Lines

Who: Doc, Jocelyn, and Kayos
Where: The safehouse
When: late morning

What a night. What a morning, for that matter. Really, Doc could say 'what a life' if he wanted, but he seldom did. He was used to the strangeness, by and large, but last night? Well, it had been a new level for him. Doc had managed to come to terms with life when he had moved through reality, but someone else doing it? Well, it threw him, especially when that someone was his long-dead partner, a woman he'd been close with in his own reality, and the mother of his children. But it wasn't her, Doc got that.

He still didn't know quite how she was different, but the idea that she was brought him some degree of comfort. Having a whole not-sleeping night to muse on it helped too, and Doc had spent it sitting and watching Kayos sleep, once he'd gotten them both back to Marquette. He had a busy day waiting, no doubt; he had to get back in touch with the twins, with Jocelyn, with everyone. There was work to do, plans to rearrange and strategies to formulate. But first? There was breakfast. Once he'd showered and given Kayos access to the bathroom, Doc had slipped out to grab some bagels and coffee, and at the moment was seated in the kitchen with two steaming mugs on the table, busy as he smeared cream cheese on a bagel for Kayos.

Kayos had slept for a bit, even if it was a little fitful--it was actually less fitfull than usual, because she knew Doc was there. So, she had less 'hey demons are going to find me and eat me really slowly and grossly like bad movies' anxieties to deal with. That was a plus, and she was happy to take any plusses she could damn well find.

Then she'd got up, gotten herself all showered, and was bouncing back out into the main room after having thrown on some clothes. Her hair was wet and combed back from her face, as she hit up the kitchen, smelling food-stuffs. "Breakfast!" she said cheerfully, heading over to Doc to stand on tiptoe and smooch his cheek. "I like food! Huzzah!" she said, looking around for a mug of coffee because she smelled it. There! Woo! She grabbed a chair, spun it around and plunked herself down on it so she could rest her arm across the back of the chair and she reached for a mug. "So! I hope you didn't have plans today!"

The bouncy enthusiasm was definitely new to him, or very old in a sense. He hadn't been exposed to it in years now, and it was throwing him a bit. But it was making him smile too as Doc spread out some cream cheese and offered a plate to Kayos. "I kind of always have plans?" he mused, stepping back once food had been handed off and pulling his smoke free, "I work around them, generally. Never know when work's going to hit me, after all, and sometimes that means literally vanishing into thin air." Lighting up, he grabbed his coffee and smirked over the edge of the mug at Kayos. "Why? Did you have plans for me?"

"Well, you warn me before disappearing into thin air." Kayos told him sternly. "None of that shit on my watch, I'll just panic, then have to hunt you down, and you know I can do it and it'll be a big mess, and no one wants that." she concluded. She munched on her bagel and took a drink of coffee before she looked back up at him and grinned brightly. "I did have plans for you! It's caaaaaalled..." she started a mini drumroll on the tabletop. "'This Place Sucks, Let's Make It Not Suck Anymore'!" she announced. "Because seriously, this is a safehouse? Really?" She tsked and shook her head. "Sucks."

Jocelyn had gotten in the habit of stopping by the house at least once a day, part of out obligation to see if there was something she could to around to help out, part hoping to run into Kurt and finally just to spend a few moments with her last memeory of Doc. It was a silly notion but she was missing him more and more with every day that passed. She'd not expected to hear voices from the kitchen when she walked in the door of the house though, at least not Kurt-type voices, if the man every made noise on his own. No this was definitely a female voice that wasn't anyone she recognized. It was far too chipper. Cursing silently, she activated her wards and peeked around the corner of the kitchen to see who was there.

The sight of Doc almost knocked the wind out of her and for an instant she was relieved. Then she spotted his companion. His female and far from old or ugly companion. Who looked like she was fresh out of a shower. "What in the..." Someone had better explain something quickly.

"It's safe, it's low-key, it's..." Doc had been in the process of saying, on his feet with his coffee when Jocelyn's voice hit his ears and killed his words in his throat. He was looking her way the moment she'd made a sound, one hand reaching for the gun he wasn't wearing before recognition kicked in, replacing that reflex with a warm smile. Right behind recognition, of course, was awareness at how this looked, or probably looked at least, and his smile dimmed just a touch with concern. "Just in time for coffee," Doc greeted, unwilling to stammer out explanations in defense of himself if he hadn't done anything wrong, "And to meet an old friend who... just got to town."

