Rafferty stumbled out of her room, fully aware of her surroundings for the first time in days. She made her way down to the Common Room, hoping to find one of her hallmates. Rafferty wanted to let them know that she was more or less all right now, and maybe get an idea of exactly how weird she had been lately.

When she entered the room, she saw Vincent sitting in a chair, boots propped up on a table, sharpening a big knife. There was a checker board on the table next to him. It looked like he was in the middle of a game, but Rafferty didn't see an opponent.

"You're actually here?" she asked.

"I think so," he said, glancing down at his hands. "Why? What have you heard?"

"I meant I didn't dream you," she said.

"Oh. No, you didn't. I like the idea of you dreaming about me, though," he said.

Rafferty put up one hand, trying to get him to stop that train of thought.

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"Why are you here?" she asked.

"It's been determined that the only reasonable course of action is to secure the Hunters' help against Alex and his…." Vincent imitated the sound of explosion and spread his hands dramatically. "My boss says I'm to hang around until you agree, so the boys and I are staying over in Falls Rock. Apparently, I'm considered to be eloquent and convincing. Or maybe people just get so tired of me that they give me what I want," he continued.

That one.

Vincent looked up, really looking at Rafferty for the first time since she walked in.

She reached up, reflexively, toward the new black mark under her eye.

"It's still there. Good. I like it," he said.

It gives me character.

"That was a neat trick. The magnet thing. Everybody's talking about it. Couldn't have greased my way out of a tight spot any better," he said.

Rafferty heard a annoyed little grunt from behind her. It was a familiar sound.

"Sure it was. Of course, we were only there because someone opened her big mouth and insisted that we go, even though we had a perfectly good Larkin sitting right there," said Blaspheme, pointing across the room.

"And Sheridan and I were the ones that actually had to shoot, but sure, give Rafferty all the credit. That's the way it goes these days," Blaspheme went on.

Ok. Apparently I've got some work to do there.

Blaspheme looked at Rafferty.

"We're due in the Box in ten minutes. If you care to join us," she said, and then turned and walked out.

"Sorry," Vincent said with a shrug.

He was looking right at her. There was eye contact. A lot of it, and Blaspheme had been yelling at her, and she had only recently started being able to string three thoughts together. It was too much.

Rafferty walked out of the room without another word. She went up the stairs instead of down, voluntarily skipping a training session for the first time in her life.

She turned down B Hall and knocked on Katrin's door. When the door opened, Rafferty asked if she always followed the rules.