Assumption

Feeling Hope near, Scott automatically begins to relax a little more. Though having hardly any energy, his fingers curl around Hope's, as if grasping for reality. Her words were reassuring. They helped him stay in the present and know he was safe. Though the images of that horrid place were burned into his mind forever, and though they plagued him and tried to trick him into thinking he was still there, he knew.... he had to know.... that he was safe.

His eyes fall shut again. "Thank you," he whispers. "I don't know what..." He swallows hard, just fighting to make sense in his own mind. "...what I'd do without you."

"Scott? Hope?" Rick comes back in the infirmary, giving a start as he realizes where the two are. Joining them quickly, he kneels next to Scott too, though doesn't make Hope move. "Scott, are you okay?"

Scott nods numbly.

Rick sighs and glances to Hope. He knew what had happened. It was the same thing that had happened so frequently right after Scott had come back from the Agency. "He's too weak to fight this off," he mentions quietly. "I'm gonna have to put him on an IV to get some fluids back into him."


Surprise flickers in Hunter's eyes, but he doesn't interrupt Alice. Though obviously not having expected her to say the things she was, he stands quietly, just listening.

Halfway through, he finally eases down next to her on the bench, his hands still in his pockets, never crowding or invading her space.

As Alice concludes her story, Hunter remains silent for several minutes, his eyes just roaming the park. There were a lot of things he could say. There were a lot of things he could do. He could feel foolish for having asked her out. He could be upset that he didn't know this information. He could question her as to why this made any difference in the present. But instead, his simple words come out soft and low. "I'm sorry."

Though a bit hesitantly, he moves to take her hand. Not in a way that expected anything in return, but in a simple gesture that was the only way he knew how to let her know he truly cared.

"That's a lot for anyone to go through," he comments quietly. "I can't imagine how it must feel... having lost someone you loved so much."

He pauses, carefully choosing his words. "I understand how it could affect your thinking now... how you might be hesitant to get involved with anyone else. I bet sometimes you're afraid of betraying the memory of Seth, if you decided to love again."

Hunter takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly. He'd like to tell her it was okay to move on... he'd like to tell her that she had a right to be happy again. But he knew that she already knew these things. It was obvious that she did know what she deserved and what she needed... but moving beyond the past would have to be on her own terms - not someone else's.

He looks down for a moment, then back up, turning to meet Alice's eyes. He assumed that he was the second man to hear this story. "Is... this why you and Kyle are just friends?"