Watching You

Ryder couldn’t help the slight chuckle that came. She was true in what she was saying, working with rookies was something that the male didn’t particularly like to partake in. What was that saying? One bad apple can spoil the whole bunch. That’s what had happened - Ryder didn’t mind rookies before ‘he who shall not be named’ came along. It was like the kid was cursed or something and up until now Ryder had sworn off rookies. “Yeah, and there’s always been a reasonable explanation for that but I decided to give it a try.. have faith in others,” he trailed off. Being in the police force, skepticism came naturally and he couldn’t help but feel that with her answer. “Right,” he nodded his head, sure his uncertainty was showing. He wanted to ask her so much more, like if she was sure this was something she wanted to be doing. One thing could trigger the past and they’d both be back to square one. “I’m sure mom and pop are happy for you,” a small smile appearing, memories of her parents begging him to convince their daughter to join the force. 

The lump in the back of her throat was swelling, and the longer Lana stood there with Ryder, the harder it would get to not give into old habits. Gritting her teeth the female knew exactly who he was talking about, knew the exact explanation he was mentioning and it tasted like poison to her. “Faith in others?” Lana questioned before scoffing. It was something after her husbands death that she tried to preach to him, that Ryder shouldn’t swear off everything due to one bad thing, something that they both tried to teach eachother. “Didn’t think you were the one to believe in blind faith.” The brunette watched Ryder’s expression change and it was like a knife digging into her back seeing the uncertainty cross his face. He hand twitched while she restrained herself from reaching up and wiping at the crease in his forehead. She wanted to tell him not to worry that she was better now, but that’d be a lie. “Please, they’re thrilled Ry you have no idea.” Lana expressed a smile joining her face and she let out a breathy laugh. “Pops gave me a run down of the do’s and don’ts plus all the good places to get real food.” 

To say Ryder was shocked would be an understatement. This sort of place was the very last place he expected to see the female opposite of him considering their past and his best friend’s death. For all Ryder knew, Lana had disassociated herself from the life of FBI agents and police and never thought he’d see the likes of her again. Just as the female checked their surroundings, the male did the same for countless of reasons. One, it was a habit of his to always be on the alert and two, he knew assumptions were made and if anyone were to see the two conversing, such assumptions would arise and he really wanted no part of that. Once his eyes landed back on the brunette, he was a bit saddened to see she had changed. Not in her appearance but more of the fact that she seemed different - more cold. He couldn’t blame the young woman though, what she had went through was hell. “They asked if I wanted to help out and train potential agents and I took the offer,” the male stated. “Why are you here though?” the question was meant to be polite curiosity and rather she’d take it that way or not, he wasn’t for sure but he knew this wasn’t the right place for her to be in. 

Swallowing the lump in her throat that had started to form after he gave her a once over. The action sending unwanted chills down her spine, as all she saw was something like empathy pass over his features. I don’t care... She told herself repeating it like a mantra while mentally preparing her own answers to his question. Lana knew exactly what he was thinking when he asked why she was there hell she still questioned herself on why she was signing up for the very job that took her beloved away. “Surprised, you seemed to always hate to deal with the rookies..” Lana confessed nostalgia swarming her sense. Staring at Ryder Lana was battling with herself on being honest with the taller male, or to give him the answer she had sign on with. This was someone from her past, someone who had been with her through up’s and down’s of her life, yet she didn’t want to trust him. Trusting him was almost like betraying her husband and she wouldn’t do that.. Not again. “Decided I should finally take up the old family roots... I mean it’s not like I’m doing anything productive at home, so I might as well try being a help to the country.” Giving him the plain and dry answer with the right amount of personal pleasantries, Lana gave him a tight lipped smile along with a shrug of her shoulders. She wanted to get out of his company as soon as she could, before she started to give into the tempting offer to talk to him, to really talk to him. 

Ryder had always loved his job and was very prideful about it. Protecting people was something he was always good at and enjoyed, it made him feel good to know that he was keeping people safe and bringing down the bad guys. And when he was asked to help train other young adults at a local academy who wanted to be just like him, he was more than happy to take the offer. Now after sitting in the opening speech from the Director, he stood up from his seat to greet many of the individuals who would one day be an FBI Agent just as he was. Turning around to shake a young man’s hand, he just so happened to look up and in an instant, he recognized a familiar face. ‘It can’t be..’ he thought to himself over, and over again. But as he nonchalantly grew closer to her, it was unmistakable. The girl was Lana - an old friend of whom he hadn’t heard from since his best friend’s death. “Lana?” he questioned, unsure as to if he really should’ve been talking to her.

Hearing her name Lana hid the scowl forming on her face with a quick smile. Of course she knew there was a chance that she’d end up running into Ryder some point in her time at the agency, except she actually expected it to be a long way down the road if not never. She hadn’t even thought of how she’d react seeing him the last time being at her husbands untimely death. A death that still haunted her dreams to this very day. Lana moved from the wall meeting Ryder’s gaze straight on even offering a small smile like the previous panic never happened. “Ryder?” She questioned softly looking around the two of them to see if there were any last minute stragglers rushing off to their rooms. The young woman didn’t even know if she should be communicating with the male in front of her, if this was some way against the rules. Tucking a piece of hair behind her ears the brunette did her best to not seem unnerved from his mere presence. Not much had changed it seemed, maybe his hair had grown out a little bit more, but other than that this was Ryder. Her husbands best friend, and by the looks of it one of her professors. “What are you doing here..?”