Tyler - Baton Rouge/Apartment - Katie/Scarlett/Liam
You wouldn't have done the same. He almost said it, had actually really wanted to say it, but Tyler was self-aware enough to realise that he couldn't possibly justify his actions, especially not to someone who'd been put in a similar situation like people like himself. That day when he tried to explain himself to Jessalyn, what felt like ages ago now, she had rejected everything he had been saying entirely. Some of it had been Lynn's fault, but most of it... Telling her he never condoned the actions of his men-- his monsters-- felt incredibly hollow now. It'd left a bad taste in his mouth, but he had let them use and degrade the women he had truly cared for. Did he truly care for them, if he admitted he could never have done that to his late wife? At what point did doing what he felt was necessary become absolutely unnecessary?
Scarlett was right about one thing however, and that was that it was all in the past now. It was behind him, left in New Orleans. What mattered now was right here in this apartment. Tyler couldn't be entirely sure that he could trust Tina and her friends, but they had saved his life back in the plaza. They'd run into danger in order to protect his daughter, and that meant everything to him. "Right," he said. "It's all behind us."
He looked down at Katie, who didn't look too happy with his declaration. It was his own fault for coddling her, he knew, so it would take some time for her to understand. "Guns aren't bad, Katie." He gently took her hand and stared into her eyes in an attempt to calm her down. "Guns are tools, used by bad people and good people. They can be dangerous, but that's why you need to learn." Katie then mentioned Lauren, and Tyler felt a shiver go down his spine. She was one of his biggest regrets. Another blow dealt to his own daughter.
"I know. But the gun didn't do the job all on its own. It was... It was--" Me. "A bad person. A bad person fired that gun. That's on him. It doesn't change what we-- you need to do." He knew it would take more than just one conversation to make her feel better about it, so he smiled at her. "Just think on it, okay? We can talk about it later." He looked to Scarlett and gestured for three of them to leave the bathroom.
They stepped into the hallway to find Jace come running in from outside the front door. He looked distracted as he passed by them and walked into the living room. "I can't find him outside either," he said.
Tyler moved forward, looking around the room. "What? What's happened?"
Jace looked toward him and sighed. From behind the couch, George said, "Jacob's gone. So is his stuff, so he must have went on his own."
"I'm so sorry," Tina said in the kitchen. "I don't know if you guys were close, but--"
"We weren't close," Tyler said running a hand through his hair. "I'd just met him yesterday, but..." Tyler knew why he had left. He hadn't trusted Tina's group to begin with, but being confronted with someone from Tyler's past must have had him convinced he'd be better off entirely on his own. Jacob was a smart guy, so Tyler wouldn't have been surprised if Jacob had a good idea about Tyler's past based on Berk's words alone. "What happened today must have freaked him out."
"He'll die out there," George said grimly. 'We can't just let him leave."
Tina and Jace shared a look between them. They didn't want to disagree with George outright, Tyler could see. Caleb, on the other hand, had no qualms about this. "But we can't make him stay either," he said. "We could go out there and find him, try to talk him into coming back, but I don't see that working out."
Unfortunately, Tyler had to agree. "He was aware of the dangers outside. For him to leave... he didn't feel safe with us. I don't see how we could possibly convince him--"
"No." George rubbed at his eyes and shook his head. "No, that's... no. It's ridiculous. We should at least try." He then raised his hand. When Tyler asked what he was doing, George stared at him defiantly. "I'm voting. We should have a vote on this. Elyse, the kids, we should all vote. I know we've had a rough day, but I won't have Jacob on my conscience."
Tyler shook his head, but most everyone else seemed unsure what to do. No one was willing to make the next vote.
Chris - Cabin - Pack/Scouts/Hostages
Most of the scouts, needless to say, looked rather shell-shocked from this turn of events. Chris had thought they had a good chance to take Enrique out by surprising him, but once the hostages were brought out, the fighting stopped entirely and everything went downhill from there. Sylar made a declaration of being responsible for the fires, and challenged Enrique to a fight to the death. No one was really sure what to make of it, so no one but Cody made much of a move to say anything about it.
But as the fight went on and it became increasingly clear that Sylar wasn't going to live, the scouts turned restless, shaking their heads and gripping at their weapons tightly. Chris noted that Lucas, for once, looked frazzled and unkempt. Jerry couldn't take his eyes off the fight, whereas Phineas and Zane couldn't keep their eyes off the ground. When Sylar was finally finished, Charlie let out a choked yell, and Cody looked about ready to rush Enrique's group. He raised his weapon, ready to take on Enrique's dare, but Alex made a rush for him in an attempt to stop him. Cody probably would have gotten a shot off, if not for Chris and Charlie yelling at him to stop. He paused long enough to be bowled over by Alex.
Lucas then called out, trying to regain a sense of control over the situation. "The hostages! Let them come with us, and then we'll leave! Not a single shot will be fired!" As if to prove his word, Lucas put down his weapon, laying it on the ground.
Jon - Baton Rouge - Jacob
Jon debated with himself about how far up the road he should go. Past the field of grass was a line of houses one could easily hide in, but they'd still have to cross the street in order to get to them. If Jackson was right about what he saw, he was either way up North, or closer toward where Jon was patrolling. He'd get caught eventually if he was heading up that way, so Jon figured it would be best for him to stick to the area and wait out--
Two loud pops emitted from, well, somewhere. Jon recognised them as gunshots, but he couldn't quite be sure of where they came from. He lifted the radio and spoke into it, hoping Jackson was paying attention. "Hey, Jackal, were you firing off any weapons over there?" It took a minute for Jackson to respond, Jon becoming more annoyed every second of it.
"Uh, no. No firing here. Have you heard something like--"
Jon stopped listening. He threw the radio into the passenger seat and stopped the truck so that he could look behind one of the buildings sitting in front of the field. He could have sworn he saw something moving around there, and the building gave some good cover for anyone exiting from the tall grass. Quickly, but delicately, Jon aimed his rifle out the truck's window, training it on the side of the building. With years of hunting under his belt, it would be easy for Jon to steadily train his weapon on that single point for an extended length of time. Still, if someone was hiding there, they could possibly leave from the other side of the building, sprinting across the street so that they could hide in the line of houses over that way. Jon flickered his gaze between both spots, waiting.
