More chances

"Mm." Eric nods thoughtfully, his eyes finally shifting towards the ground. "Yeah... having a good place to grow up... most people take things like that for granted."

Lifting his face, he looks up at the bright moon. "I guess we take a lot of things in this life for granted," he muses thoughtfully. His tone is quieter. "Maybe we get more chances at things than we even realize... if we just open our eyes to see them."

On a usual day, perhaps he would have found his words too deep. He would have laughed them off, and maybe even would have been embarrassed. But tonight... the still of the dark night and the melancholy he was feeling were enough to thwart his normal reaction. Tonight, his words rang with too much truth for his own heart that was seeking answers. A shooting star rockets across the sky and Eric sighs deeply.

Bringing his train of thought back on track, his eyes lower to Stacy again. "Sorry I disrupted your nightly rounds. I should be out of your way for the rest of the night."


Con refrains from another sigh, and he nods. He reaches over and brushes some of Katie's tears from her face. "Yeah, I can drop you off so you can be with him. I'll make sure your car gets to his place after work, too."

Moving back over to his side of the table, he picks at his food for a little while longer, trying to come up with some more cheerful things to talk about - church, the nice weather, the suspicion that Susanne had a boyfriend and the other day when Hope brought Domino who escaped and ran all over TJY just for the fun of it. The chitchat was a good time filler too, and only when Con is confident that Jason would be alone back at the house, does he get ready to leave.

Getting to Jason's house, Con pulls up to the curb and offers Katie a warm smile. "Hang in there, Kat. Don't hesitate to call me or Jamie if you need anything."

Inside, Jason was still in bed, still stuck between awake and asleep. He thinks he hears a familiar vehicle, and Trooper goes out of the room to investigate, but Jason doesn't bother getting up. He could act strong in front of people, but when he was alone... it seemed any strength he had left just fell apart. It just felt like fighting wasn't worth it anymore.

Rolling over onto his side, his hand lies open and he looks at his scarred palm. Is that all that would be left when this thing was over? Scars to remember the nightmares? Is that all Katie would have left? Just a mark that would forever be a reminder of the pain? He hates the Agency even more.


Susanne slips into the infirmary, making sure no one had seen her, or what she was carrying. Quietly going over to Misty's desk, she reveals a little paper bag. "I made some cookies... and I want to give some to Alec," she whispers. "How do I get past Hal? I know they said we can't see Alec or anything but..." The look in her eye was one of pity. "I just think if he knew someone still cared, he might..." She shrugs. "Maybe it's silly, but I want to do it anyway. I just don't know how without Hal confiscating these."


"So that... is the ice cream shop where I dropped my cone and screamed my fool head off." Kyle grins at Alice as he drives across town after having shown her two more placed he'd frequented when younger. "From what they tell me," he concludes. "I don't have any memory of the event and thankfully, I was only three at the time."

Turning right after stopping at an intersection, his grin widens. "Not that I wouldn't scream my fool head off now if the same thing happened today. I might just-" He's interrupted by his ringing cell phone and he fishes it from his pocket, glancing at the number while still watching the road. "Yeah, this is Kyle. Oh, hi, Wayne." He gives Alice a sidelong glance. "Really?" His eyebrows rise. "Well yeah, of course." He chuckles. "Yes, Karla holds the official calendar, but last I looked, it was empty."

Steering towards Alice's place, he continues to listen. "Mm-hmm. Um, well..." He taps the steering wheel as he thinks. "No, no, we'll do it. I'm sure he'll be on board. He just, um... it's..." Kyle sighs. "Yes, I understand. We all do. One way or another, we'll make it happen.... Yeah, thanks, Wayne. See you soon."

Flipping his phone shut and tucking it back in his pocket, he doesn't tell Alice what it was about just yet. Instead, he remains quiet until he's pulled into the parking lot at Alice's apartment. Cutting the engine, he doesn't get out right away but just plays with his keys. He gives a short laugh and shakes his head. "You'd think I'd be more excited to hear the band has its first gig."

He turns his gaze to Alice and lets his eyes join hers. "Wayne said we get to open for a band in two weeks - sounds like it'll be a good entrance for us... big enough to get some attention but small enough we can handle it. But..." He sighs again. "Without a bass player, we're not gonna get very far."

Kip hadn't been to a practice in weeks, and as far as anyone knew, he rarely got out of the Gram and Gramps, except a couple times with Karla - she was the only one he let close to him lately.

Kyle bites his lip. "What are we gonna do, Pepper? We all agreed we wouldn't move on without Kip, but... if we start saying no to gigs before we even have a lineup... we'll have wasted a lot of people's time... including all ours."