Scary Eye

"Yeah... okay..." Mick watches Dan go his own way, then gives a little sigh. The man seemed innocent enough... maybe Mick was barking up the wrong tree. Trying to shrug it off, he goes about continuing the chores.


Jade wanders down the driveway, having been walking for the last twenty minutes. It was a little chilly today, and she was glad she'd chosen to put on a jacket. Her mood though, matched the gray sky. Last night, she'd been able to forget and and get away from her worries for a while. Then after her mother's call this morning, it all got flushed down the toilet. But now it was even worse. She and her brother didn't get along all that great, but knowing he was missing... it was scary nonetheless, and she did worry about him. Worse yet, she couldn't even talk to anyone about it, lest her father find out, which was exactly what her mother didn't want.

Her head hurt. She was going in circles and just needed a break. Finding the familiar straw bale outside the barn, she flops down, having dubbed it her thinking spot several days ago. She could hear some of the others moving around inside the barn, but she opted not to approach anyone yet. She just needed to think.


Ryder was only half-listening to Thirteen, but as she joins him, her solemn expression surprises him a little. He question catches him off guard and he has to think for a moment. Eventually he shrugs. "Animals are a lot different than people, Thirteen. I'm not saying I agree with every time an animal is caged up, but most zoos and stuff keep pretty good care of the animals."

He takes another bite of his cereal, only part of his concentration still on the television. "Now I don't put up with abuse, but... you could say it's mean of Laura to have a cat too... or Jamie - she's got a big snake. I don't think it's mean as long as the animal is kept happy and healthy."

He looks a little gentler at Thirteen. "You weren't just caged up." He taps her chin with a bent finger. "They stole life from you. And that's unacceptable."

"The crocodile has apparently made it to the outskirts of the zoo. Zoo keepers are directing people away from this area of the zoo as they continue to try and bring the animal back to..."

Ryder rolls his eyes as he looks back to the tv. "Then you have these idiots who just confuse the animals more by not knowing what they're doing. You'd think if they keep crocs, they'd have brains enough to handle them."

Sighing, he shakes his head before going to put his bowl down in the sink. "I can't watch that anymore." It would only take ten minutes to get to the zoo if he took the back road. He grabs his keys and aims for the door. "Somebody's gonna get hurt, and I don't want them shooting that poor animal."

Stopping at the door though, he turns to look at Thirteen again. His smile was softer than his tone had been. She had come a long way, but there was still a long way yet to go. Getting her out among people and new places without incident made it a good day. "Come on... Let's go have a new adventure, ay?"

Waiting for her only takes a few minutes, and soon, they're heading down the back streets, Ryder behind the wheel of the used car he'd picked up a couple weeks prior. He gives Thirteen a sidelong glance, grinning. "And I thought it was going to be a boring day."

In fifteen minutes, they were parking in the zoo lot. Though open, it was a quiet day this time of the year, and there were few people to be seen - most were at the other end, gawking at what was happening with the crocodile, or being pushed back by zoo personnel. Ryder goes ahead and pays entrance for him and Thirteen, then wanders in the direction of the commotion. There were trees throughout the zoo and long buildings with signs that indicated what was inside. Arrows pointed to elephants, tigers and seals. They had to pass by the tall fences where beyond, giraffes looked at them curiously as they chewed their leaves and grass.

Ryder leads the way, not thinking a whole lot about the animals - he'd been to zoos before. Not this one, but it wasn't anything that was exciting enough to break his concentration as he headed for where the crocodile was.


Gage joins Sapphire in the tiny kitchen, not really sure why he was so awkward. He'd done so much... but it was the everyday tasks he just wasn't familiar with.

"Um... I should be okay for breakfast." He looks at her a little sheepishly. During the last couple weeks, he'd pulled out of his depression, but he was still very quiet, almost timid. Here was as man who had tortured... killed... did so many bad things to people and assisted in the unthinkable. Yet now, he felt as if he were a child. This was a whole new way of life. Though he had the common sense to make it through, and though he had enough logic to survive in society, it was still new... still strange.

Sapphire's offer to help him shop makes him lift his eyebrows. Even while living at TJY, everything had been provided. He'd ridden along with other guys as they'd run errands and bought supplies. But he'd never shopped for himself before. He was used to being in public, but not for that reason... not living.

"Yeah... yeah that would be nice. Um... thanks." A wry grin surfaced. Smiles were still rare, but slowly, they were becoming more frequent. Sapphire was helping him find the things in life that made it worth it.

He looks around the apartment again. It felt a little bit like where he used to live, but it had never been on his own. He had thought he was experiencing so much back with the Agency, but it wasn't even scratching the surface.

He can't help the words again. "Thank you... not just for shopping but... well, for everything. I know I don't deserve friends so... I like it that you've stuck with me."


Susanne goes about her paperwork, busily trying to prepare files for Reese. She had been deep in concentration for a while now, enveloped in her work.

Swiveling in her chair, she reads another line of the pages she was holding before rising slowly, and finally looking to the doorway where she was headed.

Half a face and one gray, lifeless eye stared back at her, the figure hidden around the corner.

Susanne shrieks and her papers go flying in every direction, scattering across the floor. Stumbling backward into her desk, her heart just about pounds from her chest. The freaky eye had disappeared, but now she could hear Scott's muffled laughter.

"Scott Johnson!" Susanne stalks from her office and around the corner to find Scott red in the face from laughing. "You... you... you.....!" She whacks him on the arm several times before being able to calm herself down.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Scott gasps for breath. "I couldn't help it..." Pausing to breathe, he looks at her, trying not to laugh any more. "I wish I could have seen the look on your face though."

Realizing that he couldn't even see her when she jumps, Susanne starts to chuckle. "And it's just as well, you turkey. Now I have to clean up this mess."

"I'll help."

"Don't bother. But you do that again, I'm gonna sock your other eye and you won't be able to see at all for a week."

Still grinning, Scott makes it back to his own office with the can of Mountain Dew he'd originally been after before deciding to tease Susanne with his "scary eye" as she called it. Flopping down in his chair, he looks over to Dalton, tossing him a second can of pop. "How's the system coming?"