Enough damage

Scott props himself up on an elbow, hearing his answering machine pick up. He'd turned the ringer off so had been unaware of anyone calling. Picking up Hope's voice, he lifts his eyebrows.

Managing to get out of bed, he shuffles into the living room to listen to the message again. Oh yes. He'd forgotten her court date was today. He sighs. He wished he could do more than just meet her for breakfast. This whole thing was because of him, whether Hope wanted to admit it or not.

Trying to wake up, Scott picks up the phone and dials her number, waiting until she answers. His tone of voice indicated he'd just rolled out of bed. "Hi, Hope... it's me." He stifles a yawn, rubbing a hand over his face and realizing he needs to shave. "I... don't think I'm going to work today... at least not yet." He'd rather not say why at the moment. "So yeah... I'd meet you somewhere but I don't have a car, so you can choose somewhere I can walk to, or pick me up. Your choice."


Gunner lifts his head as he hears the voice behind him, and the corner of his mouth quirks. Twisting in his seat, he leans an arm on the back of the chair to gain a straight-on view of Bree, his badge dangling from his neck. "You caught me." He shakes his head grimly. "It's true. I'm a stalker. Unfortunately, my weakness for a rootbeer float has been my demise. Are you going to turn me in?"


"I don't know what Reese's problem is this morning," Jason complains to Con as they head down the street in Con's truck.

Con shrugs. "He's stressed. Don't let it get to you."

"Yeah, well I didn't notice him yelling at anybody else this morning. It's like he's got it in for me all of a sudden."

All Con can do is shrug again. He didn't have an answer. It's a few quiet minutes before he speaks again. "Heard from Katie?"

"No."

"Haven't talked to her?"

Jason throws his friend a sidelong glance. "I said no."

Con can't stay quiet anymore. He had to know what was really going on. These were two of his closest friends and he didn't understand what was happening. "So you two just quit talking to each other or what? Did you have a fight?"

"No!" Jason throws up his hands. "We didn't fight, alright?"

Con frowns. "That's usually how two people end up not talking."

"Well I guess Katie and I are different then," Jason snaps. "Just drop it."

"I don't want to drop it. You two are my friends, and it's eating me up inside, seeing you guys like this, especially not knowing why. Now come on, Jase... you've always been able to talk to me."

Jason grumbles without even thinking. "Not always."

The remark tears open an old scar. It wasn't a big one, but it was enough to sting, reminding Con of the time he and Jason had parted ways for a while, after he'd returned from prison. "Look... I just want to know. I want to help."

"There's nothing you can help, Con, don't you understand? I just... I don't know what... I mean... I just don't know what happened."

"Well try to figure it out! Come on, we got half an hour before we get where we need to be."

Jason rolls his eyes. But he knew Con was right... he needed to sort this out. It felt like such a mess. "It started when I told Katie I didn't want our connection anymore. I was tired of it... I was tired of the fight. So... she and I took the antidote Rick had made. She didn't want to but... she did it anyway because I wanted her to. I thought it was the right thing."

He shrugs lamely. "It didn't go over well with her. I still don't really know why. I mean... I knew she doesn't like being separated from me, but she took a nosedive into depression land big time. Only after she made her self sick and Rick called me did she admit she was having a hard time dealing with what happened to her at the Agency. I guess... I guess her being separated from me triggered memories because of what they did to her... because of how traumatic it was for her when they separated us then."

Con nods his head as he drives. He could understand how that could happen. "So then what?"

"Well I didn't want to torture her, so we stopped taking the meds."

"And... you were disappointed."

"Yeah... I didn't tell her that though. I mean... if I would have known how she would react in the first place, I wouldn't have done that... I wanted it, but I didn't want it that badly for her to suffer. I just thought she'd not like feeling me all the time and that she'd get used to it. But... that wasn't the case."

"But you two were fine after that?"

"I guess." Jason leans back in the seat, closing his eyes. "We didn't talk much about it... I think she sensed I wasn't happy. I was trying to keep all my negative feelings from her though, because she was already messed up enough the way it was. I didn't want her to have to deal with anything else. I didn't want her to feel what I was feeling."

Con lifts one eyebrow. "And that's when you went down?"

"Yeah." Jason sighs. "Things weren't the same anymore... I think the whole thing progressed again... so the emotions I was holding back tried to erupt a whole lot quicker than they had in the past, and it was pretty painful. Katie and I were out and about, so we came back to TJY, Rick gave me a tongue lashing and... I guess I sorta lost my temper too."

"Ahh... so you did fight."

"No... not Katie and me. I just yelled about how I wanted to be normal and stalked out to go let my frustrations out. A while later, Katie found me and helped calm me down. But the damage had been done. She was tortured with the thought of being apart, and I was tortured with the thought of being locked together."

"And then?"

"Nothing." Jason looks down. "I went home... she went home... the next morning was yesterday when you dumped me out of bed."

"You two didn't talk at all?"

Jason shakes his head. "I didn't want to bother her... upset her... I don't know. I just didn't know what to say to her anymore. We both knew we wanted something different than the other and... I don't know. I didn't want to keep seeing her hurting. So I just let her be. Gave her space. Figured it was better that way. Then last night... she was already gone. Left a note to take the meds, doesn't know when she'll be back, and left me something so I wouldn't forget about her."

Con slows the truck at a stoplight, still thinking. "No connection?"

"No... not now. I don't know what changed her mind. Her note was kind of cryptic. I think I must have finally caused her enough stress she needed to get away from me too, not just her surroundings. I guess I'm to blame for this whole stupid thing."

"You're not happy you two are taking the antidote?"

"Oh, I'm happy, in a way. I mean, it's what I wanted all along. I just don't understand Katie's reasoning for changing her mind, other than to just get away from me entirely. I waited to make sure I knew she'd taken them and... and I knew she was, so I did too. I didn't say anything to her prior... I just... again, figured she'd made up her mind, and if she'd wanted to talk to me, she would have done so. I guess she didn't want to see me or talk to me before she left though."

Con purses his lips, feeling a twinge of sadness. "Are you two... breaking up?"

"I don't know, Con." Jason sighs again. "You know I love her. And I've wanted to call her since last night, I just... don't know what to say. And this time... this time I guess I'm just finally gonna leave things up to her. I'm tired of trying to run the show and making her unhappy. So if this is what she wants then... she's got it. Apparently she needs her space so... I'm waiting on her this time. If she wants to talk to me, she knows where to find me."

Con would have chided Jason, had he not realized that Jason's tone was not a cocky one. His younger friend really did just feel at a total loss, and really was trying to just let Katie be, even if it hurt. "You think she'll come back, don't you?"

"I hope so. She didn't even tell Reese how long she'd be gone though."

"And you don't think she'd like to hear from you?"

Jason shakes his head. "I think I've done enough damage, don't you?"