Dirk wasn't entirely sure why he had been staring the pot of lilies above Jenna Summer's closed casket. He didn't know how long he'd been their either. There was soft piano music in the background and he was holding himself up by a cane while he stared at the plant. A breeze from the open window gentle rustled the leaves. It only now occurred to him that he truly had no idea why lilies were the chosen funeral flower arrangements. Jenna liked sunflowers much better than lilies, solely because her mother took her to sunflower fields to play when she was younger. The man found them odd as well, to have next to a casket. Flowers shouldn't be there- they should be at a grave, or a dinner table, or… or still in the ground. Not set beside her like a slow to wither monument that her life was gone. And it had just slowly burnt out like the flowers were now.

He didn't have any idea that he was crying. Just staring at this pure white plant in her favorite color pot- a bright lime green color that she said it made her think of freshness. He knew too much about her to have it seem to be normal. That he shouldn't have been around to know her. He should have killed Nathanial before he had gotten to her and died. She should have been married with kids, husband and yappy wiener dog in a nice house with a great car- but… no. She had been stuck with him. Now she was dead. Because of him… If she had just let Nathanial kill him, she would have lived and the next victim would have found a way to save them.

Tears made twin tracks down his cheeks behind his sunglasses, completely destroying his 'stoic' image he was trying to hold onto by strings. He did notice that Roxy was gently whispering to him that they needed to move on since there were other people in line that needed to say goodbye as well, Jake on his other side to help guide him on a premade path Dirk had already forgotten. Dirk swallowed, nodding as he followed Jake, limping with his cane to follow in line behind him. He would have stayed there for perhaps weeks if not ushered by Roxy's gentle hands on his arm back toward his seat. The lawyer was beside them, dressed in black like they all were. He offered a flicker of a tense smile in Dirk's direction before letting them pass him to sit down.

The blond didn't stand when they called for people who knew to say something. He didn't utter a word, shed a tear, or move. Any of them would have said he hadn't even let out breath as many of Jenna's peers, family or co-workers rose to say the most beautiful things about her. Jenna Summers had been a straight 'A' medical student, interning at a well-known psychologist's office and was going to become an absolute fantastic doctor one day. She was inspiring, sweet, and intelligent. He still couldn't raise his head, held down by the guilt that he felt for having her there in that box instead of him. Maybe if he had held the rag a little tighter, maybe if he had just… not given up and done the same thing he had with Rachel. Jake had one arm around him since Dirk had started to shake without his knowledge. He held the other together and Dirk swallowed, resting his head down into his hand while his elbow stood up on his knee. The other hand used the cane to keep him grounded, even while he sat in the church pew.

Vincent had come to pick them up, just as he promised, an hour ago to come for the funeral. They had gotten there a tad bit after the family had already gone into the main room to settle down. Rachel and her family arrived soon after they did, though neither of them spoke yet. The other funerals for the victims of Nathanial Morris were taking place in different locations, though there were pictures of them off to the side. Each person who had been proven to be taken by Morris sat up on a table beside the casket, Dirk and Rachel's weren't among them. The sun poured the through the stained glass windows of the church; it was a beautiful day outside strange enough. The flowers, sunshine, and birds chirping were too out of place in Dirk's mind to have a funeral going on. The world needed to stop and realize it had lost one of the thirteen billion people on the planet. People needed to stop and realize what a human she had been, to have taken from the Earth in a single moment.

Dirk couldn't stop shaking.

Rachel was behind him in the pews, eyepatch black as her dress. She reached forward and squeezed his shoulder tightly. Jake glanced back at her to see her one eye tearing up. Not for the woman who she never knew, but because of the pain for the man who had known her. There was strength in that hand, and thus Dirk laced his fingers with Rachel's on his shoulder. Her family beside her didn't say anything to stop her, knowing that there was a reason behind this gesture. Dirk eventually settled from his near panic attack, letting Rachel have her hand back. It slid off his shoulder slowly in case he needed to take it again. She sat back and Dirk looked up to see a group of men stand, take the casket and people around them all slowly start to rise. Jane whispered to Roxy that there was a path off to the side and they headed that direction, sliding into a black car with Vincent who said nothing. The car ride in the funeral line was surprisingly slow, sliding behind each car in line slowly toward the plot they had marked for the Summer's family. Funeral processions made every other car let them pass by, but Dirk didn't look at those staring back at them. Police escorted them through the streets in the front and in the back since the media had blown the entire case out of proportion.

His eyes shut, face turned out toward the streets they were passing. Vincent answered his phone before going into soft spoken words with his secretary. His fingers memorized the shape of his tie with how often he ran over it. Dirk could hear the fabric rustling from where he was, the car was so silent. Dirk reopened his eyes to see them pass through the last stop light and turn into the road curving into the city's largest cemetery. It was all so strange… who erected giant stone statues to make a record of who they put into the ground? It was all foreign to him, never being around that sort of thing before hand and the game… no one stayed dead or you simply didn't have time to grieve. They left the car, stepping toward the circle gathering around the coffin about to be lowered down after they said a few lines from what he assumed was the Bible. He had never read it, by his future it had been chopped and mutilated that it had just become another relic that was lost in time. Dirk wondered if he should consider looking at it as the priest closed the book, speaking the last words. "Chapters always end. But with the endings, comes new beginnings."

