Disclaimer: The plot and Mallory are mine, not anything else. Hope you enjoy!

Warnings: violence, language, casual sex, the usual.

Mallory was stalling.

She had been stalling for the past week now; she was on her way back home to Kansas, to visit her younger brother and patch the wounds that tore them apart. It was a visit that would change their relationship, which was civil, at best. He might decide to hate her, or accept her faults and give her a second chance to be his older sister. She was nervous, however, and has been "running late" for four days now. Dante was being very patient and understanding about it, but she hoped that he was as nervous as she. She wished she could read him, but they weren't close in their youth.

At first, they were very close, as close as siblings could be. She fought for him, stayed close to his side, and was protective as any other older sibling was. Her brother was bullied a lot as a kid, and Mallory found herself, either defending him or physically prying bullies off.

That changed after they lost their mother. Mallory became a different person, and they grew apart. Mallory wouldn't talk to anyone, not her father, brother, or the therapist she was forced to see for a few years. She became mute for years after her mother died, and really, nobody could blame her. Not many witnessed the murder of their own mothers right in front of them.

Mallory is now 28, and she's ready to let go of her past, no matter how traumatic it was. She's been taking her counselling seriously now, and it's helped her deal with the trauma for the most part. Her past stopped her from forming healthy relationships, growing close to anyone in general was a difficult task for her. She kept to herself all throughout junior high, high school, and university. She took the first chance she could get to leave Kansas for California, to get as far away from the place where her mother was murdered right before her eyes. She became a lone wolf, but not by choice. She earned her bachelor's, and became a Social Worker. She loved her job, it gave her a chance to help children who felt similar loss or distress. She took some vacation time to visit her brother, but she's got no clients currently, so her boss doesn't seem to mind that she might be late in returning.

Honestly, if she got fired for not returning, it would just give her an excuse to look into buying an apartment in Kansas and seeking employment there. She has missed her home, the busy streets of LA didn't suit her. She loved Kansas, but it was the place of her nightmares at the same time.

However, she was tired of running away.

Tonight, she found herself at some random diner, eating a burger and fries. She's usually more health conscious, but on this trip, she really needed the comfort food. She sipped her coke as she bit into her burger, chewing the juicy meat and swallowing. She was so hungry; she'd spent hours driving then hours sleeping in her car. She was weary from her travels, and planned to stop at a motel for the night to get some actual sleep.

Her thoughts drifted to her younger brother; she hasn't seen Dante since she left for university, and their goodbye was short, and not sweet. She used to be sweet. Before…

She didn't let her mind go there; she'd spent years blocking the images of what happened that night, and she didn't want to have a panic attack in the middle of a diner at midnight. She hoped her brother would forgive her for being cold towards him in the years that he needed her. She couldn't take back the coldness, or how their relationship deteriorated, but perhaps they could still mend it.

She finished her burger and fries, after paying her bill and leaving a $5 tip, she exited the diner.

After getting a good night's sleep, Mal was back on the road by morning. Her music was loud as ever, her window rolled down. She planned to make headway today, she couldn't stall forever. No matter how nervous she was, she needed to do this and she knew that.

That's what she told herself, before she saw a hitchhiker in a trenchcoat on the side of the road. She usually didn't pick up hitchhikers, but the road they were on was pretty abandoned, she had decided to take backroads instead of the freeway. The man looked worn as hell, like he'd been standing there for a long time. Besides… She had a gun in her glove compartment; after her mom was killed the way she was, Mal went nowhere without it. She pulled over to the side of the road, opening the glove compartment and pulling out the small black revolver. She checked that it was loaded before she shifted the gun into the small compartment on the driver's door. Hopefully if the guy decided to do something stupid, she could reach down and grab it without him noticing. She looked at the man through the windshield, noting the trenchcoat as well as the wide blue eyes, he seemed hesitant in approaching, so she got out the car. She kept a careful distance between them, leaning on her hood.

"Need a ride?" she asked as casually as she could. She couldn't help but think the only reason she's helping this stranger was because she was unintentionally stalling again, but she couldn't help it. The man looked like a lost puppy.

He approached her, but kept a respectable amount of distance between them, "Uh- Do you happen to have a cellular device?"

She was slightly shocked at how gravelly the stranger's voice was, it deepened his mystery. She noticed his clothes were clean, he was dressed like an accountant. He also said 'cellular device', and nobody calls it that anymore. Despite his weirdness, she reached into her pocket and checked for bars.

Predictably, there were none; they were in the middle of nowhere after all, "I don't have any bars out here unfortunately," she replied, tucking her phone away for now, "I can get you to the next town over, I can probably get a signal there."

"Thank you," he says, and she nods in response.

"Get in."