Kayos was turning around in her chair to see who the person was, and her instinct was also of the attack variety, but she was also unarmed. But she had hot coffee! So she raised the mug--and then Doc was speaking to her in a familiar manner so she assumed this was not in fact, a really piss-poor ninja attack. It was just a visit from someone. So she just set her mug back down and smiled brightly at the newcomer. "hello!" she said with a little wave. "I'm Kayos, nice to meet you, now answer me truthfully." she said seriously. "This place sucks, doesn't it? It needs furniture, and like hidden gun racks in the linen closet and secret computer consoles behind false walls...probably a bed or two, and a shower curtain would be awesome. I was thinking little duckies on them. Or penguins. do you have a preference?"

Jocelyn opened her mouth to respond, but words didn't really come to her quick enough and in the end she just closed it again withouth saying anything. She did let some of her guard down, although keeping some of her anti-demon shields intact out of spite because at the moment she couldn't quite handle Doc's warm smile and completely grazing over the fact that there was some strange woman in the kitchen. A strange woman interrogating her about penguins and ducks on shower curtains. Where in the world did he find this one? Ignoring Doc, again out of spite, she turned back to the new comer. "I'm Jocelyn, another of Doc's friends I suppose." The glance she gave him wasn't entirely pleasant but it didn't last long. "I didn't used to think it sucked, but I'm starting to reconsider. I'll add the curtain to the list Synnove started of necessities."

He didn't need to know about the active wards, Jocelyn's look told Doc plenty about the space he needed to give her. Brief as it was, it was chastising too, and it stung on some level to think he could be suspected so easily and quickly. "Decorating," he murmured with a faint smile curling around his cigarette, "Decorating and insulting my hideout. Something wicked this way comes..." Doc gave a bit more of a smirk with that, moving away from the table to lean on the counter by the sink, giving Jocelyn more of a berth to enter the kitchen itself. "I'll just bite my tongue, I'm thinking, as long as no one expects me to go shopping for dish towels or anything."

Kayos just kind of blinked at the whole goings on between Doc and Jocelyn. She glanced his way, then back to her. "Wait." she said. "Oh goddamnit, am I in the middle of a thing here?" she asked, since subltey wasn't always the girl's strong suit. "Cuz if that's the case, if there's worry or something, there shouldn't be, and if he's just being a dumbass, cuff him one and tell him not to do it again or something. Should I go for a walk or something?" she asked, not really up for being in the middle of weird tension straight off the bat. She also looked over at Doc. "I wouldn't be insulting your hideout if it was actually a cool hideout but it's totally just an empty house! That's not a hideout, that's a play house. Give me like...four hours I'll make it into a proper hideout, or at least get a good start on it." she said, flashing a grin.

The something wicked comment did not make her smile. For the life of her she couldn't remember which Shakespeare play he was quoting, but she did remember that it was either said by a witch or about a witch. Definitely not amused. Kayos pointing out the obvious tension between them though helped Jocelyn relax even if she wasn't entirely pleased with Doc yet. Some sort of heads up that he'd be bringing home someone else would have been nice. Some sort of heads up in regard to his return would have been even better. She could have been ready. Letting the last of her wards go, she moved into the kitchen, desperate to both keep her distance from him and launch herself into his arms. "Welcome home," she told him, but her voice was still somewhat tinged with anger. "You're more than welcome to take over my duties with the house, Kayos," Jocelyn told her without taking her eyes off of Doc.

"No, she's not," Doc pointed out in an even tone, "And no, kiddo, you're not in the middle of a thing. I probably should've just given some notice on my way back, is all." Setting his mug aside, Doc lit a new cigarette off his old one, an old gesture he usually indulged when he needed an occupier for his fidgeting. "And it's not a play house, either, it's just a space we really only started using again recently. Then I had a road trip to take, so..." He looked from Kayos to Jocelyn, the set somewhere in the grey of his eyes seeming even and steady, like he wasn't going to flinch from her being mad at him. "You two can work on getting this place ready for housing the full crew together if you like, though. I think if we wanted to plan for that, the basement would need some work done, too. I only ever reinforced the structure itself. We've got a lot of work to do, warding aside."