Jenna Summer's fiancé was off to the side with her parents, all three looking like they wanted to throw themselves into the pit with their loved one. Dirk looked away, shame building up in his chest yet again. He knew he would have to say something… anything. The coffin was lowered, the dirt piled onto the wooden decorated rectangle, and swallowed by darkness. Yet another thing she hated… darkness. She had told him that she had slept with a nightlight since she was five years old. Dirk swallowed as the crowd dispersed to either talk to the parents or go home, sharing words with the people next to them. He waited in line to speak to Jenna's parents, taking a deep breath to calm himself meanwhile.

The others had been asked to stay behind as he went up to face the Summer's alone. He used the cane to limp forward toward them. Her father was a tall man, with dark olive toned features and high cheek bones. Her mother looked so much like Jenna except for her lighter skin tone it was uncanny. Seeing them both there caused him to go slack jawed in front of them. His mouth opened and shut as he looked at the ground, unable to hold Jenna's mother's similar gaze. "I… I wanted to apologize." He whispered, eyes brimming with tears again that he could not stuff away and put a lid on his already cracking jar of emotions. Dirk couldn't see the look on the family's faces as he kept going; mouth running on without his consent. "I'm… I'm so sorry… Jenna was so wonderful to me when we were… were t-there." He swallowed, "She's the reason I'm still there and if I could trade places-s, I would and I'm just so- so sorry that I couldn't save-e your daughter-" He was caught off guard by her mother reaching forward to pull him into a hug.

He swallowed, trying to keep himself in check. They had lost a daughter and a wife; they didn't need him to be moaning about his loss when theirs were far greater in his mind. "It's alright." The woman whispered, rubbing his back. "You did the best you could… Vincent told us what you did for our little girl… I'm glad you were there for her." She pulled back to search his gaze, looking so much like Jenna it burnt him to his soul. "You are not responsible for what happened, but I'm glad that… man, is gone." She nodded and stiffened herself and he nodded return, and the fiancé, Mark, stepped forward to shake his hand. For a moment he thought he knew the other. He was tall, black haired with another color in it, with a lilac purple colored scarf around his neck. He frowned, looking up at him for a moment. If this were the game, he would have nearly thought he was looking up at one of the trolls… "Thank you… for helping Jenna." His voice sounded familiar too but Dirk swallowed, "I'm sorry that it wasn't enough to bring her home." Mark nodded, "Me too…" He shook his hand before Dirk stepped away and headed back towards the group waiting for him. Roxy wrapped her arms around him soon as he was close enough. "Let's get you back into bed... maybe we can sneak in a few burgers into the hospital." She murmured; hand on his arm once more.

Rachel stepped up to Dirk from the side with her elder brother behind her. He was dark haired like she was, the same shade of violet blue eyes. "I wanted to thank you." Her voice was a tad bit strained from the tears earlier. "So did my parents." He frowned, honest confusion on his face. The elder couple came to stand beside their son as Rachel smiled gently, "For saving my life." Her older brother put a hand on her shoulder, her parents nodding. Dirk shook his head, eyes falling to the ground, "You did most of the saving." Rachel shook her head, "We both know you saved my life, Dirk." She stood on her tiptoes to kiss him on his cheek before smiling at the others. "Take care of yourself." Rachel nodded, stepping away and Dirk shrugged, almost flickering a smile in her direction, "I'll make an attempt." Rachel laughed softly before letting out a low breath. "It's over now. We can go back to our lives." There was silence before Dirk looked at the tombstone with Jenna's name on it. "Only if all of us were so lucky." He breathed, she followed his gaze, "I'm sure wherever she ended up, Dirk… She's happy now."

There was no one else left to talk to or tears to let flow after Rachel went off with her family. Dirk was back in the car, tired and not willing to socialize any longer, chest aching so hard it hurt to breath. Jane rested her head on his shoulder, looking out the window. She had come back to the car with him when he had muttered he was tired. "You okay?" She whispered and Dirk shrugged the shoulder that she wasn't resting on. "No." The woman nodded, "You know that's okay to feel like that, right?" Dirk repeated the action, before whispering back, "Then why do I wish I was dead?" There was a pause in the car before she said softly, "Because you fought a mental, physical and emotional battle that was so hard you're still recovering… give it time, Dirk. You have people here to support you in every way. Don't give up hope." She murmured back to him to have him draw shaky breath as the other three finally joined them in the back of the long car. "Why do they have lilies at funerals?" Dirk asked her and she looked up at Dirk, slight frown on her features as Jake and Roxy slid into the seats facing them. "They symbolize the innocence that has been restored to the soul of the departed. White stargazer lilies symbolizes sympathy and any type of white lily expresses majesty and purity." Dirk swallowed, "No one deserved them more than she did then."