashback is induced. But as you and I both know, it's far from any "normal" person's flashback. His emotions tear him apart inside and mess everything up from his sugar, to his blood pressure and they even induce fever."

Moving over to the sink, Rick looks around the faucet and points. "See that calcium buildup? It's not much, right? And I bet that the sink is rinsed and wiped off regularly. That's like Jason regularly letting off some steam. Okay, but like with this calcium buildup, eventually, it still does build up, even if it's wiped regularly. There are just some deposits that will build up no matter what. So... then what? You take a little lime away or some cleaner and you scrub and scrape to get it off, right? When it comes to Jason's emotions though..."

Rick draws a sidearm, cocks and points the pistol at the faucet. "Boom. Gets rid of the calcium buildup alright, but it also causes damage to the sink."

Putting his gun back, he purses his lips. "Is there an easier way? So far you know we haven't found one. It seems to be a side effect of these abilities you guys have that will never go away. It's been proven that Jason cannot allow himself to lock away his bad memories - otherwise the emotions don't have anywhere to go - we've experienced that one already. Okay, so... he lets the nightmare linger just to be available for when he gets to a point that an eruption will occur. As far as I know, usually the emotions are just waiting around for a flashback to be triggered then take advantage. No trigger, they just build up a little more. So in essence..."

Rick shrugs lamely. "...the longer Jason goes without a flashback, the more severe it will be the next time. I thought it was just a matter of a release valve and letting off steam once in a while would do it - but this time proves me wrong." Was he implying that Jason needed to induce flashbacks on purpose to regulate himself? He didn't even know. "Just like when Jason bottles everything up inside, he eventually explodes... so it's the same... but with these, it's like the calcium buildup - it's something he can't automatically release... it just has to build up then have a trigger to erupt."

Pursing his lips, he turns and glances into the living room where Jason was still quiet on the couch. Turning back to Katie, he nods. "That's all I know. That's all I can figure out. The solution? Your guess is as good as mine. I'm just... afraid that one of these times... Jason's body won't be able to handle it. My theory is that each time, it will take him longer to recover until one day.... well, I just don't know. For now though... just keep him comfortable... maybe Destiny can help, too. He'll be fine in a few days probably. I'll most likely come back to check on him later today though, just in case."


Lying on the couch with his eyes closed, Jason can hear muffled voices in the kitchen. He didn't like the tone, and he didn't like the little flux in the emotional flow, signaling that Katie was bothered by something. More so, he didn't like feeling so sick. Trigger, flashback, throw up, recover. That's basically how it had always gone before. But this time he felt awful. All he wanted to do was just not move.

Katie... what's going on?

What about his job here? He couldn't protect Destiny when he couldn't even get up off the couch. Did they need to bring someone else in? But he could just shake this off, right? Give him an hour or two and he'd be fine... right?

What did Rick say?