You don't have to

The look on Gage's face shows that he's not happy with himself or his situation. What would he do if he lost this job? He had nothing else. He'd scoured the town, looking for the job he had - there was no one else willing to hire him because of his background.

Wriggling Sapphire's hand a little, he closes his eyes again, trying not to become too upset. She was just being positive and doing her best to make him feel better. But inside... where it counts... that was where her words did not penetrate. Would he ever get things right? Or would he only ever be fit for the Agency where he was a robot and followed orders? His tongue runs over the scar on his lower lip and he wonders if he'll really ever be able to fit in here. Reese was trying his hardest but maybe he just wasn't the right kind of material.

"Alec got a job right away," he muses quietly. "Maybe he'd have some ideas."


Carson grins and gives Misty's shoulder a pat, grateful that she didn't take offense at him wanting to stop by. He really did have to get back to the restaurant quickly though, so he heads down the hall to grab his second Bible from the bedroom just to accomplish the task, even if it really wasn't necessary.

Alec remains standing, still unsure of this. Carson seemed to think this whole thing was humorous, but Alec didn't think so at all. His brother didn't trust him - that was obvious, then to just barge in and startle him on purpose was a little low.

Glancing to Misty, he searches her eyes and nods in return but doesn't sit yet. He'd wait until Carson was gone.

It's only moments before Carson is coming back through, stealing a piece of garlic bread on his way. He was around Italian food all day, but he rarely stopped to eat until he was home, not to mention, he liked Misty's bread better than his own. "Mm...." He leans down to give her a last kiss between bites. "See you later." Passing by Alec, he points at him in a teasing manner. "Behave yourself now."

Alec doesn't laugh, and just lets his gaze follow Carson until he was gone, then the front door was heard closing. Looking back to Misty, he finally sits down again, his desire to talk seeming to have vanished. "I guess I deserved that," he mumbles. Picking up his fork, he twirls it through the pasta before taking another bite. "You know..." His eyes are raised to meet Misty's once more. "At least in the Agency I knew where I stood. And as a prisoner of the Elite, I knew where I stood. But freedom isn't worth crap if all it is, is being caught in the middle trying to figure out where I stand."

Realizing how sharp his statement sounded, he sighs. "You, Dalton and Ryan... I guess a man doesn't need any more friends than that anyway."


Feeling the bike slowing, Susanne's eyes peer around Chuck to see why he was pulling over. She'd never been out this way before and was unfamiliar with the back road and pond.

Once stopped and Chuck dismounts his bike, Susanne just sits for a moment, not sure she could even move. Fumbling with the helmet, she finally gets it off her head, her hair even more of a mess now than when leaving the office.

She eyes Chuck with a little suspicion, but once he wanders a little bit away, she manages to pry herself from the motorcycle, though she takes a short stumble before regaining her balance on her wobbly legs. His questions make her hesitate. "Um..." It wasn't that she was all that scared... she felt relatively safe, but it was a thrill she wasn't used to - kind of like a rollercoaster.

Tucking her hair behind her ears, she gets her legs to work again and ambles past him, closer to the pond. "It was... breezy." Her heart was still racing, and she slips her hands into her pockets so that Chuck couldn't see that they were trembling. "I suppose it would help if I opened my eyes once in a while," she admits sheepishly.

Turning her back on him, she looks out at the still water, finding it difficult to know why she was here and how all this had come about. She'd been way out of line that morning. Maybe because she'd been hyped up after the robber incident, but no matter, she'd been quite silly. And then going around and around, only to actually end up on a strange sort of date with the same someone she didn't even know. Was she going bonkers? Maybe. But being out in the fresh air now was perhaps what was making her think a little more clearly and she felt badly for wasting Chuck's time. He'd made her feel good, no doubt, but... surely he was that way with all women and she knew she shouldn't let it go to her head. This day would go down in history as one of the most unreal days of her life, but it should probably end before feelings got hurt.

Bending down, she picks up a smooth, flat stone. Forcing her hand to be still, she takes aim and lets the rock fly, landing for a perfect skip on the water where it bounces several times before ducking below the surface. "Sometimes I feel like that's my life," she muses aloud. "Up and down, up and down, then all of a sudden, I'm under the surface, unseen, unheard and wondering if perhaps it isn't worth the effort to struggle up to the top again."

Digging the toe of her shoe around some pebbles, she redirects her speech to Chuck. "You landed yourself a doozie this time." She gives the ground a wry smile. Honestly, this had been a stupid idea of hers to begin with. What was she thinking, just to prove something to her friends? She wasn't in junior high anymore and probably shouldn't be acting like it. There was nothing she needed to prove to anyone, even if that was her first reaction. "You don't have to go to the restaurant with me," she concludes, still studying the small rocks at her feet. "It was wrong of me to suggest that in the first place and... I'm sure you have more exciting things you could be doing tonight other than going with the worlds best fuddy-duddy. I... won't hold it against you if you want to just take me back to TJY." Her eyes study a particularly pretty stone near her foot. "At least we had the motorcycle ride and... and I think maybe it could be fun."


"Are you guys ready to go?" Rick calls into the other room.

"Uh-huh." Ty takes one more glance around Libby's hotel room to make sure everything was picked up. They'd ordered in pizza and had all been back and forth between rooms today so who knew where everything was. It looked like they'd gotten it all though.

Looking to Libby, he grins. He had his new glasses on with lenses tinted lightly with a rust red color. Already, words and letters were seeming clearer to him, and though he tried not to let it show, he was excited to start working at learning to read again.

Ambling closer to Libby, Ty slips his arms around her waist and his smile widens before he cocks his head to lean in and give her a gentle kiss. "I almost wish we could stay another day just to hang out," he admits. "But... since I don't have to work tonight, maybe we can do something with Wyatt and Aerith instead."