Kayos was still massively under the impression that there were whole worlds of shit going on under the surface in a not so unobvious way. "Duties? Er...." she started, when Jocelyn said that. She really hadn't meant to step on toes, she just thought the place could use a couch. "I was talking about just kinda..." she trailed off, then just smiled, a tighter smile than before, and she clapped her hands together. "Ya know! I just think I'll work on my own place." Which she totally didn't have yet. But she'd find one damn fast if this was the kind of situation going down. She was here to help, not to cause rifts with people, and Jocelyn's tone said everything. Her words really meant little to her, she figured if she did 'take over' it would be a point of bitterness later, even if she did offer. Kayos really didn't want that, or really to even risk it.

Damnit, Jocelyn hated that he could seem so unphased by her anger sometimes. It was useless being mad at him, especially when as the anger started to subside, the overwhelming joy in seeing him again was creeping into the corners of her mind. "It's fine, Kayos. You can stay here as long as you like. I'll work on furniture today." Jocelyn's voice was calmer now, although slightly defeated when she spoke. He'd been gone to long, and now their first meeting they weren't alone and she wasn't sure how to address him.

As much as Doc wanted to mend this, as much as he needed trust and kinship between them? Not to mention everyone else? He couldn't force it. He could only trust that one or both of them would find a way on their own. "Where's Kurt been?" he asked Jocelyn, "Didn't see much sign that he'd been staying here like he said he was going to, have you gotten any word from him?" Of course there was the instinct to move over and soothe Jocelyn's anxiety or whatever it was that was bothering her, but Doc had to ignore it. "Furniture will keep, unless either of you has to have a recliner. In which case, let me know, we can move some money around."

Kayos didn't say anything for a few long moments. Jocelyn's defeated tone with everything, and the whole situation was still leaving her feeling a whole lot like she was in the wrong place. And technically, she was. She didn't belong to this world, really. This was just something she hadn't actually considered when she'd been talking things over with Spider. That she'd show and just not fit here. She was Doc's partner, and she'd figured that'd be good enough. She was rethinking that stunning bit of naivety on her part. Because wow, seriously, she really should have considered something like this. What she didn't do was really let it show. She just kept quiet for a few moments, and then finished off her coffee, grabbing up her bagel as she stood. "You two obviously have stuff to catch up on." she said, smiling at them both. "So I'm going to take off, and you can do that. I'll be...somewhere that's else." she said, making a vague motion towards the door, and she opted to not take the back one that was closest, she'd go through the front, grab her backpack on the way out. "Catch you two later." she added as she backed towards the door, knocking off a salute as she did so, before she turned to all but bolt.

The only problem with Kayos leaving out the front door, meant it put her in Jocelyn's path. Without much effort, Jocelyn blocked her way out of the kitchen, catching hold of Kayos' arm before she could dash out of the house. "No need for you to head out, considering you just got here. Might as well stay until you finish your food." Jocelyn wasn't a forceful or a terribly strong person but she was convincing when she needed to be. Just gently enough she gave Kayos a small tug back towards the kitchen table. "Doc and I have plenty of time to get our stuff sorted out, and kicking out our guest for that is just rude. So have a seat, enjoy your breakfast, and clue me in as to how exactly you ended up here." Jocelyn need to fill Doc in on Kurt, or rather the lack contact from Kurt, but now wasn't the time. Especially since the newest addition to their team was a little slippery.

Kayos really didn't like having her arm grabbed like that and being kinda strong armed into going back. Even if it wasn't a physical strong-arming. She didn't yank her arm back or anything but she did step back from Jocelyn. "Really, it's fine. It's kinda screamingly uncomfortable to be in the middle of Stuff and everything, so I'd rather just take off for now." she said going for blunt honesty. Really if people wanted to not make others uncomfortable and want to bail, they should try to hide shit better. Though she couldn't say that she was that terribly good at it herself, so she didn't really blame anyone for it. It just didn't fix the situation. "My getting here is kinda a...long, weird story and I can tell you all about it at a time that totally isn't right now." she said, giving a smile again. "So...have some coffee and I'll just be leaving now."

