I've always loved parks. There's something about the open sky, the calm breeze, the absence of city noise that lets me relax in a way I can't anywhere else. And after what happened in the past few days, I needed to relax. I think everyone's had that, those days where things keep happening, one after another. I've had eventful days before, but never have I had so much stress packed into forty-eight hours. That of course, brought me back to those five years; and that I never want to do. What needed to be said has been said. After yesterday, I'm taking some me days.

Unfortunately, that's a little hard to do with a CIA agent shadowing me every step of the way. When I had announced I was going out, Grant followed me and silently made it very clear I was not allowed to do so alone. Fine by me, as long as he didn't try to talk.

We'd been sitting side by side, silently, for a few hours by now. I was using this time to finish piecing my brain back together and finally go over what happened yesterday and the day before. It had taken a bit longer than I thought it would; not surprising, just exhausting.

I looked over at Grant, wondering how he was coping with the inevitable boredom. He was asleep. Mildly confused, I tapped his shoulder. He woke up and started when he saw me.

"You done with whatever you need to do?"

I nodded, getting up. "You seemed surprised to see me."

Rubbing his eyes he said, "I honestly expected you to be gone."

"And where would I go?"

"Good point."

He got up and glanced around. "Well, we should get going. Unless you have something else you want to do?"

"Besides pass out for a few days, no."

He gave a short bark of laughter. "Amen to that."

"Says the man who just took a multi-hour nap."

He herded me in the right direction. "Hey man, in this line of work, you take all the sleep you can get."

That, I supposed, makes sense.

"...can't just go and throw accusations around!"

"We need to get him vetted is all I'm saying. After what happened, I don't think we can trust him, no matter what the others say."

"He's already been vetted. What more can we do? I don't like it either, but until we get word from higher up, we're stuck with him."

"Being given the OK by some old government dog is not vetting! You can't tell me this doesn't seem suspicious to at least one person up high!?"

"Will, keep your voice down!"

"All I'm saying is all four of us know something's weird, even-"

Deciding I'd heard enough, I opened to door to find Ingrid and Will in a quiet yet heated debate. Will stopped mid-sentence when he noticed me. "Oh, you're back."

"You sound absolutely thrilled about it."

Grant immediately interposed himself between us. "All right, you two. Don't start."

Will glared at him and pushed past. Grant gave him a weird look and turned to Ingrid.

"Do you know where Cassie is? After all, she's the one in charge of this one's accommodations."

I interrupted, "You know I can hear you, right?"

"Yeah."

So that's how it is.

Ingrid smothered a laugh and replied, "She's back in her office, waiting for you two to finish. Never mind, I take that back. She's right there." Ingrid pointed behind us. Sure enough, Cassandra was quickly approaching, eyes locked on me.

She stopped in front of us, gave a curt nod to Grant, and beckoned me to follow her.

As we were walking, she said, "You take your time, don't you?"

"I like to make sure I can do things, like think or talk."

"That bad, huh?"

"...yes."

She was silent at this. Thankfully, she changed the subject. "Ready to get emotionally attached to a new house?"

Baffled, I stammered, "Wha-? I never-I don't-I didn't get emotionally-to the house!?"

She had a little smirk, the ass. I rolled my eyes and made a point of not responding to her. All throughout the car ride and the walk to her flat, she attempted to wrangle me into conversation; my refusal to do so didn't seem to bother her. However, seeing she lived in a condominium instead of a house, I had to say something.

"I thought you lived in a house? I was promised a house."

Cassandra stopped and glowered at me. Now it was my turn to smirk. She unlocked the door and went inside, leaving me to follow; muttering, "So that's how it's going to be."

I didn't say anything, I was too busy admiring the condo. Almost mirroring the house in Maine, it was spacious and well-lit. Once I was able to really explore, I found a small balcony overlooking the wooded back lot, where some children were running around. I also noticed there was only one bedroom. Cassandra saw me looking at it, puzzled, and said, "Couch."

I sighed. "I should have figured."

"Yes, you should have. Alright, make yourself at home." She walked away, making it clear we were leaving each other alone. Miffed, I surveyed my little kingdom. "'At home', huh. The couch, you mean. Fine. As long as I don't have to share a room with you."

About twenty minutes after I had settled in, Cassandra came back out to lay down some ground rules. I wasn't allowed to leave the condo on my own unless there was an emergency that triggered an evacuation. If I did want to go out, she had to come with. The only people I could contact was her, the other agents, and emergency responders. I started feeling as if I was under house arrest with all these restrictions. Then I realized I was technically a felon and a POI in a CIA investigation, so I guess I could justifiably be under house arrest.

She finished up my restrictions by saying, "If there's anything you want to do tonight, you should tell me now. I don't need you interrupting my report."

"I'll keep that in mind."

She raised an eyebrow, then walked away, leaving me alone once again.

There actually was something I wanted to do, but not tonight. I needed a bit longer before that confrontation. So instead I was sitting on the balcony sifting through thoughts. In particular, to the conversation between Will and Ingrid. My first instinct was they were talking about me. It certainly made some sense. But something was telling me I didn't know the whole story. Neither were surprised when I interrupted. Neither looked guilty; in fact, Ingrid almost looked relieved. It wasn't piecing together, so I put it aside.

Dimitri.

He knew me and I knew him. He had been one of the people spearheading the project. Saw him the most in the final year.

Pain suddenly laced through my brain. Hissing, I narrowly avoided slamming my head on the railing. I tried- and failed- to stop tears from forming, but it was so sudden and intense it was all I could do to not scream. Then, instantly as it had come, it was gone. Evidently, it was dangerous to even think about him. As I steadied my breathing, I told myself I wouldn't make that mistake again.

Instead, I focused on the sounds around me. There was no thunderstorm this time, but the drone of cars in the distance was a constant undertone. An owl hooted nearby. In the distance, sirens. Hearing them triggered an older, less painful memory. Now that I look back, that was the day I set myself on this path. The first step I took in this bloody, death-filled direction.