Roxana whimpered as Alex found her under the table. "Too much, too much, too much," she repeated, rocking back and forth. Only now did she feslt like she was getting herself back together. Forcing herself to stop and breathe, Roxana looked up at her friend. "It's too open," she managed, uncurling herself. "Too much sky."

[hr]

This was supposed to be a good day. Talk to old friends, go shopping, cook a nice dinner for a gorgeous woman, and maybe do a little heroism on the side. Instead, his brother started ruining everything, like he always did. First killing a bystander and now this... Cowboy kid.

He ran up to the cowboy, grabbed him with an apologetic, "Not now," and bodily threw him towards the crowd. Having removed the main distraction and satisfied everyone else could handle the snapper, he set himself the age-old task of getting his brother back into line. Cracking his knuckles, he turned back just in time to see a thin, wobbly barbell tumble slowly through the air and crack into Blacklight's nose.

Taking a brief glance up, in case it fell from a plane, Dragon took advantage of the distraction and got a hand against Blacklight's cheek, shoving him bodily to the ground and holding him there like a disobedient puppy. "Now are you going to listen and behave yourself or am I going to have to take you to ECPD myself, Jace?"