Returning Kayos' smile with one of her own, Jocelyn let Kayos step away, but didn't relinquish her hold on the girl. "We don't have Stuff. We might have when I walked in the door and found him with you, but I trust him. Although I am beginning to wonder about your preferred age range in your women, Doc." She glance up at him this time, noticing that his appearance had changed, and she wondered what his trip had been like, if he'd had any success besides picking up the stray she was holding on to. Looking back at Kayos, Jocelyn felt silly trying to hold the other woman in place. It wasn't in Jocelyn's character to be so forthright or demanding. Briefly she wondered what had gotten into her, but Doc's smirk flashed across her memory and she remembered. But holding on to Kayos still was silly. "Have a seat," she told her as Jocelyn gestured Kayos to a chair. "I don't have plans for today so feel free to tell me the whole story."

It was the snipe about his age range in women that did it for Doc, drawing a little twitch in the tattooed cheek under his eye. "I think we do have some issues, and it's not a story she might feel like sharing today. First day in town, and all," he said in an even tone, "Kayos, no need to stick around if you don't feel like it. We'll get together in a bit, if you were going out. Talk about situating this place, get you introduced around, all that." He didn't want her to go, but Doc could see the tension the situation was bringing out in Kayos, and he didn't want her feeling like that on her first day in this world. His own adjustment had been a hard one, after all.

Kayos gave Jocelyn a wide eyed look for a second at her commentary there, and had opened her mouth--but then Doc had been speaking, and she clapped it shut again. Yeah, that was just a whole big ball of bad, and she so wasn't doing this her first day here. Or, if she could avoid it, any of her days here. "Really, the situating is fine left to others. I promise I'll stop calling it the Suck Cave in my head and everything." she said, falling back on random light attempts at humor to cover everything else. Which really was a tripped over attempt, and didn't actually cover well. "So...yeah. I'm just going to..." she made another vague gesture. "Bye!" And poof--she was gone. No more trying to make a normal exit by walking out, one second she was there, the next, after a light blue little burst of light, she wasn't. Poof. Exit: stage wherever the fuck she wanted.

"Fuck." Jocelyn didn't typically swear much but Kayos just disappearing into thin air in front of her was a little unsettling. After a second of avoiding eye contact with Doc she eventually gave in and sighed loudly. "Right, well I'm going to go too. I only came by hoping to find Kurt before he wandered off to be Kurt or whatever he does during the day. I haven't seen or heard from him since you left. I was hoping you had. But you're back now, and I can work a shift over at Babylon before I meet up with Grayson tonight if you can handle looking for him." Her tone wasn't entirely pleasant but it lacked the anger, just mild frustration. "Like I said, welcome home." Jocelyn turned and started out of the kitchen.

He watched her go, let Jocelyn turn and move into the entry of the kitchen before Doc said anything at all. "We'll talk, sometime soon. Think about what you said to her, what you might do if someone came at you like that," Doc said when he finally did speak, his tone even, somewhat chastising, and not saying that he expected the talk to happen now. He wondered where the easy smile he'd had twenty minutes earlier had gone, sighing to himself as he moved for Kayos' abandoned mug and poured the left over coffee in with his own. Work to do he told himself, Like always.

She stopped dead. That felt entirely unfair. "Who is she Eric?" Jocelyn asked without turning back around. "Don't tell me she's just an old friend, you're far to trusting, too comfortable with her for her to be someone who just walked out of your past." It hurt, the way he was speaking to her, with a tone that said he thought she was acting childish. Sure she felt stupid for her reaction, but something in her hadn't wanted to just stand aside and be walked all over like she typically did. Something made her want to step up, and not back down. Maybe her conversation with Synnove was finally taking root.

"She's family." Two words, the only ones Doc needed. Whatever the differences had been with the incarnation of Kayos he'd known and this one? She felt the same, it was still her at the core echoing out and resonating in him with an immediate understanding. They'd never been lovers, but she knew him. "She's one of the only reasons I'm still alive, so yes, I trust her." He never lost the level, subdued tone to his voice as he spoke, eyes downturned to his coffee. "She's the best friend I ever had. That's all."

It was hard to pinpoint what exactly sucked the anger out of her at that moment. Maybe it was what he said, or the way his tone didn't waver, but merely stated the facts at hand. Maybe it was the way he wasn't looking at her when she turned around to look at him. Whatever it was, in an instant her range of feelings contorted and the jealousy, although not gone, was overwhelmed by everything else she felt about him at any other given moment. Within a few steps she'd covered the ground between them and was wrapping her arms around his neck pulling him close. More than anything though, she was quiet, not sure what to say so opting for silence.

