Driving

Con gives a little sigh of relief, knowing that Herb would be okay. But it was still a scary situation, especially for Jamie and Mabel.

He nods and gives Jamie a little squeeze. "Alright. Well I'll wait here with you two then, until we can see him." Questions lingered behind Con's eyes, but he didn't voice them. Not yet. He would talk to Jamie later.


Kyle keeps his eyes on the road and laughs. "No sweat. I was getting bus sickness. I love the gang to death, but I had to get out of there for a while."

Listening to the music playing on the radio, he doesn't realize he's tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, almost nervously as if he can't sit still.

Alice's question makes his eyebrows rise, and for a moment, he hesitates. As far as he knew, Phil was the only one who knew he was taking depression meds. Kyle believed he was feeling better, so he wasn't ready to quit taking them, but at the same time, he really didn't want everyone knowing about it. Deep down there was a strange stirring of something that resembled guilt, but he'd been ignoring it. "No..."

He pauses, looking in the side mirror to switch lanes, following the bus down the interstate. "I'm not sick," he finally answers.

For the first time, he refuses to look Alice in the eye, even though he had plenty of time to glance in her direction. He would have stopped there, but it was obvious that she'd noticed, and would probably continue to notice. No one else had, but no one else had eyes like her either.

Giving up, but not really wanting to talk about it, Kyle reaches in his pocket and pulls out the bottle, passing it to Alice so she could see for herself.


Jason swivels in his desk chair, the paperwork on his desk going undone. His mind was too far away. He'd just spoken with Rick, and had quietly given him the paper he'd gained from the Agency lab. A quick explanation was all Rick had needed, and he'd promised to start working on it. He'd also agreed not to tell anyone.

Jason tosses a crumpled piece of scrap paper across his office, landing it in the trash can.

Katie... Rick told me Angel is awake. Thought you'd like to know.

His emotions lacked enthusiasm, even though he was happy. Come to think of it, his emotions had lacked a lot the last couple days. Though not allowing Katie to read into his thoughts, Jason's mind had continued to revert back to what Ryder had said. Jason wasn't upset... just a might confused... disappointed... but maybe more in himself than anything.

Opening his desk drawer, he fishes for a while until he finds the picture that at one time, he'd been ready to throw away. It had captured the passion he'd felt for Katie in the beginning. Was that passion gone? He didn't think so. But what was he lacking? What had he done wrong, to make Katie turn to another man? He knew she wasn't going to leave him - that much was obvious. But still... Jason felt just a bit hurt and confused as to what he could have done that was wrong.


Axel leans on Jess' car, taking a swig from his water bottle. They were both standing outside their vehicles at a rest area, having been driving all morning. They'd left Wisconsin earlier with warm goodbyes, and the Stevenson's hearty invitation to return any time.

Axel takes in a deep breath of air, and cocks his head at Jess. So much was different now. They were both returning not as different people, but perhaps with different perspectives.

Moving closer, Axel reaches out to take a strand of windblown hair and tuck it behind Jess' ear. "You alright to keep driving, or you want to wait a while yet?"


"We'll head to the bullseye and take a few losers there and then..." Toby thinks hard for a moment, looking up and to the left as he ponders, sitting in the passenger seat. "And then we figure out what we're... Ahhhh!" His shriek echoes through the car. "Right side, right side!"

Ryder's yell mixes with Toby's, as he whips the car back over to the right side of the road, barely missing an oncoming car. His eyes are as wide as plates. "Right side," he repeats calmly. "You Yanks have to do everything backward, don't you?"

"Dude, you said you weren't drunk!"

"I'm not!" Ryder turns to look at Toby, accidentally letting the car creep back over into the left lane. "But the left side is where..."

"Right! Right!"

"Right!" The car goes careening back over into the legal lane.