"...Dad..."

Stryker was unable to take his eyes off the body in the water. How unfair that it looked exactly like Victor. The pier was strangely dry, even though it was pouring rain. Jack was wrapped up in a blanket...no a towel, and was the only one wet. His goggles were gone, his hair was dripping in his face, and his cheeks were stained with frightened tears.

"Dad..." he whimpered again.

Stryker managed to take one step before the spell of the dream stopped him. He wanted to pull his friend away, tell him again that this was all just a dream, but his mouth wouldn't work. Jack knelt on the boards, the towel slipping off him, and plunged his arm into the water. Stryker craned his neck to see if he had grabbed his dad's hand; Jack's reach wasn't long enough.

"Dad!" he cried, almost falling off the pier to get to Victor.

I'm taller, Stryker thought. I could reach him if I could move.

His body stayed rooted to the spot, and it was then that Stryker growled with helplessness.

Please, Stryker pleaded, unable to look away from Jack's desperate attempts to reach his father. Don't make me watch this! Don't make him go through this again!

He felt a weight lifted, and before he knew it he was beside Jack, thrusting his arm into the river. His hand wrapped around Victor's wrist, cold and stiff, and pulled; Jack felt his finger's brush around his father's, and he grabbed his hand to help pull.

Suddenly he was looking down at a white floor. He blinked, then looked at the warm hand holding his. Victor met his eyes with a smile, then pulled him to his feet.

"I've been waiting for you, son," he said, reaching up and brushing Jack's hair back. "I was wondering when you'd figure it out."

Stryker watched this from a distance, numb and confused. He softened when Jack rushed forward and wrapped his arms around his father's waist, biting back tears.

"I missed you," he croaked as Victor stroked the back of his head. "I missed you so much."

"I know," Victor said, his brow knit with regret. "I'm so sorry, Jack."

"Why? It's my fault, not yours!"

Victor held him at arms' length, a surprised look in his eyes.

"Who told you that?" he asked.

"I did," Jack answered, looking at the floor. "I should have helped you. I...if I had done something..."

He stopped when Victor grabbed the sides of his head and tilted it up.

"Jack, this isn't your fault," he told him. "You were unconscious when I drowned. There was no way for you to stop it."

Jack's eyes widened. Stryker sighed in relief. Victor dying was a tragedy, but at least now Jack knew the truth.

"When you awoke, I was already gone," Victor continued, his eyes growing sad. "I'm sorry you had to see me like that. I wish I could have kept that from you."

"Dad-" Jack started as his father looked past him.

"I have to go," Victor interrupted. "I've already overstayed."

"No, y-you can't leave," Jack stammered, clutching his father's hand before he pulled away. "Please! This was just starting to be a good dream!"

Victor sagged, then grabbed his son's head and kissed his forehead. When he pulled away he was nothing but smoke that blew away from them. Jack tried to follow it before it melded with the night sky. He and Stryker were on the bridge again, shivering from the cold.

"...Maybe I threw the blanket off again," Jack muttered numbly.

Stryker turned to him and stared, surprised by his statement.

"Are you okay?" he asked tentatively. "That was a lot to take in."

"Yeah," Jack said, walking to the railing and resting his hands on it. "If anything, I feel a lot better. Now that...you know."

"I got it," Stryker said, coming beside him and assuming an identical position. A smile came to his face for the first time. "I'm glad you heard that."

"Yeah...me too."

They were silent for a moment, enjoying the silence of the night.

"You think the dream will just end on its own?" Jack asked.

"Maybe," Stryker said with a shrug. "Seems we've conquered everything anyway. It might just end when morning comes."

Jack started to say something, then stopped when something plunked onto his hand. He looked down and watched a raindrop slither down and drop to the river below, then he and Stryker tilted their heads up.

Their legs turned to jelly as they gaped at two giant, lightning blue eyes.