Doc felt like a royal bastard for what he knew he needed to do, hating himself as the urge to draw her in fought the instinct that kept his arm and mug between them. Duty was a harsh mistress to bind himself to, an unforgiving one, but Doc would never reject it. There's more than me, than us, he thought, lingering in close for a moment before gently leaning back and slipping from her arms. "She's one of the best people in any world you can count as a friend," he murmured, looking down at Jocelyn, "Do what you think you have to, I hope it means making this right." Things weren't fixed, but he felt like maybe now Jocelyn understood what she'd walked in on. He hoped so. "Like I said, sometime soon, we'll talk."

Feeling him pull away from her was not what she expected. She knew he was all business, but part of her had hoped he'd manage to spare her a tender moment to alleviate her fears about this other woman. Instead he put Kayos between them. Her thoughts doubled back to Mathias and the easy flirting between them, to Grayson and the level of comfort they'd managed to find in one another and she did her best to force back the hurt that the man she was falling in love with was better at keeping his distance than her friends. She fought for an even tone, although knew the hurt was showing on her face. "I can't guarantee what the outcome will be, but I'll take your opinion into consideration." Jocelyn stepped back from him, giving him the same space between them as he had that first night at the meeting at his house. "You know how to find me, Doc." Gone was his real name, or the pet names. It was business now, and he'd made sure to keep it that way.

She was reading it wrong, but Doc wasn't going to be the one to say so. He couldn't try to spell things out any more, that road led to assumptions that he knew best, that he had the right to lead. Still, he wanted to when he saw the look on her face, and when Jocelyn stepped back. He wanted to stop feeling lonely, even if he'd just started. So a small indulgence wasn't a bad thing, or if it was, it was a small enough one that Doc could live with it. He stepped in to close Jocelyn's new space, slipping a hand through her hair to the back of her head as Doc pressed in and laid a gentle kiss on her forehead. "I missed you," he murmured in an odd farewell, releasing after saying as much and moving past her. He'd done this, caused the tension, and he couldn't just fix it now.

Jocelyn didn't answer. This time it wasn't because there weren't the right words, but rather it was taking all her concentration to keep the tears brimming on her eyelids from falling. It wasn't as if he didn't already know how she felt, that she'd missed him more than she could explain. That in all honesty she'd had a rough few days, and she'd hoped seeing him would help alleviate some of that pain and frustration rather than compound it. So she let him go, knowing that he'd just pointed out where she stood, behind yet another person in his life. First the twins, now Kayos. Soon there'd be little room left for her, she'd become the expendable factor.

He had told her 'sometime soon', and to Doc it probably needed to be very soon. He did know how Jocelyn felt, but had never found an easy way to say how he did in kind. Because of the fight, the job, the feeling that he couldn't give enough of himself to justify telling someone that. There needed to be a way, there had to be. Letting his mind turn the problem around and around, Doc pushed open the door of what had been his room when he'd lived here and froze, catching sight of Big Iron holstered and out of sight of the doorway, a solitary envelope tucked in with the gun. When it rains... he began, stepping through without a sound as he waited before even touching the weapon.

She'd waited until he was out of the kitchen before turning around and heading out herself. Temptation won out though and Jocelyn spared a glance at his retreating figure before leaving. When she saw him freeze in the doorway of the bedroom, she paused. Ever too curious, she started after him. "Doc? What is it?" Moving without his invitation to join him she stopped in the doorway just as he'd moved inside the room. Her eyes were drawn in the same direction as his, noticing the large weapon she'd seen before, but mostly just holstered under the large German's arm. "Kurt..."

All warriors took solace in their weapons, Doc knew that. The lives the power inside of him had been had shown him as much, thirty years of hunting had shown him, and now his hand itched for the familiar heft of Big Iron in his hand as a balm against everything with Jocelyn and what he suspected the envelope said. He started to reach for it, fingers curling to draw the gun and instead plucking the envelope free. Wordless as he read, Doc's heart sank even as he understood the message that had been left for him. "Kurt's out," he said, folding the letter shut once he'd finished. Find her, friend, he prayed for the German man, Find her. Live. Leave your war.

