A/N: A missing scene from "The Homecoming".
Auld Lang Syne
by
Owlcroft
McCormick glanced over at his passenger. The judge was still slumped in his seat, head resting on a hand, not even looking at the passing landscape.
"You wanna drive for a while?" offered Mark.
That at least got a response, unlike his earlier comments on the scenery.
"Hmm? Yeah, okay, if you're tired, I'll take a turn." Hardcastle shifted and stretched a little.
"I'm not tired. I just thought you looked a little bored or something. I'm good 'til we need to stop for the night, Judge. But if you'd like to drive for a bit . . ." McCormick shot another glance to the side. "'Tell you what. We'll stop for some lunch in a while and swap off then if you want. That okay?"
The judge went back to his morosely meditative posture. "Sure, whatever you wanna do."
Another silence fell, exactly like the silences that had filled most of the trip. Mark sighed, then made one last-ditch effort.
"You remember saying something about how the friends you make when you're a kid are the friends you'll have all your life?" He raised his brows interrogatively.
Hardcastle grunted and squinted out through the windshield.
When it became apparent that the sole answer would be that grunt, McCormick spoke again. "Well, you mighta been wrong about that."
Another six miles had been put behind them before the judge sighed, then muttered, "Yeah, looks like I was." He sighed again, rubbing his forehead. "But you know something? I'm not wrong about everybody and that helps. It helps a lot."
McCormick grinned at that, and started watching out for a place to stop for lunch.
finis