Scott nearly dropped the box he was holding. That's not possible. He thought. But his eyes welled up, and his throat choked up at that familiar smile. He couldn't believe this. He didn't think before throwing the box onto the nearest flat surface and bolting to the door. He felt like if he wasted a second, whoever- whatever he was seeing would be gone.
"Scott?" Deaton asked side-eyeing him as he rushed for the door to the lobby. But as he flung the door open, his grin dropped and his heart broke as Tara from the police station smiled up at him, bringing back a german shepard.
"Hey, Scottie." She noticed the confusion and sadness in his eyes. "What's wrong, hun?" Scott's voice broke as he looked around the lobby. Not with tears, not yet, but with plenty disappointment.
"I just-... I-I swore I saw-..." Tara sighed and gave him a comforting rub of the shoulder.
"It's okay, Scott, it's just the grief. A lot of us at the station have seen him… It's normal." She shrugged. He tried to blink away the water in his eyes.
"It didn't… feel… normal…."