Concern only for others

Kyle chuckles and shakes his head, letting himself get pulled along to the jeep. "Yeah well... even best friends can invade."

Contemplating Alice's final remark, Kyle opens his mouth to respond, but for once, lets it close again. For once, he held his tongue. A quiet "you're welcome" is all he finally manages to say before slipping into the jeep.

"Well, if we keep the windows down we might get dry by the time we get back to the hotel," he teases. As they pull from the parking lot, he sticks his head out the window, yelling at the top of his lungs. "Look out, world! Alice is driving!"

Arriving at the hotel, they find the two reserved rooms, but until everyone went to bed, they had gathered in the larger one for some fun and games. A knock at the door brings Hunter to let them both in.

"Well, hey guys. Thought we might need to send out a search party," he teases.

Kyle grins as he follows Alice in. "Aw, you were worried about us? How sweet."

"Come on an join us," Chloe begs from the table. "They're killing me in UNO. I need some support."

"After refueling," Kyle states flatly. He breaks away from the others and heads to the little kitchenette where he knew they'd have the sixpack of Mountain Dew from the bus. "Ahhh, heaven."

Hunter is right behind him, reaching around for a can of Pepsi. "So where'd you two run off to anyway?"

"Hmm?" Kyle was only half-listening as he took a swig of his pop. "Oh, just down to that beach we passed on the way in. Somebody was shooting off fireworks somewhere so we got to see them."

"Ah." Hunter nods a little. "So, um... have fun?"

"I always have fun." Kyle squints at him, sensing there was something more. "Why?"

"Oh, I don't know. Can't a guy ask his friend if he had fun on his date?"

Kyle's eyebrows shoot up. "Whoa. Who said anything about a date?"

"Well that's what it looks like."

"What? We were just out for a walk."

"Mm-hmm..." Hunter fingers Kyle's damp shirt, rubbing bits of sand between his fingers. "Tidal wave?"

Kyle rolls his eyes. "Knock it off."

"What? What did I do?" Hunter cocks his head. "Why don't you just admit it that you and Alice are closer than friends?"

Kyle swallows another mouthful of pop, starting to feel the caffeine kick in. "Because... I'd be lying?"

Hunter looks at him squarely. "You mean to tell me that you two are just friends. That's it. Nothing more."

"Right." Kyle nods. "I'd say we're..." He shrugs. "Best of friends. I probably rank somewhere between annoying brother and close cousin."

Hunter's eyes narrow as he studies Kyle's face. "Guess I read you wrong."

"Guess you did."

"Well, better for me anyway. I wasn't going to intrude by asking her out, but now I won't be intruding."

Kyle almost spits out his pop. "Ask her out?"

"Yeah, you know, one of those things where I take her to dinner.... we sit... we talk..." Hunter gives Kyle a slap upside the head. "One of those things you aren't doing."

"You? And Alice?"

"Well, I might not be the best looking guy around, but come on... I gotta at least try, right? Got a problem with it?"

"No, no.... no." Kyle shakes his head. "No.... why would I?"

"That, I wouldn't know." Hunter grins. "You should ask Chloe out sometime, just for the fun of it."

"Heh... right." Kyle watches as Hunter leaves to rejoin the others. He takes another sip of pop and just stands alone for several moments. No, Chloe was nice and they were friends, but that's as far as that went. His personality got to her after a while. Not like Alice. She could handle his quirkiness for days on end.

Taking another swig, Kyle realizes that he's just downed the whole can of pop. "Hmm." He goes to get another one, popping the tab before rejoining the group. Tonight, a lively mask was required. "Look out. Kyle, the master of cards is coming through!"


Scott swallows hard and lets his eyes fall shut once again. He knew what his sister meant... he knew she was trying to protect him. But at this point, he felt more like a file of information that had betrayed TJY, than an agent.

His grip on Sapphire's hand slowly loosens, and it's apparent that he's close to sleep. "Tell Hope... she doesn't have to stay," he mumbles. "She shouldn't have to... worry... about me." His breathing slows, his body finally starting to relax as exhaustion forces him into a shallow level of sleep.


Rick studies Simon for a moment, contemplating his choices. He didn't really trust him completely... but what would a couple sedatives hurt? They wouldn't kill anybody, and if they would help bring Katie back, then it was worth the risk.

"Okay." He goes to the cabinet and preps two syringes that he hands to Phinox. "One of these should knock an average man out for about half an hour. Be careful with Gage. I heard Carson say he was on drugs. That could make him more difficult to take down. If you have to, use both shots."