Kurt's out. Just hearing the words shook the ground that Jocelyn was standing on and she leaned into the door frame for support. Once she had her bearings back her gaze drifted back to Doc, wanting desperately to cross the room and console her lover. It was obvious the two men had been as close as their sort of relationship would allow and she knew losing Kurt would be a sore point for Doc. His relationship with her gave him something he'd denied himself for some time, but the kinship between the two men wasn't a space she could fill. She doubted Grayson would be able to step up and fill it either. "Doc," she started moving a step or two into the room, on hand still on the door frame, the other outstretched towards him.

He looked back Jocelyn's way fleetingly, tucking the envelope and letter back in with the pistol and stepping away from both, towards her. Lingering would make the urge to reclaim the gun too strong, even if Kurt had said in the letter that it was meant for him. As it was, he didn't think he'd feel right to even touch it. "Everyone goes, eventually," he said, "Everyone needs a reason to fight. Find one that stays? And it's there until you can't fight any more. If it leaves? You have to follow it for anything to matter." It did hurt to think Kurt was gone, they'd understood each other, and the insight between two somber men wouldn't be easily replaced, if it could be at all.

She nodded, understanding the insight all to well for someone so young. "We'll manage." There was another urge to force closeness and tenderness on him, knowing he might need the affection, but she didn't give in. If he wanted her like that, he'd come to her. Earlier in the kitchen he'd made it clear he didn't want that closeness from her and although the game had changed slightly, his attitude towards her might not have changed with it.

"We will," Doc agreed somberly, nodding a touch. What else could they do? There was no giving up, it didn't exist as an option in his head. Taking a few steps closer, Doc reached out to lay a hand on Jocelyn's arm; the barest of contact, but something he wanted all the same. "And what's happening right now... it's not about us. Not you and Kayos, or me and Kayos. It's what I warned you about, the lines I need to have to do what I do. I'm with you, believe that. Whatever else you might see me at? It's work, it's friends, it's not us."

Jocelyn's breath caught in her throat at the touch, as if she hadn't been expecting it. And some in some ways she probably hadn't. Biting her lip to keep tears at bay she nodded in response to what he'd said. She knew all this, and she'd known it from the beginning. Doc had warned her early on, after that first night, that it wouldn't be easy. That there would always been that line between them. Regrettably though, she'd assumed that even with the lines he'd be able to spare at least tender instant when he'd wandered home again, rather than playful smirks allowed for someone else and not her. She'd wanted that instant the moment he saw her, and not later after chastising her for acting childish. Wost of all, there'd been so much she wanted to tell him, to talk to him about once he'd returned. Part of her was desperate to tell him about her new found friendship with Grayson and Mathias, especially if Math could be an asset, about her talks with Maddie and questions about what happened between her and Synnove. There were questions and ideas and even a fleeting thought about leaving Babylon all together that was something she needed to sort out with someone level headed rather than basing it on her emotions. But all of that would have to wait until he was ready, until the job allowed for it. "I should go; if I can squeeze in a double shift today it will help keep Eris from looking at me like I'm a complete waste of her time." Jocelyn's voice was far steadier than she felt. "If she hears you're back though, I imagine she'll be expecting you to stop by at some point. I'd recommend it even if it is just for show."

He'd already considered that, and even had the souvenier he'd promised Eris tucked away somewhere, but Doc would take Jocelyn's reminder as a good thing. "I'll be here, call after work if you like," he told her, somewhat sheepish about trying to be personal even if he felt right in his initial reactions. At least there was the relief of knowing that 'work' only meant slinging drinks, and that was a balm unto itself. It gave Doc enough peace of mind to feel like this would pass; they'd talk, work things out, hopefully there would be peace between Jocelyn and Kayos too. Hopefully. And while he hoped, there was plenty to think on, as always.

Her surprise at his request for her to call was noticeable. Even though he'd been distant since she'd arrived, he now seemed as if he'd come when she beckoned. "I might do that. You could just swing by if you want. I'll get you a drink." Jocelyn seemed hesitant. Maybe he just felt the gap more with Kurt gone now, but his turn towards being more like her significant other was different from the man in the kitchen who'd looked at her like she was a disappointment. "Just don't leave her waiting. She's not the type to tolerate that."

What woman is? Doc mused silently, wordless as he watched Jocelyn leave the room behind. Turning back to the holstered gun that had been left for him, Doc sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets to keep from grabbing it. Trials or no, Doc was starting to think that maybe his time away had been a vacation. He only wished he'd realized it soon enough to enjoy it more.