Revealed Motives

Ryder lifts his eyebrows when he realizes that Thirteen doesn't seem to know what apple juice even is. What had this cruel, cruel word turned her into?

He manages a smile. "Okay. I'll go get it for you. Be right back."

Leaving the door unlocked once again, he leaves, and within minutes, is back. A new sandwich is presented, along with a bottle of juice. "Try and eat all the sandwich," Ryder encourages. "You need it."

"Ryder..."

He turns quickly, hearing Susanne's voice call his name over the intercom. Looking back to Thirteen, he gives a little nod. "I gotta go. Eat and sit tight, alright? I'll be back, I promise." He wishes he could do more, but at this point, he knows he can't. Though hesitant, he backs away until he's in the hall, then shuts the door quietly, once more.

Trooper looks up at Thirteen and wags his tail, sitting up to stare at the trashcan where Ryder had thrown the leftover sandwich. A bit of slobber winds up on the carpet.


...Ryder sighs as he heads for the exit. Susanne needed paperwork and it was at home. After going through files with her, running back and forth between Jamie and Reese, then tracking down Hal to borrow his car, time had slipped away. Ryder was tempted to go check on Thirteen before he left, but he knew Reese was headed in that direction now, so he opted to stand back. Better to let Reese handle the interrogation the way he wanted. Ryder would be back.


Reese exits the interrogation room, having it ready with some papers and the cameras on. He goes to the spare room to summon Thirteen, and prompts her out, leaving Trooper to wander the hall and finally wind up back in Jason's office.

Once in the interrogation room, Reese sits Thirteen down in the chair at the table and stands on the other side, his arms crossed. He didn't wear an angry expression, though he was far from happy.

"Okay... I need you to give me some truthful information." He stares the girl in the eye. "If you don't, then it's just going to make things harder on you. We've already got two of your buddies and neither one is thrilled to be here."

He paces a little before turning back to her. "I want to know which part of the Agency you're from and what your role has been. I want to know what your involvement with the Katie Pent case was. And I want to know the names of the agents you've been working with."



Carson manages half a smile. "Breaking down may just prove I'm human, but it's not good either."

Leaning back, he enjoys Misty's arm around him, and reaches down to pat her leg. Just thinking, he's quiet for several moments. "I... I don't know about having contact with Mackenzie. I mean... she'll just want more... she'll just want to see me more and..." He shrugs lamely. "I'm not cut out for it, I mean... I'm not the dad type... I don't know how to be one."



Kyle takes a deep breath and nods, finally back in control over his own emotions. "Ice cream... is the best idea I've heard all day."

Turning, he slings his arm around Alice's shoulders to walk back to the bus. He would tell them about his friend back home later. They were just starting to get back on the bus again to head out.

"Hey, Jordan? Alice and I are gonna take that side road right up there a mile and hang out for just a bit. We'll catch up to you in Greenville, alright?"

Jordan sticks his head out of the door and nods. "Good deal. You know where we're going?"

"Yeah, I got the map." Kyle thumbs towards Alice's jeep.

"Alright. We'll be there when you come."

As Kyle and Alice head towards the jeep, Hunter comes around the back of the bus and watches them. He sighs. Turning away, he gets into the bus behind Chloe, but doesn't join in the card game that soon starts up.

Letting Alice drive, Kyle rests his head back against the seat, looking out the window and up at the starlit sky. God still felt far away.

"Hang a right," he mentions absentmindedly as they approach their exit. A song on the radio catches his attention, and without realizing it, his fingers are moving rhythmically on his leg, begging for a keyboard that hadn't been touched now in ages. He doesn't even notice his automatic reaction to the melody that was playing.


The sound of the front door makes Laura jump. She'd been sleeping soundly up until that point. After that morning, she'd spent most of her time on the couch nursing her emotional wounds with a box of kleenex. Now as she peered over the back of the couch, she saw Ryder.

He pauses in the doorway, sifting through the mail before going to look for the papers that Susanne needed.

"Ryder?"

He turns quickly to Laura's timid voice, and manages a polite smile. "How ya doing?"

"Um... I'm sore." Laura sits up all the way and rests her arms on the back of the couch to prop up her chin. "Off work early?"

"No... just grabbing some paperwork."

"Oh." She was already feeling lonely. "Well... tonight do you... want to watch a movie or something? Or call out for supper?"

Ryder tosses the mail back on the table, and covers half the distance to Laura. "I think tonight I should probably just go upstairs."

Laura could tell that this was more than just him being tired from the day, and a lump rises in her throat. "But I-"

Ryder shakes his head slowly, his eyes telling her he was sorry. "I think you and I both know that I don't want another bloody lip. So... I'll just take it to my part of the house and we'll call it square."

Laura can feel the tears filling her eyes again. "I'm... I'm sorry that Nate hit you. I know you didn't mean anything by your attention. He was just overreacting. I don't want to be enemies."

"No one said we'd be enemies," Ryder corrects quietly. "When I make a friend, I don't run away." He looks at her for a moment, finding what he had thought was there... finding that she was revealing the truth about her lack of feelings. He'd thought it was like this, but he had pushed it anyway. "I did mean something by my attention, Laura. So... we better not keep it up." He swallows hard, knowing what he had just admitted. After all, he'd been the one to encourage Laura to stick with Nate in the first place. But somewhere along the way, he'd been attracted himself.

Laura's eyes widen slightly. "You..."

"I'll see you later."

She watches helplessly as he leaves, heading down the hall then upstairs to retrieve his paperwork. She blinks, a tear running down her cheek. Ryder had had other intentions? He had been wanting something more? And... Nate had seen it? But she hadn't? How could she have missed it? How could she have been that stupid?

She recalls all of the instances that had led up to Nate's explosion. Ryder had been hitting on her, and as clueless as she'd been, she'd just played along, like it was nothing. How could she have missed something like that? She and Ryder just got along so well... and she'd been so proud of herself for being able to trust another man after what had happened with Bryce. Ryder was fun and energetic, and always around. And she... well she'd latched onto him as a good friend. But... maybe... would he really have done all those things if he hadn't meant more by it? He certainly wasn't a stupid man. Laura had liked his attentions... but she hadn't even thought about there being more to it. But... that had been her downfall.

The shutting door snaps her attention up. She hadn't even seen Ryder slip back through the house.