Lucas sat at the table in the mess, tapping a pencil on the table and staring at a page with a series of code on it. He ate his sandwich, chewing absently. He was looking for a pattern but hadn't been able to find it yet. The guys and Kat hadn't shown up for lunch yet. She'd become a part of their lunch group, easily holding her own in the many guy-themed conversations that popped up.

There were times though, when Lucas wondered about her. She had mentioned once that for a few years she would "lose time." She'd wake up and it would be days later than she had remembered going to sleep. It hadn't happened in a long time, but because of it, she had holes in her memory and he knew it frustrated her. He liked hanging out with her, she was a good conversationalist and they often had long and complex discussions on various topics, much like he and Sam had when they talked about work. He stared at the page, wondering if there even was a pattern at all.

"What are you looking for?"

He looked up as Kat sat down with a salad. "A pattern in this code, though I was just wondering if there was even one to begin with."

"Who asked you to find it?"

"No one but myself. It's a glitch that keeps coming up and it's driving me crazy."

"Ah, I see. Have you been feeling any better?"

"No, not at all. I still get those headaches at night."

"Maybe you're concentrating too hard and should stop earlier so you can get more rest."

"You sound like my mother," he said with a smirk.

She smiled. "Yeah well, if you were a normal kid you'd still be living with a mother so…"

"Ha ha, very funny."

"Aww Lucas you know I'm only giving you a hard time."

"I know."

"Where's everyone else?" she asked, picking at her food.

"Don't know. They must've gotten caught up in something. How are your experiments going?"

"Interesting actually. Right now we're assisting the people at Chatton remotely on a study."

"Study of what?"

"Basically brain activity and its relation to psychic ability."

He nodded. "Now see, that's cool, looking at brains."

"Want a scan?"

He laughed. "No thanks."

"Thought so," she said, grinning. "I still want to run that experiment with Darwin if it is okay with you."

"Yeah sure. It would be interesting to know what's going on in his head during certain situations." She nodded, moving her food around on her plate but not really eating. "What's up with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're just picking at that, and that's weird for you because you like to eat as much as the rest of us. So that leads me to believe that you're either sick or something is bothering you."

She stared at him a moment. "Alright, then yeah, something is bothering me."

"Want to talk about it?"

"Not particularly. Just one of those nightmares that follows you around for the rest of the day."

"Yeah, I've had more than my fair share of those, especially lately."

"Really?"

"Yep. I'm hoping that they'll go away soon though. I just need to figure out what it is that is bothering me and causing them."

"I could try to help if you want."

"If you can do that then why don't you do it for yourself?"

"Can't. It doesn't work that way. To tell the truth, now that we're friends, I couldn't read your mind even if I wanted to."

"Why not? Not that I mind that."

"It's always been that way. When I get close to people, it shuts off on it's own. Which is probably good because if it didn't then they'd never lead the lives they were supposed to."

"True. I hadn't thought of that. They'd always be asking you for stuff."

"That and I would always be trying to keep them from making mistakes."

"So you can't even see things on yourself?"

"No."

"Hmm. Well, if I can't figure it out soon, I might have to take you up on that offer."

"Okay," she said, still pushing her food around.

"C'mon Kat, eat that will you?"

"Who sounds like a parent now?"

He grinned. "Look, people are always saying that to me because I get caught up and forget to eat or just don't want to. I've been trying to follow the advice. You should too; you're just as bad as I am about it. Besides, if you don't I won't be able to give you dessert," he said, using a mocking tone for the last part of it.

She looked at him curiously. "Dessert? What are you talking about?"

"Got a package today…and it has chocolate in it."

Her eyes widened. "You have some? And you'll share?"

He nodded. "Your family lives in the land of Ghirardelli. Why haven't they sent you any?"

She shrugged. "I haven't asked. They're likely out of town anyway."

"My parents did that a lot too. Still do, actually. The package came from my grandmother."

"That's very nice of her."

"She's a great lady. But seriously Kat, eat!"

She gave him a small half smile and ate while he looked over the code again. When she finished, she stood up to leave. "See you later Lucas, good luck with that code."

He looked up. "Not so fast. I told you I'd share right? Come on, I've got to head back to my room anyway," he said, standing.

"I didn't think you were serious."

"Well, you were wrong then. Come on," he said, walking out.

She followed him out. She'd never been to his room before, though she knew where it was. Most of their conversations had taken place either in her room or in Mammal Engineering. He opened his door and walked inside, holding the door for her.

"Thanks," she said.

"No problem. So, this is my room. Sorry it's a wreck but…"

"You're a guy. Most guys' rooms are a wreck. Especially ones belonging to busy guys."

"Good point. Have a seat," he said, motioning to the bed.

She sat down and watched him as he picked a box up from the desk, opening it. He sat down next to her and set it in her lap. "Pick your poison," he said with a smile. Inside the box was a great many different things, but he pulled the chocolate bars out and held them out to her. "Which one would you like?"

"Hmm…well, is there only one of each?"

"Yeah but don't worry about it."

She took the dark chocolate with a grin. "It's my favorite."

"Mine too."

"Oh! I'm sorry! Here then," she said, handing it back.

"No, it's cool. I'll be happy with the other ones too. Consider it a thank you for the projection lesson."

She gave him a nod and looked down for a moment. "Thanks."

"Something wrong?"

"No, not really. Just…thanks for being nice to me Lucas. I'm glad I've had the chance to get to know you."

"Oh," he replied, unsure of how to respond. "I'm glad too. Kind of given me a different insight on people who can do what you can. Besides, you're fun to talk to, like Sam is. Us 'not normal' kids have to stick together."

She chuckled. "Well, you're somewhat more normal."

"Not really. Not when you take everything into account. But you're like me in that way too, your family isn't normal at all, not like Ben's or Tim's or Miguel's."

"Very true. Well, I have to get back to work and you probably do too," she said, standing.

He stood as well. "Yeah, I do. Something is always needing to be fixed."

She walked to the door and then stopped, turning around. He'd already started to follow her out and she almost ran into him. She looked at him a moment before she gave him a quick hug.

"Thanks for the chocolate," she whispered before pulling away. "I really needed it."

Shocked, he just looked at her. "Uh…you're welcome, I…hmm."

"What?"

"Nothing," he said with a smile. "Glad I could help."

She returned his smile and walked out. He stood there for a few more minutes, thinking. That had really been the first time she'd ever been that personal with him. He knew, from their talks, that it was something that she rarely did with anyone, though her reasons for it were different than his own. With the psychometric thing, for her, touching anyone or having anyone touch her could be problem. She would see things about them, things she didn't want to see and it bothered her. So, she had early on shied away from much physical contact. In a way, he felt honored that she'd chosen him as one of those few, and wondered if this was what it felt like to others when he chose to do the same.